Nightscape

5

Relax…?" Liz said. "What was that?"

"I don't know," he replied. "Maybe the power went out in town."

"Maybe," Liz said, but somehow didn't feel like that was the reason. She couldn't explain why, but she knew that wasn't it.

Then the road changed again, and they were on a paved surface. They were also going uphill. That was good. Maybe when they reached the top of the hill, they would be able to see farther. If they could spot the town, she would feel better.

Minutes later the lightning lit up the sky again, outlining a building near the top of the hill. Liz could make out only a silhouette of the building, and that for only a second. Nevertheless, she felt a chill run down her spine.

There was something odd about the building.

Then there was another flash, this one directly behind the structure, and for a moment, it was brightly illuminated. Liz recognized it instantly. "Max, stop," she said.

"What?" he replied.

"Max, you have to stop the van," Liz said sharply.

He brought the van to a stop. "What is it, Liz?" Max pressed.

Immediately, all eyes in the van were on her. She didn't waste any time. She suspected they didn't have much time to waste.

"That is the house from my… vision. We have to get out of here," she said.

Max nodded, "Any objections?" he asked.

A chorus of "no's" came from the back.

Liz turned to see that Maria looked nervous… scared, actually. Liz understood. After all, Liz's vision had been about Maria in danger. Well, maybe the vision would be useful this time. Maybe they could just slip away now and prevent the event from happening.

Turning around, Liz watched the house recede and felt relieved. She barely had time to register the thought when the sound of the engine died. Pivoting her head back around, she saw that the light on the dashboard had gone off, as had the headlights.

The van slowed down.

"Engine just died," Max said as the van slowed.

"You have got to be kidding me," Maria said from the back.

"Gas?" Michael asked, as the van came to a halt.

"We have half a tank," Max replied.

"Well, there should be nothing wrong with the van," Kyle said, his tone firm. Liz knew he had spent many hours fixing and tuning the van in Stonewall. "Just try to start it again."

Max did. The first three times, the van's starter just clicked. Then it started normally.

"See," Kyle said as the van started moving again.

Liz turned to smile at Maria and saw relief on her best friend's face. But Maria's smile died as the van stopped again.

"This is impossible," Kyle said.

Max didn't respond; he simply tried to start the van again. On the fifth attempt it started, but this time it only moved a few feet before dying. He turned to the group. "We have a problem here." Liz saw that Maria was frightened and Kyle's face was set. "When the weather clears, Kyle can take a look at it, but for now we can't stay out in the open. I think we should try for the house," Max said.

"No!" Maria said.

"It makes sense. We can't stay on the road when they're looking for us. Plus, the house is on high ground. We'll see anyone coming and we'll be able to defend ourselves up there if we have to," Michael said.

"What about Liz's dream? There's something in the house," Maria said, her voice tight.

"We don't know what that was, but we know to keep on our guard," Max said.

"I'll look after you," Michael said.

"Why doesn't that make me feel any better?" Maria quipped.

Michael winced, and Liz could see that her best friend had hurt him. From what she'd heard of their earlier conversation, things were not going well. In fact, things had been strained between Maria and Michael since the beginning of the trip.

Liz had asked, but Maria had denied that anything was wrong. She'd just said that she needed some time. It made sense. They had all been through a lot of changes lately, so Maria was certainly entitled to some time to sort things out. The only problem was that Liz was certain Maria wasn't telling the truth. Something else was going on, but she refused to tell Liz what it was, or even to admit that there was something going on.

"Why can't we just pull into the woods and wait for the rain to stop?" Maria asked.

"They're right, Maria," Liz found herself saying.

"Why does it feel like I'm the only one around here taking Liz's vision seriously? What if the future is set? What if I'm going to take a header off the top of the staircase in there?" Maria said.

"The future is not set. We learned that at graduation. We saw that in Stonewall. Both of those times we changed the way things turned out," Liz said.

"Doesn't that mean we're due to fail?" Maria asked, a frown on her face.

"No," Max said. "We will not fail. We know what's supposed to happen, what will happen if we let it. We just have to be careful. We don't even know when it is supposed to happen. It could be days from now. We may eliminate the problem just by leaving tomorrow. And we will leave tomorrow."

Maria didn't look happy and was about to say something when Isabel spoke.

"We have to get inside," Isabel said. "We'll all keep an eye out for you. Let's go, Max."

