Part 21
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2003 9:30 pm
Part 21
"Slow down," Isabel demanded, now interested in why the sheriff would be going to a place where her and her brothers met when they need some privacy from prying eyes. It could only be a coincidence, right? "He’s right up there."
Alex pulled the car close to the quarry wall and turned off the ignition. Putting the binoculars to his eyes, he said, "He’s standing next to the truck. It looks like he’s calling to somebody."
"Okay, I’m here," Jim yelled. Driving in, he had seen no sign of his son or anyone else and only just realized his phone was not in it’s holder. He must have left it at the yard.
"Throw away your gun," said a voice off to his left, from behind some scrub.
He cursed himself for not noticing before, but did as he was told. He still had the ankle holster holding his .22. "There, gone," he said tossing his side arm away. "Where’s Kyle?"
Tess smile at the concern she heard for his son, in his voice. Maybe if she had grown up with a caring father, her life would have turned out better. ‘God, I’m pitiful,’ she thought in disgust. ‘What do I care for love? All that matters is not getting caught and my revenge on Liz Parker.’
The two sides of her genetic makeup had been at war within her ever since Isabel had peered into her mind, and showed her human half, what it was like to have feelings. In her mind she knew humans were worth nothing, but her soul craved the closeness she had witnessed between the others, like a drunk craves a drink.
Even know, knowing what she was doing could possible save her very existence, she felt guilty for her misuse of the love between parent and child.
"Snap out of it," she whispered malevolently. ‘It’s either you or them."
Stepping out from behind the scrub, Tess pulled an indifferent Kyle along with her. "As you can see, he’s fine."
The Sheriff took in his blank stare and growled, "What have you done to my son?"
"Alex, what’s going on?" Isabel asked impatiently, reaching for the glasses. "Let me see."
Taking a look, she saw Valenti talking to someone on the other side of his truck and out of line of sight. "Who’s he talking to?" she asked mostly to herself.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Alex replied. "If we try to get any closer, they’ll see us."
"Wait, I see.......Oh My God Alex! It’s Tess and she’s got Kyle!" she cried.
"Kyle? What would she want with Kyle?"
"I don’t know, but it would explain his reaction. What are we going to do?"
"He’s fine, it’s only temporary," Tess explained, pulling Kyle closer to his dad. ‘It will only last long enough for me to kill you,’ she thought, the alien side forging to the front.
"Why did you take him? What do you want?" Valenti asked, looking to see if there was any one else hiding.
"I needed you to stop what you were doing and this was the quickest way to make that happen," she said wondering why she would tell a mere human her reasons.
"Fine, I’m here. Let my son go."
###
Max walked in to the Crashdown and gave Liz, Maria and Michael a big smile. Patting the pocket of his jacket, he indicated that the mission was a success.
The three let out a collective sigh of relief and went back to eating. The dinner rush was finally over and Mr. Parker had whipped up their favorites for a job well done.
Taking a seat next to his friend, Max grabbed a Tobasco covered fry from his plate. "Any trouble?" Michael asked.
"Some, I’ll tell you later," he replied softly, not wanting to alarm the girls. Louder, he asked, "Any word from Iz and Alex?"
"No. Where did they go, anyway?" Liz asked looking at the time.
"They said something happened with the Sheriff and Alex had one of his bad feelings about it, so they followed him," Max said shrugging his shoulders. "I’m sure it’s nothing."
###
"Not so fast, Sheriff," Tess replied to his plea. ‘Did he really think he would be leaving here?’ the alien side asked. ‘He’s more stupid that I thought.’
‘NO!’ cried the human side. ‘We’ll tie them up and by the time they get free, we’ll be long gone. There’s no reason to kill them.’
"Shut up!" Tess screamed. Letting go of Kyle’s arm, she put her hands on her head and tried to squeeze the voices into silence. Their whisperings had always been a part of her life, but since Isabel invaded her mind, the volume had increased. She was tired of having them take control of her when she least expected it. This was her mind and she would be damned, before she let them take control.
