Chapter 29. Mind Games
Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:12 pm
Thanks for coming back to read!!!!
Thank you all for your patience. I know it sucks to have to wait this long between parts. And because I know Michael is going to give me hell to write him, I moved his part to chapter 30, though you will get to know more pieces of Maria's gift now
Since I last answered feedback, I want to thank all those who bumped the story and asked about my whereabouts So, thanks to thetvgeneral, (I really love when the betas jump in! and one of these days I *am* going to spoil you rotten 
); cwm_ (thanks for bumping!); Max/Jason Luver, (did you ever finish reading all those fics I sent you??); Timelord31, (well, if I do not come back to finish, I swear I'll post the entire plot ); katydid, (you wouldn't *believe* how hard it was to get Dave and Maria to behave...); Michelle in Yonkers, (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Where would I be without those threats??!); and Allie Xie, (Technically, it *was* sooner than later since I changed the chapters' structure 
Thanks for stopping by!).
By the way, according to my logic and plan, there are only six chapters left for this book... so questions are very welcomed just to make sure I've covered all my bases
AAANNNDD the girls at Roswell Heaven (http://p072.ezboard.com/broswellheaven) very generously have let me have an "Author's Chat" on their site. So I'm just wondering if you guys would like to come one of these Saturdays? Let me know if it would be better at a 2pm EST time or 8pm EST time
That way I can ask for a date and let you all know.
So, all that said, here's the next chapter! Let's see how the storm is going for those two... for all of them, actually
XXIX
Mind Games
Maria hardly ever found herself at a loss for words, and this day was no exception. It had been remarkably easy to throw herself into this “tale”, almost creepily so, and in retrospect, she hadn’t even been aware that she was still keeping so many feelings inside of her regarding that whole time. Not only because of what had happened to Max, but also what had happened to all of them. Everything they had lost in such a short time. One week she was worrying about Michael not “getting it”, and the next she was a nervous wreck about not seeing Michael ever again. Talk about priorities.
It had been so long since she had told what had happened to Max that it almost felt like she was telling something that had never really happened. If only that were true… By now she was starting to feel the weariness of it all. The one and only time she had told half of it had been three years ago, to Alex, and she had silently cried through it all, her tears sliding down her face as Alex had placed a soothing arm across her shoulders.
God, she missed him. Good ol’ Alex had sat through the whole thing with her for almost three hours, comforting her, as she chose what to tell and what not. She had felt far safer telling this to Alex than to the man in front of her, of course, but telling Alex had attached a guilty feeling, because she had known that Max had never wanted to tell any of this to begin with, to anyone. He hadn’t wanted Alex to know, and she knew it. As far as she was aware, Alex had never told anyone, especially not Isabel, but now Maria was spilling the whole thing to Dave. The least she could do was to tell him that he was not to take this lightly. He couldn’t take advantage of knowing her and Max’s sort of secret.
“He made me promise I would never tell them, especially not Liz,” Maria fiercely said, and realizing there was nothing she could really do to stop him, she asked with concern, “You won’t tell her now, will you?” She was dreading that Max’s trust in her would be broken by this man, no matter how noble her intentions had been –or how twisted the circumstances for that matter. Yet he just looked at her with a look of respect, pretty much the same look that Alex had had when he had been listening to her. The one look that said, I won’t betray you.
“No,” Dave almost whispered, his eyes fixed on her, all his concentration on the subject.
No. Just like that. One word. She was expecting something more along the lines of “this will be our secret to keep” or something stupid. Yet she believed, with that sole word, that Dave was not going to disappoint her. She wondered since when was she so trusting, or more likely, what was it about Dave that made them want to trust him?
Admittedly, the guy was nothing to sneeze at. She wouldn’t put past him that he spent an hour or so at the gym three times a week and probably kept a diet as well. But it wasn’t just his looks. He had a friendly air around him, almost playful, just like when she had entered this office more than an hour ago and she had caught him in midair. However, there also was another side of him, one more serious and thoughtful, like the way he had looked at her right before stating that he knew Max had talked to her. She frowned. How had that happened anyway? Maria wondered not for the first time, finally deciding to fish for her own answers.
“How could you know?” Maria asked, half worried, half expectant. She didn’t even want to start imagining what it would mean if Dave had been spying on them from way before the Phoenix incident. “How did you know he talked to me about this?”
Dave’s eyes blinked once, but his expression didn’t change, as if he were still listening to her with all his attention pinned to every detail. With the same tone he had said “no” just thirty seconds before, he said:
“‘I really want to know. So if you are feeling dizzy, weak, dry-eyed or whatever, just tell me.’ Those were your exact words,” Dave said as Maria’s mind was trying to make sense of what Dave was talking about.
“Exact words?” she finally managed to ask.
“You asked him that,” Dave said, blinking once more, this time breaking eye contact as he composed himself on his seat, “when you woke up in the rooms. Dizziness, weakness, dry-eyes, they are all symptoms Max went through at one point or another.”
Maria stared at him, half of her brain trying to remember what she had said to Max in those awful hours, and the rest waiting for Dave to continue explaining what else he had known to reach that conclusion. But as the seconds went by, he didn’t say anything else.
“That’s it?!” she exclaimed in disbelief, suspiciousness laced in her tone.
“Well, I’ve been told I’m a very perceptive man—”
“No one’s that perceptive,” Maria cut him off. He smiled a small smile at her interruption. He lowered his eyes to his puzzle for a second, as if recalling something.
“Did you ever wonder why the walls in your blue rooms were thinner or thicker?” Dave asked, his eyes returning to hers, inclining himself a little forward, his tone softer. “Why you were actually ‘paired’?”
Yes. Hell yes! Yet, as uncharacteristic as it was for her, Maria remained silent. This was obviously one of those rhetorical questions. She just raised her eyebrow as in “your point being?”
“I’m perceptive enough to catch on to details, though it’s usually the way those details are presented that give me the better… picture. With you six, it was all in your relationships. What you would say, or not say, depended on who you were talking to. I took my chances at pairing you the way I did, yet very interesting details came through. I already knew things from school gossip about how you and Max had gotten closer when Liz went away to Florida that summer. And when you went straight to the point when you asked Max if he was alright, knowing exactly how he would feel if he hadn’t been, that’s when my perception kicked in. You were worried about Michael, and you didn’t want to upset Max more than he already was… But you had to ask. And that was exactly what you asked first.”
“They were just three things!” Maria said still with disbelief.
“They weren’t random,” Dave answered her with a firm tone.
“You could have been wrong,” Maria retorted.
“But I wasn’t,” Dave said, slightly smiling. In that moment it dawned on her that Dave had tricked her into telling him everything Max had told her without really knowing a thing. Her eyes pierced Dave’s as if she were ready to throw daggers at him in a very literal way. He didn’t lower his eyes though, but his “aura” of friendliness was getting thinner all the same.
It boiled Maria’s blood. She could have gone and told the short version of the short version and Dave wouldn’t have known better. She narrowed her eyes at him, outraged. This was what he had been doing, wasn’t it? He knew little details and there they were, believing he already knew everything! She didn’t regret telling Dave what Max had told her, but she was positively fuming at being deceived like this.
For that matter, what else had she told Max in that stupid blue room that Dave could use to his advantage now? She could barely recall more than half of what she had said to him. Max had been her only link to the others except for Michael’s connections, and that had been an experience unto itself. Michael’s emotions had rolled over her in waves, as his anger and anxiousness had been hand in hand escalating to the sky. Not exactly her idea of fun –and much less in those circumstances- but now that Dave was bringing it all back, she tried to recall what else she had said, for all the good it was going to do to her...
“Was it really worth it?” she snapped at him yet again, and she didn’t care. “You go on and on about us trusting we made the right choice and then you just zap! Say things like this! You left us there for hours without knowing a thing! And all for what? Just details that might or might not tell you things about us?”
“It was more than that,” he answered, his calmness unshakeable it seemed. “It gave me clues. Hints. But more importantly, it gave me significant, solid pieces to start seeing the outlines of the puzzle you kids really are. Not second hand information; not school gossip; not classified files. It was the first time I was really seeing all of you in… well, action,” Dave said with a small smile. It made Maria’s blood boil even more.
“What could you possibly have learned from us panicking in those creepy little rooms?” she said, outraged. “Do you have any idea what it felt like to be trapped there?!” she demanded, placing –almost slapping- an angry hand over the desk.
He looked at her impassively. “I learned about how you deal with situations. How you prioritize. What was more important to each one of you,” Dave paused, looking straight at her, almost as if he could read her mind. She held his gaze. “From what you said, I did get a good idea of what it felt like to be trapped there.”
“Well, if you call pissed off and scared to death okay, then he’s fine.” She had said that to Max about Michael, and she had known Max had been feeling something along the same lines. God, how had Max managed not to lose it there, especially knowing what he knew from experience, she would never know. She was still wondering how they were all managing with being here herself, and a tiny little voice told her at the back of her mind that her sudden rage at the man in front of her had everything to do with all the stress she had been bottling for the past week.
She narrowed her eyes in a disapproving gesture. Right there, she didn’t really have any good thoughts about that man. He crossed his arms in front of him, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“If I had been the FBI, do you think all of you would still be alive?”
