Hi All. Thanks for all the feedback
Here's a nice long part for you. I should have been studying, and I'll now have a very late night, so send me lots of feeback to tell me it was all worth it
Enjoy!
70
Max Jnr POV
I had a few hours to kill before meeting Beth back at the Crashdown, and it take me a lot less time than that to look around the town. There was nothing going on here, but I guess that was why my Dad liked it so much - it was easier to see what was coming. One thing that I was keen to do was check out the UFO Centre, if only for a good laugh - oh, and some ideas for a costume.
Most of the UFO Centre was filled with large displays of the crash and alien autopsies that made me shudder at the thought. My father had told me briefly about what had happened to some of the protectors from his ship, and now I understood why he didn’t say more. What captured my interest the most, however, were the walls of photographs of apparent UFO sightings. Some of them were no more than a small dot in the sky, possibly nothing other than a bird or a plane, but others, the more recent photos, depicted something that looked remarkably like the Granolith. It seemed that the UFO Centre got a whole lot more interesting seventeen years ago when a UFO was captured on film
leaving Earth, rather than arriving.
The final photo almost made my heart stop - it was a photo of my father. The caption below the photo linked his sudden exit from the town to the timing of the sighting of the Granolith. Maybe now I could truly understand why my father had never returned home during all of these years. What I didn’t understand, however, is why he was the only one implicated? He wasn’t the only one to leave Roswell that day.
“I see that photo has struck your interest.” A voice came up behind me.
“Well yeah. You think this guy is a real life alien?” I said, pulling my long hair further down around my face in an attempt to hide any resemblance to the photo.
“It’s a theory.” The man replied.
“He looks so normal. Why do you think he’s an alien?” I asked.
“He used to be an employee here. There were always a few odd things happening when he was around, and then he leaves out of the blue without saying anything the same day the departure sighting was made. His parents were suspiciously vague when I called to ask of his whereabouts.”
“Surely that’s just a coincidence.” I scoffed disbelievingly. This guy, while correct in his suspicions, had no proof. Dad had told me that his parents had left Roswell shortly after his and Aunt Isabel’s disappearance. They now lived in Miami.
“Maybe, but it brings in the tourists’ dollars.” The man smiled before walking away to attend to someone else.
Well at least I didn’t have to worry too much about him taking the photo too seriously. I looked at the photo more closely. My father was my age in that picture. I could see the resemblance. My mother had always said that I looked just like my father, but with her eyes. I could see how true it was, well, except for the hair.
I had been meaning to cut it for a while, now that it was passed my shoulders, but I’d resorted to tying it back in a ponytail to keep it out of my face. Now seemed like a good a time as any to make the change. I also had brought with me the jacket that my father was wearing in this photo – a brown leather jacket that my father had never been able to bring himself to throw out, despite its inappropriateness for Antar. He’d given it to me before I left for Earth, along with some other human clothes, on the off-chance that they wouldn’t be too dated.
So now I had a costume for the festival.
* * * * *
At five minutes to 7 o’clock, I walked into the Crashdown, with my new haircut, my father’s denim jeans and brown leather jacket, and a pair dark sunglasses. The café was half-filled with people in alien costumes, while the other half were looking rightly confused by what they had stepped into. I made my way to the counter and took a seat on one of the stools, hoping that Beth would appear soon to save me from making small talk with the guy with three heads next to me.
I didn’t have to wait long before Beth appeared through the double doors that lead out to the kitchen. She scanned the restaurant before her eyes settled on mine. My heart skipped a beat at the look of happiness that twinkled in her eyes on finding that I was there.
“Hey.” Beth said once she strode over to me. She was wearing a skin tight purple lycra suit that was studded with diamantes and black stripes. She had bold purple and black eye makeup and her hair was pulled back. She was beautiful.
“Hey.” I replied. Original, so I added. “I love your costume.”
“Thanks. Yours too. The photo from the UFO Centre right?” Beth confirmed, recognising my inspiration for the costume.
“Yeah.” I replied surprised that she had recognised it, and perhaps a little concerned. Maybe I had done the wrong thing deliberately dressing as the town’s suspected resident alien.
“I like your hair like that. It suits you.” She smiled, as she ran her fingers through my now much shorter locks.
“Thanks.” I blushed, and tried to ignore the electricity shooting through me at her touch.
“Look, Marissa is having a costume issue, so we’re running a little behind. You don’t mind coming up while we sort it out?” Beth asked.
“Of course not.” I replied, trying to curb my enthusiasm. If Beth said ‘up’, I was assuming she was referring to my mother’s old apartment. I couldn’t wait to see where my mother had grown up. Even if it was now changed by the current owners, I’m sure I could still get a sense of what it was like when she lived there.
