Title: Aliens and Witches
Author: ken_r AKA Kenneth Renouard
Disclaimer: These characters belong to the Roswell TV show.
Rating: teen
Couples: conventional
Summery: a vague shadow of canon. Max and Isabel Evans, along with Michael Guerin are aliens. Their personalities are much like canon. Elizabeth Parker and Maria DeLuca are curanderas in training. They work in the Crashdown restaurant as waitresses. Maria’s Mom, Amy DeLuca works in an herb shop owned by the Parkers. Liz’s great grandmother was a renown curandera or herb doctor. She also practiced other arts which some would call magic. In this profession, they would call her a bruja or witch. The girls are targeted by a crazy man, who is trying to kill them. Max, Michael and Isabel all come to their aid. All three aliens express doubts about magic. Liz and Maria have questions about the powers of aliens. They are forced together when fighting their enemies.
Sorry, no Tess this time
I wrote this for fun. I have mixed anthropology, history, religion, fantasy and Roswell together with a flavor of the southwest. Please read this story for fun and I hope you are amused.
Brujaria is a nature religion some would compare it to Wicca in Europe. Don’t let the followers of either hear you say that. Brujaria is as varied as there are writers explaining it. Brujaria does not seem to loose its Catholic roots. It has been said that it is the old religion of Mexico, which has been baptized. I don’t pretend to explain the fundamentals of Brujaria. The research I did was interesting. Please remember, I wrote this just for fun. I wanted to make the aliens look at their own powers the way others might see them. For the first time, they are faced with something they don’t completely understand. I do not mean to offend anyone on purpose so perhaps I will offend everyone equally.
Aliens and Witches
Max Evans was a slender boy of about 16. His sister was over on the other side of the commons area of their high school with her friends. They were her friends not his. Personally, Max couldn’t see what Izzy saw in them. He could see them from his vantage point laughing and giggling, pointing out boys and whispering secret things about them. This was not the Isabel who Max knew. The girls were telling dirty jokes and making suggestions about the young males of their attention. This wasn’t Izzy. At home Max had never heard Isabel say anything cruel or naughty about anyone. Isabel called this fitting in. Max called it pretending.
Max didn’t know how to pretend. Well, you could see what that got him. Max was eating alone. Sometimes, Isabel would break from the crowd and she would sit with him. That was considered correct by her standards as she was watching out for her brother. Several of the girls had asked for an introduction to the soulful-eyed young man. Isabel wouldn’t do that to her brother. First, Max would be angry to feel that he was being pushed into even a slight relationship. Second, Isabel would eat and hang out with these girls, but she didn’t want the association to be any stronger if they became close to her brother.
Max was hardly paying any attention to what he was doing. It could be seen that his hands just went from the lunch sack to his mouth with out him even knowing what he was eating. Across from the crowd Isabel was with, there were several other girls and boys all crowded around a table laughing and talking. They came and went, but Max only had eyes for the one girl. Right now, she was sitting, leaning against the chest of the football hero and he was pulling her close.
Liz Parker, dark haired, petite with flashing brown eyes, now, laughing at something that her friend, Maria DeLuca, had just said. She was leaning against the hero and he had encircled her with his arms. Kyle was glorying in the fact that he could feel the weight of her breasts on his arms as he pulled her close.
Liz and Maria were inseparable. Maria was a little taller than Liz. She was a little more filled out. She had blonde hair that had been tinted. That was one of the few amenities that her mother allowed and no matter how tight money was Mamma DeLuca tried to always have enough to let Maria have her hair done. DeLuca and Parker both worked for Liz’s father as waitresses in their restaurant-café. Liz was saving for college and Maria was trying to buy a few more things that a girl her age wanted. In the same building, as the Crashdown restaurant was a small shop of novelties, herbs and potions. It was called “Amy’s Shop of Hope,” both shop and restaurant were owned by the Parker’s. Amy DeLuca depended on the tourist trade, but she also had another and more consistent clientele.
