Chapter 2
This can't have happened, Liz thought to herself, they know who we are and when they see us, they are going to kill us. Oh my God! What happened to my mother! She silently yelled. She sat there, next to Max, trying to keep herself from crying. She cuddled closer to him and he put his other arm around her and hugged her to him. She sobbed lightly. Her mother couldn't be dead. She never got to tell her mother that she loved her for everything that she had done. She felt the tears rushing to her eyes. She didn't want to cry. Not now. She had to try and be strong, but she couldn't. As they reached the sign that said, "Roswell - 2 miles", Liz looked up. She remembered whenever the skins came and they knocked out all of the humans. She looked up towards the front.
"Kyle, can we stop here for a minute?" she asked, trying to keep her head up high. The van slowed and then stopped on the side of the road and Liz got out. She walked towards the sign that said, 'UFO Center' on it and leaned against the post. Max got out and walked over to her. She sighed. "Max, don't you realize that if we get seen in Roswell we are dead?" Max nodded.
"Liz, calm down, baby," he said, putting his arms around her and kissing her forehead. "Trust me. Jim Valenti will get this all straightened out for us." Liz looked up at him.
"What if they know that that is the first place we would go?" Liz asked, a tear falling down her cheek. Max wiped it away. "I mean, come on, Max. They aren't completely stupid. They know we used to be good friends with Valenti." Max looked around. They had all gotten out of the van and were looking at him.
"Maybe we should just send Maria and Kyle into town," Max suggested. "Since they aren't exactly suspects they can go into town, tell everyone they ran off together, and come back and give us the 411 on everything." Maria looked at Kyle, who looked at Maria. They both shook their heads. "Okay, then one of you go. Say you eloped with some random person and have been living somewhere." Maria looked at Kyle, while Michael put his arms around her.
"Okay, fine, I'll go. I can't believe you are making me do this," he said. "Where are the rest of you going to stay?" They looked at one another.
"We can find somewhere, Kyle," Liz said. "We always have. Just," she looked at Max, "repaint the van a different color and we can stay in those woods over there." She pointed behind her. Kyle nodded. Max walked over to the van and painted it an ugly blue and made it look old. He changed the license plate. Michael and Maria got the rest of the things out of the back of the van and they watched as Kyle drove away. It was getting late in the evening, so they would have to get some place to rest. Liz walked a ways into the woods, so that she could still see if Kyle or someone drove up, but they wouldn't be able to see the group. She set down a blanket and sat down. She looked over at everyone else. Max and Michael were off talking and Maria and Isabel had lain down for some rest. She pulled out her journal and began to write.
"It's June 14, 2005. I'm Liz Evans and according to the radio, my mother is dead. Today was a really weird day. At first, Isabel fought with Michael about coming back to Roswell. He didn't want to and she did. We voted and we were heading back whenever a message came over the radio that the four people suspected of killing Nancy Parker, my mother, were seen around Santa Fe. They are trying to say that we killed my mother so that they have a cover story for the reason they are looking for us. We got to the outskirts of town and I started to feel a little weird. We sent Kyle into Roswell by himself so he could try and get some information for us." She sighed and glanced around, then continued to write. "This is so hard. I just wish that I didn't have to hide."
Max
walked over to her as she finished writing that sentence so she
closed it and stuffed it in her pillow case. He sat down next to her,
but kept silent. She looked at him, and then he looked at her, but
she looked away and sighed. He continued to
look at her. Just stop looking at me, she thought to herself. But Max
couldn't help it. He was so deep in love with Liz that he could stare
at her all day. She got up and started to walk away from Max.
"Where
are you going?" he asked, standing up. She stopped for a second
and looked back at him. I just need some time alone, she said
silently. She thought he understood her when he nodded and sat back
down. She walked further into the woods, just to have some time alone
to think about her mother and all of the things she could have said
but didn't before they left.
