"Aaaaaaah! Oh, I will fucking kill him!" Isabelle jerked up in her bed. "I cannot believe I let Max talk me into going to her dreams. My God what the hell did she and Michael do today to put that into her head! I quit, never again, I swear to God I have learned my lesson about dream walking."
Just then a knock on the door startled Isabelle. Max and Liz walked into the room. They had been waiting in the living room for Isabelle to finish her little trip to Maria's obviously warped mind.
"Well, Is? Are they okay? I mean Michael isn't, you know?" Max asked with concern. Isabelle looked disturbed and he and Liz had both heard her screaming from the living room.
"Okay? Okay? No Max I am not okay! I think that I am emotionally scarred for life! Let me tell you something Liz, that girl Maria is one screwed up little puppy. I swear Max I will never dreamwalk again."
Max looked at his sister with amusement. He knew that there is no way Is could stay away from her dream walking expeditions forever. "Is, just tell us what you saw."
Isabelle shut her eyes and a shudder ran through her body. "Well, let's see. First of all Maria liked that motel room in Marathon more than she originally let on and oh yeah that freaky cook, Jose, was chasing a topless Maria, screaming about the handyman, and Michael, dressed as the handyman, chased him yelling that he wanted more and not to interrupt him next time."
"Ew", was Liz and Max's only reply. They both had scrunched up noses and looked at each other. *What is my best friend doing?* They both thought, even though they (thankfully) did not witness this dream, Isabelle's description was enough to send an unwelcome mental picture to their imaginations.
"Okay Isabelle, besides that...do you think that they are okay?" Liz was still concerned about Maria's now overnight disappearance and that dream did not, in any way, calm her nerves.
"I don't know. Those two have some serious problems. I decided not to stay and get sucked into that warped dream reality." Isabelle huffed haughtily. "Let's just hope that they come back by the morning because I am not going in there again. Now get out. I need my beauty sleep and I'm meeting Alex for breakfast at the Crashdown tomorrow." Isabelle waved her hand to dismiss Max and Liz from her presence and settled back into her bed. She was hoping for her dreams to be a little more pleasant for her than Maria's had been.
Max and Liz walked out into the hallway, shutting Isabelle's door behind them. Max stood there looking at Liz, the same concern he felt was etched onto her face.
"Max" Liz started to say but was cut off abruptly by Max's lips on hers. She felt her knees turn to Jello and wrapped her arms around Max's neck. Max loved the feel of her tongue against his but he still was afraid of where all this was leading. He gently pulled away and looked at Liz standing directly under his nose.
Liz looked up at Max and smiled. Just seeing him sent shivers down her spine. As if she could read his mind, Liz knew that for tonight they had to stop. After all, their respective best friends were missing and doing God knows what.
"Okay, I should go. Besides, the locksmith is coming in the morning and I'm supposed to get up early to let him in." Liz smiled and reached up to plant a soft kiss on Max's pink lips before turning to leave. "Oh and why don't you come in with Isabelle in the morning, you know, have some 'Heavenly Hash' and 'Green eggs and Ham'? On the house of course."
Max blushed and smiled at Liz. "Okay, and we should wait there for Michael and Maria to get back anyway."
"Yeah, that's a good idea" Liz stalled and ran back to kiss Max for one more time and then forced herself out of his house before her parents got too worried about her.
Meanwhile, remember those two hoods that stole Maria's car? Well, apparently Michael and Maria weren't the only two drinking that night because these two geniuses decided to polish off a twelve of beer while teaching a fourteen year old how to drive. (AN: A public service announcement: Do not drink and drive. Thank you.)
The younger one hadn't been able to hold his beer, steer the car, and harass people on the street all at the same time and had crashed the DeLuca Jetta into a mailbox. The two teens in their panic fled the car leaving it running from when they had hot-wired it. Sherrif Valenti was out driving around the town because quite frankly he has no real life to speak of.
"Well, well Miss Deluca. I see she's having some problems." Valenti muttered to himself as he pulled up next to the car. Peering into the front, driver side window, Valenti noticed the car had been hot-wired. It was then that he realized it must of been stolen. "Huh, wonder why Amy or the weird daughter of hers didn't report it? Oh well just a good excuse for me to call Amy."
Valenti reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed the DeLuca number and waited and waited but no one picked up the phone. Amy didn't have a phone in her bedroom because she believed that the telephone wires interrupt the dream waves. Valenti decided to just have the car towed back to the Crashdown and let Maria deal with it. Valenti liked Amy but even he knew who took care of whom in that small family.
Liz arrived at the Crashdown about an hour after she had left Max's. She enjoyed the night air and had wanted to think anyway. Being out in the night soothed her worries (and kissing Max might have helped a little bit) until she walked down the alleyway and saw Maria's smashed car in the back.
"Oh shit!" Liz ran to the door and quickly opened it. Shutting her eyes briefly and saying a quick prayer Liz hoped to find her friends inside safe and sound. At this point, Liz would have been okay with seeing a re-enactment of Maria's dream, just as long as they were okay. But to her dissappointment (about them not being there, to be honest she was kinda relieved not to see a topless Maria) no one was there. "How did her car get back if they are not here?" Liz spoke aloud hoping that hearing her own voice would help to settle her beating heart and pounding head. The opposite of the desired result happened, voicing her question made her even more scared.
*I gotta call Max, Isabelle, and Alex. This is getting serious now.*
"Max, get Isabelle and get over here now and pick up Alex. We have a problem." With that Liz hung up the phone and began pacing the floor of the Crashdown. *Oh Maria if only I knew that you were okay*
Meanwhile in the bombshelter Maria had started snoring and Michael was drooling a little.