«My mom wouldn't let me take it if she hadn't totally checked it out.» Maria looked absolutely sure of herself.
Hesitant, Kyle took one of the herbal capsules out of the bottle, staring at it as if it were dangerous. The blue capsule looked harmless enough to Kyle, but so did Michael, and he could kill people with his thoughts.
«Here, take it with this.» Maria lifted the bowl off the nightstand. It still had some water left in it from their failed ritual.
«This has been one strange day.» Kyle swallowed the capsule in a gulp.
As Michael and Maria carefully returned Isabel's room to its normal setup, Max took Kyle to his room to give him a comfortable bed to lie in and relax. Liz followed, covering
the windows and dimming the lights for him. Once everything was set up and Kyle was comfortably in bed, Michael and Maria joined them.
«Is everything okay?» Max asked.
«I can't decide if the bed is too hard, too soft, or just right," Kyle replied. «Do you have any porridge?»
No one laughed at the truly lame joke.
«Are you tired?» Max asked. «Do you think you can fall asleep?»
«It would probably be easier if I didn't have four people staring intensely at me," Kyle said.
Max immediately understood. «I should go check on Jason.»
«Yeah, we'll go too," Maria agreed as they all started to leave the room.
«Liz.» Kyle stopped his ex-girlfriend. «Would you mind staying?»
Instinctively, she looked to Max for approval or to apologize for her connection to Kyle, but Max consciously chose not to return her glance. With his sister's life in jeopardy, this was not the time for petty jealousies. Besides, he had been trying to move beyond her bond with Kyle just as he hoped that she could move past his relationship with Tess.
After the others filed out of the room, Liz sat beside Kyle on Max's bed and took his hand into hers. It was certainly an odd situation, no matter how one looked at it, and they both couldn't help but smile.
«So, back when we were dating," Kyle said, heading for dangerous territory, «did you ever think we'd end up like this?»
«What? Didn't you?» Liz played along. «Lying in my
new boyfriend's bed while you tried to release his sister who is trapped in your dreams? I always suspected that our relationship would end when I met an alien and threw all of our lives into almost constant peril.»
«Yeah, me too," Kyle agreed sleepily. «I just wanted to make sure we both had had the same expectations.»
«Marias magical herbs seem to be working?» Liz asked hopefully.
Kyle stifled a yawn in response. «How do you think I'm supposed to find Isabel once I'm asleep?»
«Honestly?» Liz said. «I have no idea. It's not exactly like we're treading on scientifically proven ground here. But, I can't think of anything else we could do.»
«Is it worth it?» Kyle turned serious for a moment. «All that we've been through? All that we're going to be put through?»
Liz thought about his question. There was no easy answer. «I don't know. Obviously, in light of Alex, I'd have to say no. But then I think about Max, Michael, and Isabel going through all of this by themselves with no one to turn to for help and I have to be glad that we can be there for them.»
«In spite of getting shot, running from the FBI, and Isabel getting trapped in my brain?» Kyle added with a full yawn.
«Yeah, in spite of all that.» Liz smiled. «Maybe we should stop talking so you can get some rest.»
«Okay," he said sleepily, closing his eyes. «Good night, Liz.»
«Good night," she replied.
Liz stayed with Kyle, listening to his breathing grow more steady. It did not take long for him to fall into what
she had hoped would be a productive sleep. She waited a few minutes to confirm that he was definitely out before moving over to the chair by Max's desk. She had no intention of leaving him alone while he experienced whatever it was he was about to go through.
Watching over his sleeping form, she wished Kyle luck on his journey, hoping he would be able to rescue Isabel and gain whatever kind of closure he needed to end his own suffering.
19
Kyle stood in the middle of his living room.
Alone.
«Isabel?» he yelled. «Isabel, are you here?»
But no answer came.
Then, he heard the familiar voices, fighting… screaming… dying.
He made his way over to his bedroom door. He had hoped he would never have to witness this event again. It was the same hope he'd had every time he'd closed his eyes the past few weeks. But he knew he would have to go where the dream took him if he was to find Isabel and free her from his mind. If only he knew how he was expected to do that.
Placing his hand on the knob, he couldn't bring himself to turn it. The metal felt warm to the touch and was growing hotter. Do it for Isabel, he thought, and flung the door open without further hesitation.
This time, however, he did not see a frightened Tess and a battered Alex. This time, his room was as empty as
the living room. Although if he listened closely he could hear the voices off in the distance, straining not to yell. He knew they were different than before, but did not know why.
Stepping into the room, he searched for any clues to Isabel's whereabouts, but found nothing. He knelt on the floor in the position he had memorized as the spot where Alex had died.
«This is new," her voice said from behind him.
Snapping to his feet, Kyle found the object of his mission into his mind, standing in the doorway. «Isabel!»
«Good to see you've grown up," she said, obviously believing him to be just another dream image-which he was, in a way. «Does that mean you're ready to discuss why I'm here?»
«Isabel, it's me, Kyle," he said. «I've come to get you out.»
«You're the one keeping me here.» She still thought she was playing into the dream story line. «Let me go.»
«No, Isabel.» Kyle tried to clear up the confusion. «It's me. Kyle. Max sent me back into my dream to find you and bring you out.»
«Kyle. Thank God!» She reached out and grabbed him in a joyful embrace. «How do we get out of here?»
«That's the funny thing," he said. «I'm not so sure.»
«Let me get this straight," she said. «You came in here to rescue me, but there was no plan to get you back out?»
«It seemed like a good idea at the time…«He knew just how dumb that sounded.
«Kyle!»
«We're trying," he defended the plan. «I realize you visit
people in their dreams all the time, but this is kind of uncharted territory for me.»
«How long have I been in your mind?»
«It's almost two in the afternoon," he said, giving her a moment to let that information sink in.
«Eleven hours," she whispered in shock.
Kyle sat down on his bed and noticed it was much more comfortable in his dreams than in reality. «Have you been having a good time?»
«Kyle, your mind is one scary place," she said with a laugh, joining him on the bed. «But I think I've figured out why you're plagued with these dreams.»
«What? How?»
«I've been stuck here with the Kyle Valenti version of Mini-Me," Isabel explained. «He showed me some interesting things.»
«Like what?» Kyle asked.
«Here, let me show you," she replied, getting back up. «I think that may be the only way out of here.» Taking Kyle by the hand, she led him through his house to the front door. When she glanced back at him, Kyle gave her a halfhearted smile to let her know he was ready for whatever they were about to do.
As Isabel opened the front door, she expected to be taken to the police station, since that seemed to be the order of things, but instead she found herself in the middle of the desert once again. «I thought I had things figured out," she mumbled to herself.