THE PORSCHE

The road zipped along a cliff. The mountains towered like the Alps.

The Porsche reached the peak before Alison looked out her window. . .

Two mountain ridges intersected a quadrant of open valleys: Ashes blew through one valley, wind hurricaned through another, rain showered the adjacent valley, and snow buried the fourth.

Armageddon threatened. Alison's hometown burned under fiery rooftops; tornadoes rooted the crops across California farmland; rain splashed sludgy dunes along the Mojave desert; all while, on the Oceanside, snowfall weathered the California beaches.

She sighed while she observed the destruction. Nature's tendency to thwart her landscapes made her think. . .

Man takes after his self-destructive mother.

"Alison."

Diamond stepped beside her while she watched her town smolder. He laced his hand in hers.

"Are you still thinking of him?" he said. His voice was soft, hesitant, and weak.

Alison exhaled before she shook her head.

"We can't stay long," Diamond said.

Alison nodded.

"Do you know anyplace you'd like to go?"

Alison panned the quadric-panorama, and rejected all sites as potential escapes. She shook her head.

"If not here," Diamond said, "maybe somewhere else?"

Alison titled her head while she looked up to the sky.

"Please pick somewhere we don't have to fly to. . ." Diamond said.

Alison shrugged.

"Hmm. . ." Diamond tapped his finger against his lips. He turned to the valley opposite her hometown. "I'd suggest the beach. . . if it wasn't under snow."

Alison scrunched her mouth to the side. She watched as an avalanche ensued down the mountain before it toppled lifeguard towers and volleyball nets.

"Well. . ." said Diamond, "I do have a sailboat down there. . . If it's in one peace maybe we go leave to some other continent entirely."

Alison squinted toward the shore before she lifted her eyes across the ocean to the horizon.

Anywhere else. . . sounds magical.

She squeezed Diamonds hand. She pulled it behind her while she treaded down the mountain.

"Um, Alison. . ." he said, ". . . We can take the car you know. . ."

After the Porsche's unbelievable traction swept them down their snowy descendent and across deep slosh, it skated along the shore until a dove-white sailboat appeared.

The Porsche parked alongside it while Diamond dipped his head into the back seats. He retrieved Alison's fur coat that she had forgotten at the restaurant, plus a wool-interior trench coat for himself. When Alison asked Diamond about food and supplies Diamond assured her the boat carried everything they needed under the deck

On the count of three, the two nuts jumped out the car and skedaddled to the bow. Up the ladder, Alison ran for the lower deck while Diamond pushed the boat off the shore. When the boat trudged across the waters, he jumped the bow. He blew a kiss to the Porsche, hoping the cover would be enough to preserve it-- although, the tide brushed the Porsche's wheels, which made Diamond cringe at the thought his Porsche might soon go swimming.

Alison found the trapdoor to the lodgings. She pulled it from the deck before she descended the stairs. A heated lamp warmed her while she kicked her shoes between the twin beds. After hanging her fur coat in the closet, she noticed a library of books line the shelves. She stepped across the shelf, her socks warming to the wooden floorboards. At the end, a bar stand contained a wide selection of alcoholic beverages. Margaritas, martinis, tequila, vodka, rum, wine, and virgin piño coladas. . . She grabbed a colada.

She found a pineapple slice under one lid, before she discovered cherries and cherry swords. Her drink looked complete.

She heard the whirl of wind. She turned to the ladder, and surprised Diamond by frowning at him.

He frowned back.

"You wanted to come here," he said.

"It's not that," she said.

"What is it, then?"

Alison tipped her head to the separate beds.

Diamond nodded.

"That can easily be changed." He rubbed his hands together, wiggled his fingers, stepped around the wall, placed his hands on the side of one bed, and shoved it across the floor. The twin beds united.

Alison sipped her drink.

My hero.

Diamond unzipped his jacket while he approached the hanger across the room. He poured himself a margarita before he reclined on a leather couch. He patted the seat beside him.

Alison frolicked to her seat.

"What do we do now," she said. "Where should we go?"

