Blood Sisters (XO,Nightworld,MATURE) Pt 7 - 07/16/04 [WIP]

Jadeling · Post by **Jadeling** » Tue May 04, 2004 10:10 am

Title: Blood Sisters
Rating: MATURE
Category: XO Nightworld
Disclaimer: You all know the drill; I don't own anything except for the Soundtrack and the Season One DVD's. I only dream about owning them. I'm writing for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of other fans, never for monetary profit.

Summary: Rashel Jordan returns to Roswell to bury her past and with a mission to figure out the identity of a very powerful lost witch for Circle Daybreak. Meanwhile, Liz starts having strange dreams containing the memories of a different person from a different time and place. When the two discover that Liz is the witch Rashel has been trying to find, not only do they have to deal with the whole alien maddness, but a very determined Hunter Redfern, who is hoping to finish what he started 12 years ago and bring the lost witch to his side.

Author's Notes: I realize that some of you people may not know about the Night World Series. I'm only going to give a short summary about the series and some of the couples. If you want more information, try looking up L. J. Smith or the Night World on Amazon and read the teasers along with people's reviews. They tend reveal some plot points as well. So far nine books have been published, and the 10th has been in limbo for the past 6 years (Sob!). L. J. Smith is a very good young adult writer; she focuses on stories surrounding the supernatural, teens, and love. Her other series include The Secret Circle, The Vampire Diaries, and Dark Visions to name a few, the Night World series is her latest.

~The Night World isn’t a place. It’s all around us. It’s a secret society of vampires, werewolves, witchs and other creatures of darkness that live among us. They’re beautiful and deadly and irresistible to humans. Your high school teacher could be one, and so could your boyfriend.

The Night World laws say it’s okay to hunt humans. It’s okay to toy with their hearts; it’s even okay to kill them. There are only two things you can’t do with them.

1) Never let them find out that the Night World exists.

2) Never fall in love with them.~ L. J. Smith primer to ever Night World book

The books are stories about what happens with those two rules are broken, and talks about the soulmate principle. This principle states that each person has a soulmate; a person can recognize his/her soulmate immediately. When a person finds his/her soulmate, sparks fly, and I'm not talking figuratively. In the books, especially between human/vampire relationships, L. J. Smith writes that when two soulmates have skin to skin contact there is some serious sparkage, and instant connection that sends the two consciousnesses into their own little world. I won't go that much more in depth, because I plan on explaining it more in later chapters, but that's what you need to know in basic history.

History on specific couples, this is going to kind of short too because I have yet to decide how far I'm going in the Night World timeline (Sorry, but I don't remember all of the last names to some of the boys).

Sweet Vampire: Poppy North and James Rasmussen, Poppy discovers that she's dying of cancer. Unable to watch his best friend die, James not only tells Poppy about the Night World, but turns her into a vampire. The problem? What James did to save his soulmate is illegal and his cousin, Ash Redfern, finds out. In the end, Ash doesn't turn her over to the Night World, and we find out that Poppy is a lost witch. Lost witches are psychics; they are people who are descended from witches, but never knew their heritage, they are the only Night People allowed to live among humans, because even lost witches don't know the Night World exist; they're just aware of it until told about the Night World by a Night Person.

Daughters of Darkness: Mary-Lynnette Carter and Ash Redfern, when Ash's three sisters runaway from home to their Great-Aunt Opal's, Ash is sent to bring them home, or kill them. Meanwhile, Mary-Lynnette Carter wishes for something to happen in her small/sleepy town of Briar Creek. However, after the Redfern sisters arrive, Mary-Lynnette gets her wish and then some when Great-Aunt Opal's body is discovered. After solving the murder, Mary-Lynnette sends Ash away, not because she doesn't love him, but because she's not ready to be with her soulmate and neither is Ash ready to be tied to a human.

Spellbinder: Thea Harman and Eric Ross, Thea and her cousin Blaise have been expelled from 5 high schools in the past 2 years. Thea is just hoping to keep her cousin and herself out of trouble 'till the end of the year. However, when Blaise decides to go after Eric for her amusement, a desperate Thea does whatever she can to save Eric, even if it means telling him everything about the Night World, and betraying everything she was taught as a witch. When discovered, Thea offers to drink the Cup of Lethe (in Greek mythology the river of Lethe was the River of Forgetfulness), and become a lost witch, forgetting her heritage to save Eric and her life. In a sudden change of heart, Blaise switches the drink with tea, so her cousin/sister witch can keep her powers, and still be with her soulmate.

Dark Angel: Gillian Lennox (Harman) and David Blackburn, after a near death experience, Gillian discovers she has a guardian angel watching over her. Now her angel is helping her; getting her into the "in" crowd, landing a date with her crush, even telling her about the Night World, and revealing that Gillian is actually a lost witch. But then her angel starts asking her to do strange things, so who is this angel and what does he really want with Gillian? Her angel really is the soul of a distant cousin with a secret holding his spirit from moving on. He needs Gillian's help to set things right, so he can move on. Unlike later books, there really is no one antagonist fighting against Gillian.

The Chosen: Rashel Jordan and John Quinn, ahh, my favorite couple. Rashel's mother was killed in front of her by a vampire when she was five. Now she's a vampire slayer, one of the best, known by the alias the Cat. Quinn was the son of a Puritan priest, who fell in love with Dove Redfern, only to have Hunter Redfern changed him over against his will. Fast forward to present day, Quinn hates all humans and is involved in an illegal slave trade. When the two actually meet, sparks fly; finally, Quinn and Rashel manage to escape an enclave of angry vampires. Will go into more detail in my story.

Soulmate: Hannah Snow and Thierry Descouedres, oooh, this was my favorite book. Hannah has everything going for her, friends, good grades, a scholarship for college, and then things get weird. As her 17th birthday approaches, she starts finding notes she doesn't remember writing, warning her about her impending death. She learns that she's an Old Soul, a person whose soul has been reincarnated over and over again, and for most of her incarnations, she's never lived to see her 17th birthday. Thierry Descouedres is Hannah's soulmate, and her first incarnation's killer. He has spent lifetimes trying to make up for his mistake, only he's not the only person searching for Hannah. Maya, the vampire who changed Thierry, is obsessed with him, and if she can't be with him, then Hannah's soul can't either. As you all can see, they turn out okay, because they're together in my fic.

Huntress: Jezabel (Jez) Redfern and Morgead, this book introduces the Wild Powers. Jez Redfern use to be a real bad ass, humans were vermin afraid of her and her gang, until she remembers her mother was human. Now she's an agent for Circle Daybreak, and a vampire hunter. Circle Daybreak discovers a prophesy of four beings possessing the magical blue fire needed to save the world from the apocalypse, yet there's a catch, Daybreak needs all four, one less and the human world is doomed at the millennium. However, the Night World knows of the prophesy, and wants the Wild Powers for themselves. Jez's former gang announces that they found the first Wild Power, so now Jez has to go back and convince them to turn over the Wild Power to her, or it could be the end of the world. Morgead is one angry lamia, now in charge of the gang after Jez suddenly leaves with out a trace, she comes back into his life and demands the Wild Power, like that's going to happen. But when they meet and connect, both are surprised to learn that they're soulmates, suddenly things become very confusing.

Black Dawn: Maggie Neely and Delos Redfern, Maggie's older brother, Miles, turns up missing, and Maggie doesn't believe the explanation his girlfriend Syliva tells her family. Confronting Syliva, Maggie gets dragged to a forgotten kingdom ruled by the Night World by a very arrogant Delos Redfern. Delos is more than just a lamia prince, he's also a Wild Power, and he has no intention of helping Circle Daybreak, even if his soulmate is human. It's up to Maggie to make him see that his great-grandfather, Hunter, is only using him, and she needs to free a couple of slaves while she's at it.

Witchlight: Raksha Keller and Galen Drache, Keller is an agent of Circle Daybreak; she's also a shape shifter capable of becoming a black leopard. Keller's and her crew's assignment is to bring the third Wild Power, a lost witch, name Illiana to Circle Daybreak and to a binding ceremony between the witches and the shape shifters. She first thinks that Galen, joining the assignment will be a nuisance and refuses to take him with her until she's informed that he's the son of the First House of Shape shifters, and the man Illiana will be promised to. Too bad he's also Keller's soulmate.

I'm not sure if I'm going to even include characters from the last three books into my story, but if I do, I'll be sure to mention some more background information for everyone. Hope this answers some of your questions about the Night World, and if not, go out to your local library and check out the books to read for yourself

Maybe I haven't been looking in the right places, but I always kind of thought L. J. Smith's [/i]Night World Series (Anybody remember that book series?) and Roswell would have meshed well. Rather surprised that I haven't found a cross over fanfic yet. Okay, some changes to Rashel's past: Her first encounter with Hunter took place in Roswell, New Mexico. The Chosen, never really specified where the first chapter occurred, but we all pretty much assumed that for the story it was somewhere in the New England area. Well, it's my fanfic; I'm changing it. Instead of being 17 when she met Quinn, she was 16. Changes in the Roswell time line go as follows: I'm inserting Rashel in the first season, and she plays a role in both seasons, but I'm not saying how right now. This is a mostly Roswell fic, with Rashe being the most prominent Night Worlder in the plot (Quinn and she are my favorite couple followed closely by Hannah and Thierry.), but that doesn't mean that the others won't make cameos. Enjoy!

Italics are used for either when characters use telepathy or inner monologue.
*~*~*~ indicates old memories, flashes, or dream state, don't worry, I'll specify.

Blood Sisters Arc 1: The Return
Prologue -- Portent?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Her dreams usually involved sound. In fact, interaction, that is, talking/walking around, occurred quite frequently; but tonight her dream was decidedly lacking in both areas. She didn't know where she was, or why she was even seeing these images since she didn't recognize any of the people standing in the scene ahead of her. However, she did seem to know some information about them. Curious, I know I would have remembered meeting these two very hot guys before, so why do they seem familiar? There were six people besides herself, three men, and three women; no one looked older than mid-twenties. The non-hottie was facing the one of the cute guys while the other four were only a couple of feet away from him.

Turning to face the group of five, she immediately was drawn by the eyes of man standing a few meters in front of the group. They were luminescent gray almost sliver orbs. Their soulful intensity took her breath away. After her initial reaction faded away, the dreamer noticed that those eyes seemed were also very tense, guarded, while his whole face displayed a stoic determination. Did she stumble into some type of stand off? She continued to study him; he had light brown hair that was in a very short and dignified style. The silent observer deduced from his posture and the quality of his clothes that he was someone of wealth and importance. The large gold signet ring and intricate gold circlet around his forehead also validated her assumption.

The watcher turned to focus her attention on the other members of the group. The other male was taller than the first. He had dark blue eyes and dark brown hair. Like his companion, his eyes were intense, but from a different emotion. Rage? Fear? Looking between the two, the dreamer determined that they both held themselves in a dignified stillness, yet she somehow knew that both of them were fierce warriors. However, upon closer inspection she noticed there was some quality in the way the first one was facing his opponent, some quiet and solid focus that identified him as a leader. On the other hand, the other's face betrayed suppressed emotions; he was like a coil waiting to spring. He was impatient for a conflict, not because he wanted to fight, but because he wanted to finish it. Watching them, she realized that the second man was a soldier and was of high rank judging from his uniform along with the silver signet ring he wore. Adorned upon his forehead was a silver circlet; but like his ring, it was of different design from his companion.

Clutching the young man's hand, was a slight, thin, lady in an elegant blue-green dress that brought out her eyes, with short blonde hair that just framed her face. She wasn't drop-dead gorgeous; nevertheless, the woman possessed that extra something, that drew attention to her. Perhaps it was how much expression her eyes could portray in a short amount of time. She kept shifting them between the two men; her gaze was anxious and scared. The dreamer got the impression that the young lady wasn't afraid for herself; more like her fear was for the two noblemen near her. Another impression the quiet observer obtained was that the young noblewoman was related to the dark-haired solder. They have the same expressive eyes, she told herself. Plus, she couldn't mistake the protective posture of the soldier; her own brother had the pose down to a science.

The other two women had raven tresses and possessed brown eyes. The two of them were standing next to the blonde; their expressions mirrored the other girl's. The shorter girl had curls in her hair, while the taller one's locks flew loose around her shoulders. Both women had circlets on their foreheads like the first man. However, the taller woman's was silver, not gold like the other two. However at the center of her circlet lain a blue stone shaped like a small raindrop. The two ladies also wore elegant clothes, although they had on different shades of purple. Geez, feeling a bit underdressed right now, the dreamer thought. Silently observing the pair, she noticed that the taller one's expression was slightly different from the others. She was anxious and frightened, but there was something else as well, like dread and suspicion.

Suddenly, the man facing the group raised his hand, and an energy blast sent the silver-eyed man to the ground. The others raced towards him, but the young man shakily got back up to his feet and waved to the others to keep their distance. As he stood up, he raised his hand. But instead of a blast, a green energy shield formed in front of him. The field deflected the second energy blast that was aimed towards the group. As the other man continued to lob blast at them, the group's attention was focused on nobleman defending them and their enemy. So it didn't surprise the young watcher when no one seemed to notice the entrance of another actor in this drama. He came to the side, where the energy field wasn't protecting anyone, and the observer immediately didn't like the new addition to this little play. His eyes were shifty, cruel, and right now, had a very malicious glint, that it scared the dreamer. She watched as the newcomer raised his hand, and no one in the small group seemed to realize the danger that he presented.

Instinctively the dreamer opened her mouth to cry out a warning only to reminded again, that she couldn't speak or hear sounds. Then it seemed like the following action was in slow motion, like in the movies. The young blonde noblewoman seemed to notice the slight hand movement, because she broke free from her brother's grasp and propelled herself forward. Although very small, her momentum was enough to knock the leader off his feet; effectively protecting him from the energy blast, but she wasn't fast enough to avoid it. The blast hit her squarely on the side and the force of it pushed her into the wall behind her. The girl's flight alerted the group of the extra danger. The two men quickly ran to her side, while the other two women produced their own shields to protect them. The taller girl kept looking back at the men; concern etched onto her face, while the other girl kept scanning the doorways for other attackers.

Meanwhile, the leader of the group was holding the fallen girl; his hands glowing over her prone body. However, whatever he was doing didn't seem to work, because soon afterwards, he just dropped his hands before gathering the lifeless form in his arms. The realization that he was now holding the dead body of someone close to him seemed to break his stoic façade. His unfeeling silver eyes were now blinking back tears, as he gently stroked some hair away from her white face. For the dreamer, it was captivating; she couldn't tear her eyes away from the scene playing out in front of her, let alone blink. On the other hand, the brother's eyes reflected a pain that she recognized; she had seen it in her own brother's eyes once before. Then his jaw clenched and the pained look was replaced by a fierce, frenzied fury. Turning towards their attackers, his right hand began to glow with a pulsating blue-white energy. He then said something to taller girl because she dropped her shield and the brother tossed several energy pulses towards his sister's killer. The pulses incinerated the man, but the brother didn't stop his barrage. His grief and rage now directed at the other gentleman, who started the whole stand off first, along with several vases, and works of art around them.

So there wasn't any sound in the dream. Nevertheless that didn't mean that those pulses didn't make some type of noise, whenever and wherever this scene took place, because within minutes soldiers began to come to the group. At first the observer was scared that these soldiers were there to fight against the group, however, it became clear that they were on the same side as the others. Their leader spoke to the taller girl, and she went up to the brother and told him something. Judging by his face, the brother wasn't happy about the news, yet he turned back to his fallen sister and the man holding her. He wouldn't let go of the body; it seemed like no matter what the two people told him, the man only shook his head. Eventually the three of them persuaded the man to get up, yet when he tried to carry the girl's body, one of the soldiers shook his head. Apparently they didn't have time, or something, again, the observer cursed the fact that she couldn't hear anything. With great reluctance the man finally placed the girl down and was the last of the others to leave through a dark doorway before the dream plane shifted.

She didn't recognize the desert landscape because it was night, but the moon was out so she had some light. The watcher noticed that in this plane she could hear things, and right now she heard a very familiar voice behind her. Turning she saw one of her friends gripping the shoulders of another girl. The girl had long dark hair, and blazing green eyes like the blonde in the earlier part of her dream. The two girls seemed to be having a heated argument over something; however, the dreamer was still too far to hear all of the words. So she walked closer to them and heard the tail end of her friend's speech, "You're not a killer; do this and I promise you, you'll never forgive yourself. Yes, the man is a sadist bastard; yes, you've suffered because of him; yes, he should pay, but not on his terms. He's taunting you; hoping you'll destroy yourself. Don't you see? If you kill him, it's endgame, because he knows you'll never survive the guilt of killing someone in cold blood." Her friend let go of the girl's arms before continuing softly, "He'll haunt you until you die."

The plane shifted again, the dreamer wasn't completely sure how far forwarded she moved in time; she suspected no more than a couple of hours since she saw her friend wearing the same clothes as in the last dreamscape. It was still night, but the moon was no longer visible, possibly hidden by some clouds. Looking back at her friend, the observer noticed something; her friend was white, deathly white. No, no, you can't do this, she thought. What's the point of getting these visions, if I can't find out how to save my friend, or who the people in the beginning were, and how they're connected to the second part of my dream. Yet, even as she told herself this, she felt her consciousness awaking, dragging her out of the dream plane.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She awoke abruptly and upright in her bed. Her gasp caught the attention of her companion.

"What's wrong?" His worry showing through his eyes as he went up to her.

"My phone, where's my phone?" She stated as she started to look around the couch and the surrounding areas for her cell phone. The missing phone turned out to be sitting on the stand next to the couch she napped on. Quickly she dialed the number and waited impatiently for the call to be connected. "Come on pick up the phone," she kept muttering, before she heard the click of someone picking up. "Thank God, I reached you!" She cried into the phone.