Maybe. No. She didn’t want to think about it. It sounded like an honest question, but Maria knew where Dave was going: I saved you. I kept you away. Ain’t I great?
“But you are not the FBI and yet you kidnapped us for three days and left us there… To our worst fears.” She slowly shook her head, trying to piece together her thoughts and her words with a slightly open mouth. Though she usually would say whatever came into her mind, she was trying to say the things that would hurt this man the most. He deserved that and so much more. “You’re not better than them,” she finally managed to say with disdain.
Dave regarded her for a couple of seconds. “At least I’m not worse.”
His statement sent a cold wave through her spine as the meaning behind Dave’s too calm words hit her. If he wanted to, he could be worse than anything. Hell, Maria had been so convinced the man was going to respect this deal because he got the better end of it, but if her gut was wrong…
“We could leave, right now, just like that,” she said, snapping her fingers, playing the one and only card that truly would keep Dave at bay, or so she hoped.
Dave was silent for a moment. Then, standing, he quietly answered, “Yes… that you certainly can do.”
His words seemed to hang in the air, almost as if they were echoing in an immense cavern. There was a certain finality to those words, and Maria would bet good money there was also a hint of annoyance, with resignation as well. He turned to the side and started walking towards his famous cupboard; snack time already, she guessed.
“I have no doubt that, if one of you really thought it was worth the risk to leave this place, you’d do it, just like that,” he said, snapping his fingers, imitating her gesture of just a minute ago. “I wouldn’t expect less from any of you, especially not from the girl who turned down a possible million dollar music contract, and who also has the temper to deal with Michael Guerin on a daily basis.”
Maria followed him with her eyes as he reached the cupboard, not sure where was this going.
“So, to answer your earlier question, yes, it was very worth it to place you in those rooms, taking the risk of scaring you out of your minds. You are here, after all.”
“You weren’t behind that deal, were you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. Maybe this was one of those unexpected things he had done. But Dave paused in front of his cupboard, a bit puzzled.
“The record deal?” he finally asked as it dawned on him what he had said just a second before. She didn’t move. “No. That was all you… and them, I had nothing to do with it.” Maria arched an eyebrow as if saying, “Really?” Dave turned and bent down, searching for something in the cupboard.
“I can play almost anything you can throw at me on a piano,” he said more to the cupboard than to her, “and it would technically be perfect, but…” he paused as he finally found the mug he had been looking for, “it wouldn’t really sound right.”
Maria frowned. The guy certainly wasn’t shy or humble –and she had almost wanted to roll her eyes at his statement of how perfect he was- so, why wouldn’t it sound right then?
“I lack passion,” he said as he stood, “music has never interested me. So I can assure you, I had nothing to do with your company record, your annoying scout, or your even more annoying music editor… It was a pretty good contract though.”
Subtle. Sure, he might not have arranged anything about it, but he sure seemed to know all about it. She snorted. “You would know about contracts, uh?” she sarcastically said. He smiled though, and bent again, this time to the mini-fridge.
Maria’s stomach rumbled –though only she heard it- at the sight of Dave taking out a milk carton. She hadn’t had breakfast, of course, and she hadn’t had much of a dinner either. This day sucked, she decided, as Dave’s eyes returned to her as well.
“Well, it would seem that you know exactly what you want from those contracts,” he answered, but this time she didn’t take the bait, if that was what it was.
“What exactly do you know about that contract, anyway?” Yeah, let’s see what amazing three things you know about this, she angrily thought.
“Only what your friend Billy said, actually.”
And that was low. She certainly felt the air leaving her lungs not to return for a couple of seconds. Billy? No, not Billy!
“‘Great car, great talk, great studio, but it was all marketing and no soul.’ Those were his exact words.”
“I thought you said it was a pretty good contract,” Maria managed to say, though it came out sounding flat. Her mind was still on her friend, imagining him sitting in some café in New York, unknowingly talking to Dave about his great plans and how once his friend had come this close to making them real.
“It was. The problem was that you didn’t agree with it. You liked what they had to offer, but not what they wanted in return.”
Well, of course she had liked the idea of millions invested in her songs, traveling the world, becoming famous and what not, but the price had been too high. They weren’t going to be her songs to begin with, and just as Billy had –apparently- said, it was all marketing and no soul. She fixed her eyes on his face –and not in his now milk-filled mug- and getting a grip she said, “Oh, doesn’t it sound familiar to a certain deal we made?”
She could practically see the wheels coming to a stop in that twisted mind of his. Time seemed to stretch as four or five seconds went by.
“So why didn’t you?” he said, his tone serious, paused, no smiles anywhere now. “Why didn’t you turn down the offer, keep going on your way, and never look back?” he asked her, placing his mug at his side, all his attention on her, but a rather different attention. She suddenly felt like a mouse being watched by a lion. She dismissed the feeling quickly.
“Because you made it plain and clear that we had no better choice,” Maria coldly answered.
“I also made plain and clear the conditions of our deal, but you seemed to believe my word is worthless.”
“We didn’t exactly meet under charming conditions, now did we? I think we at least have the right to expect the worst of any circumstance regarding you.”
“But that’s exactly my point,” Dave said, slightly narrowing his eyes. Maria could almost imagine a big, restless, yellow tail behind him, “You think something wrong is going to happen. You expect it at every corner of this place. But the truth is, since you accepted this offer, nothing bad has remotely happened to any of you. So I don’t see why your low expectations of my word should interfere with the actual facts of this deal. You are the ones who believe Jake and I see you as some kind of lab rats, and that we only want to benefit blindly from you. That was never said.”
“Not out loud…” she muttered, though she knew very well he had heard her. She slightly inclined forward while holding his gaze, “If you really want to look that closely at the ‘fine print’, it was never said that we had to accept this with smiles and a joyful choir,” she ended with a fake innocent smile. He slightly glared at her, and she dropped the façade. “What the hell were you expecting?” she indignantly –and rhetorically- asked.
The lion’s tail seemed to give one last snap and then stayed still.
“Whatever it was,” he said calmly, “we were both expecting different things and got very different outcomes. Though in your position, that turned out to be for the best.”
“Right…” Maria said, turning to look at her left, preparing herself to tell him what exactly she thought of her position and how “good” it was, but her thoughts were cut off by a phone. A cell phone. It rang so loudly in the middle of her words and her thoughts –and the silence between them, for that matter- that it actually startled both of them for a second, making them stiffen.
The cell phone rang again as recognition came to Dave’s eyes. Oh, she couldn’t wait to tell him one thing or two about cell phones and meetings, but as Dave started to walk towards the door, a very serious and almost worried look settled on his face. And for the first time he looked dangerous too. This man was not one she wanted to mess with, especially not now with the vibes he was sending out. The change was… interesting at the very least, and a bit frightening too. She thought she was cornering him for good, but now she wasn’t sure if the man was acting for her sake. What kind of man was she really dealing with here?
“We’ll continue this in a minute,” was all he said as he stepped out of the office, leaving a somewhat bewildered Maria behind.
The shock didn’t last though. As soon as Dave had left the room, closing the door behind him, she stood up and went to the door itself. Who knew? Maybe she could eavesdrop on something. Clearly, whoever had called had made Dave stop in his tracks pretty badly.
Dave didn’t go too far away from the door, but he didn’t speak loudly exactly either. The words were coming muffled as she strained her ears to catch something, anything from the conversation at the other side of the door. It took her almost a whole minute to realize he wasn’t speaking in English, and the next second she cursed her stars for not staying with the French Club back in High School.
“Tu en es sûre?" the words came muffled again. She was fairly certain it was French, and the words sort of rang a bell in her memory. Something like “are you correct?” He kept talking, and she kept listening… and frowning too. It didn’t help matters that she was listening to half the conversation. Why couldn’t he be talking in Spanish?! She would have had more luck with that…
“Non, non, cela doit être fait immédiatement. Je vais m’en occuper,” Dave sounded closer, and she had no clue about what he had just said, except that he sounded too serious for her liking. “Non, je ne vais pas interrompre mes vacances juste pour ça.” Maria frowned deeper. “Vacances” was a word she actually understood: Vacations. Well, he had said to Liz he was on vacation, hadn’t he? Dave sounded farther now. Was he pacing?
“Non, je m’en moque …” Dave continued, making Maria sighed in frustration. What was he saying, for crying out loud?! “Cela ne lui prendra pas longtemps, je sais, mais ça ne me prendra pas longtemps non plus” Okay, so Dave was talking about a him? Something about time? Oh, stupid language, she cursed as she glared at the door. Dave must have walked further because now Maria didn’t hear a thing.
“Oui, je sais,” Dave’s words came loud and clear almost at the other side of the door making Maria jump an inch. “Yes, I know”, she understood that last sentence. “Non, pas pendant mon anniversaire,” Dave kept saying, his words sounding distant again. He definitely sounded as if he were pacing. And what had that been? Anniversaire? Didn’t that mean “Birthday”? What, he was talking about her? Maria pressed harder against the door, her eyes narrowing, going to the numbers on the wall.