Diamond shrugged.

"You decide."

"Can your sailboat take us all the way across the Pacific?"

"sure thing," he said.

"How long will it take?"

Diamond pondered her question; he sipped his drink. He looked at her neck.

"One night. . . I'd say. . ."

He kissed her neck.

"One night?" Alison giggled. "That's amazing."

She felt Diamond touch her thigh. . . She closed her eyes. . .

"I have a fast boat," he said. "It cost money."

Alison combed her fingers through his hair. Her eyes still closed, she felt Diamond retrieve her colada before she heard their glasses clink onto the back shelf.

He pulled her legs, until her head lay onto a pillow.

Clap! Clap!

She opened her eyes to the dark.

She felt Diamond on top of her. She touched his chest. Pulled off his shirt.

She felt his hands ascend her back. Diamond lifted her while he unzipped her dress skirt. Her skin sweated in the heat.

She felt his hands on her chest. Her thighs wrapped around his hips.

She breathed. . . remembering. . . she should tell him. . . he should know. . . before they go to far. . .

"Diamond. . ."

His fingers reached her hips. . .

"Wait. . ." she expected he'd ignore her. But before his fingers pulled the elastic of her panties, he waited.

He waited for her to speak.

"You should know," she said, "I still have feelings. . ."

"For him. I know," said Diamond. "One can have enough love for two people. I still love Ronnie from home. Except she's far away. I might never see her again."

"Why did you know to rescue me? Why didn't my parents send a team of professionals to find me? How did I even return to town anyways? And why don't I remember?"

Diamond sighed. Alison felt him lay beside her on the couch.

"Do you want me to tell you now?" he said. "Don't you suppose I should at least wait until morning?"

Alison sighed; she pulled his arm around her.

"I don't know what I want. . ."

She lay there. In truth, she wanted all her questions answered this instant.

But she felt the boat rock them oh-so-slightly. The dark felt so warm, so calm, and so peaceful. She felt Diamond's excitement, and smiled because she felt so badly for him. Her questions will be the death of him.

Knowing Diamond, though, at least Alison could trust his patience. He's a guy, for sure, but different. He cared about her for some reason. She hoped she thought right about him. What if she had him all wrong? What if Joshua was right about him?

Thunder muffled above. The couch swayed ever so slightly.

"Diamond?" she said.

"Hm?" He rubbed his waist.

"Why did you come back?"

Diamond waited. He killed time while drawing his fingers down her arm.

"I came back for Joshua," he said. "A group planned to return to town after the evacuation. He joined them."

"Why would they return during an earthquake evacuation?"

"To steal."

"From who?"

"My neighborhood.

"Some neighbors joined me before we took a helicopter to our hilltops. We beat the group there."

"Did you stop them before they raided your mansion?"

"No," he said. "They burned it down."

Alison turned.

"Why?"

"Pettiness. Poor, evil people. Joshua stole my range rover. I know it. Anna feels head-over-heels for the bastard, so I know she joined the gang for him and drove away with him, too.

"As for the Jaguar, Ferrari, and Porsche-- my neighbors returned those cars to me-- told me they had to kill the thieves who stole them-- and did so by chasing them only until two blocks when the gates closed on the thieves."

"You. . . killed them?"

"Not me. My neighbors did. The smugglers wielded guns, so my neighbors defended themselves using their own weapons."

"So they burned your home and now all you've got is a Porsche and a sailboat? You poor thing. . ."

"And bank accounts."

Alison envisioned Joshua and Anna and a group of burglars pouring gasoline around Diamond mansion before lighting it with matches. The high white walls melting into blue-tipped flames. . .

"How can you be sure Joshua and Anna stole anything? You didn't see them in person, right?"

"When we met them yesterday Joshua wore a tuxedo and Anna wore a fancy red dress. I know they stole those. They were obviously prancing around in them like they owned the town."

Alison recalled that Diamond had asked them whether they were going to the prom. She never considered he were joking. . .

"What happened to your neighbor-gang?"

