Hi everyone!
I'm a bit late at updating today… Sorry
Since I'm dead on my feet, I'll be brief with the feedback to your feedback… Just want to say a bit
Thank you for the feedback and all the thoughts on Tess. I was never a fan of Tess in the TV-show and that hasn't changed. I guess my animosity towards her will show somewhat in this story…
Some M&Ms
CHAPTER 17
Maria
Maria bent over the counter and kissed her boyfriend lightly on the lips. “Hey, babe.”
Michael was on his laptop and his greeting was distracted. “Hey.”
“Whatcha doin’?” She circled around the kitchen island to sneak a peak at what was keeping Michael preoccupied. “Is it porn, or some-“
Her words came to a stop as she saw the photos Michael was browsing. It was not until she stopped mid-sentence that Michael noticed her shift in position and closed the lid of the laptop. Turning towards Maria on the bar stool and pulling her body in between his legs, putting her face level with his, he suggested, “Let’s go on a trip.”
Having seen the images of the desert landscape, Maria whispered, “To Roswell?”
Michael nodded and Maria frowned. What was going on here? Michael
hated Roswell. He had vowed to never go back. “But you-“
Michael’s grip on her hips tightened. “I know. I said I would never return. But I’ve changed my mind.”
“Why?” Maria questioned.
Michael sighed, letting his arms fall. He rolled the desk chair backwards slightly, so that he could get to his feet without knocking Maria over. “Do you need a reason?”
Maria gave him a look that specifically told him ‘Do you really have to ask?’ and he sighed again.
“I want to get away. I’m sick of city life.”
Something was not right here. “Then go to Hawaii,” Maria said, annoyance in her voice. She knew that she shouldn’t get worked up and that her boyfriend (who was lacking some social antennas) wouldn’t understand why she was, but it was mostly him not letting her in on his ‘secrets’ that was bugging her. It was the one problem that they had always struggled with; Michael’s Closed-for-Business-attitude. She had lost count of how many of their fights had been about him not having to shoulder everything on his own, about how he could share things with her and maybe she could help him shoulder part of the burden. She could feel one of those fights coming on now. She didn’t want to fight, she couldn’t help it, but if she didn’t say anything he would never learn.
“I’m not interested in a fun sun vacation,” Michael said, pulling the refrigerator open and retrieving a Snapple. “I want to see Roswell.”
“But why?” Maria wondered.
He sighed and his voice was now tense. “Because.”
“To see your foster dad?”
Michael looked disappointed. They had been together so long that he knew what she was doing. She was trying to get a rise out of him.
“Of course not,” he sounded hurt and Maria immediately regretted bringing up the ‘father’ who had abused Michael as a young adult.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I just find it odd that you would suddenly have this need to go to Roswell when you’ve detested the place for as long as I’ve known you.”
“You don’t have to come,” Michael said, taking a seat in front of his laptop again and pushing the lid up. The photos of Roswell blinked up.
“I’m going, Michael,” Maria said, sinking down on his left knee, forcing herself in between the computer screen and his body. His attention was forcibly directed towards her as she put her arms around his neck, pulling his face close to hers. “I wouldn’t let you go to that place alone, whatever the reason.”
She watched his eyes warm and knew that she had managed to translate to him how much he meant to her and how, even though he wouldn’t tell her, she knew that going to his hometown in New Mexico was not a vacation.
*****
“Where are you?”
Isabel sounded tired, terse. Maria had heard about Max’s second seizure and all about him meeting the mysterious woman of his vision. Well, they were calling it
premonitions now apparently. Maria didn’t especially like to leave Max and Isabel to their problems, but Michael had gotten into his head to go to Roswell and she would not let him go alone. Michael was, after all, her first priority.
“Roswell, New Mexico,” Maria replied.
“It’s true then,” Isabel said quietly. “You really went to Roswell.”
“Yep,” Maria said, surveying the orange sandy landscape outside the motel window. “We sure did.”
“Why?”
“You know Michael,” Maria sighed. “He’s a closed book, written in an alien language.”
“Right,” Isabel mumbled. “Do you think it has anything to do with his father?”
“He hasn’t said a word. Got quite upset when I mentioned the big D though.”
“Hmm… Do you want me to talk to him?”
Maria heard the bathroom door open and saw Michael step out, a towel wrapped around his hips, another towel used to ruffle through his wet hair. “I have a feeling it would make it worse, no offense.”
“None taken,” Isabel said and then sighed. “Okay, I’ll leave you to it. I’m here if you need me.”
“Sure,” Maria replied. “And Iz, take care of Max, okay?”
