Free The Vanished by Melinda Metz Page A

entity who blasted Max with images of fire and destruction. Max recoiled . . . and lost track of Alex in the whirlwind of auras.
    He thrust himself into the storm, struggling to hold on to Alex’s signature energy, but to no avail. The angry being had blocked Alex from further communication.
    How can I get him home if you won’t even let me talk to him? We want the same thing — we both want Alex back on earth! He knew he wasn’t getting his message across. His reasoning was too hard to express in images.
    Max received no response, so he decided to shout directly to Alex.
    Alex, he sent, Alex, if you can hear me, we’re trying to bring you back! We all miss you, and we want you to come home! I promise . . . I promise we will find a way to get you here where you belong!
    Max disconnected from the full force of the collective consciousness and sat up on his bed, gasping for breath. What was going on? Where had all that anger come from?
    It made Max sick to think of Alex out there, alone and scared. But all Max could do was hope that most of the consciousness was still trying to understand and that those beings would keep his friend safe.
    Liz looked incredible today, Adam thought. He lay on the living-room floor and let his mind drift back to the scene in the Astral Projector office. Liz under the desk with him. Her soft, sweet-smelling body pressed up against his. Her lips so close, he could have kissed her. . . .
    With a groan Adam flipped over and buried his face in one of the flat beanbags. He wished it was time for his short sleep period because then he wouldn’t be lost in thinking about Liz. Probably.
    I wonder if she dreams about me, Adam thought. Right, like that was even possible. But still, maybe he should go dream walking and check out her dream orb. He’d give anything to see what Liz dreamed about.
    No, Adam told himself. It would violate her privacy. And what right did he have thinking about her so much, anyway? She was with Max. They were boyfriend and girlfriend. Adam was nothing to her. Nothing special, anyhow.
    And Max had been so great to him. They all had.
    So Adam definitely shouldn’t peek into Liz’s dream orb.
    Definitely.
    But nothing was stopping him from dream walking elsewhere. Even when he’d been confined to the compound, dream walking had allowed him a little taste of freedom. He could experience the whole world in dreams.
    And if he stopped by Liz’s dream — just stopped by to look at it from the outside — who would that hurt?
    Nobody.
    Adam flipped over on his back and closed his eyes. He let a wave of calm creep up his body, starting with his toes. When the current of relaxation reached his head, Adam opened his eyes on the dream plane. He was surrounded by billions of glowing spheres, a chaotic field of bubbles stretching into the distance. Brilliant colors swirled on the surfaces of the spheres, and each gave off a pure note so rich, it barely translated as sound. Adam felt the music deeply more than just heard it — this was a music all the senses had to share.
    Each bubble was attached to a dreamer. Adam whistled softly, concentrating on picturing Liz. Sure enough, she was asleep, and her dream sphere floated toward Adam’s summons. He held the whistled note until Liz’s sphere spun close enough for him to see inside.
    What he saw sent a jolt through him. Liz was having a nightmare.
    Something was chasing her through her house. She ran up the stairs, her eyes wide with terror, as she searched for someplace to hide. The walls contracted until they were as narrow as tunnels. A thick blue fog filled the stairwell, making it hard for Liz to see who was chasing her and making it even harder for her to escape.
    Adam placed his open hands around the orb, willing the sphere to expand until the figures inside were life-size.
    Liz was in a bedroom now, surrounded by the fog, backing up against the headboard of the bed. Out reached a