Max didn't bother to take a formal vote. It was clear

that the score would be five to one, anyway. Max was able to start the van and made a U-turn, which was difficult because of the narrow road. He obviously didn't want to drive off the pavement and get stuck in the mud. Miraculously, the van didn't conk out again. In fact, it didn't conk out once during the maneuver. It also ran fine all the way up the hill.

"It's like the house wants us to come," Michael said, his voice ominous.

"Shut up, Michael," Maria said, squinting at him.

Liz nearly smiled at the exchange, but something stopped her. It was creepy that the van conked out every few feet when they were trying to leave the house and not at all when they were driving toward it.

As they came closer, Liz could make out more and more detail on the house. It was huge, a mansion made of stone with a number of spires on the roof and what looked like towers on each side. The result looked vaguely like a castle, only more modern.

Liz decided it would be creepy even if she hadn't seen the sight in her vision. "It's definitely deserted," she said to no one in particular.

"There are no lights," Max said.

"Could be a blackout," Liz said, another bolt of lightning temporarily lighting up the sky for a moment as she spoke.

"I don't think so," he said. "The whole place is pretty badly overgrown. I don't think anyone's been here in a number of years."

The van approached a short, brick wall that seemed to surround the house, and Liz could see that Max was right.

In fact, the half of the gate that should have run across the driveway was lying on the ground to their right. The other side was hanging on by one hinge.

Max maneuvered the van through the small opening and pulled up to the house, then asked, "Michael, could you give me a hand?"

Then he and Michael jumped out of the van and into the rain. First, they used their powers to reset the half of the gate that was still hanging on. Then he and Michael maneuvered the other half in place, and Max repeated the task.

When they jumped back in the van, they were soaking wet.

"Max fused it shut. The Special Unit would have to break it down to get through. And it looks like that's the only way in," Michael said.

"In other words, you locked us in," Maria said.

Michael shook his head and said, "We'll use our powers when we need to go."

Maria slumped back in her seat.

Max put the van into drive and headed down the driveway… which was actually wider than the road they had been traveling on… that snaked around the main house. As soon as Max cleared the house, Liz could see a number of smaller buildings in the back.

The largest structure was a garage that must have been built to hold a dozen cars. There was also a small house and two other cottages that must have been for servants or guests. All of the buildings were built from the same gray stone as the main house. They also shared the same castle-like appearance.

When lightning lit up the immediate area, Liz saw a tennis court and what looked like a large pool. There was also a fountain that must have been the center of a large garden, which was now overgrown.

Liz was sure no one had lived here in a long time. That should have made her feel better, because it meant they would likely not be disturbed. But the decay made the place only creepier. That, plus the memory of her vision, made Liz want to be just about anywhere else.

Sensing some of what she was feeling, Max took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Wow," Kyle said. "Someone lived pretty large."

It was true. Liz had been too caught up in the creepi-ness of the place to consider the unbelievable wealth it must have represented in its day.

"Yeah, but why build this out here in the middle of nowhere?" Isabel asked.

"Must have been built by someone who owned a logging company," Max said.

"I guess there's a lot of money in trees," Kyle said.

"What this place must have been like when it was full of people…," Isabel said, looking outside with interest.

"I think it was probably still spooky," Liz said.

"Seriously. What is up with Dracula’s castle?" Kyle said. "I think somebody saw too many horror movies."

"And I think I saw this one," Michael added. "It's the one where it's the old groundskeeper in a mask, and Shaggy and Scooby… "

"Just stop!" Maria said. "This isn't a joke, you know. The Special Unit is still out there looking for us, and God knows what's in there." She took a deep breath and glared

at Michael. "Besides," she continued, "everyone knows that the first one to go is the guy who makes bad jokes and tries to get everyone scared."

"Maybe," Michael replied, "and everyone knows that the next to go is the nasty girl who yells all the time."

Maria was silent after that, but she continued to glare at Michael.

"We should park in the garage and wait it out in the house. In the morning, Kyle can take a look at the van and we'll get out of here," Max said. He pulled up to one of the four triple-sized garage doors and jumped out again to open it. When they pulled in, the van's headlights lit up the cavernous interior of the garage.

It really was huge, except for some boxes and what looked like various tools, tires, and other things Liz couldn't identify along the back wall. Max quickly pulled the van around so that it was pointing toward the door. Liz knew he was doing it in case they had to get away in a hurry.

"Come on, let's get you guys inside," Liz said. Max was soaked, and so were Michael and Kyle. Liz opened her door and hopped out. It felt good to stretch her legs. Checking her watch, she saw that it was almost midnight. As if this wasn't creepy enough, she thought as they headed down a covered path that led from the garage to the rear of the house.