After dropping their parents off at the airport, Mark and Diana rode home in silence. The enormity of his new responsibilities came crashing in on the young man and he felt glum. He was in charge now. He didn’t worry too much about Diana, but Lisa? Still irritated and sulking, she’d opted out of going with them to the airport, and instead complained of stomach issues – which her parents believed, as they always did.

It’s going to be a really long month.

He hoped Lauren's offer to help was sincere. Lisa seemed to like her and especially Ric. Maybe he could palm her off on them for most of the month. Of his sisters, Mark had never really gotten on with Lisa. She had always been the favorite child. Mark realized that he had not spent any time alone with Lisa since she was a little girl sick in bed, and he had read stories to her.

Several blocks from home, Mark broke the silence. "Lisa hates me.”

"No, she doesn't. She just doesn't know you as well as the rest of us.” Diana had her own doubts though. Although a bright and pleasant girl to her sister and her parents, whenever Lisa was near Mark for any extended period, she turned into a screaming witch. It was no wonder Mark thought that she was an unreasonable brat. This month was going to be a living hell, Diana decided, and hoped that she could escape to her boyfriend's house most evenings.

"Well, maybe she doesn’t want to know me. You know why she wouldn't come to see Mom and Dad off? She’s telling me, ‘I don’t care if you’re in charge, you’re not going to control me.’” He sighed deeply as they came to the house. "You have to help me, Di, or we’re going to have a crazy month!"

"Sure I will, Mark. Besides, she’s preoccupied with the neighbors and wants to know all about them.” But deep down she was worried. A nervous Mark could only mean trouble when faced with a belligerent Lisa.

"Let's hope the Olenteas' keep their mystique throughout the month then.”

As Mark turned into the driveway and they got out of the car, Lisa emerged from the house next door and went back inside theirs. Mark waved to her but received a blank stare in return.

"See? She doesn't even acknowledge me." He slammed the car door just as Lauren came out the back door and waved.

"Hello!" she called as she walked over to them. "Did your parents leave without too much fuss?"

Mark grinned nervously. He liked Lauren quite a lot, but suddenly felt uncomfortable with her being so near, especially without the restraining influence of his parents. "Yep. They’re winging their way to London as we speak. We’re on our own now!"

Lauren chuckled heartily. "Well, good luck. We'll be here if you need us.” She paused as she looked back at her house. "Actually, Ric and I were wondering if you'd all join us for dinner tonight. You've been busy seeing your parents off and you don't need the added burden of cooking on your first night.”

Diana was all too eager. "Hey, thanks! We'd love to come!” She grinned at Mark. “I have the feeling I’m going to have to do most of the cooking anyway.”

"OK. How about seven, then?"

"Sounds great! See you then!"

Lauren watched Diana and Mark leave, already bickering, before heading back inside, frowning and sighing. “May Saramalak and Saevirg bless them…"

Later, the three Harrisons met in the foyer, dressed in formal clothes, and strolled next door. Both Diana and Mark felt a sense of mild anticipation. They had not been inside the house since the Olenteas's moved in, and wanted to see what they had done with the place. The house had been empty for nearly all their lives and was considered haunted, according to the neighborhood children, with rumors of murder and satanic rituals, strange lights and whirling leaves. It was almost with a sense of disappointment when the house sold and the Olenteas’ renovated.

Now it had a warm and inviting look to it and the Harrison children were glad to finally have neighbors who were fairly young and exciting. Lisa was looking forward to staying up late and treated as a grown-up.

Ric opened the door before they could ring and, as always, Mark felt intimidated at the man's sheer size and overpowering physique. The tall, blond man smiled and in a deep baritone voice uttered. "Greetings, young Harrisons. Enter freely always.”

His words, spoken with a slight, unidentifiable accent, and the curious formal half-bow seemed ritualistic. Mark paused to allow his sisters to enter first and received a strange look from Diana for his chivalry.

Lauren came out of the kitchen and smiled brightly. "Hello. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Let Ric take you into the living room for a bit.”

