As hard as it was for Liz to admit, she felt safe for the first time in years as she relaxed into Max's arms. She knew it was foolish of her to think such things considering everything that had happened over the past several years, but she also knew that Max wouldn't let anyone harm her. Her phone rang again and she rolled her eyes when she looked down at the screen. Before she could answer it Maria laughed. "Zander called while you were talking to Mr. Evans and I answered it. He insisted on talking to you but I told him you'd call him back. So that's probably him."

Liz answered the phone, once again putting it on speaker phone. "Hello?" A whisper came along the line that she could barely make out. "Lizzie?" She turned her head to look at her best friend in consternation, knowing that even when Zander wasn't supposed to be on the phone he never whispered. "Hey babe, what's wrong?" She asked him quickly, hoping the churning in her gut was just the side effect of some bad food at the restaurant and not that the precious child on the other end of the phone was in harm's way. "You remember when I was little, and I kept having dreams about that blonde lady?" He asked, still in a whisper. Her entire body locked up as he asked this. Yes, she could clearly remember those dreams. The dreams that made her want to scream out to the heavens on what the hell any of them, especially the innocent child, had done to deserve them. It had seemed for a while that Zander was psychically linked to Tess, as he would often had dreams of what she was doing and where she was. This terrified all of them as if he could see what she was doing and seeing, did that mean she could do the same?

They later learned that the two weren't linked, thankfully, it was that Zander had been unknowingly doing some form of dream walking and somehow had latched onto her. It had taken Serena, older Zan, and Ava (from a distance as the two times she had tried to come in person it had scared Zander into a frenzy) months to teach him how to make sure he wasn't dream walking. Luckily since he had learned how to block that particular ability everything had seemed fine, until now apparently. "I remember. What about them?" She asked, praying she was wrong and that he hadn't let his barriers down. "I think I saw her a couple times the other day."

Her entire body felt like ice. She barely heard Maria to tell Michael to pull over, but when she did she shot Maria a look who quickly muted the phone. "We need to get there, now, and we can't do that with Michael driving slowly as to not get pulled over. One of us needs to drive." She told Liz who nodded, though her hands were shaking as she quickly took the phone off of mute. "Buddy, are you sure you weren't dreaming?" She asked, at once praying that he had been dream walking and that Tess wasn't actually in town. "I'm sure. I saw her while grandma and I were at the park, then I saw her outside my window last night." She told her quietly. Something wasn't right about this whole conversation. Why he didn't tell her this earlier, why Diane didn't tell her this, or Phillip. "Babe, why didn't grandma tell me this, and why didn't you call me last night when this happened? Or right after when you thought you saw her at the park?" She asked, watching impatiently as Kyle and Maria got out of the SUV, Kyle got into the driver's seat and Michael took his place. Maria took a deep breath before getting into Michael's lap, hooking the seatbelt around the two of them. Michael looked as if he didn't know whether to be annoyed or overjoyed. This would have normally made Liz laugh, but she didn't feel like laughing right now.

"I didn't tell grandma that I saw her, I didn't want her to say or do anything, and I didn't want to leave the park. So I just made sure she left before we did. Then when I saw her last night at my window I thought I was dreaming, so I closed my eyes and when I opened them again she was gone." The dark haired woman bit her lip, trying desperately to figure out whether Zander had actually seen her or if he had been dreaming, neither of which she wanted to admit out loud. She barely heard Kyle order Maria to call Zan and Serena and tell them to meet them at the Evans house. "Okay, that still doesn't say why you didn't tell me either right after it happened or when I talked to you earlier." She told him, trying to keep him talking. She was desperately trying to figure out why he was whispering. "Because I didn't know if I was dreaming or not, but when grandma and I got home I saw her again running away from the house. Just a few minutes ago. Grandma didn't see her because she had been driving, but I did." He told her in a pleading voice, begging the woman to believe him. Before she could even think of what to say, she heard his voice go quiet again.

"I gotta go Lizzie, grandma is coming. Please hurry." Before she could say anything word the phone disconnected and she shut it dejectedly. "We are hurrying Liz, take a breath." She nodded. "I swear to god if that bitch is anywhere near him I'll kill her myself." She muttered.