"When I saw my house burning I had to retrieve a few things. Luckily my family had the habit of leaving things in our cars, so when I ran into the house, I only grabbed financial documents and checking books. Because of the evacuation, I'd already taken my clothes and living essentials to this boat. When I returned to the driveway before I ran for the gates, I spotted the three empty cars and seven dead bodies. Only two of my friends survived.

"We punched the gate codes and searched for the Range Rover. We reached the hill's base before we centered the valley where the mall center burned under fallen ashes. We forfeited our search; we drove to the top of the parking lot where we parked the Ferrari and the Jaguar on one side while we parked my friend's truck on the other. Might sound Germaphobic, but I wanted my cars as far away from the dumpy truck as possible.

"We drove the Porsche five blocks until we noticed an explosion by the jewelry store. A bunch of so-called monsters were broken in before my gang attacked. I waited in the car in case of a needed getaway. Sad story short, I lost my friends. Those thieves shot and they mauled them. I escaped.

"I drove around for a while, not knowing whether to go back and avenge my friends or to go search for Joshua. All I knew about him was what he told me after everyone had evacuated: He planned to take advantage of an empty town, and the things people are willing leave behind won't leave them worried without, he thought. Stealing what's left behind allows room for forgiveness, he thought.

"After an hour it started raining. I planned to drown myself while I left the convertible hood down. I heard a scream.

Because the city was in evacuation lockdown, the streetlights were dead so I switched my headlights before I spotted a girl run across the street.

She screamed and scratched at her face. And she shouted to herself. She screamed how burning papers were falling from the sky and were landing all over her. My lights were so bright, but she didn't even seem to notice them before she tripped. Her face hit the ground but she just lay there.

I picked her up and walked her to a restaurant around the corner that hadn't been raided. I laid her in a booth under a fur coat; eight hours later, she finally woke up. . ."

Alison pictured his story in full color.

It replayed in her mind through the dark; the cars, the fire, the explosions, the shots, the bodies, the deaths, the girl running through the street. . . She tried to remember how or why she arrived.

Why was she running through the middle of the street like a maniac? Why did she think papers were raining down on her, attacking her, burning her?

How lucky had she been though. . . for Diamond to have found her. . .

She pictured him carrying her to the restaurant like a bride. She pictured him lay her in the booth, cover her in soft fur. . .

She waited and listened to the storm. The rain chimed like dry rice across the room. Such a soft sound against spaces of thunder. . .

The fur coat returned to mind.

"Where did you find the fur coat?"

Diamond paused.

"It's my mother's."

The boat swayed. She swore she heard lightning strike.

"I remember her wear it once," said Diamond. "My father bought her it for mother's day. The whole day she wore it around the house. I was four-years-old. She looked so pretty, so happy. She swore she'd never wear it in public."

Alison touched his chest.

"Where are your parents, Cole?"

Diamond shook his head. The boat stilled for a moment.

"I don't know."

They listen to the storm louden. The boat shook; it lifted before it sank, until it lifted before it sank, until it lifted before it sank.

"Can you help me remember why I returned home? Why I'm crazy."

"You're not crazy. There must be some explanation for it."

Alison pushed her chest to his. She wrapped one leg around his pelvis.

"Then will you take me back to my family?" she said.

"I can."

"Diamond. . ."

"Call me Cole," he said.

"I don't want to."

"Fine."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"None. Do you?"

Thunder banged its fists against the roof. The boat shook while Alison tightened her legs around Diamond.

When the boat calmed, she said:

"I had a sister. . ." she said. "I don't remember her well, because my mom doesn't like my dad to talk about her or show me pictures. He showed me two pictures once."

"What happened to your sister?"

The boat stood still. . .

"She felt sad," she said. "She let my brother die."

***

If Liz were ever going to save her sister, she knew she better hit the ground running. To find how to save her sister, Liz needed to know how and why she fell down the stairs.

She wondered whether to wait for Alison to reach Slow Wave sleep before she read Alison's diary. If she waited, Liz could read it to her in return for Alison's explanations.