On walking into the apartment I couldn’t help but be blown away by how much it just felt familiar. I think it was the smell of the place – it smelt like my mom.
“Wait here.” Beth requested, leaving me in the living room, while she went to attend to Marissa, who was obviously in a room down the hall.
“Sure.” I replied, before taking a look around the room. It wasn’t long before my eyes were drawn to the photos on the mantelpiece. I picked up the one closest to me and let out a gasp. It was a photo of me.
I glanced at the other photos on the mantle and realised there were many other photos there of me when I was growing up, and a few of my mother. None of my father.
“That’s my grandson.” A voice explained from the other side of the room, noticing the photo that I had picked up.
“I know.” I replied as I turned around and faced him. It was his turn to let out a gasp.
“Max?” My grandfather gasped.
“Jnr.” I corrected.
“Of course.” Grandpa acknowledged. “I’m sorry. We haven’t received any photos in a few years and you’re the spitting image of your father the last time I saw him – except you have my daughter’s eyes.”
“So she likes to remind me often.” I smiled.
“What are you doing here?” He asked.
“I guess I wanted to see where my parents came from.” I replied. “I only arrived today. I didn’t realise you still lived here. Beth invited me up. We’re going to the Crash Festival.”
“Well, come here and give your Grandfather a hug.” Grandpa held out his arms. I immediately stepped into them, and tried to block out the onslaught of images that threatened to overbear me through the connection. I felt the emotions my grandfather experienced while my mother was dating my father, and his fears for her during that time. I saw the gratitude and respect he now held for my father and I could also see that my mother’s absence had affected him deeply.
“I’d better get your Grandmother in here or I’ll never here the end of it. NANCY!” Grandpa hollered.
“What is it?” My grandmother’s voice called down the hallway before she stopped short in the entranceway on seeing me. “Max?”
“Jnr.” My grandfather corrected.
“Of course it’s Max Jnr – unless these aliens have discovered the fountain of youth, in which case I’m going to hunt your father down for not sharing it with us!” She laughed, as she hobbled over to me to give me a hug.
“What’s this about aliens?” A voice came from behind my grandmother. I looked up to see Beth and Marissa standing in the doorway. The costume disaster had apparently been fixed.
“Just joking around.” My grandmother said flustered. “With all these tourists here dressed up for the Crash Festival I’ve got aliens on the brain.”
“And why are you hugging Beth’s date?” Marissa asked with a curious stare.
“Marissa, this is our grandson Max.” My grandmother replied, putting a hand on my shoulder as though she was laying claim to me.
“Wait, what?” Marissa replied in shock.
“Max, this is our grand-niece, Marissa. And, well, I guess you’ve already met her friend Beth.” My grandfather explained.
I smiled, and tried not to blush as I looked over at Beth and her intense stare. She was confused, and maybe even a little distrustful. I owed her an explanation.
“I was under the impression that he was living with his dad and you didn’t have any contact with him.” Marissa replied, a little affronted that I had dared to show up unannounced.
“That’s true…” My grandfather replied hesitantly. How were we going to explain this one?
“I do live with my father, but he would have never stopped me seeing my grandparents if that’s what I wanted. As a graduation present he bought me the plane ticket and here I am.” I replied. It was partly true. My father had only relented in letting me come on my own once my studies were over. When I returned to Antar I would immediately begin training to take over the leadership of the country. I guess this could be considered to be my ‘gap’ year.
“Whatever. We’d better get going.” Marissa huffed, before heading out the door.
“Have fun.” My grandmother called to Marissa’s retreating form, before grabbing my arm to hold me back from following Beth out the door.
“Where were you planning on staying tonight?” My grandmother asked.
“I’ve got a room at a motel.” I replied.
“Please stay here instead. We’d love to have you.” My grandmother offered.
“I would love to, if you’re sure you have room and it wouldn’t impose on Marissa too much.” I agreed. “She seems a little put out.”
“You’re our family. Don’t ever think that you’re imposing.” My grandfather replied. “Marissa will get over it.”
“Thanks.” I replied. “I’ll see you later then.”
“Have fun.” My grandmother smiled the same farewell as she had given to Marissa.
I felt like part of the family already.
* * * * *
Turns out the Crash Festival was in the desert, so we took Marissa’s car. I sat in the back seat with Beth, while Marissa’s boyfriend Josh drove.
“You’re very quiet.” I addressed Beth after the silence in the car had threatened to deafen me. “What’s on your mind?”
“I was just thinking that it was weird that you didn’t mention that you were related to the owners of the restaurant when we spoke earlier today. It was a little bit of a surprise.” Beth answered.
“Good point Beth. Why didn’t you mention something?” Marissa asked, sensing a little bit more venom in the question than in Beth’s.
