Another story I wrote for fun.

I only own Rachel and Mariah. All other characters belong to their respective owners.


Love And Chemistry

Mariah was doing her homework at home when she saw her father come in looking like his workday had been terrible. She stood up. "Dad, what happened?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said and went to go speak with her mother. Although Mariah was worried, she went back to her homework and finished it up, going upstairs to her room. Suddenly, something clapped over her mouth and pulled her back and she saw it was two people dressed in armor, looking like Knights. She looked at them with fear.

"Shh, child. We're not here to hurt you," said the one holding her.

"We're here to warn you," said the other. "Your parents are working with the Forever Knights. So far, they've kept quiet about it, but now it's gotten to the point where your father is ready to join the Knights permanently."

Mariah tugged on the hand around her mouth and the Knight removed his hand from her mouth, but still held her. "What do you mean?" she asked them.

"You've noticed how agitated he's been, haven't you?" asked the one in front of her and she nodded. "It's because of this. The Forever Knights are planning to brainwash you, the same way they've brainwashed your parents."

She looked shocked, but nodded. "I had a feeling something like that was going on," she said. "I've been studying psychology and noticed a lot of things. Like the books with the Infinity symbol on them."

The two Knights shuddered. "It's worse than we saw," said the one holding her. "Mariah, you must get away from them."

"How?" she asked.

He handed her an envelope. "Quickly gather your things and come with us," he said. "Put that envelope in your backpack. You'll need it for later."

Sensing the urgency in his voice, Mariah didn't argue and gathered her things and went with them as they headed outside and quickly ran through the alleyways, keeping an eye out for people. They soon came to a huge wrought-iron gate and went in.

Rachel was reading on the porch when she saw the two Knights come up with the girl. Surprised, she quickly pulled out her Proto-Tool, but then stopped as she noticed these Knights didn't have the Infinity symbol on their armor and they carried no weapons, which was unusual. They came up to her.

"Mariah, give her the envelope," said one of them and she did. Rachel accepted it curiously.

"Please open it," said the other one. "It contains something you need to read."

Nodding, she opened up the envelope and quickly scanned page inside. Her face grew grim as she put it away and put in the back pocket of her jeans. "Thank you," she said. "Don't worry, Mariah will be safe here."

Nodding, the two Knights headed off and Rachel led the nineteen year old strawberry-blond girl inside. "I didn't think the Knights' influence had spread to unwitting families," she said solemnly.

"I guess they have," Mariah said. "What will happen?"

"This will be your home from now on until the threat is over, which unfortunately won't be for a long time," said Rachel. "I hate that you had to be so suddenly uprooted, but if the Knights had gotten to you first, it would have been worse."

Mariah nodded. "I understand," she said. "They were really controlling anyway. I couldn't go anywhere without them, not even on a date."

"Ouch, talk about harsh," said the owner of the Grant Mansion. "Well, we won't be that protective, but I do ask that you have your cellphone with you to call us anytime."

"Okay."

For the rest of the day, Mariah got settled in and met some of the aliens, which amazed her. The aliens were surprised that she wasn't scared of them, seeing that she was one of the few who didn't scream after meeting them. Amanda had been the first one so long ago.


The days went by pretty fast as the two Knights that had brought Mariah to the Mansion told Rachel that Mariah's parents had died in a fire that had happened only a few days after they had brought her here. Rachel was quite surprised and they told her it was no doubt because they were looking for Mariah and the Forever Knights had decided the family was a loose end and torched the place.

She later on told Mariah the news and comforted the girl as she cried. It was bad enough the Knights had been after her and now that her parents were gone, it was worse.

A few days later, she was walking down the hall, reading a book when she tripped over something and looked to see it was a canister of sorts. Seeing another one roll out from a nearby door, she picked both up and walked into a science lab that looked so futuristic it boggled her.

Atomix had turned from the closet he was in to gather the canisters that had rolled out when he saw the girl. He instantly stopped as he watched her looking around, her grey eyes taking it all in with awe.

"Do you like it?" he asked her, making her jump a bit as she whirled around to see him. She blushed a little.

"It's…very interesting," she admitted, going over and handing him the canisters.

"Ah, thank you," he said, putting them back as he glanced around. "Sorry, I'm just checking to make sure everything's in order."

"That's okay," she said and then spotted the huge apparatus that chemists often had. "What are you working on here?"

Pleased that the girl had a love for chemistry like he did, Atomix walked her through the experiment he had been working on and she watched, amazed.

For a long time, every afternoon, it was a common sight to see Mariah and Atomix working on one mixture or another. Rachel often joked with the others that it was only a matter of time before the chemistry would ignite between the two and everyone agreed, seeing that it was no secret that Mariah liked Atomix and they could see he liked her back.


One evening, Rachel came out of the kitchen, taking a bit of a break from doing dishes when Atomix came up to her. "Little one," he said, calling her his affectionate nickname for her. "What would you say if I told you I want Mariah to stay here forever?"

"As in marrying you?" she asked and he nodded. "I'd say it's about time you asked her. The chemistry's been a bit slow between you two."

"What?" Atomix asked, confused.

Rachel laughed a little. "Come on, Atomix. It's no secret you both like each other. Just ask her already."

The white alien just shook his head, but chuckled in amusement as he went to find Mariah.

Mariah was playing the piano in the living room, softly singing some Patsy Cline songs. The one she was currently singing was "You Belong To Me" and she was actually doing a great job with it, as it was a hard song. Atomix was struck frozen by her singing voice. She sounds just like an angel, he thought to himself as he stepped closer and placed something on the piano keys next to her right hand. She looked and smiled as she finished the song and took the box, opening it to find a green stone winking back at her. It was a ring and she looked up at Atomix with a smile.

"Yes," she said and kissed him. He kissed her back.

Rachel smiled at them. "Like I said earlier, it's about time," she said, heading back to the kitchen to finish the dishes, leaving the new couple to enjoy the love surrounding them.

The two Knights, watching from the window, nodded to each other. "She'll be safe now, marrying Atomix," said one of them.

"Yes," said the other. "But we must get back now."

The two immediately headed back to their posts, knowing that very soon what they feared would be coming.

Hopefully, they would all be prepared for it.


Hmm. Why would two Knights be watching the Grant Mansion? Are they with the Forever Knights, even though they don't have the Infinity Symbol? Or are they allies? That will be revealed in a later story.

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418