In the Southwest there were many places like hers, supported especially by older Hispanic women. Those who ran these shops, along with those who religiously used them were often called curanderas. These women were wise in the use of herbs. Some said that they might also be wise in other things, like magic. Many of the women were suspected of being Brujas or what Anglos would call witches. These brujas or witches could be dangerous if you crossed them, but they never were believed to get their power from any devil or evil being. This was a fiction that the Church had concocted in Europe. Their power came from a more ancient source. These women, like their counter parts in the so-called old world, just knew things, things that the normal people did not. Men called brujos also dealt in these arts. There are things, beings or maybe, something else out there that aren’t seen by every body. The bruja had learned to control and be at peace with some of those “what/who-evers.”
When you entered her shop, you would be met by shelves, full of commercial herb remedies. You would find bins of different flours and ground seeds. Many of the elder women would come here to purchase the ingredients that their mothers taught them to use. Then, if you followed the paths further back in the store, you found bags of herbs collected by many of the Hispanic villagers from all over New Mexico. There would be dyes and seeds from the reservation in the west where the Native Americans who knew the value of plants would preserve to sell to those like Amy who would, likewise, appreciate their healing or artistic, values. At the rear of the shop, Amy had a work-place, a bench with mortar and pestle which were handed down with the running of the shop from generations long ago. Here you might find other ingredients known only to those favored with the gifts and skills. Some were for curing and others were for other darker things.
The elder members of the community would come to see Amy to discuss herbs and cures. They had been slow, but the knowledge of the young Anglo woman was slowly gaining their trust. As their trust grew, they were welcomed into the furthest reaches of the establishment. They might not divulge the arts they had been taught by their elders, but they would discuss the arts and what they could do. This was reserved for the few believers left in the world. It was, also, where Amy instructed Liz and Maria in the knowledge that had been given her by Claudia. There was more. Claudia had writings that were even before her mentor, Carlotta. This was the heritage that would be given to Maria and Liz.
In recent years, there were more and more Anglos and even some younger Hispanics, looked to the herbs and potions of the curandera to care for their health. In larger cities, they might be part of, “Health Food” stores, but if the proprietors were as passionate as Amy, they would only differ from “Amy’s Shop of Hope,” in their size.
Some would say that this was superstition, but modern medicine was discovering every day that medicine was more than running the bugs out of their patients. The mental health of the patient, many times, made a greater difference in the curing of people, than the modern “magic” of the doctor’s office. Modern Medicine had made no in roads into the problems of self-esteem and amour. Amy would offer advice in both.
It was also found, that many of the herbs had beneficial effects on those who took them. Pharmacists and doctors attended years of college to learn the effects of medicines. Curanderas spent life times at the side of a trusted relative learning the lore that had been passed down for generations.
Amy O’Hara, had been raised by her grandmother, who had lived on the east coast. She had memories of walking with her “abuela.” (Amy was now even thinking in Spanish.) They would search the woods and Amy would be instructed in plant lore gained from generations of Europeans as well as lore learned from Native Americans. Amy was rebellious and her grandmother did not consider that a fault. When Amy was 15, she had run away from home, joined a hippy movement and found herself in Taos, New Mexico.
The movement fell apart. The locals decided they did not need the lessons of free love and freedom from hard work to be presented to their children. They gave the movement notice to be out of town. Amy O’Hara and Carlos DeLuca found them selves heading south. They hitched-hiked and, from time to time, they would stay at different places to make crafts, paint pictures and try to earn enough on which to subsist. They spent a time in a town just north of Albuquerque called Madrid. This town was miss pronounced by the locals as, “Mad’ rid,” not like the correct pronunciation of the Spanish. The old mining town was now principally the location of entrepreneurial hippies. Same life style, but now they held jobs of sorts and depended on sales to tourist to keep them going.
Amy and Carlos soon found themselves in Roswell, located in the southern part of the state. Amy announced she was pregnant. At first Carlos, was willing to give her his name. After caring for a child for a few years and being forced to take menial day jobs to survive, Carlos announced to a tearful Amy and a confused four-year-old daughter that he had had enough; Carlos disappeared.
