Roswell Fanatics

Geez, I'm slow at updating. Anywho...here's the next installment. Hope you like it, hope you remember this story. Ah, who am I kidding, no one remembers this.

Disclaimer: Everything in italics and different colors are scenes from the actual show. Just borrowing them.

Part 10

Kyle stared at her in shock, as though she had just told him for the first time that she was an alien.

“What?” He asked jarringly.

“I love you.” She said again, her voice drooping slightly, already anticipating his rejection.

Wearily, he wiped his hand over his eyes, praying for clarity to grace his mind. “I thought you said you wanted someone to make mistakes with.”

She smiled slightly. “I did. I do. Kyle, if you tell me that you love me, that you want to be with me, I can guarantee you that I’ll make mistakes. I can guarantee that I’ll make you mad at me, make you hate me at times. But if you tell me that you’ll love me, too, I know it’ll be worth it all. Make mistakes with me, Kyle. Please.” Tess’ voice begged him to let her in. Her voice called to him, begging for him to give her a home, somewhere she would always belong.

His head drooped. “Tess.” The words he wanted to say caught on his tongue, and he struggled to tell her how he really felt. “Tess. I love you.”

She threw her arms around him, relief flowing through her veins. Panic suddenly broke on her skin. What if when she told him the truth he didn’t want her anymore? What if she was right, that she would make him hate her at times? What if this was the time his hatred was irrevocable?

But, she knew, it was a chance she had to take.

Tess pulled away, and grasped his hand tightly in her own. She stared at their hands in wonder, how did they fit together so well? His well-tanned hand clasped her pale hand in his own, defined muscles and veins contrasting her dainty, smooth hands.

“Kyle, there’s something I have to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll want to sit down for this.”

Expecting the worst, he followed her instructions.

****

Max stared at the ceiling, recalling the anger he had faced when he had returned home. His sister had yelled at him, threatened him. She had cried, she had screamed. And he had simply held her in his arms, squeezing her tightly to him as her sobs wracked through her body. He had held her until she had calmed, and until she started punching him.

Yawning loudly, he stretched his body, pulling his muscles as far as he could. Tilting his head to the side, he glanced towards his desk and noticed the shadows flowing over reality. His pillows morphed, shadows of different colors covering them. His pictures changed, shadows of other pictures replacing them. His comforter changed colors, the shadows crumpling around his feet, attempting to cover real life.

He frowned and rubbed his eyes tiredly, but when his eyes opened, the shadows remained. Frustrated, he glanced down at his chest, the shadow of his well-defined muscles covering the faded gray shirt he wore. And next to him laid the naked shadow of Liz Parker. A smile graced her face as she stared adoringly, content, up at him. Shadow Liz mouthed the words ‘I love you’ before disappearing.

The room shifted again, shadows altering everything he knew. Max rose from his bed, and carefully made his way to the window. The neighbors’ cars flickered, shadows of other vehicles covering them. The shadow of Liz Parker wobbling towards his window caught his attention, and he watched her. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and she fell onto the sidewalk. He thought she was throwing up.

But why?

Why wasn’t she smiling?

And suddenly he knew, he was seeing different lifetimes. He was seeing the different ways life could’ve gone.

And suddenly he was scared.

The shadows flashed, erupting brightly, throwing chaos into his face.

“As I was saying, Michael, it's like this: Max and I, we used to be tight. We grew up together, and it's no big deal that we can go out and have fun for a couple of days, we used to be friends.

“Oh! Give me a break. This isn't about friendship. This is about your irresponsible, reckless behavior.

Hey! I've been going through some heavy stuff the last couple of weeks. In case you missed it, I got shot.

I know, I healed you.

You put your hand over my shoulder and you did your little trick like a robot. You're a machine, Max. You wouldn't know the first thing about what it takes to heal me. To really heal me”

Max grabbed his head and cradled it gently between his hands. “No!” He screamed out loudly. “I don’t want to see! Liz, make it stop! LIZ!”

“I love you, Alex.

I think we both know, I loved you too.”

He slumped to the floor, shaking slightly as the shadows swarmed around him again, calling to him, claiming his attention.

“You don't want to think that Alex was killed by an alien because that would mean *you* are responsible.”

What had they done in another timeline that had ended up with Alex being killed? By an alien? What?

“You can't just leave us with a killer out there.

I don't have a choice!

Not anymore, but you did and then you got Tess pregnant!

I know you're upset.

I-I trusted you, I gave you everything. I jumped off bridges for you, I broke laws for you, I risked getting shot for you, and I trusted you! And you go off-- God, with Tess-- God, I saved myself for you!

Saved yourself? You slept with Kyle!

Take me home.”

“I think we just took a huge step in human-alien relations. I love you Michael.

I love you too... but I have to leave. Max, Isabel, and Tess and I are going home.”

Max screamed loudly again, wishing for someone to stop the visions. He didn’t want to see what could’ve been. He didn’t want to have to stare at these riddles, trying to decipher the good from the bad.

“Parker, it's 3 in the morning.

You all right?

No, I-I'm not. I'm not all right. Max Evans broke my heart. I'm sorry Sean, I'm really sorry.

It's okay, it's okay...

“So you just, you just killed him?

I didn't mean to. His brain was just so weakened by the mind warp, and…look, none of this matters now.

Life matters Tess. My life, your life, his...

What matters is getting home, but you could never understand that could you? I might have been able to teach you but that stupid bitch had you wrapped around her...

Don't you ever call her that!

See! Look how fast you run to her defense! Why couldn't you ever feel that about me? I'm your wife, Max! I'm carrying your child!

This was all some kind of plan to get pregnant and go home, wasn't it? Home to what, Tess? To Kivar? To our enemies?

They're not my enemies, Max.

You made a deal with them, with Kivar.

No, Nacedo made a deal, 40 years ago.

What was the deal? Tell me! “

“I'll kill you!!

Liz- -No-

You're a murderer! I'll kill you!

Liz….

Welcome back.

What?? What?? So you trust her now?

No, Liz, far from it. But Tess and my son are linked. Killing her would kill him.

Yeah, it's convenient.

Liz, I have no other choice. I have to believe her.

This is insane. She betrayed all of us! She killed Alex!

I know.

No, she has to pay for it! Max, promise me... when this is all over, Tess will pay for what she did.

I promise...”

“I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, Liz.”

The door opened quietly and Max was faced with the worried face of his twin sister.

“Max?” Isabel’s voice clearly conveyed her concern.

“What?”

“Are you okay?”

He looked at her and smiled, unconvincingly. “Yea, I just need to see
Tess.”

“Okay?”

“Night, Isabel.”

She glanced him over again. “Night, Max. Get some rest, you need it.”

“I will.”

Isabel walked out of his room and closed the door behind her. Leaning against the door, she whispered out loud: “Max, save yourself, or let us.”

Inside his room, Max grinned sardonically, remembering his vow for revenge. How blind was he to trust Tess this whole time? She was nothing but a traitor. She was going to get them all killed.

Unless he killed her first.

“Wait.” He muttered, stopping himself as he opened the window and began to propel himself out of the window.

If Tess was such a traitor, why did she kill Nicholas? Why did she risk her own life to avenge the murder of Liz? Why did she try to help him? Why didn’t she manipulate him the way she had in another life? Why was Liz dead by another’s hand while Alex still lived?

He continued to climb out the window, shadows shifting, morphing real life into a hazy dream. Max focused on the road in front of him, focused on placing one foot in front of the other, focusing on his goal. He had to find out the truth.

****

Kyle sat stunned, speechless from the words that had spilled from Tess’ perfect lips. She was anything but perfect.

He gazed into her eyes, and watched carefully as they shimmered in the dim light with unshed tears. Were her tears real? Or had she created them to manipulate him into believing that she had really changed?

Tess moved closer to him and he just sat there, staring at her hand that was resting on his knee.

And then someone started knocking on the door. The knocking quickly turned into pounding and Tess rose to open the door. Max burst into the room, glancing around until he spotted Tess. Quickly, silently, he grabbed her around the throat and lifted her off the ground, slamming her into the wall behind them. His hand still around her throat, he pressed her into the wall, his eyes slivers of hatred.

“Who are you, Tess?”

“Max!”

Kyle rose off the couch and ran over to her defense.

“Are you going to betray us in this life too, Tess?”

Kyle balled his hand into a fist, and thrust it into Max’s back. Max turned to look at him, dropping Tess onto the floor. She sat there, coughing, trying to breath, and rubbing her sore neck.

“Max.” She croaked, trying to find strength to talk.

“Max.” Kyle began. “Don’t hurt her. She’s different. She’d not going to betray us.”

“How can you be so sure, Kyle? How can you be sure that she’s not going to hurt us? How do you KNOW that she’s different?”

Kyle looked at him calmly. “Because she chose to tell me the truth.”

Max looked down at Tess, who was still coughing. “Tess, I’m sorry.” He reached his hand out to her, and she cringed away from him. Swallowing bitterly, he backed up, stuttering, afraid of what he’d just done to his friend. “I’m sorry.” Looking back at Kyle, he asked, “What’d she tell you?”

“That she was sent here to get your heir and return all three of you to Antar so Kivar could kill you in front of the whole planet and rule with the blessing of your child.”

Max swallowed again. “What else?”

“That she was happy to play the part until Liz died. Then she realized we weren’t just play things she could throw away.”

Max turned back towards Tess. “Seriously.”

She nodded. “I’m serious, Max. And I’m so sorry for everything I did.”

“You killed Alex in another life time.”

She gasped. “I WHAT?”

“Killed Alex.”

“How?”

“Mind warping him until his brain gave out. Liz blamed it on aliens, and then you got pregnant when she went to find out the truth.”

“How’d you find out all this?”

“Visions.”

Tess nodded, moving shakily to hug Max. “Max, please know I’m here to help now. I really want to change how everything turned out. Let me make fix what I fucked up. Please.”

Max smiled. “No, Tess. We’ll all fix what we fucked up.”

Kyle snorted. “And thanks to Senore Presidente, the alien abyss grows deeper.”

I'm updating! I'm updating!

Sorry it took me so long to post this. I ended up getting sick the weekend I said I'd post, plus my computer isn't connected to the internet yet, so I had to sneak on to someone else's.

And...I'm having way too much fun hanging out with my fiancee. *big smile* How I love saying that! I love Danny!

Anyway, to respond to feedback:

Lullaby, WOOHOO right back to ya, sweetie!

Katia, have fun rereading it? It's been WAY too long since I've updated.

Frenchkiss, it's good to be back! I've missed all you peoples!

PuReAn9el58, I hope you like it!

I am a dreamer, I'm glad you're still interested! I hope the next two parts keep you interested!

Alex Balex, Glad you're interested, hope this part keeps you that way!

Here's the new part, and I'll probably be back in later today with a new banner:

Part 11

Max glanced around the room, anticipation and worry shredding away at his stomach, taking in the concerned expressions on the faces of his friends. The only people in this world that he trusted. The only people in any world he trusted, really. He nodded lightly at Michael, and beckoned towards Maria. Michael nodded, understanding the unspoken message, and wrapped his arm tightly around Maria’s waist; squeezing her towards his warm, firm body.

Max began his speech, hoping that his rehearsing it would make it easier for him to say. “Tess and I found out something important about Liz that we thought you should all know.”

Alex cut him off quickly. “Look, Max-” He stood up decisively and walked towards the fearless alien king. “Liz didn’t kill herself, and I’m sick of you guys believing that she did. Liz was my best friend for over ten years, and I know that she wouldn’t do that. She was the strongest person I know. She was killed by aliens, but you don’t want to believe that because it would mean that YOU were responsible.”

“Alex!” Isabel called out, startled.

“No, Isabel, it’s okay. Alex, can I continue?”

Alex nodded angrily, not appeased.

Max took a deep breath before continuing. “Liz was killed by an alien, and that makes us” he gestured to the four aliens in the room, “responsible.”

The group- minus Alex- sat stunned.

Alex looked smugly around the room. “I told you so.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“How?”

He told them everything from how he ran away with Tess, how Liz came to him when he hit rock bottom, how he read her diary, and Liz had come to him and Tess when they connected. He told them everything, and read bits of Liz’s diary to them.

“Now what?” They asked.

Tess answered. “We change the past, present, and future.”

“How?” They asked.

“The Granolith.”

***
Tess stared at the Granolith. Kyle squeezed her hand silently, staring at the alien artifact in front of them. On the other side of the room, Maria and Michael stared at it as well, clasping hands painfully.

Alex poked it, hoping for some kind of response.

Nothing happened.

Michael peered closer and placed his hand on the cool surface. Finally, he turned to Max, and asked, “How the hell does that thing work?”

Max shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. Tess?”

“Oh, well…it works on the concept of…” she brushed her hair back behind her shoulders and gently scratched at her neck. “Yea…I don’t know.”

Maria threw her hands in the air in annoyance. “So what good does this thing do us?”

Tess stared at it for a moment. “It was sent with us for a reason. Future Max said it could be manipulated somehow to send someone through time.” She shook her head, trying to envision how it was possible to travel through time, not space.

“Did Liz ever tell you anything that Future Max said to her?” Everyone turned to stare at Maria.

“No. She didn’t really say anything about him except that he was making her make Max fall out of love with her.”

“It didn’t work.” Max said guiltily, staring at the Granolith as though it was the most important thing in his life. And maybe, just maybe, it was. It was his last hope; his last hope to change a life he could never find happiness in. His last hope to right his wrongs: his last hope to make Liz Parker alive again.

He’d saved her life once before, he’d be damned if he failed this attempt.

“What else did he say? Anything about the Granolith?”

Maria swallowed, trying hard to remember. She knew that the future of the whole group rested on her memory. What she wouldn’t do for some of that cypress oil she used to carry around with her. Just when had she stopped using that?

“Something about a girl named Serena. He said something about her becoming our friend, and that she’s the one who figured out time travel.”

Michael looked grim, “So where do we find Serena?”

****

Alex held Isabel tightly in his arms outside the pod chamber, occasionally stretching to place a brief, calming kiss on her forehead. Each time he made the small gesture, she smiled; a glimmer of happiness gracing her face, then fading just as quickly.

“I love you, Alex.” She whispered so quietly Alex had to strain to hear her words.

His grasp on her tightened, as he replied, “I love you, too, Isabel. You’re the only right thing in this world.”

A frosty wind drifted past them, whipping violently around the couple, tearing Isabel’s carefully manicured hair apart, piece by beautiful piece.

***
The cool metal chilled her hands as she thumbed through the pages. Gently, she traced the engraving of her own face as it faced Max’s. She grimaced as her fingers traveled to the engraving of the baby that was doomed to belong to her and Max.

The hell with Destiny. She was so over it.

“Kyle!” She screamed out. He came running as he heard her voice call for him.

“Tess?”

Her eyes pleaded with him. “Destroy this, please.” Her eyes asked another question: “Save me, please? Destroy it and don’t ask questions.”

Kyle took the book from Tess’ shivering hands, and placed it in his own pocket. “Sure thing, sweet cheeks.” He winked and pinched her cheek. A slight giggle erupted from her, and she stood closer to him, before throwing her arms around him and squeezing tight.

“Thank you.” She uttered honestly, emotion staining her new voice.

“You’re welcome.” He returned the gesture with equal amounts of love and appreciation.

***
Maria clung tightly to Michael’s hand, trying desperately to soak his warmth into her chilled bones, her chilled heart, herself. Depression was like the bitterest cold of a snowstorm. It sunk into your bones, into your very being, and was impossible to just shake off. She clung desperately to his life, to his vivacity, to his dreams, and most of all, to his love.

He wanted to comfort her. He wanted to whisper sweet nothings into her ear. He wanted to wrap his arms around her deftly, to protect her from all the evils in the world. He wanted to battle the demons that were threatening to capture her for good, to force the Maria he loved so dearly into hiding, to leave just a shell behind.

But he wanted her back. He wanted the Maria he used to know to return. He wanted to see the girl who turned up the radio and danced to the oddest songs with her best friends. He wanted to see the girl who would walk through the hallways of school and scream or sing. He wanted to see Maria smile. He wanted her to be happy.

He swore he would make her happy again.

And so he did the one thing he knew how to do; Michael clumsily wrapped his arms around Maria, crushing her frame against his body. He stroked her hair gently as she rested her head on his chest; her hands clung to his back, holding him closer.

“I’m here for you, Pixie.”

Silence greeted him, and then the shaking: the tell-tell sign the torrent was beginning.

“I’m here for you.” He whispered gently, pressing his warm lips against her smooth hair. “I always will be.”

***
Halfway across town, the moving truck pulled up to a house. It was a normal house in the middle of suburbia. Right on Starstruck Lane. A black Acura RSX pulled up and parked next to the truck. A minute later, the driver’s side door opened and a girl slowly stepped out.

Her dark hair shone in the dull light of the street lamp, vivid dark red streaks glowing as if on fire. She glanced down the quiet street, running her smooth, pale, manicured hand through her hair, separating and ravaging the shinning strands. She sighed softly, already missing the wild noise of her old street. She already missed the loud music blaring from the karaoke bar below the apartment, the neon that occasionally made her bedroom glow at night, the people walking down the street, their arms wrapped around each other tightly, just laughing.