And then she suddenly realized she was all alone in that office…
Her eyes turned to the desk, and then to the door. She couldn’t hear him right now, and there was no way to know if his call was going to take much longer, but… That desk –with its drawers full of secrets- was suddenly very tempting to check out…
* * *
The place was beautiful. It was no wonder why Dave had suggested it to begin with. Granted, Isabel had had her doubts when Michael had said there were huts by the frozen lake –and God knew she had had enough of camping and the forest to last her three lifetimes- but as Ray was showing her and Kyle around, she could definitely see herself practically living here all winter long… and spring too… As long as mosquitoes could be at bay, summer as well.
Hut wasn’t really the word for it. It was a house by the lake, relatively small, with an exterior that made it look as if it hadn’t been used in quite a while. Yet once one passed the threshold, things changed. As in welcome-to-the-21st-century changed.
“So, when do I move in?” Kyle said as they were entering the kitchen. The style of the entire house wasn’t rustic at all, but more of a bachelor’s apartment, all chrome and modern, big comfortable couches by the chimney, huge windows overlooking the frozen lake, a pool table in one corner, a small bar just behind the dinning room. The polished wooden floor was neatly kept, and gray, blue, and maroon rugs covered it in strategic places. Still, it felt rather cold, and artificial… it lacked a woman’s touch, Isabel thought. Ray chuckled at Kyle’s question.
“You, me, and everyone in this place,” Ray said as Isabel was inspecting the fridge, which was empty. “No, both huts are recreational only, but it takes a lifetime to get one when you want it. They are harder to keep under surveillance, and that makes them one of the weakest points to this place. So the huts are not available much of the time, except for special occasions. You have to arrange things with Administration, you know? Richard? And to get permission to be up here can be tricky, at best.”
“Not much room for a spur of the moment thing, uh?” Kyle said with a smirk.
“Not in this place, my friend. Nothing can be a surprise in this place… much less for Richard…” Ray said as he glanced at his watch. “I take it the others won’t take long now?”
They both looked at each other, unsure of the answer. “They shouldn’t take long,” Isabel said, “though I’m not sure exactly how long…” Ray arched an eyebrow at her.
Because the huts were half a mile from the main compound entrance, Ray had driven Isabel and Kyle. He hadn’t looked too happy at their breakfast meeting when they had told him that both Max and Liz were staying behind to tie up some loose ends, and had been much less euphoric at the fact that Michael wanted to bring Maria there alone, which meant that Ray had to give him his car. But to be truthful, the man had given in without much opposition. As long as things were clear as to where everyone was supposed to be and at what hours, he had said, then he was okay with that.
And that meant following a schedule. Isabel was all for schedules and planning and decorating, and to a reasonable degree, she could trust Max and Liz to follow one too. Kyle was with her, so she could keep him on time. Now, thankfully, Maria was out of the equation, but Michael was a whole other thing. Schedule was not a word that could be found in Michael’s mental dictionary. Sure, she knew that under attack or any life-death situation, Michael would be precise to the second, but putting those scenarios aside...
Ray still looked expectantly at her in search of a more straight answer. Isabel suspected Ray was a guy who was used to following schedules as well.
“Why don’t we call you when they are ready to come?” Kyle said, looking between Isabel and Ray, “I mean, we know Max and Liz shouldn’t take much longer, but Michael has the food, so there’s no telling how much time that’s gonna take.”
Ray slightly cringed at that comment, and Isabel supposed the guy was really big into keeping schedules and straight hours after all. Of course she would never know that Ray’s cringe had to do with a certain French cook named Danielle.
After a couple of seconds of consideration, Ray finally nodded. “Okay, sounds about right. Now, about the security measures…” Ray began as he re-entered the living room and went to the plasma monitor behind the pool table. For the next fifteen minutes he explained in detail about the perimeter, the procedures in case of emergency, and ended up with a very earnest look about calling him if anything remotely suspicious happened.
“We haven’t had intruders since we first moved in to this place, but it would only figure today is the day, so… I don’t want to take any chances.”
Why, Ray wasn’t worried about them trying to escape through the frozen lake or the snowy roads? Isabel sarcastically wondered to herself. Though the perimeter cameras covered the surrounding areas, the huts themselves didn’t have any surveillance beyond a standard security system. Nothing that she couldn’t disable if she needed to either.
But the other stuff, the Network Keepers stuff that she had checked back in her apartment… That was enough to give her a headache. It was wired in some weird way that, though shutting down the entire place wouldn’t be a problem for her powers, shutting down just one section would. It had alarms upon alarms, and disabled systems upon disabled systems, so if she were to disconnect one area another would take its place or something. She would actually need to do a real attempt to know how it would all fall out, and she somehow doubted that the man in front of her would appreciate that, let alone Dave.
Ray looked around the place one last time, as if he were mentally checking that everything was in order.
“You didn’t bring any decorations?” He finally asked.
“Only one set of alien-powered hands,” Kyle said, “at least until the other two can come…”
Ray blushed as he turned to look at her, half wanting to say he was sorry he hadn’t thought about it, it seemed, and half nervous as well. He reminded her of Michael in the middle of trying to apologize, which was a very rare event. Ray opened his mouth and left it open for about three seconds before saying, “I see.”
He looked once again at the place –anywhere but them, Isabel noticed- until he finally turned to look at her. “Well, if you have everything under control, then I’ll leave you to set things up.” He walked himself to the door, and before he left, he turned one last time to look at them, “I know it’s been a long, strange week for you all, but try to have some fun. I’ll bring Max and Liz when they call.”
And with that, they were left alone.
“Fun, right,” Kyle said after ten seconds had gone by, and turning around he saw the pool table, “though it has its possibilities…”
“Michael will beat you at it,” Isabel warned him as she walked to the windows and looked outside as Ray’s Land Rover disappeared. For the first time in this place she felt somewhat free, away from prying eyes.
“Not if I bring my powers to the party,” Kyle said, half jokingly, half serious. Isabel turned from the window and went to the closest wall.
“Don’t even joke about it,” she seriously said. She touched the wall, trying to decide what kind of yellow would suit better with the place. Something in red too, and maybe she could do something that said “Happy Birthday” without it sounding forced, let alone cliché…
“What if I’m not joking…?” Kyle’s quiet voice shook her out of her thoughts. She was so used to Kyle’s sarcasm and cynicism that sometimes, when Kyle was actually being serious, she still wondered for a second if she was misreading him. And God, she wanted to be misreading him right now. She turned to look at him without saying anything, just waiting for him to continue.
Kyle sighed. “I don’t… I’m not…” he tried to begin, but miserably failed. And he looked miserable too. “Listen,” he said, taking a deep breath, “maybe these are the last sparks, but… I’m trying to not freak out, okay?” Kyle rushed in as Isabel closed her eyes in an almost defeated manner. “I’ve been meditating, and thinking about it, and I think… I-I think I have it under control…”
“What happened?” Isabel asked, forgetting the wall. In fact, she was starting to forget about the party too.
“I just sparkled for a few seconds on Wednesday… maybe on Monday too, I’m not sure about that…”
“Not sure?!” Isabel snapped, worry creeping into her mind. “Kyle! We’re playing with fire here!”
“I know!” Kyle defensively said, “But I keep thinking that the worst has already happened. Liz stopped sparkling for about two months before getting her powers… Maybe I’m just… I don’t know… on the verge of getting mine too…”
Isabel silently sat on the couch facing the chimney, a million things running through her mind. First she couldn’t dreamwalk Dave; now Kyle might just turn green in front of Jake.
“It might actually be a good thing,” Kyle said, approaching her, “maybe… maybe they are even gone now…” he wondered out loud with a hopeful tone. Isabel looked up at him, for the first time in months considering how scary this whole thing was for Kyle. She remembered getting her powers, discovering them by accident… the fear of the unknown in her own body. So many things that hadn’t made sense in those early days… She half smiled at him, and then she closed her eyes and leaned against the couch.
“We are not that lucky Kyle…” she tiredly said. Sure, they didn’t understand why exactly Liz had powers, but Isabel was not going to be hopeful about Kyle losing his… They really weren’t that lucky.
“I really think I’m getting over them,” Kyle seriously said, sitting beside her. “Liz had had her first premonition by now, you know… And… I’m not… doing anything… so…” Kyle trailed off, and Isabel sensed he was searching for comfort and an it’s-gonna-be-alright speech. She sighed.
“I’ve been trying to dreamwalk Dave all week long without being able to enter his dreams… and I’m not sure what that means,” she just blurted out, as if it were the tell-your-darkest-secret-to-the-guy-next-to-you hour. But, she reflected, it was better to talk about her breaking Max’s precious no-dreamwalk rule with someone other than Max. At least for starters.
“I’m sure Max is going to love this…” Kyle sarcastically said as he settled in to hear her out. And just before she started to elaborate, something at the back of her mind made her uneasy. As if something had been tuned down, or just completely turned off… Something to do with Max, actually…
* * *
Time had seemed to slow down almost to a stand still from the moment Liz had started to feel Max slipping away to the exact second when she had reached Jake’s lab door. It all had been impossibly clear to her, every sense in her body heightening in search of any sign of what was wrong with Max. She had never felt more alert in her entire life, and few times had she ever experienced such fear.