Isabel made her way over to Max when she saw that Liz had walked away from him. She knelt next to him and looked him in the eye. "Where was Liz going?" she asked, concerned. Max looked over at the woods where Liz had disappeared. "She just needs some time to herself," Max said, with a sigh. Isabel looked at him again and sighed. Things were so complicated. She had always wanted to go back to Roswell to see her family, but she couldn't. "I wish there was something I could do for her," she said with a small sigh. "I can't imagine what she is going through." Max looked at her."Iz, the only thing that can help is finding out the truth about everything. The only thing that can make her right in her mind is to know thaat her mother is alive and not dead, and I assume that you can't imagine what she is going through, since neither of our parents have been said to be dead and we were being blamed for it," Max said in defense of Liz. Isabel looked away from him. Great, Max, she thought, just take it to offense whenever I want to help. She shook her head and stood up, touching her brother on the shoulder and then turning away from him. She glanced at the wooded area Liz had disappeared into. She looked over at Michael and Maria. They were laying on a blanket in each others' arms. She sighed. It wasn't that Kyle wasn't good enough, it's just that her heart hadn't been with him, because she was still in love with Jesse. She sat down on her own empty blanket. She picked up her cell phone. She used the phone in case of emergencies, which was rare. She hoped Kyle would call her whenever he found out what was going on. He hadn't been gone for long, an hour, maybe less. She lay down, placing her head on her pillow and hugging Kyle's to her chest. Why did things have to be this way? She asked herself. Her first boyfriend to know she was an alien died at the hands of an alien, the only other guy she had semi-been involved with had died from some mutant alien crystals. Grant. But Alex. Alex. She sighed. She had really loved Alex, and then he died. She blamed herself for his death, when, really, it was Tess's fault. She rolled over onto her back and then looked up at the stars she could see through the trees overhead. She had set her phone on the blanket a few minutes before, but she couldn't resist temptation anymore. She dialed the number she had remembered as Jesse Ramirez's cell phone when he had lived in Roswell. She had to block her number, though, just in case he had caller id, which most phones did. It rang three times and when she was about to hang up, a voice she hadn't heard in years came on the phone. "Hello?" Jesse asked. Isabel sighed, her eyes getting teary. "Hello? Is anyone there?" He asked. She had been overcome with so much joy she forgot she was talking to him. "Jesse," Isabel said, tears slowly falling down her cheeks. "Jesse, oh my gosh. It's been so long." Her hand was shaking a little as she sat up. "Isabel?" he asked. "Izzy? Baby? Where are you? Are you in trouble?" His voice was hurried. She shook her head, blinking with tears running down her cheeks."No," she said in almost a whisper. "Everything is okay. Everyone is fine. I just needed to hear you, to know you were okay. I love you, Jesse." "I love you too, baby," he said. "Where are you? I want to see you." She shook her head again, still blinking tears out of her eyes."I wish I could tell you. For now, you just need to know that I'm safe," she said. "And I needed to tell you," she paused for a second, for it was difficult for her to say this, "that you need to move on. Find someone else. I don't think we'll ever be able to be together and I don't want you to be alone." She heard him sniff, like he was about to cry."Isabel, I can't. You're my wife. I can't ever find someone other than you," he said in almost a whisper. "I love you." He said after a moment of silence. She sniffed."I love you too, Jesse, but we can't be together. Find someone else, or be lonely," she said. "I have to go. Bye." She hung up. Then, she lay back down on her pillow and began to sob, not too loudly, for she didn't want anyone to hear her. She had told her love goodbye, and she couldn't take it that well. What she didn't know, was that Jesse was in Roswell, and he was searching for her.
Kyle
walked inside his old house. This was the place he grew up in. The
house he had lived in his whole life. He walked through it, not
seeing anything or anyone. His father's truck had been parked in
front. He walked through the kitchen and living room, then moved back
to the bedrooms. He stepped into his old room, then memories of
everything started coming to him. How he had let a murderer live in
his room for a year, how he had witnessed Alex's death, how he and
his father had lived just guys after his mother left. He walked out
of his room and went to his father's room.