"What's wrong, Poppy?" A somewhat concerned female voice asked.

The girl swallowed before stammering out an answer, "I'm not sure, but I, I think, I just saw you die, Rashe."

Jadeling's Notes: What? You thought the girl was Isabel or Liz? Oh, but that would be so predictable, besides I did say others would be making cameos. Soooo, anyone interested in me continuing? Just to warn everyone, this is the only scene that I have written, because I'm so behind in my other fics. (if you're interested in them; they're at: http://www.fanfiction.net/~jadeling ) Otherwise this story is going to the backburners until I finish my other fics.

Jadeling · Post by **Jadeling** » Mon May 10, 2004 1:22 am

Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell or the Night World series, because if I did; Alex would be alive and we all would have seen the release of Strange Fate.

Anya: Well, here's some more, and thanks for leaving a message. There were about 6 others who didn't, and a bunch of others who didn't do anything at all. Hope you like this chapter too.

Tatiloca: I hope you weren't too late for your classes. As for couplings for Roswell, I'm a dreaming, candy loving, stargazing kind of girl; I like lamptrimming too, but I have yet to decide if Tess will be evil or good. Hopes this answers your question. This fic will have a lot of Michael and Liz interaction/friendship as well.

Author's Notes: So, I guess most people didn't like the cliff hanger I left? Well, how else was I suppose to get you guys to read the next chapter? Okay, I've decided to keep Thierry and Hannah their respective ages, so basically Hannah is one year older than Rashel, so she's 18 now, and Thierry very, very, very old. Liz and the rest of the Roswell gang are 16 going on 17, and I've decided to place this chapter between Monsters and Leaving Normal, sorry for the errors in grammer. I don't have a beta reader. Enjoy.

Chapter 1 -- Returning

It was a sad sight. The tall raven-haired teen standing in the cemetery alone, towering over her mother's grave for the very first time.

Linda Sarah Jordan
January 16, 1960 - May 29, 1987
Beloved Daughter, Wife, and Mother
You Will Be Missed

"I'm sorry; I should have come to see you sooner, Mommy." Rashel whispered before she knelt down to laid down the white lilies on the stone. "I miss you." she stated before bringing her hands to her lips, then pressing the kiss on the cold stone next to where her mother's name was engraved. The 17 year old then got up, and started to walk towards the convertible where two other teens were waiting for her. "Thanks, for letting me stop by." She told the boy at the driver's seat.

To the casual observer, the driver appeared to be a very handsome 18 year old boy with short blonde hair and dark brown eyes. However, upon closer inspection, one could notice certain qualities, about the lithe teen. Like how his movements were naturally very fluid, almost predatory, his ears seemed to pick up sounds which weren't there, and then there was his eyes. They glinted softly in the dimming light of the sunset, as a cat's would, and they seemed so old for one so young. However, to those familiar with the Night World, he wasn't an average teen. He was a vampire, the lord of the made vampires, and currently the oldest alive. "It wasn't a problem Rashel," Thierry told her; his eyes reflecting compassion and regret. To loose one's mother so early; and because of Hunter. He thought to himself. Although, Hunter was born thousands of years after Thierry changed over; the vampire lord felt partially responsible for the death of Rashel's mother along with the countless other sins the lamia committed.

"You can't beat yourself over Hunter, Thierry." Rashel told him softly correctly guessing the reason for his sadness. "You're not responsible for what Maya did then, and you certainly aren't responsible for the actions of her descendents."

Thierry shook his head, "If only I had stopped Maya back then. I could have prevented so much."

Rashel gave him a lopsided grin; Thierry always carried the burden of guilt too far. "Okay, for one thing Thierry, if you had stopped Maya, you may have never met Hana, you remember, your soulmate, the girl you fell hopeless in love, whose current incarnation is standing beside you and will probably tell you the same thing. Do I wish that Hunter never existed? Hell yes. However, if it wasn't for the bastard, I would have never met Quinn, or gotten involved with Circle Daybreak. I'm not saying that if given the choice, I would want to live through everything over again; I am just saying that considering everything, we all got something good out of Maya, crazy witch as she was."

The girl sitting next to Thierry nodded her agreement to Rashel's words. "She's right; you know. If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have met." Hannah told him as she took her soulmate's hand into her own.

Thierry looked at the two women talking to him and nodded. Hannah gave him a soft smile, which made him smile back in return. Rashel rolled her eyes at the pair, those two and their PDA's were too much for her sometimes, yet she couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy. You could have that too if your soulmate wasn't so stubborn. But she squashed the voice before she got too bitter; too late to dwell on the past; she was back in Roswell with a specific purpose that required her to be focused. She got into the back seat of the car, "We probably should get this over with."

Hannah turned back to the girl, her gray eyes revealing concern, "Are you sure you want to do this? The letter stated that you have until your 18th birthday."

She shrugged, "It's not so much want, Hannah. I need to do this; they deserve some type of closure and so do I."

Hannah nodded. Rashel was pretty private and hid behind a tough exterior because of her past as The Cat, but underneath everything was still a very honorable yet vulnerable little girl. Not many saw that side of her because Rashel usually preferred to intimidate people and keep them at arm's length. Only a few people like Quinn and Hannah realized Rashel's tactics were her defense mechanism. She did it because deep down, loosing people close to her scared Rashel. It seemed to happen so many times because of who she was, and when she was younger it was necessary to be invisible to others. Hannah pulled out her small compact, not quite sure if she should use make-up to hide her birthmark, and to study the girl in the back seat some more. In all honesty, Hannah would miss Rashel's presence in her life. For the last 9 months, Rashe had been a constant in Hannah's life, as her unofficial bodyguard. She got to see Rashel in her unguarded moments, and the two had a fairly good understanding, along with a great deal of respect for each other. Right now, Rashel's eyes held a determined focus. Although not quite in her "hunter" mode as she called it; Hannah recognized that her friend's mind was currently assessing and planning different scenarios due to Poppy's distressed call.

"Did you want to go to the reservation and talk to River Dog and the others; or did you want to see your new apartment?" Thierry asked, stopping Hannah from her musings.

Hannah spoke before Rashel could say anything, "Actually, I'm not really sure about you Rashe, but I'm kind of hungry. Do you remember any place downtown where we could eat?"

Rashel pondered for a minute before giving the other girl a small smile, "Well, actually, there was this one place with the best malts and pies. It was called the Crashdown Café. I bet it's still up and running."

Thierry gave both girls a smile of his own, happy to see Rashel acting like a normal teen. "Okay, just tell me where to drive."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Liz couldn't help it. She just felt jumpy all day, and the feeling wouldn't go away no matter what she did or told herself. It wasn't really a bad feeling, just vauge awareness. Liz just knew that something, no, someone was coming, and she couldn't figure out for the life of her why she had this feeling. A very small voice in her told her that she was acting this way because Max did something to her when he healed her. Okay, that's just the paranoia talking. She forcefully told herself, silencing the small voice. She shook her head and began clearing dishes off of one of her tables at the Crashdown. As she pocketed the tip, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning quickly, she almost fell into Alex. "Alex! You scared me."

Alex gave her a small grin, "Sorry, but I wanted to see if we're still up for studying tonight. Arthur Miller just doesn't do it for me."

Liz smiled at her friend, "Yeah, my shift will be over in thirty minutes."

Maria walked by them at that moment, "Hey. Whatcha talking about?"

"Study session for out test on The Crucible this Friday."

"Why not just watch the movie? Daniel Day-Lewis is worth sitting through 124 minutes of Winona." Maria responded.

Liz grinned at her other best friend's observation. It was good to see Maria's mind on something else besides the "Czechs," especially after lying to the sheriff. As the two waitresses waited for their orders to come up, Alex took a seat at the counter to talk to his two friends since the Crashdown was fairly empty. The three were having a regular conversation, which was something that Liz missed since she learned Max's secret. She hated not being able to level with Alex, but understood the need to keep him in the dark. The three were interrupted by a fairly amused Mr. Parker.

"Maria, Lizzie, look at what your mother found in the attic."

The three crowded around him to see him holding a old picture frame. In the frame was a photo of three girls no older than four and each were in Halloween costumes. Alex quickly identified the princess as Maria; the fairy was Liz; but he didn't know the other girl. "So who's the little black cat?"

Staring at the little girl with emerald eyes and short black hair dressed in a furry cat outfit, Liz felt something ominous in the air. "Oh, that's Rashel Jordan. She left Roswell before you came, Alex," Mr. Parker explained. "She, Lizzie, and Maria use to be playmates. Look at how cute you three were back then."

"So why did her family leave Roswell, and why haven't I ever heard about this other girl from my girls?"

The three others froze, unsure of how to begin. Mr. Parker cleared his throat to gather himself, "Rashel's father died when she two; there was only Linda, her mother, and Rashel. On Rashel's fifth birthday, there was a carnival in town for the Memorial Weekend, and a whole bunch of us went." His eyes got a bit misty, "I don't know what happened, but suddenly someone finds a body in one of the empty tents, and it's Linda. Rashel's in one of the jungle gyms screaming about some stranger-"

"Wait a minute." Alex's face horrified by Mr. Parker's implication. "Are you saying that she saw someone kill her mother?"

“Yes,” was the soft, sad reply. Uncomfortable by the change of mood, Mr. Parker tried to change the subject. “Anyway, that was about 12 years ago. Social Services took Rashel away to an aunt who lived in Arizona. I just wanted to show you guys the photo, thought you might find it amusing.”

“We did Dad; I forgot all about that Halloween. It’s great really.” Liz instantly told him. He smiled at his daughter, as she took the frame from him before he went back into the kitchen.

“Wow, Rashel Jordan, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while.” Maria stated.

“So…what was she like?” Alex asked after a pause.

Liz glanced over Maria as they walked back towards the front of the café, “I wish I could tell you something, but to be honest, I really can’t remember that much Alex. She left when both Maria and I were only four. Anything that I remember is kind of vague.”

“Her mother called her ‘kitten.’” Maria started.

“She liked the Saturn Rings, and strawberry malts."

"She loved my mother's apple pie, and she was afraid of my dog." The two girls stopped and smiled as the looked at the old photograph again. They were so engrossed that they didn't hear the door open. Nor did they notice the three teens entering the café and sitting at one of the booths until one of the spoke up.

"Excuse me, but we'd like to order now."

Liz looked back up and towards the booth. Her eyes widened, while Maria gasped, and Liz dropped the frame.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thierry and Hannah stood in front of her as they stopped at the glass doors of the Crashdown Café. "Are you sure about this? I mean; I really don't mind having you at Utah State with me." Hannah asked.

Rashel sighed; she loved them, really she did, but Thierry and Hannah were taking this whole "Make sure that Rashel doesn't flip out in Roswell" thing too seriously. "Yes, for the hundredth time; I'm okay." She continued before either of them could argue with her. "I told you; I need to do this, and maybe what happened with Quinn made me decide to come earlier, but I still would have come once I turned 18 anyway. I know that you don't mind having me around your place at U State, Hannah, but if I stayed, I wouldn't be living my life. Besides, you'd be so worry about me that you wouldn't enjoy your second year at college."

"Well, maybe I like having you as my bodyguard. Thierry, don't you think that-"

Rashel interrupted her before the other girl could continue. "Hannah, Thierry has more guards on you than I think you even realize." She grinned. "Heck, I think you have more agents assigned to you than than the President. In fact, I bet that they're a full squad of his own personal bodyguards hiding in the shadows all around us."

Thierry started sharply at her words, "And what makes you think I brought others?" He asked her trying to cover for his gaffe.

She gave him a look, "Because you never go anywhere without someone following you after what happened with Maya or Lily. No matter how many times you tried to be on your own, something tends to happen to you. That and because you're an Elder; can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if something happened to you?"

He shook his head, "How long have you known?"

"Since we got out of Vegas." She told him with a confident smirk on her face.

Thierry just stared at her. There were times when he'd forget how well trained Rashel was, and then something like this would remind him how sharp she really was. It was true, though, he liked having her in Utah last year to watch over Hannah. It wasn't that his own guards were ineffective; it was just that Hannah felt more comfortable with a guard who was female and close to her own age, and Rashel was good. Rashel was great as Hannah's guard because she could blend in perfectly in human and Night World crowds. Granted there were plenty of people under his employ that fit the bill, yet there was something about Rashel which made Hannah feel safe. She had connections and often heard about threats towards Hannah before his own people because of them. Still, being Hannah's guard took it's toll on her as well. Rashel effectively gave up her own life, yet she didn't mind because she was with Quinn since they were both assigned to Hannah. Now Quinn was gone, and Rashel wasn't doing much better. She received a letter informing her about her inheritance about a month ago, so here they were standing at the entrance and once they stepped through the door, Rashel would officially be starting her new life. So a little hesitation was not uncalled for. He then gave her a sheepish smile, "We just worry, you know, and we'll keep worrying. You coming back is going to bring up the past for a while; people are going to talk."

"I know. Look, I'm not the same frightened five year old, when I left. Do I think I'm prepared for the possible hoopla, no, but I can't keep running either. And before you ask, yes, I realize that if Hunter gets wind that I've returned to Roswell, my life will be in danger again, but that's what having your name is there for, Thierry." It was something that Thierry insisted on when she became an emancipated minor two months ago. Instead of being Rashel Jordan, she now was Rashel Columbine Descouedres. He was adamant about her having his name after Quinn left and the incident in Utah, stating that since Rashel was now family, she should be able to have his name. Of course it would also serve as a deterrent to anyone in the Night World looking to harm Rashel for her association with Circle Daybreak. To any other outsider, it only appeared as Thierry adopting Rashel into his family.

"What about Poppy's dream?" Hannah asked her softly.

For the first time Rashel didn't have a ready reply nor did she look at her friend's eyes. She lifted her hands and shrugged before answering. "I don't know. We all know that Poppy's psychic abilities are growing; it's possible that what she saw is in the distant future. 'Sides she only saw me on the ground looking very pale, doesn't mean I'm dead. Her dreams of the future can be figurative, not just literal." Rashel placed a hand on the handle, "Come on, I just want to go eat at a restaurant and pretend that I'm a normal for once."

Her two friends looked at her for a moment before nodding. As they entered the diner, they didn't notice the two waitresses engrossed in a conversation with a customer. Thierry slid into the booth seat across from Hannah and Rashel, while grabbing a menu to look over. Clearly Roswell, was playing the whole 1947 crash to the hilt. He found himself chuckling at some of the items. If the humans only knew the truth, not just about the Night World, but that visitors from the stars exist. I wonder would they welcome aliens with open arms, or would they try to kill them like they would with the Night World. Oh well, not my problem, although it'll make Rashe's mission a bit harder. He gave himself a rueful smile. Rashel was pretty firm about what she wanted out of the next couple of days, no real thoughts about the Night World, aliens, or anything resembling something supernatural. It was suppose to be a time to focus on burying her past and moving on with a "normal" life. Deciding that he'd have a Will Smith, as rare as possible, he glanced over his menu to discover that the girls had also pretty much made up their minds. Turning his head around over the seat, he saw that the two waitresses were closer, but obviously still occupied in their conversation and staring at what appeared to be a picture in a picture frame. "Excuse me, but we'd like to order now." He stated hoping to catch their attention.

The petite brunette wearing a ponytail looked up and her eyes widened in recognition while the blonde with a short pixie haircut gasped, both girls had turned pale while the guy with them just kept looking at the picture and back at the booth. Turning, Thierry saw Rashel's eyes were cloudy as if she knew the two girls, but couldn't quite place their names or faces. Then he heard something drop and glass breaking. Well, there goes any chance of a "normal" reintroduction to Roswell.

Jadeling's Notes: Mostly set up information this chapter. Next chapter: Rashel meets our beloved aliens along with our favorite undercover FBI agent.

Jadeling · Post by **Jadeling** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:31 pm

Disclaimer: I only dream of owning Roswell and the Night World, cuz if I did, I'd be rich!

Orion - Was this enough info about the Night World? If you want to know any more feel free to PM with any questions.

Anya- Glad you liked the chappy, hope you enjoy this one.

Chapter 2 -- Introductions

It was her first day of school, and she didn't want to go. Goddess, someone should pay for deciding that 6:30 am is a good time to meet before school. Rashel thought as Thierry and her rode up to the entrance to West Roswell High. Before she could open the passenger door, Thierry grabbed her arm, while he held out his other hand. "Give me the knife, Rashe."

She sighed and reached into her boot. Then she handed over the 6 inch wooden blade. Thierry gave her a knowing smile, "And the others?" She rolled her eyes as she reached for her other boot and handed him another wooden knife. A couple of minutes later, after she handed over another shorter blade, three kuni (throwing knives), two stilettos and one silver letter opener, Thierry let her out of the car. She drew the line at taking out the three small hair stilettos holding up her hair though.

Thierry chuckled as he joined her out of the car. Rashe, I thought you were trying to be normal for once. He asked her as they walked towards the school.

Hey, I just want to be prepared.

You're not here to hunt vampires or 'shifters. What if a teacher found out about your litter armory? You could be expelled.

No, the school manual covers metal blades, not wooden ones. Besides, I know better than to get caught by a teacher. God, Thierry, who do you think I am? Some amateur? She asked indignation evident in her mind.

"No," he smiled at her, "What would you say if Liz, Maria, or Alex found those weapons on you?"

She shrugged, "I take my personal safety very seriously?"

He laughed at her comment, "I didn't have time to ask you since we got
back so late; how was it seeing Liz Parker and Maria Deluca again after 12 years? You have to admit any chance you had of making a quiet return to Roswell is completely blown now."