She had been feeling their connection getting lower as Max and she had taken different directions, and she had thought it was curious how just two weeks ago she wouldn’t have been aware of Max getting farther from her. At least not while still being relatively near each other.
She had felt Max’s anxiousness growing some ten minutes after they had departed, and she had guessed he had reached Jake’s Lab by then. She knew he wasn’t looking forward to facing him –and she had been slightly surprised when he had told Michael he was going to go get Maria’s present from Jake- but once he made a decision… Besides, he had seemed to want to discuss something important. She had been able to tell through their connection that he’d been restless all morning long, and she just knew that something was bothering him. Something that hadn’t been bothering him the night before.
Liz hadn’t pressed the issue. They all had things to do before Maria’s interview was over, and for the first time in this place they weren’t thinking about doing every single one of those tasks as a group. Nothing would be on time if things had been done that way.
So, when things had started to get lower in her side of the connection some twenty minutes later, Liz had been torn between calling the others, calling Max, or doing something… The more she had tried to get to know what was going on with her husband, the harder it had gotten, as if Max was closing off to her. In fact, as the minutes had gone by and she had kept shopping at The Shop, she had realized he was blocking her out. She had rolled her eyes briefly and had sighed in frustration, but if Max didn’t want her there with him… What was bothering him so much, anyway?
It hadn’t been until she had reached the cash register that she had been really worried. She had felt the first of several peaks in their connection, getting low all of a sudden, only to return to a somewhat normal level a moment later. It had felt as if Max hadn’t been sure if he was blocking her out or not. Or as if he hadn’t known if he wanted to block her out or not.
Then there had been a terrible second when she would have sworn Max had been dead certain he had made a huge mistake, just to regain his control and smooth things out in their connection a moment later. Had he even been aware of how many emotions he was sending her? She had absently passed the things she had purchased to the guy at the register while trying to assess what was going on with Max. A minute passed, and things didn’t change. Half of her mind had been concentrated on putting her things in bags, while the other half had been waiting for any sign that Max was okay now.
Her connection had gone low once again as Max had chosen to close off, at least partially, and Liz would have sworn she had seen a flash of white in her mind. If Max was thinking about the white room, then it would explain why he didn’t want her around his thoughts.
She had stood still, staring into empty space. If Max was thinking about those horrible things, did it also mean that he was afraid it was about to happen again? Her worst fears had taken over for a brief second. If Max was in danger, there was no way he wouldn’t let her know, if only for her to reach the others and get out of there. So no, that couldn’t be it. All the same, she had taken out her G.E.S. and with slightly trembling hands she had started to type a short message: “You’re taking a lot of time. Everything’s alright?”
There. Nothing that anyone reading could misunderstand, and enough to get Max out of whatever situation he was in. He could blame his wife for wanting him somewhere else. And, most importantly, something that would let him know she was feeling something odd from his side.
Seconds had gone by with no response. And then she had felt Max opening up again, a certain reassurance slipping through their connection that things were okay. She had actually smiled at that, feeling slightly silly for worrying so much. And she had just started to wonder what was really going on with their connection being so unsteady when suddenly there hadn’t been anything to feel at all.
Like a candle blown out, Liz had been left in the dark, and a cold sensation had grown immediately in her stomach, a shiver running through her spine making her tremble. Max was out. Plain and simple.
That had been when her senses had heightened, taking in every detail of everything she was seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and feeling. The air conditioner around her felt too chilly, and the cologne from the guy in front of her was way too strong. Her mouth filled with a mixture of acid and salty taste, which, had she had the time to think about, she would have said it was the taste of dread. She hadn’t even thought about how intense the colors around had gotten, because she had just turned around and started to run towards Max, her bags forgotten, every reason to stay calm and in control forgotten as well. Only the sound of her heart in her ears had seemed to be inescapable.
She had gotten as far as the entrance when she had realized she had no clue where to go. So she had taken the G.E.S. out once again, fighting with the tiny screen, option after option displaying useless functions, until she had finally found the map of this place.
As she had started to walk in the right direction, she had been aware that there was a part of her that sensed she was going, indeed, in the right direction. Somehow, somewhere, she still had been able to hold onto their connection, like an invisible rope in a cold, desolate world. That had calmed her down just enough to regain coherent thought.
She hadn’t run then, but she had walked fast. Fast enough to turn a head or two on her way to Lab 2 – 00 – 22, Jake’s lab. The G.E.S. had mapped for her the fastest way, which wasn’t very far away, yet it still had felt as if an ocean had separated them. As she had been reading the map, the message option caught her eyes again. She had taken a turn, and had typed, “Max?” just as her grip on herself was starting to fade. “You OK?” she had added as she had picked up speed again.
He had said that he hadn’t felt anything wrong with their connection, so surely he was bound to feel her panicking at his lack of response. She had kept staring at the G.E.S. in hopes of receiving a message back, but as the seconds had gone by and nothing was changing on her side of the connection, Liz had typed yet another message, “What’s wrong?”
She somehow had felt incredibly stupid at that. If something was wrong, Max was not going to text-message her back. She had wanted to tell him that she was coming to his aid; that she knew something was wrong but was terrified of writing something that would give him away. She had wanted to say so many things at that moment, especially when she finally reached the second floor below where the lab was. Max was not going to be happy about her getting this close to Jake and his lab, but she screwed it all.
“Max?!” she had sent a last message. If he was in any position to contact her, that would have snapped him out of it, and when nothing had come back, through the G.E.S. or their connection, then Liz had really panicked.
The last corridor had finally come into view, and this time she had run all the way to the right door. She hadn’t read the map for the last two minutes, her instincts telling her exactly where Max was. She could just feel him.
As she had approached him, she had felt heavy. Each step had felt as if she had been carrying a ton of bricks, and her chest had felt as if she had been breathing against a G4 force. Her fingertips had tingled, and she had barely acknowledged that she could start sparking anytime now. She had needed to see Max right there and then.
The next seconds had come in a blur. She had reached the door, she had read the numbers as she had practically thrown it open and then... and then all she had cared about was to feel Max, to know he was all right. It had taken all but a second to open that last door, just to find Jake turning to look at her as her eyes had turned invariably towards Max. And then time had come back to its normal speed.
It was hard to describe what exactly she felt at that sight. All her fears of the past week came rushing back to her with a strength that almost knocked her out, but above all, there was the stinging feeling of betrayal. She turned to look at Jake.
“What have you done to him?”
Her words seemed to vibrate in the room, and as she entered to go to Max, she was met with a slight electrical current in the air around her which she ignored. She needed to get to Max, to touch him and… reconnect with him. And she needed to do it now.
Jake just stood where he was, no words coming from him to deny or clarify what was going on, and frankly, she wouldn’t have believed or cared whatever he had said.
In six long, fast strides she reached Max, bent over him, and placed her hand over his cheek… and then everything felt charged, and warm and… wonderful. All her worries and thoughts melted away as she finally make contact with him, feeling him reaching out for her from within with a mental peace that she hadn’t felt in months.
Tears dropped from her eyes as she released a small but completely heartfelt laugh. She felt embraced, and acknowledged, and recognized immediately. As if something inside of Max hadn’t been sure who she was until now. And the best part was that it didn’t fade away. She felt Max just as strongly as she always felt him when they were close by. When they were touching each other. He felt 100% Max, he was just…
“He’s just… sleeping…” she finally whispered to herself, all the tension draining from her body, making her almost collapse on the couch next to Max. She didn’t care. She was way too happy to care about anything right now. Max was fine, and the world was right all over again.
“Sleeping?” Liz heard Jake behind her, reminding her that she wasn’t alone with Max in that room. “Are you sure?” and his voice sounded as tentative and fearful as Liz had felt herself when she had been up there at The Shop.
She slowly turned to meet his eyes, reluctantly letting go of Max. Even though she didn’t say a word, Jake must have read the relief on her face as he closed his eyes while letting himself fall seated on the couch next to him.
“God, I’m getting too old for this,” he simply said, his right hand going to the bridge of his nose. “You’re sure, right?” he said, snapping his eyes open, “He’s just sleeping?”
Liz slightly narrowed her eyes as she looked down on him. “Why did you think he wasn’t?” Now that her worry for Max was put to rest, suspiciousness came back to her. Had Jake really done something to him? Did he know something she didn’t?
Jake frowned for an instant, just to arch his eyebrows a moment later as he caught Liz’s meaning. “I read the text message you sent a couple of minutes ago. Max fell asleep here as I was finishing something in my office, so when I came back and saw what you had written… I assumed something was actually wrong and…” Jake trailed off, narrowing his eyes just as she had done before. “Something was wrong, wasn’t it?” he asked, and the way he said it reminded her of her father when he had just caught her lying to him. She felt awkward all of a sudden.
Liz slowly shook her head, her eyes pinned to his. “Not wrong… just… off…” she explained, feeling way too self conscious for her liking. However, before Jake could say anything else, her eyes went past him to the screen behind him, and what she saw made her eyes go wide.
“Oh, my God…” she whispered as she turned to look at Max.
* * *
AN: I want to take a moment to sincerely say THANK YOU to xmag for taking the time to translate those lines to French, not to mention all the support she has given me right from chapter 5 when she first PM’ed me!! You are such a cool girl!!!
