* * * *

“We have a problem!” Michael yelled surfacing; everyone was gathered on the rocks looking at him.

“What sort of problem?” Kyle called out to him.

“A big one,” Michael said swimming back to them as fast as he could, he didn’t want to stay in that water one second longer then he had too. Max helped him out; Michael sat and caught his breath before he said anything. He looked at everyone waiting on him, he scanned the faces, and his heart suddenly jumped, “Where’s Maria!” He shouted jumping to his feet. The rest of them looked around, they obviously hadn’t realized she was gone.

“She was up by the cars before,” Liz offered.

“Why was she up there alone?” Michael asked starting up the rocks.

“We got into a fight,” Liz said starting after him, “I thought she needed time to cool off.” She stumbled a little and felt Max catch her; she righted herself and continued up.

“Michael,” Max yelled up, “what was the problem with the pod?”

“Not now, Maxwell!” He said clearing the top and stepping into the field, it was lit by the full moon, the ghostly silhouettes of the two cars stared back at him. He looked around; there was no sign of Maria.

“How could you just leave her up here!” He yelled turning to Liz, she took a step back into Max.

“I told you I thought she needed to cool off! She was pretty pissed Michael!” Liz yelled back, “Maybe if you two hadn’t broken up…” she started.

“This isn’t the time for this,” Isabel said stepping between them.

“Yea,” Alex said joining her, “Right now we should be looking for Maria, Liz when you left her was she upset?”

“She was crying,” Liz said looking at Alex.

“She was crying and you just left her!” Michael exploded.

“Michael!” Isabel said in a warning tone.

“Maybe she just wandered off,” Tess said jumping in.

“Maria wouldn’t do that, not at night,” Liz said quietly.

“But if she did,” Kyle began, “Where would she go?”

“I don’t know!” Liz said close to tears herself, Maria was her best friend, but she had totally blown up at her. Maria wouldn’t even let her talk, she thought if she gave her some time…then maybe…

“We need to split up,” Michael said regaining self control, “Alex you and Isabel go that way,” he pointed toward a slightly wooded area, “Tess, Kyle, you guys go that way,” he pointed beyond the cars, “Max, you and I are going to go this way.” He started opposite the woods.

“What about me?” Liz spoke up. Michael turned toward her, “You stay here in case she comes back.”

“We’re not leaving Liz alone too,” Max said stepping up behind her protectively.

“She can come with us,” Isabel said looking at Max and Michael.

“Fine.” Michael said and then stormed off in the direction he had chosen.

* * * *

Maria felt warmth coming back to her body, her head hurt; she couldn’t remember what had happened. Her eyes began to focus, she felt groggy, and her body was tingling. She would have to apologize to Liz for blowing up…she tried to stand but her body felt like it weighed a billion pounds. She tried to shake her head but it wouldn’t move. Her eyes finally focused and she scanned her surroundings, she could see smooth metal walls and a mirror across from her, there was no furniture in the room, and the lighting was poor. Where the hell am I? She tried to move again but couldn’t, she heard the sound of metal scraping metal but couldn’t turn to see where it was coming from. Something stepped into her field of vision.

* * * *

Max raced behind Michael trying to keep up, “Michael,” he finally said, Michael turned around to look at him. “What?” He asked.

“I need you to tell me what the problem with the pod was.” He said stopping.

“Right now I just want to find Maria,” Michael said turning from Max, Max reached out and grabbed his arm, “Tell me what the problem was.”

“I can’t believe you!” Michael said turning back around to face Max, “Maria is missing and all you care about is that stupid pod!”

“Michael,” Max said stepping closer to his friend, “Maybe the pod has something to with Maria missing.” Michael thought about it for a second then nodded, “The pod was empty.” He said.

* * * *

The thing was small with huge empty almond shaped eyes, it’s arms were short with long tapered fingers, or what could be fingers, they looked more like meat hooks. Maria felt her stomach tighten, she tried to squirm but her body still wouldn’t move.

“What do you want?” She managed to spit out.

“I need a body,” she heard the words but the thing hadn’t spoken; she felt her heart rate step up a notch. “Well, you can’t have mine.” She said trying to sound unafraid. The thing took a step toward her, “Back off!” She screamed her voice cracking. Like that’s going to help. She said to herself, You can’t even move!