The bed looked like it
hadn't been slept in. The room was neat. There was a tie and a jacket
on the bed, and shoes on the floor by the bed. It looked like his
father had come in and started to get undressed, but just left. Where
is he? Kyle thought to himself. He walked out of his father's room
and went to his dad's office. Papers were all over the place. It was
like he was searching for something. Kyle walked back out into the
living room. He picked up his cell phone and called Isabel's. She
picked up after three rings.
"No one is here," he
muttered. She said something softly back to him and he nodded. They
had to talk extremely quiet whenever they were on the phone. "Okay,
I will talk to you later. Bye." He hung up. In case there was
any wiring in the house, he had to be careful of what he said. He
learned after a while how he had to act about the alien part. He
walked back out of the back door and to his van. Why would his
father's truck be there, but he wasn't?
As he pulled out of the
driveway, he glanced, back seeing a light turn on in the living room.
He stopped and then pulled the van into a parking lot of some small
business. He got out, making sure it was locked and then quickly, but
quietly, walked back to his house. He crept around to the side of the
house, seeing that there were two people in the living room. One was
sitting down on the couch, and the other had a gun to the first man's
face. The first man was none other than Jim Valenti. Kyle stood there
for a minute, watching. He could hear everything that was being
said.
"You give them up, Valenti, or I will kill you, then
your son will have lost a lot more than just his precious aliens,"
the second man said. Jim didn't see Kyle, but if he had, he wouldn't
have wanted Kyle to witness this.
"I don't know where they
are," Jim said. "If I did, I would have told you." The
second man shook his head, as if to say wrong answer and then put the
gun to Jim's temple.
"Why would your son be here?" he
asked. "Didn't he leave with the aliens?" Kyle couldn't
stand this anymore. He burst through the door.
"What the
hell are you doing to my father?" he asked. "Why are you
threatening him?" Both of the men looked startled. Jim turned to
Kyle.
"Kyle, get out of here," he said. The second man,
a tall black FBI agent, which was obvious, turned towards
Kyle.
"Where are your friends?" he asked. Kyle shook
his head. "If you don't tell me, I'll shoot your old man."
He thrust the gun closer to Jim's temple.
"I didn't leave
with any friends. What the hell are you talking about?" he
asked. The agent turned and walked towards him, getting into his
face.
"You are lying. Everyone knows that you left with the
four aliens," the agent said. "Now give them up, and I'll
spare you and your old man's lives." Kyle laughed. He was
acting, obviously.
"Agent, everyone knows aliens aren't
real," he said, putting on a serious face. "I left to go to
Vegas. I met a girl and we eloped. We just got a divorce, figured
things wouldn't work out, seeing as she was an exotic dancer. Now,
leave this house." The Agent looked from Kyle to Jim and back to
Kyle.
"I don't believe you, but I will find out the truth.
You can count on it," the agent said and then walked out of the
door Kyle had bursted through. Kyle looked at his father, who stood
up and hurried over to hug him.
Maria
sat up, as Michael continued to lay down. Something was wrong. She
could feel it. Liz had been gone way too long and it was way too
quiet. Michael sat up next to her, noticing that Maria was feeling a
little uneasy.
"What is it?" he asked, looking where
Maria was looking. She stood up, glancing over at Max, who had dozed
off by this time. She turned and looked at Isabel, but she was dead
asleep. Maria sighed.
"I don't know where Liz is," she
said. "Liz has been gone for too long. I'm going to go and look
for her." Maria crossed her arms, as it was getting a little
chillier outside than it normally did. She started to walk towards
where Liz had disappeared in the woods. Michael grabbed her
arm.
"Wait for me, I'll go with you," Michael said, but
Maria shook her head.