Thank you all for your patience. I know it sucks to have to wait this long between parts. And because I know Michael is going to give me hell to write him, I moved his part to chapter 30, though you will get to know more pieces of Maria's gift now
Since I last answered feedback, I want to thank all those who bumped the story and asked about my whereabouts
So, thanks to thetvgeneral, (I really love when the betas jump in! and one of these days I *am* going to spoil you rotten ); cwm_ (thanks for bumping!); Max/Jason Luver, (did you ever finish reading all those fics I sent you??); Timelord31, (well, if I do not come back to finish, I swear I'll post the entire plot ); katydid, (you wouldn't *believe* how hard it was to get Dave and Maria to behave...); Michelle in Yonkers, (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Where would I be without those threats??!); and Allie Xie, (Technically, it *was* sooner than later since I changed the chapters' structure Thanks for stopping by!).By the way, according to my logic and plan, there are only six chapters left for this book... so questions are very welcomed just to make sure I've covered all my bases
AAANNNDD the girls at Roswell Heaven (http://p072.ezboard.com/broswellheaven) very generously have let me have an "Author's Chat" on their site. So I'm just wondering if you guys would like to come one of these Saturdays? Let me know if it would be better at a 2pm EST time or 8pm EST time
That way I can ask for a date and let you all know.So, all that said, here's the next chapter! Let's see how the storm is going for those two... for all of them, actually
XXIX
Mind Games
Maria hardly ever found herself at a loss for words, and this day was no exception. It had been remarkably easy to throw herself into this “tale”, almost creepily so, and in retrospect, she hadn’t even been aware that she was still keeping so many feelings inside of her regarding that whole time. Not only because of what had happened to Max, but also what had happened to all of them. Everything they had lost in such a short time. One week she was worrying about Michael not “getting it”, and the next she was a nervous wreck about not seeing Michael ever again. Talk about priorities.
It had been so long since she had told what had happened to Max that it almost felt like she was telling something that had never really happened. If only that were true… By now she was starting to feel the weariness of it all. The one and only time she had told half of it had been three years ago, to Alex, and she had silently cried through it all, her tears sliding down her face as Alex had placed a soothing arm across her shoulders.
God, she missed him. Good ol’ Alex had sat through the whole thing with her for almost three hours, comforting her, as she chose what to tell and what not. She had felt far safer telling this to Alex than to the man in front of her, of course, but telling Alex had attached a guilty feeling, because she had known that Max had never wanted to tell any of this to begin with, to anyone. He hadn’t wanted Alex to know, and she knew it. As far as she was aware, Alex had never told anyone, especially not Isabel, but now Maria was spilling the whole thing to Dave. The least she could do was to tell him that he was not to take this lightly. He couldn’t take advantage of knowing her and Max’s sort of secret.
“He made me promise I would never tell them, especially not Liz,” Maria fiercely said, and realizing there was nothing she could really do to stop him, she asked with concern, “You won’t tell her now, will you?” She was dreading that Max’s trust in her would be broken by this man, no matter how noble her intentions had been –or how twisted the circumstances for that matter. Yet he just looked at her with a look of respect, pretty much the same look that Alex had had when he had been listening to her. The one look that said, I won’t betray you.
“No,” Dave almost whispered, his eyes fixed on her, all his concentration on the subject.
No. Just like that. One word. She was expecting something more along the lines of “this will be our secret to keep” or something stupid. Yet she believed, with that sole word, that Dave was not going to disappoint her. She wondered since when was she so trusting, or more likely, what was it about Dave that made them want to trust him?
Admittedly, the guy was nothing to sneeze at. She wouldn’t put past him that he spent an hour or so at the gym three times a week and probably kept a diet as well. But it wasn’t just his looks. He had a friendly air around him, almost playful, just like when she had entered this office more than an hour ago and she had caught him in midair. However, there also was another side of him, one more serious and thoughtful, like the way he had looked at her right before stating that he knew Max had talked to her. She frowned. How had that happened anyway? Maria wondered not for the first time, finally deciding to fish for her own answers.
“How could you know?” Maria asked, half worried, half expectant. She didn’t even want to start imagining what it would mean if Dave had been spying on them from way before the Phoenix incident. “How did you know he talked to me about this?”
Dave’s eyes blinked once, but his expression didn’t change, as if he were still listening to her with all his attention pinned to every detail. With the same tone he had said “no” just thirty seconds before, he said:
“‘I really want to know. So if you are feeling dizzy, weak, dry-eyed or whatever, just tell me.’ Those were your exact words,” Dave said as Maria’s mind was trying to make sense of what Dave was talking about.
“Exact words?” she finally managed to ask.
“You asked him that,” Dave said, blinking once more, this time breaking eye contact as he composed himself on his seat, “when you woke up in the rooms. Dizziness, weakness, dry-eyes, they are all symptoms Max went through at one point or another.”
Maria stared at him, half of her brain trying to remember what she had said to Max in those awful hours, and the rest waiting for Dave to continue explaining what else he had known to reach that conclusion. But as the seconds went by, he didn’t say anything else.
“That’s it?!” she exclaimed in disbelief, suspiciousness laced in her tone.
“Well, I’ve been told I’m a very perceptive man—”
“No one’s that perceptive,” Maria cut him off. He smiled a small smile at her interruption. He lowered his eyes to his puzzle for a second, as if recalling something.
“Did you ever wonder why the walls in your blue rooms were thinner or thicker?” Dave asked, his eyes returning to hers, inclining himself a little forward, his tone softer. “Why you were actually ‘paired’?”
Yes. Hell yes! Yet, as uncharacteristic as it was for her, Maria remained silent. This was obviously one of those rhetorical questions. She just raised her eyebrow as in “your point being?”
“I’m perceptive enough to catch on to details, though it’s usually the way those details are presented that give me the better… picture. With you six, it was all in your relationships. What you would say, or not say, depended on who you were talking to. I took my chances at pairing you the way I did, yet very interesting details came through. I already knew things from school gossip about how you and Max had gotten closer when Liz went away to Florida that summer. And when you went straight to the point when you asked Max if he was alright, knowing exactly how he would feel if he hadn’t been, that’s when my perception kicked in. You were worried about Michael, and you didn’t want to upset Max more than he already was… But you had to ask. And that was exactly what you asked first.”
“They were just three things!” Maria said still with disbelief.
“They weren’t random,” Dave answered her with a firm tone.
“You could have been wrong,” Maria retorted.
“But I wasn’t,” Dave said, slightly smiling. In that moment it dawned on her that Dave had tricked her into telling him everything Max had told her without really knowing a thing. Her eyes pierced Dave’s as if she were ready to throw daggers at him in a very literal way. He didn’t lower his eyes though, but his “aura” of friendliness was getting thinner all the same.
It boiled Maria’s blood. She could have gone and told the short version of the short version and Dave wouldn’t have known better. She narrowed her eyes at him, outraged. This was what he had been doing, wasn’t it? He knew little details and there they were, believing he already knew everything! She didn’t regret telling Dave what Max had told her, but she was positively fuming at being deceived like this.
For that matter, what else had she told Max in that stupid blue room that Dave could use to his advantage now? She could barely recall more than half of what she had said to him. Max had been her only link to the others except for Michael’s connections, and that had been an experience unto itself. Michael’s emotions had rolled over her in waves, as his anger and anxiousness had been hand in hand escalating to the sky. Not exactly her idea of fun –and much less in those circumstances- but now that Dave was bringing it all back, she tried to recall what else she had said, for all the good it was going to do to her...
“Was it really worth it?” she snapped at him yet again, and she didn’t care. “You go on and on about us trusting we made the right choice and then you just zap! Say things like this! You left us there for hours without knowing a thing! And all for what? Just details that might or might not tell you things about us?”
“It was more than that,” he answered, his calmness unshakeable it seemed. “It gave me clues. Hints. But more importantly, it gave me significant, solid pieces to start seeing the outlines of the puzzle you kids really are. Not second hand information; not school gossip; not classified files. It was the first time I was really seeing all of you in… well, action,” Dave said with a small smile. It made Maria’s blood boil even more.
“What could you possibly have learned from us panicking in those creepy little rooms?” she said, outraged. “Do you have any idea what it felt like to be trapped there?!” she demanded, placing –almost slapping- an angry hand over the desk.
He looked at her impassively. “I learned about how you deal with situations. How you prioritize. What was more important to each one of you,” Dave paused, looking straight at her, almost as if he could read her mind. She held his gaze. “From what you said, I did get a good idea of what it felt like to be trapped there.”
“Well, if you call pissed off and scared to death okay, then he’s fine.” She had said that to Max about Michael, and she had known Max had been feeling something along the same lines. God, how had Max managed not to lose it there, especially knowing what he knew from experience, she would never know. She was still wondering how they were all managing with being here herself, and a tiny little voice told her at the back of her mind that her sudden rage at the man in front of her had everything to do with all the stress she had been bottling for the past week.
She narrowed her eyes in a disapproving gesture. Right there, she didn’t really have any good thoughts about that man. He crossed his arms in front of him, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“If I had been the FBI, do you think all of you would still be alive?”
