CHAPTER 24
Liz fell back with a yelp as Michael surged off the bed in one sudden, unexpected movement and stood, wild-eyed and shivering. Lying on the floor where she'd fallen, she stared up at the tall alien. He was breathing hard and his eyes darted unchecked around the room as if he were unsure of where he was. "Michael?" she squeaked.
At the sound of her voice, he went still, and the turbulence seemed to die down in his eyes. Blinking, he turned to her slowly, no expression on his face. "You're awake," she said, and then mentally kicked herself for her inanity. Of course he was awake. He was standing right there, wasn't he?
"Did it work?" she questioned him. "Did you see them in your dream? What happened?" When he didn't answer, just looking at her mutely, she grabbed him by the arm to pull him from the room. She'd see for herself. Intent on getting next door to Isabel's room, she missed the sudden whitening of his face. By the time they got there, his face was once more devoid of expression.
Bursting into the room, Michael in tow, she gasped out, "What happened?" Alex was kneeling by the side of the bed, holding up a shaking Maria, while Max did the same for Isabel. Both girls looked exhausted. Actually, so did Michael; a few short hours of forced slumber evidently wasn't enough to catch him up, however strongly he denied his need for sleep.
"Michael woke up, and we got pushed out of the dream," said Isabel tautly. "When it happened we were just pulling him out."
"Did it work?" asked Maria. Starting to raise her head, she flinched. "Ow. Got to stop running into things. What is it with the violent headaches, already?" she muttered. Carefully, to avoid jogging her throbbing head any further, she looked up. "Michael," she breathed, putting a hand out towards him. After a moment of hesitation, he took a few steps toward the bed, but then stopped to stand motionlessly, as if his attention was suddenly pulled elsewhere. He paled.
"You all right, man?" said Alex from his position by Maria's side.
Shaking off his reverie, the alien meeting Alex's gaze squarely. He ignored the question the teen had asked, and spoke in a ragged voice. "They dreamwalked. Are we even now?"
Startled, Alex nodded his head, saying, "Yeah."
Michael turned and abruptly pushed past Liz and out the door. Ignoring her pounding head, Maria was up and after him in an instant. She found him sitting on Max's bed, slowly pulling on his boots. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded. He didn't look up at her, much less answer. "We need to talk about what happened in there. I mean, did you see what was happening? Did we...did we get you out? Are you back?" Her speech stumbled to a halt. "Why won't you answer me?"
He grudgingly spoke. "Nothing to say."
"Michael, Isabel and I just risked our lives in there to get you out. The least you can do is tell us if it worked or not!"
"No," he said coldly, standing and moving abruptly towards the window. Maria pushed past him to block it.
"Oh no, you're not leaving yet. We need to go back in and get you."
"Maria." Alex's voice came from the open doorway. She willfully ignored him, instead advancing on Michael.
"I mean it," she said. "Go back to sleep." Reaching up, she placed her hands on his shoulders to push him back down onto the bed. "Max put you out once, he'll do it again."
He stood firmly in place, not allowing himself to be moved. "I promised Alex you could dreamwalk. You did. It's over."
"It can't be over," she said, a note of hysteria in her voice. "Don't you see? I promised you I'd always come for you. I can't leave you there, I just can't!" She looked beseechingly up at his shuttered face, and he looked away from her. "Michael, please," she said brokenly, gripping his shoulders tightly. "Please."
Moving toward her, Alex gave Michael a look torn between sympathy and entreaty and added his pleas to Maria's. "Once more, Michael. For Maria and Isabel. What can it hurt?" But he knew it was futile when he saw the alien look away. Alex gently pulled Maria's hands away from Michael and then held her as she turned and collapsed in his arms.
Leaving a distraught Maria to Alex, Michael quietly walked out of Max's room and back into Isabel's. Liz was perched on the bed, talking in low tones with the two aliens.
"Liz," he said gruffly. "Maria...she needs you."
With a startled look, Liz rose and unhesitatingly went to her friend, only pausing to say "Thanks" on her way out of Isabel's room.
Michael, left alone with his two oldest companions, stood silently, a somewhat distracted look on his face. Taking in his friend's weary stance, Max ventured, "Michael, you're exhausted. Let me help you get some more sleep." A sharply drawn breath caused him to hurry on, "Not to do any more dreamwalking, just to let you rest. You need it."
In an empty voice, Michael stated, "I don't need anything."
"Michael." Isabel made an abortive movement to get off the bed and cross to him, but he moved past her to the window and climbed out, leaving them alone.
Isabel called his name once more, but Max put his hand out to keep her from stopping him. "Let him go," he said softly.
"But, Max--" she began.
"He's close to the edge. Push him any more, and he'll snap."
"What do you mean, Max?" asked Liz from the doorway. Behind her, Alex watched, his arm around a shaken Maria.
"He's been pushed to his limit. Couldn't you feel it, Isabel? Maria?"
Neither girl answered, and the trio of humans slowly entered the room and sat. Sinking down on the bed next to Isabel, Maria bit her lip.
"What do we do now, Max?" Liz asked quietly.
Swallowing, he replied, "I don't know."
Then there was silence as the five friends stared numbly at the walls around them.
Unthinking, Michael Guerin trudged across town, the soles of his boots echoing into the silent night as they hit the pavement. He traveled without noticing where he was going, heading for his apartment by instinct alone. His fragmented mind could only focus on one thought.
He'd lied to her.
Well, not lied precisely, but she'd misinterpreted his adamant refusal to talk about what had happened and he hadn't corrected her. He'd just wanted to get out of there. He'd needed to. Something in the back of his brain was setting his teeth on edge, and he'd had to flee.
But not before--purposely or not--fooling them all.
He picked up his pace. The voice he'd heard inside his dream hadn't left when he'd awakened. He could still hear it. It drowned out almost every other sound and tore his focus and attention from his surroundings, from what they were saying, from her. He'd barely been able to act calmly, to keep from curling up in a little ball with his hands over his head in a futile attempt to drown it out.
The sounds of his feet came more rapidly as he broke into a jog and then a full-fledged sprint. But he couldn't outrun this.
Somehow he made it back to his apartment, never really knowing how he'd gotten there. He fumbled with his keys as he unlocked his door. Safely inside, he leaned back against it and slid to the ground. He had dreamed it once before, and it had never really gone away, but he'd been able to ignore it, to put it aside like it hadn't existed. But now he was back, and so was it, with a vengeance. He couldn't hide from it.
Killer.
TBC...