Obviously.

Michael started to tell the guys what she had said but then thought better of it. Maria had been afraid of “them” finding out something. She probably meant the people who held them here, and they were most likely listening in.

He sat with the guys at the table as they talked mundanely about whatever. They had given up on trying to decipher what exactly they were doing here and passed the time talking generally or just sitting in silence.

After about an hour, Maria started to stir from her position on the bed. By this time Michael had gone to sit on the bed near her and was by her side within a second of her opening her eyes.

She looked at him with confusion and then rapidly blinked her eyes in an effort to stem the flow of tears. Michael pulled her to his chest, careful not to crush his arm, and soothed her by rubbing her back.

“It’s okay. Don’t cry.”

He actually thought she should cry, they all probably should, the situation seemed that hopeless.

Sobs wracked her body as she tried to explain what they had done to her, what they were probably still doing to her sisters. Michael caught snippets of information – drugged, strapped-down, shocked, questions, relentless. He didn’t need to hear the full story to get the picture.

He pushed Maria away from him and looked into her eyes. “Don’t worry okay? We’ll figure out something. Get out of here somehow.”

Michael wasn’t used to seeing her like this. He had only known her a short time but in all the years he had watched her from the shadows he had never seen her lose her composure, she was always in complete control. But now, as he looked into her eyes, he could have sworn he saw a spark flicker.

Maria got up and headed toward the bathroom. As she passed the table she smiled at the other guys. Michael had to grin at that – it didn’t take long for the old Maria to come back, he thought.

When she emerged from the bathroom she had an entirely different look about her. He mouth was set in a determined pose and she had a look of fierce intensity in her eyes. Michael thought it was almost comical for a tiny girl, hidden in the oversized hospital gown, to be the natural leader of the group. He shook his head quickly and knew that Maria was just meant to be the leader of whatever group she was a part of. She leaned in close to Michael and whispered instructions in his ear. Her last words were for him to only tell the other guys when there was enough confusion so that no one would overhear anyway.

Then she stood up and Michael grabbed her roughly by the arm. She yelled vicious insults at him, telling him that he couldn’t be trusted, that she didn’t want anything to do with him again. The other guys made a move to break them up but Maria jerked her arm away and ran towards the door.

While the guys looked on in disbelief Maria pounded on the door screaming for the guards to open up. Once they did she fell down in the doorway and Michael shouted to the guys, “This is it!”

Stunned, Max, Kyle, and Alex just sat there for a minute but when Michael started running towards the door they followed blindly. Kyle started to question what was going on but Alex, sensing that his best friend had a plan, yelled at him to save it for later.

By this time the guards had reached down to pick Maria up and didn’t see the guys running towards them. Just as they stood Maria on her feet she pushed them off of her with a power that Michael had never seen before. Then she ran to the nearest examining room, where Tess was being held.

Following Michael, the four guys ran through the doorway and continued on toward the door against the far wall where they had originally entered. There were no other guards in the room so the guys just got to the door and stopped. Turning around they saw Tess and Liz running towards them with Maria standing outside of Isabel’s door.

“Where’d they come from?” Kyle asked.

Max just shook his head. He was still trying to get over the fact the Maria had thrown two 200 pound men through he air like feathers when he caught a flash out of the corner of his eye.

Michael saw it too and watched incredulously as Isabel opened the door to her room, grabbed Maria’s hand, and ran toward the others.

By this time, Liz and Tess had reached guys and were standing by the door with their hands pressed against the locks. Another glow, Max could have sworn he’d seen something this time, and the girls effortlessly turned the knobs.

As the door opened the girls stepped back with a shriek at the sight of 10 guards running towards them from the parking area where numerous black vans were parked. Maria and Isabel collided with Alex and Michael who were standing at the rear of the group and moved around them, reaching out with their hands for Liz and Tess.

“Okay, Tess, you do it?”

Tess nodded.

Isabel spoke to the guys, no one in particular, “Get ready to catch her.”

The sisters grasped hands to form a circle and closed their eyes. Now there was no mistaking the glow that emanated from their clasped palms.

Michael swore under his breath as he anxiously eyed the guards that were getting closer.

Tess slumped to the floor with Kyle and Max just grabbing her before she hit. Isabel, Liz, and Maria turned to face the onslaught of guards and raised their right hands in front of their bodies.

In unison they started walking forward as the others blindly followed.

As each guard got within 20 feet of the group they appeared to collide with an invisible force field that sent them reeling backwards. After three or four fell to the ground the others stopped and took up defensive positions. Two circled to the sides and got behind the group but Liz and Isabel moved to the side with them while Maria stayed out in front and the barrier held. Those guards also seemed to run into an invisible wall as they approached, but Michael noticed alarmingly that they fell away at a closer distance now, about 10 feet.

They reached the back of the nearest van and Liz broke formation to open the doors and herd the group inside. Isabel and Maria were still standing with their hands out in of front of them and Michael wanted to scream at her to just stop it and jump in the van with him.

The doors to the large room they had exited from were still open and now the woman in charge of everything appeared through them. She quickly assessed the situation and ordered the men to fire.

Shots rang out from the four guards who were still standing and peppered the barrier just in front of Isabel and Maria. Now Michael was sure the bullets were falling away at a distance of only five feet. The barrier was weakening fast.

Alex turned at the sound of the shots to see that Isabel was still standing there with her hand out and he panicked. He grabbed her by the back of her gown and pulled her into the van.

Michael who was standing just by the doors of the van screamed, “No.”

It was too late.

Michael’s world fell into slow motion. As he screamed at Alex to stop he watched in horror as Isabel’s hand fell to her side and she was pulled backwards towards the doors of the van. One crisp, clear shot rang out amongst the pepper of gunfire and Michael tried to move to stop the horrible events playing out in front of him.

As he stepped towards Maria she seemed to come to him, flying backwards through he air and hitting him in the chest. With his arm already screaming in pain, his world went black for a second as he tumbled back toward the van. He came to a stop sitting on the edge of the van floor and with his left arm was able to grasp Maria around the waist as her limp body slumped to the ground. Liz and Tess had heard Michael’s cry for Alex to stop and moved to take their sister’s place.