“I didn’t realise they still lived here. My dad has been out of contact with them for a few years now and they had previously talked about selling the restaurant. I had assumed that they had.” I explained. “I was going to start my search for them once I had settled into town.”
“Couldn’t you have just asked your mum where they were?” Marissa picked up the flaw in my explanation.
“Marissa, please stop giving him the third degree.” Beth interjected, saving me.
Marissa just ‘humphed’ from the front seat and the car returned to relative quietness.
“Jeff and Nancy were going to sell the restaurant – they even had a buyer lined up, but they couldn’t go through with it. I guess it still holds so many memories for them. By then Marissa had come to live with them, and they decided to advertise for a manager instead. They still live upstairs but aren’t involved too much in the day-to-day running of the restaurant.” Beth explained.
“I see.” I replied. I wanted to ask more about how Marissa came to live with them, but felt that it was better not to do it in Marissa’s earshot – she didn’t seem to like me very much. For some reason she had seemed excited about me as a date for Beth, but not as a relative.
“We’re here.” Marissa announced as we pulled into the car park – almost running over an alien with four legs in the process.
“This is going to be an interesting night.” I said to Beth.
“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” She smiled.
* * * * *
Beth was right. I had never seen so many aliens in the one spot at the one time – and a couple I swear I recognised from some of the councils that I have sat in with my father with the rulers of the other nearby planets. They gave me a wink and were on their way before I could acknowledge them, and I wondered if my father was aware of their ability to travel?
“Having fun?” Beth asked as we left the sideshow alley where I had just won a stuffed alien head for Beth at one of the booths.
“I am, thanks.” I replied. “You?”
“Yeah., I am.” Beth smiled.
“I didn’t realise the festival would be so huge.” I said, indicating to all of the rides and entertainment going on, away from where the actual depiction of the crash was set to happen later in the night. “It’s much bigger than my parents had described. There’s so many people.”
“It seems to get bigger and better each year – particularly because the sightings are much more common than they used to be in your parent’s day.” Beth explained.
“There’s been a lot of sightings?” I asked interested.
“Yeah. Every couple of years there’s talk of a flash of something landing or taking off from somewhere in the desert. No one has managed to find anything out there, but just the rumours of it bring a lot more people to Roswell, and to the festival.”
I guess the Granolith’s movements hadn’t gone unnoticed. I hoped that would cause a problem in the future – in my head I was already planning many more visits to Earth.
“Cool.” I replied, hoping that was the appropriate response. Beth smiled – I guess that wasn’t used in this context anymore.
“It keeps your grandparent’s café in business.” Beth nodded.
“So what is the deal with Marissa? How did she come to live with my grandparents?” I asked.
“Her parents were killed in a car accident almost two years ago. Your grandparents were the only relatives she had left so they took her in. She was living in Boston, so it has been a huge change for her to come to New Mexico - not knowing anyone.” Beth explained.
“And you became friends because you were working at the Crashdown?” I asked, wondering how someone as quiet and mild as Beth could end up being friends with fireball Marissa.
“No, we actually met on her first day at school. I found her in the girl’s bathroom before first period, trying to get up the courage to go into her first class.” Beth replied.
“Marissa was scared? I can’t picture that.” I laughed.
“She came out of her shell very quickly.” Beth nudged me in the ribs. “Anyway, we’ve been friends ever since. She was the one who got me the job at the Crashdown.”
“Cool.” I replied, and mentally slapped myself for repeating that word. What was the current lingo? ‘Awesome’? Surely not.
“You know, there’s something about you that I can’t work out.” Beth stopped suddenly.
I turned to face her, but already mentally preparing myself to run – what had I revealed about myself that gave me away?
“You clothes, and some of the words you say, they are quite old fashioned. You remind me of my father in a way.” Beth observed. “It’s like you’re from a different time – or a different place.”
“I …” I began, but she placed a finger gently over my lips.
“But I like it.” Beth admitted. “You feel like home.”
I gave a small smile and our eyes locked in an unbreakable stare. I gradually felt my head bend down towards hers, as though locked in her tractor-beams. I could see a smile creep over her lips as she welcomed the proximity and what was about to unfold. Within millimetres of her face, I felt the warmth of her skin and smelt the sweet scent of her fragrance – a smell that I wanted to enfold me forever.
“There you two are.” Marissa’s voice broke the connection.
“Hey.” Beth replied, blushing and pulling away. I felt incomplete at her sudden lack of proximity.
“Where’s Josh?” Beth asked Marissa.
“He’s off with some of his football buddies. I need you.” Marissa said to Beth, stepping in between us and linking her arm through Beth’s.