Rashel gave him a grin at the observation as she remembered last night.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh my God! We were just talking about you!" The blonde waitress cried out.

"Huh?" was Rashel's eloquent response as the two waitresses gaped at her. "I'm sorry, but do we know each other? You two seem familiar, yet I can't seem to put names to the faces." She told them as she left the booth to help them clean up the glass.

The brunette gave her a little smile. "How about a hint?" She asked Rashel as she picked up the fallen picture frame. "Watch out for the broken glass." She warned as she handed it to Rashel.

Rashel blinked a couple of times before realization began to clear her eyes. Looking back at the two she ventured a guess. "Lizzie? Maria?"

The two girls squealed and gave the taller girl a hug. The commotion brought Jeff Parker from the back, "Hey, what is going on here girls?" He asked exasperated before Liz and Maria parted to reveal Rashel. He froze as he recognized the lanky teen. Jeff opened his mouth, but no sound came out, so he closed it and tried again. When he found himself speechless again, he turned around and went into the back of the café. The teens only glanced at each other utterly confused for about five minutes.

Then Jeff returned pulling a very surprised and perplexed Nancy Parker. "Jeff, what has gotten into you?" Instead of answering his wife, he just pointed towards their daughter and the others. Turning she saw Rashel, her hands went to her mouth, and her eyes became misty. "Rashel? Little Shelly Jordan?" she asked; her voice cracking from shock. When Rashel nodded, she started to cry and went over to the girl to give her a big, tight hug.

"Um, Mrs. Parker? Rashel can't breathe." Maria told her after Nancy wouldn't let go after a minute.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she sniffled. "Look at you; you're so tall and beautiful." Nancy told her cupping Rashel's face in her hands. "You have Linda's face." Suddenly, she seemed to notice Thierry and Hannah in the booth. "You have friends with you; you must be hungry. Jeff get them whatever they want. On the house." Nancy rambled on while her husband nodded numbly. "You still like strawberry malts and Saturn rings. right? Of course you do. And Amy's apple pies. Except we're out. That's okay; I'll call her right now. Be right back." She dried her eyes and left the shell-shocked Rashel to find a phone.

Jeff seemed to have regained his composure at this point because he got out his order book. "So what will you kids have, and like Nancy said, it's on the house." Rashel tried to protest, but Jeff was firm on it. So after Hannah, Thierry, and Rashel told him what they wanted he went into the kitechen to prepare it personally.

When he left, Rashel introduced Hannah and Thierry to the others. Alex asked if Rashel was visiting or staying. When she told them that she was staying and was going to West Roswell High for school, the conversation quickly turned towards the subject of classes, teachers to suck up to, and students to avoid. They were still deep in their conversation as Amy Deluca came briskly through the Crashdown doors. Talking on her cell phone; she completely ignored the teens in the booth and walked past them. "Nancy calm down. What do you mean Rashel Jordan is in Roswell? Well that's impossible, she's only 17 and school started a month ago-"

"Mom." Maria stated trying to get her mother's attention.

"-well, Jeff and you must be mistaken because no adult would allow a minor in his or her care to cross state lines by herself. Especially on a school night-" Amy continued, not hearing her daughter.

"MOM." Maria said louder.

Her mother just held up her hand, a gesture to get her daughter to wait. "-Nancy, think. After what that poor little girl saw 12 years ago, why come back? Hell, I'd never come back to Roswell-"

"MOTHER!" Maria shouted.

"What Maria!" Amy yelled back; clearly annoyed with her daughter, and turning her head towards the booth. Seeing Rashel, Amy did a double take, mumbled an apology into the phone, and then hung up. "Oh. My. God. Is it, is it really you?" Before anyone could respond, Amy answered her own question. "Of course it's you, I remember those eyes. As green as a cat, that's why Linda always called you her 'little kitten.' Nancy was right, you have her face. I didn't believe it was you. Thought your mother was crazy when she called, Liz. Oh my God, the apple pie. I didn't bring the pie she asked me to. You must think that I'm a horrible, crazy person. Tomorrow, tomorrow I'll bring you a freshly baked pie." Amy stated hurriedly.

It took Rashel five minutes to convince her that she wasn't upset about the missing pie. After the adults got a hold of themselves they started to ask Rashel their own questions, like where she was living now; how long she was staying in Roswell; and who her friends were. All three adults eyed Thierry with suspicion and distrust until Rashel assured them that he was Hannah's boyfriend. Then their glares faded and they gave him grateful glances as Rashel explained her relationship to Thierry.

"I've spent most of the past 11 years in an out of foster homes across the country and then last year I was sent to Las Vegas and into the Descouedres family."

"Wait a minute, you're Thierry Descouedres? The Thierry Descouedres, son of one of the wealthiest families in the world, Thierry Descouedres?" Jeff asked. "How did you get assigned to the Descouedres family?"

Thierry answered the question, "My parents are unable to have children; it's an unknown fact that I was adopted. My mother always wanted a daughter, but for some reason they never tried to adopt again. Last year they decided to become foster parents and Rashel came to us." He lied with practiced ease.

"Anyway, I tried living with the Descouedres, but after living the past couple of years in such different settings and circumstances I kind of felt like a burden to them and thought it was best to become an emancipated minor. Besides I kind of got tired of settling down in some place only to be rooted out and sent somewhere else."

"Rashe, you were never a burden to us; you're family." Thierry admonished.

"I know, but it never really seemed right. It wasn't, it wasn't home, and as weird and strange as it sounds, Roswell is home. It's the only city where I stayed in a house for more than one year besides Vegas. And Thierry's right, the Descouedres are my family now even if I'm emancipated."

"What do you mean, 'your family now?’” Nancy asked.

"When Rashel was emancipated, she also changed her name to Descouedres." Hannah explained.

"Thierry's family was the first to really treat me like a young adult, not some broken doll that needed to be fixed." Rashel told the others. "They respected my decisions as my own and didn't act like was I was trying to act out, or be rebellious, or anything like that. Besides, Hannah and Thierry see me as very independent younger sister/cousin as I see them as well-meaning but annoying older cousins." It wasn't a lie, just not the complete truth. "And with my return to Roswell, I expect a lot of people to pity me because of the past and others wishing to bring it up. I'm kind of hoping that the new name will help me avoid that."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I suppose you're right about that," Rashel told him when she finally responded. "But I don't mind."

"Of course you wouldn't. You were spoiled rotten last night."

"Well, I must admit; it's nice to be spoiled," she grinned.

"Come on you. You have an appointment with the guidance counselor before the first bell."

"Yes sir," she mumbled. "What's her name again?"

"Um, Topolsky, Ms. Kathleen Topolsky. Her office is this way."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's just strange Liz, that's all I'm saying." Maria told her as they walked towards the school entrance.

"It's just a coincidence Maria. Nothing you need to get worked up about." Liz replied.

"Coincidence? Liz, hun, we were talking about someone who hasn't been in Roswell for 12 years and suddenly, 'poof,' she's at the Crashdown. How do we know it's really her, huh? What if she's some undercover agent sent by the government to hunt down Max and the others?"

"Maria, do you hear yourself? Do you understand how ridiculous you're being? First of all, both my mom and your mom kept going on about how much Rashel resembled her mother. Second, how would the government know that my mother would find that picture frame? She was going through the attic looking for an old blanket when she found it. Are you going to tell me that the U. S. Government planted it there?" Liz asked her friend giving her a hard stare.

"Well..."

They had reached Liz's locker at that point. Liz quickly turned to face her friend. "Maria, remember when Ms. Topolsky came to town and you were so sure that she was hiding something? What came out of it? She's our guidance counselor."

"Okay, so I was a bit off with Topolsky, although I still think she's not on the up and up. But don't you think it's a little weird that Rashel comes back to Roswell less than a month since-" Maria glance around to make sure no one was near them. "-since Max healed you?" She whispered.

Secretly, Liz admitted to herself that Rashel's return to Roswell was a little too coincidental in her mind. However, for the life of her, she couldn't figure out how Rashel's return was connected to Max's alien status. Still, Liz couldn't forget how yesterday she had some vague feeling that somebody was coming to Roswell, and that feeling turned out to be right. "Maria," she stated firmly. "I think you're spending too much time with Michael." The subtle change in subject worked like a charm; Maria sputtered at her friend, indignant at the idea that she, Maria Deluca, would spend time with a delinquent like Michael Guerin.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Tell me again why we have to get to school early?" a grumbling Michael Guerin said from the back of Max Evens' Jeep.

"Don't ask me, ask Isabel. All I know is that she needed to get to school early." Max retorted.

Isabel glared at her brother and her friend from the passenger side of the Jeep. "I told you Michael, there's a new girl coming to school today, and as head of the Sunshine Committee, I need to get there early to show her around West Roswell High."

"Fine, I get that, but did you have to get me up too?" Michael responded.

"Well, how else are we supposed to get you to go to school?" She snapped back at him.

Ever the peacemaker, Max decided to change the subject. "So, uh, who's the new girl?"

"Rashel Something," she said somewhat dismissively as she pulled out a compact to look at her make-up.

"And you're head of the Sunshine Committee?" Michael snorted.

"Descouedres, her last name is Descouedres."

"Oh, so now you remember her name."

"Shut up Michael."

"Gladly."

Luckily for Max, they had reached the school lot and he parked the Jeep. Immediately, he noticed Liz and Maria, unfortunately, so did Michael. "Maxwell, stay away from Liz. You could jeopardize all of us."

"I know that Michael, but don't you think you're being harsh? After all, Maria did lie to Valenti to protect us; doesn't that prove that they can be trusted?"

"How many times do I have to tell you Max? I don't trust anyone." And with that, Michael jumped out of the vehicle and started towards the large building.

"Max...” Isabel started unsure of exactly how to proceed.

He cut her off before she could say more, "I don't need you to start either Isabel. I won't hang around Liz so much."

Somewhat hurt by her brother's brusque manner, Isabel remained silent. As they walked towards the entrance, one of Isabel's friends came rushing out towards her. "Isabel, you're the head of the Sunshine Committee, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

The girl just got more excited by her answer, "Good, then you'll know the name of the absolutely gorgeous guy waiting by Tolopsky's office. Tell me you know his name."

"Guy? I thought the new student was a girl." Max commented.

Isabel's friend suddenly noticed Max's presence. "Oh, hi, Max," she greeted coyly.

Isabel rolled her eyes. Okay, so Max was extremely good looking for a guy, did that mean her friends had to swoon over him every time he was near them, especially when she was standing next to him? "Missy," she snapped, trying to get her friend to look at her. "What guy?"

"Huh? Oh, here I'll show you." She grabbed Isabel's arm and pretty
much dragged her to the school office with an amused Max following.

Thierry was getting impatient. He had been waiting patiently for Rashel for the past 30 minutes, but she still hadn't come out of the office yet. He glanced at his watch again before closing his eyes for a while. Rashe was right, someone ought to die for deciding that we needed to get to the school so early. Right at this moment, Hannah was probably starting to wake up, and he didn't like the fact that she would wake up alone. He was vaguely aware of the female students stealing glances at him. They were probably wondering who he was, and he didn't doubt that they were checking him out either. Maybe it was a good thing that Hannah wasn't here, she'd probably claw out some of the girls' eyes. He sighed as he heard footsteps approaching him. Time to be the concerned but clueless cousin.

Isabel was skeptical about Missy's claim that the stranger was one of the hottest piece of eye candy possible. Missy always had the tendency to exaggerate, plus, Missy thought that Jonathon Brandis was better looking than Brad Pitt. Not that Jonathon Brandis wasn't cute, but hello, no one could compete with Brad. Then she saw the person in question sitting in the office. Missy really wasn't kidding, he really is incredibly handsome. Putting on her best smile, she straightened up a bit, held up her head confidently, and made her way towards him. As she neared him, she noticed that he seemed to be aware of her presence, because he opened his eyes and looked towards her. Isabel felt herself gasp as she saw the intensity of his dark brown eyes; they seemed to mature for some average teen. He stood up and she took the time to glance him over, she immediately took in that his leather jacket was designer and so were his shoes, revealing that he obviously had money. It made her wonder what a guy like him was doing in Roswell. "Hi, I'm Isabel Evans and this is my brother Max. You must be new here." She told him in her most cheerful voice.

Luckily for Thierry, he had years of learning how to prevent his shock from showing on the surface. But it still took every ounce of control not to gape at the two teens, because when he looked into the eyes of the person named Max Evans, he didn't see a teen with amber eyes. He saw Hunter's golden eyes. Quickly getting a grip on his emotions, he reached out to shake her hand. "Hi, I'm Thierry Descouedres and I think there was a bit of a mix up. I'm here with a friend, she's going to be attending West Roswell High." Discreetly, he telepathically probed them, but didn't feel any knowledge of the Night World in their minds, although he did find out that their parents were Phillip and Diane Evans. Oh, Rashe and I need to have a small talk before I leave today.

"Oh, you must mean Rashel, what a coincidence, I'm the head of the Sunshine Committee, so I'll be showing her around before school starts." Isabel continued.

"Yeah, my girlfriend and I came down to see that Rashe gets settle in all right."

Girlfriend, damn. Isabel thought when she heard the words out of his mouth. Oh well, knew it was too good to be true. "So where is she?"

Thierry pointed to the guidance counselor's office. "So, tell me what is there to do in Roswell? Since Rashe will be in class, Hannah and I won't have someone to show us around."

Isabel gave the guy a sympathetic smile, "Not much, although all the tourists go to the UFO Museum."

"Is it interesting?"

"Ask Max, he works there now."

Turning to the young man, Thierry tried to appear interested while contacting Rashel telepathically.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rashel couldn't help but be amused. For the past 25 minutes since she got in Ms. Topolsky's office, she had been answering questions about herself, her past schools, and noticed that her new guidance counselor was writing notes about everything she said. The action didn't cause Rashel any concern at first until, she realized that Topolsky was asking a little too many personality questions. Rashel had been in and out of different public schools all her life. She knew the routine, go talk to the guidance counselor, get the same basic speech about welcome to our school, hope you'll stay here longer than your last, get school schedule, go to class. Sure there were a few variations on the whole thing, like the counselor asking questions about her past, or if they had bothered to read her file, give her the whole "I don't know how your last school was, but we do things differently here" speech. No, Ms. Topolsky started to do the normal things, and then she said that last week she had interviewed the students about their career desires and she wanted to do the same interview with Rashel. That sent alarm bells through the teen, never in her lifetime had one guidance counselor single-handedly interview all of the students in one grade let alone one school about their career desires. As Topolsky handed her the card of the children in the park to play the "Relationship Game" a little sliver of suspicion crept into her brain.

So as subtle as she could, Rashel found out that Ms. Topolsky recently came to West Roswell High as the guidance counselor. She also found out that this was her first real job outside of college. Rashel's mind quickly recalled a time when she was in an inner city school in Philadelphia. One of the math teachers was on maternity leave, so a substitute was called in. The sub was good, nice, and seemed to connect with most of the teens right away. He also turned out to be narc, looking to find out who was the drug connection at the school. Looking at Topolsky again, Rashel found herself observing the counselor closely for small signs to give her away, she also decided that she would mess with her new guidance counselor's mind for a little while.

"So, Rashel what do you think of as your dream job?"

Rashel answered without thought and with a straight face, "Special Ops agent."

She got the reaction she was hoping for, because Topolsky dropped her pen and glanced up at her sharply. "Excuse me?"

"Special Ops, I mean the a lot of bad guys out there in the world, and I think I have some of the skills needed to take them out."

"Yes, but you know people often imagine being a spy as something like James Bond-"

"Oh, please. James Bond is some glorious fantasy. He wouldn't survive as an agent in reality. Besides, I'm not just talking about going to exotic places and gorgeous men flirting with me. Nor am I talking about those silly video game scenarios where you're just some army commando/assassin." Rashel paused for a moment to gauge Topolsky's reaction, before continuing. "I'm talking about the fact that I have no biological family, don't have any real friends because I never stayed in one place long enough to make friends, if I dropped off the face of the planet no one would notice or care. I spend a lot of time by myself already, never worked well with others, so I suppose if I went on lone missions it'll be okay. I like watching "La Femme Nakita" both the movie and TV series."

Topolsky seemed stunned by Rashel's haphazard, laid-back reasoning before she could follow up. "Umm, let's move on, shall we? What do you think will be your actual job in 10 years?"

"Something in personal security." She shot back without thought.

"Personal Security, huh? Why did you say that?" Topolsky questioned, clearly flustered by her quick response.

Inwardly, Rashel was laughing her head off. Whether or not Topolsky was a narc, it was fun throwing her off balance, well, it was fun no matter who you're doing it to. On the outside, she just shrugged before leaning a little bit forward in her chair. "Well, I know a great deal about different hand to hand weapons because I am a student of the martial arts. I also spent a great deal of time around the security personnel when I was living with the Descouedres. In fact if you look in my records, you can see that I spent the summer interning with them; you know learning the different aspects of being a bodyguard, evading the general public, causing a distraction, the basics."

"I, I see. Well, that's a very, um, interesting-"

Rashel then could feel Thierry's presence in her mind. She knew it was an emergency because he never would invade her privacy like that. What's up?

I'm outside talking to two interesting people.

And this concerns me how?

Their names are Isabel and Maxwell Evans.

She froze at that, Evans, as in Diane and Phillip?

Yeah, and there's more. Max has eyes like Hunter and Lily.

Is he, are they-

I'm not sure, I don't sense anything, but they are very guarded about something. I don't think they're Night People, but they don't feel quite human either. I'll have people look into it, all right?

Rashel agreed to his suggestion readily, and then remembered her own little suspicions. While you're at it can you have them look up the guidance counselor? She felt his surprise at her request, so she quickly explained her reasons.

You think the guidance counselor is a narc?