It reached out it’s hand and cupped it on to her head, oh great. She knew her body was trembling, and she could feel an electric pulse winding through the pathways of her brain, oh god, she thought, it’s in my head. There was a sudden burst as it plucked a memory from her mind, immediately the thing began to change, it grew human flesh, hair, it got taller, it’s tapered fingers began to recede toward it’s body, then it had a human hand. She let her gaze drift up to it’s face, Michael stared back at her with solid gray eyes, the Michael thing’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.

* * * *

Max stared at him for a moment before he spoke, “What?” He said. “It was empty when I went down,” Michael explained, running his hand through his spiky brown hair.

“We have to tell the others,” Max said turning back the direction they’d come. Michael lowered his head and looked at the ground. What if what ever was in that pod had Maria?

* * * *

Maria shuddered when the thing began to speak, “Thank you,” it sounded just like Michael. She felt her body release, she had control again; she forced her self to stand up. The Michael thing circled her, she felt her self stiffen as it stopped in front of her and she could see it’s empty eyes up close, two dark voids staring back at her.

“You’re going to help me,” it said in Michael’s voice. She felt herself shiver she stood straighter.

“Not a chance.” She said mustering up what little courage she had left.

“I have ways of changing your mind,” the Michael thing said stepping closer to her, she tried to back up, but her legs were paralyzed, she turned her head to avoid looking at it’s awful eyes. “That’s what I like about you Earth girls,” it said releasing her once more, “You present a challenge.” He turned with his arms clasped behind his back and walked away from her.

“Well, we try,” Maria said toughly. It’s not like I haven’t dealt with aliens before, she told herself; I dated one for crying out loud.

“What was that?” The Michael thing said, turning back to her. Oh god, can he read my mind? Maria thought quickly.

“Yes and no.” The thing answered back.

“What?” Maria asked pretending she didn’t know what he meant.

“I can and can’t read your mind,” he explained, “I can hear the trivial stuff just fine. It’s the deeper stuff I have trouble with. But you see, that’s the stuff I need to dig out.” The thing grabbed her arm, “Now, tell me about your friends, Liz, Max, Michael, and Izzy.” Maria’s stomach dropped, and she swallowed in a now dry throat.

* * * *

“Wait a second,” Tess said trying to understand, “Are you saying one of the pods hatched?” They had all reconvened at the vehicles to discuss Michael’s news.

“Yes,” Max said looking at her.

“One family reunion coming up,” Alex said deadpanned.

“So what do we do?” Liz asked sitting on the hood of her car and looking from one person to another.

“Well, do you think this thing that escaped from the pod is still around?” Isabel asked crossing her arms and scanning their surroundings uncomfortably.

“Oh,” Kyle said suddenly distracting the rest of them, “Do you think it might have you know, like abducted Maria?” Everybody stared at him for a second in silence; he crossed his arms and looked down uncomfortable.

“He’s right.” Tess said breaking the silence, “That would explain why Maria disappeared, and it would also explain why our extraterrestrial friend is missing.”

* * * *

The Michael thing was circling her, “I’ll release you if you just tell me a little about your friends,” he said.

“Why do you care about them anyway,” Maria said loudly, she felt a sharp pain in her chest and sucked in a deep breath.

“Listen tough girl,” the Michael thing said in her ear, she could feel it’s hot breath on her neck. “I will get the information out of you, even if I have to pry it from your cold dead brain.” Maria felt her self shiver.

“Maybe if you were a bit nicer,” she hissed, “I wouldn’t mind telling you about my friends!”

“You’re not going to make this easy are you?” He said stepping away from her.

“You said it yourself, Earth girls offer a challenge, I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.” She felt herself being released again; she let out a deep breath and sat down on the floor. The Michael thing sat down across from her, “Why were you crying when I took you?” He asked his voice softening, “I don’t know much about human’s but I believe crying is a sign of grief.”

Maria laughed quietly, first he’s threatening me, and then he wants to have a heart to heart, this guy’s got guts. “Why do you care anyways?” She asked meeting his dead empty eyes.

“I like to know about my prisoners,” he smiled at her.

“Why don’t you just read my mind then,” she said turning from him and facing the wall.

* * * *

Michael sat in the big overstuffed chair in the Evans's living room Max was sitting on the couch next to Liz and next to her was Isabel. Alex, Tess, and Kyle had all gone home, they were going to meet at the cave tomorrow to come up with a plan to find Maria and disable the rest of the pods, one was dangerous enough, six would be disastrous.