She missed the arms that would be wrapped around her. She missed walking down that street with his arms squeezing her tightly to him. She missed the sound of his rambunctious laughter reaching her heart. A small bittersweet smile crossed her face as she remembered him.

She missed him.

She missed his dark eyes that glowed with happiness, with sadness, with pain. She missed his dark hair that shone in the neon at night. She missed his strong arms that enveloped her, day or night. She missed the way he would crawl into her fourth story apartment window, via the fire escape, and sneak his way into her bed. She missed the way they tried so hard to turn each other on. She remembered the time she walked, disoriented into her bedroom, late at night, and heard his smooth voice greeting her. She had walked to the bed and peeled the covers away to crawl in, as he said: “I bet I can turn you on in less than a minute.” She had glanced down at him and realized he was completely naked. She had laughed so hard, so long, they had both been afraid of her parents walking in on them.

She growled softly, anger flaring up as she remembered her parents telling her they were moving. It was for her best interest, of course, they said. She’d never known a quiet suburban life, and it was time she learned to love it. And, Roswell had a much better high school than the one she had been attending. If she was going to attend an Ivy League School, like they had always been planning on her doing, she would need an impressive looking school district to support her. It was all bullshit.

She knew why they had moved her here.

It was because Roswell didn’t have him.

And she already missed him.

She quickly grabbed her bags, and locked her new car: a present from her parents to appease her anger about the move. She didn’t know why she bothered locking it, who in Roswell would try to steal a car on the blessed Starstruck Lane? She bet the whole of Roswell didn’t have a single criminal.

She bet they didn’t have a single kid who was like her. She bet they were boring, smart little bookworms who had never smoked, drank, or had wild unprotected sex. Not that she necessarily did those things, herself, but her friends had. Well, actually, if push came to shove, she had to admit she had done all of those things at least once.

Maybe that was another reason her parents had moved her here.

Her grades were good. She was a straight-A student. She understood Murphy’s law, which she believed in whole heartedly, she had memorized everything in her basic high school AP classes. She understood the economics of the free world, Avagadro’s law, momentum, efficiency, acceleration, free association, Oedipus complex, significant battles of World War II, and so on. She was even beginning to understand how time travel was possible. She was positive she would be the first person to ever actually succeed.

If only she knew where to find an energy source powerful enough to make it possible.

Trudging up the walkway, she rummaged through her pockets for the keys to her new home. She sneered as her loving parents opened the door and smiled. They opened their arms to her. “Welcome home, Serena.”

***
Kyle waited until he was sure Tess had fallen into a deep sleep. Smoothing his hand gently over her sleeping face and hair, he whispered a quick goodbye. He reached into his pocket, making sure the book she had given him was still there. It was. He sighed, and grabbed his jacket. As he shrugged into it, he wondered if he should do what he was about to, or comply to Tess’ wishes.

Closing the door behind and stepping towards his car, he knew what the right thing to do was. Even if it ruined his chances with a girl he thought he could love.

***
Max groaned as a persistent knocking sounded against Michael’s apartment door. Kyle’s familiar voice rang out as the knocking stopped. Max groaned louder.

“Max, I can hear you. So, unless somehow you brought Liz back to life all alone, I know you’re groaning because I’m here. But it’s important, so get off your ass, and let me in Mr. Presidente.” Kyle waited patiently, and Max rolled over and tried to fall back asleep. He had been in the middle of a wonderful dream about him and Liz alone on her balcony. He thought, in the dream, he had been about to lead Liz into her bedroom. Her parents weren’t home, of that he was sure. They had been alone. Gloriously alone.

Kyle backed up a few feet and ran fast towards the door. Michael opened it quietly as Kyle hit it, and Kyle fell to the floor instantenously.

He looked up at Michael from his oh-so-comfy spot on the floor. “Ouch. Thanks, man.”

Michael looked at him for a moment and rubbed his eyes, before walking into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator, and drinking straight from the orange juice carton. “What’s so important?”

Kyle wiped himself of, and pulled the book out of his pocket. “Tess wanted me to destroy this. I thought it would be better in your hands.”

Max sat up and looked at Kyle. He took the book and thumbed through it.

“I thought maybe it would have directions on how to work the Granolith.”

“We can’t read it.” Michael stated.

Kyle looked from Michael to Max. “I know, but maybe there’s a way to decode it.”

“What?”

“I heard Alex talking about this super computer at the university down at Las Cruces, where they’re decoding ancient languages, and other things that have been mainly impossible until now.”

Max asked, “How does Alex know about it?”

“Alex is a nerd. He knows about all advancements in computers.”

Michael nodded. “True.”

“I’ll call him,” Max said suddenly. “right now.”

He picked up the phone and explained the situation to a somewhat groggy Alex Whitman. When he was done, he waited for Alex’s response.

A definite “I’ll go” filled the telephone connection.

Hey everyone. I'm finally back with another part. Sorry it's taken me so long to get this posted. It's been done for a while, I just was too lazy to put it on a CD. It's not very good, like all the newer parts, but hopefully you'll like it. Thank you all so much for your feedback, it makes my day so much better!

Part 12

Kyle walked down the hallway of West Roswell High, searching for any of his friends. Instead, from down the hall, he could hear his old, jock friends, talking about some hot new girl who had apparently blown off Tommy.

Paulie spotted Kyle and yelled out at him. “Hey, man. How are you doing?” He raised his hand for Kyle to smack in their traditional high five. Kyle just stared at his hand, until Paulie slowly lowered it back to his side. “Whatever. You wouldn’t just believe what happened.” He punched Tommy roughly in the arm, a wild grin breaking out across his face. Tommy glared at him and clenched his hand threateningly.

Kyle sighed and took the bait. “What happened, Paulie?”

“Tommy totally got blown off the new girl.”

Kyle glanced up at Paulie. “What new girl?”

Paulie snapped his fingers, struggling to recall the name of the girl. “The new one, Kyle, the new one. Come on, you haven’t heard about her yet?”

He shook his head.

“She’s from California, Los Angeles or somewhere around there. Totally not into Roswell. Tall, pale, dark hair, green eyes, okay boobs, nice ass, and long legs. Shaped like this,” he ran his hands out in the silohette of a girl, while running his tongue unconsciously over his bottom lip, “Real nice.”

Tommy smiled, remembering the way the new girl had looked walking away from him.

“What exactly did she say to him?” Kyle asked Paulie.

“That she was engaged. Oh, yea,” he snorted, “that under no circumstances would she ever want to date a guy like him.”

Kyle couldn’t help the small grin that graced his face. He remembered the few girls who had enough spunk and brains to blow off the jocks. “What kind of a guy would that be?”

“One with bigger biceps than brains.” Paulie erupted into laughter.

Tommy cut him off. “Dude, you do realize she said the same thing about you, don’t you?”

Paulie’s laughter stopped. “Oh, yeah.”

Kyle laughed. “So, what’s this girl’s name, you remember yet?”

“Se…Ce…Celina?” Tommy asked and Paulie shook his head.

“No, it was…Serena. Yeah, Serena.”

Kyle walked away without saying goodbye.

***
Serena was actually excited about her next class. AP Bio. Her friends used to tease her about being a science geek, but she never really cared. She walked into the classroom, a little extra bounce in her step. The teacher noticed her right away, as she was only the third student to enter the classroom, so far.

“Hi. Can I help you?” He asked. Serena smiled, a real smile. The teacher seemed nice enough, from what she could tell. Middle build, pudgy professor tummy, balding head, the little hair he had was white, white lab coat, jeans, and glasses: her favorite type of teacher.

Serena walked towards him, holding out her new schedule for him to take. He studied it as she introduced herself. “Serena Matheson, sir. I just transferred here from Los Angeles Central High.”

He handed her back her schedule, and smiled. “It’s a pleasure to have you here, Ms. Matheson. As you already know, I’m Mr. Johnson.” He shook her hand. “You can sit at that table in the middle, right chair. Your lab partner is a young man named Max Evans. He’ll help you get caught up quickly.”

Nodding her head, and thanking him, she walked over to the table, and sat down. She opened her notebook and pulled out the letter she had been writing to Zan, and waited for the students to finish trickling in through the door. She started writing, her flowing letters filling the page quickly as she told him over and over again how much she missed him.

Finally, the seat next to her was taken. Max Evans had finally taken his seat. She looked at him and smiled a quick, uncertain smile. There was something about him. Something familiar.

Max looked at her, and quickly rose out of his seat. He made his way through the tables and advanced towards Mr. Johnson. “Sir,” he started out, respectfully, “I thought we had agreed that I didn’t need a lab partner.”

Mr. Johnson sighed wearily. “Max, we did. You’ve been doing exceptionally well in class this past month, and normally I wouldn’t try to give you a new lab partner. But the truth remains, while you don’t need one, Miss Matheson does. Just help her out, and if another chair opens up, I’ll move her.” He replied delicately. He felt bad for Max, he really did. He knew what it was like to love someone with his whole heart, as he didn’t doubt that Max had with Liz, and then to lose them a young age. He remembered too well the hole it leaves in one’s heart. But as much as he wanted to help out Max, and let him remain in his grieving state, he couldn’t coddle him, and let another student suffer.

Plus, Max Evans really would be the best to help Serena get caught up.

Max nodded, his facial expression downcast and downtrodden. He sat back down at his seat and tried to smile at his new lab partner. As he made eye contact with her, his smile faltered and he couldn’t help but stare at her. It was amazing how much she looked like Liz.

Serena ducked her head, self-consciously. “What?” she asked, a side smile gracing her face as she tucked her falling, dark, silky hair behind her left ear. He watched the simple gesture, and remembered watching Liz make the same motion, staring at him with that same small smile. It was one of the many enduring things about her he had loved.

He had loved so many things about her. He loved the way she smiled at him. The way she would dance so close to his body, the way her body fitted next to his when they just laid in her bed and cuddled. He loved the way she smelled, her vanilla body wash always clung to her all day. Still, whenever he smelled vanilla, his mind relished the memory of her. Max loved the way she smiled every time they kissed. How she would look into his eyes as they expressed their love for each other with a simple kiss, then smile and look down. At one inch from her beautiful face, it was the most beautiful and cute thing he’d ever seen. He would kiss her again and again and again just to see that small smile. He had tried getting a picture of it, but the only time she smiled like that was when they kissed.

“Max?” Serena broke his reverie. How did she know his name, he wondered? He looked at her. The hair was different. It had dark red streaks that appeared natural. Her skin was paler. But the eyes were the same. The glorious dark, smooth chocolate with flecks of amber that he had always found so appealing.

Max shook his head.

“Sorry, about that. You just, you…look…like someone…I knew.” He wondered why his voice was faltering. So did she. Something about him didn’t match what she knew him to be. Wait…she didn’t know him at all. But something was still so familiar.

Maybe it was the eyes. They looked so much like Zan’s.

She stuck her hand out for him to take. “I’m Serena Matheson. The ne-“

“New girl. Yea, I heard…heard we got…a new girl.”

She smiled as he took her hand in his. His hand was so warm, so firm. So like Zan’s handshake.

She let go as Mr. Johnson began talking. But now she was curious. “You know someone that looks like me?” She fluttered her eye lashed. “People always tell me I look like Kristin Kreuk.” She smiled as he looked at her.

“No.” He whispered. “My old lab partner. You look…a lot…like her.”

She noticed that when he talked about her, he faulted on his words.

“What was her name?”

“Liz. Liz Parker.” He smiled, a bittersweet expression. She couldn’t tell whether thinking of Liz Parker brought him more happiness or pain. The light that had momentarily lit up in his eyes died abruptly, and he turned back to pay attention to the teacher.

The name sounded familiar. Liz Parker. Liz Parker. Where had she heard that name before?

She wished that that light could’ve stayed longer. It made her think of Zan. She thought about how when he looked at her, when they were safe, when they were cuddled up together, his eyes shone with a light much like Max’s.

Serena fell into thoughts of Zan, a dangerous place for her to go during school hours. She could just think of him for hours at a time. She remembered the first time they met. They had been twelve, and Nicholas Whitaker had been teasing her, threatening her. Zan had come to her rescue, punching the older boy’s lights out. From that point on, Zan and Serena had been inseparable

She remembered that night she had found out that Zan wasn’t like the other boys. They had been sixteen, dating already for three wonderful years. She loved everything about him, and he trusted that she always would. He believed in her so much, trusted her so much, that he told her the truth that could ruin him.

He made her an integral part of her life forever. She was glad. And then he put his life in her hands.

The night they first made love was the night she found out the love of her life was an alien.

And now, as the bell finally rang and she watched her lab partner rush out of the room, she couldn’t help but wonder if Max Evans could be an alien.

***
Serena walked through the halls, trying her hardest not to collide with any of her new classmates. She put her notebook and purse in her locker and started walking towards the lunch room. Her high heels thudded dully on the blue and yellow linoleum tiles. She stopped in front of a new display and stared at the photograph protected inside the glass box. Underneath a row of football awards, sat a framed picture of a teenage girl. The picture was obviously the girl’s senior portrait. She was pretty, with long dark hair, a perfect olive complexion. But the weird thing was, looking at the girl’s eyes, Serena felt as though she were looking into a mirror. They were Serena’s own eyes. She was startled.

She shook her head. Tons of people have brown eyes. Isn’t it the most common eye color?

The little gold plaque placed next to the image caught her attention.

“In Loving Memory of Liz Parker.”

Liz Parker.

Suddenly, Serena knew she needed to find out more about this girl.

***
Kyle walked down the corridors, searching desperately for the new girl. He needed to find her. And then he needed to find out if she was trustworthy. If she could possibly be the Serena who was going to help them bring back Liz.

He found her looking at Liz’s picture.

“Hi.” He called out to her, his voice light. He stuck his hand out to her when she turned to face him. Faltering as they made eye contact, he added, “I’m Kyle Valenti. You must be Serena.” Kyle kept his surprise to a minimum as he gazed into her eyes. They reminded him so much of Liz.

“Hi.” She said, smiling slightly. Even her smile looked like Liz’s.
“News travels fast that there’s a new girl, huh?”

Kyle nodded. “Small town. All news travels fast. I heard Mr. Selligman put his mother into a retirement home yesterday.”

Serena laughed. “I’m going to have to get used to that. Have you heard any news about me?”

“You’re new, engaged, and brushed off two of the most popular jocks in the school. I’ve heard enough to be impressed. Which is why I would like to invite you to come and have lunch with my girlfriend and me. What do you say?” He smiled brightly at her, wondering if he should alternate to his puppy dog eyes to get her to say yes.

She nodded. “Sure.”

“Good, let’s go.” Kyle nodded down the hall and they walked away, Serena glancing back once more at Liz Parker’s photograph.

***
Tess stared at her. She tried not to be obvious, but she couldn’t help it. “Sorry.” She said quickly when Serena glanced at her for the fifth time. “You look like someone I used to know.”

Serena nodded. “I’ve been hearing that a lot today.”

“Not a big surprise. The resemblance is remarkable.”

Kyle agreed.

“So, Serena, how are you liking West Roswell High?”

Serena sighed. “It’s a change, that’s for sure. My old high school was huge. Our graduating class this year is over a thousand students. I have a question for you. Who is Liz Parker?”

Neither Kyle nor Tess flinched. They remained cool and looked at her steadily, only glancing at each other once.

Tess spoke first. “Why?”

Serena started fiddling with the leftover crust from her sandwich. “People keep telling me that I look like her, and I saw her photo in the hall. Who is she?”

Kyle answered directly. “She was going to be the valedictorian this year. Liz was one of the kindest and smartest girls in this school.”

“She was also one of our best friends. And Kyle’s ex-girlfriend.”

Serena leaned forward. “What happened to her?”

“She…she died.”

“How?”

Kyle hesitated and Serena watched him and Tess look at each other, as if deciding whether to tell a secret.

“She was killed.”

“By who?”

“You’ll have to ask Max that one.”

“Max Evans?”

Kyle and Tess looked at each other again. This must be the right Serena. Why else would she be asking these questions? Why else would she care?

“Yes.”

“Is Max an alien?”

“What?”

Serena sighed. “Sorry. It’s just…I thought I recognized something in him. Something different. Something alien.”

Tess stuttered as she answered. “Umm…uh…have you ever met an alien?”

Serena made eye contact with her and they both gasped as they recognized other people in each other’s eyes.

“Yes.” Serena answered, knowing she could tell them the truth.

Now she knew why Tess seemed familiar.

She was an alien, too.

Yo!

I had every intention of writing replies to everyone, but my boyfriend came over and he's really hyper. So while he makes food, I'll send each of you a pm.

So, here's Static Fight Part 13

“I’m just saying we can’t just trust her. What if she’s FBI? Maybe they’ve bugged us and know we’re looking for someone named Serena?” Michael objected loudly, standing taller than the rest of the group.

Kyle sighed, tired of his and Tess’ argument falling on deaf ears. “Then why does she remind us all of Liz?”

“I think we can trust her.” Max added quietly. Everyone present turned to look at him. “I know it sounds crazy, but there’s something about her that is familiar to us all, something that makes us all think we can trust her.”