I want to be prepared for everything Thierry. I just have this instinct that she's not your ordinary guidance counselor, but I could be wrong, and she could be a Night Person.

Okay, I'll have someone check in on her background. Now, can you come out here, I don't want to be rude, but I want to get back to Hannah.

Sure. Rashel cut off the communication and turned her attention back to Topolsky. "Hey, I don't mean to be a bother, but Thierry is probably still waiting for me outside, and I don't feel like being late for my tour of the school. Do you think you can hand me my class schedule and we can continue this some other time?"

"Um, sure. Here you go, let me say again, I hope you enjoy your time here at West Roswell High," Topolsky said rising while handing Rashel, her schedule.

"Thanks. Bye!" She said while inwardly preparing herself for what she was about to encounter outside of the office.

Jadeling's Notes: Sorry for the cheesy scene at the Crashdown, but I just saw it in my head and had to write it. Okay, so she didn't meet aliens yet, but she will in the next chapter. Promise.

Jadeling · Post by **Jadeling** » Thu May 20, 2004 12:23 am

Disclaimer: I don’t own Roswell or the Night World Series, because if I did, then we would be watching season 5 right now, and I would be reading more about Rashel and the others.

Author’s Notes: Okay, in The Chosen, never does L. J. Smith state that Timmy was Rashel’s brother. In fact, when you read the first chapter, it states that Timmy was a month younger than Rashel. I’m bringing this up now, because I know that a lot of fanfiction writers just say that Timmy and Rashel are brother and sister. I’m not saying that it’s not possible, but biologically, it’s very unlikely that Timmy is Rashel’s younger brother, unless one of them was adopted. On the other hand, it’s not unlikely that they were cousins, or close family friends. If any of you, Night World writers, have a problem with this, I suggest that you re-read the book, because you’ll see when Rashel talks to Nyala about her first encounter with vampires, she doesn’t even mention Timmy, doesn’t say she watched Hunter “kill my mother and brother,” only “kill my mother.” When she’s connected to Quinn, he mentions her mother, but again, nothing about Timmy. Why am I making a big deal about this now, because I’m revealing something about Timmy’s and Rashel’s past which some of you die hard Night World fans may not like.

For the rest of you who have no clue what I’m talking about. Timmy was a four year old boy who was with Rashel when she went to the carnival in the first chapter of the book. She was supposed to watch him, and they were supposed to climb up some ropes together, but she went first. When she looked back he was gone, so she followed him, and found Hunter feeding on him. This is when she realizes that vampires are real and things go down hill from that. I’ll talk more about it in my next chapter.

Anya: Thanks girl, your compliments help keep me focused on this story. I’m glad at least someone is reading it.

TatiLoca: So, you ready for your next fix, um, I mean the next segment of my story? I’m sorry for making you late for class, but I’m glad you really liked it. Hee, hee.

Hope you like this one.

Chapter 3 – First Day

“So, have you two lived in Roswell all your lives?” Thierry inquired, after Max told him about the UFO Museum.

“Um, we were adopted by the Evans in 1989,” Max answered carefully. Deciding to take the focus away from his sister and himself, he asked a question of his own. “Where are you from Thierry?”

“Las Vegas,” Thierry was about to say more when he heard the door of Topolsky’s office open. Turning he saw Rashel walking through the door, carrying her bag in one hand and her schedule in the other. The noise also caught Isabel’s attention. Looking beyond the attractive young man, she saw a tall, lanky girl wearing blue jeans; a green shirt covered by a somewhat tattered jean jacket, and black boots. Automatically, she started to internally inspect the new girl. Not a bad face, but no real competition for me. Looks like she has a fairly normal fashion sense, a bit conservative though. No designer things like her friend, wonder how they know each other. Of course, the jocks will probably be all over her since she’s new; she’ll probably welcome the attention, unless she actually has a brain.

Rashel saw Thierry with two other students. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves; she needed zanshin, and she needed it now. The idea of Night People living with Aunt Diane and Uncle Phillip made her feel uneasy, especially if the pair turned out to be lamia. How ironic would that be? It was also possible that the two were lost witches, more descendants of the lost Harman Twins, like Gillian. Assuming that Isabel was the girl in front of Thierry, she guessed the boy standing next to her was Max. Thierry was right, his eyes were like Hunter’s; two orbs of amber, guarded and aloof. Yet, unlike the vampire, Max’s eyes showed some kindness and something else. There was something lurking in the back, a yearning of some kind. It’s like he’s searching for something or someone. She thought as she approached her friend. “Sorry for making you wait so long, Thierry.”

He shrugged to show that he didn’t mind, “Let me to the introductions. Rashel, this is Isabel Evans; she’ll be showing you around the school. And this is her brother Max. Isabel, Max, meet my friend, Rashel Descouedres, your new classmate.”

Max didn’t miss the fact that Rashel had the same last name as Thierry and asked her about it as she shook his hand.

“All of my family died when I was young, so I’ve spent most of my time in foster homes. Finally, I was sent to Thierry’s family and though they were very good to me, I felt the need to be independent, so became emancipated before the school year started. Still, his family was the only family that really welcomed me, so I took his last name.”

Max and Isabel decided not to ask more, reminded again how lucky they were to be adopted by two loving parents. Isabel and Rashel were about to begin the tour when Mrs. Talvers, the elderly school librarian came into the office and saw Rashel; she asked to talk to her for a moment. Isabel used that moment as an opportunity to tell Missy what she found out about Thierry so far, and Max excused himself to go look for Liz. Thierry waited outside of the office for both Rashel and Isabel to come back, although there was a door between him and Rashel, he could still hear most of the conversation. Apparently the older woman figured out that Linda Jordan was Rashel’s mother. She was giving Rashel a small speech about how she remembered Linda, how sorry and shocked she was about Linda’s death, and admired how courageous Rashel was in returning to Roswell after everything that happened to her. He rolled his eyes, this was exactly what Rashel wanted to avoid. He realized belatedly that her suggestions to use glimmer spells or at the very least let her dye her hair to change her physically appearance were a good ones. Isabel returned at the same time Rashel left the office with a weary look on her face.

“Is something wrong?” Isabel asked.

Rashel gave the girl a wan smile, “Is Mrs. Talvers a gossip?”

Isabel grimaced. “Yeah, why? You didn’t tell her anything embarrassing about yourself?”

Rashel shook her head, but looked grim, “No, I guess you can say that by the end of the day; I’m going to be getting a lot of pity looks from my teachers.”

Isabel was curious about what she meant, but decided not to ask anymore questions as Thierry quickly reminded Rashel that he and Hannah would be back at the end of the day to pick her up, and then they would have to go to the reservation. Saying a quick good-bye, Rashel and Isabel finally were by themselves. Isabel gave the girl another smile, “Well, welcome to West Roswell High.”

“Look, I know that you probably would rather spend the time with your friends, so don’t feel obligated to give me the grand tour of the school. I’ve been to so many schools in my life; I can figure out where everything is pretty quickly. So here’s what I was thinking; why don’t you show me where my locker is and where my classes are located.” She told the other girl, getting to business right away. “And don’t worry about me becoming one of those annoying groupies coming to you for everything. I can handle learning about the school hierarchy on my own.”

At that moment, Isabel decided that Rashel Descouedres was a welcome normal addition to the alien abyss of Roswell.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After leaving the school, Thierry went back to Rashel’s new apartment to get Hannah before going out to explore Roswell. The two decided to go to the UFO Museum around midmorning. When they finished, the pair headed over to the Crashdown for lunch. Although it was a weekday, they could tell that the café was popular among the nearby businesses by the amount of people inside and the constant flow of pick-up. It was while they were waiting for their food, when Hannah noticed Sheriff Valenti walking towards the counter.

Jim’s entrance didn’t go unnoticed by Jeff Parker either. Seeing the sheriff, he grabbed a pot of coffee to fill up the other man’s cup. The two men exchanged pleasantries; Jeff got his order, and then they talked about meaningless subjects, like the weather, and sport teams, small talk which Hannah and Thierry ignored until Jeff asked Jim a question that piqued their curiosity. “So, Jim, have you heard? Rashel Jordan is back in Roswell.”

Jim almost choked on his coffee. Rashel Jordan was back in Roswell? “When did this happen?” There wasn’t a day that went by that the sheriff didn’t wonder what had happened to the small 5-year-old child since she left. Besides the mysterious deaths occurring in 1959, Linda Jordan’s murder was one of the most public investigations that Roswell had seen in years. Young single mother found with a broken neck in a carnival tent; her young daughter shouting about some stranger trying to touch her; and an even younger boy missing. Oh, yes, the press had a field day with that one; young Timothy’s disappearance, and Rashel’s insistence of a stranger got all the attention of many alien conspirators. Even now, every once in a while, he would still get a call from some website or new letter asking him if there was any new information about Timothy’s abduction by aliens. If word got out that she came back, he could only imagine the circus that would descend upon her. On the other hand, with Rashel’s return he may be able to finally give some closure to Timothy’s parents, if Rashel remembered anything of importance. Still, 12 years was a long time, and no doubt, Rashel experienced a great deal of trauma; she may not be able to shed any more light to the old case, and he’d need permission from her guardian to talk to her.

“She was in here yesterday. Came in with the two teens sitting at the back booth, over there.” Jeff told him, nodding towards Hannah and Thierry.

“Isn’t she only 17?” Jim asked confused.

“Emancipated.”

“Really, I may just have to pay her a visit. You wouldn’t happen to know where she’s living now, would you?”

“Yeah, Amy and Nancy demanded her address as soon as they learned she was staying for good.” Jeff got a piece of paper and wrote down the information, then handed it to the lawman. “This is it, but you won’t find her there right now. She started her first day today at West Roswell High. Might want to give her some time to settle down before talking to her. I think she hasn’t even seen the Evans yet, anyway, here’s your order Sheriff.”

“Thanks, Jeff. I’ll be seeing you.” Jim finished his coffee, tipped his hat to the man, and left the café.

Hannah stared at her soulmate; concern evident in her eyes. Thierry, what should we do? Rashel hasn’t exactly figured out what to tell the Sheriff he asks her to talk about what happened. She wanted to talk to Timmy’s parents first before talking to the police.

I know, but we have no legal recourse. When she became emancipated, it gives the police permission to talk to her whenever they want to. I could try to influence him into taking action later, yet I’m not sure that’s a good idea either.

Why not? Hannah heard the mental equivalent of a sigh before Thierry answered her question.

Roswell is one of those towns where everyone knows everyone else. It's a very close knit community. Many of the parents and other adults currently living in Roswell probably lived in Roswell for most of their lives. I’m guessing that most know about Linda’s murder, and if they don’t, someone will probably tell them, once the adults in this town realize that Rashel in Roswell. She’s the only known witness to the murder of her mother and the abduction of Timmy; we all know that murder cases have no statute of limitations, the people of this town will probably want to know immediately if she came back to solve her mother’s murder. It places the sheriff in a bad spot because he’ll be torn between answering the public’s demand for an answer, and giving Rashel the time she needs to give him what he needs.

But she can’t ever really tell him the truth, Thierry.

We know she can’t; that’s why she wanted the new name; she was hoping she could slip back quietly. Rashel is use to slipping in and out of big cities, where she was another nameless face in the crowd. I don’t think she expected it to be quite so easy this time, but I don’t think she counted on having such a close resemblance to her mother. Remember, she doesn’t have any photos of her family and very few memories as well.

It doesn’t sound like Rashe not to have a back-up plan.

Oh, she does. Rashel always has something to fall back on. She picked that up from Quinn. Anyway, figuring that it was possible that she’d become the next big gossip subject in Roswell; she decided that she’d approach everyone connected to the case before they get a chance to ask her.

You mean she’s going to go to voluntarily go to talk to Timmy’s parents and tell them what she saw, along with the police? Why?

Thierry gave Hannah a shrug, “In hopes that it’ll give the local gossips and alien believers less to speculate about.”

She sighed, “God, Thierry do you know what that’s going to do to her? She can hardly talk about what really happen to Quinn, let alone any of us. Sure, she can say her mother was murdered, but when some one asks for the exact details about what happened that day; she clams up. How is she going to be able to talk about to strangers, and by herself? At the very least one of us should be with her when she goes to talk to them.”

“And it may bring her some closure as well as Timmy’s parents. Can you imagine what these past 12 years have been for them? Never knowing what exactly happened to their little boy, not knowing if he is alive and well or dead somewhere? Rashel knew that returning to Roswell meant eventually she’d have to see them.” Looking at his watch, Thierry noticed that it was close to the time they would have to pick Rashel up from school. Giving Hannah a smile, he grabbed her hand from across the table. “Hannah, Rashel is a very strong woman. She’s been able to survive everything that Hunter did to her and then some; she will survive this scrutiny, with or without our help. Come on, we should go and pick her up now.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rashel sighed as she looked at her watch; only five minutes had past since the last time she checked it. Study hall is extremely boring when you don’t have anything to study. She had already finished most of her assigned work in other classes and was desperately trying to avoid most of the staff. Ever since Mrs. Talvers spoke to her; Rashel received a combination of pity speeches from the adults, thinly veiled come-ons from the upper classmen boys and jocks, and curious looks from the rest of the students since she was new. How she hated being the new student, but it was role she knew well and played often. So she leaned back into her chair and attempted to concentrate on The Crucible.

Attempting was the keyword in the sentence since she found herself re-reading the same paragraph three times. Annoyed with herself, she decided to see if the school library had old yearbooks for her to look through. Walking past the computers, towards the reference section; Rashel was aware of someone following her; it was a feeling she couldn't shake since lunch. Turning quickly she startled Alex; she was about to glare at him when he held up his hands in submission.

"Sorry, didn't mean to bother you, but I wanted to know how your first day was."

Rashel sensed that he interest was sincere and gave him a genuine smile. "It's always a bother being the new kid in school, but I'm use to it."

"Well, I got to say; I think you've managed to make on of the most memorable entrances possible." She frowned in puzzlement. "I'm heard about the Joey Walker incident at lunch.

She winced in comprehension. She was supposed to a fairly low profile and even if her past made that difficult now; she wasn't suppose to make waves.

Alex misunderstood the reason for her grimace. "Hey, I didn't mean it was a bad thing. Joey and his pals have made my life at Roswell public schools difficult to say the least. When Maria told me you flipped him over after he repeatedly sent you catcalls and grouped you, I just about fell out of my chair laughing. That news made my year; I'm only sorry that I didn't get to see it."

"Still, it was a bit extreme, but he just got on my nerves." She replied, "Hey, you don't think I went too far in embarrassing him?"

Alex's smile dropped a bit, "Why? Feeling guilty?"

Rashel gave him a small nod. "I mean, I completely emasculated the guy in front of his friends and about half of the student body. I could have just calmly explained to him that I wasn't interested and if he couldn't understand that, then I would be forced to go to extreme measures."

"Like flipping him over."

"No, like blackmail."

Alex looked intrigued, “What type of blackmail are we talking about?” He whispered.

Rashel looked around to see if anyone was listening, “Well, you know I don’t have that many clear memories right?” When Alex nodded, she continued. “However, I do have a couple distinctive ones like the time Joey Walker ran around the neighborhood.”

Alex furrowed his eyebrows confused. “So?”

“Apparently, his mom just got him some He-Mann clothing which he was very happy and proud of owning.” She told him innocently.

Understanding crept through Alex’s eyes and Rashel’s slow growing smirk only confirmed his imagination. “Please say it was underwear; tell me it was underwear.”

“And was yelling ‘I have the Power’ too. But now that I think about it, that story is better in my back pocket, just in case Joey decides he wants payback.”

Alex started to laugh at Rashel’s serious expression. “Are you sure about this?”

“Well how about the next time you see him, why don’t you ask him if he still likes He-Man?” She asked him as she walked out of the aisle and back towards her table when she saw Hannah coming towards her. “Excuse me, Alex. I need to see what Hannah wants.” She gave him another smile and started to walk to her friend. She topped halfway and turned her head to glance around the library stacks on her left. Rashel definitely felt someone watching her, but couldn’t locate the actual person.

“What’s wrong?” Hannah asked her.

“Nothing, just imagining things. You’re early, what’s up?”

“Thierry and I were at the Crashdown and the sheriff came in for his lunch…”

“And…”

“And Mr. Parker told him that you were in Roswell.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael remained huddled behind one of the library stacks. Damn, she almost caught me watching her. He was in the quad when he saw the new girl flip Joey. It was one of the most amusing things he ever saw and it made him admire her. At the same time though, it made him suspicious of her, what if she was some undercover agent from the police, or worse the FBI? He had to make sure, so he decided to follow her for the rest of the day. It wasn’t easy though, the newbie had an almost sixth sense about being watched, and he almost got caught a couple of times. He got a lucky break when Alex ran into her at the library. Okay, so maybe he shouldn’t have eavesdropped, but the Joey Walker story was definitely worth the risk of being caught.

On the other hand, the story left him a bit confused. He was under the impression that the new girl just moved into Roswell, what was her name again? Rashel Descouedres, as far as he could remember, there never was a Descouedres family that lived in Roswell, was there? Isabel never did say explicitly that the Rashel never once lived in Roswell, and as far as he could tell most of the student body didn’t seem to know who she was. However, Michael noticed that some his teachers were acting weird today. Then again, they tended to act weird whenever he decided to show up for class, but that was irrelevant. No, he noted that when Rashel entered the classroom, most of his teachers just would have her say her name and assign her a seat, no whole, “Why-don’t-you-tell-the-class-something-about-yourself?” speech, that stuck him as odd. Another thing was the how Mr. Seiglman asked to speak with her at the end of class. He didn’t hear much, but from what he saw; it appeared as though the adult knew Rashel very well, considering the hug he gave her. There were also the hush whispers he saw some of the other teachers exchanged whenever she’d past them. So, maybe she wasn’t a narc, but she was definitely hiding something from the rest of the student body.