The Sheriff used her momentary outburst to grab his son and pull him toward the truck. "Kyle?" he whispered looking into eyes that were devoid of life. "Kyle can you hear me?"
Tess came back to herself and saw that the Sheriff was trying to get his son into the truck. "He won’t get in unless I tell him too," she informed Jim. "And I’m not ready for you leave yet."
Deciding this girl was not a threat, he charged her and grabbing her by the arms, he picked her up and began shaking her violently. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SON?" he screamed.
Smiling, she closed her eyes and gave Kyle a command. A second later, she was falling to the ground, as Kyle tackled his father to the ground. Scooting back on her butt, Tess watched in fascination as the two Valenti men wrestled in the sand.
###
"That’s it," Isabel said, getting out of the car. "I will not let her hurt another person."
She had possession of the binoculars for the last few minutes and realized Tess has some kind of control over Kyle. When she started screaming, she had hoped the Sheriff would grab his son and get out of there, but Tess had said something to set the Sheriff off and he grabbed her. Kyle’s reaction had been unexpected and the final straw for Isabel.
"Isabel, wait!" Alex called running to catch up with her. "What do you plan to do?"
"Something we should have done a long time ago."
"And that would be?"
"Get rid of Tess."
Tess was still laughing when she saw the two figures approaching. When she realized who it was, she was undecided as to what to do. Here was the person that had awaken the disgusting and soft human side of her being, and the alien side went berserk. Holding out her hand, she sent a burst of energy flying .
Isabel was surprised, but had been expecting something of the sort and deflected the blast with a shield of green energy. Unbeknownst to Max and Michael, she had been practicing her defensive abilities. The scare they faced when Liz was missing and the scenes she saw in Tess mind made her realize, that with all her powers she was helpless. She hated felling helpless, so set about to remedy the situation. She only hoped she was ready.
Clapping her hands, Tess replied, "Very good. I see you’ve been practicing."
Coming to a stop a few feet away, Isabel shook back her hair and her Ice Queen persona fell into place. "You would be surprise at what I can do."
"Your nothing but a hybrid freak, who doesn’t even realize how little it knows," replied the alien.
"Your as much a human as I am," she shot back.
"I will never be human! All humans are good for is manual labor and sport. Did you know, the only human DNA our ‘creators’ could get were from the dredges of that race? The rejects that had been throw into asylums because they couldn’t assimilate to their lot in life. So I wouldn’t act all high and mighty if I were you, Princess," she sneered.
"That goes a long way to explain many things," Isabel replied, not rising to the bait. "If what you say is true, our ancestors weren’t ones to sit back and endure slavery at the hands of a race that were no better, if not worse than their own."
"Ha! These humans are only a step above monkeys and you have the audacity to compare them to a people that have existed for 10 millennium. But I guess I’ll have to excuse your ignorance, seeing you were raised by these primates."
While Tess and Isabel were spitting at each other like two cats, Alex had gone over to the men rolling around on the ground and had helped the Sheriff restrain Kyle. After catching his breath, Jim asked in a horse whisper, "What the hell is going on?"
Giving him a ‘you don’t want to know look,’ Alex wrapped his legs around Kyle’s and replied, "It’s a long story."
Glancing back at the girls, the sheriff tried to wipe the dirt off his face while keeping a firm grip on his son’s upper body. "Yeah, I bet."
The insult to her parents hit Isabel dead in the heart. Her eyes narrowed and she raised her hand. Her offensive powers were as reliable as Michael’s, but with her anger behind it, she sent a bolt of blood red energy at Tess’ smug face.
Tess waved her hand and a mustard colored aura surrounded her, which deflected the shot around her body and absorbed the blow.
The Sheriff was astonished to see the proof his father had been looking for and almost ruined his family over, staring him in the face. There could only be one explanation for the forces at work in front of him and he felt ashamed for not believing. "This wasn’t what I thought," he said to Alex.