"We are talking about Tess right?" She heard Michael ask, to which Maria smacked him upside the head before realizing what she had done. "Sorry, I forgot for a second. Anyway, yes, we are talking about Tess. Zander used to have dreams of her when he was younger, we thought at first that he was linked to her but we realized that he was somehow dream walking her. Luckily we were able to coach him, well, Serena and Zan were able to coach him, how to block them. Ever since he hasn't really mentioned her. Honestly we didn't even know if he really remembered the dreams. This is the first time he's mentioned them in what, two years?" Maria stated, ending her statement on a question which was directed to Liz and Kyle. Liz nodded. "Yeah, right around here. I'm praying he just saw someone that looked like her and it triggered something to which he dreamt he saw her outside his window. However I have to know for sure."

"I sent Zan and Serena a text also. They are on their way. They won't be far behind us." Liz nodded and within a few more moments they were pulling into the street that the Evans house was on. Liz could feel Max's heart race, as it had been ever since she had been she had been speaking about Tess and Zander. She knew he wanted to interject, had felt him start to speak a couple of times, but apparently decided against it. "Everyone else stay in the car." She ordered before putting her hand up and silencing them. "I need to go warn Diane what is going on, as I'm assuming that Phillip hasn't had a chance yet. Once I am able to give her a heads up then I'll come get you guys."

"And what if Tess is inside?" Again, it was Michael who asked this question. She laughed, though it wasn't a playful or joyous laugh. It was a bitter, hardened laugh. "Then like I said, I'll kill that bitch myself. You need to remember something Michael, all three of you do. I'm just as human as the three of you, which means only half. I have powers to protect myself and I do know how to use them." She stated before unbuckling the seatbelt and getting out of the SUV. She prayed no one would come down the street before she was able to get everyone inside, but if they did they'd figure out what to say.

She knocked on the door one time before opening the door and smiling at Diane who was sitting on the couch. "Hi sweetheart. I didn't think you were going to be by until later." Liz smiled, trying desperately not to show her fear. "Zander called me, said that he had seen someone that looked like Tess the past few days. It scared him. Plus, there's something I needed to talk to you about. Have you spoken with Phillip?" She asked, but before Diane could get a words in edgewise Max's old bedroom door flew open and Zander came barreling down the hallway, straight into Liz's arms. She felt the young boy trembling as she picked him up. She rubbed his back slowly to try and soothe him as she often did after a nightmare, while looking at Diane, who looked positively flummoxed. It wasn't normal for Zander to be upset like this, so to see him in this state was rare.

Diane looked at Liz who nodded, wanting her questions answered. Zander seemed to be calming down now that he was with her, so she knew she needed to continue on before anyone got suspicious of the 5 people seated out in her SUV. "He sent me a text message and told me we needed to talk as soon as he got home." Liz nodded. "I ran into him while I was having lunch…with Max, Michael and Isabel. They are back. They came back yesterday." She told her bluntly, knowing that she had no other way of going about it.

She felt Zander still in her arms, though this time she wasn't surprised by this. Zander knew his father's name, same with his aunt and uncle's. He knew why they had left, and had seen photos of the three of them. She waited to see if he would say anything but he didn't, instead he just continued to grip onto her shirt and closed his eyes, burying his head into her neck. She saw Diane blink back tears and she nodded. "Where are they?" Liz laughed. "Outside in my SUV with Maria and Kyle." Before she could say another word Diane was off of the couch and running towards the door. She thought about following her but decided against it, instead she focused her entire being on making sure that the young boy in her arms knew he was safe. "It's okay sweets, I won't let anything happen to you."


TBC! I am SO sorry this has taken so long. I had to buy a new laptop which meant I lost everything I had written, which was not at all conducive to me getting any type of muse back. Again, I apologize profusely. After thinking about it I honestly don't know if I'm going to worry about a pairing for Isabel or Kyle, as honestly I'm just not feeling any of the options right now. Maybe I'll revisit it later but Isabel was never my number one favorite character so I find it challenging to write for her, or want to add more to her storyline if that makes sense.

Updated: September 28th, 2020