Weight of the World (CC/ Mature) [WIP]

[Anniepoo98]

And just one more for good measure!

Annie:)

Part Nineteen:

Michael looked around his apartment, taking a steady observation of each person in it. He wasn’t shocked to find Isabel in his kitchen, cleaning it like there was no tomorrow. She always had to find something to do when she had a surplus of nervous energy. Nor was Michael surprised to see Alex helping her in his quiet way. Actually, it was probably the first Alex-esque thing he’d done over the past couple of days. It was reassuring to watch him hand Isabel a paper towel when she asked for one, or sprinkle some Bar Keeper’s Friend on a spot she’d missed. However, it also made Michael aware that he had to continue keeping his promise to Isabel. Something was up with Alex Whitman, and he was determined to find out what it was.

The thought of strange behavior instantly turned his attention to Maria. Since Liz, Kyle, and Serena took off for the pod chamber, Maria started to withdraw, almost shutting down completely. There had been no more yelling or the other various overreactions Michael had been expecting. Hell, she didn’t even try to attack Max again, like he’d been worried about. In fact, the second they reached his place, she’d taken up residence at his window, watching for any sign of their friends.

Whatever it was Liz had said to her, Maria had decided to stop talking altogether, resigning herself to do what Liz had told her to do. Michael couldn’t help the desperate need to know what it was. Maria wouldn’t say anything until she was ready. Of that, Michael was sure. His Maria was definently determined when her mind was made up. Yet, there was this sneaking suspicion in the back of his head tell him that it had to do with Future Max. Okay, it was more than sneaking. His entire brain was screaming with it. The blatantly obvious glances at Max she made only reinforced it.

It’s almost like a game, he thought to himself. The only time Maria tore her gaze from the window was to look at Max. A second after she turned away, his best friend’s eyes would land on her. They had been that way for the past hour and a half. Max hadn’t said a word about what happened up in Liz’s room, but Michael had his suspicions. Granted, that was a long way from conformation, and time was growing thin. That was the only thing he was positive about.

Well, that and if Tess didn’t shut up soon, he wouldn’t be responsible for what he did. While everyone else seemed at the loss for words, her jaw became unhinged the second they left the Crashdown. One more cutting remark from her and he...

“They did something wrong,” Tess complained. “Otherwise they would have been back here by now. We should have never let them try this. How do we actually know that we can trust...”

“Stop right there,” Michael demanded. “First off, this is Liz and Kyle we’re talking about. They’ve had more than enough ammo to screw up our lives for a long time, and they haven’t. Plus, none of us know how long this ritual-thing will take. So, we trust them.”

Obviously, Tess wasn’t buying it. “We know nothing, and we just go along with whatever they tell us. Nice strategy.” There was no way to miss the sarcasm in her voice.

“Do you have a better plan?” Michael snapped back. He knew that she was the least trusting person in the group, even less so than him, but he wasn’t about to sit by and let her bash people who were trying to help them. Trust was pretty much their only option. When Tess didn’t reply right away, he continued, “That’s what I thought.”

“All I’m saying is that we don’t know Serena,” Tess muttered under her breath. “Just because Liz believes she’s one of the good guys, doesn’t mean she’s right.”

Michael started to say something, but someone beat him to the punch.

“Drop it, Tess,” Alex yelled. Michael’s head snapped around to find his friend bracing his hands against the counter, leaning all of his weight on them. All of his fingers were clenching around the edge, knuckles white. “Remember, Liz is the one who convinced us to trust all of you. She’s the one person you should never doubt.”

The urge to toss in his two cents was really strong, but Michael held back. Taking in the expression on Tess’s face, he decide it was probably the better choice. Man, if looks could kill...

Michael’s train of thought stopped right there. Watching as a silent stare down between Alex and Tess began, he felt his own internal alarm system going off. Something was wrong here. He knew it. A quick glance at Isabel confirmed that he wasn’t the only one thinking so. She was watching them intently too. However, before he could check out anyone else, Maria let out a cry that caused his heart to skip beating.

Instantly, she flung the door open, rushing outside. Max was just behind her. Michael hurried into third place, not even caring if the others were following. There was only one thing that could have cause Maria to make that sound, and praying to any higher being that was listening, he hoped she was wrong.