"Yeah, I bet," he echoed. He wanted to leave Kyle to his father and help Isabel, but realized this was her fight and he would only get in the way. He didn’t think he could ever love her more, than at this moment.
"Nice, but primitive. Must be the monkey DNA coming thru. See what you make of this," Tess stated and clapping her hands together, Isabel felt as if her head was in a vice.
Gritting her teeth, Isabel imagined that she was surrounded by a wall of glass, and it was spinning like a top. The pressure Tess was exerting on her ceased and Isabel could see it trying to get a grip on her, but the spinning shield made that impossible.
Keeping it spinning with one part of her mind, she thought that a physical attack might get thru where an energy bolt would fail, and levitated a large rock behind Tess and hurled it at her head.
Her aim was something she would need to improve, but she got the results she wanted and Tess staggered. Spinning, she thought one of the humans had thrown something at her. Before she could retaliate against them, Isabel sent another rock at her head.
Ducking, Tess screamed, "You Bitch! Leave it to a freak to use primitive weapons. Now you’ll die!
The Sheriff saw his gun lying a few feet away and with his free hand, tried to reach for it, but Kyle, feeling his hold slip, swung and hit Alex on the side of the head. Cursing, Jim hoped his son would forgive him and gave him a shot to the jaw, that knocked him out cold.
Snatching his gun, he called out, "Okay, hold it right there!"
Tess’ hand had just dropped and Isabel was knocked off her feet with the impact, when the Sheriff’s voice rang thru the night air. Turning, Tess smiled and shook her head in distaste. ‘Would these humans never learn?’ she thought and a ball of power appeared in the palm of her hand.
Seeing what she intended, Isabel cried, "NO! Alex!" Getting up, she rushed toward the insane girl. Alex was her life and if he died, there would be no reason for her to live. Tess will not take him from her!
Jim saw the determination on Isabel’s face, but couldn’t let her go thru what she planned. Sighting down the barrel of his .45, he squeezed the trigger and Tess slumped to the ground as Isabel came to a skidding stop a foot away.
Looking down at the dying girl, she felt a pang of regret that things couldn’t have worked out better, but she knew in Tess’ mind, it was all or nothing. The light faded from her eyes, and Isabel let out a sigh of relief that it was finally over.
Isabel picked her way around Tess’ lifeless body and made he way over to Alex as he was getting to his feet. He almost fell back to the ground when she threw her arms around his neck and asked anxiously, "Are you okay? Please tell me your okay."
Pulling out of the half nelson she had him in, he gave her his patented lopsided smile and said, "Of course, M’lady. With you as my champion, I have nothing to fear."
Slapping his arm, she pulled him back into her arms and nuzzled his neck in relief.
Sheriff Valenti walked over to check Tess for a pulse, and finding none, removed his jacket and laid it over her face. Taking a deep breath, he turned and walked back to where his son lay, unconscious on the ground.
Isabel saw him out of the corner of her eye and released Alex. Swallowing hard she began, "Sheriff, about what you saw ...."
He cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Don’t," he said brushing back the hair from Kyle’s eyes. "I all I want to hear from you is that you can help my son."
"I....I’m not sure...."
"Well get sure," he snapped standing abruptly. "She did something to him and I want you to fix it. He tried to kill me for god’s sake!"
"Sheriff, it’s not that easy," Alex said, stepping in front of Isabel protectively.
"Don’t you get it? I don’t care what you have to do, but you will fix my son. Understand?"
Alex looked at Isabel and mouthed the word ‘Max?’. She shook her head, not wanting the sheriff to know about the others. Having him know about her and Tess was going to be hard enough, with out adding Michael and Max to the mix. ‘Then what?’ he asked silently.
Squaring her shoulders, Iz came out from behind Alex and bent down next to Kyle’s prone figure. Laying her hand on his head, she cleared her mind and tried the same tactic she saw Max use when he healed Liz all those weeks ago. She pictured his aura as being a calming blue, and tried to ‘see’ it surrounding him like Liz’s amber, but she couldn’t do it. She wasn’t equipped with healing and watching done was not the same as being able to do it yourself.