Isabel interjected, “Not all of us have met her. So you, Tess, and Kyle think she’s trustworthy. I say we don’t do anything until the rest of us meet her. Until the rest of us have a chance to judge her? Agreed?” She looked around the room, meeting the stubborn eyes of Kyle who
shrugged angrily and looked away.

“Fine.”

Max glanced around the room, staring at his friends. Michael held Maria tightly in his arms; he hardly ever let go of her anymore. It was nice to see him showing his love how much he really loved her. If only Liz could be there to see them.

“As much fun as these meetings are,” Alex stood and stretched his lean body, long arms clasped together, legs pushing into the ground, “I’m off to Los Cruces on Saturday.”

Isabel glanced at him, eyebrows raised in curiosity. “Why?”

“The super computer. It’s calling me, baby. Want to come with?”

“Ooh, baby.” Isabel purred, getting closer to him. “You sure know how to rev my engines.”

“My wild love tigress.” Alex wrapped his arms around her, pressing
her towards him till they touched.

“Rarr.” Isabel added, clawing at the air in front of Alex’s face.

“Raarr?” Michael asked.

Grimacing, Max replied, “I’m still stuck on wild love tigress.”

****

Isabel leaned back farther into Alex’s arms and he tightened his hold on her. His room was warm, contrasting with the chilly air they had just come in from. Alex’s guitar laid by the side of his bed, where he had left it after playing Isabel the new song he had written.

“Alex?”

“Hmm?” Alex leaned in closer to her, resting his head on her shoulder, his head buried in her hair. He inhaled, breathing in the unique scent of the love of his life. This is what he had hoped for for years. It was hard to believe that his dreams were coming true. After years of pining for the Ice Princess of Roswell, he held her in his arms, of her own
free will.

“Why are you really going to Los Cruces?” She bit her lip lightly.

“The super computer. Max asked me if I would go and decode the Destiny book. Tess asked Kyle to destroy it, but he took it Max.”

“When was this?”

“Just a few days ago.”

“Oh.

“Do you still want to come?”

She turned to face him, cupped his face with both hands and kissed him square on the lips. “You bet I do.”

“Okay, Princess.”

Isabel settled back into his arms, warm and secure. Even though she and all her friends were struggling to find a way to bring back Liz, she was happy. It’s funny how sometimes it takes such a horrible event to make you realize what’s important in your life. She didn’t think she would’ve stayed away from Alex, but she wasn’t sure. But one thing she did know was: Isabel Evans needed Alex Whitman, and she had finally found Love.

***

Serena stared at the small café, the small space ship crashing into the front of the Main Street Building. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the doors and walked in, ready for her interview with the owner of The Crashdown Café. Confidently, she walked up to the cash register, seeing a girl in a turquoise mid thigh length button up dress. A pair of bobbling antennas, white sneakers, and an alien head shaped apron completed the ensemble.

“Welcome to the Crashdown, take a seat and I’ll be with you shortly.” The girls long curled blond hair swayed slightly as she glanced up at Serena. Her mouth opened and closed noiselessly. “Liz?” She whispered, before shaking her head violently.

Serena fidgeted, nervously, flipping the hem of her black satin shirt. “I’m Serena Matheson. I’m here for an interview with Mr. Parker at three.” She glanced at the blonde’s nametag: Maria.

Maria recovered quickly. “Serena. Nice to meet you.” She smiled brightly. “I’m Maria. I’ll go tell Mr. P you’re here.”

“Thanks.”

Maria walked off quickly into the back. She sat down on the couch by the swinging doors to the front, and placed her shaking hands over her face, telling her tears that this was not a worthy opportunity to escape. How was it possible for someone to look so much her deceased best friend? For a moment she had actually thought it was Liz, somehow appearing to her once again. Maybe even a hallucination. She wished that was all it was.

Mr. Parker walked down the stairs, spotting Maria looking like she was about to have another nervous breakdown. “Maria,” he called out, rushing to her side, “are you okay?” Cautiously, he kneeled beside her, and took her hands in his. “What’s wrong?”

Struggling to compose herself, Maria grinned weakly. “I’m fine, Mr. Parker. Your three o’clock interview, Serena Matheson, is here. Want me to bring her back here for you?”

Mr. Parker, not completely convinced that his daughter’s best friend was really okay, nodded. “I’ll see her in the office.” He waited until Maria walked back in the front to walk back into the office.

Maria rubbed at her neck, urging herself to calm down again. When a feeling of peace finally washed over her, she straightened her hair, stood tall, and walked back to face Serena. “Mr. Parker is ready for you.” She stared at her only a moment too long, wishing, longing, for her to be Liz. Just for a minute. Just so she could tell her how much she missed her, how much she loved her and wished she was still here with her.

“Thanks, Maria.” Serena followed Maria into the back quietly, entering Mr. Parker’s office with only the softest footsteps. She stood in the doorway, watching the man at his desk work, oblivious to the fact that she was there.

He finally looked up from the application he had been browsing, gray tinged head rising, brown eyes meeting hers, thin lipped mouth gasping quietly, wrinkled brow forming more wrinkles as confusion and then clarity settled in. Mr. Parker shook his head and closed his eyes before looking at her again.

“Let me guess,” she started humorously, “I look like someone you used to know, right?” She smiled, eyes glimmering with self-doubt.

Mr. Parker swallowed hard before nodding. “My daughter, Liz.” He cleared his throat. “I’m Jeff, and I take it you’re Serena Matheson.” She nodded. He gestured towards a chair and Serena sat.

After asking all his normal interview questions, Jeff finally told Serena she was hired, something he had decided the moment she walked into the room. They shook hands and Serena rose to leave the office. As she faltered, a knock on the door was heard. A woman with bright red hair and fair skin walked in. She moved to stand next to her husband, not glancing at Serena, contrasting deeply with his dark brown hair tinged with gray, and olive skin complexion.

She watched the two interact, the way Jeff seemed so concerned, placing his hands on her arms, keeping her steady.

“Jeff, let’s go see Liz. I want to take her some fresh flowers.”

“When?”

“Right now. I can’t stand the thought of my baby in that cold ground without at least getting fresh flowers while the sun is still up. Now, let’s go now.” Her voice pleaded, begged.

Mrs. Parker finally turned and noticed the girl standing in the doorway. She smiled. “You’re so pretty.” Fine lines edged her red eyes; the scars of tears traced her once beautiful face. “You look like my baby girl. My little Lizzey-bear. She was so beautiful.” Tears threatened to spill from cloudy eyes once more, and unrestrained; they fell, glimmering in dull light, embracing her face with lucid clarity.

Nodding at his wife, “Serena, this is my wife, Nancy.”

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Parker.” Serena swallowed hard, recognizing something of her own appearance in the two of them. Neither of her parents looked anything like her. For the first time, she wondered, where had she gotten her dark reddish brown hair? Where had she gotten her chocolate brown eyes? Where had she gotten the smooth tan porcelain complexion? Where had she gotten her intelligence?

“You, too.” She couldn’t stop smiling through the tears flooding her face. Serena felt one rise to her own eye but blinked it away.

Serena smiled. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The Parker’s nodded and Serena took her leave of them, glad to escape the tears and the questions that were weighing her down, making her wonder her own existence. Struggling hard against her own crystal tears, she wondered if her parents had lied to her this whole time. How could she be their own child when she had never felt a connection to them once in her eighteen years?

She rushed out of the restaurant and crossed the street to sit on a bench in the little park. Pulling out her cell phone, tears finally escaped, scattering their way down her cheeks, splashing on her already shiny black satin shirt, soaking in, clinging to her skin. Fingers shaking slightly, her phone recognized the command for speed dial number two. Zan’s number appeared on screen and she raised the phone to her ear. The tone kept buzzing in her ear as she muttered “Come on, Zan, answer the phone. I need you.”

His answering machine picked up, the familiar strains of Self-Esteem by Offspring blared through the speaker, Zan’s powerfully beautiful voice singing a different set of lyrics. Finally, he laughed and spoke, “Hey, its Zan. Leave a message and I’ll call you.”

Anger raging in her veins, she thought of slamming the phone closed, effectively hanging up on him. He hadn’t answered his phone or called her for almost a week, since she had arrived in Roswell. If she wasn’t so mad, she might’ve been worried. “Zan! Answer your fucking phone! It’s Serena, call me back.” Her voice began shaking, making her tears audible, “I need you, Zan. Call me.” Whispering the end, she terminated the call.

“I need you, Zan. I need you.”

Dissolving into tears, she didn’t even notice someone standing by her bench. The tall blond sat next to her and handed her a tissue. Serena looked up into the face of the beautiful blond, blue eyes shimmering; model beautiful face staring at her in concern. The blue eyes opened wide, then returned to their normal size. “Something wrong?” The girl asked.

“No.” Serena stated sullenly. Anger flashed in her eyes and Isabel would’ve flinched, but she knew she could dish out more bitchy attitude than this girl…who looked remarkably like Liz…but much different. The skin and hair weren’t quite right, but the piercing chocolate brown eyes were there.

“Whatever. When someone sits on a park bench crying their eyes out, it normally means something’s wrong.” Isabel replied flippantly, staring out at the trees scattered through the park.

Serena mimicked her actions, squinting slightly as the bright sun
beamed into her face. “Then why’d you ask?”

“Just trying to be polite.”

“No need.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

Isabel turned to face her. “Look, new girl, let’s be straight with each other. I am the queen of Roswell, and you look remarkably like my friend Liz. I’ve heard a lot about you from Kyle and Tess and was wondering if you would like to join our group tonight for pizza and movies. We meet at Kyle’s house.”

“My name is Serena.” She stated.

“I’m Isabel.”

“Nice to meet you, Isabel.”

“You too, Serena Matheson.”

Serena turned to look at Isabel. “What time?”

Isabel smiled genuinely, “You’re coming?” Serena nodded slightly. “Great. Meet us at 25808 Milky Way Drive at six. And bring a movie you like. Alex and Michael have no taste in movies.” She rose off the bench and backed up a step. “See you tonight, Serena.” Isabel smiled warmly and walked away leisurely, heading towards the UFO Center.

She kept the smile on her face as she ambled through the doorways and breezed past the annoying exhibits until she reached Max. Tapping him on the shoulder, he turned around, a look of surprise at seeing his sister at his work.

“What’s up, Is?” He asked, glancing past her to see if the rest of the gang was there. “Is something wrong?” His eyebrows rose.

Isabel flipped her long blond hair onto her back in annoyance. “No, little brother, nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to let you know I ran into our friend Serena and invited her to Kyle’s tonight.”

Max smiled. “You trust her?”

She rolled her perfectly made up eyes, “I just met her. I don’t
know whether I trust her or not. We’ll see later.”

His smile grew bigger. “But you’re going to give her chance?”

“Yes, Max, I’ll give her a chance. But seriously, what are we going to say if she is the one? ‘Hey, we think you’re the only girl who can save the world?’”

“I think we might want to work up to that one slowly.”

“If I were her, I would think that we were just wanting to be around her because she looks like Liz.”

Max lost his smile, a solemn look overcoming his face. “Did you sense anything in her that you trusted?”

“I just met her, how would I know?”

“A gut instinct. Did you sense something in her that you trusted?”

“Maybe.”

“Isabel.”

“Ok. Yes. Yes, there was something about that girl that I trusted.”

“It’s instinctive.”

“We’re just fooling ourselves.”

“I trust her.”

“I…let’s see what Michael says.”

***

Serena stared at the blue Chrysler parked in the driveway. Her dad was home from work already. Hoisting the light paper sack full of groceries higher onto her hip, she walked up the walkway to the unlocked front door. Calling out to her father, her voice quiet compared to the thunderous classical music, she walked into the foyer. High heels clicked against the polished brown marble tiles, then lost their sound as she meandered into the kitchen through the thick cream-colored carpet. She walked past the curving staircase, past the downstairs room her father had claimed as his office, past the large living room, large flashy paintings displayed prominently but not distracting from the large plasma television. She walked past into the kitchen, setting down her bag on the beige tiled island. Appliances cluttered the counter space, Serena hustled around them and put them into cabinets she believed were suited to house them. Leaving only a large metal bowl, a wooden spoon, and a metal baking pan. She hummed quietly to herself, Razorblade Kiss- her and Zan’s song- as she whipped out a box of brownie mix, two eggs, corn oil, and water.

How many times had she and Zan made brownies together? She smiled remembering the last time they had, only two weeks ago. He had taken her to Sam’s Club and they had bought a huge box of brownie mix, enough to make a hundred brownies. Serena laughed remembering the way he had disappeared before returning with a huge flatbed cart for their meager purchases. It wasn’t long before she was sitting on it and he was pushing her around the store, then she pushed him around, before they both sat and he pulled it with his legs.

I love Zan, she thought as she finished pouring the brownies into the pan and sticking them in the preheated oven before licking the wooden spoon free of chocolate batter. True, she was upset that they hadn’t talked since she moved, but she still loved him. It was hard not to. She knew everything about him, and he knew everything about her. Zan had made it clear that his life was in her hands when he told her that he was an alien. His eyes had been filled with fear, not that she would turn him into the FBI or whoever it was he was afraid was hunting him, but that she wouldn’t love him anymore. But Serena had been so deep in love with him by then that she would never have been able to turn away from him. And she hadn’t ever since that night.

“Serena?” A male voice interrupted her thoughts. She pasted a smile on her face and turned around to meet her father. A tall man with light blond hair and blue eyes, he advanced and wrapped his arms around her tightly. “When did you get home? How was the interview?”

She squeezed back for a minute before pulling away. “Good. I got the job and start tomorrow.”

Her father sniffed. “Are you making brownies?” He smiled, a fatherly, reassuring smile.

“Yup. I was invited over for pizza and movies at this guy’s house. I’ve met pretty much everyone in their group, so they invited me over.” Probably because I remind them all of their dead friend, she added silently. But whatever, anything that kept her mind off Zan for a night was a good thing. She wondered what he was doing tonight. Would he go out with their friends? Or would he be walking some new girl home? Probably Karin. Zan didn’t believe that she was in love with him, but it was painfully obvious to Serena.

“Good. I knew you’d make friends here quickly. You always make people love you quickly.”

“Dad, did you love me when I was born? Did you want me?” She blurted out. Serena didn’t normally blurt things out, only when something was bothering her.

His face twisted from a smile to a look of utter shock, before returning to that fatherly, reassuring smile once again. That was the smile he made best. Serena felt bad for a second; of course he was her father. This was the man who had watched over her her whole life. Her father was the one who had taught her to ride her bike, was the once who took off her training wheels, who picked her up and carried her home when she wiped out, who introduced her to the world of science. He’s the one who bought her a new car, who tried to intimidate Zan the first time she brought him home. Of course he was her father, the man who tucked her in at night and checked her room for monsters or bogeymen.

“Of course I wanted you, Serena.” He pulled her in for another hug, stroking her hair lightly. “I loved you from the moment I saw you. You were the most beautiful baby I’d ever seen. And from that first second my eyes landed on you, I knew you were the baby I wanted to raise. A special baby. You’re still my special little girl.”

Serena smiled and hugged him back, her fears at ease. How had she doubted? Her mother and father had unconditional love for her.

“What about Mom? Did she want me, too?”

“Of course, Serena. Your mother wanted you the second she found out about you. Having you was something neither of us had any doubts about.”

“Thank you, Dad.” She pulled away, glancing at the timer. “I have to go get ready.”

He nodded and started to walk back to his office, “Anytime you have any questions, Re-re, just ask me.” Serena smiled at the use of her childhood nickname, Zan was the only one who still called her that, and nodded. Her father nodded again, smiled one last time and walked away.

Serena put the dirty dishes in the sink and ran hot water over them, dissolving the rest of the batter. Then she ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs, her high-heeled feet pounding as she went. At the top of the staircase she turned left down the hallway, then right into her large room. She kicked off her shoes and stripped off her black shirt and gray striped pants, rummaging through her closet for something casual to wear tonight. Clothes flew out of the closet as she glanced at everything she owned and decided it wasn’t what she wanted to wear. Finally, as the rest of the clothes came to rest in the piles on her floor, sliding and shifting, she found something worth wearing. Her favorite jeans, extra long, faded blue, with the random worn through holes that she hadn’t paid a hundred extra dollars for someone to put there, a dark pink tank top, and her black zip up sweater with the hood.

Flicking the play button on her CD player, she began dancing and playing with her hair as Sex Like Thing by Stone Temple Pilots filled the air. She maneuvered smoothly around her room into her bathroom, still dancing.

Silenced by the loud music, her cell phone rang, unheard.

****

“What?” Maria exclaimed as Kyle answered the door and let her in. “Isabel invited her over here? Why?”

Kyle grinned, amused by Maria’s sudden burst of energy. “To gain trust, my dear Maria.”

She glared at him. “I thought tonight was just about all of us hanging out together, mending, healing.”

Kyle sighed, his hand sliding down the open door as he pushed it close. “Maria, we’re all missing Liz, but unless this girl is the one, we don’t have a way of getting her back. And that’s what is most important right now, isn’t it?”

Her lower lip trembled. How could he think that that wasn’t the most important thing to her? Liz was her best friend. She needed her back. “Of course it is, Kyle.”

“Then don’t complain and get to know Serena. She’s nice. You’ll like her.” Kyle guided her into the living room, placing his hand on the small of her back. “We need her to be the one, Maria.”