A second later, he found out that she wasn’t.

~~~~~~

There was so much on his mind, so many things that he didn’t understand. Max couldn’t help longing for the days when some things in his life had made sense. God, it seemed like ages ago, when it had only actually been a year and a half. Back then, he knew he loved Liz Parker, that she would never be his, and that he could never tell her his secret.

Then came that fateful day in the Crashdown when he healed her. For the first time he truly saw the girl of his dreams, learned the beauty of her soul in a way no one else ever would, and everything he had understood was redefined. Tonight, she opened up to him again, and the assumptions he had come to regard as truth were altered once more.

Even when he was able to hold her in his arms, Max felt like it was only a matter of time before Liz would change her mind about him, decide that his life was too dangerous to be with him. Last fall, when she came to his room and told him that she wasn’t ready to die for him, Max’s greatest fear had come to pass. It made him desperate because he had just started to believe that he might deserve her love. So he was willing to do anything to prove it to her, including giving her all of him. It was hers anyway. Then, he saw Kyle in her bed, and it felt like he’d died. He was hers, but she was never going to be his. Until tonight.

Max had spent the better part of an hour trying to sift through what he’d seen in Liz’s mind without coming to many conclusions, except for one. He’d helped her to create his own hell, and in the process, placed the weight of the world on her shoulders to bear alone.

Maybe not completely alone. Max glanced over at Maria, just a second before she turned away to keep her silent vigil at Michael’s window. She knows. His mind was practically screaming with that fact. Hell, he was pretty positive Maria also realized that he now knew some of it, but she hadn’t said a word to him since Liz left.

However, a few minutes ago, that stopped being the only thought going through his head. In fact, all thought process had ceased, but one. He could feel Liz getting closer. The connection that had been threaded though them, since the day he healed her, grew more tangible, and Max latched on to it with his entire being. He was so deeply enveloped, he never even noticed the intense situation he was sitting in the midst of. All that mattered at the moment was that Liz was alive, and their bond was still there, growing in intensity with each passing second. His heart felt like it was going to pound right through his chest.

Then, Maria screamed. The sound ripped though him, causing his heart to stop beating entirely. Instantly, Max was on his feet, only a step behind the blonde as they ran out the apartment door as fast as they could. Vaguely, he was aware of the others behind him, but his entire focus was on the scene in front of him.

Kyle was struggling to make it to the entrance to the complex, a deep gash across his forehead and Liz cradled in his arms. Serena was beside him, one arm clutched around her stomach, as if she was holding herself upright. Her other hand was on Kyle’s shoulder, leaning on him for support.

“No.” It was his voice, but even Max didn’t recognize it. He hurried forward, stopping just in front of Kyle. “What happened?” he demanded, looking over Liz as he took her from the other boy. A sense of relief washed over him as he held her in his arms once more. She was alive. He took a deep breath, probably the first one since she left. Liz was alive.

Kyle’s eyes closed for a moment. “There was some sort of backlash of energy. Knocked all of us off our feet. It was either that, or...,” he trailed off as if he couldn’t even bring himself to say it.

Max clutched Liz tighter against him. “She’s not,” he said, to reassure Kyle as much as himself. “She’s alive,” he told everyone, choking slightly on the words.

“But her heartbeat...” Kyle started to say.

Michael suddenly interrupted. “Inside,” he told all of them. “We can’t do anything out here. Anyone could see.”

They all nodded. Max started on his way back to the apartment. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kyle draping an arm around Alex and Isabel shoulders. Michael and Maria moved to do the same for Serena, but she gave off a short cry of pain at lifting her arms. Michael ended up simply deciding to carry her.

Max made a beeline directly for the bedroom when he got inside. Gently, he laid Liz on the bed, pausing for a moment before brushing her hair away from her face. Then, with his fingers resting slightly against her temples, he let the connection take hold of him completely. A rush of images bombarded him instantly.

Alien forms he’d never seen before. Yet, they were familiar...

“Kata ahua enod, Seryn’atha?”
“Oy tenta yoh Granolith ot acelp adan.”

Michael, battered and bruised, sitting awkwardly in a chair. His own face flashed by next, connection with his friend, before pulling away, with pain filling his eyes.

“Kivar is here. They attacked the Crashdown. Alex, he... he tried...”

Nicholas, a evil grin adorning his face. A grin that quickly faded before his eyes. In the shiny surface of the Granolith, Max could see the barrel of a gun held steadily in Liz’s tiny hands.

“You should have done what I asked.”

It was too much. Quickly, Max finished scanning Liz’s vital signs, knowing inwardly that there was nothing he could do. The Transference had worked, and now her body was changing, adapting to the power it housed. Her heart was beating fast, just like Kyle said, but it was starting to slowly return to normal on its own. The only thing that could help her was rest.

As soon as he was done, Max eased away from the connection and Michael’s room swam back into vision. The first thing he saw was Maria standing on the other side of the bed, tear tracks running down the sides of her face. “Is she...” She didn’t even bother with completing the sentence. The moment hung heavy while she looked at him expectantly, waiting for any answer only he could give her.

“She’ll be okay,” he whispered. “Physically, there’s nothing wrong. Her body’s just adapting. She just needs to rest.”

Maria’s eyes widened for a second, then slammed shut as heaping sobs wracked her petite frame. Michael moved towards her, wrapping her arms around her body. Maria cried into his chest, the sound muffled. After a few minutes, she pulled away.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Michael wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks. “No big deal. It’s just a little water.”

Maria shook her head, then glanced over at Max. “That’s not what I’m talking about. We lied to you,” she told him. Her eyes wandered away, temporarily falling on everyone else standing in the room. For the first time, Max became aware that everyone was there, waiting patiently for her to continue.

“After the rumors started going around, I confronted Liz about them. I just knew that they couldn’t be true. Come on. Liz and Kyle sleeping together?” Her gaze fell on Kyle for a second, offering him a small smile. “No offense.”

With one hand clutching his head, Kyle starting shaking the other at her. “Too tired to care. Keep going.”

She nodded, turning once more to look at Max. “I knew how she felt about you. She’d never do that to you. Only, Liz insisted she did. Then, at four o’clock in the morning, she called me. We met in the park, and Liz told me everything. You came back...”

“...from the future,” he finished for her.

Again, she nodded. “Fourteen years from now. You... he... well, you know what I mean. Something happened, and the future needed to be changed. He told Liz she had to be the one to change it, to push you away. So she did.”

Max knew that wasn’t everything. Maria was holding back, and from what he saw, he could guess why. Tess was in the room, waiting impatiently for the details.

“That’s it?” Tess demanded. “Didn’t she give you any details? How do we know it wasn’t one of our enemies trying to trick her or something?”

“Because Liz knows Max,” Maria shouted, her green eyes bright with anger. “As for details, one of them is standing right over there.” She pointed at Serena. “Liz knew that she’d meet Serena someday. That she would be a friend of hers.”

“Nothing else?” Max’s head snapped round to face Tess. He couldn’t believe it. She seemed to be egging Maria on, as if she were just itching for a fight. He stood up, determined to put an end to this situation before it went any further.

“That’s enough, Tess.”

Tess shook her head. “No, it’s not. If Liz really got a visit from a future version of you, I think she should have at least gotten a few more details. Maybe like a clue on how to defeat the enemy.”

Max thought back to what he had seen over the connection. “That’s because we didn’t.”

He heard Isabel gasp, but choose to ignore it in favor of pushing on. “We didn’t win and the world ended. That’s why future me came back. We thought there was no choice.”

“How much did you see, Maxwell?”

Max brought one hand up, rubbing it across his forehead. “Everything,” he admitted. “I think. There still things I have to sort out, but I don’t have the energy to do it right now.”

“Okay.” The reply was plain and simple, without the slightest hint of sarcasm. Michael seemed to understand, which was a bit odd to Max, but he wasn’t going to argue about it. “So, what’s the game plan for right now?”

“We stay put for tonight. Liz told me that her parents think she and Serena are staying at Maria’s. The rest of us can call our parents and make up something.” He paused for a moment, trying to think about the next day. “Some of us have to go to school tomorrow,” he stated aloud.

“Who’s ‘some of us’?” Michael wondered, sounding a bit skeptical.

A hint of a smile appeared on Max’s face. Now there was the Michael he knew. “Alex, Isabel, Serena, you, Maria...”

“Hell, no!”

He expected for Michael to argue with him about it, but he wasn’t the only one. Maria had decided that she wasn’t going either. “I’m saying here with Liz. I want to be here when she wakes up.”

“Maria...” Max started, but Michael cut him off.

“If she stays, then I stay. Hey, this is my apartment. I’m staying even if she doesn’t.”

“If too many of us are absent, someone will suspect something,” Max tried to reason with them. “Plus, it’ll be Friday. It will look like we’re skipping.”

“Technically, we would be skipping,” Alex chimed in. Maria threw him a glare, which made him back off a bit.

“Listen,” Max broke in. “I don’t know how long Liz will be out of it, and I’m not going to leave here until she’s awake. Serena has to go because of the court, and the fewer of us missing, the better.”

“I can cover for you,” Isabel offered. Max smiled at her, silently thanking her for helping. “At least that way the office might not bother with calling Mom and Dad if you’re not at school. I’ll just tell everyone that you’re sick.”

“I’ll go too,” Alex agreed. “I can get Liz’s assignments.”

With a groan, Kyle stepped forward. “Me too.”

Max looked at him, unsure. “Are you positive? That you’re feeling up to it?”

Kyle nodded slowly. “Isabel did some hocus pocus alien thing out in the living room. I just have a bit of a headache leftover. I’ve been bashed around more than this in football practice.”

“Okay.” Max turned to look at Tess next. “You need to go, too. If you’re gone, the school will definitely call Valenti, because he’s only your temporary guardian.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

“Then I can stay,” Maria told him. Max opened his mouth to argue, but she beat him to it. “I can make up an excuse that my mom will buy. My staying will be a good thing. I promise.”

Feeling absolutely drained, Max gave up. “Fine. You can stay.” He glanced at Michael. “And...”

A grin crossed Michael’s face. “I can stay, seeing as how it is my apartment. Besides, you might need some back up, so I’m staying.”

Max could feel a headache of his own coming on. “I give up. Michael, Maria, and I will stay, everyone else goes. That’s final. Let’s just get some rest. All the other stuff will still be here tomorrow.” He took a deep breath. Their problems always were.

[Anniepoo98]

Howdy all~

I've got the last two part to repost with me.... then will come a brand spanking new one... I hope that you all enjoy!

Annie:)

PS... the song in this part is "Sweet Surrender" by Sarah McLaughlin.


Part Twenty:

Alex shook his head as he watched Kyle slam his locker door shut. “Something wrong, Valenti?” he called out, moving towards his friend.

The other boy’s head whipped around, murder flashing in his eyes for a moment before Alex finally saw recognition in them. “This is stupid,” Kyle groaned, slamming his fist against the metal door. “We’re just going to school like it’s no big deal. Like we didn’t just do something last night that could change the course of the future.”

Leaning his back against another lock, Alex offered him a weak grin. “I was wondering when it was going to catch up with you.” At the confused expression on Kyle’s face, he pressed further. “You were just too complacent last night.”

“Can you tell me that you are actually okay with all of this?” Kyle snapped back.

The grin on Alex’s face faded quickly, replaced with a look of pure apprehension. “None of us are, but things are the way they are. Nothing we can do to change that, no matter how much we want to. That’s what coping mechanisms are for anyway.”

Kyle’s head bobbed up and down slowly in what Alex took for agreement. It was why the next words out of Kyle’s mouth shocked him to his very core. “That whole thing with crystals was different. I think that the two of us knew that Liz, Isabel... hell everyone would get us out of there. This time, it just feels... I don’t know, bigger. Epic scale bigger.”

“It is,” Alex replied simply. Then he winced suddenly feeling a slight burst of pain behind his eyes. He pressed his eyes shut, trying to block out the fluorescent lights of the school hallway, praying that would dull it for the moment.

“... the same answer.”

Alex opened his eyes to tiny slits, glancing at Kyle out of the corner of them. “What?”

“I asked if you would still have the same answer.” Kyle repeated, a hint of concern in his voice. “You know, the whole dying for them thing.”

Oh, Alex thought. That question! He didn’t even need a second to think about that one. “Yes,” he told Kyle. “In a heartbeat.” And it was the truth. Despite all the problems of their little group, Alex knew that they were actually closer than any family... or at least any family that he’d seen.

“Why” Kyle asked. Alex could tell that he really needed a straight answer to the question.

“Because they would do the same for me,” Alex stated. “Or you. It’s just who they are. The secret is what brought us together, but who they are is what makes them our friends. They’re the good guys. So are we. It would almost be an honor.”

His answer had earned him another nod from Kyle, not to mention a lengthy pause. The warning bell even rang, but neither of them made a move to leave. With a deep sigh, Kyle finally gave his agreement. “I think I would to, but let me tell you, I wouldn’t be happy about it.”

That’s when it happened. The pain that had been nagging at his temples, burning from the light around him, flared. Then came the voice...

Thanks for the offer. I just might have to take you and the jock up on that.

Alex’s head snapped up, his eyes wide and searching, not giving a second thought to the line of bongo drums playing in his head at the rapid movements. He vaguely heard Kyle talk to him, but his search zoned in on one person.

Tess.

She was walking down the hall towards them, Isabel by her side. Her cool blue eyes stared straight at him, or maybe right though him. Pounding increased, almost like a thunderstorm was racking his brain.

It made him want to run... fast. With every fibre of his being, Alex knew he needed to get out of there. He lifted his arm, dropping a heavy hand on Kyle’s shoulder roughly. “I’m taking off.”

He saw Kyle watching him out of the corner of his eye, the concern that had been in his voice now written all over his face. “Man, are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

Alex noticed that Tess and Isabel were only a few feet away. Quickly, he leaned in slightly, lowering his voice so only Kyle would be able to hear him. “If anything happens to me, promise me that you will take care of them for me. Look after Isabel. She takes on too much blame.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Kyle demanded.

“Just promise me.”

Slowly, Alex saw Kyle nod his head. “Thanks Kyle,” he said, clapping his hand on the other boy’s shoulder one last time. “I’ll see you later.”

~~~~~

Kyle watched as Alex walked away, heading directly for Isabel. There was no missing the smile that crossed her lips as he approached, stopping briefly to brush a kiss across her cheek, then taking off in the other direction. Tess kept right on walking, but Isabel stopped in her tracks.

“What’s that all about?” Tess asked as she came up beside him.

Shaking his head, Kyle ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not sure.” And he wasn’t, most particularly why he suddenly felt the need not to tell Tess what Alex told him. “Maybe everything is catching up with him.”

“What about you?” she questioned. “How are you feeling after last night?”

“Fine.”

He heard her sigh. “I guess you’re still mad about the other night,” Tess muttered underneath her breath.

Kyle thought about it for the moment. “Yeah,” he told her. “I guess I am.”

Her mouth opened, ready with retort that Kyle didn’t need any special powers to predict. He managed to cut her off before the diatribe began. “Not for the reasons you think.” Pausing for a moment, than he let out a little laugh. “Okay, not entirely.” It took him a minute to think of the right way to tell her what he did mean. “It’s no secret that I think this whole situation is whack, but that’s not the important thing. For some reason, the four of you were given the chance to start over. It doesn’t matter what the reason is. I sure as hell know I could care less. The point is that you have this opportunity and you’re not doing anything with it, Tess. You deserve better than a life lived on repeat, but you keep wanting to make the same decisions.”