Closing her eyes, she tried to dreamwalk him, but all she saw was an empty cavern that used to be his mind. Pulling back, she suppressed a shutter and looked up at Alex. "I can’t," she whispered.
Placing a hand on the Sheriff’s shoulder, Alex stopped his outburst and said, "We can bring him to someone who might be able to help him, but we need your assurances that this will go no further."
Jim was ready to blast into them again, when he saw the fear reflected on the faces of two kids before him. If everything his father had told him about the government and it’s task force to hunt and destroy aliens were true, these people had the right to be afraid for their lives. Knowing that they were the only chance his son had to regain his mind, he nodded and replied. "Fine, but when this is over, we have some talking to do."
"And her?" Alex indicated the body a few feet away.
"I’ll tell them she was crazed and that she kidnapped my son because she believed I could get what ever she wanted because of my job. She threatened his life and I had to kill her to save him." he said and went to his truck and pulled out a knife from behind the seat. Wiping it clean of his prints, he placed in Tess’ outstretched hand and closed her fingers around the hilt.
Isabel and Alex were astonished at the Sheriff’s tactics, but they knew too many questions would be asked if the real reason ever came to light. He was putting his job and his very life on the line to keep their secret. They had no choice but to trust him.
"Take Kyle where ever you need to, and I’ll call the office," he told them. "Call me as soon as you know."
"Won’t they want to know where he is?" Isabel asked, while Alex ran back to get his car.
"I said I’ll take care of it," he replied wearily. "You just take care of my son."
She nodded and when Alex drove up, she opened the back door so they could lay Kyle in. "how should we contact you?" she asked when they were done.
Seeing Alex’s cell hanging from his belt. Jim detached it and said, "Call me."
Getting in the car, Isabel watched as Valenti and his gruesome companion faded into the distance. "What if Max can’t help him?" she asked.
"Let’s hope that won’t happen," he replied and caught once last glance of the man silhouetted by the dwindling sun, in the rear view mirror.
"Slow down," Isabel demanded, now interested in why the sheriff would be going to a place where her and her brothers met when they need some privacy from prying eyes. It could only be a coincidence, right? "He’s right up there."
Alex pulled the car close to the quarry wall and turned off the ignition. Putting the binoculars to his eyes, he said, "He’s standing next to the truck. It looks like he’s calling to somebody."
"Okay, I’m here," Jim yelled. Driving in, he had seen no sign of his son or anyone else and only just realized his phone was not in it’s holder. He must have left it at the yard.
"Throw away your gun," said a voice off to his left, from behind some scrub.
He cursed himself for not noticing before, but did as he was told. He still had the ankle holster holding his .22. "There, gone," he said tossing his side arm away. "Where’s Kyle?"
Tess smile at the concern she heard for his son, in his voice. Maybe if she had grown up with a caring father, her life would have turned out better. ‘God, I’m pitiful,’ she thought in disgust. ‘What do I care for love? All that matters is not getting caught and my revenge on Liz Parker.’
The two sides of her genetic makeup had been at war within her ever since Isabel had peered into her mind, and showed her human half, what it was like to have feelings. In her mind she knew humans were worth nothing, but her soul craved the closeness she had witnessed between the others, like a drunk craves a drink.
Even know, knowing what she was doing could possible save her very existence, she felt guilty for her misuse of the love between parent and child.
"Snap out of it," she whispered malevolently. ‘It’s either you or them."
Stepping out from behind the scrub, Tess pulled an indifferent Kyle along with her. "As you can see, he’s fine."
The Sheriff took in his blank stare and growled, "What have you done to my son?"
"Alex, what’s going on?" Isabel asked impatiently, reaching for the glasses. "Let me see."
Taking a look, she saw Valenti talking to someone on the other side of his truck and out of line of sight. "Who’s he talking to?" she asked mostly to herself.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Alex replied. "If we try to get any closer, they’ll see us."