He came really close to thinking that maybe Rashel was just returning to Roswell, after some horrible tragedy when he followed her in the library. Michael felt a little relieved, until her friend came in.

“Sheriff Valenti knows I’m in Roswell,” the girl shrugged. “We knew it was only a matter of time before he realized this. That alone wouldn’t have made you come here.”

“But have you figured out what you’re going to tell him yet?”

“Not really, but I should figure out something soon, because if he knows I’m here then the Evans probably know now too, and I need to tell them about their son before I talk to Valenti.”

At that moment Michael froze. “Their son,” they were talking about Max? How did either one of them know Max, and what information did they have on him? Where they at the Crashdown when Max healed Liz? Did they see anything? He rose a little to peak over the books and saw Rashel talking to the blonde. They were talking in hushed tones as the two went towards the table with Rashel’s things. He not longer felt bad about being a voyeur; he really needed to find out what the two knew, and fast.

“I haven’t been in Roswell in years, Hannah, it’s not like I can just show up at their doorstep, and tell them everything. I don’t know if they can handle the truth.”

“They’re his parents, don’t you think they deserve to know.”

“I’m not arguing about whether they have the right to know, because they do, it just doesn’t feel right that I should be the one telling them.”

The blonde gave her a sympathetic smile, “If not you, then who?” Rashel nods sadly before grabbing her books to put into her bag. The other girl continues, “So, I assume you have a plan? What is it?”

Rashel shrugs again, “I sent the Evans a letter a couple of days ago with my address and phone number; they’ll probably receive it in the mail in the next few days. If they want to talk to me, they know how to reach me.” She finished with her bag at that point and slung it over her shoulder checking the time on the clock. It was a couple minutes before the bell. The blonde and she started walking towards the door, and Michael realized that the conversation is finished. He waited until they were out of his line of sight before high tailing it out of there, with only one thought on his mind. I’ve got to tell Isabel and Max.

Jadeling’s Notes: Ahh, another chapter done. Okay, I thinking I have one more chapter left before I finish the first arc, getting Rashel settled in Roswell. Then I can focus on Liz, but I’m kind of curious how many people actually read this story, so that’s why there’s the new poll. I want to know if people actually want me to finish this or not.

Jadeling · Post by **Jadeling** » Wed May 26, 2004 10:16 pm

Disclaimer: If I owned Roswell, lets just say that we wouldn't have to endure so much dreamer angst.

Author's Note: I know, I know, this is a very loooooooong chapter, so I'm splitting it into two parts; I hope to post the second part tomorrow. Also, I'm going to be moving in a couple of days, so I won't be able to update for a couple of weeks. I wanted to give the Evans some closure, and finish the arc in this chapter, but the more I typed the more I wanted to say. Yeah, I need to work on streamlining.

TatiLoca: Yeah, First season Michael was a bit of an idiot, not to mention a huge jerk, but I love him anyway. Yes, I'm making Timmy the son of the Evans, and I got to tell you this chapter is not going to be a happy one.

Zevrillion: Sorry for the confusion, but really unless you’ve read the Night World books by L. J. Smith, specifically The Chosen, not a lot is going to make sense for the first couple of chapters. I like I said in my summary, Rashel is back to make some peace with her past, which you'll learn about in this chapter so you won't feel so confused. Then I'll focus on the other part, which involved the dream Poppy had in the prologue.

Once again I apologize for the bad grammer and snytex errors, because I have no beta reader.

Chapter 4 -- Secrets

Rashel, Hannah, and Thierry had spent the past 20 minutes at the Mescalero reservation talking to River Dog, the shaman, and his apprentice, Eddie. Upon meeting them, Rashel immediately knew that both were werewolves. She was a bit worried about how they would react when Thierry told them her history; because she more than just some vampire hunter; she was the Cat. She had the entire Night World at her mercy; they were all frightened of her; even announce a huge bounty to any Night Person who could bring her down. As far as she knew, that bounty was still available. Besides, not even most of the members of Circle Daybreak knew about her past as the Cat for fear of retaliation against her. Thierry and Hannah knew because both Quinn and she decided that the Elder needed to know. Instead when asked by most Daybreakers, Rashel and Quinn would hedge and say that she was a vampire hunter, which was the truth, just not the whole truth. So, River Dog and Eddie surprised her when they only nodded at the news. River Dog explained that they both understood that the trauma of watching Hunter drinking Timmy's blood, along with watching the man break her mother's neck in front of her would have profound influence on her life afterwards. Any decent Night Person would realize that it would only be logical that Rashel would become a hunter herself.

After the introductions, Thierry began to explain his findings with the two on the Lunoir witches. "The Lunoir witches were one of the most powerful witches families, although not directly descended from Hellewise and Hecate, the Witch Queen, like the Harman family, the Lunoir family also could boast about powerful ancestors, Artemis and Selene. According to the legends, the Lunoir witches were some of the most powerful seers ever; they were often sought after by kings and other noblemen. However, then the Burning Times in Europe began, human somehow learned of the existence of witches and believed them to be evil and almost decimated them when they finished.

Around the same time, Lynette Lunoir sealed her powers. Lynette was the most powerful seer born into the Lunoir family; she realized was about to befall the witches of Europe and the colonies in America. She attempted to warn as many families as possible, but most of them wouldn't believe that their friends or neighbors would betray them. So, in order to insure the safety of her children, she sealed her family's power-"

Eddie interrupted the vampire, "We all know the history of the Lunoirs. As far as anyone knows, no one has ever been able to break Lynette's seal, and that includes the Harmans. Even though the family doesn't have powers; they're still one of the most well respected families in the Night World."

"But what very few realize is that Lynette foresaw the day when her seal would be broken."

Both Eddie and River Dog were stunned. "What? How? It would mean that Lynette saw something in the distant future, centuries after she would be dead." Eddie stated.

Thierry stared at him, "You forget Lynette's reputation; among the witches she's more celebrated than Notredamus. All of her predictions, whether they were about the immediate or distant future came true one way or another. You also forget; I was there when she sealed her abilities; I was her friend; and I also know the predictions she made before she did it."

At this point, Rashel came into the conversation, "Those predictions are one of the reasons why I'm here; why I came back to Roswell."

River Dog narrowed his eyes at her words, "And what is the other reason?" He asked her.

Rashel gave the older man a sardonic smile, "Well, you see; I'm cursed."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael couldn't find Max or Isabel on the school campus, and saw that Max's Jeep wasn't in the school parking lot. He wasn't alarmed by this since most of the time Max and Isabel believed that Michael ditched class sometime after 2nd period, which for the most part was true. Usually, he'd have to find one of them just to let them know that he'd be in school for an entire day. Michael cursed himself for forgetting to do that one little reminder today. Not that it was big deal, because Max was most like either at work at the UFO Museum or he was at the Crashdown, and neither was very far from the school. So, without another word Michael started to run towards Main Street; his mind still reeling from what he heard.

About five minutes later he opened the door to the Crashdown, and found Isabel and Max in one of the booths. Isabel saw Michael first, and was alarmed by the expression on his face. "Michael, what's the matter?"

"Trouble, big time. It's about the new girl."

Max frowned, "What type of trouble?" He asked softly hoping that no one would notice Michael's paranoia.

Michael rolled his eyes at the two's behavior as he slid into the booth, this was so not the time to try and act normal. "She knows about you, Maxwell, and she's going to tell your parents about you/us before she goes to Valenti." He gets the reaction that he wanted as the siblings' eyes widen in fear. "We need to leave, and we got to do it now." He whispered fervently to them.

"Michael, you're not making any sense. We never meet Rashel until today, how can she know about us?"

"I heard her talking to someone at the library before school got out in study hall-"

"But Michael, your last class of the day isn't study hall." Max said in a hushed tone, then understanding flooded his mind and his demeanor changed. Michael couldn't help but fidget under Max's scrutiny. "Michael, you weren't following the new girl were you?"

Michael feels a bit guilty, but quickly remembers why he came to them, and that washes away all if any remorse he had in invading Rashel's privacy. "Yeah, I did, and it's a good thing that I did too." He then rapidly told them about the conversation he heard between Rashel and the other girl. When he finished, Isabel's face turned white, while Max seemed stunned. Michael felt triumphant; he knew that for once, he was right about something and he wasn't about to let them forget it. Plus, this only seemed to emphasize his point from before about not getting too attached, because now they would have to leave Roswell. And good riddance, he thought.

"But, but maybe if we tell Mom and Dad first then Rashel won't have anything to tell Valenti, or maybe we can talk to her." Isabel stuttered out. "Besides we don't actually know what she knows. I mean she never identified Max by name, maybe she's talking about someone else."

"How many Evans are there in Roswell besides your family?" Michael shot back hotly.

Neither of them answered him, and luckily for them, Liz came by with their shakes when she noticed the forlorn looks of Max and Isabel. "Is everything all right? You two look like you're about to loose your best friends."

Isabel reverted to her Ice Queen attitude while Michael brushed her off, "Look, it's none of your business, Liz."

Max felt pained at the way his sister and friend treated Liz since she was only trying to be nice. He got out of the booth and grabbed Liz's arm and took her into the empty employees' break room. After checking to make sure no one was listening, Max apologized for dragging her away. "Sorry, but Michael just told us something disturbing, we have to leave soon." Seeing Liz's concerned face, he quickly continued. "It seems the new girl, Rashel, knows about us and is going to tell our parents."

Liz was shocked by the news, "That's impossible; Rashel left Roswell before you and Isabel were found in the desert. There's no way she could know that you're special."

Max shook his head, "Maybe she was at the Crashdown that day when you got shot, or maybe she saw me use my powers." He stated before Liz's words sunk in, "What a minute? What do you mean Rashel left Roswell, before Isabel and I were found? How well do you know her?"

Liz bit her lip, "I knew Rashel; she and her mother use to live in Roswell. When did you meet her?"

"This morning, Isabel is head of the Sunshine Committee; I walked with her to the office and introduced myself."

"Max, what makes you think she knows about you?"

He repeated the tale that Michael had told him not too long ago. When he finished, Liz looked stunned and dazed; thinking that her astounded state was due to the fact that another person knew their secret, he gave her a sad smile, "So, now you know why we'll have to go."

His words seemed to snap Liz out of her dazed confusion. "No, Max, she's not talking about you."

This time it was Max's turn to be surprised, "What? Of course she's talking about me, who else would she be talking about?"

"Oh my God, you don't know do you? They never told you."

"Told me what?" Max was perplexed by her demeanor. She was still stunned, but this was a different type of stunned; she seemed almost sad. "Liz, you're not making any sense."

She licked her lips as if she was trying to find the exact words to tell him. "Lets just say that Isabel and you aren't the only one keeping secrets from your family."

He frowned at her words, "You mean my parents are hiding something from us?"

She sighed, "I shouldn't be the one to tell you, and Isabel needs to know too, but yes, you're parents are keeping something from you, and I'm actually kind of surprised you don't know considering how small Roswell is. You and Isabel need to talk to your parents; I promise you, it has nothing to do with your, your Czechoslovakian status."

"'Czechoslovakian?'"

She smiled, "Yeah, Maria came up with it. That way we can talk about how you're different in public, without being so obvious."

"I got it." He grinned, and then his face became somber, "I need to give Michael and Isabel more than just your word that Rashel isn't going to my parent because of us."

Liz thought for a moment before nodding. "You said your boss, Milton, had tons of documents and records about alien sightings and abductions right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"If all three of you want to be sure before confronting your parents, ask Milton if he has records about an abduction/murder 12 years ago, and if he doesn't, go check for newspaper clippings at the public library."

"A murder/kidnapping-"

"Memorial weekend 1987, and Max, if you need to talk to someone I'll be here." She told him with a sympathetic smile before leaving the room to go back to work, leaving behind a very confused Max Evans.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I hate this place it gives me the creeps." Isabel cringed as she passed the alien autopsy display.

"I know, but if we want to find out what our parents are hiding, this is the best place to go according to Liz." Max told her.

Michael snorted, "This is a waste of time Maxwell, a pipe dream. You just don't want to admit that your perfect little fantasy life is about to end."

Max only ignored Michael jab, "Liz said that Rashel left Roswell 12 years ago, that's 2 years before we even came, and that she only came back yesterday. There's a very small chance that she knows anything."

"Says Liz, but does that really prove anything?"

Isabel tried to pacify Michael, "Look. It's not like Max and I can just pack up and leave like you can Michael. Our parents would get worried and probably send to police after us to find us. Not to mention it'll make Valenti even more suspicious, besides I want to know if Liz is right, they're my parents too."

Michael opened his mouth to say something when Milton came up the threesome. "Well, Max what can I do for you?"

"Umm, I was wondering if you have any document about an abduction on Memorial weekend 1987?"

"You're kidding right? It thought that would be part of the reason you were alien fanatic, Max?"

"Excuse me?" Isabel asked.

Milton just looked at her blankly. "I thought you believed because of your older brother, Max. Thought you would want to be on top of every new lead possible." He said with a shrug before turning around to lead three very shocked aliens through his massive collection. He pulled out a couple of files and handed them to Max and Isabel. "Here you go, everything I have on the Jordan murder and Evans kidnapping. Nasty business, feel horrible for that little girl, one of the reasons why I don't talk about in the slide show. Too sad. You guys can copy whatever you need then just give them back to me, all right? Well, got to go and check on the displays. See you tomorrow, Max."

After he left, the three just looked at each other, "Brother?" they asked.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rashel just got back into the apartment when her cell started to ring. She checked the caller id before answering, and saw that it was a local number, "Hello?"

The voice was tentative, but familiar to her, "Shelly? It's, it's Diane Evans; do you remember me?"

Rashel immediately stiffened. She didn't think that her letter would arrive at the Evans so soon; did they find out that she was in town from the Parkers or Mrs. Deluca? "Of course I remember you," she paused amazed that she could keep her voice steady, "Aunt Diane. I guess you got my letter, huh?"

"Actually, we didn't, um, I was the grocery story and ran in to Amy Deluca, Maria's mother? She told me you were back in town and gave me your phone number. You sent us a letter?" Her voice brightened a bit.

"Yeah, I just thought you wanted to know I was coming back to town."

"That's sweet of you, but how did you know where we lived? You were too young to be able to read let alone write when you left."

"Internet?"

Diana gave a little chuckle at her answer. "Anyway, I was calling to ask if you wanted to come over to the house for dinner tomorrow."

Rashel stammered at the news, "To-tomorrow?"

"Or the day after if it's better for you. Whatever is more convenient is good for us." Diane began.

Rashel mentally began to berate herself for her lack of control. Zanshin, she needed zanshin. She began to take some calming breaths before answering, "Tomorrow will be fine, when did you want me to come over?"

"Umm, Max has to work after school so how about 7?"

"Sounds good. I'll be there." At that moment, Hannah and Thierry returned with take-out, "Um, Aunt Diane, my friends just arrived with dinner, so I kind of have to-"

"Oh, sure, go have fun with your friends, and the family will see you at 7. Bye."

"Bye." Rashel turned off the phone and found herself the recipient of two very concerned gazes by her friends. "I'm fine." She told them before going into the kitchen to get plates. "The Evans invited me to dinner tomorrow."

"Are you ready to see them?" Hannah asked.

"I'll have to be."

"We can stay an extra-" Rashel threw Thierry a stern glance before setting the table. "Or not."

"I appreciate that you two are worried, but I need to do this alone. I'm not saying that to be brave; I don't know why I feel like I have to do this alone, but I have too. I can't move on until I do. Both of you have spent so much time with me already; I think it's time for you to move on too. Besides if Hannah doesn't return to U State soon, I'm sure Lupe will be pulling her hair out just from trying to take notes in all of her classes. Oh, and I'm sure Nilsson is having fun trying to sort through all of Thierry's business matters."

Both of her friends looked a bit sheepish at her observations. She was right, and they knew it, yet they really didn't want to leave their friend alone in this town without anyone to turn to. Seeming to know their reservations, Rashel spoke again, "I'm not alone; I have Eddie and River Dog to look out for me. Plus, I have a feeling that the Parkers, Ms. Deluca, and possibly the Evans will want to mother me for the next couple of days. I'll be fine. Come one, let's eat."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I can't believe this. How is it that we never knew?" Isabel asked stunned by what she had just learned in the past hour. She and the others were still at the UFO Museum reading everything Milton had on the murder of Linda Jordan along with the disappearance of Timothy Evans. Her question echoed the Michael's and Max's own thoughts. Why hadn't anyone talked about Timothy beforehand, out of respect, out of fear? The clippings were helpful, but they only provided the threesome with more questions. It was obvious from the pictures that Rashel Descouedres was actually Rashel Jordan because of the close resemblance between the two women, but it didn't explain why she decided to come back after 12 years. Did she come to solve her mother's murder? And why was Timothy with the Jordans that weekend anyway, where were Max's and Isabel's parents when the tragedy occurred? Before anyone could respond to Isabel's remarks, her cell went off. "Hello? Oh, Mom...uh-huh... sorry...yea, I' with Max. We just got a little distracted. Sure, we'll be home in twenty minutes. Bye." She looked at her brother, "That was Mom; we were suppose to be home an hour ago for dinner. What are we going to do Max?"

"I don't know Iz. I mean it's not like we can really go up to them and ask them why they never talked about our brother. Even though I'd like to know why, I have a feeling that it's a very painful subject. I mean, it's an unsolved case; we don't even know if he's alive or dead."

"Do you think that's what Rashel meant in the library? She knows what happened?" Isabel asked.

"But the papers say that there were no witnesses." Max pointed out.

