"Ow…hey! I needed some exercise! We need to think of something to do and stop playing 'blame Michael' or we're going to be captured!"

Isabel looked at Maria and said, "Do you feel strong enough to try a mindwarp?"

"No…I've been dreamwalking a lot lately…I'm sorry."

Isabel sighed and nodded. She didn't even need to bother asking Max or Michael to help with a mindwarp…only the girls had that power. "Well then, we need to just sit here and wait. When the Valenti comes…Michael and Max may need to kill him."

The guys paled, but didn't argue. They were prepared to do what they had to. They heard the car pull up near the cave entrance and all of them gasped in fear.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tess left Kyle's house and drove around the town for awhile, restless and worried about her friends. Finally she decided to go to the Crashdown to try to talk to Liz and Alex about what they had found out the night before at the dance.

She parked and walked into the café, which was almost empty. She sat down on a stool in front of the bar and waited for someone to offer her a drink. Liz came out of the back room, along with Alex. They both saw her, and they smiled to each other.

Alex walked over to Tess. "Can I get you something to drink?" he asked her.

"An iced cappuccino would be nice," she said. Alex turned around to fix her drink. He handed it to her and said, "Tess…I need to talk to you."

"Really? Because I need to talk to you too, Alex."

"Ok, but let me go first. Ok, this is really weird to say…but I'm getting powers." Tess looked at Alex and burst out laughing. "No, really," he said. "Here, I'll prove it." He turned towards the soda machine and said, "I really need a coke right now." The machine turned on and a cup flew under the flow of water and syrup. A top placed itself on the cup and a straw flew in.

Tess looked at Alex in awe. "How did you do that?" she asked.

"See…I don't know. I think Isabel did something to me. And I need to know what."

"Well, I have no idea. For a long time I was the only human to know about them, and I never developed powers. Has Liz?"

"Developed powers? No…but she could. Maybe Max did something to her too. We need you to take us to them. We need to talk to them."

"But…I can't do that. Didn't you tell Valenti?"

"Yes…which I think we're both starting to regret."

"If I take you there, you could be leading your uncle right to them."

"Trust me. Please. I regret telling my uncle. And now I need to know what is happening to me. Please, Tess." Liz came up behind Alex and looked at Tess.

"Alex needs to know. And I've made up my mind that if you take us to them we will help them. We will do whatever it takes to keep them safe again. We…we love Isabel and Max."

Tess's eyes opened wide. "You love them? Even after the whole thing started as just a dare?"

Alex narrowed his eyes. "What dare? What are you talking about?"

"You mean, you don't know? At a party, Maria dared Isabel to ask you out, Alex."

"What?! You mean, she didn't really like me?"

"Well, she did…but you're kind of…less popular and she didn't want to ruin her reputation. So Maria dared her…and everyone knows, Isabel can't turn down a dare."

"What about Max?" asked Liz. "Did he ask me out because of a dare?"

"No, Max asked you out because of his own decision." Liz sighed with relief and squeezed Alex's hand comfortingly. "Thank you for telling us this, Tess. Now please take us to them. You must know where they are hiding."

"I do. I…I'll take you there now. But aren't you two working?"