She swallowed hard. So hard that Kyle could see it. “Sometimes the decision is out of our hands,” she countered weakly.

He wasn’t going to let it go that easy. “If the situation calls for a decision, it means that the person living it has a choice. At least an A and B option. They may suck, but they’re there.”

She blinked, the looked up to meet his gaze head on. He could see the light blue of her eyes deepen and go soft. For an instant, Kyle felt the faint sliver of hope that he had gotten though for once. Then, Tess jerked her head, tearing her eyes from him. They darted briefly around the hallway, before fixing on a point that wasn’t him.

The moment was gone for good. He felt his heart crack a bit with it, carving out a void there. “Just the dumb jock’s opinion,” he muttered as he turned. Leaving her standing there, Kyle moved down the hall to where Isabel was standing, now talking to Serena. Suddenly, a tiny bit of the emptiness filled.

He never even saw Tess rush off in the direction Alex had gone.

~~~~~

It doesn’t mean much…

Liz heard the soft voice trickle though the darkness that was clouding her mind. It was pretty and pleasant, so unlike the inkiest around her. She wondered briefly who it belonged to.

It doesn’t mean anything at all…

She should know. That much Liz was sure of. She should know who that voice belonged to. Maybe if she could just open her eyes, clear away some of the black around her, the answer would come.

The life I’ve left behind is a cold one. Across the landslide, to where …

It was growing louder. Liz fought her way towards consciousness, now desperate to open her eyes.

Sweet surrender is all that I have to give…

Liz also became aware of fingers lightly running though her hair, brushing it away from her face, moving in a constant rhythm with the voice. The voice that was still growing louder… the answer that was just within her reach…

“Mmmmm,” she listened to another voice join the other, one that sounded strangely like her own.

The singing stopped. “Oh God.” The gasp filled the void. “Lizzie.” The fingers in her hair tightened. “Lizzie, are you awake?”

She blinked. A brief ray of light and flash of a fuzzy face broke the darkness for just an instant. “Mmmmm.”

“Come on,” the voice pleaded. “Come on Liz, open your eyes.”

Liz tried. The light washed over her a bit long, the face was a bit clearer, but then she was enveloped again.

“Max,” the voice cried out. “Max, get in here now!”

Now, that registered clearly. Liz tried once more to open her eyes, this time using all of her energy to keep them open. Blond hair flashed in front of her face, than a pair of bright blue eyes, slowly coming into focus. “Maria?”

“Oh God,” her friend cried out once more, only this time, two arms came around Liz’s shoulders, holding tightly. “Thank the powers that be you’re okay. You’ve been asleep so long and I was so worried that your brain had been fried…”

“Liz.”

Liz tilted her head slightly to look over Maria’s shoulders, watching as Max took slow steps thought the doorway. Maria seemed to have heard him too, even over her rambling, because she twisted around to look at him, all the while still keeping her hold on Liz. “She’s awake,” she beamed brightly.

He took a few more steps, and Liz could all but feel his hesitation. Each movement he was making seem calculated, like he was out of his element and doing his best to control what he could. Even his words were carefully thought though. “Are you okay?” His voice was undemanding and cool.

She, on the other hand, could barely force them out over the sandpaper texture in her throat. “Fine,” she croaked, wince at the sound of her voice. “I think.”

One of Maria’s hands started rubbing up and down Liz’s arm, obviously trying to relieve some of the growing tension in the room. “Of course you are,” she said reassuringly. “Magic Max can fix anything, right?”

“There was nothing to fix,” Max said quickly. “You just needed to rest.”

There was a pause, an awkward moment of silence, before Maria shattered it with an announcement. “Speaking of needs, I need to pee.”

Liz’s head turned sharply to look at her best friend, tearing her gaze away from Max. “What?”

“I said that I have to pee,” she repeated, leaning in once again to give Liz another hug. “I told them all,” she whispered into Liz’s ear. “Max saw things last night, and everyone was so worried… I just couldn’t not tell them. But he needs more, Liz. He needs to know the stuff that only you can tell him.”

With that, Maria was gone. Just a flash of blond that jumped off the bed and raced out the door with energy that Liz wished she had at the moment. For the most part, Liz felt so drained that closing her eyes and returning to the darkness for awhile was quite an appealing option, but she owed Max an explanation. However, the awkward silence that had vanished for a second after Maria made her announcement was now back in full force, and for the life of her, Liz had no idea what to say.

Finally, Max took it into his own hands to start out the conversation. “That was just too much information,” he told her calmly, and Liz could feel her panic begin to rise. Was he talking about the future, about all of the things that Future Max had told her? Were they so far from the reality she’d created that they disgusted him?

“What?” she asked cautiously, not knowing if she really wanted to find out the answer.

A nervous smile curved the left corner of his mouth. He met her questing eyes across the bed, and for the briefest moment, Liz could swear she felt Max within her, like the connection between them had opened, offering her the tiniest glimpse into what he was feeling. And it gave her, for the first time in a long time, the small sense of hope. “Maria’s desperation for the bathroom,” he answered her question.

There was another long pause. Her gaze fell on the crisscrossing pattern of the thin sheet draped over her. Blue stripe going right, intersecting with brown stripe going left. It was basic, easy to contemplate compared to diving into the deep, murky truth she’d kept from him. Even thought it was the coward’s way out, she waited for Max to speak... to ask something. She didn’t know where to begin without a jumping off point.

And he did, only not one she would ever expected. “I know that you kinda liked the gray hair, but trying to give me a few prematurely is a little too much, okay?”

Humor. Comfort. Every word that had just come out of his mouth was laced with it. And each struck like an anvil on what little control she had left, breaking the dam on all the tears she’d been holding in for months. Her head snapped up and for a moment she simply stared at him, until her the first sob burst though. With a cry, Liz brought her knees up, burying her face against them, tears soaking her wrinkled jeans. She started rocking herself back and forth in the little ball form she made, not even able to look up when she felt the bed shift beside her.

Then, the warmest arms came around her, one underneath her knees, the other around her waist, shifting until she was firmly placed in Max’s lap. “Shhhh.” Max’s voice drifted to her ears, and Liz felt the gentle brush of his lips on the crown of her head. “It will be okay. I promise, Liz.”

He didn’t know that. No one did. “It might not,” she countered between sobs. “The world ended because of us. I tried to make it better, I had to.” Memories of what she’d seen during the Transference flashed in her mind, causing her to cry out just a little bit more. His arms simply tightened.

“He told you that Tess left, that she was important. She still here, Liz,” Max whispered, his lips now brushing against her ear. “We can explain.” Only there was doubt in his voice. He wasn’t sure what they had to explain, she could feel it, and it made the realization of what Maria said hit home.

Taking one deep breath, than another, in hopes of controlling her tears, Liz drew back. She looked at him, at the confusion written in his eyes, and knew it was time. “She left because of us, Max.” Her voice was soft and as steady as she could manage. “He told me that we would be together and she couldn’t handle it. With her gone, we had no hope against Kivar. Our world ended.”

His fingers brushed against the hair at her temples, tangled in it at the base of her neck. “Than we’ll convince her to stay. She’s found a home here, with Valenti’s. She’s becoming part of the group.”

Liz shook her head lightly. “It’s not enough. There was a reason Future Max came back when he did. We can’t be together.”

“What reason?” His eyes grew deeper, more intense as he asked. “What was so special about those few days, Liz? Why then?”

She tried to turn away. It was just too much, too painful because of how desperately she wanted it to be a lie. Yet, the things she saw in the Granolith confirmed it. Saying it aloud would solidify it. However, the hand at her neck tighten slightly, holding her head in place. “Max...” her voice trailed off.

“Please Liz. Don’t keep it from me. Not now.”

“It was the night of Gomez.” More tears slid down her already damp cheeks. “We were going to go, only we didn’t. We... we were together that night. Our first time.”

“That’s how you knew,” he muttered to himself. “Kyle was a set up.”

There was no way for her to hide the shock. “How did you...”

“Part of me never believed what I saw that night,” he whispered. Max used his thumb to brush away some of her tears. “Even when everything else in me was telling me that it did, there was this speck of hope that I was wrong. Then I came to the conclusion that truth or not, it didn’t matter. I still needed you.”

His head tilted forward, warm lips coming brush against her forehead, trailing over to her left temple, and downward to her cheek. Her tears melted into them, even as she soften. She murmured his name just before they finally came to rest over hers.

She sank into them.

This time the connection unfolded slowly between them. Feelings warmed, thoughts whispered, and images played. All the dark cages that held their secrets of the past few months opened, even as their mouths did, accepting everything.

Neither of them heard the door open, or saw the head peek in.

But they did hear the harsh gasp. Both heads whipped towards the door, only to see a pair of wide blue eyes filled with shock. Tess.

[Anniepoo98]

Chapter Twenty-one:

Isabel couldn’t help it. She was worried about Alex, especially after the little scene in the hallway. One minute he was talking to Kyle, the next he was kissing her cheek. Even as she thought about it, Isabel’s hand reached up to brush the spot. It was cool now, but she could remember how warm his lips felt pressed tenderly against the skin there.

She also registered the fact that it was the first time in months the outward sign of affection hadn’t been hesitant.

There was no point in denying what people thought of her. Cool, selfish, and unfeeling seemed to be the adjectives almost everyone used to describe her. The Ice Princess. Why would she even bother to give Alex Whitman the time of day? The question had been asked in various forms since before they’d dated briefly.

It was because he bothered to give the same to her. He did it without demands or expectations. And Isabel knew she didn’t deserve it.

She’d pushed him away, lied to him, and put him in more danger than any teenager should have to deal with. What happened to Grant Sorensen only drove that fact home. She was no good for Alex Whitman. And he was entirely too good to notice.

So this time she shoved harder. Ignored him completely. Only one moment of weakness before chaos erupted in their lives again. A few weeks ago, Isabel found herself near the edge. Hold up in her room, she paced as visions of what happen passed though her mind.
She could see Grant pleading for help, telling her he had no choice when it came to his actions. That scene faded into the picture of his body, lying cooling, on the bunk in the Dupree basement. A sheet covered all but his face.

It was a face of a man she’d dated, shared time with. A man she thought she knew, and one she was using as a shield to hide from a truth she wasn’t ready to face. That she was in love with someone else.

Suddenly, the face morphed into Alex’s in her mind, and Isabel panic. Even now, she couldn’t remember dialing his number or inviting him over. All she could recall was his smiling face peering in at her though window in the front door.

For some reason, the same sense of panic filled her now. It was why she asked Kyle and Serena to drop her off at the Whitman’s on their way out to Michael’s. With all that was going on, Isabel needed to see Alex. She needed some sort of visual conformation that he was okay.

The first thing she saw was his car parked out front. It should have eased the tension she’d felt since she seen him that afternoon, but it didn’t. Even as Kyle was backing down the driveway, Isabel was hurrying for the door.

She rang. No answer.

She knocked. Still no answer.

The silence made her nervous. Both Alex’s parents worked late on Fridays. They wouldn’t be home for hours, so he couldn’t of gone with them. The simple syllogism she’d worked out in her head knew he had to be there. Even if he’d fallen asleep, either the bell or pounding should have woken him.

Give up all pretense of patience, Isabel glanced around, making sure the coast was clear, and used her powers to unlatch the lock. With the resonating click, she pushed the door open and went it.

Stillness enveloped her. So did alarm. Isabel didn’t think there was ever a time when she’d see the Whitman house this quiet. Before she even gave herself a chance to think, Isabel rushed to the staircase. Even as her hand barely brushed the banister, a series of flash slammed into her mind.

The air pushed out of her lungs with the force of the latent energy flowing though her. She could hardly make out the images invading her mind. Tess’s face was among them, taunting impressions of fear accompanied it each time. There were others, blurry and impressionistic, but still as disturbing. Then one clear picture hit.

Alex stood on the first step, his typically gentle eyes flashing with a fury she’d never seen before. “Go to hell,” he gritted out though his teeth.

“ALEX!” The scream ripped from her throat as Isabel started taking to stairs at a time. “ALEX!” She ran down the hallway to his bedroom, pushing against it even as she turned the handle. It didn’t budge. She jiggled the handle, slammed against the wood with the entire weight of her body, still nothing happened. Someone… or rather something, had messed with the door.

Closing her eyes, she tried to picture the molecules of wood and metal. Using her powers, she nudged them, forcing them away from each other. Slowly, she registered a creak coming from the door. It was shrinking slightly, the wood becoming denser as the molecules closed in on themselves. Isabel hoped it was enough to allow the door to budge.

Taking deep breaths, Isabel rammed herself against the door once more. It gave way, bolts from the lock falling to the carpeted floor as force ripped them from their sockets. Isabel, too, landed on the floor with a loud thud.

Pain radiated from the shoulder where she landed, from the hip a few feet down. Isabel didn’t give either a though as her eyes scanned the room, landing on the form just a couple feet away. Getting to her hands and knees, she crawled towards him, softly repeating his name over and over.

“Alex.” Her whispered voice echoed in the silence. “Alex, please.” Her fingers reached out, lightly touching his face. The skin beneath her fingertips was hot, almost burning to touch. “Alex, wake up. Please, look at me.”

He didn’t answer her pleas. Isabel fumbled for her bookbag, pulling out her cell phone the second she located it. The familiar number in memory flashed across the tiny screen. After a few rings, a gruff voice answered.

“Yeah.”

“Michael,” Isabel sobbed. “I need you over at Alex’s now. You and Max.”

“Can’t.” He said, not trying to hide the irritation he felt about … whatever. “The shit has hit the fan over here.” There was a pause. “Wait. I thought everyone was coming back here after school. What are you doing at Alex’s?”

“I can’t wake him up.” Her voice choked on the tears clogging her throat. “I can’t form the connection if he won’t wake up. I need Max. Please, Michael. He’s hurt.”

“Shit,” he mumbled. She could hear yelling in the background, then Michael’s voice rising above it. “Tess, get…”

“Tess,” Isabel screamed into the phone. The forgotten images she’d seen at the bottom the staircase, came back to mind. “She’s there?”

Michael grumbled an affirmative.

Isabel panic reached an all-time high. “Michael, you have to stop her. Don’t let her out of your sight. She did this. She did this to Alex.” Her gaze drifted over his face again as her free hand brush a stray strand of hair way from his eyes. “I need Max.”