"Officially, the papers say there were no witnesses, Maxwell. Off the record, this website's information states that one reporter suspected that the police had a witness, Linda Jordan's daughter." Michael told the two of them holding up the print out for them to read. "It says that Rashel Jordan was hysterical and screaming about a stranger. However, when the police arrived, they couldn't mind the man fitting her description, and her remarks were written off as hysterical ramblings by a very traumatized little girl. The official word is that she found her mother's body, ran out scared, someone tried to help her, and she just lost it. Unofficially, the reporter believes she saw the whole thing and ran out of the tent because of a survival instinct."

"But what if she did see something? That would explain the meaning of her conversation." Isabel started.

Max ran his hand through his hair in frustration, "But it doesn't explain why she'd come back now. Anyway, we should get going before Mom thinks something bad really happened to us."

They quickly cleared up the space they use and put all of the clippings away before Max went to find Milton to return them. Max offered Michael a ride back to Hank's trailer, but he refused. "I think I'm going to take a walk; clear my head a bit." He told them.

Isabel and Max just nodded before driving home, as Max parked the Jeep in the driveway, Isabel turned to him. "So do you think we should tell them we know, or should we just tell them that we met Rashel in school?"

"I'm not sure, Iz; I'm pretty sure that they have good reasons not to tell us, and I'm sure that they'll talk to us when they feel ready." Isabel looked at her brother before agreeing. "But I'm think it's a good idea if we mention that Rashel is in Roswell. Just in case."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I can't believe that we're leaving you, that you're not coming back with me to class." Hannah stated, "I still wish you'd let us come tomorrow."

"I know, but it's not a good idea, Hannah, I have to learn how to be strong on my own, how to deal with my problems instead of running away, because that's all I've really done all my life. Becoming a vampire hunter, so I didn't have to deal with my grief and my guilt, when Quinn left, I threw myself into work so I didn't have to deal with the pain, and well, we know how that turned out. I can't keep running, and I need to start here."

"I know that, but you know Ash wouldn't mind staying with you or Keller-"

Rashel let out a small laugh at her friend's suggestion, "Hannah, I'll be okay, but I appreciate that you'll worry and care about me."

"Always." Hannah told her as she gave her friend a hug, "You are always welcomed in my home, and I'll miss our late night chats."

"Me too." Rashel replied.

Hannah then pressed her gold signet ring into Rashel's hand. "I want you to have it."

"Hannah, Thierry gave you this ring. I can't accept this."

"We both agree and want you to have it. It'll be more visible than the pendant Quinn gave you since you hide that under your clothes. The ring should serve as warning to your fellow classmates and any adult Night People living in Roswell. Just because you're not going to be guarding me doesn't mean that you won't face danger from the Night World. May it bring you protection when you need it."

When Hannah stepped back, Thierry came up to her and shook her hand. "It's been an honor knowing you, and I meant what I said the other night. You're family and not just because you protected us, or because of some blood tie, but because we love you and you're one of us."

"I know that, and thank you for everything, Thierry."

"I mean it, Rashe. If you or your family ever needs anything, just call me anytime."

She smirked, "Don't expect that call anytime soon."

"I suspected you'd say that. Oh, and before I forget, this is yours too." He told her as he gave her another key.

She frowned, "Thierry, I already have my key to the apartment, and I told you I didn't need a car."

"It's not an apartment key." He told her grinning at her confusion. Without another word, he and Hannah led her out of her apartment building towards the parking lot to his convertible. Next to Thierry's car stood a new, sleek, black motorcycle, Rashel's eyes widened from shock and her jaw dropped when she saw the bike.

"This is a Buell M2 Cyclone! You got me a motorcycle?"

"Quinn always said you like his bike."

"Th-this is from the Harley-Davidson company." She stammered, still astonished by the gift.

"Yeah, we heard they make decent bikes." Thierry quipped, as she went to the motorcycle to examine it.

She noticed some of the features on it, "Wait a minute; you had this customized for me didn't you?" Not waiting for them to answer she continued. "This must have cost you a fortune, I can't accept this; I mean you two have done so much already. The apartment, the building, everything, and now this?"

Hannah only went up to her and closed her hand over the key. "The bike isn't just from us; it's from everyone, Nilsson, Thea, Eric, Lupe, even Ash. It's their good-bye and thank you gift to you; we all chipped in for it. Since you told us you didn't want a car, we figured that you'd take the bike instead. You like?"

"Do I like? Are you kidding? I love it! Look at it; it's gorgeous." Rashel turned her friend, her eyes shinning from gratitude and excitement. "Thank everyone for me, will you?"

"Of course. Stay safe." The other girl told her as she gave Rashel another hug before getting into the car.

Thierry then went over to his car and produced a black helmet for Rashel. "Watch your back, and take care of yourself, Rashe. Good luck with Eddie and River Dog." He gave her hug and then went into his car. Rashel waved good-bye as she watched her friends drive away.

When she couldn't see them anymore, she looked at her bike and the sparkle in her eyes grew. She heard an astonished gasp nearby; quickly glancing to the source, she saw the outline of a teenage boy with spiky hair. He had sandy colored hair and green eyes; Rashel remembered seeing him at lunch in school. He was the boy all the teachers were amazed showed up in class, what was his name again? Michael, Michael Guerin. She smirked as he came towards the bike as if drawn to it. She was pretty sure that he didn't see her, that all he saw was the beautiful, black machine in front of him. When he started to mutter about the cycle as he crouched down to get a better look at it, her suspicions were confirmed. "It's nice isn't it?"

Her words broke through his haze, and a surprised Michael fell on his butt. "Are you joking? Look at it; it's a work of art."

She chuckled a bit, "I said something similar to that a little while ago. Hey, don't you go to school with me? I'm Rashel Descouedres." She held out her hand to help him up.

"Michael Guerin, uh, I saw what you did to Joey today at lunch."

"Oh, are you a friend?"

"Nah, he's a jerk, must say I got a good laugh." Michael paused feeling a bit uncomfortable remembering what he just learned not too long ago. "Um, so, what brings you back to Roswell Rashel Jor-I mean Descouedres?" He asked awkwardly, not daring to look into her eyes.

"So who told you?" When Michael gave her a blank stare, she explained. "Somehow you figured out that I'm Rashel Jordan, former resident of Roswell. I'm sure that they gave you reason why I left. It's okay; you can look me in the eye, and you can ask me."

"Ask you what?"

"Yes, I'm the same Rashel Jordan whose mother was murdered on my birthday May 27, 1987. Timothy Evans was with us that day, and no, I don't want to talk about it because it was 12 years ago, and I've haven't spoken to Timmy's parents yet. I was sent to my Aunt Corinne to live with, but she died in a fire the night she took me home. So, for the past 12 years or so, I've spent in the good ole' foster system, going from city to city. Yes, it was a tough life, and no, I'm not all right, but that's okay as long as your curiosity is satisfied, right?"

"That's not what I was going to ask." Rashel gave him a disbelieving look, "Okay, maybe I was going to ask you that."

"Look, I came back to Roswell because in some oddball way this small town in the desert is home for me. I didn't come back to be pitied by people who don't know me, or know what happened, that's why I changed my name. So, lets start over okay?" She stuck out her hand to shake his. "I'm Rashel Descouedres. I take it you like motorcycles, Michael."

Michael stared at her for a moment. He didn't know why, but he liked her. Maybe it was the "Let's get this straight" attitude; maybe it was the way her eyes reflected a guarded hardness which he recognized in his own eyes; maybe it was the fact that she too spent a lot of time in Social Services like he had. Whatever it was; he found himself respecting the lithe teen standing in front of him. "Yeah, you?"

Jadeling's Notes: Whew! God, I can't believe how long this chappy is going to be. I'm working on the second part and almost done, then I can start getting to the real reason why Rashe came to Roswell. Yea! and for all of those who did read the Night World series, you're not missing anything; I made Rashel cursed for a reason, just not saying why yet.

Jadeling · Post by **Jadeling** » Fri May 28, 2004 10:48 pm

Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell or Night World. If I did, do you think I'd be writing this now?

Author's Notes: I know I got this out a day later than I thought I would. Well, this finishes up the first arc of my story. Hope you like. I posted as soon as I finished writing, it'll be my last post for a while because of the move.

Chapter 4b - Secrets cont.

Max and Isabel got through most of dinner without mentioning Rashel, when their mother surprised them with the news that she invited the teen to dinner the next day. Isabel and Max exchanged glances before Isabel causally announced that they met a Rashel at school, but that she had changed her name to Descoudres. This didn't seem to surprise their parents, in fact, their mother told them that she knew that not only was Rashel at West Roswell High, but that she came into town yesterday via Ms. Amy Deluca.

"So, um, Dad and you knew Rashel before she left Roswell?" Isabel asked tentatively.

Her father looked up from his plate, "Did she tell you that she used to live in Roswell?"

Inside, Isabel cringed at the slip up, "No, we found out from Max's boss." She hedged, "Um, he told us about her mother's death too."

"What else did he tell you?" Diane asked softly.

Isabel bit her lip, unsure of how to begin. Max noticed his sister's distress so he quickly answered for her, "Uh, not too much, but he did mention something about us having a brother. Was he right, Mom? Did we have an older brother?"

Both of their parents sighed before Phillip lowered his fork on to his plate. "Maybe we should all go into the family room to talk about this." They all moved to the other room, while Phillip went to his study to get something. When he came into the room, he was carrying a photo album that Isabel and Max didn't recognize. He handed the album to his children, "This was Timmy's photo album, after he's disappearance it was too painful to look at all of his photos, so your mother and I collected them together and placed them in this album."

The two looked through each page starting from when their parents first brought Timmy home. The photos of him started off when he as a baby, looking at the date, Isabel figured that Timmy was only a year old when her parents adopted him. There were so many photos; her mother in a chair sleeping holding a sleeping baby in her arms; another with her father in his hammock with Timmy sleeping on his chest. A couple of pages later, she noticed a woman with another child in some of the photos. Isabel recognized the woman as Linda Jordan; she pulled out the photo, "Is this Linda Jordan and the baby is Rashel?" When her mother nodded, she placed the photo back, and then noticed in the subsequent photos that while she saw her parents, Timmy, Linda, and Rashel; Isabel didn't see any photos of Rashel's father. "Where's Rashel's father?"

Diane gave her a bittersweet smile. "Linda and I were roommates in college; 3 years after graduating she met Arthur Jordan. It was love at first sight, six months later they were married, and then Arthur was graduated from the academy and the Marines transferred him and Linda to another base. A year later Rashel was born; she gets her black hair and green eyes from Arthur, about 9 months later, there was an accident at the base, and Arthur was killed. Linda had no other family, except for Arthur's older sister Corinne, so, your father and I offered her a place to stay until she could get back on her feet. Eventually, she found a job and a place of her own before her death."

At the mention of Linda's murder, Max glanced at his parents, "Mom, Dad, what happened that day?"

"We don't know." Phillip answered. "Your mother and I had planned a mini-vacation to Grand Canyon that Memorial Weekend; Linda suggested it actually, it was suppose to be child-free weekend. It wasn't the first time that Timmy spent time with Rashel; they were best friends; he was only a month younger. Linda would baby-sit for us if we had a late night at the office, so we weren't worried about leaving Timmy with Linda for four days."

"It was around 6:00 pm on that Saturday when we got the phone call from the Sheriff Valenti." Diane continued. "Those next few hours were the worst in my life. Your father and I came home as soon as possible, but by the time we got there, Rashel was already gone. Social Services had taken her away to her aunt, and Sheriff Valenti told us as much as he could."

"Which was what exactly?" Max asked.

"Officially, Rashel and Timmy were playing when somebody lured Timmy was lured away from the climbing ropes. Rashel realized that Timmy was gone, and told Linda. Linda started searching for Timmy, when she walked into the kidnappers and they killed her to keep her quiet. However, the sheriff, told us that Rashel may have seen everything that happened, but none of her statements made sense. We don't know because as I said earlier, Rashel was already out of Roswell when we came back.

The next couple of days were a blur. The whole state learned about Timmy's abduction and Linda's death by then. We had posters up, even offered an award; so many people came to help search, but nothing. Then the stories started; the rumors that aliens took Timmy. We got so many quack calls that we had to get an unlisted number. After a year, with out any new leads, your father and I couldn't even stand to be in this house because of the memories, so we packed up all of the photos, and over time we cleared out Timmy's room because we thought it would be easier for us if we didn't have a constant reminder of his presence. But we were wrong, it actually was worse, because then if felt like we were trying to erase Timmy's existence from our lives, like we were denying he was ever here. It got so bad that we thought of leaving Roswell so we could start over again."

"What changed your minds?" Isabel inquired.

"You," Phillip told them with a nostalgic smile on his face. "Your mother and I were driving out in the desert one night, debating about leaving when we saw the two of you out by the side of the road."

Diane continued, "It was like someone up there knew the pain we were in, and you two were sent to help us heal. You two brought laughter back into this house."

"Why didn't you ever tell us about our brother?"

"At first we didn't say anything, because we weren't sure if you'd understand. As you grew older we didn't want you to feel like you competing for our affection, like we were trying to replace one child with two others. We always intended to tell you, but it seemed like as more time passed, the harder it was for us to tell you. I'm not completely sure how no one ever mentioned anything about Timmy before today."

"Do you think about him?"

"Everyday. We think of him everyday."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rashel was standing in front of the Evans' door debating whether she should ring the doorbell or run away. I have to stop running. She gritted her teeth and checked her overall appearance once again before ringing the doorbell. She had been anxious about the prospect of going to dinner at the Evans all day, but kept telling herself that it was necessary, like how they needed the closure more than she did. Rashel was about to change her mind about staying when the door finally opened.

"You're early," Isabel said as she let the teen through the door.

Rashel nodded before looking around her surroundings. It was the same house all right, although some of the interior had changed, different furniture, and different photos. Phillip and Diane had heard the bell as well, and both came into the foyer to greet Rashel, looking at them Rashel realized how little they had changed physically, but emotionally, she couldn't have imagined what the past 12 years were like for them. Suddenly, she felt a staggering weight on herself, and she identified that weight as guilt. Before Rashel could focus on the source of her guilt, Diane pulled her into a hug, and started to tell her how much she missed the teenager in front of her. Phillip made a remark about how she reminded them of her mother. Rashel was starting to feel uncomfortable with the amount of attention they were giving her when Diane seemed to notice her discomfort and announced that dinner was ready.

Dinner was pretty uneventful, the Evans asked Rashel after her aunt, and she had to tell them about the fire that occurred. Both of them seemed upset to learn that she was sent away to different foster homes for most of her life. "If we had known, Shelly, we would have done everything-"

"I understand, Aunt Diane, but you and Uncle Phillip were probably had a great deal of other things on your mind at the time. Besides, everything turned out okay at the end."

"What brings you back to Roswell?"

"Um, a couple of things," Rashel hedged. "Um, I'm sure you know that my inheritance stipulates that I need to be in Roswell by my 18th birthday." It was the cover story that Thierry and she came up with, and it helped that it was true.

"That's right, Diane and I are executors of that will." There was a bit of an awkward pause before Phillip changed the subject to her emancipation.

"Yeah, I just got tired of being bounced back and forth due to Child Services. I wanted some stability in my life again, and short of getting married; emancipation offered that stability for me."

"You have a good place to live, place to work?"

"I’m living in a nice apartment. I have a job at the reservation; it's not much, but it'll pay the bills and the Descouedres family has made it clear that if I need help, I'm welcomed to their resources."

"Why did you decide to change your name?" Isabel asked.

Rashel squashed the nerved to roll her eyes. How many times was she going to have to answer that question? She looked straight at Diane and Phillip before answering, "When your parents look at me, they see the little five year old girl that use to play in this house with my mother. They remember the child I was, and it's not just them, it's the Parkers, Ms. Deluca, all of the adults, even my teachers, I mean half of the adults in this town still call me 'Shelly,' even though I've haven't been called 'Shelly' for a very long time except by one other person, and even that person does call me 'Shelly' very often, only when I’m upset with him. They call me 'Shelly' because that's who I was before I left. They don't see what those 12 years have done to me.

I’m not the same little girl. I’m not the same ‘Shelly Jordan,’ who used to play and laugh in this house. I’m the girl who wouldn’t let anyone hold or comfort me after my aunt died because I believed if I let anyone too close they’d be take away from me. I’m the girl who lived in Phoenix, Detroit, Chicago, Boston, Vegas, etc. I’m the girl who loves to driver her bike at 70 miles per hour because I feel free when I do. I’m a different person, and changing my name reflects the changes in my life.”

“So, what do most people call you?” Diane asked.

“Rashe, most people call me Rashe.” Then she gave them a wry smile, “But I suppose, I’ll always be Shelly to you.”

“As long as we’re Aunt Diane and Uncle Phillip,” Diane asserted. Rashel gave a small nod.

Phillip decided to change the subject. “So what’s your job at the reservation?”

“Um, it’s mostly research and documentation. Some of it is tracing blood lines of the different tribal members. Some of it is to help decipher and record older tribal markings. Either case, I’ll be required to do some research at the library and public records at city hall.” Again, Rashel told them a slight lie so she wouldn’t have to blow her cover in Roswell.

The rest of dinner consisted of small talk. Afterwards, Rashel talked shop with Max about her new bike while Isabel helped her mother clean the dishes. Phillip excused himself from the group. He returned with a medium sized box and handed it to the tall girl. When she gave him a confused stare, he explained that the box contained items from her mother’s house which Diane and he had saved for her. “We couldn’t keep everything. In fact we had to sell a lot of things, because we didn’t have the space, but your mother kept pretty good finances, and had some very specific instructions in her will. All the profits went into a trust in your name.”