The rest of the group was already assembled in the living room. Isabel stood on the table, gaining attention of everyone. “What do you
guys want on the pizzas?”

“Pineapple!”

“Sausage!”

“Green Peppers!”

“Pepperoni!”

“Extra cheese!”

“I always knew you were extra cheesy.”

“That wasn’t even funny.”

“Yes it was. You have no sense of humor.”

“Back to toppings!”

“Anchovies!”

A disgusted expression on her face, Isabel stared at Kyle. “No. Next.”

A knock on the front door distracted them. “Kyle, go get the door.” Kyle trotted obediently to the front door, calling out to the person on the other side that he was coming. He opened the door to welcome Serena in, and stared at her not because she looked so much like Liz, but that she looked beautiful in her own way.

Serena smiled, completely comfortable in the outfit she had chosen. Her long dark auburn hair lay in shiny waves, pulled back from her face in a half ponytail, exposing her high cheekbones. Chocolate brown eyes sparkled merrily, Clinique beach eye shadow twinkling under the porch light, dark eyeliner surrounding her eyes. Warm blush graced her cheekbones, shiny lip-gloss clinging to her lips, curled up happily.

“Hi.” Kyle grinned.

“Hi,” she smiled; a light breeze blew the scent of her Angel Food Cake lotion to his nose, making him hungry. Raising her hand, she showed him a movie and the brownies, “I brought Anchorman.”

New banner



Part 14

“You bitch!”

“Roar!”

“You woke up the bears! Why would you do that?”

Serena’s delicate laugh joined those of Alex, Isabel, Max, Maria, Kyle, and Tess. Michael stared at her. He’d spent more time staring at this girl than Will Farrell in the movie. The movie ended and the credits rolled, with Serena telling them about the funny scenes they deleted.

“Most aren’t worth watching, but there’s one where Brick is doing the segment on the panda birth. He says: ‘Soon, a stork will fly overhead with a baby panda. Let’s see what’s going on now.’ So he walks over there, and turns back to the camera screaming, “I don’t understand!’ It’s hilarious; Zan and I couldn’t understand why they didn’t put that scene in.

Michael glanced at Max as the name Zan was absorbed into his consciousness.

“Zan?” He asked.

Serena smiled at Michael. “Zan is my boyfriend in California.”

“That’s an interesting name.”

“He’s an interesting guy.” Her smile faded and she made eye contact with him. It wasn’t hard for him to understand that this girl was challenging him.

“Who are you?” He asked.

“Michael.” Maria interrupted, whispering in his ear. “Chill out.”

He smirked and made eye contact with Serena again. She raised her eyebrows at him and he looked away, missing the smirk of her own.

Maria spoke up, “So, Serena, why’d you move to Roswell?”

Serena sighed. “LA wasn’t good enough for my parents. No, my dad got transferred back here, and my parents jumped at the chance to move back to the desert.”

“Back to?”

“Well, we used to live in Arizona, and my parents liked the desert living. I was actually born in New Mexico, though. So when they had the opportunity to move to New Mexico, they weren’t about to pass it up.”

“How do you like it?”

She shrugged. “It’s not so bad. I mean, I miss my friends, and I’m dying without Zan, but it’s not for long.” Serena glanced at Max, searching for the part of him that reminded her of Zan. No, she reminded herself, tonight you are not thinking of Zan. You need to learn to live without relying on him. You need to learn to live without relying on anyone but yourself.

Serena’s face lost its smile as she became lost in thoughts of Zan. She remembered the first time he let her down. She had cried all night. It was that night that she told him that she wasn’t going to hold him to his promise of loving her forever, that she wasn’t going to hold him to any promises he made to her. He had held her, as a few lone tears snaked down her face against her will. Zan had kissed her all over, telling her that it was sad that she didn’t trust him because he really did love her. He told her that he had never loved anyone as much as he loved her, and that she was the only one he would love for the rest of his life.

And apparently she had accepted his words, his promises.

“There’s nothing to do here, though.”

“If you have friends, than there’s always something to do, no
matter where you are.”

Michael butt in, “There’s always something to do in our group.”

***

The air wasn’t as chilly as it had been last night. Max sat on the lounge chair in the Valenti’s backyard, staring up at the twinkling stars in the nighttime sky. He sighed as he found the V-shaped constellation that always dominated his attention. Focusing on one spot of the sky would never make him a good stargazer. It was a good thing his sister and Alex were more into that.

“Max?”

He looked up, startled. Serena stood by the side of the lounge chair, looking down at him. A slight smile graced her face as she brushed away invisible strands of her shiny dark hair from her lightly tanned face. Her gaze swept over him, and he sat expecting the same warm feeling he always got from Liz when she did the same thing. It didn’t happen, reminding Max that just because this girl sometimes resembled the love of his life, she wasn’t Liz, and never would be.

“Hi.” Looking back at the sky, he tried to ignore the twinge of
unhappiness that settled in his stomach, twisting and fighting.

“Can I sit?”

“Sure.”

Serena sat on the edge of the chair positioned next to Max’s, hands clasped tightly in her lap. She folded and unfolded them, nervous energy flowing through her body. Releasing her hands, she reached down and picked a blade of new spring grass, waiting for Max to say something, anything.

“It’s almost spring. Winter is in its last days.”

Serena smiled. “I love spring.”

“Especially after a long, hard winter.”

“Especially.” She sighed, thinking of the new season approaching. Spring was her favorite time of year. It was when new things were born. New flowers, birds, puppies. “At my apartment, my bedroom had a balcony that faced the street, and I lined the edge with flowers. Every spring, I would plant something new, but I had the same rose plants year after year.”

Still staring at the same constellation, Max asked, “You like roses?”

“Love them.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Light pink ones.”

He smiled, glad that she hadn’t said white. “Liz used to love white roses. They were her favorite flowers. They’re expensive, but Liz was worth more than I could ever give her.”

Zan was like that. Giving Serena more than he could afford because he thought she worth everything. Serena loved that quality, not just because he spoiled her, calling her “Princess,” but that he was selfless in his love. Apparently, Max had that same quality. That same adoration of their loved ones.

“Max? Did you guys invite me here because I look like Liz?”

He turned to look at her. “No. You do remind us of Liz, but that’s not the only reason.”

“Then why?”

“Because you have a quality we all trust.”

“Even Michael?”

Max grimaced. “Michael doesn’t really trust anyone easily. It took him a long time to trust Maria, Liz, Alex, and Kyle.”

“But they all kept your secret, didn’t they?”

He appeared startled. “What secret? We don’t have any secrets, other than the small ones everyone has.”

Serena turned her attention to the sky and pointed to the constellation. “Right, Max. Then why were you staring so intently at that cluster of stars? I know your secret.”

“Who are you really, Serena?”

“I’m just a girl living from day to day. Protecting the secrets of my loved ones every day I breathe.”

“What secret are you protecting?”

They turned to each other, their eyes making contact. Both attempted and struggled to search all the way to each other’s souls, seeing if their suspicions were right. “The same secret all of you are.”

“Were just normal teenagers, Serena. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She saw the small glimmer of self-doubt that stuck in his eyes. “I know you’re an alien, Max. You don’t have to lie to me. I know that Isabel, Tess, and Michael are different, too. Don’t lie to me.”

“Zan?”

“You know what he is, too. You recognize the name. Want to see a picture?”

Max nodded and watched as Serena pulled a small wallet out of her front pocket, silver stars embroidered on the dark blue fabric. She pulled it open and pulled out the picture. He took it when offered and stared down at a face that was easily recognizable. The hair was longer than Max would ever wear his, but styled professionally. Light stubble covered his face, a big open mouth smile in place. He wore a light blue button up shirt, with sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and jeans with a worn through hole. The eyes, though, Max noticed, startled, were his own. The same color, the same size, the same positioning in the same face.

“That’s Zan.”

“Oh.” He handed back the picture, speechless.

“What’s going on, Max? Why do I look like your Liz? And why do you look like my Zan?”

“I wish I knew.”

***

Michael inhaled another brownie. “One thing is true, she makes good brownies.”

Maria wrapped her arms around him, squeezing tightly. “I sure hope you’re going to do some sit ups to counteract all those brownies.”

“Sex burns more calories.”

“Nice try.”

“Can’t blame me for trying.”

“Nope, you’re a boy.”

Isabel rolled her eyes. “Guys, what do you think of Serena. Honestly.”

Maria bit her lip before speaking. “I like her. She’s not as much like Liz as we thought; she’s different. But there’s something about her that I really like, that I really trust.”

“I think we should give her a shot. Feel her out, see how she reacts to things she isn’t expecting.” Alex added.

“Michael?”

“I don’t think she’s FBI.” That’s all he would add, all the confidence he would add to their decision.

“We already know that you two already like her.” Isabel said, motioning towards Kyle and Tess who were sitting on the kitchen counter, Kyle’s arms wrapped around Tess, holding her close to him.

“And Max likes her.” Kyle added. “You do, too, right?”

Isabel nodded. “So we all like her, all trust her. We let her in?”

Everyone nodded. “Okay, so hopefully we find out that she really likes science and can help us figure out how to use the Granolith.”

“How do we do that?”

No one had an answer.

***

Tess approached Alex as he was leaving. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

He looked at her, noticing that she was biting her lip. “Sure.”

They walked into the room Tess had claimed and she shut the door behind them. Alex sat on her bed and watched as she paced around the room, wringing her hands together.

“What’s wrong, Tess?”

She stopped pacing and looked him square in the eye. “I know why you’re going to Los Cruces. You’re going to decode the Destiny book, aren’t you?”

He nodded.

“I found this other book in Nasedo’s belongings. I want you to decode it, too, if you have time.”

His eyebrows rose. “What is it? Do the other’s know about it?”

“No.” She started wringing her hands again. “I didn’t show them. Don’t let Isabel know about it, please.”

“Ok.”

Tess ran to the closet, yanking it open, and reached for a shoebox on the floor. She pulled the box top off and pulled out a second book. It was the same dull metal as the Destiny book and about the same size. It had no pictures on the front, only the symbol they had decided stood for the name of the hybrids original planet.

She handed it to him and he put the slight weight into his jeans pocket. “Don’t worry, Tess, I’ll figure out what it means.”

“Thank you.” She grabbed him and hugged him tightly.

“Alex?” Isabel’s voice called out from somewhere in the house. “Alex?”

“Tess, I need to go. Bye.” He pulled away and opened the door, leaving her in the sanctuary of her bedroom.

Alex walked up to Isabel, the secret of the new book burning a hole in his mind, and smiled. He wrapped his arm around her waist and they headed towards the door.

***

Her head hurt as tears poured out of her eyes. The scenes flashed before her eyes and she felt every emotion struggling to be felt at once. Her happiness was painful, but only because the girl, who was supposed to have felt it, hadn’t. She saw Max through her eyes, kissing her, happiness shinning through his eyes. She knew how happy she was to finally be married to the love of her life.

Isabel, Kyle, Michael, and Maria stood behind them, laughing, clapping, and throwing rose petals at the happy couple.

“I’m Liz Parker, and all I know is, I’m happy.”

Tess cried as the words reverberated through her head.

“I’m sorry, Liz. We’ll fix it. We’ll fix it.”

***

“Hello?” Serena answered her ringing phone in the safety of her bedroom.

Zan’s panicking voice filled the connection. “Serena? Serena are you really there?”

Her heart began beating faster. Zan was always so calm and collected, hearing him panic made her afraid. “Yea, Zan, I’m here. What’s wrong?”

“You have to come home, Re-re. You’re in danger.”

“What are you talking about, sweetie?”

His voice rose shrilly, “They killed my sister, Serena, they killed Lonnie.”

“Who did?”

“The same people who killed your sister.”

Hey everyone,

Just a quick post because I have to leave for class in a few minutes. Thank you all for the wonderful feedback, I love hearing what you guys think. Seriously, I get so giddy seeing someone has left me feedback.

Just ask my boyfriend, he'll tell it's true.

Anywho, here's part 15, and I think it'll clear up some questions, but hopefully cause more.

Part 15

Alex sat at the computer, gray T-shirt and jeans rumpled, eyes bloodshot and dry from staring at the screen for so long. The symbols on the screen shifted, morphed, finally understandable to him. He shifted his attention to the book that Tess had given him to decode. Finally, he understood what it meant.

“Isabel!” Alex called out, excitement coloring his voice. “I figured it out!”

Isabel awoke quickly, long blond hair flowing messily. She lifted her sleepy head and attempted to wipe the sleepiness out of her crystal blue eyes. Alex glanced over at her, eyes wide, hands shaking from caffeine.

“Sweetie,” he said, “you’re drooling.”

Grinning sheepishly, she wiped the line of drool from her face. Alex smiled, finding her little faults adorable even now.

“Sorry.” She moved over to sit next to him, stretching her tired and cramped muscles. “What did you figure out?”

He grinned and motioned to the screen. “We already figured out the Destiny book was a load of crap for the most part, but this might actually mean something.”

Isabel stared at the screen. On one side was the Antarian symbols Tale of two, but on the other side was the English translation: Tale of Two. She squealed. Alex was a genius. And she told him so.

“I know.” He grinned smugly.

“What’s it all mean?”

“Why don’t you read it yourself?”

Isabel got off her seat and settled herself on Alex’s lap. He wrapped his arms around her, rested his head on her shoulder, and fell asleep as she immersed herself in the words of her forgotten language.

***

Tess called to check in with Alex at noon. Isabel answered his phone.

“Tess?” She asked, surprise coloring her voice. She didn’t know that Tess and Alex were very good friends.

Tess stuttered. “Is-Isabel. Hi.”

“Hi.”

“I was just calling to see how things were going with you two.”

Static flowed through the connection, but Tess could still hear the excitement in Isabel’s voice. “Good! We finally got both the books decoded.”

“Both?” Tess’ eyes widened. She could’ve sworn Alex had promised not to show Isabel the second book.

Guessing at what surprised Tess, Isabel attempted to ease her fears. “I found it when Alex fell asleep at the computer. He didn’t go out of his way to show me or let me find it. Don’t worry, we didn’t tell anyone else about.”

Not really relieved, Tess muttered something about how it was okay.

“We want to meet with you first so you can read the translation, since it was you who found the book.”

“What about the Destiny book?”

“Do you want to believe in Destiny, Tess?”

Kyle walked into the room, breaking into a contagious smile at the sight of Tess sitting on the bed. Her long blond ringlets bounced as she shook her head in response to something the person on the phone said.

Her voice broke in his ears, and he saw the tiny crystal drops of
water glistening in her eyes. “No.” She said, “No, I don’t.”

Tess could tell Isabel was smiling. “Good. Because the Destiny book only really says the same thing the Mom-O-Gram told us last year.”

“Nothing about the Granolith?” Tess smiled at Kyle as he sat beside her. He reached his hand out and stroked her hair gently. It felt like silk underneath his fingertips. He curled a ringlet around his finger, enjoying
how it curled.

Isabel sighed. “Nothing too important. We’ll tell you all later.”

“Ok. When are you guys coming home?”

“We’re on our way right now. Tell everyone to meet us at Michel’s tonight at six.”

“Ok.”

“Ok. See you later, Tess.”

“Bye, Isabel.”

They disconnected and Tess turned to look at Kyle. She smiled at the way her kept playing with her hair, smiling adoringly at her.

“They’re coming home. Meeting at Michael’s tonight at six.”

“Great.” He withdrew his hand from her soft locks and Tess longingly wished for him to continue playing with her hair. The wish faded though, as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her tightly to him. “We’re one step closer to finishing this thing.”

She nodded. “What’s going on with Serena?”

Kyle exhaled loudly. “She’s still avoiding us. I asked her if she wanted to come over tonight, but she said she’s busy. She’s been saying that for a week.”

“We need her.”

Kyle stood up, leaving his hand on her shoulder. He squeezed gently. “I know. I’ve been learning more about her, though. She’s a whiz at science. In the running to be valedictorian at her high school,
president of the science club, and get this, believes in time travel.”

Tess’ eyes opened wide. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“How’d you find that out?”

“I have my ways.”

“You’re so mysterious.”

Kyle stuck a pose, thinking it made him look mysterious. Tess laughed.

“I am.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer to him. He came willingly. Tess pressed her face up against his warm dark blue shirt, enjoying the feel of his defined muscles. Smiling, she turned her face so that her chin rested against him and her face was turned upwards. He smiled down at her, happy and content to be with her.

“You’re so beautiful, Tess.”

She smiled shyly, a pale pink blush grazing her pale cheeks. “Thank you.”

“I’ve thought that since the day I met you.”

“And I thought you were handsome since the day I met you.”

“For a human.” He added seriously.

Tess’ smile faded, replaced with humility. “Kyle, I was an idiot. I was raised believing that when I found the others, I’d have everything I lost in my past life.”

“I know, I know.”

“But you have no idea how glad I am that Nasedo was wrong. There is no way I could be happier being with Max.”

Kyle sat down next to her on the bed, Tess’ arms still wrapped around his waist. He wrapped his around her as well. “Tess, what happens after the past is changed?”

She shrugged. “Maria said Liz told her that the timeline of the future Max vanished with him. All actions effect the future, so I guess those other timelines cease to exist.”

