The drive home was quiet. Liza and Leslie both didn't know what to say and both felt feelings that were better left unsaid; it would only make things worse. Liza was at a loss as to what to do. She knew the answer had to come from her, but she didn't have the faintest idea of what that answer was. For months she'd been working on a solution to free her father and keep the prisoner incarcerated.
Her head hurting, Liza climbed the stairs to her room to lie down. Lying on her bed, she wept softly, allowing the frustrations to bleed out of her. The phone rang and Liza lifted her head, glancing at the caller ID. It was Quinn. Sniffling, she picked up the handset.
"Hello?"
"Liza? Are you okay?"
Liza sniffled again and was quiet a moment.
"You're not okay. What's wrong?"
"We need to talk."
"This sounds bad."
"It is."
Quinn was quiet a moment.
"Are we still a couple?"
It dawned on Liza how this could sound to him at this moment.
"Yes! I'm sorry, there is something else going on and I need you right now."
"Oh! I'll be right over."
"Thank you."
Quinn arrived in record time, panting and sweating from the exertion. Liza tried to be calm as she opened the door, but when she saw Quinn's sweet face, she broke down in tears. He closed the door and held her in his arms while she cried herself out. When she finally regained control of herself she looked up at him and smiled weakly. Concern etched his eyes as he brushed a lock of hair aside from her face.
"What is it?"
"Hang on. Mom? We're going upstairs."
"Okay." Normally, Leslie wouldn't allow a boy upstairs in her daughter's room, but she knew what she had to tell him required privacy and quiet. And she knew her daughter well enough to know that nothing would happen.
In Liza's room, they settled down on two bean bag chairs. Liza fought the urge to just curl up in his arms and forget everything.
"You remember how I told you that my father is gone?"
Quinn nodded.
"He is...sort of. My father...he can do what I do."
She waited for some reaction from Quinn, but he stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue.
"You remember that one that I dreamwalked and didn't want to talk about? The one that gave me the bad feeling?"
Quinn nodded again, suddenly very alert.
"My father, has been holding another dreamwalker with his mind for the past fifteen years."
"Why?"
"Because the man is very bad. He's a criminal. He was trained by the military to be this unstoppable weapon. But instead of working for the government, he turned on everyone. He started killing people in their dreams."
"You can do that?"
Liza looked down at her hands.
"I guess, if I needed to."
Quinn looked out the window.
"But can't everyone kill if they needed to?"
He looked back at her.
"I guess so. Sorry, go on."
"The problem is, my father's been fighting this guy for the past fifteen years. The criminal hasn't been fighting back. He's just been waiting and building his strength."
"Why don't they just kill him?"
"Because, without a body, there's no stopping him. You can't hold a spirit outside the body. You can only hold it in the confines of a mind. My dad doesn't have the strength to hold him much longer, and when he can't hold him, the world will be in danger from a very dangerous man."
"So what happens then?"
Tears brimmed in Liza's eyes.
"Nobody knows."
Quinn let out a gush of air.
"Wow. That's heavy. What about another dreamwalker? Somebody else to take over?"
Liza looked at him.
"You mean...no...they want you to take his place? No way! You already lost your dad, now you gotta lose your life too?" Quinn clasped Liza's hands urgently. "You can't let them do it!"
Liza shook her head.
"We don't have a solution yet. I'm just so frustrated, and sad, and angry and so many other things, I don't know where to turn."
Quinn took her into his arms.
"I'm glad you turned to me. Does Shara know, and her boyfriend, about what you can do?"
Liza nodded.
"Then maybe we need to get together and have a little powwow tomorrow."
"You don't want to go to the fair tomorrow still?"
"As much as I would love to go, I don't think you're up for it. I think we can do more by putting our heads together to make you happy than we can at a fair."
Liza rested her head on his chest and soaked in the incredible feeling he invoked in her.