~~~~~

Max watched as Tess’s eyes widen, first in horror, which quickly started fading into something else. Something Max couldn’t quite identify. Without a word, she turned abruptly on her heal and marched back out into the living room. He felt Liz’s grip on his arm tighten.

“Max.” She whispered. “We have to stop her. She can’t leave.”

Quickly, the climbed off the bed, following in the direction Tess had disappeared. She was pacing in front of the couch, obviously trying to use up whatever excess energy pumped through her veins. She didn’t pay any attention to Michael or Maria, who were standing on the other side of the kitchen counter. Her bright blue eyes snapped up only to meet his, no question as to what was flashing in them now. He could see the anger, and the contempt.

“After everything, you still go back to her,” she yelled. “That’s not how it is suppose to be.”

“That book was written by beings millions away, who lived years ago,” he told her calmly. “They only knew who we were, not who we are.”

“It’s not just the damn book.” To emphasis her point, Tess picked up the nearest object, which happened to be a dirty coffee mug, and chucked it at him. The phone ringing muffled Michael’s calls of protest.

He managed to sidestep it as Tess’s wrath no turned on Liz. “You ruined everything. Do you know that? By simply existing, you’ve signed out death warrants.”

Open his mouth to defend her, Max found himself cut off when Liz stepped in front of him. Slowly, she moved towards the other girl, her voice soft as she spoke. “If this is about the end of the world, we can change that. If you stay…”

“SCREW STAYING,” Tess interrupted. “Kivar is on earth. In the end, it won’t matter where I’m staying. I’ll be just as dead when this is over.”

Max had heard enough. “Tess,” he began, looking back and forth between her and Liz. “We’ll find a way. But I’m not going to go along with a destiny someone I’ve never met cooked up for me. I don’t think any of us should.”

He could see her jaw tighten, her eyes grow even darker with anger. “I never had that choice,” she gritted though her teeth.

“Tess, get…” Michael’s voice came from behind him, then stopped before he finished the sentence. Max bit back a sigh. This was getting them nowhere. “We need you,” he stated simply.

Shaking her head, Tess grabbed her keys and walked to the door. “Everyone needs me,” she laughed, the kind of laugh that was chilling more than funny. “But nobody wants me.”

“Don’t leave,” Liz called out. Max could hear the sound of desperation in her voice. On another level, he could feel it, like a palpable, living thing. This had never happened before, not like this. He’d been able to sense her emotions before, but not without touching in someway. Liz was standing several feet away from him.

Caught up in this new sensation, Max didn’t hear Michael call out. Hell, he barely registered Tess flinging the door open. Then, the room became like a vacuum.

No sound, no air, just this inordinate amount of pressure. It felt like forever, when in reality it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds. Max managed to turn towards Liz, staring as he saw the brown eyes he loved so much turn black.

A loud pop broke the silence, than the tinkling sound of glass cracking. The windows in Michael’s apartment suddenly crumbled to the ground. So did the light bulbs and mirrors and anything else made of glass around them. Fragments started raining around them.

Max jumped forward, reaching for Liz in hopes to shield her, but even as his arms went around her, she remained stiff.

“What the hell was that?” Michael obviously found his voice.

Liz twisted within Max’s hold, prying herself away from him. Her normal eye color had returned, but every ounce of it had drained from her face. “Me,” she gasped. “I… did… oh my God.” With that, she turned, pushing past Tess to get outside.

He saw Tess gaze flicker over him as he started moving for the door. Then, she was running.

“Shit,” Michael exclaimed, releasing Maria. “Shit, we have to stop her.”

Max nodded as he ran, knowing Michael and Maria were following him. “Liz…”

“Not Liz,” Michael corrected. “Tess. She did something to Alex, Max. He’s hurt bad. Isabel can’t connect with him at all. She says he won’t wake up.”