"You stay here, in case she comes
back," Maria said. Michael hesitated for a minute, keeping a
firm grip on her arm. "Michael, don't worry, I won't do anything
stupid." She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. She made
him let go of her and she walked towards the woods. She wondered when
Kyle was going to get back. They needed to know what was going on and
if they didn't find out soon, they were probably going to end up like
Liz: lost, sad, and distraught. Things had gotten to a point where
everything was okay, but then they had to get a message that Liz's
mother had been murdered and she and the hybrid aliens were being
accused of it.
Even though she felt the temperature dropping, she
wrapped her arms around herself more tightly. She felt the ground
sloping a little. She heard nothing but her own footfalls and the
cracking of twigs in the distance. She wanted to cry out to her best
friend, her sister, but somehow Maria couldn't find her voice. She
could see her breath in front of her as she walked. She was beginning
to panic. She felt herself going deeper and deeper into the forest,
but coming closer and closer to the desert. She could see the desert
just a matter of yards ahead of her. She ran to the edge of the
forest and saw something that looked like a bundled up something. She
walked over towards it, slowly, so as not to upset it if it was
something unfriendly. She reached the 'thing', whatever it was and
touch it with her foot. She made it roll over.
"OH MY GOD!
LIZ!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Michael
jumped up the instant he heard a scream. "Maria," he
muttered to himself. He saw Max and Isabel jump up as they heard it
to. Michael instantly began to ran at his top speed towards Maria. He
could hear Max and Isabel not far behind him. "Maria, where are
you?!" he yelled to the love of his life. He heard another
scream, making him increase his speed until he saw Maria. She was
kneeling over something. "Maria," he said, soothingly,
walking over. "Maria, what's wrong?" Maria moved back a
little and showed Michael that she was cradling Liz's body. It looked
like she had been beaten up. Max soon reached them and he made
everyone move back.
"Liz," he said, tears coming to his
eyes. He placed a hand on her head to look for damage. Michael felt
Maria coming closer to him and he put his arms around her, keeping
his eyes on Max. He hoped with every breath that Max could save Liz.
What was going to happen if he didn't? He felt Maria digging her
nails into his back.
"Maria," Michael said soothingly,
walking a little ways away from the others. "Maria, everything
is going to be okay. Don't you worry." He hugged her. Maria
pulled away from him.
"But what if it's not?" she
asked, sobbing with tears in her eyes. Michael pulled her closer to
him.
"It's all going to be okay. I promise you that much,"
Michael said. Then he thought to himself, "At least, we can hope
that it will be okay." He stood there, with Maria in his arms,
listening for anything from the silent and lifeless Liz. He looked
over at Max, who was concentrating extremely hard on healing Liz.
Then he looked over at Isabel who was sitting a little ways away from
everyone else, hands to her face that was in shock. Michael didn't
want to leave Maria, but he needed to comfort Izzy. Izzy and Liz had
gotten to be like sisters over the past three years. "Maria,"
he whispered. "I'm going to check on Isabel, okay?" Maria
nodded as he walked over and knelt next to Isabel. "Are you
okay?" She snapped out of her trance.
"I just saw
something," she said in a low whisper. Michael leaned a little
closer to her. "I think I might have seen what attacked her, and
if it's what I saw, then I am going to kill them myself." She
stood up. Michael looked at her like she was insane. Isabel had a
determined look on her face. He hadn't seen that look since she had
been taken over by Kivar, well by Vilandra. Wait, Michael thought to
himself, Kivar. He looked at Isabel again.
"Izzy, did you
see Kivar?" he asked, but Isabel wasn't paying attention to him.
Her mind was on how to destroy the threat that had tried to kill Liz.
Michael made his way back over to Maria, who welcomed his arms around
her.
"Is Isabel okay?" Maria asked, sniffing. Michael
nodded. Maria glanced over at Isabel. "Then why does she look
like she's about to go to war?" Michael looked at Maria.