"Wait, I see.......Oh My God Alex! It’s Tess and she’s got Kyle!" she cried.
"Kyle? What would she want with Kyle?"
"I don’t know, but it would explain his reaction. What are we going to do?"
"He’s fine, it’s only temporary," Tess explained, pulling Kyle closer to his dad. ‘It will only last long enough for me to kill you,’ she thought, the alien side forging to the front.
"Why did you take him? What do you want?" Valenti asked, looking to see if there was any one else hiding.
"I needed you to stop what you were doing and this was the quickest way to make that happen," she said wondering why she would tell a mere human her reasons.
"Fine, I’m here. Let my son go."
###
Max walked in to the Crashdown and gave Liz, Maria and Michael a big smile. Patting the pocket of his jacket, he indicated that the mission was a success.
The three let out a collective sigh of relief and went back to eating. The dinner rush was finally over and Mr. Parker had whipped up their favorites for a job well done.
Taking a seat next to his friend, Max grabbed a Tobasco covered fry from his plate. "Any trouble?" Michael asked.
"Some, I’ll tell you later," he replied softly, not wanting to alarm the girls. Louder, he asked, "Any word from Iz and Alex?"
"No. Where did they go, anyway?" Liz asked looking at the time.
"They said something happened with the Sheriff and Alex had one of his bad feelings about it, so they followed him," Max said shrugging his shoulders. "I’m sure it’s nothing."
###
"Not so fast, Sheriff," Tess replied to his plea. ‘Did he really think he would be leaving here?’ the alien side asked. ‘He’s more stupid that I thought.’
‘NO!’ cried the human side. ‘We’ll tie them up and by the time they get free, we’ll be long gone. There’s no reason to kill them.’
"Shut up!" Tess screamed. Letting go of Kyle’s arm, she put her hands on her head and tried to squeeze the voices into silence. Their whisperings had always been a part of her life, but since Isabel invaded her mind, the volume had increased. She was tired of having them take control of her when she least expected it. This was her mind and she would be damned, before she let them take control.
The Sheriff used her momentary outburst to grab his son and pull him toward the truck. "Kyle?" he whispered looking into eyes that were devoid of life. "Kyle can you hear me?"
Tess came back to herself and saw that the Sheriff was trying to get his son into the truck. "He won’t get in unless I tell him too," she informed Jim. "And I’m not ready for you leave yet."
Deciding this girl was not a threat, he charged her and grabbing her by the arms, he picked her up and began shaking her violently. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SON?" he screamed.
Smiling, she closed her eyes and gave Kyle a command. A second later, she was falling to the ground, as Kyle tackled his father to the ground. Scooting back on her butt, Tess watched in fascination as the two Valenti men wrestled in the sand.
###
"That’s it," Isabel said, getting out of the car. "I will not let her hurt another person."
She had possession of the binoculars for the last few minutes and realized Tess has some kind of control over Kyle. When she started screaming, she had hoped the Sheriff would grab his son and get out of there, but Tess had said something to set the Sheriff off and he grabbed her. Kyle’s reaction had been unexpected and the final straw for Isabel.
"Isabel, wait!" Alex called running to catch up with her. "What do you plan to do?"
"Something we should have done a long time ago."
"And that would be?"
"Get rid of Tess."
Tess was still laughing when she saw the two figures approaching. When she realized who it was, she was undecided as to what to do. Here was the person that had awaken the disgusting and soft human side of her being, and the alien side went berserk. Holding out her hand, she sent a burst of energy flying .
Isabel was surprised, but had been expecting something of the sort and deflected the blast with a shield of green energy. Unbeknownst to Max and Michael, she had been practicing her defensive abilities. The scare they faced when Liz was missing and the scenes she saw in Tess mind made her realize, that with all her powers she was helpless. She hated felling helpless, so set about to remedy the situation. She only hoped she was ready.
Clapping her hands, Tess replied, "Very good. I see you’ve been practicing."
Coming to a stop a few feet away, Isabel shook back her hair and her Ice Queen persona fell into place. "You would be surprise at what I can do."