She assumed Slow-wave sleep begins in a few minutes. After three hours of REM sleep, Alison undergoes slow wave sleep. The doctors said so. Three whole hours. Dreaming in REM. Before half an hour of Slow wave sleep.

Liz wondered whether the name, 'semi-coma' fit Alison's condition. Doctors should call it "vegetable-sleep," she thought.

At the hospital, Liz remembered the doctors describe dreams in Slow wave sleep: SWS dreams lack beauty; they lack complexity; they lack color; normal dreams in SWS are boring.

But she remembers how Alison's dream in the hospital. Doctor David called it 'Vivid.'

The empty buildings, the ashes, the burning books-- the monsters in that town. All of it seemed colorful to her.

But how could she know what Alison experienced in Slow-wave sleep? She only knew what Alison told her.

Liz decided:

When Alison's dream reaches SWS, she'll convince Alison she's asleep. After Alison learns her reality, Liz will calm her down. She'll ask for Alison's trust, she'll read her diary to her, then she'll find Alison's troubles.

What a strange therapy session.

But what if Alison freaks? What if her dream shuts down? What if another dream begins? Liz loses the chance to play Cole Diamond who Liz knows Alison trusts. Liz bets Alison spent six dream hours alongside Diamond. Who knows how long that is in dream world?

It's been a long dream.

Hopefully she enjoys it.

Click!

The door opened.

Liz turned to find Debbie who slipped through the door before stomping on the doormat. She frowned beneath mopped hair that dripped rainwater around her like an umbrella. Her red eyes narrowed.

Neither spoke for a moment. They stared. When Debbie let the door shut behind her, she said:

"What kind of assistance can I be. . . if you're keeping secrets as huge as the one back there?"

Liz knew she meant about scene on the stairway, when the woman screamed at Liz and Liz ran to the cab. Liz wondered whether Debbie demanded information from the woman while she called another cab to return to the hotel where she knew Liz would hide.

"Debbie, I. . ."

Debbie raised her hand. Her eyes glared behind her curtain of hair that fell like a beaded wall down her face.

"I plan to leave. . ." Debbie said. "If you plan to hide a past which can ruin our case-- ruin the finding of Alison's mystery-- I wish to avoid any credit for your failure."

Stunned, Liz opened her lips. . . before someone pounded their fist behind the door.

Because the pounding was so loud, Liz shot her eyes to Alison to see how she'd react; Liz noticed the hypnogramme fluctuate ever-so-slightly along the REM line. She threw wild eyes at Debbie before Debbie bolted to yank the doorknob.

"SHH," she said, while a man who wore a suit behind dark sunglasses raised a badge in her face.

"Elizabeth Sorenson," he said. Debbie's face paled. "You're under arrest for the tampering of court evidence under defense lawyer Daniel Lund's instruction--"

"Quiet, down--" said Debbie.

"We're here to take the patient into custody while we transfer you to the courthouse to speak with the judge," said the man. Two suits entered behind him. "We're confiscating the evidence."

The two suits approached Liz before Liz clung the diary to her chest while she jumped to her feet.

"I deny it," Liz said. "Show me your warrant."

The first man pulled an envelope from his jacket. He stuffed it in Debbie's face.

"The diary, miss. . ." One man grabbed Liz's arms while the other retrieved the diary from her hand. The other tossed it to the headman, who stuffed it in his jacket.

"WAIT. WAIT--" said Debbie.

The others left Liz before walking after the first man who headed for the door.

Because the first man said she was under arrest, Liz wondered why they released her once they grabbed the diary.

"Call Danny, Debbie--" she said.

"Stay here," said the first man. He spoke over his shoulder before he reached the door. "We'll be back for your arrest. . ."

Liz pulled her cell before she typed 9-1-1. . .

She saw the suits stop in the doorway. She lifted her head and saw prosecutor McCoy slide in their way.

The suits froze, while McCoy's expression switched from a grin to a frown.

"Um. . ." he said. He pulled his collar. "Where's the party going?"

