Chapter 3

Liz was there. She could hear every word Max was saying to her. She was sitting in the middle of a long tunnel. One end, the end she had come from, was dark and scary, but the other end was light, and friendly, and she wanted to go to it. However, she had heard Max while she was in this tunnel. So, there she was sitting, her legs pulled to her chest, and she was rocking slightly back and forth, back and forth. She was terrified to go back, because it looked so unwelcoming. She looked at the wall across from her. What had happened that made her go in to this tunnel? She asked herself.
Normally, when you are in this kind of state, you can't really remember too much from what happened before you come into this state of mind. Liz, however, was different. She was one of two of this certain type of people. There were only two people on Earth that had died and been brought back to life by an alien. Liz was one of them, she was slowly remembering all of this stuff in her state of mind. Flashes came of the day Max saved her life. She stood up from where she had been sitting and turned towards the light. She heard soft whispers of her name, but then she turned to the back and she heard a familar male voice telling her to come back to him. "Liz, come back to me," the voice had said over and over. She looked back at the warm and friendly light and took a step towards it, but then she heard another voice coming above the others. She saw a figure standing in her way of the light.
"Honey bear," said the figure, shaping into her Grandma Claudia. "Go the other way. You aren't quite ready to come and live with me. Go home to Max." Liz looked at her grandmother.
"But Grandma, someone told me that mom was dead. I want to be with her," Liz said. Grandma Claudia just smiled and took Liz's hand, leading her down the darkened path.
"Honey bear, don't think of your mother that way. She's very much alive. I'll let her know that you are thinking of her, okay, honey bear?" Grandma Claudia asked. "But for now, Max needs you, and so does the little one." Grandma Claudia whispered, laying a hand gently on Liz's stomach. "Now go. And don't come back sweetie." Grandma Claudia gave Liz a little push down the dark tunnel. Liz took one more look behind her as Grandma Claudia disappeared in a group of orbs. Liz continued on the path that she had started. She felt, however, that she was letting someone down with going back to the real world, but as she reached the end of the tunnel, she felt a door knob, so she grabbed it, then twisted it open, a bright light ahead of her.
Elizabeth Parker-Evans woke up.

Isabel sighed as she stood there at the edge of the woods, looking out towards the road. Come on, Kyle, she thought to herself. It was cold and she was worried about Liz. She was also thinking about Kivar. Geeze, why did he have to come back? I thought I made it clear last time that if he came back, I was going to kill him, she thought to herself. She kept her cell phone in her hand as she crossed her arms over her chest. Kyle, where the hell are you? She muttered, seeing her breath. It was nearly 11 at night. Kyle had been gone for at least four hours. She was really starting to worry. Kyle had called a couple of hours ago, before Liz had been found, and he had said no one was at the house, so what was taking him so long? Isabel sighed.
She turned towards everyone else and saw that Max was still sitting next to Liz, holding her hand and waiting for her to come back. She watched for a minute, and then Liz's eyes opened and Max let out a breath of relief. Isabel smiled and then turned back to the road. She didn't want to crowd Liz. Liz and Max needed to talk about what happened before they would tell the rest of the group. She saw Max hug Liz and she smiled again. Though she had been pretty worried about Liz, she knew that Liz would come back safe because she had Max with her. She didn't want to intrude on their time. She never did. She looked at the road, and, thinking of Jesse, started to day dream.
"Why did I call him?" she asked herself. "How could I have been so stupid?" She sighed, and shook her head, rubbing her temple with her hand.
"Call who?" she heard a voice. Kyle was standing right in front of her, and Isabel hadn't even noticed it. She had been so lost in her thoughts about Jesse. She looked at Kyle.
"No one," she said, "I was just talking to myself. Just thinking about something." She shook her head and smiled at him. "So, what took you so long? I thought you said no one was there?" Kyle took her hand and led them towards the group. "No," Isabel commented. "They are making sure Liz is okay." Kyle looked at Max and Liz. "She was attacked by something, I think it was Kivar, but anyways, news?" Kyle nodded.
"I ended up seeing a light flash on whenever I was driving away, so I parked the van and then walked to my house and saw an agent interrogating my dad, about to shoot him. So I barge in and then say that I had run off to Vegas and I married a stripper. Then the agent left, right? Well, my dad and I left his house and picked up the van, but we made sure to check in case there was a tracker on it, and then we went to the Crashdown. Get this, the Parkers are still there. My dad was talking to Mr. Parker and he said that Nancy was being broadcasted to be dead, so she had to stay up in the apartment. No one is allowed to go up there, and it's said that there are government agents all over the place in the Crashdown. So we ate and stuff, right?
"Well, then I saw Sean DeLuca walk in with Maria's mom, right? They come over to the table and Dad smiles at her and stuff. Well, Sean asked me if I had seen Maria, and I laughed and I was like, 'Yea, she's a big Vegas showgirl now.' Sean rolled his eyes at me. Then he asked about Liz. I didn't know what to say at first. But I told him, 'No, I haven't seen her, but from what I hear, she's married.' You should've seen his face, it was friggin' hilarious!" Kyle said with a big laugh. Isabel looked at him. "Sorry," he muttered. "Anyways, when we left, I told him that we were staying somewhere close and I'd call him for any updates." Isabel nodded.
"Okay, so now all we have to do is tell everyone what's happening," she turned to walk away, but Kyle grabbed her arm. She turned to face him.
"Before, who were you talking about? When you said you shouldn't have called?" Kyle asked. Isabel looked down and then back at him, straight in the eye. "Izzy, please." She sighed.
"Jesse," she said lowly. Kyle looked at her to say, 'what' becaus he hadn't heard her. "Jesse," she said louder and then walked away from Kyle, who walked after her.
"Why did you call him? I thought you were through with him?" Kyle asked. Isabel looked at him. She had tears running down her cheeks.
"I never wanted to leave Jesse in the first place. I love Jesse and not even you can take his place!" she yelled.