"Your nothing but a hybrid freak, who doesn’t even realize how little it knows," replied the alien.
"Your as much a human as I am," she shot back.
"I will never be human! All humans are good for is manual labor and sport. Did you know, the only human DNA our ‘creators’ could get were from the dredges of that race? The rejects that had been throw into asylums because they couldn’t assimilate to their lot in life. So I wouldn’t act all high and mighty if I were you, Princess," she sneered.
"That goes a long way to explain many things," Isabel replied, not rising to the bait. "If what you say is true, our ancestors weren’t ones to sit back and endure slavery at the hands of a race that were no better, if not worse than their own."
"Ha! These humans are only a step above monkeys and you have the audacity to compare them to a people that have existed for 10 millennium. But I guess I’ll have to excuse your ignorance, seeing you were raised by these primates."
While Tess and Isabel were spitting at each other like two cats, Alex had gone over to the men rolling around on the ground and had helped the Sheriff restrain Kyle. After catching his breath, Jim asked in a horse whisper, "What the hell is going on?"
Giving him a ‘you don’t want to know look,’ Alex wrapped his legs around Kyle’s and replied, "It’s a long story."
Glancing back at the girls, the sheriff tried to wipe the dirt off his face while keeping a firm grip on his son’s upper body. "Yeah, I bet."
The insult to her parents hit Isabel dead in the heart. Her eyes narrowed and she raised her hand. Her offensive powers were as reliable as Michael’s, but with her anger behind it, she sent a bolt of blood red energy at Tess’ smug face.
Tess waved her hand and a mustard colored aura surrounded her, which deflected the shot around her body and absorbed the blow.
The Sheriff was astonished to see the proof his father had been looking for and almost ruined his family over, staring him in the face. There could only be one explanation for the forces at work in front of him and he felt ashamed for not believing. "This wasn’t what I thought," he said to Alex.
"Yeah, I bet," he echoed. He wanted to leave Kyle to his father and help Isabel, but realized this was her fight and he would only get in the way. He didn’t think he could ever love her more, than at this moment.
"Nice, but primitive. Must be the monkey DNA coming thru. See what you make of this," Tess stated and clapping her hands together, Isabel felt as if her head was in a vice.
Gritting her teeth, Isabel imagined that she was surrounded by a wall of glass, and it was spinning like a top. The pressure Tess was exerting on her ceased and Isabel could see it trying to get a grip on her, but the spinning shield made that impossible.
Keeping it spinning with one part of her mind, she thought that a physical attack might get thru where an energy bolt would fail, and levitated a large rock behind Tess and hurled it at her head.
Her aim was something she would need to improve, but she got the results she wanted and Tess staggered. Spinning, she thought one of the humans had thrown something at her. Before she could retaliate against them, Isabel sent another rock at her head.
Ducking, Tess screamed, "You Bitch! Leave it to a freak to use primitive weapons. Now you’ll die!
The Sheriff saw his gun lying a few feet away and with his free hand, tried to reach for it, but Kyle, feeling his hold slip, swung and hit Alex on the side of the head. Cursing, Jim hoped his son would forgive him and gave him a shot to the jaw, that knocked him out cold.
Snatching his gun, he called out, "Okay, hold it right there!"
Tess’ hand had just dropped and Isabel was knocked off her feet with the impact, when the Sheriff’s voice rang thru the night air. Turning, Tess smiled and shook her head in distaste. ‘Would these humans never learn?’ she thought and a ball of power appeared in the palm of her hand.
Seeing what she intended, Isabel cried, "NO! Alex!" Getting up, she rushed toward the insane girl. Alex was her life and if he died, there would be no reason for her to live. Tess will not take him from her!
Jim saw the determination on Isabel’s face, but couldn’t let her go thru what she planned. Sighting down the barrel of his .45, he squeezed the trigger and Tess slumped to the ground as Isabel came to a skidding stop a foot away.