The suits shot him blank looks.

"Well, don't you look suspicious. . ." McCoy said to the men. He stepped through the doorway before slithering trough the group. He reached Liz, keeping his eyes on the suits, before he slipped her phone, which read 9-1-1 out her hands. "You fellas know its raining out there, right?"

His eyes became piercing while his chin locked and his cheeks turned red.

One man's lips shuddered.

"Mr. McCoy. . ."

McCoy cringed. He shut his eyes while Debbie and Liz turned their eyes to him.

"Mr. Golem said. . ." said the man.

"GIVE ME THE DIARY," said McCoy. Everyone shook. McCoy stomped to the man who held the diary before he ripped it from his hands. He tossed Liz the diary while his eyes remained on the man. "GET OUT. YOU'RE TOO DAMN EARLY. FOR WHATEVER GOLEM WANTED YOU TO DO." Debbie gasped when McCoy shoved the man against the door-arch. The other men cowered.

"SUNGLASSES? YOU FLAMING PIECE OF SHIT." McCoy ripped the sunglasses from the man's face before he dunked it to the carpet and slammed his heel while cracking shards of glass into the air. "THOSE BETTER HAVE BEEN PRESCRIPTION, YOU PRICK." He pulled the man's tie before he tripped him outside the room.

The man dropped to the carpet before he wriggled to a squat; he held his hand above his head.

"Don't contact Golem," McCoy said. He loosened his tie. "You're finished. . ."

The men left while throwing each other frightened glances. Out of sight, their footsteps transformed to a loud run down the hall.

McCoy sighed.

He turned to Debbie and Liz who stood beside each other while standing in front of Alison's body. McCoy's face cooled from brick to salmon.

Saying nothing, the girls watched him play it cool: He leaned on the archway while sliding off his tie-- the whole time he kept his stare on them like they had a conversation. He threw the tie across the air before it landed on the bed. He unbuttoned his collar before he unbuttoned another two buttons, which revealed some chest hair.

He nodded to the girls. They nodded back, under raised eyebrows.

He pulled a bowtie from his breast pocket before-- in what seemed one second-- he re-buttoned his shirt before he tied it around his neck.

"Golem's having a morning party," he said. "Has one before the start of every new trial."

He nodded before Liz and Debbie nodded.

He pulled from the archway.

"Ladies. . ."

McCoy kicked the doorstopper before he left. The door whispered into a close.

Debbie looked to Liz who shook her head.

Debbie shed a menacing smile.

Liz rolled her eyes.

"You and your hormones."

***

Alison opened her eyes. She felt the warm, unfamiliar covers wash upon her breasts. She brushed her legs across the sheets, feeling Saturday-morning calm. . . A calm topped by sprinkles of giddy when she remembered this weekend featured absolutely no homework. No essay to wake to. No essay to eat to. No essay to sleep to. No essay to accompany whatsoever.

It was a rare zero-essay morning.

Not only was her blood flowing from the aftermath of a refreshing slumber, but also her skin breathed in the sheets because her blood flowed while she remembered last night. The touch of a hand on her arm could have sufficed, but no, Diamond spoiled her rotten. She imagined his hands, his skin, his chest, and his lips. If last night were all a dream, she thought the practice would match for real-life experience.

Never had she done what she done.

She felt part of a club, now, which comprised fun-loving rebels, like most outgoing kids from school, who rolled their eyes at prude kids and at uptight do-gooders. She classifies herself with the latter, if ever someone requests she choose.

Feeling more adult, more like a grown woman, she threw the covers and jumped up and down on the mattress. She laughed and screamed and embraced nudist freedom-- until she realized in the dark someone could be listening to her. . . she imagined someone wearing night-vision goggles. . . who wielded a night vision camera. . . connected to a reality-TV network streaming worldwide for her classmates and parents to see.

She'd feel so embarrassed.

She shrieked. She grabbed the covers and wrapped into a ball like an armadillo.

Alison considered maybe her imagination was running away with her.