“Why don’t you go home.” Max said looking at Liz.

“Get some rest,” Isabel said smiling. Liz nodded and got up, she started for the door, “Liz,” Michael said looking at her, “I’m sorry I yelled,” he grinned.

“It’s okay,” she smiled and turned the doorknob to leave, Max rose from his seat, “Wait a second,” he said, “I’m going to ride with you, after everything that’s happened tonight I don’t want you out there alone.”

“Thanks,” Liz said stepping out the door, Max followed. Once the door had shut and Michael had heard the car drive down the road he turned to Isabel. “Can you dream walk Maria,” he said, “maybe we can find out where she is.” Isabel nodded; she closed her eyes and took some relaxing breaths.

She was in; the dream orbs floated around the dream plain to the soft music created by the single note each one gave off. She hummed the note that she familiarized with Maria’s dream orb, one of the orbs separated itself from the rest and floated over to Isabel, it danced around her head once and then landed in her outstretched hands. She gazed into the orb and hummed a little louder to make it expand, she could make out metal walls, and there was a mirror at one end of the room. Isabel hummed again until the orb was big enough to step into.

She could see Maria standing as still as a statue in the middle of the room. Isabel approached her from behind, but was distracted when she heard a familiar voice. She turned and saw Michael staring at Maria, and then they were kissing. Michael wrapped his arms around Maria then suddenly his fingers began to grow into tapered hooks, his body began to reshape itself, until he looked like the alien dummies at the UFO Center, Maria pulled her self away and let out a shriek. “Tell me about your friends!” The thing said grabbing Maria’s arm so hard that it began to bleed.

“Let go of me!” Maria screamed trying to squirm herself free.

“Maria!” Isabel screamed racing forward and pushing the thing away from Maria, it hit the wall and slid down till it rested flat on the floor. “What is that?” Isabel asked. Suddenly there was a explosion of bright light and she felt herself fly across the metal room and then through something soapy and soft, she was back on the dream plain and Maria’s dream orb was spinning in wild circles, then it simply disappeared.

“What happened?” Michael asked shaking her. Isabel opened her eyes and noticed that Michael was above her; she turned her head and realized she had been thrown across the room.

“Are you okay?” Michael asked helping her up

“Yea, I’m fine,” she said walking back to the couch and sitting down and rubbing the back of her head. Michael nodded and sat next to her, “Did you get in?” He asked, “She was having a nightmare,” she answered, “What ever the thing was in her dream, its got power Michael. There was this bright explosion and then I was shot right out of Maria’s dream orb back onto the plain,” Isabel took a breath and looked at him in the eye, “Her orb just kind of disappeared, I don’t know if we’ll be able to find it again.”

* * * *

Maria must have dozed off, she snapped awake and looked around the room, where was the Michael thing? She was breathing in gasps, the room didn’t feel like it had enough oxygen, she breathed in as deep as she could manage, and let it out in a shaky breath.

“Did you have a nightmare?” The Michael thing asked walking toward her out of the shadows his arms crossed in front of her she choked on the air she was breathing, and started to cough. He crouched down in front of her, “Are you okay?” He asked smiling amused. She took a shallow breath, “Leave me alone,” she began to cough again. He didn’t move he kept staring at her intently. Maria could feel goose bumps spread down her arms and legs she shivered. “Quit watching me.” She told it once her coughing fit ended.

“Judging from that dream,” he said standing up, “You don’t mind the person I resemble looking at you.”

“It’s different,” she said standing till she could meet his eyes, “You’re not Michael,” she said immediately snapping her mouth shut, idiot! “Oh, I have a name.” He said, “Michael,” he tested how it flowed off his tongue.

“Now that you know one of my secrets, tell me one of yours,” Maria said trying to sound intimidating, if she could find out about him, she might be able to figure out a way to get out of here. She let her eyes travel across the metal walls and then meet his again.

“Fair enough,” the Michael thing said stepping so close to her she could feel his heat bounce off of her, “I’m not from around here,” he shrugged and stepped away from her.

“Where are you from?” She asked trying to sound casual, and stepping around him to the mirror, she dug in her purse and pulled out a scrunch, she yanked her hair back in a ponytail and then pulled out one of her vials. She inhaled deeply the scent of Tangerine; she needed a lifter. The Michael thing stepped up behind her she could see his reflection in the mirror and uncomfortably looked down.