"She's
just thinking of ways to get rid of Isabel's adversary, and Liz's
attacker," Michael said. Maria looked at him like she didn't
understand what he was saying. "Kivar is back. Iz said that she
saw him attacking Liz."
Max
wasn't paying attention to anything going on around him, just on
healing Liz. He was searching throughout her body for damaged places.
"Come on, Liz," he thought, "Baby, where are you hurt?
I need to heal you. Everything is going to be okay." He sent
messages to her mind as he searched through her. He couldn't believe
that he had let her go out on her own. How could I be so stupid? He
asked himself. Why did I let her go alone? He moved from her mind
down to her internal organs. There was no brain damage. Max was
trying to control his emotions with this. Liz was his wife, and if he
ever found out who did this to her, he would kill them.
Max was
beginning to panic. He saw no damage to her heart or lungs. Then, he
began getting flashes from Liz. There were some of the ones he knew,
like from when they were little, the day they first saw one another,
then there was a flash of the first time he saved her life from a
bullet, that was how fate intervined and they knew they were destined
to be. He got another flash of the day he asked her to marry him, and
he instantly knew how she felt. She was surprised, happy, and
confused because they were about to die. He got another flash of Liz
in the bathroom at a gas station, holding something in her hands. He
couldn't see what it was before he moved to the next image, but he
still couldn't stop thinking of what Liz had been holding.
So,
Max moved down to her kidneys and lower organs. It looked like there
was really no damage, but he went back and scanned through her
stomach, searching. He knew something was there. He got a few flashes
of some older version of himself coming to Liz, and then he found it.
But what was it? He asked himself. It was so small, so tiny. He tried
to manipulate the small dark thing into the organ it was in. Max
couldn't tell what organ that was, but he figured that whatever it
was, it was just trying to kill Liz. He finally couldn't change it.
He started to move it, away from Liz's organs, up through her wind
tunnel and out of her mouth. He broke the connection, but Liz still
wasn't conscious. He looked around at Isabel and Michael and Maria.
They were all waiting on a response. Max held the little black thing
in his hand.
"Maxwell, what is that?" Michael asked.
Max shrugged his shoulders. Maria looked at Max and almost lost it on
him as he was giving Michael the little black thing.
"Instead
of worrying what that is about, you need to worry about Liz!"
she yelled at him. Max nodded and then went back to searching Liz for
a wounded part internally, but he found nothing. He began to heal her
outside wounds. She had been beat up, or at least it looked that way.
Maybe whoever attacked her made it look like she had been beat up, so
he wouldn't search inside of her and find that little black thing. He
finished healing her wounds, but she didn't wake. He turned to the
group.
"Let's take her back to camp and give her some
water," Max said, picking up Liz and standing up with her in his
arms. "Come on, Baby," he whispered lightly, "wake up,
come back to me." They made it to camp and Max put Liz down
lightly on their blanket. He placed the pillows underneath her head
to elevate it. Isabel handed him a bottle of water and he poured a
little bit of it on Liz's forehead. She was still alive, but he
wasn't sure for how long. What was wrong with her? He had removed the
little thing causing a threat, but now, what was he supposed to do?
He watched Liz, laying there, silently. Everyone stood around Max and
Liz.
"Maxwell, maybe we should bring her to the hospital or
something," Michael said. Then, he knew it was a stupid idea. He
hadn't been thinking. Max looked at him. "Sorry," Michael
muttered, "wasn't thinking." Then he and Maria walked off.
Isabel looked at Max.
"I'm going to go and look for Kyle. To
wait for him to come back and tell us what's happening," she
said and went over to her blanket, grabbed her phone and then headed
towards the road. Max knelt next to Liz and held one of her
hands.
"Liz, come back to me," he whispered lightly
into her ear. He sat there for a long time, just staring at his
beloved wife, waiting for anything from her.