Rashel placed the box on the coffee table and pulled out a couple of photo albums, her father’s flag, a small jewelry box, and some old toys. She tanked the elder Evans for his generosity and thoughtfulness as she opened one of the albums. Looking at her mother’s face, she could finally understand the reaction of most of the adults in this small town. The resemblance was uncanny, except for the black hair and green eyes; she could have doubled as her mother’s twin. She grinned at some of the photos taken at the very house she was sitting in, but frowned as she got to the end of the album. They were photos of Timmy and her at the carnival; she pulled one out and saw the date, May 27, 1987. “How did you get these photos?”

“The police found your mother’s camera and Sheriff Valenti gave it to us, we developed the film that was in the camera and got those photos.” Diane explained as she and Isabel came into the room

“These are the last photos of Timmy and my mother?” She asked softly.

“Yes.”

Rashel closed her eyes for a moment before speaking again, “You want to know if I remember anything from that day?”

The two elder Evans looked at each other, “Yes.” They whispered.

Rashel opened her eyes; they no longer sparkled liked they did when she ate at dinner; they were dull and in pain. “Do you know what you’re asking of me?” She replied weakly.

“Please,” Diane pleaded. “You’re the only one who can tell us what happened.”

Rashel slumped her shoulders in defeat; when she began, she tried to keep her voice neutral and calm. “We had just finished our cotton candy and I asked her if Timmy and I could go into the climbing tubes. She said,” Rashel paused before continuing, “She said, ‘Okay, kitten, but take care of Timmy. He’s not as fast as you are.’ That was the last thing she ever said to me.” She told them, tears forming in her eyes. “We climbed through the tubes; Timmy was always behind me, and I made sure to look over my shoulder often to make sure he was there, because I was supposed to look after him. I wanted to go towards the climbing ropes that were designed as a spider’s web, when we got there; I stopped waving to Mom because she was talking to another parent, and I thought she wouldn’t see me anyway.

When we got to the ropes, I told Timmy that I would go up first and help him up after. He didn’t want to; he wanted to come up with me, but I was afraid that we would be able to do it together because he was so much smaller than me. Finally, I convinced him to let me go first; he said, ‘Okay, I’ll wait.’” At this point, tears started to flow down her cheeks, but she ignored them. “Those were the last words I’d hear him tell me that day. You don’t know how many times I wished I wasn’t so impatient. It took me longer to climb up than I thought, but when I did, I looked down and he was gone. I panicked at that point; I wasn’t sure if he ran off because he was mad at me and was going to tell Mom that I left him alone, or if some other kids were bothering him. I backtracked and then noticed a hole where he might have ran off through.

At that point I was a bit mad at him,” she gave out a litter bitter laugh. “I mean; I was worried about him, because he wasn’t where he said he’d be, and he could have been anywhere, and I would be the one responsible. I first thought that he went back to the front of the structure; then I noticed the tent flap near by. I don’t know how I knew, but I knew he was in the tent, so I ran inside.” At this point her eyes were glazed over, and the family knew that she wasn’t registering their presence any longer. She was stuck; lost in a memory, a nightmare that had haunted her for the past 12 years.

“Timmy wasn’t alone; there was a man with him. He didn’t notice me at first, but when he saw me, I got scared and ran out as fast as I could. I wasn’t fast enough though; he grabbed my ankle and pulled me back into the tent. The last thing I saw before I got back into the tent was my mom, so I screamed for her. I guess she heard me, because she yelled for me and started to come after me. I tried to get free, but he was too strong. He threw me across the tent, and I probably hit my head against something because it gets kind of fuzzy after that. I remember that my leg hurt, but I was too scared to notice because that’s when I finally saw Timmy. His skin was really pale; his eyes were glazed over, not really focusing on anything, and he wasn’t moving. It probably was only seconds before my mom came in, but it felt like years, and I was frightened, because I didn’t know what would happen to me. When Mom came in I was relieved, because she’d make the bad man leave, and everything would be okay.” Rashel rolled her eyes at her former naïveté, while Diane sobbed softly into Phillip’s shoulder. Isabel’s face reflected the stunned horror running through Max’s mind. They had suspected that Rashel knew what happened, but they weren’t prepared for this. “She didn’t get a chance to do anything because he, he, went up to her and broke her neck. I was so scared, because I knew that I would be next, so I ran.

He grabbed my ankle, but I managed to kick and twist my way out of his grasp and crawled to the climbing tubes again. I just kept crawling until I got to one of the clear plastic bubbles. I thought I’d be safe in there, but when I looked down, I saw him watching me. The son of a bitch was waiting for me.” She cried out. “I didn’t know what to do; I was safe in the tubes; but I had to come down eventually, and the bastard knew that, and somehow I knew that he would wait for me too.”

“So you screamed for help.” Max interrupted softly.

She nodded at his statement, “It was the only thing I could think of.”

At this point, Diane pulled the girl into her arms and the two of them just sobbed; one hoping to provide of comfort and the other hoping for some forgiveness. When Rashel finally pulled away, she looked into the woman’s eyes. “I’m sorry.” She whispered.

“Whatever for, Shelly?” Phillip asked her.

“If only I let Timmy come up with me, maybe, maybe none of this would have happened. I let him out of my sight; I was supposed to take care of him, and I failed.”

“It is not your fault. You were five, a child; you couldn’t have known what would happen, much less stop it.” Diane reassured her.

“Then why am I the one who survived? What the hell makes me so special?” She asked bitterly, as she dried her eyes.

“I don’t know; I wish I had an answer, but I don’t.” Diane told her. “But I do know that everything happens for a reason.”

“Do you honestly believe that?” Rashel asked her.

“I have to; otherwise I would never been able to get over Timmy’s disappearance. Thank you, Shelly. I know this was difficult for you, and I can’t say that I understand how painful this was, but I do know that at least now Phillip and I will finally be able to move on, completely. Thank you, for giving us some peace of mind.” She told the girl as she gave her another hug.

Rashel nodded at her words as she allowed the woman to hold her. As she raised her head upwards, she thought of Timmy and what he had become. I did what you asked, Timmy. I told them as much as I could without putting them in danger from the Night World, and allowed them to believe you’re dead. I hope you made the right decision, she thought. When she closed her eyes, she felt in her heart that she did do the right thing, and knew for the first time in 12 years; Hunter’s eyes wouldn’t haunt her dreams any longer.

Jadeling’s Notes: I’m sorry for the bad grammar, but I just finished and wanted to post before my access to a computer is taken away for the next couple of weeks because of the move. Please, I really like feedback because then I know people are reading. Basically, if I feel like no one is reading, I don’t feel the point to update. I mean what’s the point of posting a story if no one is interested, right?[/i]

Jadeling · Post by **Jadeling** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 3:33 pm

Disclaimer: If I owned, do you really think that I would have let Isabel marry so soon?

Author's Notes: Unpacking is no fun, but I found my stories!

Anya: Well, I'm not sure on how many people are reading; I think I have lurkers, but am not very sure. Oh well.

The first part is just a refresher from the first Arc's prologue. If you remember it, you can just scroll down and skip it. If you want to be reminded of it, then go ahead an read.

<<>> denotes words spoken in language to be specified.

Blood Sisters Arc 2: Connections

Chapter 1--Moving On

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Her dreams usually involved sound. In fact, interaction, that is, talking/walking around, occurred quite frequently; but tonight her dream was decidedly lacking in both areas. She didn't know where she was, or why she was even seeing these images since she didn't recognize any of the people standing in the scene ahead of her. However, she did seem to know some information about them. Curious, I know I would have remembered meeting these two very hot guys before, so why do they seem familiar? There were six people besides herself, three men, and three women; no one looked older than mid-twenties. The non-hottie was facing the one of the cute guys while the other four were only a couple of feet away from him.

Turning to face the group of five, she immediately was drawn by the eyes of man standing a few meters in front of the group. They were luminescent gray almost sliver orbs. Their soulful intensity took her breath away. After her initial reaction faded away, the dreamer noticed that those eyes seemed were also very tense, guarded, while his whole face displayed a stoic determination. Did she stumble into some type of stand off? She continued to study him; he had light brown hair that was in a very short and dignified style. The silent observer deduced from his posture and the quality of his clothes that he was someone of wealth and importance. The large gold signet ring and intricate gold circlet around his forehead also validated her assumption.

The watcher turned to focus her attention on the other members of the group. The other male was taller than the first. He had dark blue eyes and dark brown hair. Like his companion, his eyes were intense, but from a different emotion. Rage? Fear? Looking between the two, the dreamer determined that they both held themselves in a dignified stillness, yet she somehow knew that both of them were fierce warriors. However, upon closer inspection she noticed there was some quality in the way the first one was facing his opponent, some quiet and solid focus that identified him as a leader. On the other hand, the other’s face betrayed suppressed emotions; he was like a coil waiting to spring. He was impatient for a conflict, not because he wanted to fight, but because he wanted to finish it. Watching them, she realized that the second man was a soldier and was of high rank judging from his uniform along with the silver signet ring he wore. Adorned upon his forehead was a silver circlet; but like his ring, it was of different design from his companion.

Clutching the young man's hand, was a slight, thin, lady in an elegant blue-green dress that brought out her eyes, with short blonde hair that just framed her face. She wasn't drop-dead gorgeous; nevertheless, the woman possessed that extra something, that drew attention to her. Perhaps it was how much expression her eyes could portray in a short amount of time. She kept shifting them between the two men; her gaze was anxious and scared. The dreamer got the impression that the young lady wasn't afraid for herself; more like her fear was for the two noblemen near her. Another impression the quiet observer obtained was that the young noblewoman was related to the dark-haired solder. They have the same expressive eyes, she told herself. Plus, she couldn't mistake the protective posture of the soldier; her own brother had the pose down to a science.

The other two women had raven tresses and possessed brown eyes. The two of them were standing next to the blonde; their expressions mirrored the other girl's. The shorter girl had curls in her hair, while the taller one's locks flew loose around her shoulders. Both women had circlets on their foreheads like the first man. However, the taller woman's was silver, not gold like the other two. However at the center of her circlet lain a blue stone shaped like a small raindrop. The two ladies also wore elegant clothes, although they had on different shades of purple. Geez, feeling a bit underdressed right now, the dreamer thought. Silently observing the pair, she noticed that the taller one's expression was slightly different from the others. She was anxious and frightened, but there was something else as well, like dread and suspicion.

Suddenly, the man facing the group raised his hand, and an energy blast sent the silver-eyed man to the ground. The others raced towards him, but the young man shakily got back up to his feet and waved to the others to keep their distance. As he stood up, he raised his hand. But instead of a blast, a green energy shield formed in front of him. The field deflected the second energy blast that was aimed towards the group. As the other man continued to lob blast at them, the group's attention was focused on nobleman defending them and their enemy. So it didn't surprise the young watcher when no one seemed to notice the entrance of another actor in this drama. He came to the side, where the energy field wasn't protecting anyone, and the observer immediately didn't like the new addition to this little play. His eyes were shifty, cruel, and right now, had a very malicious glint, that it scared the dreamer. She watched as the newcomer raised his hand, and no one in the small group seemed to realize the danger that he presented.

Instinctively the dreamer opened her mouth to cry out a warning only to be reminded again, that she couldn't speak or hear sounds. Then it seemed like the following action was in slow motion, like in the movies. The young blonde noblewoman seemed to notice the slight hand movement, because she broke free from her brother's grasp and propelled herself forward. Although very small, her momentum was enough to knock the leader off his feet; effectively protecting him from the energy blast, but she wasn't fast enough to avoid it. The blast hit her squarely on the side and the force of it pushed her into the wall behind her. The girl's flight alerted the group of the extra danger. The two men quickly ran to her side, while the other two women produced their own shields to protect them. The taller girl kept looking back at the men; concern etched onto her face, while the other girl kept scanning the doorways for other attackers.

Meanwhile, the leader of the group was holding the fallen girl; his hands glowing over her prone body. However, whatever he was doing didn't seem to work, because soon afterwards, he just dropped his hands before gathering the lifeless form in his arms. The realization that he was now holding the dead body of someone close to him seemed to break his stoic façade. His unfeeling silver eyes were now blinking back tears, as he gently stroked some hair away from her white face. For the dreamer, it was captivating; she couldn't tear her eyes away from the scene playing out in front of her, let alone blink. On the other hand, the brother's eyes reflected a pain that she recognized; she had seen it in her own brother's eyes once before. Then his jaw clenched and the pained look was replaced by a fierce, frenzied fury. Turning towards their attackers, his right hand began to glow with a pulsating blue-white energy. He then said something to taller girl because she dropped her shield and the brother tossed several energy pulses towards his sister's killer. The pulses incinerated the man, but the brother didn't stop his barrage. His grief and rage now directed at the other gentleman, who started the whole stand off first, along with several vases, and works of art around them.

So there wasn't any sound in the dream. Nevertheless that didn't mean that those pulses didn't make some type of noise, whenever and wherever this scene took place, because within minutes soldiers began to come to the group. At first the observer was scared that these soldiers were there to fight against the group, however, it became clear that they were on the same side as the others. Their leader spoke to the taller girl, and she went up to the brother and told him something. Judging by his face, the brother wasn't happy about the news, yet he turned back to his fallen sister and the man holding her. He wouldn't let go of the body; it seemed like no matter what the two people told him, the man only shook his head. Eventually the three of them persuaded the man to get up, yet when he tried to carry the girl's body, one of the soldiers shook his head. Apparently they didn't have time, or something, again, the observer cursed the fact that she couldn't hear anything. With great reluctance the man finally placed the girl down and was the last of the others to leave through a dark doorway before the dream plane shifted. ~ Poppy's dream from the Prologue of Arc 1
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

10 days after Rashel talked to the Evans, a week after the events in Leaving Normal

<<Rai! Rai! You're not being fair!>> A distraught seven year old girl with green eyes yelled at the older boy ahead of her, she never liked it when he ran too far ahead of her.

<<Well, It's not my fault that you're so small, Laina!>> The taller boy with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes responded back to his little sister, as they ran out from a garden towards what seemed to be a patio or terrace of some kind. Looking back the boy saw that his words were affecting his sister, negatively. <<Ah, don't cry Laina, I didn't mean it. You're the best sister I could have.>>

<<Hey! I'm your only sister.>> She sniffed out stiffly, but there was a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. He always teased her, but he also knew how to make her feel better.

He grinned at the result, then saw their parents coming out towards the terrace, <<Shhh, don't make a sound, we want to be able to hear what news Father has.>> She nodded at him, and the two of them crept closer to the bushes, but tried as hard as possible not to make too much noise. Unnoticed by them, were the conspiratorial glances exchanged by the two adults as the two siblings got closer.

<<So, what news do you bring back, Constier? How did your visit to the King and Queen go?>> The lady asked her husband.

<<Very well, in fact they ask that when we return to the city next moon cycle that we bring Elainia to the palace to be playmate to Her Royal Highness, the princess, Valinea.>>

<<At this rate, we might as well just live at the palace. First, Rai becomes the companion of His Royal Highness, and now Laina? The stars bless us with such good fortune.>> Valinea winked at her husband.

<<Speaking about living at the palace, with the death of General Lasteren, the King has asked me to take his place as the new Head of the Royal Army. When we get back to the city, we'll need to move all of our things into the eastern wing of the palace.>>

<<Oh, how kind of the King and the Queen to have us housed in the eastern wing, overlooking their marvelous water gardens. You know how those gardens are Laina's favorite, along with the white water lilies which grow in the main lake. One moon cycle, that's not much time to get our things together to move to the palace.>> She mused before changing the subject, <<However, one down side of moving for Laina, with the Prince so close, well, you know how he likes to tease her so.>>

<<Well, you know as well as I do that when boys that age tease a girl that much, it's only because he secretly likes her and really only wants to kiss her.>>

At this remark, the boy started to laugh at his younger sister, because she had the most horrified expression on her face. The noise "caught" the attention of the adults and they hid their amused smiles, but still had a great deal of mirth in their eyes. <<So, we have spies among us, Valie. What did you hear?>>

<<Everything,>> the bright eyed girl answered. Then she quickly asked a question before anyone else could, <<Papa, is it true, are we really moving to the palace?>>

<<Yes, it's true. How do you feel about that, little one?>> Her father asked as he got down to his knees to look at his daughter at eye level.

<<That's wonderful! I'll get to see Landra and Rai everyday, not just on holidays.>> She gushed. Liz? A voice in the back of her mind was tugging at her subconscious

<<What about the Prince?>> Liz, you have to wake up!

She thought about it for a moment, her earlier enthusiasm diminished. <<Well, it would be too good to be true if I didn't have to deal with him, wouldn't it?>>

Her family laughed at her response. LIZ!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Liz." Rashel hissed at the girl, but saw no response. Glancing quickly over at their teacher and saw that he was still writing on the black board, Rashel gave the petite brunette a short, but slightly painful shove. The girl woke up from her nap, and realized that she was still in school, and had fallen asleep in class. Liz turned to Rashel and gave her a small smile in thanks for waking her before their teacher noticed.

After the period ended, Rashel cornered Liz, "What's going on, that's the third time this week that you've fallen asleep in class."

"Sorry, I've just been distracted; it's been kind of hard to sleep at home."

Rashel stared at the teen; she could tell that Liz wasn't getting enough sleep at home; her physical appearance had all of the signs. The bloodshot eyes, the dark rings around them, the sunken cheeks. Rashel knew part of the reason why, it had only been a week since the death of Liz's grandmother, and she understood that the two were close. "Liz, why haven't you taken any time off from school? The faculty wouldn't have had a problem with it." It was unlike Rashel to ask a question like that; even more out of character was the impulse to comfort the girl. That's what I get for staying with Hannah for a year. Besides Timmy or Quinn, Hannah was the only other person Rashel would openly show genuine concern for. It was kind of hard not to be worried after someone like Hannah, and Liz, well, it just seemed like Hannah and Liz had a lot of similarities personality wise.