Maria started gasping. Max heard one less set of feet pounding against the sidewalk. However, he couldn’t stop. Not when he could see Liz just on the other side of the parking lot, getting into a beat-up VW bug. Sean Deluca.

~~~~~

“Do you think we should have waited for them?” Serena asked as Kyle guided his Mustang into a parking spot.

Kyle shook his head. “Whitman’s got a car. He can drive himself.”

“That’s not what I meant,” she bit out, than decided to let it go. She didn’t feel like explaining herself at the moment. Instead, another line of questioning came to mind. “By the way, why do guys do that?”

“Do what?”

“Call each other by they last name.” She reached for the door handle, clearing her throat slightly. “Valenti, Evans, Whitman…” she mimicked, her voice gruff. “Something wrong with a person’s first name?”

Again, Kyle was shaking his head, maneuvering himself out of the car. “And to think, couple of days ago we couldn’t get a peep out of you. Now, you can’t keep you mouth shut.”

Her temper flared a bit. “Someone’s cranky,” she mocked, trying… well, hoping to get a rise out of him. She didn’t know why, but seeing him with Tess that afternoon, watching the hurt in his eyes as she walked away, got to Serena. In fact, it pissed her off royally, and that was as confusing as hell.

“Not cranky,” Kyle countered, his voice mild. “Just mad at myself, which automatically means I have to take it out on the rest of the world.” He took a deep breath, his eyes meeting hers intently. “Sorry.”

Now, if that didn’t just deflate her bad mood… “Me too,” she offered.

He grinned at her. Not the big, glowing kind, but rather a quick and shy one that had her pulse speeding up a bit. What the hell is this, she screamed silently.

They made their way around the back of his car, heading towards Michael’s apartment. Without even realizing how it happen, Serena found her hand in his, his slightly course palm warm against hers. She closed her eyes enjoying the sensation even as the warning bells were going off in her head. You like him. Her irritation, her racing heart, the slight obsession with the curvature of his posterior… it was all evidence pointing to that conclusion.

No! she shook her head as she was thinking it. I’m not going to let that happen. I don’t have time for this right now.

“Taking a side trip to Mars?” Kyle voice broke through her thoughts. “I wonder what the weather is like this time of year?”

Serena let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Managing to crack a smile, she hoped he couldn’t tell that it was forced. It had to be. There was no way going to let him get wind of what she’d actually been thinking. “Crappy,” she retorted. “Way too much rain for it to be an ideal vacation spot.”

“There’s this place out in Frasier Woods,” he began, and she could feel him watching her. They’d stopped walking. She wondered how they looked; two people, standing in the middle of a parking lot, holding hands. Maybe like a… a couple?

“There’s a stream that runs by it. Lots of trees, so the sun doesn’t burn your ass during the day. Perfect spot for camping.” His thumb started gently rubbing circles along the top of her hand. “When this is all over, that’s where I’m going to go. Spend a weekend out there. Just me and nature. What about you?”

Sadness washed over her. What was she going to do when this was all over? Serena never thought that far ahead. Her entire life had been geared towards this. All she’d ever been allowed to consider was what to do when Kivar came for the Granolith. Well, Kivar had come, and if they defeated him, made it past this obstacle, what was she going to do with herself then? She no longer had a family, no longer had a place to live…

“I…” she trailed off, as the realization hit her. “I don’t know.”

His grip on her hand tightened. “You could stay. Roswell’s not the best place in the world, you know, for an alien, but…”

He was cut off by the sound of shoes pounding against the pavement. Serena turned, seeing Liz tearing out of the building, running as if her life depended on it. She didn’t even notice them as she passed. “Liz,” Serena called, staring for her. “Liz, what’s the matter?”

She didn’t answer. Even as Serena continued after her, she heard the shouts behind her, more feet running.

However, she didn’t have a clue that a pair belonged to Tess until Michael called out. “Tess wait! Valenti, stop her.”

There was a muffled shriek, even a gasp, but Serena’s focus was on Liz. And the car that just pulled up beside her. She watched as Liz nodded, getting into the vehicle. Then, she saw him. Her mind flashed back to the night everything in her life had been destroyed. The flames, the screams, his face…

Kivar.

“Liz, no,” she screamed. “Stop.”

A grin crossed his face as he acknowledged her, than shook his head. Liz was now locked in the car, in his grasp. With a wink, Serena felt something sweep under her, lifting her off of her feet. She heard the thud of impact before she felt it. All of the air was forced from her lungs. She felt the pavement beneath her, scratching against the surface of her skin.

Kyle’s face was the first to loom above her, joined a moment later by Max. “What the hell was that?” he demanded, even as his finger gently probed her neck for injuries.

“Ki…” she cut off, trying to inhale. “Ki…”

“Take a deep breath. Try to calm down.”

“Kivar,” she squeaked, finally drawing in air. “Kivar was in that car.”

“That was Sean Deluca’s car,” Max corrected. “Maria’s cousin.”

Pushing herself up, Serena met him eye to eye. “That was Kivar. He’s ordered my family to be killed. He’s the one that had the convention hall burned to the ground. I was there.”

His eyes left her, and she watched as he got straight to his feet, marching over to where Michael was restraining a swearing Tess. “Is it true? Was that Kivar?”

Tess stopped moving. Her blue eyes flashed with defiance. “I told you he was here.”

“How could you?” Kyle shouted at her. Serena looked over at him, saw the anger turning his skin a deep shade of red. “How could you do that to us?”

Now, Maria was jumping into the conversation. “What did you do to Alex? What did you do with Sean?”

“Sean is dead,” Tess said, though gritted teeth. “Kivar took possession of his body months ago. Just before your cousin was set for release from Juvie.”

Maria hand shot out, cracking the other girl across the jaw. Tess’s head snapped with the force, then settled back. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

“You didn’t do anything to stop it.” Tears started rolling out of Maria’s eyes. Still, she did not look away from Tess. Serena noticed the expression on Michael’s face, could feel what he was feeling over the connection. He longed to comfort her, was struggling against that need and the one felt for doing his duty. Reluctantly, he chose duty.

“What about Alex?” Michael bit out, his rage growing. “What the hell did you do to him? Was hurting him part of the plan?”

With every word, Serena could feel his anger grow. She also knew that Tess could sense it as well, more from the way he was now shaking her as he spoke more than from the connection. Finally, Tess let out a sigh. “There was a project we needed help with. He was the most likely choice. The most expendable.”

There was another fluctuation of fury in the air, only this time it wasn’t from Michael. Without warning, Max ripped Tess from his seconds arms, his hands gripping her almost brutally. He gave her on hard shake before he was able to voice his question. “And Liz? What is his plan for her?”

“Think about it,” she spat back at him. “All that power walking in a convenient travel size. Much better than a large rock any day.”

The words slammed into Serena. This was her fault. She’d convinced them that the best thing was the Transference. Kivar had been counting on her to do just that. She’d played right into his hands.

As if sensing her thoughts, Kyle leaned over, offering her a hand. He’d grown eerily silent, not even Serena could read him right now. He had to be furious, hurt, too many other things that she couldn’t imagine. Yet, here he was, offering comfort. That she could feel. Taking the hand, he pulled her gently to her feet. His arm came around her waist the second she began to straighten, helping her steady.

Over the distance, Serena’s eyes met Tess as this happen. She saw the flash of regret, the hurt.

“We have to help Alex,” Maria said, trying to work a plan aloud. “We have to get Liz back.”

Michael’s glance landed on Max. He was looking for direction, looking to his leader for it. For the first time in his life, Max stepped into the role without hesitation.

Ripping the keys out of Tess’s hand, he tossed them to Michael. “Get Isabel and Alex, bring them to Valenti’s.” He turned to Kyle. “Can you get ahold of you Dad?”

Kyle nodded. “Sure.”

“Get him over here. We need damage control in Michael’s apartment. He’s the best person to handle it, and I don’t want him anywhere near us right now.”

This caught Serena off guard. The cold edge in his voice. “What are you planning, Max?” she asked softly.

He glanced at her briefly, understanding that she wasn’t questioning his authority, just voicing he curiosity about his plan. Then, his attention went back to Tess. The other girl shivered. “Interrogation,” he said simply. “Interrogation of the enemy.”

[Anniepoo98]

Howdy all~

I don't know if anybody remembers this story (it's been a little bit since I've updated... ), but guess what. I have actually have another part.

This story has been kinda demanding to be finished lately, so that's what I am work on. Don't worry, I am working on new parts for the others.

Anywho... here is the next part to Weight of the World. I hope you all enjoy it. Just a few more to go after this.

Annie:)


Part Twenty-two:


Kyle paced. Only thing I seem to be good at anyway, he thought bitterly.

He couldn’t heal. That privilege solely belonged to Evans, who, judging by how long it was taking, wasn’t doing so hot. Hell, he didn’t even have any keen scientific knowledge that he could contribute in order to identify what was wrong. That was Liz’s area of expertise.

And Liz was...

He flinched. Letting his mind go there was only going to make him more crazy than he was at the moment. It was trying enough to be stuck on the other side of his father’s bedroom door, waiting for any tidbit of information about Alex.

God... Buddha... whoever, Alex had not looked good. Kyle shut his eyes for a moment at the memory. How long had he been like that before Isabel found him? It had been hours since the last time Kyle saw him and Isabel’s phone call.

Isabel. By the time they got there, she was nearly frantic. Whatever presence of mind that had carried her from the time she entered the front door to the when she called Michael was gone when they arrived. Kyle could have sworn for a few seconds that they were going to have to carry her out along with Alex. She couldn’t stop shaking.

The ice queen had completely melted into a puddle of her own guilt.

And he just did what he did best. Pace.

Damnit, he thought. The only thing worse than being an alien accomplice is being useless.

“It’s bad.”

Kyle looked over at Michael. His new buddy only shrugged. “It wouldn’t take this long unless it was bad.” And, for a moment, the stoic Michael faltered, his face crumbled. “I should have kept a closer eye on him. I should have known that they would have gone after him. Weakest link, or some shit like that. Some great general I am, leaving him out in the open like that. It’s all my fault…”

“No.” Maria’s raised voice successfully cut of his tirade. As Michael started to scrub his hands over his face, she rose from her perch on the couch and crossed to him. Without another word, she wrapped her arms around him.

Suddenly, anger bubbled up through the terror in the pit of Kyle’s stomach. He watched Maria run her hands down Michael’s back, through his hair, murmuring words of comfort as his friend stood there, blaming himself. The anger inside him grew, maybe because of that scene, or because it mirrored what he was feeling. There was no one left to comfort him, especially since the one person who he’d turned to in these situations was the one who caused it.

He wanted to hit something, to shout out his frustration. Yet, that wouldn’t help, so he did neither. Instead, he turned to face Tess.

They’d tied her to a dining room chair, hands and legs each tied to a separate post. She hadn’t spoken a word since they left Michael’s. Right now, she was glancing around the room, avoiding all eye contact with them.

“She’s right,” Kyle said, finally breaking the silence. Even thought his words were addressing Michael, his eyes never left Tess’s form. He took a step towards her, than another. “Isn’t that right, Tess?” Her eyes snapped to his when he said her name. “Tell him it’s not his fault. That it’s yours.”

Her eyes went sharp. “It’s everyone’s fault.”

“Bullshit.” She jumped slightly, but Kyle ignored it, choosing to plow though her shields. “Alex never did anything to you, to anyone. Hell, he was probably on the last-to-know list when it came to the alien hoopla. Still, you screwed with his brain. Why?”

“He wasn’t as clueless as you all think.” She bit out the words, even as color rose in her cheeks. “That’s why it’s everyone’s fault. None of you ever gave him enough credit for how smart he was. Like Michael said, you left him wide open, and that made him a target.”

“Why you little…” Maria began, but Kyle held up a hand to cut her off.