“It’s my turn to ask a question,” he circled around her and blocked her reflection in the mirror, he grabbed her chin roughly and forced her to look at him, “Who are your friends?” Maria could feel herself stiffen; she pulled her chin out of the Michael thing’s hand.

“You already know who they are.” She glared at him and turned so her back was to him.

“Listen Earth girl,” he said angrily turning her roughly around to look at him again, “I could torture the information out of you, I could pry it out of that wormhole you call a brain by force…”

“So why don’t you.” She said smartly, trying to squirm free of his grasp. “You keep threatening me, but you haven’t done anything yet, why is that?”

He tightened his grip, “That’s easy,” he allowed a smile to spread across his face, “even if you don’t tell me, your precious friends, and Michael, they’ll come to me.” He roughly threw her from him and then strode out of the room.

* * * *

“I think the first thing we need to do is set up teams to keep an eye on the other pods.” Max said. They were all gathered in the cave, Liz sat between Isabel and Max, Michael sat next to Alex, and Alex was next to Tess and Kyle.

“I agree with Max,” Tess said nodding.” Michael and Isabel exchanged concerned glances; they were both trying to decide if Maria’s dream was important enough to mention.

“Iz, what’s up?” Alex asked noticing the exchange.

“She tried dream walking Maria last night,” Michael said, Liz sat up straighter looking at him, there were gray rings under her eyes, she obviously hadn’t gotten much sleep last night.

“What did you see?” She said turning to Isabel.

“Not much,” Isabel took a deep breath, “I got kicked out of her dream before I could get any information.”

“What do you mean you got kicked out of her dream?” Max asked looking at his sister; she looked to Michael he nodded.

“I was there and she was having a nightmare. There was an alien, like one of those one’s from the UFO Center…I pushed it away from her and then there was a bright explosion and I got thrown right out of her dream orb…then it sort of just disappeared.” She closed her eyes.

“She was thrown across the living room,” Michael said looking at him, “What ever has Maria, what ever was in that pod,” he paused, “It has power Maxwell.” The cave grew silent, Liz got up and walked away from the group, Max rose to follow her, but Michael stopped him. “Let me go talk to her, you guys finish planning.” Max nodded and sat back down; Michael went in the direction Liz had gone.

He spotted her sitting in a darkened corner, he could tell she was crying. I should have let Max come. He thought, he took a deep breath and then walked to her, he sat down next to her.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Oh, um,” she wiped tears away, “Yea, I’m fine.”

“You know, both you and Maria are terrible liars,” he grinned and bumped her with his shoulder. She laughed a little.

“Look Liz, I know we aren’t the greatest friends, but we both love Maria. So, tell me what the deal is, what were you guys fighting about? And what’s bothering you?”

Liz took a deep breath and turned to him, “We were fighting about something I told her,” she said looking at her hands folded in her lap. “It was stupid, I shouldn’t have been angry at her, I can see her point…”

“Okay, what exactly were you fighting about?” Michael said.

“I was told something by a person, a person who’s very important to me…” she paused, “…he said that Max and I were the reason that…” she took a deep nervous breath… “That you and Isabel eventually die.”

“What?” He asked confused.

“Please don’t make me explain it.”

“Okay, fine, go on.” Michael shrugged.

“Anyway, Maria was pissed because Max and I are still together…and she thought these pods could be the things that kill you…” she trailed off. Michael was laughing, “It’s not funny Michael.” She said in a serious tone, “You said it yourself, these things are powerful…what if it’s true? Haven’t you been wondering why Maria’s been acting the way she has? She’s totally afraid she’s going to lose you.”

“Look,” Michael said looking her directly in the eye, “I don’t know who told you this…information, but it’s just not going to happen, we’ll figure out how to get this under control and we’ll get Maria back…” I hope.

* * * *

Maria could hear the awful metal on metal sound again, she sighed, she wasn’t ready for another session with Darth Vadar.

“You ready to talk?” He said sitting down across from her; she looked away from him. She wanted him to be the real Michael; right now she just wanted to throw herself into Michael’s arms and apologize for breaking up with him. She wanted to feel safe in his embrace, she swallowed the knot that had formed in her throat, and turned back to face the imposter.

“Who do you think my friends are?” She questioned, “I mean you must think something right, otherwise you wouldn’t be looking for them. So if you tell me, maybe I can give you the information you want.” She met his gaze briefly and then looked away again.