She heard a sound. It moaned like a whale, but sounded like wood creaking. She felt the boat teeter.

She listened for Diamond to make a comment. But no one said anything. Perhaps, she was alone. In the dark. Alone.

She forgot where the light switch stood on the wall, so she used her memory of the bed's position to the ladder, and stepped to the floor before she wrapped herself in a sheet. While she waddled to the ladder, the sheets caressed her Netherlands, her button, her legs, her feet; she considered she might shudder and she might trip, so she hoisted the sheets to her knees.

She reached her fingers through the dark; she touched the ladder, she ascended the steps, and she pushed the trapdoor--

White light enveloped her vision.

The sound of sea gulls flew overhead. The white glimmered into baby blue; the sky carried a mosaic of white clouds across its dome. Across the horizon, the rising sun skipped a streak of light across the sea. . .

Alison's eyes reflected the splendor.

"Where are we?" said Alison. "Diamond. . ."

She pivoted on her heel. . . But she found the deck vacant.

"Where are you, Cole?" She ducked underneath the sail before she hopped to the stern. She rummaged beneath some blankets and plowed behind ice chests. She wiped her forehead. . . Where could he be? Did he leave her? No way. He wouldn't do that. . .

She wished she had her cell phone. . . Too bad she stashed it during finals week. Maybe he just. . . went for a swim. . .

She sat on a cushion.

She'd wait until he returned. In the meantime, she could get a tan. A full-body tan. Throw her sheets to the floor before she before laying her body nude. . .

And that's exactly what she did.

She lay on her back. Felt the breeze across her body entire.

This was turning out to be the best vacation ever, she thought. Quite relaxing. And sexually stimulating. How can you beat that? Like a honeymoon without the strings.

Sure, there was a bit of drama. And an earthquake is about to consume her hometown. . . And smugglers and monsters are tearing the place apart. . . not to mention she doesn't know where her family went. Alison hopes her mom and dad are okay. . .

Alison wondered how far the boat had taken them. This summer-morning weather juxtaposes the snowy winterish night Diamond and her endured. Her snuggle buddy helped. Thank you, Diamond.

Hmm. . . Alison thought.

She listened to sea gulls float in a V shape below the clouds; while they swept under them, the clouds transformed from white to rainbow puffs similar to Alison's memory of the Wizard of Oz: the color-changing horse.

Color-changing clouds are her most favorite type of clouds, she thought.

She remembered Diamond's comment about her being in a dream. . . Her time on the boat has been so magical she thought it was better than a dream.

She could hear the water crinkle like plastic wrap while the boat swayed.

She realized her fortune: Almost killed, a kiss from spontaneous Diamond changed the nightmare into a fantasy. One second she's in a car chase to her death; the next and Diamond's kissing her over dead bodies and making her forget everything around her.

He found her, protected her, swept her to new land-- to a new place-- to a whole new world. . . And loved her like no one else. . . She felt so free, to do anything. Say anything. Run naked.

This is her summer. The one she never had. . . This whole adventure killed her stress. Everything looks so bright. Never has she had so much sleep. She's never known time as this. Time that's enough. . . Time to spend, time to waste, time for love, time for chase, time for freedom, time for humanity. . . She could get a tan, she could go for a swim, she could kiss, and she could play. . .

But how is she alive?

Through faintest memory, she remembered some rain. . . some papers. . . her toe stung. . . she remembered her shower. . . her fully-made bed. . . her upstairs room. . . something on the computer. . . the stairs-- rushing. . . --rushing. . .-- some blood on her hands? Was it blood? Was their something about a fire. . .?

BOOM!

Alison felt her head tingle. . . she felt dizzy. Her eyes winced.

All the color. . . all the splendor of the skies. . . rippled into gray color. Alison moaned, she flopped to her feet. All around her, the water rippled into black and white. No more blue, no more yellow sunshine. . .

She was colorblind.

She gasped. Across the horizon, the water exploded into a dome-shape. The dome expanded while it consumed the sea around it. It tsunami toward Alison while the sailboat swayed.