Maybe. No. She didn’t want to think about it. It sounded like an honest question, but Maria knew where Dave was going: I saved you. I kept you away. Ain’t I great?
“But you are not the FBI and yet you kidnapped us for three days and left us there… To our worst fears.” She slowly shook her head, trying to piece together her thoughts and her words with a slightly open mouth. Though she usually would say whatever came into her mind, she was trying to say the things that would hurt this man the most. He deserved that and so much more. “You’re not better than them,” she finally managed to say with disdain.
Dave regarded her for a couple of seconds. “At least I’m not worse.”
His statement sent a cold wave through her spine as the meaning behind Dave’s too calm words hit her. If he wanted to, he could be worse than anything. Hell, Maria had been so convinced the man was going to respect this deal because he got the better end of it, but if her gut was wrong…
“We could leave, right now, just like that,” she said, snapping her fingers, playing the one and only card that truly would keep Dave at bay, or so she hoped.
Dave was silent for a moment. Then, standing, he quietly answered, “Yes… that you certainly can do.”
His words seemed to hang in the air, almost as if they were echoing in an immense cavern. There was a certain finality to those words, and Maria would bet good money there was also a hint of annoyance, with resignation as well. He turned to the side and started walking towards his famous cupboard; snack time already, she guessed.
“I have no doubt that, if one of you really thought it was worth the risk to leave this place, you’d do it, just like that,” he said, snapping his fingers, imitating her gesture of just a minute ago. “I wouldn’t expect less from any of you, especially not from the girl who turned down a possible million dollar music contract, and who also has the temper to deal with Michael Guerin on a daily basis.”
Maria followed him with her eyes as he reached the cupboard, not sure where was this going.
“So, to answer your earlier question, yes, it was very worth it to place you in those rooms, taking the risk of scaring you out of your minds. You are here, after all.”
“You weren’t behind that deal, were you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. Maybe this was one of those unexpected things he had done. But Dave paused in front of his cupboard, a bit puzzled.
“The record deal?” he finally asked as it dawned on him what he had said just a second before. She didn’t move. “No. That was all you… and them, I had nothing to do with it.” Maria arched an eyebrow as if saying, “Really?” Dave turned and bent down, searching for something in the cupboard.
“I can play almost anything you can throw at me on a piano,” he said more to the cupboard than to her, “and it would technically be perfect, but…” he paused as he finally found the mug he had been looking for, “it wouldn’t really sound right.”
Maria frowned. The guy certainly wasn’t shy or humble –and she had almost wanted to roll her eyes at his statement of how perfect he was- so, why wouldn’t it sound right then?
“I lack passion,” he said as he stood, “music has never interested me. So I can assure you, I had nothing to do with your company record, your annoying scout, or your even more annoying music editor… It was a pretty good contract though.”
Subtle. Sure, he might not have arranged anything about it, but he sure seemed to know all about it. She snorted. “You would know about contracts, uh?” she sarcastically said. He smiled though, and bent again, this time to the mini-fridge.
Maria’s stomach rumbled –though only she heard it- at the sight of Dave taking out a milk carton. She hadn’t had breakfast, of course, and she hadn’t had much of a dinner either. This day sucked, she decided, as Dave’s eyes returned to her as well.
“Well, it would seem that you know exactly what you want from those contracts,” he answered, but this time she didn’t take the bait, if that was what it was.
“What exactly do you know about that contract, anyway?” Yeah, let’s see what amazing three things you know about this, she angrily thought.
“Only what your friend Billy said, actually.”
And that was low. She certainly felt the air leaving her lungs not to return for a couple of seconds. Billy? No, not Billy!
“‘Great car, great talk, great studio, but it was all marketing and no soul.’ Those were his exact words.”
“I thought you said it was a pretty good contract,” Maria managed to say, though it came out sounding flat. Her mind was still on her friend, imagining him sitting in some café in New York, unknowingly talking to Dave about his great plans and how once his friend had come this close to making them real.
“It was. The problem was that you didn’t agree with it. You liked what they had to offer, but not what they wanted in return.”
Well, of course she had liked the idea of millions invested in her songs, traveling the world, becoming famous and what not, but the price had been too high. They weren’t going to be her songs to begin with, and just as Billy had –apparently- said, it was all marketing and no soul. She fixed her eyes on his face –and not in his now milk-filled mug- and getting a grip she said, “Oh, doesn’t it sound familiar to a certain deal we made?”
She could practically see the wheels coming to a stop in that twisted mind of his. Time seemed to stretch as four or five seconds went by.
“So why didn’t you?” he said, his tone serious, paused, no smiles anywhere now. “Why didn’t you turn down the offer, keep going on your way, and never look back?” he asked her, placing his mug at his side, all his attention on her, but a rather different attention. She suddenly felt like a mouse being watched by a lion. She dismissed the feeling quickly.
“Because you made it plain and clear that we had no better choice,” Maria coldly answered.
“I also made plain and clear the conditions of our deal, but you seemed to believe my word is worthless.”
“We didn’t exactly meet under charming conditions, now did we? I think we at least have the right to expect the worst of any circumstance regarding you.”
“But that’s exactly my point,” Dave said, slightly narrowing his eyes. Maria could almost imagine a big, restless, yellow tail behind him, “You think something wrong is going to happen. You expect it at every corner of this place. But the truth is, since you accepted this offer, nothing bad has remotely happened to any of you. So I don’t see why your low expectations of my word should interfere with the actual facts of this deal. You are the ones who believe Jake and I see you as some kind of lab rats, and that we only want to benefit blindly from you. That was never said.”
“Not out loud…” she muttered, though she knew very well he had heard her. She slightly inclined forward while holding his gaze, “If you really want to look that closely at the ‘fine print’, it was never said that we had to accept this with smiles and a joyful choir,” she ended with a fake innocent smile. He slightly glared at her, and she dropped the façade. “What the hell were you expecting?” she indignantly –and rhetorically- asked.
The lion’s tail seemed to give one last snap and then stayed still.
“Whatever it was,” he said calmly, “we were both expecting different things and got very different outcomes. Though in your position, that turned out to be for the best.”
“Right…” Maria said, turning to look at her left, preparing herself to tell him what exactly she thought of her position and how “good” it was, but her thoughts were cut off by a phone. A cell phone. It rang so loudly in the middle of her words and her thoughts –and the silence between them, for that matter- that it actually startled both of them for a second, making them stiffen.
The cell phone rang again as recognition came to Dave’s eyes. Oh, she couldn’t wait to tell him one thing or two about cell phones and meetings, but as Dave started to walk towards the door, a very serious and almost worried look settled on his face. And for the first time he looked dangerous too. This man was not one she wanted to mess with, especially not now with the vibes he was sending out. The change was… interesting at the very least, and a bit frightening too. She thought she was cornering him for good, but now she wasn’t sure if the man was acting for her sake. What kind of man was she really dealing with here?
“We’ll continue this in a minute,” was all he said as he stepped out of the office, leaving a somewhat bewildered Maria behind.
The shock didn’t last though. As soon as Dave had left the room, closing the door behind him, she stood up and went to the door itself. Who knew? Maybe she could eavesdrop on something. Clearly, whoever had called had made Dave stop in his tracks pretty badly.
Dave didn’t go too far away from the door, but he didn’t speak loudly exactly either. The words were coming muffled as she strained her ears to catch something, anything from the conversation at the other side of the door. It took her almost a whole minute to realize he wasn’t speaking in English, and the next second she cursed her stars for not staying with the French Club back in High School.
“Tu en es sûre?" the words came muffled again. She was fairly certain it was French, and the words sort of rang a bell in her memory. Something like “are you correct?” He kept talking, and she kept listening… and frowning too. It didn’t help matters that she was listening to half the conversation. Why couldn’t he be talking in Spanish?! She would have had more luck with that…
“Non, non, cela doit être fait immédiatement. Je vais m’en occuper,” Dave sounded closer, and she had no clue about what he had just said, except that he sounded too serious for her liking. “Non, je ne vais pas interrompre mes vacances juste pour ça.” Maria frowned deeper. “Vacances” was a word she actually understood: Vacations. Well, he had said to Liz he was on vacation, hadn’t he? Dave sounded farther now. Was he pacing?
“Non, je m’en moque …” Dave continued, making Maria sighed in frustration. What was he saying, for crying out loud?! “Cela ne lui prendra pas longtemps, je sais, mais ça ne me prendra pas longtemps non plus” Okay, so Dave was talking about a him? Something about time? Oh, stupid language, she cursed as she glared at the door. Dave must have walked further because now Maria didn’t hear a thing.
“Oui, je sais,” Dave’s words came loud and clear almost at the other side of the door making Maria jump an inch. “Yes, I know”, she understood that last sentence. “Non, pas pendant mon anniversaire,” Dave kept saying, his words sounding distant again. He definitely sounded as if he were pacing. And what had that been? Anniversaire? Didn’t that mean “Birthday”? What, he was talking about her? Maria pressed harder against the door, her eyes narrowing, going to the numbers on the wall.