“What’s going to happen between us?”

“I don’t know, Kyle. I can’t predict…God, I don’t even know if it would be considered the past, present, or future.”

Kyle looked at her, staring at her, peering into her eyes with a deep concentration. “I love you, Tess Harding, ex-queen Ava. I want to be with you in any timeline we both exist in.”

Her heart swelling with happiness, beating chaotically, butterflies flying through her stomach to her throat, she replied, “I love you, too, Kyle Valenti. And I want to be with you in any timeline we exist in, too.”

In that moment, she made a vow to do whatever it would take to ensure that she and Kyle would be together forever.

***

“Mr. Parker, I wanted to thank you again for the job.” Serena smiled at her boss as he handed her a paycheck for her first week of work. It wasn’t a large sum of money, but it plus the tips she had made equaled to a nice figure of spending money.

Jeff raised his gray tinged head and made eye contact with her. Smiling, he replied, “It was no problem, Ms. Matheson. I’m just glad you applied.” His gaze dropped to the framed photograph on his desk. Serena noticed that he looked at it frequently when she was around him. The photo was of his daughter, taken a few weeks before she died. Before she was murdered, as she had been told.

Unbidden, Serena sat in a chair in front of Jeff. “Mr. Parker, did you have any other kids? Or was Liz your only one?”

Jeff looked up at her again, confused. “Uh. No, we had two little girls. Rosa and Liz. But Rosa died in the hospital when she was only a baby.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. What happened, if you don’t mind my asking.”?

He shook his head, “No, it’s okay. Any questions you have, I don’t mind answering. She died of sudden infant death syndrome. We rushed her to the hospital earlier that day to see the doctor, and she wanted us to leave her there for the night. We got a call the next morning that she had died of something completely unrelated.”

Serena nodded, “I’m so sorry.”

“My wife was devastated. Liz was the only thing that kept her sane. She still had one little baby girl to keep her going.” He smiled wistfully, remembering the hours his wife spent with their remaining daughter. Nancy had slaved over the little girl, touching every inch of her newborn body, reverently, adoringly. Her long red hair would tickle Liz, causing her to smile and laugh for those few moments, drawing out a lost smile from her mother. “Liz would cry and cry and cry. It was as though she knew her twin sister was gone forever.”

Worried, Serena bit her lip. “Mr. Parker, did you ever think maybe
the doctors lied to you about Rosa?”

“No.” His answer was direct. “We trusted the doctor completely. Dr. Mateo was an old friend of Nancy’s from high school. There was no reason not to believe her. Plus, she had a baby girl of her own shortly before Liz and Rosa were born. She tried everything she could to keep our babies alive.”

“Dr. Mateo?” The name was familiar to her. Very familiar.
“When were they born?”

“September 23rd, 1986.”

“She would’ve turned nineteen this year.” She mumbled under her breath. Jeff didn’t notice.

“She was a wonderful girl. Beautiful, smart, kind. She got into some trouble with a boy, but nothing serious.”

She couldn’t help but ask what boy.

“Max. Max Evans. Have you met him?”

Serena nodded. “Yes. I don’t understand how he could’ve gotten her into any trouble, though.” She smiled. If he was anything like Zan, she could understand far too well.

He sighed. “He broke her heart. Apparently this girl moved to town and Max ended up kissing her. Liz saw and they broke up. He’d been around here more, trying to fix things, but Liz was adamant about just being friends.”

Zan had never broken her heart. He was a one-girl kind of guy. Serena didn’t understand, she could’ve sworn Max was that kind of guy, too.

“How did she die?”

“They said it was suicide. They found too many sleeping pills in her system.”

“Why would she do that?”

Jeff stood up. “Serena, why do you want to know all this?” Tears were beginning to collect in his eyes as he stared down at her.

“Mr. Parker, I’m sorry. I’ve just heard so much about her. I just…I wanted to know more. I’m sorry I upset you. I’ll go back to work.” She stood clumsily and attempted to maneuver around the chair without running into it.

As her back was almost out the door, Jeff spoke. “She wouldn’t do
that.”

***

Serena wiped the table furiously. Rage, frustration, and confusion motivated her to scrub each table and surface in the café until it sparkled. From behind her, an amused male voice sounded.

“I think it’s clean.”

She controlled the urge to snap at whoever was speaking to her. It wouldn’t be a good thing to snap at a customer. Pasting a fake smile on her face, she turned around to face who else, Max.

“I think you’re right, Max. I should probably move on to the next poor table.” She grabbed her rag and spray bottle and moved past him, brushing against his back lightly.

Max reached out and grabbed her arm, unobserved by anyone else. Stealthily, he leaned in and whispered in her ear, “We need to talk, Serena. I think it’s time for you to take your break, don’t you?”

Serena searched the room wildly, trying to see if someone had seen him grab her. The only person paying them any attention was Maria, who as she saw it, would be no help.

“Sorry, Max.” She smiled. “I just had a break.”

“I think you can take another.”

“Nope.”

He called out to Maria. “Maria, is it okay for Serena to take a quick break?”

Maria smiled. “Yea, sure. I’ve got everything under control. But no more than ten minutes, Max.”

“See, you have a few minutes.”

She glared up at him defiantly. “What if I don’t want to talk to you?” Her voice was starting to rise.

He glanced around the room, making sure they weren’t causing a scene. “You do. You have questions and I might have answers.”

“I doubt it.” Max released her arm and walked through the employees only backroom to the outside. Serena pouted, threw down her rag and spray bottle and followed him.

Leaning against the wall, she crossed her arms. “What do you want?”

“Why are you avoiding us?”

“I wanted to.”

“Because you blabbed your boyfriend’s secret to me? I told the others.”

“I knew you would. But no, that’s not the reason.”

He made eye contact with her and she shuddered, remembering what Zan had told her about her sister that she didn’t even have. “I’ve been trying to figure a few things out by myself.”

“Like what?”

“Just something Zan told me.” She made circles with her head, trying to work out the kinks that had developed.

Max strolled towards her, anxious to hear what she had to say.

She made eye contact with him again and for the first time, she saw how tired she was. The angry façade had fallen away and now she just looked confused and lost. He fought against scooping her up in his arms and protecting her. He told himself over and over again that this wasn’t Liz, she wouldn’t respond like Liz. In the end, he settled on hugging her.

Serena didn’t fight, she didn’t cry, she just stood there wishing Max was Zan.

“Zan called me, terrified, when I got home Friday. He said that his sister, Lonnie, was killed by the same people who killed my sister.”

“Your sister was killed?”

“Here’s the thing. I’m an only child. I don’t have a sister.”

“Then why’d he say…?”

She shrugged his arms away from her. “I have no clue. I’ve been trying to figure it out.”

“Was his sister an alien?”

“Yes. Zan and Lonnie were raised until they were ten by their protector, a man named Cal. When they turned ten, Cal put them up for adoption because he thought they would be safer. They were separated and put in different homes, again for protection. Zan and Lonnie saw each other frequently because both families live in Los Angeles. Anyway, Zan called me, worried that I’d be the next they were going to come after.”

“When’s the last time you heard from him?”

Serena turned away from, her hands toying with the alien’s head apron around her waist. “That night. He hasn’t answered his phone since, and his parents say they haven’t seen him in almost a week. I have no idea where he is. But I know he’s still alive.”

Questioning her gently, “How do you know for sure, Serena?”

She turned to face him, tears glittering gently in her eyes. “Because I have a connection with him, Max. I know he’s still alive, but
scared. He’s scared and there’s nothing I can do to help him.”

***

He watched from a distance as fake-Liz and Max talked. He wished he could see the tears he knew were sparkling in her eyes. It was a stroke of luck that she had moved here.

Chuckling insanely, he thought of the chase that had ended with the murder of fake-Isabel, the one who called herself Lonnie. How ridiculous was that? Calling herself the name of her past life self.

What surprised him was that she was nothing like Vilondra. For a hybrid trying so hard to be like her past self, she failed ridiculously. Vilondra was a temptress, one who lured her prey into her web before getting what she wanted of them. Too bad in her past life she was the prey. It was all Vilondra’s fault that her “loved ones” died by the hand of the glorious Kivar.

Good thing Isabel seemed to maintain the fire and spirit of Vilondra. It would be a shame if it had died completely.

He watched as Max hugged the girl, and how she resisted him. What a shame. Wouldn’t it be glorious if Zan walked into town to find his girlfriend in the bed of the real king? He thought it would be wickedly funny. With his luck, maybe the two kings would kill each other; make his job a little easier.

And he did have such wonderful luck.

His devious grin turned into a sinful pout as he realized the two were only talking, their bodies now completely separate. Could it be the two had no connection to each other? And why the hell weren’t they sobbing their fool eyes out over their losses? That’s all these things were supposed to be good for. Stupid emotional messes.

If he tried, maybe he could find a shred of pity for them. After all, they weren’t human, not Antarian, or at least the king was neither. He searched hard, the search turning physically painful. Nope, no pity. Pity was a human emotion. And all human emotions are wasteful.

With one last devilish laugh, he collapsed, leaving the abandoned body exposed.

***

Max walked into the UFO Center fifteen minutes later, donning the yellow vest already. Curious, he strolled around the exhibits, searching for the curly hair of his boss. “Brody?” He called out.

Brody had gone to a convention almost two weeks ago. Apparently he had found a few guys who had actually artifacts, but needed a little persuading to give them up. Max was almost certain that if you checked Brody’s bank accounts, half the money would be missing, but two new “artifacts” would be in Brody’s possession. He felt bad for the guy; he had a real alien working for him, but had no idea.

A groan caught his attention. “Brody?” He called out, a half smile on his face. “Did you get into a party with the aliens and drink a little too much?”

Brody sat up in the office chair, an ice pack pressed against his skull, his eyes glaring at him. “No. I must’ve hit my head on something. How’d everything go while I was gone?”

Max was confused. Where were the artifacts that Brody had collected? Why wasn’t he showing them to him, enthusiasm poring out from every pore on his body? He scratched his head, trying to think of anything memorable that happened at work within the past two weeks. “It went great.” Something popped into his head. “We had a field trip from one of the elementary schools. One of the kids looked at one of the exhibits and threw up. I think you have a good one with the new autopsy body.”

Brody smiled, and then grimaced. “Good, good. I didn’t get the artifacts, Max. Those two guys were trying to get me to buy something obviously fake, but they kept me there for a week before they showed it to me.”

“Sorry.”

Brody waved his hand in dismissal. “It’s okay. There’s a convention in Phoenix next month. I always get some good things at the
Lights Convention.”

***

Tess held the translation in her shaking hands. She glanced up at the eager faces of Isabel and Alex as she finished reading it. “You’re a hundred percent sure this is what it means?”

Alex nodded. “Sure am.”

“We want to share it with everyone else tonight at the meeting.”

“Okay.” Tess replied slowly.

Alex sat down next to her on the couch and wrapped a thin arm around her. It isn’t necessarily true, Tess, that’s just what’s written.”

She got up angrily, shouting. “Of course its true! Why would they write it if it wasn’t?”

“They wrote the Destiny book, Tess.” Isabel replied calmly.

Tess calmed. “The Destiny book was mostly true, from what you’ve said. It agrees with almost everything written here. Except for the prophecy.”

“Right, Tess. Everything matches except for the prophecy, and that’s the important part.”

***

She stared at the framed certificate lying nestled among the bubble wrap in the cardboard box. Her mother didn’t display it anymore, having since changed her name legally, moving to a new state, and legally practicing medicine there. But here, in the cardboard box that held some of her mother’s most valued possessions, was another piece of the puzzle.

Lynn Mateo, MD OB/GYN

Serena knew that name had sounded familiar. It was her mom’s maiden name. And why, if Serena had been born September 16th, 1986, at home with only her father assisting, was Mrs. Matheson delivering her friend’s twins only a week later?

Hearing footsteps, she closed the box and shoved it away. Serena sat there, jumping to conclusions until the door to her parents’ room opened swiftly, revealing her mom. The tall blond woman stood there, surprised, green eyes twinkling happily. It had been a while since she and Serena had spent time together like a normal mother and daughter.

But as she watched her daughter glare at her with suspicious eyes, she knew they wouldn’t be spending time together tonight.

Rage seethed inside Serena as she watched her blue scrub clad mother calmly take off her shoes, pulling clothes out of the closet wearily. Lynn Matheson had just gotten home from working a double shift at the hospital. Serena used to be sad that her mom spent more time at the hospital than with her, but somewhere along the line, she got used to it, expected it, and eventually welcomed it.

She stood as her mother sat, shouting, “How could you?”

Lynn stared at her, weariness showing in every fine facial feature. “What did I do now, Serena?”

“How could you steal your own friend’s daughter, Dr. Mateo?”

Lynn smiled. “What are you talking about?”

“I know I’m Rosa Parker, mom. I know you kidnapped me when I was a week old and told my parents I had died. Why?”

“Why should Nancy have two when I couldn’t even have one? I left her with one daughter and kept one for myself. Is that so horrible?”

Serena backed up into the doorway. “Yes!” Shock smothered her face at her mother’s confession. “Yes! It is horrible! Did you know Liz Parker died four months ago?”

Lynn lay down on the bed. “I heard about it. Apparently Nancy is a wreck because of it. Poor Nancy. I really should go see her soon, comfort her. Just, Serena, go away. Let me get a few hours of sleep. Work was terribly busy.” She closed her eyes and drifted into a fitful sleep where nightmares that she had just told her beloved daughter she had kidnapped her plagued her.

Serena walked calmly into her bedroom. She grabbed her luggage and started pilling things into them, contemplating whether or not she should get the police involved. Serena grabbed her teddy bear and stuck it in her pink suitcase next to her favorite pants.

Her father knocked on the doorframe before he entered the room. “Sweetie, what’s going on?” he asked, watching her pack.

“I’m leaving.” She replied, folding a white sweater.

“Where are you going?”

A navy blue tank top went in next. “I don’t know. Probably back to LA.”

He handed her a flowered skirt. “Going to see Zan, huh? When will you be back?”

“I won’t be.” She grabbed more clothes and folded furiously, stopping for a second to look at her father. A pained expression had taken residence on his face. She started folding again. “I know the truth, Dad.”

“About what?” he asked nervously.

“About Mom kidnapping me when I was a week old. I know that I’m really Rosa Parker, twin sister of Liz Parker, daughter of Jeff and Nancy Parker.”

“Serena, we never meant to hurt you. When we saw you, we just loved you. We wanted you more than anything in the world.”

She turned and glared at him angrily. “What about Liz? My twin sister? Didn’t you love or want her?”

Her father grimaced. “No. She cried her lungs out anytime we were even close to her.”

Serena snorted, then returned to grab her CD’s, done with clothes. “Smart baby. She saved herself.”

“Serena, your mother and I love you. Don’t leave.” He begged.”

“You and Mom aren’t my parents! How can I stay? I don’t belong here!”

He hugged her, holding tight as she fought. “We are your parents, Serena. We raised you as our own. We love you; we give you everything you could ever want. This is your home.” He added under his breath, “And obviously we did a better job than the Parkers at raising their daughter.”

Eyes piercing, voice icy, she asked, shoving him away, “What is
that supposed to mean?”

“Serena, your sister Elizabeth-“

“Liz.” She corrected.

“Liz committed suicide.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But either way, it says nothing about how good of parents the Parkers were.”

“It says everything.”

“Nothing.”

“Whatever.” He surrendered when he heard the venom and conviction in her voice.

She stuffed her last possessions she could squeeze into her luggage and zipped it shut.

“Where are you going?” He asked again, desperation coloring his voice.

“Goodbye, Dad.” Sadness slipped into her voice as she said her last words to the man who had raised her. She really did love him; he had been a good daddy to her for eighteen years, but she was confused now. He wasn’t her real father, but he was the father who had raised her.

“Goodbye, Serena.” He whispered, watching her wheel her luggage out of the room.

***

Everyone looked up at Max. He yawned loudly, not bothering to cover his mouth. Someone knocked loudly at the door and they all waited for him to get up and answer it. He finally got off the chair, and walked to the door, muttering about how just because he was the king, everyone expects him to do everything.

“Shut your yapping!” Michael yelled at him. “This is my apartment and I’m letting you stay here, so stop being ungrateful and get the damn door.”

“Serena!” Max smiled before noticing the pink luggage. “You came!”

She walked in, luggage rolling in behind her. “I learned something I thought might be important.” She walked past him into the front room where everyone else was.

“Why don’t you come in?” He asked rhetorically, shutting the door.

Serena smiled at everyone who stared at her in shock before settling down on the floor by Tess and Kyle. Kyle squeezed Tess’ hand tightly as they shared a secret smile. They had been right.

Max meandered back into the room, still mumbling under his breath about how everyone took him for granted. Michael glared at him and he shut up.

Alex and Isabel stood up by the television, everyone turning eagerly to look at them, waiting to hear what they had learned.

Isabel started. “As all of you know, we went to Los Cruces to decode the book. And another one that Tess gave Alex.”

Everyone turned to look at Tess and she smiled and waved. “Surprise!” They turned their attention back as Alex began speaking.

“And Tess has decided she would be best to tell the news.”