Diana and Mark barely heard her. They were staring at a painting hanging on the staircase wall in the center hallway. It was an unusual seascape of a green sky and gray-black waves crashing over yellowish rocks. Above them rose a cliff of white rock. At the summit was a black fortress. Strange birds were circling the sky. In the foreground, at the edge of the cliff, stood a huge gray horse rearing over a young woman seated on the ground, seemingly oblivious to her danger. Fascinated by the power and the odd quality of the work, Diana and Mark never heard Ric return from the living room for them.

"Do you like it?" he asked quietly. "I only hung it today. I decided it was time to see it again – outside of my dreams.”

Startled, Diana blurted out, "Yes, I like it. But I don't know why.”

"Disturbing, I know. I painted this about five years ago from a memory. Although I suppose things have changed since then.”

Diana stared at him. "From a memory…? I’ve never seen birds like that before.” Her attention then went to a table below the picture, where there were some unusually shaped and colored crystals arranged in a pattern. She was about to pick one up when Ric placed a large hand on her shoulder and chuckled, stopping her cold.

"Sorry, of course I meant a memory from one of my dreams." Ric added quickly and then beckoned them to follow. "Would you like to see the rest of the house? I spent the day putting out some of our more interesting belongings. Now that all the renovations are done, we felt it was safe to do this.”

The great room was dominated by a huge fireplace. Over the mantle hung two swords; a large blade that seemed the proper size for Ric, while the other was smaller and better suited to Lauren. Diana inspected the swords for any kind of brand name, as she never considered these two as candidates for a LARP group, but the swords seemed very authentic, bare of any manufacturing marks, save for strange intricate patterns etched into the shiny metal near the handles.

Diana saw many other strange and unusual items. On a small table was a tubular vase filled with unrecognizable glass flowers. An odd needlepoint abstract design, a tiny ceramic animal with a cat’s face and curved horns, and another set of multifaceted crystals were scattered throughout the room.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, "Where did you get all these things? They’re so cool!"

Ric, outweighing her by at least 150 pounds, looked sheepish. "Thanks. I have a lot more, but these are the ones that are helping me establish my presence in this room. Otherwise, Lauren's asceticism would dominate in plain walls and modern gadgetry.”

His presence was felt, in the large, comfortable furniture, the warm wall colors, and the artwork scattered throughout. Very little of Lauren seemed to be presented here, but before Diana could ask Ric why, Lauren came to the door and announced that dinner was ready.

The food was an odd collection of everyone's favorites: pizza, salad, hummus, chicken, ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries.

Mark was stunned. "But there's only five of us!"

"You haven't seen Ric eat,” Lauren grinned as she laid out plates. “And anyway, you all look hungry.” For a while no one spoke, the awkwardness of being with strangers falling over each of them like a curtain, until finally Mark asked, "I don't mean to be rude, but where are you really from? I've never actually known.”

Ric looked up from his food and grinned at Lauren as she replied. "We've lived around a lot, but most recently we are from England.”

Mark replied, "I've always wanted to go there. I've been studying History at school. I've always felt that I should have been an Englishman from the early middle ages. I feel that I was born in the wrong time.”

”Or the wrong place?” Lauren asked, intently staring at the young man.

"I don't understand what you mean.”

“Well, we lived in northern England and the area around York. It’s rather misty and gray, but when the sun does come out over the moors, it’s magnificent. Somewhere Ric has a series of sketches of life on the moors.” She laughed, "Remember when we went to that 12th Century church? The one they were excavating? Where you got stuck?"

"Thanks for sharing that." Ric muttered.

Ric grinned nastily at her. "What about you at the bottom of the Roman well?”

"What?" exclaimed the Harrisons, eager for the story, and Lauren and Ric spent the remainder of the evening in story-telling all about their travels. The evening flew by and before they knew it the clock struck eleven and it was time to go home.

After the Harrisons returned home and Lisa stumbled up to bed, Mark turned to Diana. "Did you notice that in the entire conversation tonight, neither Lauren nor Ric said anything about their childhood or their relationships to other people? Isn't it strange?”

"They never mention their childhood. Just like Mom.” Diana mused, "and isn't it funny that they knew Mom many years ago and just happened to move into the haunted house next door?”

"It’s odd. Very odd,” Mark concluded as he headed up to bed. "I really wonder what their childhood was like.”

"I wonder what Mom's was like,” murmured Diana.