He took two more steps, stopping only when he was standing right over Tess. “You’re the one who targeted him. You’re the one who hurt him.” He leaned over until his face was right in front of her. “We took you in, cared about you, and this is how you decided to repay us. By hurting the one person who would have done whatever it took to protect your secret. Paint it however you want, Tess. The truth is you hurt him, not us.”

“She didn’t do it along.”

Everyone’s head snapped around to look at Max. His face was pale, Kyle noticed, and he was leaning against the door jam as if he needed the support. A second later, Serena appeared by his side. Isabel was nowhere to be seen, but faint sounds of her crying could be heard.

Kyle looked from Max to Serena, then to Michael and Maria. Maria had paled so much that he couldn’t help but wonder if she was going to pass out. He watched as her bottom lip began to tremble. “Is he…he isn’t, is he?”

Max shook his head. “No, he’s not. But we can’t help him.”

Maria’s entire body jolted. “What? What you mean by ‘you can’t help him.’ You have to!”

Michael laid a hand on her shoulder as Max closed his eyes. Kyle noticed how pained his former nemesis was. He couldn’t help Alex, and Kyle suspected it wasn’t for a lack of trying. He felt bad for Max. Hey, he might not love the guy, but no one deserved this.

Feeling a tingle on the back of his neck, Kyle shifted, saw Serena watching him. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she was in tune with what he was feeling, that it echoed her thoughts exactly.

“He did what he could,” Serena spoke up. “There’s just too much damage for us to fix without the healing stones.”

“They only work when we’re at the pod chamber,” Michael added, than stopped to think for a moment. “When we’re near the Granolith. Shit.”

Serena nodded. “Yeah,” she agreed. “We can’t do anything to help him without Liz.”

Max straightened. Kyle could see the intent in his eyes as the fixed on Tess. “Then we better find out where she is.”

With long strides, he crossed the room and leaned over her, much in the way Kyle had done only moments before. “Just so you know, what you tell us will determine what we do with you when we’re done.”

Tess let out a laugh, but it was filled with tension and a bit of fear. “It sounds like you’re threatening to kill me, Max. We both know that you don’t have the stomach for it.”

His reply was just as bitter as hers had been. “You’d be surprised.” He paused, letting that sink in a bit. “You’re the only one who can decide if it will come to that.”

Her eyes narrowed even more. “How?”

His hands dropped down, gripped the arms of the chair tightly. “You’re not stupid, Tess. I want to know everything.”

“I tell you everything and I’ll be dead anyway,” Tess tossed back at him. “Do you think that they would actually let me live if I betrayed them?”

Kyle found his arms crossing against his chest on their own accord. It was a sign of his own irritation. Sure, he thought. She would rather betray us, the good guys, instead of them.

Behind him, he heard Maria mutter something that sounded like ‘drama queen.’ It did a little to ease the knot in his belly.

Tess apparently heard it too. With one quick jerk, her head turned and her eyes focused on Maria. “You have no idea what they are capable of.”

Maria stepped forward. “Bet I can make pretty good guess, though. Would killing, kidnapping, and brain scrambling be on the list?”

“It doesn’t scratch the surface,” Tess bit out. “Kivar is more powerful than any of you can imagine. He can...”

Suddenly, Tess’s chair began to shake, than flew across the living room, slamming into the far wall. A thud was followed by a sharp crack as her head smacked against the wall. Before anyone had the chance to gasp, Isabel’s voice cut through the shock. “I’ve had enough of your games.”

She stood in the doorway to the bedroom, regal except for the tear tracks running down her face. One hand was stretched out before her, and Kyle could tell that every ounce of her power was focused on Tess. “Talk, or I will kill you. And before you ask yourself if I can, just remember that I killed for you once, to save your life. I’ll have no problems doing it to save someone who actually cares about me.”

“Kivar has her,” Tess blurted out.

“Tell us something we don’t know,” Michael growled.

“He killed and took over Sean Deluca the day he got out of juvie,” Tess continued, quickly, ignoring the little whimper that came from Maria. “He’s done his homework on everyone, knew how to exploit any weakness we might have. He also knew that an outsider would have no chance to infiltrate, so…”

“Use someone who could get close without suspicion,” Michael finished for her. “He had to know that we had a hard time trusting you, but not for lack of trying. You’re just a liar. Therefore, he tried an alternative method.”

She gave on sharp nod of agreement, winced as it jarred her already aching head. “Then, he waited, gathered information to form a way to get at the group from the inside. The second he met Liz, he knew that she was different. Not an alien, but different.”

“That’s why he focused so much on her.” Max paced for a few steps, obviously processing and considering. Kyle decided it was a chance for him to take up the torch.

“You’ve been helping him all along?” he asked. “Even before you came to Roswell.”

When her gaze fell on his, he almost thought he could see a hint of regret. “Nasedo made a deal forty years ago, before any of us ever came out of pods. I was supposed to get close to you,” she said, her eyes drifting to Max for a moment. “Earn your trust, even seduce you. If I got pregnant with an heir, it would be a bonus. But the main goal was to keep an eye on the Granolith, and find Serena. One wouldn’t work without the other.”

“That’s what the Max obsession is all about,” Kyle muttered. At this point, he thought, it shouldn’t really matter. Yet, it did, just a little. Still, he kept right on questioning her. “Why does he need them so badly?”

“Absolute power.” The simple statement sent a chill through him. “There are enough Skins on Earth to stage a pretty decent invasion. With the Granolith, he could get more, transplant them into any human he wanted. Why rule just one galaxy when you can rule two?”

“And you wanted to ride on the coattails of the power, didn’t you?” Kyle was practically seething with the anger he felt. Part of him didn’t want to believe that she could do this to him, his dad, or the others. It was just… wrong. In every sense of the word, it was wrong. Yet, here the reality of it was smacking him right in the face. She’d really betrayed them.

Then, he took a good look at her eyes. There was the light of defiance in them. Only, it wasn’t the only thing causing bright blue to shine. A thin film of tears washed over everything else. Granted, she was doing a good job of holding them in, forcing them not spill over. But their presence was enough for Kyle to know part of this was hurting her.

He thought about Liz, about Alex, and resented the fact that he cared.

Noticing that she was watching him right back made Kyle turn away.

It seemed that was the last straw for Tess. A second later, sobs filled the room. And shock. The stoic, sarcastic, almost inhuman blonde broke down.

“I was scared,” she shouted through the tears. “My whole life, I knew what was expected of me. What they trained me to be. Do you think it makes me proud that they succeeded? I never had a chance to know different.”

“Bullshit.” Leave it to Michael to cut straight to the point. “That may have been true before you came to Roswell, but we showed you different. Hell, I didn’t grow up with happy either, but I’m well-adjusted.”

Whether he’d said it to lighten the mood a little, or that was just a handy by-product, snickers followed. They couldn’t be helped. Hell, even Michael saw the amusement after a couple of seconds. Kyle could tell because his lips quirked just a bit. “Okay, somewhat well-adjusted. That’s not really the point anyway. What I’m trying to say it that we made you part of the group, so you knew the difference.”

Tess let out a bitter laugh. “Made me part of the group,” she repeated heatedly, even as the tears still coursed down her cheeks. “None of you trusted me, from the first moment. I was never part of the group. You all simply tolerated me.”

“I cared,” Kyle murmured. “You had to know that. It didn’t matter, but you had to know.”

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Kyle turned, and found Serena standing behind him, offering comfort. His hand reached up, covering hers.

“I was scared,” Tess said again, drawing attention back to her. “They killed Nasedo. He’d taken too long to hunt her down.” As she nearly growled the word, Tess’s eyes narrowed on Serena. “It was now my responsibility, and I needed to come up with results quick.”

Now, Max moved towards her, his eyes alight with realization. All that Kyle could think was that Tess was in for it... big time.

“How does Alex fit into this?” he demanded. “How did you use him, Tess?”

She looked down, considering the question as the room fell silent. When her head came up, the tears were already starting to dry. “I told you he was smarter than any of you gave him credit for.”

That wasn’t the right answer. Kyle heard Serena’s sharp intake of breath, felt her hand tighten on his shoulder. Yet, all of that was in the background of the scene unfolding in front of him. With a move as quick as lightening, Max was leaning over Tess, his hands gripped around her tied wrists. A pained expression flashed over her face, showing that his grip had to be tight. For a moment, Kyle wondered if Max was using some alien voodoo or just pure physical strength to intimidate.

“I want to know what you did to him,” Max said, his voice deceivingly calm. “I want to know what you gained from using him. I want to know it all now. You won’t like the consequences if you don’t cooperate.”

Tess’s eyes widened, a signal that she believed him. “It started out as a mindwarp. I needed him to do a search, to track down others of our kind. I needed to find Serena, the sooner, the better. That was about six weeks ago.”

Max took a deep breath. “Just before the killings started. All of those people were aliens... hybrids, like us.”

“Mostly.” Her eyes drifted upwards, as if the guilt was too much to bear meeting anyone in the eyes. “A few were humans who knew about the cause and wanted to help. Alex managed to track down the first few families before I couldn’t keep up the warps. He started breaking through them.”

“So Kivar took over,” Max filled in the blanks. “And in the process, did more damage to Alex’s mind than you ever could.” He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath as he tried to clamp down on his rage. “That doesn’t explain the symbols, Tess. Why did Kivar and his henchman leave blaring clues all over the place connecting the killings?”

“He liked to watch you all scramble,” she admitted. “He was playing around with each and every one of you, and has been for months. The second the info about the symbols leaked, he knew that all of you would panic. While we were running around without a clue, he would slip in and put the final stages of his plan into effect.”

“That included my family,” Serena said, addressing Tess for the first time since they arrived. “He had to figure that we would try to regroup. Get us all in one place and wipe us out in one swoop.”

Tess nodded. “Something like that.”

Kyle felt Serena’s grip on his shoulder tighten painfully. For a moment, he felt a wave of grief and pain wash over him. He watched the expression flickering in her eyes, the pure rage, and he knew the feelings hadn’t been his own. He wrapped an arm around her waist before she could rush forward.

“I lost everything,” she screamed. She struggled against his arms, until it was just too much for her and she simply sank into them. “They killed everyone I ever cared about. How could you possibly be that cruel? That unfeeling?”

“I wanted to survive,” Tess said simply. “That was more important to me.”

Silence filled the room. Serena pulled herself back from Kyle, composing her feelings. Thinking there was only one thing left he could say to Tess, Kyle turned to faced her again. “What’s the point in surviving,” he started, waited for her eyes to meet his, “if you have nothing to care about?”

Her eyes flashed. She wanted to inflict pain now. Kyle could almost feel it, see the desire for it written on her face. “I would have done anything, said anything, to earn your trust. Just remember that. The only worth you held for me was a means to an end.”

Kyle felt the words lance at his heart, causing every feeling he had for her to bleed. Still, Tess continued.

“It was pitifully easy. You were nearly begging like a dog for any scrap of attention I threw at you. All I had to do was play a little hard to get, and you tossed your heart at my feet. What’s the point of caring, Kyle, if it makes you a fool?”

Shaking his head against the truth, Kyle looked away from her. “You cried,” he murmured, remembering their conversation a couple of days ago. “I know you did. I heard you.”

“I should win an Oscar for my performance, don’t you think?”

And, just like that, the grief over what he felt for her washed over him. The wave of it closed over him, all but snuffing the air from his lungs. There were too many people here, the room was too small. Moving towards the door, Kyle felt the sting of tears burn his against his eyes. However, he wasn’t about to shed them here, not in front of her.

“Kyle,” he heard his name, knew it was Serena. “Don’t leave.”

Part of him wanted to go to her, absorb the comfort he knew she would give him. But he couldn’t. Not right now.

Isabel voice, pleading and choked with her own tears, joined Serena’s. “It’s not safe.”

With a shrug, he opened the door and went through it. “I don’t care.”