Max inched closer to Serena and whispered in her ear. “What was it you wanted to tell us?”

“Shh…I’m listening.” She replied, glancing at him. He looked back in annoyance and she smiled. “Fine, I’m not really Serena Matheson.”
He was confused. “I mean, I AM Serena Matheson, but I wasn’t born
Serena Matheson.”

“Who were you born?”

“Rosa Parker.” She replied.

Max gasped.

“What?”

“I’m Liz’s twin sister. Hence the reason I look so much like her. Now shut up, I want to hear the rest of Tess’ story.”

Max managed to close his mouth and turn his attention to Tess, only stealing quick glances at the girl next to him. How could she be Liz’s sister? Liz never had a sister.

Tess was still seated next to Kyle, comforted by his close proximity. Her heart beat furiously in her chest and she struggled to remain composed. Kyle rubbed her arm gently and she remembered to take a deep breath.

“Okay. In our past lives, we were Zan, Ava, Vilondra, and Rath, the Royal Four. We already knew that. We had our fair share of advisors, but one was extremely special to Zan, his seer. His seer was a girl a few years younger, beautiful, and loved by everyone who met her. She was extremely good at her job, and even foresaw herself falling in love with the young king, so she kept her distance. But, Zan fell in love with Clyona even though he was engaged to Ava. They had a short love affair before she saw something wrong, and Ava banished her from the kingdom. Cly lived alone, even though her twin sister still lived in the castle. Her twin sister was also an advisor to the Royal Four, a science advisor. She mainly worked with technology, including the Granolith.

“One day Cly saw a vision of us getting killed and she decided to risk her own life to save us. She knew it was the day of the Royal Wedding, and that Kivar would kill us all. So she headed for the castle, and the guards refused to let her in, or even to listen to her vision. She snuck in through the secret entrance Zan had built for them to escape and come back unseen.

“She got into the hall where the wedding was taking place and searching for the killers when she saw Zan. All the emotions came back to her and she froze, watching in horror as he bound himself to Ava. As she watched, Kivar grabbed her from behind. At that moment, she had a vision of herself dying by the hand of Kivar, and she smiled. Kivar interrupted the wedding, dragging Cly in front of everyone, a sword to her neck.

“Zan tried to give Kivar the kingdom if only he wouldn’t hurt Cly. He didn’t care what Kivar did to him; he just wanted to save her life, because he still loved her with his whole heart. But Kivar maintained that he didn’t want the kingdom in that way, that he was going to take it forcefully. Cly smiled warmly at Zan, whispered that she loved him, and with those last words, Kivar killed her. He killed both her and Zan in the same way, with a sword, and not his powers. Everyone else, including his lover Vilondra, he killed quickly with his powers.

“The sister witnessed the whole event in exceeding horror. She was one of the scientists who snuck back in, took DNA from the Royal Four and made us. She tried to make a copy of her sister, but was ultimately killed before she could complete her.

“But at the exact moment the twin sister was murdered by one of Ava’s followers, every seer on the planet had the same vision. It was hence prophesized that someday, the twin sisters would be born again. They would be separated, each falling in love with a version of the king. Before they could be reunited, one would be murdered a second time, forcing the other to save her life.

“I think Liz was one of the sisters.”

Max spoke up. “And I think Serena is the other.”

Guess what, I'm pretty much done. Just have to finish the last part and the epilogue, but I thought that I'd post something tonight. Yay!

Here's Part 16

Dear Diary,

I think the hardest part of loving someone is that when you give over your whole heart to them, you give them the ability to hurt you. The more completely you give your heart, trust, and love to someone, the greater their ability to hurt you grows. And finally, they can devastate you so quickly, so easily.

You never want to think that maybe you were foolish to give your heart to the person you love because you love them so much it hurts to think of life without them. But on the other hand, how could someone you love so deeply, hurt you so profoundly? It’s not always the big things that are so devastating to your heart, mind, psyche, it’s the little things.

Like when he says he’ll meet you at your house in a little bit, then calls in an hour to say he’ll be there soon, he just has to take two people home. And then when you call him a half hour later, he says he’s at a fast food place because they “bribed” him into taking them there. You know if he comes it’ll be a waste of gas for just ten minutes of time together, so you tell him not to bother coming.

It’s nothing big. A minor disappointment. He’s not coming to cuddle with you, something that you’ve missed, something you’ve wanted to do all week, something you really need to do because that bitchy client is still frustrating you.

And so you cry. Not the gasping, my-world-is-ending sobs, just the few tears streaking their way down your face. They ruin your makeup, but what does it matter? No one is going to see you for the rest of the night anyway.

A lifetime of these tiny disappointments makes you wonder, though. Is it really worth it? Why did I give my heart to someone who has the power to damage me so easily? But you realize that if you didn’t love him, he wouldn’t be able to hurt you so easily. Your love of him, and his love for you, is what keeps you together, and it’s what perpetuates the cycle of love and pain.

I’ve wondered so many times why I fell in love with Max Evans since we’ve gotten together. He’s the one person who cuts me so deeply. He makes my world fall apart with just one fight. One longing look from him almost brings me to my knees.

I love him. I love Max so much that it hurts just being away from him for one night. I need him to be here. I need him to just lay with him, stroking my hair gently as we lay in my bed in the dark. I need to hear him tell me that he loves me, and that no matter what happens, we’ll always be together because we love each other. And that’s what people who love each other do, they stay together for an eternity.

Sometimes I let myself dream that we have this otherworldly romantic story. I mean, we do, but sometimes I imagine that this is our second chance to be together, that in his past life, he loved me then, too. I know that he was married to Tess, but my imagination runs away from me sometimes, and those dreams are so vivid. I wish so much that they were real.

But they aren’t. I wasn’t supposed to have him in his past life, and I’m not supposed to have him in this life. I hate destiny.

Serena looked up from Liz’s diary as Max walked into the room.

“Hi.” He started uneasily, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he stood in the doorway, hands digging into his pockets.

She smiled, curling up on the couch that she’d claimed for the night. “How are you doing?”

Max walked into the room, closer to her. He stared at her smile, it was so like Liz’s. Was it still normal for him to miss her so much? Every breath he took made him think of her. He was breathing for Liz, breathing for the possibility of being able to hold her in his arms again. If he could only do that for one minute, if he had just one minute to tell her how much he loves he, how he’s sorry he screwed things up with them so badly, just one minute to kiss her, and let her know how loved she really is, he could die happy.

“Okay.”

Serena nodded, understanding. “Thanks for letting me read this. I…I’m starting to think that our love life problems are genetic. I also think I’m finding scientific proof that attraction is genetic as well.”

Max frowned, his hands burrowing deeper into his pockets. “I’m not attracted to you, Serena.”

She laughed. “I didn’t think you were, and I’m not attracted to you. But my twin sister and you were in love, and I’m in love with a different you. Genetically, I mean, you’re about the same person.”

“Nature versus nurture.”

“Exactly.” She looked back at the leather diary in her hand, a long pale finger marking the page she was reading. Biting her lip, she asked quietly, “What was she like?”

Serena moved over, allowing a spot for Max to sit on the couch next to her. He sat and she moved the blanket that was covering her legs to cover his as well. Max sighed deeply, staring at the diary.

“She was amazing, Serena. Liz had this quality about her that made her so easy to trust. I saw her for the first time when I was six. Isabel and I had gotten off the school bus and I saw her playing jump rope with Maria. We made eye contact and from that moment on, she was one of the most important things in my life.

“Even if you weren’t one of her best friends, she made you feel special. Her smiles were always genuine, loving, friendly. She was one of the only people at West Roswell who actually took the time to pay attention to me.” His voice trailed off as he became lost in the memories of his beloved.

Serena smiled bitter sweetly at him before wrapping her thin arms around his torso. She squeezed him tightly to her own body as tears began oozing from his eyes. Whispering comforting words and sounds, she attempted to calm him. She hated it when Zan would be upset enough to cry, and the same was true for Zan’s twin.

As she bent to place a soothing kiss on his hair, her connection with Zan flared to life. She gasped, completely aware of Zan’s emotions. He was upset, confused, angry. She held Max tighter as the range of emotions overwhelmed her, flowing through her body, leaving her numb and yet tingling at the same time.

“Zan.” She whispered.

The door flung open, revealing a very angry alien hybrid in the hallway.

“SERENA!” He yelled as he watched Serena unwrap herself from another guy’s arms. He watched in disbelief as another version of himself unfolded himself from the couch, tear tracks glimmering on his face. “Get your fucking hands off my fiancée!”

Zan stormed into the room, stopping to give Serena a small smile and kiss on the cheek before turning his raging anger back at Max. He reached out for him and took Max’s neck in his hands.

Max stood there as he stared into the eyes of his somewhat twin, Zan, who was currently trying to strangle him. He felt life slowly slipping from his body and he welcomed it, welcoming the strange sensation of his body being asphyxiated. Light started flooding his vision, and memories of Liz drifted slowly through his brain. So this is what it was like to die. He’d have to compare notes with Liz when he met up with her again.

No. He had to live. He had to save her life. He had promised.

The light started to recede as Max started to fight back. He pooled energy into his hands, ready to release it at his would be killer. Serena’s voice started to slip into his ears, he heard her screaming at Zan to stop it, that he was going to kill him, and then he heard Michael’s voice joining the commotion. He heard him yell, “What the fuck is going on in here?” And then it stopped.

The energy was released from Max’s hands, going straight into Zan’s body, pulsating through him, and numbing him. Zan’s hands fell away and he collapsed onto the ground.

Max knelt above him, taking deep breaths of oxygen, forcing it back into his lungs. Quickly, he checked for a pulse on Zan. Satisfied he was still alive, he smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

Zan’s eyes fluttered open, and he wasn’t smiling. Struggling to sit up, he spoke. “Care to tell me why you were trying to seduce my girlfriend?”

“I wasn’t.” Max helped into a sitting position. “I was telling her about her sister, Liz.”

Zan smirked at Serena, who quickly moved to sit by his side, and took his hand gently. He grimaced, but squeezed tightly. “I told you you had a sister, Re.

She smiled at him. “I never should’ve doubted you.”

“I told you that, too, sweet cheeks.” He smiled as she blushed and ducked her head into the crook of his neck and shoulder. Lovingly, he brushed her beautiful hair out of her face and smoothed it back down her head. “I missed you.”

“Missed you, too.”

“Love you.” He kissed her temple softly, happy to back in the presence of his one true love.

“Love you too!” Serena exclaimed, moving rapidly to pin him on the ground. Laughing, she started to tickle him as he pitifully tried to fight back against the attack. Zan started laughing uncontrollably as she tickled him, trying to get his hands on her own ticklish spots that he knew so well.

“Ahem.” A voice startled them and they smiled at each other sheepishly.

“We get it. You love him; he loves you. You’re both ticklish. Let’s move on. Who are you?” Michael stated bluntly.

Zan stood up, smoothing his hair back. Serena looked at it, startled.

“You cut your hair!”

“You like?”

“Yes!”

“Good. I thought you would.”

She smiled at him, glad that even while they were apart, he was still thinking of her.

“I’m Zan. Max’s co-king.” Zan said calmly, staring coolly at Michael. Michael glared at him, hands on hips, chest as large as he could make it, what he thought of as an intimidating stance.

“Co-king?”

“What else do you want me to say? We’re made from the same DNA. Neither of us are the original, so I’m not a duplicate of him, he’s not one of me. We’re both clones. Not that you’re not either. What’s your name? I doubt you go by Rath.”

Max interrupted. “He’s Michael. I’m Max. My sister is Isabel, and our friend is Tess.” He missed the glimmer of sadness that whipped across Zan’s face as he mentioned his sister, forgetting that Zan’s own sister had recently been killed.

“How much do you know about yourselves?”

“Not much. How much do you know?”

Zan shrugged nonchalantly. “A lot, I suppose. My protector, Cal, filled me in on a lot of the basic history, our mission, etcetera.”

“Our mission?” Michael asked skeptically.

Zan smiled, sitting back down on the couch. “Yea, our mission, Michael. You know, take over the world?”

Michael’s eyes narrowed painfully at the stranger in front of him who looked so much like his best friend. “Ha. Ha.”

Zan laughed, already at ease in this room of people who were judging every move he made. “We were sent here to insure that Antar would have rulers to save them from the evil Kivar. We were sent in pairs, Zan was with Ava, and Vilondra was with Rath. Of course we were meant to pair up like that, but they cloned our essence, they didn’t clone our souls. I don’t think we even loved each other like that in our past lives.”

Max nodded. “We already knew that.”

Zan nodded, his mannerism mocking that of the other teen king. “Did you know that we are a mix of our Antarian self and a human ‘donor?’ They took our essence and mixed it with the DNA of a human, morphing them to make something that neither society or planet could really accept and call their own.”

“What’s Antar like?” Michael asked, more intrigued by the idea of knowing more about their original home than how they were made.

“Antar is a badly damaged planet. In the days we ruled, you saw what you wanted to. We could actually fit in there, because you saw people how you imagined them. In reality, they may be three feet tall with four eyes and green skin, and we may look like humans, but if they expected us to look like them, we would. Kivar had his scientists discover a way to ruin that, and now all citizens of Antar are microchipped in the brain with a chip that allows them to only see how things are.

“The government is a normal human form. We were a monarchy; rule was passed down generation to generation. Now it’s totalitarian, a dictatorship. Our mission was to bring the power back to the royal family, but that would never really work. We were raised here, we see that power belongs to the people, how would we ever run a society where we were expected to be the only ones in control?” Zan rolled his eyes in disgust.

“So what are we supposed to do then?”

Zan shook his head at Michael. “Isn’t it obvious? We’re supposed to return to our ‘home’ planet and rescue the people from the power of Kivar. We’re supposed to risk our lives and save those of people who wouldn’t save their own planet for what…sixty years?”

Serena interrupted, sympathetic to those on their home planet. “Zan, don’t be so hard on them. If someone took over Earth violently, do you think we’d all be able to fight back and get power back?”

“Yes.”

“I think you’re right.” Michael agreed.

“Yea, I’m pretty sure he is, too.” Max chimed in.

Serena rolled her eyes and raised her hands in defeat. “Whatever.”

Zan turned his attention back to Max. “What do you guys know?”

“That Isabel is going to kill us for talking to you without her here.” Michael announced.

Alarmed, Max glanced at Michael. “You’re right. Oh well. We know all about destiny….”

**
Tess stared out the window, watching as Isabel jogged in place of the Valenti’s. She seemed to be pondering something as her long straight blond hair bounced up and down, contained by her perfectly smooth ponytail. Suddenly, Isabel turned and ran up to the front door. Ringing the doorbell, she stopped moving and stood still.

Tess opened the door and smiled. “Hi.”

“Hi. I was out running and thought I’d come by and see you.”

“Why?” She couldn’t help but be a little suspicious, she and Isabel hadn’t really been the best of friends since the whole destiny shit hit the fan. Sure Isabel always stuck up for her, but she knew that part of Isabel resented her for creating another reason she couldn’t be with Alex. Well, another reason besides the ones she had created herself.

“No reason. Just wanted to catch up. You want to go running?”

Tess smiled. “I don’t really go running.”

Isabel touched her shirt and turned it into a tight blue long sleeved stretchy shirt, then reached down and turned her blue jeans into a pair of black loose fitting sweat pants with little stars that glittered. “I think you should start. We don’t know what we’ll be facing.”

“And running away will help us?”

“No. Not running away, just being able to run, being physically fit.” She stopped and slouched, whining, “Come on, Tess. Just go running with me.”

Tess laughed. “Fine, just stop whining like that. It’s not your thing.”

**
He watched from the roof as the two young royals ran down the street. He felt like laughing joyfully, he already had them running for their lives. Feeling powerful, he lifted his hand and pointed it at the young Ava. No, she was called Tess in this life. For a second, he thought about taking her out right then, right there. But then he thought again.

Nasedo made a deal with Kivar about this girl. She could be trusted to manipulate the rest of the royals. Maybe he could he use to her to finish them off in the end.

He laughed. Laughing was his favorite thing to do on this planet. Well, make that his second favorite thing. His favorite was to watch the faces of his victims as they took their last breath.

Lonnie had screamed, pleaded for her life. She was a good girl on this planet, and he didn’t want to spare the life of a good girl version of the temptress. He remembered fondly the tears that she had wept; they had been real. She had been terrified, but not terrified enough to betray the others like her. She had paid for that one.

He laughed again. Why bother to stop laughing? He was just going to do it again, anyway.

That Lonnie had been a sad excuse for the powerful woman she once was.

Liz was a totally different story.

Kay, you'll see.

Ok, I FINISHED WRITING THIS STORY!!! Yay!

So here's the next part, and I hope you all like it.

Part 17

Tess glanced quickly at the girl sitting in the passenger seat of her new small truck. Serena’s dark hair was pulled away from her face, showing the structure that was so similar to that of Liz. She hoped with her whole heart that she was doing the right thing. As she turned her attention back to the road leading almost straight from the outskirts of Roswell to the pod chamber, her mind flashed back to the conversation she had had with Isabel last night.

“You’re going to ask her to help us, aren’t you?” Isabel had asked, briefly glancing at a winded Tess, who struggled to keep running at Isabel’s pace. Isabel immediately decreased her pace, allowing Tess to stop pushing herself so hard.

