She felt a tinge of nervousness. Isabel brushed it aside. She sensed that even if this house was full of spirits, they were good. Whatever they might want from her, they meant her no harm.

Unless it's like that ghost story. Unless they're trying to trick you, her mind warned. There was a crawling sensation on the back of her neck, as if she was being watched. She turned around quickly and couldn't see anyone there. Isabel started to call out, but found that she didn't want to break the silence around her.

She turned and took the first step down the stairs. The sound of her foot on the step suddenly seemed very loud to her, and she considered turning around now and waking up Max and Michael. Again, she decided not to. She would solve this herself. This wasn't a movie, and she wasn't a moron in a nightshirt rushing into the arms of the ax murderer in the basement.

Isabel flexed her hand, feeling her powers coalesce around and inside of her. She was more than able to defend herself against anything. If there were good spirits here, she would try to find out what they wanted. If there

was something else here… something darker… she could handle that, too.

Isabel continued down the stairs and into a corridor brightly lit with long, fluorescent lights. Then there it was: At the end of the corridor, the figure was standing, facing her. No, it wasn't a figure. Isabel could see that it was a person. It was wearing some kind of an old-fashioned cloak. The person was small and stooped, his face covered by a hood.

He looked solid and real, and he was right in front of her. For a moment, Isabel just stared, not wanting to speak.

The figure spoke first: "Isabel." The voice was male and vaguely familiar.

"Yes," she said, keeping her voice firm only with effort.

"Isabel," the figure repeated, lifting its head. Slowly, he pulled away the hood, revealing a decayed face… gray and sick… rotting.

A scream escaped her lips as she stood, transfixed, by the horror in front of her.

Suddenly Isabel understood everything. She only hoped she had time to warn the others. Foolishly, she had walked into this, but they still had a chance. "Max!" she screamed as loudly as she could, turning to run.

Something grabbed her from behind. An invisible hand held her for a moment and then pulled her back away from the door and the stairs.

She tried to scream again, but found that her wind was gone. She heard the door slam, behind her. It was heavy and would drown out any further sounds she made.

"Isabel, you only just got here. I insist you stay a while," the voice behind her said.