What Max didn't know was that after he'd fallen asleep in her bed, she'd walked right into his dreams. As a child, she'd been unable to enter Max's dreams without him being aware of her presence - he had always been much more sensitive in his powers than she had. But, as she'd matured, so had her control over her special abilities, and now she could come and go just about whenever she pleased without him even knowing she'd been there.

I should feel guilty about invading his privacy, Isabel thought. Then she tossed her golden hair over her shoulder in defiance of her own conscience. It had been many years since he'd been frightened enough of his own dreams to seek shelter in her room. It was only natural out of her sisterly concern for him that she should try to see what was going on in there.

Liz Parker had been what was going on in there. At this, Isabel let out a disgusted sigh. Just Liz. Images of the wonderful Liz had clouded Max's dreams for the rest of that night. And, while at times Isabel found the perfect little Liz Parker frightening in her own right, she certainly wasn't enough to send Max scurrying to his sister's room in the dead of night.

"Hi, Isabel."

Isabel was jerked from her revere to see Alex Whitman sliding into a desk beside her. He was all smiles and puppy dog eyes. She wasn't in the mood.

"Hey, Alex," she said, sounding bored.

"You look nice today," he said, trying so hard to get her attention.

She just nodded, then turned to her books before she could see the hurt look on his face. Alex was a nice guy...for someone else. She'd tried being gentle with him. She'd tried being mean to him. Nothing worked. He kept coming back for more abuse. Maybe she would have to spell it out for him after all. Get lost. Please. With a nice guy like Alex, it was always good to be polite.

Thoughts of Alex vanished as a wave of terror suddenly crashed through Isabel. In her mind, she heard a voice, once single word - her name. It wasn't screamed, or shouted, just merely whispered in despair. A cold chill ran down Isabel's spine as she realized whose voice it was - Max's.

Isabel's head whipped around to where Max was sitting. He'd found his homework, and was busy scribbling his name at the top of it. He hadn't spoken. He looked up, gave her a little smile, then returned to organizing his papers.