“Ask who what?” Tess wheezed, playing dumb unconvincingly.

Isabel couldn’t have smiled if she had wanted to, all energy focused on moving her limbs gracefully, pushing her body as hard as she could, forcing it to work unceasingly. “Serena. You’re going…to…ask her…to help bring Liz…back.” Her voice struggled to come out as she reached for breath that she couldn’t seem to hold in her lungs.

“Yes.”

Isabel’s head nodded with the rhythm she was moving at. “Good.”

Serena was staring out the window, watching the barren landscape fly by. Not bothering to tear her eyes from the desert outside, she asked quietly, “What do you want me to do?”

Tess smiled slightly. “What do you mean?”

“All of you.” She turned to look at Tess who half pretended to still be concentrating on the road. “What do all of you want me to do? Does this little trip have anything to do with the prophecy? Does it have to do with the part that says one twin will save the life of the other? Because I’m pretty sure it’s too late to save Liz’s life, she’s already dead, Tess. I wish it was different, but it’s not. Liz was murdered, and though I wish I had met my sister, she’s gone. I can’t bring her back to life.”

Tess swerved to the right onto a barely tread road that only those belonging to the “I-know-an-alien” club knew. “Serena, we know Liz is dead, but we also know that the prophesy said that one twin would be murdered, forcing the other to somehow save her life.”

Serena rolled her eyes, annoyed. “She’s DEAD. Maybe you guys need to just let go, and go on with your lives.”

Tess stayed silent, holding her words in her cheeks until she pulled up to the pod chamber. She parked silently before turning to Liz’s twin and examining her eyes, wondering if there was a sign showing that she couldn’t be trusted. “Serena, I’m going to show you something, but you have to promise not to tell or show anyone. Not even Zan.”

“I tell Zan everything.”

“Not this, Serena. You can tell him eventually, but not yet. Let’s just keep this between you, me, and Isabel.”

Serena stared at her, wondering what was so important. “Fine,” she agreed reluctantly, “but this better be good.”

Tess nodded and climbed out of the car, stuffing her keys into her jeans pocket and pulling her pink and white baseball cap onto her head over her curly blond ponytail. Carefully, she began walking up to rock formation, keeping an eye on Serena, making sure she didn’t fall. When they got to the opening, Tess moved her hand an inch over the rock, a silver handprint forming on the wall. She pressed her hand to it and a second later, a door in the rock slid open. Serena slipped in, following Tess.

The chamber was fifteen degrees cooler than the outside world, causing both girls to shiver instantly. The pods glowed eerily in the dark space, exuding purple, green, and blue lights. Tess walked towards the pods and ran her hand over them, wistfully. Silently, she crawled through one, pushing out through the other side.

“Serena.” She called out from the other side. “Come through the pods.”

Serena walked to the pod Tess had disappeared through and touched it gently. The dry material crumbled as her hand stroked it. Cautiously, she maneuvered her way into the small pod and crawled through, the pod dissolving on impact, clinging to her hands. She found herself in a small metallic room with Tess.

A large crystal cone was attached to the ceiling, reaching almost to the ground, where another cone reached up towards it. The cones shimmered brilliantly, changing colors every few seconds with a kaleidoscope effect. Serena drew in a shallow breath, struck by the otherworldly beauty.

“This,” Tess started proudly, “is the Granolith.”

Serena walked closer to it, reaching her hand out to touch it. The smooth crystal warmed instantly as her hand made contact, glowing a dark pink in the area surrounding her hand.

“Do you believe in time travel, Serena?” Tess asked, watching her interact with the Granolith.

Serena withdrew her hand and turned to face Tess, a brilliant smile
blazing on her face. “Yes.”

***

He hung up the cell phone his mission leader had given him. Why he had to play with this human toy instead of using the advanced technology of their planet, he would never understand. A scowl covered his face as the orders he had just received sunk in. He was to abort the mission, immediately. Another crew would be arriving in Roswell shortly to destroy the remaining hybrids, as well as their human friends. As it turned out, Kivar had changed his mind, wanting to murder Liz a second time himself. Too bad they hadn’t told him that before he killed her.

Not that he would’ve not done it. He loved watching her die by his own hand. The last time around, when he watched the beautiful seer die, he had wished that it was his own hand that had plunged the sword into her beautiful flesh. This time he actually had the chance.

He remembered how when he had lifted his knife to her wrist, she had fought, glaring defiantly at him, hitting him with all the strength she had left. Somehow, he doubted she even knew who he was, maybe she didn’t even know who she was. Until the end. Until her blood dripped down her wrists, forming the Antarian royalty symbol on her left, the whirlwind galaxy symbol on her right.

But at the moment he slipped his hand onto her chest and began slowly killing her as he pinned her to her mattress, she had obviously remembered who she was.

Her voice had been so full of hatred and contempt when she spat out his name.

He smiled as he remembered the angry glare she had as she took her last breath, before death claimed her, and her face took an expression of peace.

She had died a horrible death.

And he would make sure that it was he who brought the others to the same fate.

He smiled painfully wide as he pulled the newspaper picture of Liz out of his pocket and attached the blood red rose to the paper. Waving his hand over the rose, the symbol of their galaxy appeared, glowing in black dots against the crimson, soft petals. Walking confidently, he
dropped the rose and paper in front of Michael’s apartment.

Tonight the next had to die.

***

Zan stood in the kitchen returning the curious- and suspicious- stares of Maria, Max, Isabel, Kyle, Alex, and Michael.

“So how did all you become friends?” He asked, thoroughly confused.

Maria responded. “Max saved Liz’s life after she was shot at the Crashdown. He risked all their lives because he’d been in love with Liz for all his life. Well, ever since he hatched. She told me a few weeks later, then Alex got involved when we took his blood at the hospital so that the technicians wouldn’t do tests on Max’s real blood, and then when he and Liz were arrested at a party at the soap factory, Liz told him so that Alex wouldn’t tell Valenti the truth…or what he thought was the truth. He didn’t believe her, but he covered for all of us anyway because he loves Liz and me. Then when Topolsky came, Alex was the one who discovered that she was FBI and she went away. Then Alex was cool because he was in love with Isabel anyway. Then Valenti got involved when Nasedo pretended to be Max and kidnapped Liz, and then Max got caught by the FBI when Nasedo lured them to him, and Valenti had to help us all get into Eagle Rock and bust out Max, and ended up helping us catch Pierce, who Michael accidentally killed to protect us all. But Kyle got shot in the process because he was hiding behind a curtain in the UFO museum. When he came back from football camp he was really into Buddha and I don’t really remember how he got close to us all. But I think part of it might’ve been that Tess moved into his and Valenti’s house because Nasedo went to Washington as Pierce to disband the Special Unit, he’s still there. And now Kyle’s in love with Tess, or at least he has been since she changed from the total destiny driven bitch she was into someone who’s discovering her humanity.” Maria took a breath. “And that’s how we all became friends. Unless you want to know how Liz, Alex, and I became best friends. That’s a pretty short story…”

Michael clasped a hand over her mouth and she glared at him, but thankfully remained silent. She bit his hand and then it was his turn to glare at her.

“Crazy girl.”

“Spaceboy.”

Zan ignored them, turning to Max. “You saved Liz’s life?”

“Yes. And if I had it to do again, I would. I’ve never regretted saving her that day.”

Isabel leaned onto the kitchen counter. “We were all mad at him for that, Michael thought it was time for the three of us to leave, but Max convinced us all that we had to keep everything normal.”

“How did you know you could trust her?”

“She’s Liz.”

Zan smiled, understanding. “I think I know what you mean. If she was anything like her sister.”

“What’s your story?”

Zan jumped up and settled onto the kitchen counter, still smiling happily. “Lonnie, Rath, Ava, and I were taken by our protector. He raised us for a few years, teaching us everything we needed to know about Antar, our mission, etc, dispelling the false truths that he knew we’d find out. He told us that in our past life, we were all killed by Kivar, that Kivar knew that we had been cloned, and that our whole lives we would be in danger of a crazy alien determined to kill us. But we knew from an early age that we weren’t the same people that we were. We still have memories locked into each of us, but the scientists cloned our essences and infused us with memories, but they didn’t clone our souls. We’re all different than we were.

“Anyway, when we were about 10, Cal, our protector, took us to an orphanage and pretended that he had found us. He worked with the system to get us placed in homes close to each other so that he could still keep an eye on us while he did his alien ambassador work.

“When we were 12, I met Serena. Nicholas Whitaker was picking on her and I defended her. After that we became good friends, started dating at age 15, and at age 16 I told her the truth about me.”

Max asked jealously, “You weren’t worried about letting her in?”

“I trusted her completely.”

Max nodded, silently cursing the years that he wasted, the years he could’ve spent with his true love. But instead, following the rule of not getting close, he watched her from a distance, only getting to know her love a year and a half before she was killed.

The doorbell rang and Michael groaned, making his way to the door noisily. He reached the door and opened it quickly. Nobody was there. Annoyed, he began to close the door before he glanced at the ground and found the rose. He picked it up carefully, glancing at the picture of Liz closely before noticing the symbol glowing on the rose.

Above the faded picture of his friend, were glimmering words. He glanced at them quickly before trying to decipher them again. Wiping them with his hand made them appear solidly.

“I killed her.” Michael said it aloud again before clutching it tightly in his hand. The sharp thorns of the rose gripped into his palm, tearing the human flesh, causing alien blood to flow through the wounds, leaving drips flowing through his hand, mingling with the petals of the rose. He ran through the hallway, searching for the person responsible.

When he found whoever killed Liz Parker, he was going to make them plead for mercy. Anger raged through his veins, mixing with adrenaline, fueling his limbs as he tore through the hallways, not a single inch of space going without a hard glance. No one meandered through the halls, the only noise was the furious pounding of his own footsteps, until a faint thump, thump, thump was behind him.

Michael paused, the footsteps ceasing, too.

He started running again.

The footsteps began again, faster this time.

Michael stopped as he heard another, fainter, set of footsteps join the sounds. And suddenly, the footsteps following him turned, and thumped rhythmically towards the other set of footsteps.

“Michael?” Maria’s voice rang out tenderly, searching for him in the dimly lit halls. “Michael, where are you?”

The footsteps hurried towards her now, and the man who they belonged to smiled evilly. She would do just fine tonight.

“Michael?” She called out hesitantly as a shadow moved across the hallway. “Michael, is that you? Stop playing.”

Someone was behind her and she turned around slowly, thinking that if she didn’t react, it wouldn’t be real. She finished turning and screamed at the top of her lungs before he clasped his hand onto her mouth. Maria glared, kicking her knee into his groin, startled when he barely reacted.

He slammed her into the wall, and she bit his hand, drawing blood. He didn’t react, although pain coursed through his hand. He would enjoy killing her even more for that.

Michael heard her scream and raced towards his apartment.

Maria maneuvered her hand away from her body and hit him as hard as she could at the side of his neck, trying to hit the pressure point squarely, but she missed by an inch. Fighting as hard as she could, she struggled against him, slamming her foot down onto his instep as he reached to pull her white shirt away from her chest. He smoothly put his hand on her smooth chest, right above her heart, and it started to glow.

The light burned into her chest in the shape of his hand and she bit down harder on his other hand, her fight starting to fade from her burning body. The pain was unbearable and she started to welcome the thought of death.

“Lizzie.” She murmured as well as she could, her eyes closing as the thought of her best friend came to her. Liz appeared in her mind, behind her shut eyes, hugging her and helping her through the pain.

“Maria, don’t give up. Don’t give in. Just fight for one more minute. Please, Maria, you’re not supposed to die yet. Please, Maria, please.” Liz’s calm voice was choked with tears and she struggled to be calm for her best friend. She grabbed onto Maria’s hand and sent her strength, and tried to share the pain. It was a pain that she’d already experienced, the pain that extinguished her own life.

There was no way Maria was going to die by the same hand.

Michael tore around the corner, facing Maria and her attacker. He glanced quickly at them before feeling his power gathering in his outstretched hand. He prayed silently for accuracy and the energy throttled through the air, separating Maria from her attacker. Maria fell to the ground, hardly breathing, and Michael rushed to her side, the air around her shimmering. He reached her side and grabbed her warm hand, and heard a quiet voice speaking to him.

“Take care of her, Michael. Don’t let him get her.”

Just a fly by posting, thank you everyone for your feedback. I really really appreciate it!

Part 18

Isabel stared at the plans laid out in front of her. “You came up with all these in one week?” She asked, impressed.

Dark hair shining, Serena nodded eagerly.

Isabel traced the illustrations and mathematical notations that flowed across the large sheets of paper. “Wow.”

Serena pointed out her favorite part of the plan, “Saying that this is the correct sequence of events that happened that night, Tess will be able to correct all the things that would’ve ruined that timeline.”

“Even…”

“Yup.”

Isabel smiled brightly at Serena and Tess, who was staring in awe at the plans.

“I think this might work.”

***

He glared out his tiny window that overlooked a world he hated. He had failed to kill the human. The human girl! He failed to kill her. And so he had hid from this hideous world for a week, fine-tuning his anger, and turning that rage into a plan to kill them all. Now all he needed was his reinforcements.

He was going to take Roswell by storm.

***

Michael glanced at the rock before raising his hand, taking aim and releasing the power. It hit the rock violently and shards of rock flew across the patio. He shrugged and sat down on the bench next to a lost in thought Tess.

“You aren’t paying attention.”

Tess looked up, her eyes slightly glazed over. “Huh?” She snapped out of it quickly. “Oh, sorry. You’re doing great, Michael. Let’s try something new this time, though.”

“What?”

Tess stretched delicately, her thin arms crossed at the wrists, raised high above her body as she arched her back. “Ummm…let’s see if you can move the rock instead of destroying it.” She lowered her arms back to her side and stared at the rock, concentrating intensely.

She focused on the rock, imagined it moving slowly to the right, inch by inch, foot by foot. Finally, she imagined it landing in her outstretched hand, imagined the cool feel of the bumpy rock as it rested in her smooth palm. She imagined wrapping her hand around the weight and feeling it bulge into her soft fingers.

Opening her eyes, she glanced down at her hand, almost ready to be disappointed. She opened her eyes and smiled triumphantly at the rock that rested there.

“See, can you do that?”

Michael grunted. “How do you expect me to do something that you had a hard time doing the first time? I’m a warrior, I need to know how to take the offense.”

Tess groaned. “Michael, there is more to being a warrior than hurting others, you need to protect as well. Like when Maria was attacked,” Michael glared at her warningly, unwilling to even think about the state he had found her in, unwilling to think about how he almost lost her, how she almost lost her life because he was an alien.

Funny how the more life they experienced, the more things he had in common with Max.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For giving me one more thing to be jealous of Max Evans for.”

Tess smiled as the vision fluttered through her mind. As the months flew by, she welcomed the visions more and more, finally understanding what they were. They were a part of Liz, a part that Tess never bothered to get to know. But she would change that.

“Michael,” she started over, patiently, “Say your enemy was about to grab something that was extremely valuable to you, would you a) smash your enemy with your powers, which would also destroy whatever you were trying to save, or b) bring what was valuable to your side, then focus on destroying.

Michael glared at her. “I wouldn’t let them get close to her.”

Tess shifted in annoyance. “I wasn’t meaning Maria.”

“Whatever.” He turned his back on her and tried to forget how close he had let Maria get to death. The image of her barely breathing body emblazoned with the silvery handprint on her chest tortured him every day and every night since it had happened.

Max had tried so hard to save her life, but he doubted he could undue all the damage her attacker had inflicted. It took two healings for her to wake up, and still she felt like a train had hit her.

Maria opened her eyes and smiled dimly at Michael. “Thank you.”

“For what?” He asked, confused, as he gripped her hand tightly in his.

“For saving my life.”

She had thanked Max for healing her, but Michael for saving her life.

“I do protect, Tess, I protect with my destructive powers. I killed Pierce when he was trying to kill us all, and I got the guy who was trying to hurt Maria.”

Rage flowed through his veins again and he turned and stretched his hand out, pointing at a small fragment of rock he’d already destroyed. He released the power and it obliterated the fragment, leaving only dust in the wake of his accuracy.

***

Alex sat down at the booth, sliding in across from Max. Max looked up and half smiled at him before returning to his milk shake.

“What’s up, Max?”

“Nothing.” He murmured before fidgeting with an onion ring. “What about you? Learn anything?”

Alex grabbed an onion ring from Max’s plate and munched on it. “A few things. Lonnie Valentine was found dead three weeks ago in her adoptive parents’ home, apparently a suicide. No suicide note, drug overdose. No autopsy was performed.” He added quickly as he saw the curious expression on Max’s face.

“What kind of pills?”

“Sleeping pills. Same as Liz.”

“Any signs of a struggle?”

Alex slid a manila envelope across the table to Max. “Here’s the police report, don’t look at the pictures.”

Max nodded and opened the envelope, sliding the contents onto the table. Riffling through the pages, a printed photo caught his attention, Lonnie with Zan, Rath, and Ava. He stared at it, shocked at the similarities and differences between them and his friends and family. The friends in the photo smiled warmly at the camera, looking like they didn’t have a care in the world. They looked like the normal teens their Roswell counterparts had always failed unsuccessfully to look like.