And then she suddenly realized she was all alone in that office…
Her eyes turned to the desk, and then to the door. She couldn’t hear him right now, and there was no way to know if his call was going to take much longer, but… That desk –with its drawers full of secrets- was suddenly very tempting to check out…
* * *
The place was beautiful. It was no wonder why Dave had suggested it to begin with. Granted, Isabel had had her doubts when Michael had said there were huts by the frozen lake –and God knew she had had enough of camping and the forest to last her three lifetimes- but as Ray was showing her and Kyle around, she could definitely see herself practically living here all winter long… and spring too… As long as mosquitoes could be at bay, summer as well.
Hut wasn’t really the word for it. It was a house by the lake, relatively small, with an exterior that made it look as if it hadn’t been used in quite a while. Yet once one passed the threshold, things changed. As in welcome-to-the-21st-century changed.
“So, when do I move in?” Kyle said as they were entering the kitchen. The style of the entire house wasn’t rustic at all, but more of a bachelor’s apartment, all chrome and modern, big comfortable couches by the chimney, huge windows overlooking the frozen lake, a pool table in one corner, a small bar just behind the dinning room. The polished wooden floor was neatly kept, and gray, blue, and maroon rugs covered it in strategic places. Still, it felt rather cold, and artificial… it lacked a woman’s touch, Isabel thought. Ray chuckled at Kyle’s question.
“You, me, and everyone in this place,” Ray said as Isabel was inspecting the fridge, which was empty. “No, both huts are recreational only, but it takes a lifetime to get one when you want it. They are harder to keep under surveillance, and that makes them one of the weakest points to this place. So the huts are not available much of the time, except for special occasions. You have to arrange things with Administration, you know? Richard? And to get permission to be up here can be tricky, at best.”
“Not much room for a spur of the moment thing, uh?” Kyle said with a smirk.
“Not in this place, my friend. Nothing can be a surprise in this place… much less for Richard…” Ray said as he glanced at his watch. “I take it the others won’t take long now?”
They both looked at each other, unsure of the answer. “They shouldn’t take long,” Isabel said, “though I’m not sure exactly how long…” Ray arched an eyebrow at her.
Because the huts were half a mile from the main compound entrance, Ray had driven Isabel and Kyle. He hadn’t looked too happy at their breakfast meeting when they had told him that both Max and Liz were staying behind to tie up some loose ends, and had been much less euphoric at the fact that Michael wanted to bring Maria there alone, which meant that Ray had to give him his car. But to be truthful, the man had given in without much opposition. As long as things were clear as to where everyone was supposed to be and at what hours, he had said, then he was okay with that.
And that meant following a schedule. Isabel was all for schedules and planning and decorating, and to a reasonable degree, she could trust Max and Liz to follow one too. Kyle was with her, so she could keep him on time. Now, thankfully, Maria was out of the equation, but Michael was a whole other thing. Schedule was not a word that could be found in Michael’s mental dictionary. Sure, she knew that under attack or any life-death situation, Michael would be precise to the second, but putting those scenarios aside...
Ray still looked expectantly at her in search of a more straight answer. Isabel suspected Ray was a guy who was used to following schedules as well.
“Why don’t we call you when they are ready to come?” Kyle said, looking between Isabel and Ray, “I mean, we know Max and Liz shouldn’t take much longer, but Michael has the food, so there’s no telling how much time that’s gonna take.”
Ray slightly cringed at that comment, and Isabel supposed the guy was really big into keeping schedules and straight hours after all. Of course she would never know that Ray’s cringe had to do with a certain French cook named Danielle.
After a couple of seconds of consideration, Ray finally nodded. “Okay, sounds about right. Now, about the security measures…” Ray began as he re-entered the living room and went to the plasma monitor behind the pool table. For the next fifteen minutes he explained in detail about the perimeter, the procedures in case of emergency, and ended up with a very earnest look about calling him if anything remotely suspicious happened.
“We haven’t had intruders since we first moved in to this place, but it would only figure today is the day, so… I don’t want to take any chances.”
Why, Ray wasn’t worried about them trying to escape through the frozen lake or the snowy roads? Isabel sarcastically wondered to herself. Though the perimeter cameras covered the surrounding areas, the huts themselves didn’t have any surveillance beyond a standard security system. Nothing that she couldn’t disable if she needed to either.
But the other stuff, the Network Keepers stuff that she had checked back in her apartment… That was enough to give her a headache. It was wired in some weird way that, though shutting down the entire place wouldn’t be a problem for her powers, shutting down just one section would. It had alarms upon alarms, and disabled systems upon disabled systems, so if she were to disconnect one area another would take its place or something. She would actually need to do a real attempt to know how it would all fall out, and she somehow doubted that the man in front of her would appreciate that, let alone Dave.
Ray looked around the place one last time, as if he were mentally checking that everything was in order.
“You didn’t bring any decorations?” He finally asked.
“Only one set of alien-powered hands,” Kyle said, “at least until the other two can come…”
Ray blushed as he turned to look at her, half wanting to say he was sorry he hadn’t thought about it, it seemed, and half nervous as well. He reminded her of Michael in the middle of trying to apologize, which was a very rare event. Ray opened his mouth and left it open for about three seconds before saying, “I see.”
He looked once again at the place –anywhere but them, Isabel noticed- until he finally turned to look at her. “Well, if you have everything under control, then I’ll leave you to set things up.” He walked himself to the door, and before he left, he turned one last time to look at them, “I know it’s been a long, strange week for you all, but try to have some fun. I’ll bring Max and Liz when they call.”
And with that, they were left alone.
“Fun, right,” Kyle said after ten seconds had gone by, and turning around he saw the pool table, “though it has its possibilities…”
“Michael will beat you at it,” Isabel warned him as she walked to the windows and looked outside as Ray’s Land Rover disappeared. For the first time in this place she felt somewhat free, away from prying eyes.
“Not if I bring my powers to the party,” Kyle said, half jokingly, half serious. Isabel turned from the window and went to the closest wall.
“Don’t even joke about it,” she seriously said. She touched the wall, trying to decide what kind of yellow would suit better with the place. Something in red too, and maybe she could do something that said “Happy Birthday” without it sounding forced, let alone cliché…
“What if I’m not joking…?” Kyle’s quiet voice shook her out of her thoughts. She was so used to Kyle’s sarcasm and cynicism that sometimes, when Kyle was actually being serious, she still wondered for a second if she was misreading him. And God, she wanted to be misreading him right now. She turned to look at him without saying anything, just waiting for him to continue.
Kyle sighed. “I don’t… I’m not…” he tried to begin, but miserably failed. And he looked miserable too. “Listen,” he said, taking a deep breath, “maybe these are the last sparks, but… I’m trying to not freak out, okay?” Kyle rushed in as Isabel closed her eyes in an almost defeated manner. “I’ve been meditating, and thinking about it, and I think… I-I think I have it under control…”
“What happened?” Isabel asked, forgetting the wall. In fact, she was starting to forget about the party too.
“I just sparkled for a few seconds on Wednesday… maybe on Monday too, I’m not sure about that…”
“Not sure?!” Isabel snapped, worry creeping into her mind. “Kyle! We’re playing with fire here!”
“I know!” Kyle defensively said, “But I keep thinking that the worst has already happened. Liz stopped sparkling for about two months before getting her powers… Maybe I’m just… I don’t know… on the verge of getting mine too…”
Isabel silently sat on the couch facing the chimney, a million things running through her mind. First she couldn’t dreamwalk Dave; now Kyle might just turn green in front of Jake.
“It might actually be a good thing,” Kyle said, approaching her, “maybe… maybe they are even gone now…” he wondered out loud with a hopeful tone. Isabel looked up at him, for the first time in months considering how scary this whole thing was for Kyle. She remembered getting her powers, discovering them by accident… the fear of the unknown in her own body. So many things that hadn’t made sense in those early days… She half smiled at him, and then she closed her eyes and leaned against the couch.
“We are not that lucky Kyle…” she tiredly said. Sure, they didn’t understand why exactly Liz had powers, but Isabel was not going to be hopeful about Kyle losing his… They really weren’t that lucky.
“I really think I’m getting over them,” Kyle seriously said, sitting beside her. “Liz had had her first premonition by now, you know… And… I’m not… doing anything… so…” Kyle trailed off, and Isabel sensed he was searching for comfort and an it’s-gonna-be-alright speech. She sighed.
“I’ve been trying to dreamwalk Dave all week long without being able to enter his dreams… and I’m not sure what that means,” she just blurted out, as if it were the tell-your-darkest-secret-to-the-guy-next-to-you hour. But, she reflected, it was better to talk about her breaking Max’s precious no-dreamwalk rule with someone other than Max. At least for starters.
“I’m sure Max is going to love this…” Kyle sarcastically said as he settled in to hear her out. And just before she started to elaborate, something at the back of her mind made her uneasy. As if something had been tuned down, or just completely turned off… Something to do with Max, actually…
* * *
Time had seemed to slow down almost to a stand still from the moment Liz had started to feel Max slipping away to the exact second when she had reached Jake’s lab door. It all had been impossibly clear to her, every sense in her body heightening in search of any sign of what was wrong with Max. She had never felt more alert in her entire life, and few times had she ever experienced such fear.