“I will,” Maria could hear the smile, but worried about the constant fatigue in Isabel’s voice.
“Bye,” Maria finished and heard the faint reciprocal “Bye” as she removed the cell phone from her ear to press ‘Disconnect’.
“Isabel?” Michael asked, confirming.
Maria nodded and leaned back on her elbows on the bed. Trying to sound nonchalant, she said, “So, what are we doing today?”
“Cave diving.”
The smile faltered on Maria’s lips. “I’m not sure that’s a thing.” She narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend of five years. “Ooor… at least not a thing for us.”
“I hope you brought your comfortable jeans,” Michael said, giving her a quick peck on the lips.
Maria let her upper body flop back on the bed and groaned. “Why can’t we just go to the Alien Museum or eat alien-themed hamburgers, like normal couples?”
She didn’t miss his wink. “What would be the fun in that, huh?”
She groaned again.
*****
Michael
It had come to him in a dream. And everyone else around him seemed to follow their ‘dreams’ so why shouldn’t he? He had been walking around in the desert, naked (obviously, classroom dreams were not the only dreams one could be naked in), following a snake. He had no idea why he had been following that particular snake, it had just seemed like the thing to do. Plus, it was the only other living thing around.
The reptile had guided him into a cave and it hadn’t taken him long to recognize it. The chambers were still were he had last seen them and the membrane, although now dry like paper, out of which he had managed his own birth was still present. The only problem was that he had remembered there to be three chambers. Three. One for Max, one for Isabel and one for himself. But the snake was slithering up to a forth chamber. It was, just like the others, empty.
But of course, Michael had woken up with the urgent need to see for himself. Had there been four chambers instead of three? And in that case, where was the fourth member? Why hadn’t that person tried to find them, like Michael had searched out Isabel and Max?
Michael knew it was futile to ask Isabel or Max how many chambers they remember there being. Before they had met Michael, they both thought there had only been two. The chamber housing Michael had been hidden further into the cave, alongside this mysterious fourth chamber, away from Max and Isabel’s. Upon breaking out, Max had pulled his sister out of the chamber, but had missed the other two occupants of the cave. And maybe Michael had missed one too.
He hadn’t wanted Maria to worry. He had watched her worry about Max’s dreams so the last thing he wanted was to have Maria worrying that her boyfriend was turning into a nutcase, just like Max.
“Ugh,” Maria groaned behind him. “You could at least have warned me that there was going to be hiking or something, so I could’ve brought my comfortable shoes.”
“It’s not much further,” Michael replied, a small smile playing on his lips at the sight of Maria all dusty and sweaty. Maria, his gorgeous woman.
“You owe me a foot massage tonight, mister,” Maria said.
“I could give you a piggy ride back,” Michael offered, trying to smooth things over.
“You’re on,” Maria replied. “Do you have any more water?”
“Sure,” Michael replied and stopped to haul the backpack off his back, retrieving a water bottle and handing it to her.
“Thanks.” She was breathless, sand stuck to her cheeks and forehead, tendrils of her braided hair moving in the small breeze around her face.
“You’re beautiful,” Michael whispered, staring at her.
She smiled, taking another gulp of water, before replying, “Flattery won’t get you far, Mikey G.”
He groaned. “Don’t call me that.”
She handed the water bottle back to him. “But flattery is appreciated. Thank you.”
He paused to tenderly brush a strand of hair off her sweaty forehead, before pushing the water bottle back into position in his backpack. His eyes were on the backpack as he said, “Thank you for coming with me.” He never was very good at affection, keeping his eyes away from eye contact helped to get the words out.
He felt her fingers lightly brush the one-day stubble on his cheek in a caress. “No other place I’d rather be.”
He knew that it was bad timing, but he couldn’t help it. He laughed lightly. “Are you sure?”
She lightly punched his arm, before weaving her arm through his. “Well, you could’ve picked a more comfortable place for your romantic adventures, but that wouldn’t be Michael Guerin, would it?”
“Right you are,” Michael replied and they recommenced their journey.
He hadn’t brought a map, he was following his instinct. Maybe it was foolish, especially when he was in charge of Maria’s survival, but he knew that his instinct (or whatever it was) would guide him to the right place. It was barely midday as he saw the contours of the cave against the clear blue sky.
“There it is,” he said breathlessly. It was still there.
“Wow,” Maria murmured beside him. “That’s your birth place.”
“Pretty cool, huh?” Michael said and picked up the pace. “Come on.”
Michael had just walked five more steps when Maria’s grip on his arm loosened. He turned to her, thinking that she had lost her balance. At the sight that met him, her name carried across his lips in panic. She was on the ground, on her back, shaking (no, convulsing), nonsensical words tumbling out of her mouth.