“I think your friends are aliens,” he said simply, “At least some of them, they’re known as the Royal Four.” Maria stiffened. “Oh, you recognize the title?”

“No, I um…I just got the chills,” she lied

“You’re a very bad liar.” The Michael thing said standing up. “There are some people on my planet that would like them extinguished.” He smiled at her, Maria shuddered, he was going to kill them. Her heart jumped up into her throat at the horrible realization, if she couldn’t warn them they would all die. She swallowed and stood up till she could meet the Michael thing’s eyes.

“You don’t frighten me,” she said keeping her expression neutral, “so if you think you can scare me in to submission, I suggest you find an alternative plan.” She was suddenly thrown back against the metal wall, she could hear the Michael thing come toward her, “I told you I could do this forcefully.” He said and then she felt his hands dig into her arm she shrieked in pain as a sharp slicing sensation shot it’s way up to her mind, she could feel electric pulses rip image after image from her memory.

Her and Liz bonding over a hurt bird, her mother and her father fighting, Liz being shot in the Crashdown…she used all her strength to push the image of Max leaping over the counter away. She couldn’t let this thing see anything else, she held her breath until she felt dizzy, Day-Glo spots began to swim in her vision, her lungs screamed for air but she didn’t take a breath. She could feel the Michael thing’s confusion when all of the memories stopped and her mind went black…

* * * *

The dream orbs floated around the dream plain and Isabel hummed the tone of Maria’s orb nothing came forward. “Maria,” she yelled into the plain, still nothing. She took a deep breath; she’d been trying to contact Maria’s orb for at least an hour. “This is pointless,” she said and then she was back in her bedroom. Michael sat on the end of her bed. “I can’t find her.” She said defeated.

“Maybe she isn’t asleep yet, we’ll try in another hour.”

“Michael it’s almost midnight…”

“We’ll try again later.” He gave her the no-further-discussion look and stood up, he began to pace the room.

“What did you guys say to cover for her not coming home the last couple days?” Isabel asked trying to lighten the mood.

“I don’t know, that’s Liz’s department, but um we gave Valenti the heads up,” he said scratching his eyebrow.

“Who’s on duty at the lake tonight?” She asked standing and straightening her bookshelf.

“Max and Liz.” He sat back down on her bed, “Maybe I’ll go in with you next time,” he said tracing the patterns on her quilt, “Two of us might be able to find her orb better.”

* * * *

Liz took her eyes off of the lake and looked at Max, “Do you think she’s okay?” He slipped his arm around her shoulder and she leaned her head against his chest. “I don’t know,” he said. Liz felt a warm tear slither down her cheek, “It’s my fault,” she said quietly, “If I hadn’t left her alone…” she couldn’t finish, Max wrapped his other arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “It’s not your fault, friends have fights…”

“But usually one of them doesn’t get kidnapped by ET,” she said. She could feel Max vibrate with a chuckle and found her self give a quiet laugh, then his laugh choked into silence. “What is it?” She said sitting up, Max was looking toward the lake, she let her gaze swing in that direction. One of the pod lights was glowing very bright and then suddenly there was a silent explosion. Max stood up staring in the direction of the explosion, “Go back to the car,” he told her.

“Why…” she began.

“Just go,” he said, she looked back at the lake and saw a glowing figure emerging from the water, she nodded and then started up the rocks. When she reached the car she found Michael leaning against the hood.

“Michael!”

She said racing toward him, “Another one of the pods hatched, you have to help Max.” Michael nodded, “He can take care of it, we have to get away from here…” He grabbed her arm and squeezed,

Liz squirmed, “Ouch, Michael,” she said, “Let go, I’ll get in the car and leave but you have to help Max.” She squirmed again.

“I told you he can deal with it, now come on,” he started dragging Liz from the car she fought against him but he was to strong. “What’s gotten into you! Let go of me! Michael!” She felt ice-cold daggers shoot up her legs and then she pitched forward Michael caught her, she couldn’t move, her vision dimmed so that she couldn’t see.

She felt herself being thrown into a room, when she hit the cold metal floor she willed her body to work, her vision came back slowly, she could see Maria laying motionless a few away from her. She pushed herself to her knees and crawled to her, “Maria!” She said taking her best friend in her arms she was cold. “Maria?” Liz leaned forward putting her head on Maria’s chest, she couldn’t hear a heartbeat, she placed her fingers just above Maria’s mouth, and she didn’t feel any air.