~~~~

Twenty minutes later, he found himself parked in front of the football field. Grief was still ebbing through him, now with an added hint of frustration. Part of him wanted to go back to his house, to face what was hurting him. Then, Kyle would close his eyes, see the hatred on Tess’s face, and knew that he couldn’t take it right now.

He didn’t care if it was stupid, if he was putting himself in danger, Kyle just needed some time away from the alien abyss.

You’re scared of going back there, he thought. And he was. Back at his house was pain, confusion, and betrayal. It was something he hadn’t had to face fully since the day his mom left. He’d only been six at the time, but he’d felt all those emotions keenly. While his father tried to put their lives back together, Kyle had done the only thing he could. He shut down against those feelings, and did his best to help.

Now, Tess had thrown them all back in his face, and Kyle wasn’t at all sure he could shut them down this time. He also didn’t know how to get past feeling them if he couldn’t.

The whole thing left him edgy. Kyle wanted some sort of action, to do something physical, anything to take his mind away from what was going on. Glancing at the clock, he noticed it was only 6 o’clock. He was just in time to kick Hornet ass. Maybe he’d feel a little more normal after pounding on a few large football players.

With quick movements, he grabbed his bag and got of the car. He ignored the sense of dread settling in his belly and made his way to the locker room, focusing instead on the game ahead. The room was empty, but he’d expected it. He was a little late, and he suspect the coach had the rest of the team up running maneuvers. Kyle figured he would catch some flack for beginning late, but the coach would let him play.

He’d recognize the violence edging around Kyle’s very being. With that in mind, Kyle changed quickly and made his way out to the field. It was empty.

That stopped him in his tracks. There were always people in the bleachers before a big game like this, girlfriends or wannabes watching the warm-ups. The dread in his stomach tightened, almost becoming a physical weight of discomfort. “Hey,” Kyle called out.

“Hey, yourself.”

Kyle whipped around just in time to see Jarod Stamm pulling his arm back. The punch landed square on his jaw. The last thing Kyle saw what the lights of the stadium fading away.

[Anniepoo98]

Howdy all!

Thank you for the feedback! I am glad that are enjoying it (and remember it... LOL). Well, I am back with another part. I hope that you enjoy it too.

Have a wonderful New Year's everyone!!!!

Annie:)


Part Twenty-three:



For the second time that day, Liz Parker began to surface from the realm of unconsciousness. The first time had been an easy slide from sleep to wake. This time, she fought to emerge from the dark.

Her eyes managed to open for a moment, before a wave of overwhelming exhaustion washed over her, forcing them to close again. There was a moan and Liz was sure it had come from her, even though it sounded yards away. What was the matter with her? Whatever had knocked her out seemed to linger just on the edge of her mind, as if it were waiting to drag her back under.

Determined that it wasn’t going to happen, Liz tried once more to open her eyes. This time, she managed to keep them open, but the dim light in the room stung her pupils. Vague images swum before her. She made out the shape of something that might have been a couch, maybe a table next to it. Liz couldn’t tell for sure. Everything was too blurry.

Fear and instinct had her hands jerking to block out the confusion, only to find they were bound, as were her feet. Shit, she thought. Not good.

“Little Lizzie Parker swears.” She heard the voice coming from somewhere behind her. It sounded mocking, menacing, and miles away. “I would have never believed it.”

“Where…” The word was slurred.

“Where are you?” he cut her off. Suddenly, whatever was blocking her ears popped. A loud rush of sound echoed in her ears. Liz could hear people talking, the mechanical whine of some sort of machine, but the footfalls behind her scared her the most, hurt the most. She wanted to cover her ears against the all the noise, yet, with them tied, all she could do was moan.

Then, she felt the heat of a body behind her a second later. There was a creak of wood slightly giving under weight, and she felt the brush of fingers against her back. “So predictable. I hoped for better from you.”

Liz tried to turn her head towards the voice, managed to have it lull against her shoulder. “Sorry. That tends to happen when I’ve been drugged.” Okay, the words were still a bit slurred, but she was happy to hear the bite of annoyance in them.

He laughed, and the breath expelled rolled against her right ear. “Oh Lizzie, it was for your own good. I didn’t want to hurt you in a struggle, which is what you would have happened if I’d tried to take you by force. This way was more efficient. I’m sure you understand that.”

“Sean?” She jerked in the chair. “What did you do to…”

Then, she realized - the voice, the needle. Her stomach rolled with sickness at the thought. “It was you. All along, it was you.”

“I was waiting for you to come around to that. It certainly took you long enough.”

She heard the tone, the cockiness and arrogance. Ego. That was what Serena had called it. If he could see it as a source of strength, Liz knew she might be able to use it as a weakness.

Summoning up what energy she had, Liz forced her eyes to open. They met Kivar’s directly as he was gazing down on her. “Let’s not play around here,” she whispered. “You were afraid. Afraid I’d stop you. I have more than enough power now.”

The hands on the back of her chair crept upwards, over her shoulders, and gripped hard. “You’re a child. While you might have power, you don’t have a clue how to use it.”

“And you think that you do?”

A smile curved his lips, evil in the purest form. Liz found herself barely able to suppress a shudder. “Of course. Now that I have you, I have the power of the Granolith at my fingertips. I’ll use it, and you, to take my rightful place in my world and this one.”

Now, she couldn’t help the cringe. “I won’t help you,” she vowed. “Not a chance in hell.”

The smile grew wider, more wicked. “You won’t have a choice.” The hands on her shoulder loosened. He brought on hand up, traced a fingertip along the curve of her cheek. “When the time is right, I’ll put you in a stasis. It’ll be easier to drain the energy from you then, to use you as a conduit. Until then, the drug I gave you will go a long way in suppressing whatever burgeoning powers you might experience as part of the Transference.”

“What powers?”

“It seems that telekinesis is one. You were transmitting loud and clear to everyone as you started to regain consciousness.”

Liz could only stare, processing what he was telling her. God, she thought. I have to do something. The others will come and…

“Rescue you?” Kivar finished. “Let me ease your mind in that regard. I have some insurance, in case they want to try something.”

He moved aside, and to Liz’s horror, she saw Kyle bound to a chair a few feet away and gagged. Even though there was a patch of skin along the left side of his jaw that was turning a violent purple, he was awake, alert, and if the flash in his eyes was any indication, pissed. “Kyle,” she murmured.

His eyes narrowed. Damn, stupid jackasses. I’m gonna get out of this and beat the…

Liz blinked. His lips hadn’t moved, but she’d heard… thoughts. She could hear Kyle’s thoughts.

“Do we have an understanding?”

She turned her head slowly, and stared for a moment at Sean’s visage. Sadness swelled over her churning belly. “You killed Sean, the real one, for this. Why did it have be him?” she asked, while images of the trouble boy who used to tease her and Maria when he spent summers at his aunt’s.

“An easy in,” he told her without qualm. “I knew that you wouldn’t suspect the sudden reappearance of your friends cousin.” His features tighten with annoyance. “Now, do we have an understanding?”

When she nodded, he turned and strolled out of the room. The second the coast was clear, Liz began to focus all of her strength on the string of curses bombarding her mind. Maybe if she could hone in on Kyle, she might be able to get him to hear her thoughts. She just hoped that he would be the only one.