The next photo caught his attention and he stared down at the dead body of Lonnie Valentine. Lonnie, he chanted in his head, so that he wouldn’t give in to the thought of it being Isabel. Alex noticed the picture he was entranced in and whisked it from his hands.

“Max, I told you not to look at it.”

“Fine. Then tell me what you found.”

“Signs of small struggle, police noted them as signs of distress, like Liz’s room. Traces of blood found on the floor of her room, but no signs of blood shed from the victim.”

“So what are we dealing with?”

Alex shrugged and stole another onion ring. “Basically, we’re
dealing with an alien hunter who is obsessed with killing you guys.”

“Nice.”

“Yeah.”

“Any ideas who it could be?”

“An alien who doesn’t like you.”

“Yeah. Probably.”

***

He smiled triumphantly as the van rolled to a stop in front of the small building. They were here, finally. Walking slowly to the door, he imagined the crew that was going to help him take out the royals, the fastest and smartest of the aliens left on this pathetic excuse for a planet.

The door opened and in walked two men. Everything about them screamed average: height, weight, hair, eyes, skin, clothes. But everything that could not be seen was extraordinary.

They bowed to him, their new boss.

“Sir, we’re ready.”

He rubbed his hands greedily. So was he.

***

Tess handed Serena the crystal Nasedo had left her. “It’s the key to the Granolith. When will all the changes be done to it?”

Serena wiped a hand over her tired eyes. “Tomorrow. I can’t work anymore tonight.” She yawned loudly, putting the crystal into her pocket. “Why don’t you stay at Michael’s tonight and we can head out there first thing tomorrow morning?”

“Tomorrow’s graduation rehearsal, we won’t get out there until the afternoon.”

Serena yawned as she nodded, waves of drowsiness threatening to drown her. Eyes shutting heavily, she opened the door of the Valenti house and started to walk out to her car, Tess beside her. She shivered in the cool early summertime night and rubbed her thin bare arms.

Tess gasped and her steps faltered as her sight landed on the lawn, the symbol of their home burning brightly in the grass. She ran to the side of the house and grabbed the hose, turning it on full blast as she made her way back to the front and doused the fire quickly, extinguishing the alien symbol. Carefully, watching the neighboring houses, she placed her hand on the wet earth and erased signs of the fire, green grass
reappearing where it had been killed.

“What was that?”

“A sign.”

Tess watched the shadows, intent on catching whoever she knew was there. A quiet rustle sounded from around the front of the house and Tess memorized the location as she walked a now alert Serena to her car.

Serena got in hesitantly. “Do you want me to stay?”

“No. Get back to Michael’s quickly. Tell him and Max that someone’s watching us. Kyle is here, I’ve got to get back to the house.”

“Bye.” Serena nodded, and closed the door, starting the engine. She pulled away quickly, exceeding the speed limit as fast as she could.

Tess kept her attention trained on the shadows as she walked back up to the front door. Pausing by the bush, she lowered her voice and spoke. “What do you want?”

“You, Queen Ava.”

She raised her head and slipped into the role of the alien queen, a role she hadn’t played in so long. “Show yourself.”

The average man stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself to the ousted queen. He gasped. She was beautiful, even as a human. He had always wanted to know her, even though she was the enemy.

“I helped kill you in your last life.” He admitted.

“Are you the one who killed Liz Parker?”

“No.”

“Do you know who did?”

“Yes. I work for him.”

“Are you going to kill me again?”

He reached out to touch the creamy skin peaking out of her tank top and she pulled away quickly.

“Yes.”

His hand grazed her neck delicately before withdrawing. He slipped back into the shadows and disappeared from Tess’ vision. And in that moment, she wished that she had the powers Michael did, because she would die to protect the rest of them.

Hello everyone, just a quick fly by posting, but I wanted to thank you all for your support and feedbacks! I appreciate it all so much! If it weren't for you guys, I would've given up on this story such a long time ago.

Btw, the song used towards the end of this part is by HIM from the Razorblade Romance cd.

And without further delay...

Part 19

Max stared at the picture that Mr. Parker had given him today. It was a picture from winter formal, the last time they were all together and happy. He stared at the smiling faces of all them, and wondered how things could be ruined so quickly. The night had started off so wonderfully, Max even entertained notions that maybe he and Liz would be getting back together, but by the end of the night, they were crushed horribly.

He wished he could do it over, and protect Liz from their mistakes.

Michael walked through the door and sat down heavily next to him. “Man, I wanted to thank you, for you know, saving Maria. So, thank you.”

Max looked up at him, “No problem.” He looked back at the picture. “When are we going to finally save Liz?”

The door opened violently and Serena ran in, normally smooth hair flying everywhere as she slammed the door behind her and locked them in.

“Whoever killed Liz and Lonnie is still in town. They just burned one of your guys’ symbols into the Valenti’s front yard.” She leaned against the door and slid down it slowly, finally overwhelmed by the situation she had landed in.

Zan heard her hysterical voice and rushed into the room and to her side. Lovingly, he caught her in her downward slide and picked her off her feet, protectively holding her to his chest.

Max stood up, and grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter. “Michael, I’m taking your bike, you take the Jeep and get Maria, Alex and Isabel. I want them here, now. Zan, Serena, you stay here, don’t leave.”

Zan glared at him but nodded.

Michael stood at the door and caught the keys as Max tossed them at him as they jogged out the door, shutting it behind them. Michael stood in front of the door and sealed it with his powers before taking off with
Max.

“Hurry. Get Maria first, Isabel can protect herself if she needs to.”

“What about Tess and Kyle?”

“They’ll be here soon, I know it.”

Max jumped on Michael’s bike and revved the engine quickly, pulling
out of the parking lot as Michael followed in his Jeep. They sped off in separate directions, heading for their destinations.

***

Michael pulled up in front of Maria’s house loudly, tires squealing as he parked quickly. He jumped out of the car and ran to Maria’s window, opening it with his powers and climbing into the room he’d spent a lot of time in recently.

Quietly, he snuck over to Maria’s bed and put his hand on her shoulder, shaking gently as he whispered in her ear to wake her up. She woke slowly, whimpering softly in annoyance at being woken.

“Maria, get up. We need to go, right now.”

“Where?” She asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

“My place, sweetie, we need to get to my place.”

An explosion rocked the house, filling the room with bright white light, startling Maria out of her sleepy state.

“What was that?” She asked, scared, as she jumped out of bed and grabbed the bag from the table next to her.

Michael glanced out the window. “I don’t know. But whoever killed Liz is back, Maria, and we need to get the others. Is your mom home?” He asked worried, not wanting to leave her where a murderer was possibly.

“No, she’s spending the night with the Sheriff.”

Another explosion, based closer to Maria’s room, rocked the house and they ran towards the front door, hand in hand, Maria’s eyes still cluttered with sleepiness. They burst out the door and ran for the jeep, jumping in as a figure ran from around the house. Just as they peeled away from the house, another explosion hit the road where they had just been, creating a deep crater in the asphalt.

***
Max ran to the front door, staring at the grass where the sign must’ve been. He knocked, and the door opened instantly, Tess and Kyle holding bags and keys, ready to go.

“No time to talk, Max, we’ve got to go.” Tess said as they blew past him. “Mrs. Deluca and the Sheriff went to Albuquerque for the night.”

Max trotted after them, heading back to the motorcycle.

“Why are our parents never around when we have these big adventures?”

Kyle laughed. “They aren’t, are they?”

Tess glared at him and pulled his hand as she opened the doors to her truck and threw her stuff behind the seats.

“See you in a few minutes, Max?” Tess asked worriedly, climbing into the drivers seat.

He nodded and Tess started the truck, pulling away while Kyle was still trying to close the door.

“Slow down, Tess!” Kyle cried, clinging to the door for dear life.

Max almost smiled, before climbing back off the bike and walking around the house. The shadows seemed to taunt him, full of things that go bump in the night. One shadow seemed to move more than the others and Max faced it, hand out straight, ready to fight. A mocking laugh reached his ears from behind and he turned around.

“Looking for me?” The man asked and Max threw up a shield to protect himself.

“I didn’t kill the seer, if you were wondering. But I am going to kill you.” He raised his hand and blasted the shield, watching in wonder as his power bounced off the shield and was directed back at him. He blasted the shield over and over again, hoping the former king’s power would soon drain.

Max focused hard on keeping the shield up, focusing on the thought of bringing back Liz. Bt bit by bit, his energy drained, the shield losing its vivacity and strength. Saving his own energy, he dropped the shield, and dropped, crawling quickly for the shadows.

The laughter followed him and a blast lit up the shadows, painfully hitting Max in the leg. He struggled not to cry out as blood soaked his pants.

“Really, King Zan, you think I can’t find you? Your pathetic vulnerability makes you an easy target.”

Max groaned, wishing he had the abilities Michael had. He wished that he could blast this man in front of him. Opting for a physical defense, he picked up a large rock and threw it at him. It hit the approaching man in the head and he fell to his knees, a large chunk of skin and flesh falling from his head. He reached for his head, to shield the bleeding wound. Blood oozed down his face, and he grimaced as it dripped into his eyes, blinding him momentarily.

“Come on,” Max taunted him. “Fight me like a man.”

“Why? Your powers not working in a situation of life and death?”

“No.” Max replied as the man stood up. He didn’t trust him to fight honest, but that’s all Max could do.

Blood continued flowing down his face, but he managed to put his
hands up, ready to fight like a human. He shuddered at the thought of fighting like a mortal, but pretended anyway. The second he got his hands on that king, it would all be over. Energy trapped itself in his fists, waiting anxiously for a release.

Max surprised him with a punch to the left temple that sent him to the ground again. Stomping on the man’s back as he lay there, he watched in awe as he burst into dust.

“Wow.” He said before running back to the bike and leaving the pile of dust blowing in the slight breeze.

***

“Where the hell is he?” Michael yelled, pacing the small living room. He glanced at the pale faces clustered around the room.

Isabel spoke, trying to maintain a calm voice, but failing. “You don’t think they got him, do you?”

Michael glanced at her, her eyes glistening, watching as Alex pulled her closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “No. Max can defend himself.”

The door burst open for the second time that night and a worn out Max limped through.

“What happened?” Isabel asked, running to her brother’s side.

“I got into a little fight when I was checking out the Valenti’s house.”

Tess stood up quickly. “There was a guy there. He said he was going to kill me.”

Max limped to her side and enveloped her in a hug. “He’s not going to. He’s dead.”

Tess startled herself as tears ran down her face. “Thank you.” She whispered, helping Max down onto the couch. This was a new feeling, relief and gratitude directed towards someone who helped save her life. She knelt on the floor and stared at the blood soaking through his pants. Gingerly, she rolled up the leg of his pants and stared at the gaping wound.

Zan was at her side in an instant. “Max, man, he got you pretty good. You want me to heal this for you?” Max nodded, his face pale from blood loss. Zan placed his hand on the wound, blood still flowing freely from it.

The connection was instantaneous, memories of their past life awakened as memories of their current lives flowed fluidly through their connection. Zan hurried, healing the wound, but then lingered a few moments more, sharing his life and welcoming scenes of Max’s.

Breaking the connection, Zan hoarsely muttered, “You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.”

“You too.” Max agreed.

Serena stood up suddenly. “Tess, Isabel, and I have been working on a way to change the past. It’s pretty much done, just needs a few minutes of tinkering, and we’ll be ready. I think we should head up there right now.”

Max nodded, not surprised. “The three of you go with Alex, and Kyle. Maria, Michael, Zan, and I will follow, make sure no one is following.”

Everyone nodded and broke into their groups. Serena patted her pocket, making sure the crystal was still there. She fell into step with Tess and Kyle, Zan walking next to her, holding her hand. Squeezing his hand tightly, butterflies fluttered through her stomach. They only had one chance to make this work.

Tess turned to face her, one hand pushing strands of blond hair away from her face, the other holding onto Kyle’s hand as though it were a lifeline. “So when I go back, where will I appear?”

“Probably the Granolith chamber.” Serena whispered.

“Probably? In FM’s timeline, he appeared at Liz’s window.”

“In his lifetime I had fourteen years to come up with a plan, I only had fourteen days this time.”

Tess nodded, hoping she would have enough time to accomplish everything she needed to.

Serena fell behind, wanting a few more minutes with Zan before they split up. She slowed her pace until they both stopped in the doorway of the apartment building. Serena turned to face Zan, her dark hair tucked behind her ears. Wordlessly, Zan pulled her into his arms, enveloping her completely in a net of safety and warmth.

He stroked her hair and back calmly, even though his heart was threatening to burst from its confines in his chest. Lovingly, he pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head before resting his cheek on her silky hair.

“I love you.” She murmured quietly for only him to hear.

He smiled. “I love you, too. And I’ll see you soon, Serena, my little genius. It’ll all be okay.”

She pulled back and laughed at the nickname. “Stay safe, don’t do
anything stupid.”

“Not at all. No horse play.” His tone was joking but his words were serious. This wasn’t the time to play. Not at all.

She hugged him tightly, watching their new friends climb into their vehicles, waiting for them to join them. “We should go.”

“Yea.”

Serena leaned her face up to his, and he lowered his head, their lips touching for a slow kiss of promises.

Parting slowly, they tried to smile, both failing miserably. “It’ll be
over soon; it’ll all be over, and we can go back to normal lives.” Zan stated, even though everything inside of him was screaming that there would never be a normal life for them again.

Grabbing his hand again, she led them out to their friends, before squeezing him tightly and climbing into Alex’s car. She mouthed the words ‘I love you’ to him one last time as the car pulled away slowly. Zan raised his hand and mouthed the words back to her as she disappeared from his sight.

He sighed and jumped into Max’s Jeep.

“It’s hell saying goodbye to the Parker girls.” Max stated matter of factly.

Zan nodded, agreeing completely.

“Now what are we doing?” Zan asked as Max pulled behind Tess’ truck, which was blaring music.

“We protect them while Tess goes into the past and saves Liz’s life.” Michael said.

Zan nodded and moved forward to sit on the edge of his seat, peering into the night as they sped from the outskirts of the small town into the cold, forsaken desert.

Max smiled, almost giddily, as he maneuvered his car down the state highway, keeping one eye on the truck in front of him and one eye on the desert, searching for anything out the ordinary. It was finally happening. His atrocious life was almost over. His sins were almost gone. Just a few more hours and he could be happy again.

Only a few more hours and Liz Parker would be alive again.

***
Kyle fiddled with the radio, searching for something it was safe to call music.

“Don’t you listen to anything other than girly crap?”

“Oh, come one,” Tess rolled her eyes at him, “It’s not like I listen to Britney Spears or anything like that.”

“Garbage? Isn’t that bad enough?”

Tess stuck her tongue out at him. “Garbage is amazing.”

“It’s called garbage for a reason.”

“Shut up.”

Kyle smiled, reaching over to squeeze her leg lightly. He turned back to the music. “So what do you listen to when your life is about to change forever?”

“HIM. Put in HIM.” Tess stated, glancing quickly in her rearview mirror to make sure that Max’s Jeep was still behind them. Satisfied, she told Kyle what number to put the CD player on, and started to relax as the music flowed through the speakers.

“I was listening to this song right before we got together.” She smiled at the memory.

Kyle glanced at her. “Have I told you how happy I was when you said you wanted to be with me?”

“No.” She pretended, really wanting him to gush about how much he loved her. She wanted to know what they had was real, that he would always love her because she was special, even though she wasn’t like other girls. She wanted to know that he loved her in spite of her horrible past and the horrendous secrets she had kept. She wanted to know that he loved her for who she really was.

“I felt like doing some crazy little happy dance. But I was a little afraid that you would laugh at me, so instead I kept it inside, and pretended that I was cool. I couldn’t stop smiling the rest of the night, though.”

“I remember.” She smiled, remembering that the same was true of her.

“I’ve never been happier than when I was with you, Tess.”

“Not even when you were with Liz?” She asked coyly.

Kyle smirked at her. “I wasn’t in love with Liz.”

“And you are with me?”

“I love you more than anything, Tess.”

“More than the fat bald dude.”

“The fat bald dude helped lead me to you.”

“What?!” She exclaimed.

He laughed. “It was a dry couple of months, Tess. Kyle needed a
woman; Kyle needed a woman badly.”

“Oh,” she whined, “so if it wasn’t me, you still would’ve gotten together with some other girl?”

“No,” he murmured, taking one of her small, soft hands in his larger, rougher ones, “I asked for help getting you, not just any girl. You, Tess, only you.”

I know that it hurts too much; I know that you’re scared. I know that you’re running out of trust, and wishing you were dead. But in your misery, you’re not alone. So come share your tears with me and witness it all go wrong.

Tess giggled. “I wuv you!”

“I wuv you too, my snuggle alien.”

She laughed, turning to face him for a moment. “I really do, Kyle, I really do.”

He rubbed his thumb across her knuckles and smiled affectionately at her. “I know. I do to.”

Tess smiled, content for once in her life with who she was. She was happy for the first time, she had discovered who she really was, and was loved for it. All those years she had felt alone and miserable were suddenly worth now that she truly knew what love was all about.