She had been feeling their connection getting lower as Max and she had taken different directions, and she had thought it was curious how just two weeks ago she wouldn’t have been aware of Max getting farther from her. At least not while still being relatively near each other.
She had felt Max’s anxiousness growing some ten minutes after they had departed, and she had guessed he had reached Jake’s Lab by then. She knew he wasn’t looking forward to facing him –and she had been slightly surprised when he had told Michael he was going to go get Maria’s present from Jake- but once he made a decision… Besides, he had seemed to want to discuss something important. She had been able to tell through their connection that he’d been restless all morning long, and she just knew that something was bothering him. Something that hadn’t been bothering him the night before.
Liz hadn’t pressed the issue. They all had things to do before Maria’s interview was over, and for the first time in this place they weren’t thinking about doing every single one of those tasks as a group. Nothing would be on time if things had been done that way.
So, when things had started to get lower in her side of the connection some twenty minutes later, Liz had been torn between calling the others, calling Max, or doing something… The more she had tried to get to know what was going on with her husband, the harder it had gotten, as if Max was closing off to her. In fact, as the minutes had gone by and she had kept shopping at The Shop, she had realized he was blocking her out. She had rolled her eyes briefly and had sighed in frustration, but if Max didn’t want her there with him… What was bothering him so much, anyway?
It hadn’t been until she had reached the cash register that she had been really worried. She had felt the first of several peaks in their connection, getting low all of a sudden, only to return to a somewhat normal level a moment later. It had felt as if Max hadn’t been sure if he was blocking her out or not. Or as if he hadn’t known if he wanted to block her out or not.
Then there had been a terrible second when she would have sworn Max had been dead certain he had made a huge mistake, just to regain his control and smooth things out in their connection a moment later. Had he even been aware of how many emotions he was sending her? She had absently passed the things she had purchased to the guy at the register while trying to assess what was going on with Max. A minute passed, and things didn’t change. Half of her mind had been concentrated on putting her things in bags, while the other half had been waiting for any sign that Max was okay now.
Her connection had gone low once again as Max had chosen to close off, at least partially, and Liz would have sworn she had seen a flash of white in her mind. If Max was thinking about the white room, then it would explain why he didn’t want her around his thoughts.
She had stood still, staring into empty space. If Max was thinking about those horrible things, did it also mean that he was afraid it was about to happen again? Her worst fears had taken over for a brief second. If Max was in danger, there was no way he wouldn’t let her know, if only for her to reach the others and get out of there. So no, that couldn’t be it. All the same, she had taken out her G.E.S. and with slightly trembling hands she had started to type a short message: “You’re taking a lot of time. Everything’s alright?”
There. Nothing that anyone reading could misunderstand, and enough to get Max out of whatever situation he was in. He could blame his wife for wanting him somewhere else. And, most importantly, something that would let him know she was feeling something odd from his side.
Seconds had gone by with no response. And then she had felt Max opening up again, a certain reassurance slipping through their connection that things were okay. She had actually smiled at that, feeling slightly silly for worrying so much. And she had just started to wonder what was really going on with their connection being so unsteady when suddenly there hadn’t been anything to feel at all.
Like a candle blown out, Liz had been left in the dark, and a cold sensation had grown immediately in her stomach, a shiver running through her spine making her tremble. Max was out. Plain and simple.
That had been when her senses had heightened, taking in every detail of everything she was seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and feeling. The air conditioner around her felt too chilly, and the cologne from the guy in front of her was way too strong. Her mouth filled with a mixture of acid and salty taste, which, had she had the time to think about, she would have said it was the taste of dread. She hadn’t even thought about how intense the colors around had gotten, because she had just turned around and started to run towards Max, her bags forgotten, every reason to stay calm and in control forgotten as well. Only the sound of her heart in her ears had seemed to be inescapable.
She had gotten as far as the entrance when she had realized she had no clue where to go. So she had taken the G.E.S. out once again, fighting with the tiny screen, option after option displaying useless functions, until she had finally found the map of this place.
As she had started to walk in the right direction, she had been aware that there was a part of her that sensed she was going, indeed, in the right direction. Somehow, somewhere, she still had been able to hold onto their connection, like an invisible rope in a cold, desolate world. That had calmed her down just enough to regain coherent thought.
She hadn’t run then, but she had walked fast. Fast enough to turn a head or two on her way to Lab 2 – 00 – 22, Jake’s lab. The G.E.S. had mapped for her the fastest way, which wasn’t very far away, yet it still had felt as if an ocean had separated them. As she had been reading the map, the message option caught her eyes again. She had taken a turn, and had typed, “Max?” just as her grip on herself was starting to fade. “You OK?” she had added as she had picked up speed again.
He had said that he hadn’t felt anything wrong with their connection, so surely he was bound to feel her panicking at his lack of response. She had kept staring at the G.E.S. in hopes of receiving a message back, but as the seconds had gone by and nothing was changing on her side of the connection, Liz had typed yet another message, “What’s wrong?”
She somehow had felt incredibly stupid at that. If something was wrong, Max was not going to text-message her back. She had wanted to tell him that she was coming to his aid; that she knew something was wrong but was terrified of writing something that would give him away. She had wanted to say so many things at that moment, especially when she finally reached the second floor below where the lab was. Max was not going to be happy about her getting this close to Jake and his lab, but she screwed it all.
“Max?!” she had sent a last message. If he was in any position to contact her, that would have snapped him out of it, and when nothing had come back, through the G.E.S. or their connection, then Liz had really panicked.
The last corridor had finally come into view, and this time she had run all the way to the right door. She hadn’t read the map for the last two minutes, her instincts telling her exactly where Max was. She could just feel him.
As she had approached him, she had felt heavy. Each step had felt as if she had been carrying a ton of bricks, and her chest had felt as if she had been breathing against a G4 force. Her fingertips had tingled, and she had barely acknowledged that she could start sparking anytime now. She had needed to see Max right there and then.
The next seconds had come in a blur. She had reached the door, she had read the numbers as she had practically thrown it open and then... and then all she had cared about was to feel Max, to know he was all right. It had taken all but a second to open that last door, just to find Jake turning to look at her as her eyes had turned invariably towards Max. And then time had come back to its normal speed.
It was hard to describe what exactly she felt at that sight. All her fears of the past week came rushing back to her with a strength that almost knocked her out, but above all, there was the stinging feeling of betrayal. She turned to look at Jake.
“What have you done to him?”
Her words seemed to vibrate in the room, and as she entered to go to Max, she was met with a slight electrical current in the air around her which she ignored. She needed to get to Max, to touch him and… reconnect with him. And she needed to do it now.
Jake just stood where he was, no words coming from him to deny or clarify what was going on, and frankly, she wouldn’t have believed or cared whatever he had said.
In six long, fast strides she reached Max, bent over him, and placed her hand over his cheek… and then everything felt charged, and warm and… wonderful. All her worries and thoughts melted away as she finally make contact with him, feeling him reaching out for her from within with a mental peace that she hadn’t felt in months.
Tears dropped from her eyes as she released a small but completely heartfelt laugh. She felt embraced, and acknowledged, and recognized immediately. As if something inside of Max hadn’t been sure who she was until now. And the best part was that it didn’t fade away. She felt Max just as strongly as she always felt him when they were close by. When they were touching each other. He felt 100% Max, he was just…
“He’s just… sleeping…” she finally whispered to herself, all the tension draining from her body, making her almost collapse on the couch next to Max. She didn’t care. She was way too happy to care about anything right now. Max was fine, and the world was right all over again.
“Sleeping?” Liz heard Jake behind her, reminding her that she wasn’t alone with Max in that room. “Are you sure?” and his voice sounded as tentative and fearful as Liz had felt herself when she had been up there at The Shop.
She slowly turned to meet his eyes, reluctantly letting go of Max. Even though she didn’t say a word, Jake must have read the relief on her face as he closed his eyes while letting himself fall seated on the couch next to him.
“God, I’m getting too old for this,” he simply said, his right hand going to the bridge of his nose. “You’re sure, right?” he said, snapping his eyes open, “He’s just sleeping?”
Liz slightly narrowed her eyes as she looked down on him. “Why did you think he wasn’t?” Now that her worry for Max was put to rest, suspiciousness came back to her. Had Jake really done something to him? Did he know something she didn’t?
Jake frowned for an instant, just to arch his eyebrows a moment later as he caught Liz’s meaning. “I read the text message you sent a couple of minutes ago. Max fell asleep here as I was finishing something in my office, so when I came back and saw what you had written… I assumed something was actually wrong and…” Jake trailed off, narrowing his eyes just as she had done before. “Something was wrong, wasn’t it?” he asked, and the way he said it reminded her of her father when he had just caught her lying to him. She felt awkward all of a sudden.
Liz slowly shook her head, her eyes pinned to his. “Not wrong… just… off…” she explained, feeling way too self conscious for her liking. However, before Jake could say anything else, her eyes went past him to the screen behind him, and what she saw made her eyes go wide.
“Oh, my God…” she whispered as she turned to look at Max.
* * *
AN: I want to take a moment to sincerely say THANK YOU to xmag for taking the time to translate those lines to French, not to mention all the support she has given me right from chapter 5 when she first PM’ed me!! You are such a cool girl!!!