“Oh god Maria!” She laid her friend down flat on the metal ground then tilted her head back and started CPR. Maria coughed and her eyes opened. “Thank god!” She said helping her friend sit up.

“Liz?” Maria asked dazed.

“Yea, it’s me.” She hugged her friend, “What did Michael do to you?” She asked brushing her hand through Maria’s hair. “Michael?” Maria said confused. There was a horrible grating metal sound and Michael stepped into the room he was smiling. Liz leaned Maria against the metal wall and stomped toward him.

“What did you do to her!” She screamed at him, “She was dead you creep!” Liz hit him with her fists, “Is this some alien reaction to breaking up! Almost killing your girlfriend!”

“Liz stop!” Maria said standing up and stepping next to her friend she grabbed Liz’s hand and pulled her away from him.

“No he almost killed you! When Max hears about this…” Liz said squirming against Maria’s grip, Maria held fast, “That’s not Michael,” she finally said.

* * * *

The door to Isabel’s room flew open ripping Michael and her from the dream plain, Max raced into the room, he looked like he’d ran all the way from Lake Lee, there was a gash across his forehead, there was dirt caked to the dry blood.

“Liz is gone!” He said frantically.

“Max, what happen? Why are you bleeding?” Isabel asked walking to her brother, and examining the cut on his head, he slapped her hand away.

“What happened?” Michael asked looking at Max.

“Liz and I were at the lake, another one of the pods hatched, when I saw it, I told her to go back to the car. I thought she’d be safe…”

“What happened to you?” Michael said.

“The thing, whatever was in the pod came at me, I thought I could hold it off with my powers but it shot me clear across the lake. When I came to I hiked back to the car but she was gone.” He took a deep breath.

“We have to take care of that cut,” Isabel said sitting next to her brother and dabbing it with a damp Kleenex. Max cringed a little, but let Iz do her thing.

“Where is it?” Michael asked standing up.

“I don’t know,” Max said wincing again, “I wasn’t exactly able to follow it.”

“I’m going to guess that it’s probably with the other one. Maxwell,” Michael crouched in front of him, “Was that the only other pod that hatched?”

“I can’t remember, okay that’s enough,” he said squirming away from Isabel. Michael stood back up, “I’m going to take care of the rest of the pods,” he said heading for the door.

“You can’t deal with them by yourself,” Isabel said matter of factly, “Look what they did to Max.”

“You’re right,” he said setting his mouth in a firm line, “Okay, here’s what we do, Isabel you come with me, Max call the rest of the gang and meet us there.” He nodded and then he and Isabel left the room.

* * * *

The Michael thing stood at the other end of the room very still and silent with it’s back to them, “What do you mean it’s not Michael?” Liz whispered.

“Well, he…it kind of stole the image of Michael from my brain and made itself look like him.” Maria explained not taking her eyes off of him.

“What is it doing?” Liz asked adjusting her position.

“Phoning home,” Maria said sarcastically. Liz shot a glance back at her friend, “What did it do to you?” She asked quietly.

“It didn’t do anything,” Maria said taking a deep breath, “It knows about the Royal Four,” she nodded, “He was trying to get me to tell him who they were, he knows their names he got that from me earlier, but he doesn’t know who the aliens are.” She looked at Liz, “He probably thinks you’re an alien.” She smirked.

“But why were you dead, when I got here?” Liz said seriously.

“I figured if I was dead, and my brain was dead he couldn’t get anymore information.” She explained.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” Liz said harshly.

“Listen,” Maria said taking Liz’s hands in hers and meeting her best friends eyes, “It was either risk myself or risk them…”she looked away as tears filled her eyes… “You know the few for the many,” she said quietly.

“What does he want with them?” Liz asked looking at the Michael thing again. Maria took a deep breath and looked back at Liz; “I think he wants to kill them…” The Michael thing turned to look at them, both girls stiffened.

“What are my two little prisoners talking about?” He asked stepping toward them.

“We were discussing…” Maria started.

“Homework.” Liz finished quickly. “Yea, we had this killer assignment in English,” she tried to sound casual.

“Enough,” the Michael thing said harshly, Liz snapped her mouth shut, “I want to know what you know about the Royal Four.” He said.