Amy, now just over twenty-one, had responsibility. She had a daughter to care for. Trinkets made of tin cans and leather belts with nails and rivets for decoration were just not enough. She cast about town looking for something more permanent. She found a herb shop beside the Crashdown Café run by two elderly Hispanic women. Amy’s grandmother had taught her much about the herbs used by their family. The two women were getting old and they welcomed the young mother who seemed to have both knowledge and passion for herbs. They dearly loved the little girl with the pouty lips. They knew both of them had had a hard life. With the blessing of the owner of the shop, they employed the Anglo woman. Most of this was common knowledge about town.
Max only saw the two girls. One, who he had had a crush on since he had started school. He felt it, when he saw her with Kyle. Max had always felt that she was beyond his grasp, so he had to accept her choice of boyfriend and modified his feelings to her.
“You have it as bad as I do,” a voice spoke up.
Max looked up to see a slender geeky fellow that he only knew slightly. “What do you mean?” Max asked. The boy, named Alex, had been one of those who usually were around Liz’s group.
Alex opened his own lunch bag. He rummaged through it and pulled out a sandwich. “I see you every day sitting looking at Liz. At first, I thought you might come over and join us. I bet you can’t even tell me what was in your sandwich today.”
Max caught himself. What had been in his lunch bag? “I am sorry if I was that obvious,” Max stated.
“Hey, no problem,” Alex replied. “I know what it is like to want someone who doesn’t seem to know you are alive.”
“I guess Liz or Maria haven’t seen me watching them?” Max asked.
“Oh, Maria has, but Liz doesn’t believe someone would go for her without the amulet,” Alex replied.
“She has Kyle under her spell,” Max said with some sadness.
“That is what I mean. Kyle bragged a couple of weeks ago that he didn’t believe in amulets or spells. His girl friend, Vicky Delaney, had just broken up with him and someone suggested that he seek out a love amulet. Kyle said they could have no influence on a guy like him. That was just too much for Liz and Maria. Liz will release him soon. She has no intention of playing baseball with Kyle. I understand that Vicky has already bought another amulet from Maria. Kyle will wake up and he will see Vicky waiting for him. He will see that he wasn’t getting anywhere with Liz, so no one gets hurt. Maria and Liz will sell a dozen amulets after this.” Alex was trying to explain.
Max knew that in the language of love, Vicky was supposed to have circled the bases with Kyle many times. Why she left him was still a mystery. “Alex, you and Liz are the top science students in school. Don’t tell me you both believe in amulets and magic?” Max asked.
“Well, you could argue with Kyle when he comes off his cloud. Why would a jock who has never dated anyone except cheerleaders suddenly ask the academic diva out?” Alex questioned.
Max turned to Alex. “You said I had it as bad as you did. Why don’t you buy an amulet and solve your problems?” Max asked.
“Liz won’t sell me one, neither will Maria. They say that unless the girl I am interested in shows some interest in me, I would just get hurt. You see, I think I am in love. I am in love at least with a dream,” Alex explained as he gazed over at the group where Isabel was holding court.
“You and me both. I supposed that an amulet wouldn’t help me with Liz, if I had to buy it from her in the first place,” Max chuckled.
For the first time Alex smiled. “Yeah, I guess we both will just have to hope for a break somewhere.”
Max, Isabel and their only friend, Michael Guerin were eating at Tico’s Taco Stand. Max would have preferred the Crashdown, but Tico’s place had a large front lot with tables scattered about. They could eat and have relative privacy as they talked. “What did Alex have to say today?” Isabel asked.
“He was explaining some sort of story about Liz and Maria selling Love amulets,” Max explained.
“Of course you don’t believe in that stuff, do you?” Isabel asked as she held her hand over her taco to reheat it. Tico didn’t always manage to melt all the cheese.
Max looked at Isabel. “Probably no more than any one would believe that you had powers,” he said.
Isabel sniffed, “We were born with powers.”