Michael fell to his knees next to her and bundled her seizing frame up against his body, pulling her up on his lap. “Mariamariamaria.”
But saying her name over and over again didn’t seem to do the trick. Her eyes were rolled up and he could feel wetness across his knee. Looking down he could see that she had lost control of her bladder.
“Oh fuck,” Michael mumbled and returned his attention to Maria’s face.
Shaking her, which in retrospect might have been an odd thing to do to a girl who was already doing a fairly good job at shaking herself, Michael tried to get Maria to snap out of it. But she didn’t. Michael felt the seconds tick by as if they were individual slaps to his face.
“Jesus, Maria. Come on. Don’t do this.”
He’d never been so scared in his life. Not even when Hank Guerin, his foster dad, had come at him with a baseball bat and caused a small crack in his skull (the crack had since then been healed by Max Evans).
He folded her body up into his arms and managed to get to his feet. It was a lot harder than he would think to carry a convulsing body. He took two steps in the direction of where they had come and Maria stilled in his arms.
She died, was his first panic-stricken thought.
“Michael,” she whispered and his heart took a dive from his throat to its normal position in his ribcage.
He sank to his knees, hugging her close to him. “God, Maria.”
Her voice was muffled by his shirt. “What happened? Why am I wet?”
He gave a teary laugh, he hadn’t realized he was crying, and pulled back to look at her. “You’re okay. I think you had a seizure or something.”
“What?” she gasped.
“Yeah,” Michael nodded, trying to catch his breath.
Her eyes widened in realization and subsequent mortification. “Did I pee my pants?”
“Who cares?” Michael asked rhetorically and kissed her. It was an all-consuming kiss. One that she hadn’t been given in a while. He pulled back, wiping the tears off his cheeks with the back of his hand.
“Michael,” Maria was looking at him worriedly. Not used to seeing him cry.
By habit, he dropped his head, not wanting her to see. He helped her to her feet and over to a rock. Guiding her to take a seat, he pointed to the backpack which had been abandoned where the seizure had claimed her. “I’ll get you some water.”
He was about one step from the backpack, exactly where Maria had been when she had collapsed, when he felt it. It was similar to an electrical current and it moved through him seemingly back and forth. Why had he noticed it before? Maybe the excitement of seeing the cave had made him less alert?
He looked back over his shoulder at his girlfriend, sitting on the orange rock looking worried and lost. He took a slow step backwards and felt the current ebb and disappear. He took an experimental step forward and felt the electricity tickle his fingers. He looked down and saw the little hairs on his arms stand on end. He stepped back and the feeling was gone.
“Michael? What are you doing?”
He picked up the backpack and walked back to Maria. He was deep in thought as he fell to his knees in the sand in front of her, unscrewed the lid of the water bottle and directed it to her lips. He took a gentle hold of the back of her head to steady her, “Here. Drink.”
She did as told, her eyes glued to his face. When he was satisfied that she’d had enough and was putting the lid back on, she asked, “What are you thinking? Is it because I was healed by Max? Am I getting the same seizures as him because we share a connection? But I didn’t have any visions, I didn’t
see anything-”
Michael placed a silencing index finger to her lips and shook his head. “I think it’s a barrier.”
“Huh?”
Michael pointed back to where the backpack had been, where he thought he had lost her. “When I went back there… There’s this current. Like electricity. Right where you had your seizure. And I think… If I were to move to the left or right from where I felt it, it would continue, forming a-“
“Circle,” Maria filled in, getting it. His girlfriend was not dumb.
Michael nodded gravely.
“You think it’s some kind of defense system, protecting the cave from…humans?”
He couldn’t have put it better himself. Michael nodded again. “That’s why I’ve never read anything about the cave. I have wondered why no one has ever explored the cave. No one could’ve. If they had, it would’ve become news. I mean, the things in that cave. They’re not normal.”
“And you could pass through the barrier?” Maria asked.
“There was an unpleasant tingle, of being hit with a mild dose of electricity, but nothing more.”
“You have to do this alone,” Maria stated, biting her bottom lip in disappointment.
“No way I’m letting you try out the theory,” Michael said, putting a finger under Maria’s chin to get her to look at him. “It’s too dangerous. If I hadn’t moved you, I don’t know what would’ve happened.”
Maria nodded, understanding the unspoken implication perfectly. “I’ll wait here, trying to overcome the embarrassment of peeing my pants.”
Michael smiled and pulled her in for a kiss. A gentle caress of her lips, leaving her longingly breathless. “I’ll be back.”
“You better,” Maria whispered.
TBC...