Kyle looked at Isabel with hurt eyes. She covered her mouth, realizing what she had said. "Fine," he muttered and turned around, putting his hands in his pockets. "Tell them yourself. I'm going to go and live with my dad. I'm not in danger, like the rest of you." He continued to walk, past the van and down the road back to his old house. He walked inside, where his father and Amy DeLuca were watching a movie, snuggled close on the couch. "Oh, sorry, Dad, I'll just be in my room," he said, walking to his room.
Kyle knew his dad and Amy were looking at him weird as he walked down the hall to his room. He shut the door and then sat down on his bed. He hadn't slept here in three years. It was too long. He looked around. Not even a year after he had found out that Tess was a murderer, he left. Some of her things were still in the room. He pulled down a poster above his bed. There was some pink paint spread on the wall from the day that he and Tess were going to 'trim their lamps'. He smiled. As much as he hated Tess for killing Alex, they had had some good times together. Kyle put the poster back up and then dug underneath his bed.
He pulled out a porno magazine from 2001, the year book from his senior year, and his old "Buddhism for Beginners" book. He set it on his bed and then walked over to his door. He stuck his head out just as his dad's door was closing and he knew they would be in there for a while. "Geeze," he muttered to himself, "why can't they ever go to the DeLuca's house?" He shook his head and then went back into his room. He sat down on his bed, grabbing the Buddhism book and he lay back on his pillows, starting to read the book.

"Chapter One - The Essence of Buddhim.

What is the Essence of Buddhism?

Simply speaking, it is to avoid harming others and to help them as much as possible. Another way of expressing this is the oft-quoted verse :

Abandon negative action,
Create perfect virtue;
Subdue your own mind.
This is the teaching of Buddha.

By abandoning negative actions, such as hurting others, and destructive motivations, such as anger, attachment, and closedmindedness, we stop harming ourselves and others."

Kyle stopped to think for a second. "Closedmindedness?" he asked. He knew that that was what he was doing to Isabel. He wasn't letting her deal with things about Jesse, and he wasn't sitting there beside her helping her either, but it was too late for him to go back. He was sure the agents knew that he was back and they would be watching his every move. He went back to reading.