Michael growled, “You mean hatched, don’t you?”
Isabel was right back at him, “We may have been kept in pods, but we all have belly buttons and that says we were born at one time.
Michael said, “It isn’t as if we were human, after all.”
“Well, maybe, Liz and Maria were born with powers of some sort,” Max stated. “We don’t really know much about humans after all.”
Isabel sniffed again, “I do. I have searched through the minds of every girl in my group. None of them have any sign of powers.”
Michael grunted, “As if they were the best cross section of humans to research.”
Isabel looked down at Michael. “I have also dream-walked most of the football team. They show no signs of powers either,” she stated.
“That still doesn’t give you a good grasp on humans,” Michael complained.
“Maybe so, Michael, but so far the three of us are the only beings who possesses any thing like powers. We don’t think of them as magic, they are just things we do that humans can’t.” Isabel had been trying to find out more about the inhabitants on the rock called Earth, where they had found themselves.
It had been Max who decided they must be related someway to the crash of 1947. He had read everything in the library about aliens. While most of it was garbage, he found references to some of the skills that the three of them possessed.
Max and Isabel had been found walking along the road ten years ago. They had been totally naked and, although not like feral children, wild to get away when the Evans couple approached them. They knew nothing about normal living in a house. The Evanses, who were both lawyers had found them and they were determined to keep them. Michael was found, much later, by a cowboy, riding the range. He lifted the little boy up to his saddle and transported him to the authorities. Michael was in the welfare system when he discovered first, Isabel one lunch time when she shared her lunch with him and later Max, when Isabel felt there was something different about him.
As they grew up and read stories about monsters from outer space taking over the world, they all three decided to never let others see what they could do. Their greatest oath was to never tell any human about themselves.
They each found education in their own way. As soon as he learned to read, Michael started to devour anything he could. He found that he had almost a photographic memory and he read at a very high speed. In class he became bored with the educational system and he started learning on his own. After this, keeping him in school was a trial.
Isabel became infatuated with doing what she called the right thing. She learned from others, along with her schoolwork. She attended school because that is what young ladies did.
Max was the loaner. He learned from everything around him. He read, but unlike Michael, Max looked to technical and historical references for his education. Somehow Max was developing feelings that had not invaded the other two yet. Max was developing a longing for companionship. That companionship was directed at one girl. Isabel dated, but she usually could hardly wait to get rid of her suitors. She enjoyed the camaraderie of the girls in her group. They all dated and they endlessly talked about their current boyfriends. Isabel could join in, but her reluctance to discuss intimate things made them even more convinced that Isabel, to some chosen few, was a real tiger. Several boys claimed to have tamed the tiger and they bragged that they had full knowledge of the ice maiden, but on questioning their brags fell through.
Michael had convinced himself that he was a soldier. His hormonal urges, as they grew, he intended to direct to someone who would give him knowledge. He intended to use his masculine charms to seduce answers to the questions he had. So far, he didn’t have any targets, but Max had mentioned Maria and Liz. Max would have a fit if he fooled around with Liz, but the other one would bare study.
The fateful day, the turning point in all their lives was the day when Michael and Max were sitting in the Crashdown observing the two waitresses. A strange man walked into the restaurant and sat in the front near the door. He had a trench coat on and a hat pulled down low over his eyes. Maria brought him coffee, as the front of the restaurant, was her section, today. Liz was working the rear where Michael and Max were sitting.
The strange man stood up and let his trench coat drop open. Those looking up at him gasped. He was totally naked. He must be a flasher. “Do not suffer the Witch to live among you,” he shouted. With that, he drew out a long barreled revolver and began to fire at Liz.
The patrons of the Crashdown, like all good westerners, hit the floor at the first sign of the revolver. The strange man vanished out the front door and everyone looked around to see if anyone was hurt. As the patrons began to rise up back to their seats, it was seen that the bloodied legs of a waitress were showing behind the counter. Maria screamed and Max and Michael both jumped up. “No, Max don’t,” Michael yelled. Max just shrugged him off.