Alison heard a splash to her right. She spotted a hand when its fingers gripped the boat.

Diamond's face appeared before he thrust himself over the edge. He rolled onto a cushion before he spotted Alison stand frozen and naked before him.

Alison grabbed her sheets before she pointed to the dome-- Diamond looked-- it shot towards them like a hurricane--

Diamond hopped to the deck before he pulled Alison's hand. He pulled her under the sail until he lunged for the trapdoor. The sound of the water-dome roared; Alison let her sheets drop while she clasped her ears.

Diamond yanked her elbow while nearly throwing her down the trapdoor; Alison scraped her ankle against the metal steps but caught the rail before hitting the lower deck. She lunged into the dark.

When she turned to shine her eyes on the white light, which bore down from the trapdoor, she saw Diamond's silhouette slide--feet apart-- down the rails. He grabbed a hooked pole from the dark, threw it high, and latched it on the trapdoor.

Alison spotted the tsunami swallow the sailboat and the sky-- until the deck jerked into a backward slope and she tumbled on her back. She heard water splash through the trapdoor, until she heard Diamond groan--

The trapdoor slammed.

***

"Danny--"

"What? Did Liz run away?"

"No, she's with me. But listen-- three men just burst through the door and tried to steal Alison's diary--"

"They knocked, Deb. . ." Liz said.

"WHAT? WHO?"

"We don't know. Golem sent them."

"DID THEY TAKE THE DIARY? WE DON'T WANT THEM MAKING COPIES BEFORE WE CHANGE ANYTHING. THEY'LL HAVE PROOF WE CHANGED IT."

"No, no-- they ended up leaving it here. Thankfully Golem's intern walked in. . ."

"MCCOY?"

"Yes. Stop shouting. I hear you."

"What the Hell was the defense doing at your hotel?"

"We don't know. That's why we called you."

Debbie looked to Liz. Liz was hunched over the hypnogramme while she waited for it to turn to SWS. Or as Jerome labeled it "TALK NOW." She hugged the diary to her chest like a library book. (No way in Hell will anybody steal it from her.)

"I'm coming now."

Danny hung up.

Debbie moaned while she threw her mobile to the couch before she paced across the room to the curtains. She wrung them open.

Rather than previous downpour, light rain drizzled; water droplets streaked down the sliding door glass. Mist accompanied the drizzle while howling wind bellowed against the door; palm trees danced in the wind while fog marched like armies of ghosts stomping in unison below the balcony.

"California's the ugliest place I've ever seen," said Debbie. She closed the curtains before she eyed Liz. "Have you read the diary to Alison, yet?"

"No," Liz said. She gritted her teeth before she sprung to her feet. "Danny wasted time while he dragged us both to the courthouse and to Alison's parents' house."

"To your parents' house, you mean."

Liz shot Debbie a stern glare. She pursed her lips before raising a finger.

"Don't Debbie." She shot her finger toward the door. "Leave if you plan to speak another word about it."

Debbie dropped her head.

Liz sat in her chair.

"I plan to read the entire thing to her when she wakes. I realize my purpose now isn't just for the money, or to restart my marriage. . ." She looked to Alison's body. A wet film inched over her eyes. "It's. . . To help my sister. Who never knew. . ." Liz choked while she hid her face with the diary. She swallowed, lowered the diary before she touched her chest while she mouthed:

"I missed her. . ."

Debbie watched her boss through wet eyes. She nodded while she clasped her hands behind her back.

"I know. . ." she said. "I know. . ."

Liz looked to Alison's body. She touched Alison's blanket.

Outside, the hall resonated; fast footsteps approached the door.

Liz jumped for the door before Danny could knock. She opened it and saw Danny freeze while his fist stopped mid-knock; he coughed.

His face paper-white, Danny rubbed his forehead where a vein bulged down the center. He wiped his eyelids while he shook his head.

"We lost. . . We lost the trial. The prosecution knows I'm a crook, they told the judge I'm a dirty crook. He knew I was already-- but. . ."

Danny crooked his jaw.

