A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates, it's just that the terror that is school is back and it's my final year so i have to make up for 5 years of being too lazy to learn.

Chapter 12

"That was the best time I've had in so long."
Isabelle laughed as she walked down the street. Alex was by her side with his arm draped over her shoulder, Liz walking slightly ahead of them. The atmosphere was very relaxed. They were happy again, the shock of having to leave so suddenly having melted away. Isabelle smiled to herself as Alex kissed her forehead. Her day had been wonderful, the company of Liz and Alex was all she needed to escape from this nightmare of a life. She was sorry Maria hadn't come though. They would have had so much fun together. Maria was the best to hang out with, Liz was great too, but sometimes she reminded Isabelle a little too much of Max. Maria wasn't afraid to whistle at a cute guy on the street, those kind of things always made Isabelle laugh, but Liz would never do anything like that. Max wouldn't like it. She loved them both dearly, but sometimes, she worried about Liz. All that time with her brother can't be good for a girl. They were approaching the house, and Isabelle was suddenly struck by how ugly it was. It was a gross shade of yellow, the walls were peeling and the garden was like a jungle. Isabelle wrinkled her nose in disgust. If you'd told her four years ago that she'd be living in a house like that, she would have laughed in your face. Although, if you told her she'd be living in a house like that AND engaged to Alex, she'd probably have kissed you. She looked up at him, he was staring straight ahead.
"What time is it?" Liz asked.
Alex looked at his watch.
"11.30"
The street lights gave the street an eerie glow and Isabelle shivered.
"You ok?"
"Yeah I'm fine."
They came up to the gate.
"Ugh, even the gate is hanging by a thread. I'm telling you, we'd be safer with the skins. That house is going to collapse any minute."
Liz laughed. Isabelle liked her laugh, it was genuine, infectious almost. Alex suddenly froze beside her, his eyes glued to the front door.
"Alex?"
He looked worried.
"Why are there no lights on? Even when she goes to bed, she leaves at least one light on."
Isabelle looked at Liz. Her eyes had widened, she looked like she was going to cry. Isabelle walked over and held her in her arms.
"Lizzie, I'm sure she's fine, she just forgot."
Her voice was quivering slightly. Fear began to take over her good mood.
"You two stay here, I'm gonna take a look inside."
Alex walked to the door, it wasn't locked and opened with a moan of the hinges. He stepped inside and Isabelle couldn't stand still, she was the one with the powers, not Alex, she should be going in there. The girls still had their arms wrapped around each other as they disobeyed Alex and followed him into the house. It was dark and very, very quiet. Alex felt around for the light switch and turned it on. The light hurt their eyes and they had to squint at first but they could make out that nothing had been moved, everything was just as they had left it.
"Maria?"
Alex whispered.
"Maria?"
He said it louder this time. It hit Isabelle suddenly, the house felt almostâ€dead. She let go of Liz and looked around. She ventured into the hallway and that's when she saw a pair of legs.
"Oh my god!! Maria?? Guys, over here!!"
She knelt down by her body. She was covered in a cold sweat and was still in her pyjamas. She could feel Alex and Liz's presence behind her. She could hear Liz's gasp. Alex came over from the other side and put his hands to his head.
"Oh my god, oh my god..."
Isabelle checked her pulse, and thanked the lord when she found it. Liz sat beside Isabelle, she was bawling.
"What happened to her? Is she ok?"
"She's still alive, I don't know what happened. I, just, what do we.."
"Isabelle, can't you help her, heal her?"
She looked up into his blue eyes.
"Yeah, I, I can try."
She put her hand on Maria's head and tried to make the connection. Impatience grew as she waited for the flash of images, but none came. She opened her eyes. 'Try again Isabelle, try again'. She sat there for a long time trying the make the connection. When she looked up again, Liz's eyes were the first thing she saw. They stared back at her, grief pouring from them in the form of tears.
"Liz, I'm sorry, I can't do it, it's like a brick wall, I can't..."
Her emotions were getting the better of her, she could feel the frustration and anger rising from the pit of her stomach. 'Why can't I heal her?? Why can't I heal one of my best friends??' She jumped when a hand closed around her wrist. She looked down, Maria's eyes were open, but they were colourless, white, not even white, a kind of grey colour.
"Isabelle, help me, please help me."
Maria's request came out in a choked sob, and just like that she was gone again. Except this time she started shaking violently. They tried to hold her down.
"She's gonna hurt herself," Liz cried as she tried to hold down Maria's arms.
Maria started screaming, she kept screaming and suddenly, there was silence, and her body was still once more. Alex bent down.
"She knew you were there Is, she knew it was you trying to get in."
Alex scooped Maria up in his arms and carried her to the couch. She was burning up now, so warm that Alex could still feel the heat off her even when he put her down.
"What should we do?"
Liz asked. She couldn't watch Maria die, not now, not after everything they'd been through. Isabelle lowered herself into an armchair and covered her face with her hands. Liz sat on the ground, between the armchair and the couch and held Maria's hand in her right and lay her left hand on Isabelle's arm. Alex was the only one standing now. He argued with himself over what to do, should he comfort the girls or go out and find Max and Michael? He looked up.
"Michael's got to know. We have to tell him. Maybe Max could heal her."
"How do we tell them Alex? They could be anywhere."
"Isabelle you could dreamwalk."
"But what if they're not asleep?"
"You could try."
She looked worried, this was their only hope and if it didn't work they'd have nothing to cling to. She was hesitant with her answer.
"Okay."
Liz looked up at her.
"Just don't tell Michael."
"Why not?"
"You should tell Max. You know Michael, Is, he's likely to fly off the handle. If you tell Max, Max can explain to him nice and calmly. You know? It'd be better than just showing up in his head and telling him."
"She's right, you should try Max."
Isabelle nodded and focused on an image of her brother in her head. She connected instantly and when she arrived, he was sitting with his back turned to her. He was on the edge of a rooftop on one of the high rise buildings in the heart of the city looking up at the stars.
"Max?"
He turned suddenly.
"Isabelle? What are you doing here?"
He walked towards her.
"Oh Max."
She hugged him and broke down in his arms.
"Is? Isabelle? Is everything okay? I told you only to contact me in emergencies."
"Max, this is an emergency. Maria's really sick...I tried to connect, I tried to heal her...i can't, Max I can't."
"Sick? How sick?"
"It's not like anything I've seen before. Her eyes are kinda grey and, and her skin is really pale, she's got a fever." She took a quivered breath, she could taste the salty tears on her lips. "The worst thing is the connection Max, she won't let me connect. She's trapped, I don't know what to do. We need you."
He was shocked. Worry and guilt coursed through him. How could he leave so soon? How could he make Michael leave? 'Michael, oh my god, he's going to be devastated.'
"Max, I don't think she can last much longer."
"Take me to her."
She held his hand and immediately they were in the living room. It was like a still frame from five minutes beforehand, only Isabelle was standing by Max's side now and not in the armchair. Max saw Maria lying on the couch. She looked awful. He turned to face Isabelle.
"Go back, Is. Tell the others to sit tight, Michael and I will be home soon."
She nodded and disappeared. Once again, he was on the rooftop, staring up at the sky. It had been his way of saying goodnight to Liz, the brightest of all stars. 'I should really wake up now..;