“What for?” Beth asked, giving me an apologetic look. I just smiled.
“We need to have our fortunes told. Madame Vivien has a booth here.” Marissa announced.
My ears pricked up. My mother had been to see a fortune teller once and she told her that she and my father would be together. I had some faith in this fortune telling business.
Beth rolled her eyes and I could tell that she didn’t share the same faith.
“Okay. Let’s go.” Beth agreed, indicating for me to follow them.
We entered the tent where we found Madame Vivien sitting at a small table with a deck of cards and a crystal ball.
“Who’s first?” The fortune teller asked.
“Me!” Marissa shot up her hand and sat at the table while Beth and I stood back in the corner.
“I see travel on your horizon.” Madame Vivien began, looking into her crystal ball.
“Where to? Paris? London?” Marissa asked.
“Further. More remote.” Madame Vivien clarified.
“Not somewhere with one of those squat toilets…” Marissa screwed up her face.
Beth and I turned to each other and giggled, until stifled by a glaring look from Madame Vivien. We sat through the rest of the reading in silence, hearing the usual things - it seems her relationship with Josh wasn’t going to last, and she was going to have a career change. Nothing too unexpected for someone in her last year of high school and with a jock for a boyfriend.
“Your turn.” Marissa all but forced Beth to sit at the table with Madame Vivien.
“I’ve never seen the cards fall like this before…” Madame Vivien began with a frown as she turned over the tarot cards on the table. “A boy … he’s different.”
I was all ears.
“He’s very … important, this boy. Royalty.”
“Okay…” I heard Beth reply with a truckload of disbelief in her voice.
“Great.” Marissa whispered to me. “I’m about to get dumped, and it turns out that Beth is going to marry a prince. Story of my life.”
In that moment I had a tough choice – listen to the rest of Beth’s fortune, or build a bridge between Marissa and I. I chose the latter.
“I think you’ve got the better end of the deal.” I whispered in reply. “Who would want to be married to a prince anyway? All of the royal duties and responsibilities? You don’t strike me as the type of person who would like to be tied down to all of that.”
“You know what? You’re right.” Marissa smiled at me for the first time since she found out who I was. “Screw the prince – give me Rob Pattinson instead.”
“That’s the right attitude.” I agreed. I’d have to find out who this guy was later. I was guessing a musician or actor.
As I turned my attention back to the table, I realised that Beth had finished and was getting up from the table. She looked a little shaken.
“Your turn.” She said, indicating that I should sit down.
“Oh, no, I don’t need my fortune told.” I attempted to argue.
“Sit!” Madam Viven’s voice commanded. It was a voice that you didn’t argue with.
“Hold out your hand.” She commanded.
“Can’t you just use the cards instead?” I asked – my arms firmly crossed across my chest.
“Hand!” She commanded again.
I put out my hand reluctantly.
As soon as her palm touched mine, I was overcome by images of Madame Viven’s life. Her struggle as a child to understand all of these images she was seeing; her dabbling in witchcraft as a pubescent teenager, and her final decision to give in to her gift and start her fortune telling business. I saw fortunes of people who had come to her, including some who were here tonight. I saw her absolute confusion as to who or what I was and her overwhelming fear of what she didn’t understand. I did everything I could to send her messages through our connection that I wasn’t anything to be afraid of and that I was a good man. I particularly made it clear that she shouldn’t tell anybody about me – particularly Beth and Marissa.
“I see a peaceful future for you.” She began, shaking herself out of her stupor, only giving a very slight glance towards Beth and Marissa. “You will be respected and trusted in your … uh, vocation. You will have a large family, beautiful wife and extensive property. You will live a long and healthy life.”
“Cool.” I replied, attempting to pull my hand away, but Madame Vivien latched on and her face became almost contorted. I could feel her inner struggle whether to tell me something or not. It seems she decided to speak.
“Beware of the ninja.” She said, before her face quickly returned to normal and she dropped my hand.
“Will do.” I replied confused, but quickly escaping before she grabbed me again.
We paid our money and quickly left, none of us speaking after that spooky moment.
“Well, that was fun.” Marissa finally said and we all burst out laughing. “I’m travelling to some remote village, Beth is marrying a prince and Max is looking out for ninjas.”
“Apparently it’s also imperative that I don’t look into bright lights.” Beth added.
Both Marissa and I stopped laughing immediately.
“Is that what she said to you? Look out for bright lights?” I asked concerned.
“Something like that. She said I would meet a prince and that my life would either end or change forever when surrounded by bright lights.”
“Maybe you’re going to go to a concert with Prince William the sixth?” Marissa joked.
I was taking it more seriously.
Whether on Antar or on Earth, cautions about bright lights meant death.
I wasn’t letting Beth out of my sight.