"And because they don't trust me, they won't trust Will. They'll see him as the snake I am. He needs to change lawyers-- I'm only hurting him--"

The girls gawked. Their jaws wide.

Liz never experienced Danny's honesty. He must know something they didn't. . .

CLICK.

Liz, Debbie and Danny all turned. The hypnogramme's needle dropped. The TALK NOW labels lit green. The three of them stood still. . .

Alison winced. Liz stepped beside Alison's body before Liz sat in the stool. She watched. . . waited for Alison to speak. . . waited for her to say: "Diamond."

Liz prayed Alison never changed dreams. She hoped the Diamond boy whom Alison trusted so much still occupied her dream. If not, Liz might project a stranger; or she might project an enemy-- or a monster. Liz wanted to make sure that when she told Alison the truth, about her body, about her coma. . . whoever Liz projected can relax her. . .

Liz jumped when Alison grunted.

Alison's face cringed.

Debbie stepped around Alison's bed. She rubbed her wrist while she bridged her eyebrows at Liz.

Alison whispered:

"My. . ."

Liz and Debbie leaned their ears.

Alison squeaked.

". . . ankle. . ."

Liz touched the mattress.

"Alison?"

Shattering the silence, Alison puked yellow vomit across the bed. Debbie screamed while recoiling to the curtain, before Liz lunged toward her sister and Liz up righted Alison's body before Alison choked.

Liz snapped at Debbie:

"Call the nurse. Alison could choke."

Debbie sprinted to the sofa before she grabbed her phone.

Liz looked over her shoulder to Danny; he shook under the door while he covered his mouth; he looked out the hall.

Liz shouted.

"Do something, Danny-- Grab me some towels."

Danny blinked a hundred times while he limped like a cripple to the bathroom.

"Its an emergency," said Debbie. "Yes, yes, please hurry." She held her phone upside down.

Danny appeared before he stopped a yard from Liz and held out three towels to her.

"Bring them over here."

Danny ran to her before she yanked the towels from his hands. He bolted to the doorway where he hunched, covered his mouth, and looked to the hallway, again.

Liz mopped the discharge from Alison's mouth before she mopped it from her blankets. A blurred memory, from sixteen years ago, flashed through Liz's mind:

Twelve-year-old Liz cleaned sick-baby Alison. . .

When the pretty black nurse ran into the room, Danny yelped. The nurse grabbed the towels from Liz and continued to mop Alison's face while patting her back.

"I've got this," she told Liz. Danny left the room before Debbie who waved Liz to follow.

Liz hugged the diary to her chest while she peered giant eyes at the hypnogramme. The needle fell to second-stage sleep-- labeled "No dream."

Liz's chest heaved. She couldn't believe it. How could an comatose girl have puked? What kind of nightmare does Alison experience? What kind of monsters did she see? Does she see violence? Blood? Did she dismember a body part? What horror shocked Alison for her to bounce from slow-wave sleep to no-dream stage?

Liz realized Alison's clock ticked. If Liz allows another disturbance to knock Alison before Liz speaks to her in "slow-wave-sleep-therapy," Liz may never speak to Alison again.

The doctors believe Alison possesses little time. . . Her timespan poses two problems.

One, Liz must rush Alison's investigation.

Two, because Danny's worries about Will's court case reveals the defense needs help, Liz's assistance requires waking Alison for her testimony. The prosecution convinced the judge Danny corrupted Alison's diary.

Proof rests in Alison's word.

While Liz followed Danny and Debbie who passed a plant pot before they plopped against the wall, she determined her plan:

Inform Alison about her condition. Convince her to spill sexual secrets, which concern teacher-student taboo between Will and her. Last, convince Alison to commit suicide so she can wake. . . If Alison opposes the idea, argue dream logic.

And if Alison indeed wakes, film Alison's testimony, which explains Will's innocence and which explains Alison's reason for attempted suicide.

Liz prayed debate team trained her for this mission. . . How will Liz argue against dream logic?

How to convince a dreamer. . . her eyes are really closed?