As the month progressed, the Harrisons visited their neighbors at least once a day. As the days went by, however, Mark felt guilty that they were imposing on their neighbors’ good natures. Lauren tried to reassure him that Ric and she enjoyed their visits and not to worry about it, but he refused to listen to her. His guilt was tainted with a slight jealousy about his own hard-won position as head of the house. He realized that his zealous protection of his neighbors’ privacy had personal motives as well. He irrationally blamed Lauren and Ric for his loss of control. But he steadfastly refused to acknowledge that it was Diana's company he missed, or that his chance to know Lisa was slipping away. He decided to control the number of visits to the neighbors.

Two weeks after his parents left, Mark decided it was time to assert his authority, and it caused an eruption. While putting the dishes away, Lisa announced to Diana, "I’m going next door. Lauren went out today and bought a new mystery game. Want to come?"

"Can't,” said Diana, "I’m going out with Jim tonight. He should be here in a little while.”

Mark spoke up, "It’s eight ‘o clock. You have to stay home, Lisa.”

Lisa looked at him and said in a tight, controlled little voice. "Why? I’m only going next door for an hour or so. Come on Di, just for a little. The game looked fun.”

Before Diana could answer, Mark declared, "I said no. It’s too late and too much of an imposition. Lauren and Ric have better things to do than play with a little girl all the time? You’re wearing out your welcome. I'll play chess with you if you want.”

"Who died and made you Attila the Hun?” Lisa growled. "Diana's going out.”

"Diana's 18 and not under my control. You’re 13 and I’m responsible for you.”

"It’s not my age. You just don't like Ric and Lauren. You're jealous. Ric is Diana's new idol and I like Lauren. And they like me, which is more than you do.” Lisa yelled and threw a pot explosively into the sink. Water went everywhere.

"Clean that up." Mark said through clenched teeth. "And I don't want to hear another word about Ric and Lauren liking you or not. You’re not going.”

"I AM!" Lisa screamed. "You can't stop me!"

"Christ, Mark,” said Diana, "You sound like Dad on one of his bad days!”

"You stay out of this," Marl snarled back, "You're no help. All you do is undermine me.”

Shocked, Diana said nothing but as the fight escalated, she quietly texted her boyfriend and canceled her date.

Lisa was screeching now. "All my life, all you've ever done is ignore me. Now suddenly you’re interested in what I do? Who the hell do you think you are?”

"I never ignored you!" Mark shouted, "You hated me from the start! If I came near you, you cried. Even when you were sick and I read to you, you were thrilled when I was finished. You couldn’t wait for Joe or Alexis or Ron Jr. to visit to ditch me! Well that's too damned bad, because I’m in charge now and you’re going to hear me out!"

The fight continued for what seemed like forever. After an hour or so Diana went out the front door and circled around to the backyard. It was one of those rare, still nights in June. The stars were clearly visible and seemed endless in the night sky. All was quiet except for the screams between Mark and Lisa.

Diana sat on the back steps trying not to hear the fight, but it kept intruding on her consciousness. She said to herself, "It’s been coming a long time. They have to get it out if we’re going to survive the rest of this month.” But as the voices inside escalated in volume, she realized it had been going on too long. “I'd better get some help.”

Resolutely, she crossed through the short hedges to the neighbor's yard and approached their back door. She knocked tentatively and Ric, dressed only in jeans, answered the door. The rippling muscles of his chest and stomach stunned Diana, who had never seen him without a shirt. She was unable to speak for a second. Finally, she stammered out, "Ric… Mark and Lisa are in a huge fight. I don't think it’s going to stop on its own and I don't know how to get them to stop.”

Without turning his head, Ric called out, "Lauren, I think our charges need help!”

Lauren appeared behind him, casually dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Beside Ric, she looked frail, although Diana had seen her lift boxes weighing over a hundred pounds easily. "What's the problem?" She heard the screams and grimaced. "I thought they'd explode eventually. They’re too much alike. It was inevitable.”

"Oh, you think?!” However, before Diana could retort farther, a strong wind suddenly appeared from nowhere. It violently blew all around the house and swirled into a small cyclone of flower petals and cut grass, creating a whirling curtain of red and green as a dark path formed in its center.

Shocked, Ric whispered, "Maelstrom.”