Looking down at the dying girl, she felt a pang of regret that things couldn’t have worked out better, but she knew in Tess’ mind, it was all or nothing. The light faded from her eyes, and Isabel let out a sigh of relief that it was finally over.
Isabel picked her way around Tess’ lifeless body and made he way over to Alex as he was getting to his feet. He almost fell back to the ground when she threw her arms around his neck and asked anxiously, "Are you okay? Please tell me your okay."
Pulling out of the half nelson she had him in, he gave her his patented lopsided smile and said, "Of course, M’lady. With you as my champion, I have nothing to fear."
Slapping his arm, she pulled him back into her arms and nuzzled his neck in relief.
Sheriff Valenti walked over to check Tess for a pulse, and finding none, removed his jacket and laid it over her face. Taking a deep breath, he turned and walked back to where his son lay, unconscious on the ground.
Isabel saw him out of the corner of her eye and released Alex. Swallowing hard she began, "Sheriff, about what you saw ...."
He cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Don’t," he said brushing back the hair from Kyle’s eyes. "I all I want to hear from you is that you can help my son."
"I....I’m not sure...."
"Well get sure," he snapped standing abruptly. "She did something to him and I want you to fix it. He tried to kill me for god’s sake!"
"Sheriff, it’s not that easy," Alex said, stepping in front of Isabel protectively.
"Don’t you get it? I don’t care what you have to do, but you will fix my son. Understand?"
Alex looked at Isabel and mouthed the word ‘Max?’. She shook her head, not wanting the sheriff to know about the others. Having him know about her and Tess was going to be hard enough, with out adding Michael and Max to the mix. ‘Then what?’ he asked silently.
Squaring her shoulders, Iz came out from behind Alex and bent down next to Kyle’s prone figure. Laying her hand on his head, she cleared her mind and tried the same tactic she saw Max use when he healed Liz all those weeks ago. She pictured his aura as being a calming blue, and tried to ‘see’ it surrounding him like Liz’s amber, but she couldn’t do it. She wasn’t equipped with healing and watching done was not the same as being able to do it yourself.
Closing her eyes, she tried to dreamwalk him, but all she saw was an empty cavern that used to be his mind. Pulling back, she suppressed a shutter and looked up at Alex. "I can’t," she whispered.
Placing a hand on the Sheriff’s shoulder, Alex stopped his outburst and said, "We can bring him to someone who might be able to help him, but we need your assurances that this will go no further."
Jim was ready to blast into them again, when he saw the fear reflected on the faces of two kids before him. If everything his father had told him about the government and it’s task force to hunt and destroy aliens were true, these people had the right to be afraid for their lives. Knowing that they were the only chance his son had to regain his mind, he nodded and replied. "Fine, but when this is over, we have some talking to do."
"And her?" Alex indicated the body a few feet away.
"I’ll tell them she was crazed and that she kidnapped my son because she believed I could get what ever she wanted because of my job. She threatened his life and I had to kill her to save him." he said and went to his truck and pulled out a knife from behind the seat. Wiping it clean of his prints, he placed in Tess’ outstretched hand and closed her fingers around the hilt.
Isabel and Alex were astonished at the Sheriff’s tactics, but they knew too many questions would be asked if the real reason ever came to light. He was putting his job and his very life on the line to keep their secret. They had no choice but to trust him.
"Take Kyle where ever you need to, and I’ll call the office," he told them. "Call me as soon as you know."
"Won’t they want to know where he is?" Isabel asked, while Alex ran back to get his car.
"I said I’ll take care of it," he replied wearily. "You just take care of my son."
She nodded and when Alex drove up, she opened the back door so they could lay Kyle in. "how should we contact you?" she asked when they were done.
Seeing Alex’s cell hanging from his belt. Jim detached it and said, "Call me."
Getting in the car, Isabel watched as Valenti and his gruesome companion faded into the distance. "What if Max can’t help him?" she asked.
"Let’s hope that won’t happen," he replied and caught once last glance of the man silhouetted by the dwindling sun, in the rear view mirror.