He sat up with a jolt. His surroundings were the same as in the dream with a couple of exceptions. The little fire he and Michael had built using their powers was now reduced to ash. Max could tell that Michael was still awake. He was lying down on his sleeping bag with his head resting on his hands.
"Bad dream, Maxwell?" Michael smirked.
Max looked at his watch, it was almost 12.30. He took a deep breath.
"Michael, I think you should sit down."
Michael turned his head to the left to look at Max. Noting the expression on his face, he shrugged and sat up straight, after a few seconds, he coughed, prompting Max to begin.
"Michael, I..."
"Just spill, Max."
"We have to go home, now."
"What? Why?"
"Look, Michael, just don't get too worried."
"What is it? What happened?"
"Isabelle came to my dream, she said that, she said..."
Michael made a circling motion with his hand.
"Maria's sick."
Michael visibly paled.
"How sick? You mean flu sick, or...?"
"She suspects...alien, sick"
He struggled for breath as his whole world came crashing down around him. He gulped.
"She told me,...she told me something was wrong...that I, I shouldn't go"
"I know, Michael, I was there."
"Did you see her?"
"Yes."
"How did she look."
He didn't want to lie to him.
"Not good. We have to go back."
Michael nodded and jumped up, and as quick as a flash he had all his stuff together. Max kept going over the images in his head. If Isabelle couldn't heal her, what made her think that he could? He looked at Michael. He looked almost as bad as Maria had looked on the couch. 'How could I do this? This was such a stupid idea.' The journey home wasn't easy, Michael was always a foot or so ahead. His determination to get home was shown clearly in his stride. Max had pity for him. 'What if it had been Liz?' He shuddered. Max didn't understand how Maria could get sick like this. Something must have happened to her during the fire. He walked while staring at the ground. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Michael quicken his pace. Max looked up, he could see the house at the ver top of the street and he started to run. Michael was ahead of him, he didn't even bother to open the gate, he just jumped it. Max opened the gate and closed it behind him. He walked morbidly up the steps. 'What if I can't heal her?' Michael was already inside. He was on the floor next to Maria. Liz stood in front of Max and wrapped her arms around him. He stood there, frozen, the happiness of his family rested on his shoulders. It wasn't a question of: should I heal her or not? It was: can I heal her or not? He walked to her and put his hand on her head. The warmth of relief spread through him when he felt the familiar connection. He was just about to heal her when he was flung across the room. His back hit the wall with a thud and he groaned as he slid down the wall.
"MAX!!"
Isabelle, Alex and Liz came rushing towards him. He stood up, gasping for breath. A silver glow caught his eye, it was coming from under Maria's shirt. Michael was staring at it. Max went over, he pulled her shirt up to reveal her stomach. There was a small silver blob. He touched it, nothing happened. Michael looked over, he put out his hand to touch it too. The minute his hand rested on it, he connected. He saw everything, Maria getting up, talking to the guys, calling out for help, screaming for him, he felt the pain she felt, it was agony, and then he saw it: a baby, his baby, a little girl, inside Maria. The second he release the connection, Maria sat up clutching her stomach. She looked at him, her eyes wide with pain and fear. He was stunned, this couldn't be happening, not now. The others looked at Michael expectantly. He turned again to Maria.
"Maria, you're, you're"
"Pregnant."

A/N: Sorry again, but good news is on the horizon...THE SIMS 2 IS OUT ON FRIDAY!!! Whoo Hooooooo!!!!