PART 4

Max jumped awake when he heard the door click open and a second later Michael came barrelling in. "Gee Michael You could have knocked. People might get suspicious if they see you opening a lock with your powers." Max commented.

 "Where is she?" he bellowed, ignoring Max.

"Michael, calm down!" Liz said, getting up from the chair.

Michael whirled around, seething with unrepressed rage. "Calm down? Calm down!" he yelled. Then he quickly lowered his voice to menacing growl. "It's seven in the morning. I have been on a plane for three hours; I'm jerked awake by the news that my long lost sister is back! I'm hungry and worried sick! You tell me to calm down!"

"Well…since you put it that way…"Max began. Michael began to head towards Alex's room.

Liz gave Max a glare before running up to Michael and catching hold of him. "Wait, wait, wait!" Michael gave her a frustrated glare. "You might not want to disturb her. She's had a tough night."

Michael paused, considering Liz's request. Finally, he nodded reluctantly. "Okay. Can I see her though? I promise I won't wake her."

Liz nodded and led him quietly to the room. Michael stood near her bed, watching her sleep. He noticed Alex get up from the rocking chair and stand behind him. It was a comforting gesture. Michael knew that Alex was taking good care of her.

She looks so vulnerable. He thought as he looked at Isabel for the first time in five years. He glanced at the bandages and asked, "What happened?"

"Cuts and bruises." Max told him.

"How did you find her?"

"Let's come outside. It's a long story." Alex told him. Michael stood stubbornly next to the bed, not wanting to leave. Max gently pulled him away.

"We'll be right here. Nothing will happen." Max told him. Michael finally took his eyes of her frail body and followed Alex and Max back to the den. Liz was pouring coffee into mugs. "You might want to wake up your wife." Liz told him. "We promised we would when you arrived."

Michael smiled slightly as he headed down to Maria's room. She spent so many days here that it was now converted from a guest room to her bedroom. Michael sighed. He wished he was home more but his work often took him to other cities for a couple of days.

He shook Maria awake. She rolled over and smiled when she saw him. "Hey pixie!" he whispered, kissing her lightly.

"Hey Spaceboy. When did you come back?" she asked.

"A while ago." He answered but his smile faded. "I saw Isabel."

Maria looked sad as she hugged him. "She'll be fine, now that we're here."

"Yeah." He agreed. "Now come on. Alex wants to tell us what happened."

He gently guided Maria to the den and placed her on the couch. He sat next to her, with her feet on his lap. Max sat on the love seat with Liz while Alex placed himself on the chair.

He sat and looked around nervously. "Well…this is confusing even for me." He began. "I don't know how it happened. I don't think Izzy meant to do it…but it just…happened."

"Stop stalling! What happened?" Michael demanded.

"Dream walking! I managed to dream walk Isabel. Not her dream but her sub conscious. It was the gloomiest place I had seen. There was no life in her, as if she never experienced happiness." Alex's eyes had a far off look, filled with horror and deep sadness. "It was not the Isabel I knew. I found her in a ball crying. She called out to me but then kept crying, as if something was suffocating her. The place felt so lonely and trapped. In that one moment, I felt whatever she felt and it shook me. Such despair and utter helplessness. Before I managed to talk to her, I was pulled back out. I had flash, before the dream ended. Off Central park so I took a hunch and went to look for he there. After what I had seen, I had to go on a whim to check. I found her on a park bench, barely conscious and freezing."

Alex stopped and glanced around the room. Liz and Maria were crying and Max and Michael were staring stone-faced at him. "I brought her here and well, then Maria came and bandaged her up a bit and warmed her. Liz then checked her up, so she should know what happened."

Everyone turned to Liz. She sniffled as she began to tell them about the bruises and cuts. Everyone sat horrified as Liz described the bruises.

"We-we can't heal them…"Max began.

"I know." Liz told him.

"But how did she get them? Was she hurt?" Alex asked.

Maria shook her head. "Who knows? We have to wait for Isabel to wake up and clear up a few details." Like the last five years for instance.

Tbc..