Liz looked back at the raven haired teen. She had a point; she wasn't fine emotionally, but Liz thought school would help her through her pain. "I don't know; it gives me something to focus on rather than my grandmother's death."

"School work isn't going to help, Liz." Rashel softly replied.

Unexpectedly, Liz became angry at her observation, "How would you know?" She shot back heatedly. When Rashel's blazing green eyes just glared back at her, she became remorseful, "I'm sorry, Rashel. That was rude of me."

"No, it's not my place to pry, but Liz, I honestly don't think you need to be here."

"And where should I be?" Liz asked resignedly as she started to walk towards her next class. "I mean, I really should take solace that I got to say good-bye to her at the hospital, but I don't. I can't go home; my dad is so depressed and Mom is having a hard enough time just trying to be there for him while the rest of the family are here for the funeral. Maria and her mother are grieving in their own way, same with Alex. I want to talk to Max, but I don't think that it's a good idea considering what happened to him a week ago."

"You mean the fact that some jocks decided to make him a punching bag?"

"You knew about that?"

Rashel snorted, "I saw the bruises around his wrists the day after and figured two people must have been holding on to him while another did the damage to his face. When I confronted him, Max denied it. How did you find out?"

"Kyle told me after the fact. Claims that he didn't know anything about it." Rashel shot her a look asking Liz if she believed it. "I don't think he knew, but I broke up with him afterwards. I think I finally realized that it wouldn't work between us. I'm sorry; I don't know why I'm telling you all of this."

"Because I'm a stranger," Liz furrowed her brows in confusion over Rashel's remark before she explained, "By your own admission you admit that the people you're close to, are in pain themselves and you don't want to become a bother yourself. Not to sound like a 'Nosey Parker,' but it might do you and your family and friends good if you did tell them how you feel. I mean people grieve and mourn in different ways. I think another reason why is because you feel the need to 'be strong' in front of everyone close to you so that they don't have to worry about you. On the other hand, I don't really know you; you don't know me. You don't feel the need to put up a front with me, because I don't think you're planning on having a repeat of this conversation. Plus, everyone else is too close to the subject of your grandmother. I didn't know her; I won't experience the same type of remorse that your friends and family would."

"You sound pretty sure about that."

"What can I say, all those years of social workers and therapists talking to me. I must have picked up something along the way." Rashel told her with a wary grin. "At least you're venting, it's good for you." Suddenly she grabbed the other girl's hand, "Come on, if I thought earlier that you shouldn't be here, I definitely know now that this is the last place you should be."

"Wait! What about next period? Where are we going?"

"You have a sub, and I have independent study since this school doesn't have a Japanese course. And it's the last period of the day, I don't think anyone will find it strange if we both weren't in class, but if it'll make you feel better we can go to the office, and I'll make up an excuse."

"What? How-" a very perplexed Liz stammered out. How did she end up from waking up from class to being convinced to ditch last period?

"Oh, it's simple, watch a learn," Rashel told her with an uncharacteristic wink before widening her eyes and forming a forlorn expression. She then relaxed her posture a bit and shuffled into the office with Liz timidly walking behind her. Rashel looked around the office, and saw the person she was looking for, "Ms. Topolsky?"

Rashel didn't like to use this type of deception very much, but thought in this case, turnabout was fair play. It had been two days since Thierry's people sent Rashel their last report about Isabel and Max, along with a more detail profile about Kathleen Topolsky. The first report he sent her had preliminary information, date of birth, name of parents, yada, yada, but Rashel couldn't shake the feeling that something was up with the woman. Than the new report came in, apparently Ms. Topolsky wasn't just a narc, she was an agent for the FBI. If only that was it, no, Agent Topolsky's unit dealt with investigating paranormal activities, yes, in other words, the X-Files. From what she received, Agent Topolsky's job was to find out a link between the shooting from last month and alien contact. Rashel also received a copy of an FBI forensics report about a waitress uniform with a bullet hole and blood mixed in with the ketchup stains in it as well as old police reports dating back to murders occurring in 1959 along with the police report about her mother's murder. According to her sources, the FBI raided Sheriff Valenti's office a couple weeks back. At least neither Max, Isabel, nor Agent Topolsky had ties to the Night World, Rashel wasn't sure she could handle learning that just yet.

Since Rashel knew that Topolsky was interested in Liz because it was her uniform they examined, she figured that Topolsky would love an opportunity to spy on them. She grinned to herself, well, she thinks she'll get a chance, but she won’t. "Umm, Liz isn't feeling well today, and I was thinking that with everything going on, maybe she should be allowed to leave early with me." Topolsky looked puzzled by Rashel's request, so Rashel just went on talking. "I was just thinking that Liz and I should talk in a more neutral setting, some place where she doesn't need to feel the urge to put up a front for everybody."

"Well, not to be blunt or rude, but what makes you think she'll want to talk to you? You aren't exactly close, Rashel." Topolsky stated hesitantly.

"I know, but out of everybody she does know, I think I can sympathize the most with Liz. Plus, we aren't close; I don't have any expectations on how she’s supposed to act, so she probably won't feel the need to act in front of me."

Topolsky nodded a bit, "Do you have a plan?"

"I was kind of thinking about taking Liz to my mother's grave and talking to her about how I felt when she died, and see how it goes." Rashel bit her lip hoping that Topolsky would take the bait.

Topolsky thought for a moment, although she hadn't been able to spot anything yet, she felt that Liz Parker and Max Evans were the key to her assignment here. If she could only get proof, maybe, just maybe if Liz felt comfortable enough, and if she was in so much grief; she might, just might let something slip to Rashel while they were alone in the cemetery. It was worth the chance, because she knew that Liz wasn't going to open up to her anytime soon. "All right, just don't make a habit of it, Ms. Jordan."

Rashel gave the woman a small smile, "Thanks." Then she grabbed Liz's hand and practically raced out of the office, while Topolsky went back to her office to make a phone call.

Liz followed the taller teen out to the parking lot and nearly dropped her book bag when she saw Rashel's bike. "Umm, I can't ride on that."

Rashel just handed her the spare helmet as she put her own on, "Sure you can, put your hands around my waist and hold on tight, normally I would say you can hold on to the back of the seat too, but I don't think that's going to work today."

"Why not?" Liz asked nervously as she placed the helmet on her head and Rashel revved up her cycle.

"Because I think you'll fall off if you try to stay on like that today, and I don't want to be the one to explain to Valenti how you ended up with a concussion."

"How so?"

"You'll see." Rashel told her with a evil grin on her face, before she brushed her helmet's shade down over her eyes.

Jadeling's Notes: So what do y'all think? Sorry for it being so short.

Jadeling · Post by **Jadeling** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 1:00 pm

Disclaimer: Hmm let me look over the fine print. Nope, see here it says, not mine.

Author's Notes: Okay, not really sure how often I'm going to update, as it seems that my true calling is fluff and well, this fic will definitely not be fluff.

angeleyes: Hey, at least someone is enjoying my dramatic writing.

Blue*Soul: Another L. J. Smith fan, cool! We definitely need more L. J. Smith fans over here to start writing more crossovers.

Blood Sisters Arc 2

Chapter 2--Dealing

Liz finally caught her breath. Rashel and she had left the school over 30 minutes ago and all Rashel did was drive her bike to the desert. Okay, drive was too mild of a word; more like twisted and flew her bike over to the desert. When the girl told her to hold on tight, she never imagined it was because she was going to do 50 mph down Main Street, and weave through traffic. Granted there wasn't all that much traffic in Roswell, but still. On the other hand, Liz wasn't going to deny that she had fun. Oh, she was terrified for the first couple of minutes, until she realized that Rashel had complete control of her bike and knew exactly what she was doing on the streets. Then she began to relax more and enjoyed herself. Liz felt like she was racing the wind, it was exhilarating and oddly freeing.

Rashel had taken off her helmet, as she suspected Topolsky had sent a tail after them. Rashel spotted them after being on the road for about five minutes that was when she turned back to Liz and yelled at her to really hold on tight. Afterwards, she checked the streets to make sure that there were no cops around before doing a U turn and started to race down the streets of Roswell. Rashel was still amazed that she was able to accomplish ditching her 'escort' since Roswell was a fairly small town and didn't have nearly half of the small alleyways that a city like Chicago. It was much harder for her to lose them, but luckily for her, the motorcycle made it easier for her to weave through traffic. Of course once they got on to the freeway, Rashel upped the speed to 70 mph. So, she went over the speed limit by 15 miles, in Michigan, the speed limit was 70 on most major freeways, plus no one was on the road. Besides, taking a look at Liz, Rashel guessed the other girl really didn't mind.

"Do you always drive so recklessly?" Liz asked the other girl.

Rashel gave her sheepish grin, "Yeah, does that bother you?"

The other teen paused for a moment, "No, it was fun." Both girls started to grin as if they just raided the cookie jar and had gotten away with it. Then Liz finally took a look around the desert, she knew they were a ways from town, but she hadn't really paid attention to where they went. She guessed they were north; she could see the different rock formations in the background, rising, forming peaks and valleys throughout the desert plain. "It's really pretty out here."

Rashel only nodded at her observation, "You should be here during sunrise or sunset."

Liz relaxed and took in the scenery. It seemed so peaceful, so calm, while she felt the exact opposite. There were her feelings for Max, her guilt over Alex, and of course, her beloved Grandma Claudia. How was she supposed to sort through all of it? Where did she even start?

"Just start with whatever pops into your head." Rashel told Liz as if she knew what the brunette was thinking about.

"I just wish I could understand why." Liz told her softly. "I want to know why she had to leave."

Rashel looked at her, "Ever use to watch the cartoon Gargoyles?" She chuckled at Liz's puzzled face. "I'll take that as a no."

"Actually, I did, but I don't see the connection."

"Do you remember the episode where Goliath, Elisa, Angela, and Bronx went to Egypt?" Liz frowned but nodded her head. "Do you remember the first scene with Anubis; do you remember what he said about death?" Once again Liz frowned, but this time she shook her head. "He said, 'Death is pointless, that's the point.' Do you think that statement is right?" She asked as she turned to face Liz.

Liz just appeared stunned. She didn't remember the episode very clearly; heck, it had been years since she saw that episode. She thought about it for a moment, "I guess; I mean everyone dies; in a way, death is fair that way, doesn't matter if you're rich, poor, smart, nice, evil, at one point we all have our time."

"I think the statement is bull." Rashel told her tonelessly. "We need death to fully appreciate life, just as we need life to fully appreciate death. It's like yin and yang."

Liz gave her a funny look, "We need life to fully appreciate death? Why would anyone want to appreciate death?"

Rashel narrowed her eyes. Because for people like Thierry, sometimes they just tire of living and would like to rest. Or they're tired of watching their friends and family die while they still live. Of course she couldn't tell her that, "What about the people in hospitals with terminal diseases with no hope of a cure, where they're in the final stages and the pain is so bad that even the morphine they're given isn't enough to numb the pain? Where the quality of life is so low and there's no chance of it ever getting better? Death is a reprieve. Besides in some cultures, death isn't an ending, but a beginning."

"You feel pretty strongly on the subject." Liz observed.

Rashel's face became grim. "Let's just say I had a lot of experience with the subject."

"You mean with your mother."

"And others." Rashel decided to change the subject before Liz could ask what she meant by that statement. "What about your grandmother? What would she tell you about death?"

Liz blinked at how quickly Rashel changed the course of their conversation. She instinctively knew that the other girl was avoiding something, but at the same time felt that she didn't know Rashel well enough to force the issue. So instead, she decided to answer the question the other girl brought forth. "I think...I think she would have told me that I shouldn't fear death. I don't take any comfort in that though."

"Did you think you would?"

"Not really," Liz admitted.

"What was your grandmother like?"

Liz smiled at her memories, "She was great. She was working on getting on a book; I wonder what will happen to it now." She paused a bit. "You know she was just full of advice. I suppose most grandmothers are."

Rashel nodded and gave her a faint smile, "Probably."

"She told me to always trust my heart. Grandma Claudia also gave me some advice on soulmates." Rashel stiffened at the mention of that word, but she didn't say anything, allowing Liz to continue. "She told me that if things weren't complicated between a two people then they probably aren't soulmates."

Rashel closed her eyes at the statement. How true; things between soulmates are always...complex. "It sounds like your grandmother knew what she was talking about." She replied softly.

Liz was surprised by her tone. It was so, gentle, so not what she expected from Rashel, but then again, Liz hadn't spent that much time with her to really know. She sneaked a glance at her and noticed that Rashel seemed lost in her own thoughts. Liz couldn't shake the feeling that Rashel had found her soulmate, but wasn't with said person. She then just told herself that she was romanticizing the situation. Liz shook her head to clear it of her current thoughts. "Rashel, how do I get to accept it?"

Her question brought the older teen out of her reverie. "I see someone told you about the five stages of mourning." Liz nodded, and Rashel just sighed. "To be honest, I don't know. Everyone grieves differently, Liz; besides, I'm not the best person to ask." When Liz gave her a questioning glance, Rashel clarified her statement, "Let's just say that I didn't get past the anger stage until about two years ago."

Liz only stared at the girl, for some reason when Rashel told her that, Liz pictured the taller teen in a black ninja outfit holding a green sword, but then the image went away. God, I must really be sleep deprived. The thought of sleep brought her back to her dream. It wasn't the first time she had such dreams, but this one was by far the most vivid. She felt like the people in her dreams were familiar, but couldn't remember who or where she had seen them from. She had to be dreaming about a movie or a book she read, because she certainly didn't know a princess.

Rashel noticed Liz's pensive mood and was going to ask Liz if everything was all right when a blinding pain went through her skull. Her right hand immediately went to her forehead and she groaned at the pain shooting throughout her brain.

"Rashel?" Liz asked concerned.

The raven-haired girl only waved the other teen away from her. "It's just a headache. I forgot to bring aspirin with me, but it should go away in a couple of minutes." She assured Liz.

Liz looked at her dubiously, but sure enough, five minutes later, Rashel opened her eyes again. She gingerly rubbed her temples before checking her watch and told Liz that they probably should leave. On the way back, Rashel obeyed the speed limits, and Liz couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. However, she admitted it probably wouldn't have done them any good for Rashel to get caught driving recklessly with another person with her. Plus, they made good time since there wasn't much traffic on the road, and since Rashel was able to weave her bike through most of the cars. Rashel managed to get Liz to the Crashdown for her shift early even though they had only left the desert 30 minutes ago.

"Thanks for the talk, Rashel. It felt good just talk without worrying about what you might think of me." Liz told the girl as she got off the bike.

Rashel gave Liz a wan smile, "It was no problem. Hey, Liz?"

"Yeah?"

"It's just Rashe."

Liz smiled as she realized that the other girl had just made a overt gesture of friendship. "Okay, Rashe."

The other girl returned Liz's smile before placing her helmet back on. As she turned her bike she notice someone out of the corner of her eyes. Oh, great, what's up with him?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael wasn't happy, it was getting close to eight and he really didn't want to miss the hockey game, but at the same time he needed to watch Rashel. He had seen Liz leaving with the girl during school and wondered where they went, why the left, and more importantly, what they were doing. His suspicions didn't get any better when he saw Rashel drop Liz off at the Crashdown. He even heard Liz thanking the other teen for just listening to her. Michael was left with a choice, follow Liz or follow the new girl.

He opted with the new girl, because even though he didn't know Liz personally, he knew her routine pretty well thanks to Max's stalker-like ways for the past years. On the other hand, Rashel was a complete wild card.

So this was why he was sitting in a tree, in the rain, with a pair of binoculars watching from the other side of the street of Rashel's apartment, which was on the third floor. He had been up there for about an hour, and he was starting to get hungry, sore, and was very tired. He watched as she opened her door for a deliveryman with piazza, who had dropped off cherry cola as well. He watched as she walked over to her kitchen area and placed the box on her table, then she went over to her cabinet and placed a bottle of Tabasco sauce next to the box. Then he watched as she went over to her couch and turned on her television, and what was she watching? The hockey match between the Red Wings and the Coyotes. Michael was not a happy camper. He was so upset, that he almost didn't notice that Rashel was holding a sign behind her head. He focused his binoculars to read what she was holding up.

"COME INSIDE, MICHAEL."

He pulled his head away from the lenses to make sure he wasn't seeing things, and then looked through them again. Yup, he didn't misread the sign, she was just sitting at her couch watching the game and holding that sign behind her head. He knew he shouldn't go in, but at the same time he wanted to know how she knew it was him. Plus, she had food, and she was watching the game.

Five minutes later, when Rashel heard knocking her door, she just smirked, "It's open!" She yelled out. In came Michael, dripping wet, still holding the pair of binoculars. "There's towels in over in the bathroom there," she pointed, "I have some dry clothes which may fit you in there too. Give me your clothes after you change so I can wash and dry them. There's piazza and cherry cola in the kitchen, help yourself when you get down." She informed him.

"How long did you know?"

"Ever since I left the Crashdown." Her answer surprised him. He thought he was better than that. Then he noticed her little display of wooden and steel weapons on a nearby wall. She had sais, swords and knifes of different blade lengths and designs. She smirked at his confusion, "Lets just say that I take my personal security very seriously, and you don't want to ever try and break into my place."

Roswell Fanatics

Blood Sisters (XO,Nightworld,MATURE) Pt 7 - 07/16/04 [WIP]

Blood Sisters (XO,Nightworld,MATURE) Pt 7 - 07/16/04 [WIP]

Blood Sisters - Chap 1 pg1 (Night World, CC PG-R )