She agreed? Damnit Liz, what the hell were you thinking? We’ve been kidnaped by Mr. Psycho Alien, I’m – gonna – take – over – the – world man, and she just nods her head.

Her eyes met his. Kyle… Kyle, can you hear me?

All his movements stilled. What the…

Oh god, Liz sighed. You can, thank God you can.

Buddha? The confusion of his thought came through loud and clear. Buddha worships God? Did I miss a step here?

Liz found herself stifling a giggle, though taming it allowed tears of relief to trickle from her eyes. Kyle, its Liz.

The chair jolted as Kyle leapt in surprise. Okay, tried to leap. Christ on a crutch!

You’re not a Christian, she reminded him as he goggled at her.

Hey, Kyle returned. If it speaks in my head, I worship it. Liz, you are my new god. But I gotta ask… how?

Rolling her shoulders, noting how sluggish that move was. It just took to much energy. Her head lolled forward. Listen, Kyle, worship me later. Right now, I need you to listen. We need to warn the others.

Okay, Kyle agreed. Great. Any ideas on how we go about doing that?

Her eyes started to droop. Liz blinked, but it was a wasted effort. They grew heavier and heavier as the inky darkness of the drug started to close over her. Kyle, I need you to get closer to me.

His eyes widened in fear as she spoke. Liz, are you okay? What the hell did they give you?

I don’t know, she managed as her head dropped down to her chest. The movement was enough to propel her back to wakefulness. With a sharp movement, she righted it, but she had no idea how long she would be able to keep it that way. It’s hard… she trailed off, blinking as the black began to close in again. I don’t have enough energy to move. I think you can use me to channel… contact… I don’t know… something with the others. But you have to touch me.

Is it safe? Concern for her was now consuming Kyle. She was too pale, her eyes too dark and glassy. And he voice in his mind was growing weaker by the moment. It might be too much for you, and I’m not going to do anything to hurt you.

Have to, her mind whispered to his. We need them. So much at stake. Contact the one you have the deepest connection with… Tess.

Grief, hot and bitter, rose within his belly. Choking on it and the sickness that accompanied betrayal, Kyle closed his eyes for a moment, prayed for the strength to force it back down. Needing some sort of physical action, he began slowly scooting his chair closer to Liz. Since we don’t have much time, I’ll give you the cliff notes version. Tess bad.

He watched as her drooping eyes snapped open for a moment, than close completely. What? she managed weakly.

Big thing, Kyle detoured. Tell you about it later. In the meantime, any other ideas about who…

Max. The word was barely audible. He saw her head fall against her shoulders, that had now dropped under the weight of sleep.

“Damnit.” Kyle had shouted it, but it came out as ‘mhhhi’ against the gag. Almost in response, he heard a sound coming from just beyond the door. He froze, and cursed himself while listening.

There were muffled voices, than footsteps. Kyle strained to hear them that he didn’t even notice he was tilting forward in his chair. It nearly had him falling flat on his face when someone came barreling down the hallway, barking out orders. His lips curled into an awkward smile around the gag. Sucks to be a minon, he thought to himself.

Then, all thought process stopped. For the first time, he was in charge of an alien situation beyond his control. He needed to make the decisions. He needed… Liz.

Liz… he shouted out with his mind, and received no answer. Come on Liz. I am not the planner in this team. Hell, I’m not the planner in any team. If you want one Buddha-believing, high school football player to order around, I’m your guy. Dangerous extraterrestrial situations requiring thought process… nope, find someone else.

Still nothing.

Shit. He rolled his eyes. Oh shit. We have really landed in some big heaping piles of it. And getting out of it was now up to him. Keeping that in mind, Kyle once again started inching his way towards Liz, keeping his ears and eyes peeled for any sign of danger. He didn’t hear anything except for the creaky scratches of chair legs across linoleum.

After five minutes of careful movement, Kyle was right next to Liz. Damn, he thought, she looked even worse close up. Pale… hell, her skin was nearly translucent, as if her body didn’t have the energy to sustain pigment. He hesitated, not sure if this was the best idea. It might hurt Liz or alert that Kivar ass to what they were doing. For all he knew, he could blow both of them up.

Kyle pushed those thoughts aside and took a deep breath. Okay, God… Buddha… what ever higher power that might be listening, I could use your help right now. Please don’t let me screw this up. There’s just too much at stake, and losing right now would be a little like kicking somebody when they’re down.

He drew in another deep breath, and exhaling, dropped his head against Liz’s shoulder. For a moment his mind was blank. Then, an image of Serena popped into his mind. Closing his eyes, Kyle concentrated on it… on her, and reached out with his mind. Please hear me.

A jolt passed through him, feeling like a cross between a static shock and a plunge into cold water. All of his senses suddenly felt alive and jumping. It gave him a higher level of understanding of Liz’s exhaustion. Kyle didn’t have a clue if he could take it all either. There was simply too much… power, energy, life… he wasn’t sure, but it was hard as hell to contain. Still, he had to try.

With his last coherent thought, Kyle focused everything he was on Serena. See what I’ve seen, he thought. And, instead of following Liz into darkness, he found himself enveloped in light.

~~~~~


“How long has he been gone?”

Serena watched as Sheriff Valenti paced back and forth in his living room, his hands nearly yanking out tufts of hair as he ran them through in frustration. Everyone else in the room was wincing at the tone in his voice. She knew it was because they had to be the bearers of yet more bad news.

There was no way to deny that they’d let Kyle walk off, knowing that being separated was the worst possible thing at a time like this. That had been over three hours ago, and there had been no word from him. No answer on his phone every time Michael tried it over the past two hours.

Some how she knew, deep down in the gut knew, that Kyle was in trouble. And that scared her more than anything. If she was right that he was in danger, it meant that her link to him ran deeper than acquaintances.

The other had conclusions. She knew. And now they had to tell his father.

“Over three hours,” she finally spoke up.

Jim’s head whipped around to her, his eyes narrowed in either anger or fear. She couldn’t tell which. “And you just let him go?” he cried out, advancing towards her.

Max stepped forward, stopping Jim’s movements. “We let him go. He needed to get away from,” he trailed off, his gaze shifting towards Tess for a moment. When Jim followed it, the blond looked away from them. “Everything,” Max finally finished. “We should have stopped him. I’m sorry.”

“We need to start thinking about where he might have gone,” Maria spoke up. She eased off a kitchen stool to stand by Michael. “Where would he go to clear his head and feel normal for a few minutes.

Serena thought about for a moment. “The Crashdown,” she offered.

“Maybe.” Then Max shook his head. “But I think he might have wanted to be alone.”

“He would want to pound on something.”

Shocked, they all turned to look at Tess. She was staring at the floor, trying to avoid meeting anyone’s gazes. “Why do you think that?” Max asked slowly.

Tess only shrugged.

“She’s right,” Jim spoke up. “He would need to do something physical. He usually works out when he’s frustrated.”

“The game!” Michael shouted. “There’s a football game tonight. I bet that’s where he is.”

Jim shook his head. “That can’t be right,” he said. “I drove by there on my way over. The parking lot was nearly empty, and there was no sign of Kyle’s car.”

“Are you sure?” Serena murmured. She searched her mind, ignoring the faint buzz of energy, as she tried to remember what happened in the school commons a couple of days ago. “Kyle was talking to one of his teammates earlier this week. I know there was suppose to be a game tonight.”

Michael nodded his head in agreement with her. “She’s right.” He glanced over at the clock on his microwave. “It’s almost nine now. That place should have been packed.”

Moving beside Jim, Maria laid a hand on this shoulder. “A couple of us should drive over there, check it out. Maybe swing by the Crashdown too. If the game was canceled, someone will know why.”

“I’ll go.” Serena started towards the door. A hand on her arm stopped her. She turned to see it was Max. When she began to ask what the problem was, he shook his head.

“They’ll be looking for you.” When Serena tried to pull away, his other hand reached out to grab her other arm. “You’re the Keeper of the Granolith. In order for their plan to work, they need both you and Liz. Kivar’s men will be look for any chance they can get to take you. I know you want to help, but you have to stay here.”

Serena scowled at him. He was right, a fact that made her feel utterly useless. And that pissed her off. This time when she tried to yank away from his grasp she succeeded. Turning away from him, she started to walk towards where Tess was sitting, ready to get more answers from her.

Then, the room simply faded away. She found herself standing on the high school football field. A sense of confusion that wasn’t her own washed over her mind. Then she heard a voice. Turning, she barely had time to recognize the boy from the commons incident before a fist smashed into her face.

She began falling backwards as everything in her mind went blank. For a few moments, she felt nothing, heard nothing. Then, there were voices murmuring softly.

Wake up. The guy Liz had gotten into the car with, the one Serena recognized as Kivar, was kneeling by a chair. Liz was sitting, tied to the chair, her head hanging forward. Fury rushed through her as she saw him reach out, smack Liz’s cheek lightly. Wake up.

Words and thoughts ran through her mind, and Serena finally understood where they were coming from. Somehow she was seeing what Kyle saw. She was able to watch and hear as Kivar taunted Liz after she woke. She started to understand what his plans were. She worried about Liz as Kyle did when she began to pass out again.

Effort burned through her limbs as it had through his when he maneuvered his chair closer to Liz’s. Then, thoughts of her ran through his mind. See what I’ve seen, were the last words she heard as Serena began falling into the light.

Serena felt hands gripping her arms, giving them a little shake. “She’s waking up,” someone said. “Serena, come all the way out.”

She opened her eyes to find several people staring at her. “What...”

“Happened,” Maria finished for her. “One minute, you were walking towards Tess. The next, you were just standing there and your eyes went all weird.”

“You started muttering after that,” Michael chimed in. “Then, bam,” he smacked his hands together. “You dropped like a stone.”

“I saw Kyle and Liz. Kivar has both of them, but I know what he’s planning to do now.” She looked around the room until her gaze met Max’s. “And I might have an idea how we could stop him.”