"By creating perfect virtue, we develop beneficial attitudes, such as equanimity, love, compassion, and joy and act constructively......" ( Real exerpt from Buddism for Beginners )

Maria had fallen asleep, but she heard Max talking to someone and she didn't hear Isabel. She opened her eyes quickly. She looked over, seeing that Liz had awakened. She got up and hurried over. "Liz are you okay?!" she blurted. Liz nodded at Maria, at first a little startled. "Sorry," Maria muttered, standing back. She watched as Max told Liz what had happened, then Isabel came over, looking upset. She sat down next to Maria.
"Kyle came back, but he left again," she said slowly, looking at the ground. "He said that he went to his house and there was an agent there, and the agent was threatening to kill his father, but then Kyle told him that he had been in Vegas with some random girl. Then he said that he and his dad went to the Crashdown." Isabel looked at Liz. "Your mom isn't dead. Valenti was talking to Mr. Parker and he said that Mrs. Parker is being held hostage upstairs and no one is allowed up there. There is said to be a ton of government agents up there." Liz looked at Isabel, relieved but scared. She remained silent. Max was messing with the little black thing he had removed from Liz's abdomen.
"Max, what is that thing?" Maria asked. "It definitely looks alien." Michael walked over. He had gone to the bushes to relieve himself. He saw that Liz was back awake and everyone was around there.
"So, what's going on now?" he asked. They re-explained what was happening at the Crashdown and then Michael took the little thing from Max. "You know, it looks like something you described, Maxwell, back whenever you and Tess were doing memory retrieval. You, or it could have been Tess, said something about a little black thing, shaped like this that was used to kill enemies." Max looked at the thing, a saddened look on his face. Maria gaped in horror.
"But who would want to kill Liz?" she asked, scared. Everyone was silent for a few minutes. They were all glancing off into space, thinking. Then Isabel said something.
"Kivar," she muttered. Everyone turned to look at her. She was still gazing down at the ground. It was more like she had said it to herself rather than to everyone else.
"What?" Maria asked. Isabel looked up, and then glanced around the group. Everyone, except Liz, was looking at her. Maria watched silently, waiting for an answer.
"Kivar," Isabel repeated. "I had a vision at the scene of where Liz was found. I saw the attack on her. That face. I would never forget that face. I told him that if he ever came back I would kill him myself." She glanced around. Maria shook her head.
"Why would Kivar want to kill Liz? What has Liz ever done to him?" Maria said, feeling rage that she could think that an alien would want to kill Liz. Isabel shrugged her shoulders and once again they sat in silence. Maria looked at poor Liz. She was probably in shock of the whole attack on her, so that was probably why she wasn't talking to anyone. Then Maria looked at Michael. He was busy studying the little thing. Isabel was busy staring at the pattern of the blanket, but Maria knew that Isabel was just thinking. She looked at Max, who was holding Liz's hand and trying to get her to say something. She sighed deeply. It was going to be a long night. But somehow, deep down, Maria knew that Liz knew what Kivar had attacked her for, she just wasn't telling anyone.

Michael was staring at the thing. Come on, reveal your secrets to me, he thought to himself, okay that sounded so dorky. He was getting frustrated with it. He just could not figure out if it was really something Max had described to him. Maybe it had been Tess, he thought, that cold-hearted bitch probably knew all of our home planet's torture devices. He shook his head, handing the thing back to Max.
"Maxwell, I don't know what it is, but I'm too tired to study it tonight. Where's Kyle?" he asked, glancing at Isabel. Isabel cowered a little.
"He and I got into a sort of fight," she said, in a low voice. "I was missing Jesse and I yelled at him. I said that that I loved Jesse and not even he could take Jesse's place. He stormed off. He said he really isn't part of the group, so he left and went back to his house with his dad." She sighed. Michael touched Isabel on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, Izzy, everything will turn out okay," he said, soothingly. It wasn't like MIchael to be a caring person, but since the whole leaving Roswell thing, he had become more considerate of others' feelings. He yawned, making Isabel yawn. "Okay, I'm sorry to break up the party, but I'm tired, and we have got to get out of Roswell tomorrow. So--"
"Get out of Roswell?!" erupted Isabel. "I don't think so! We can't leave yet, Michael!" She looked at him, with piercing eyes. Michael looked at her.
"Isabel, geeze, don't yell. You'll just be telling the government where we are," he muttered, standing up. "We have to go. If we don't, we'll get caught, then who knows what they'll do to us? Test us, torture us, exterminate us? As you used to say." Isabel stood up.
"You want to leave, go ahead, Michael. I'm not going. I'm going to go into Roswell. If they catch me, well then they catch me, but you all can leave. I'm tired of running. I'm tired of living my life in constant fear. I never wanted to be part alien. I wish I were human," she sighed. "Life would be so much easier." Michael looked at her.
"You know, I try to comfort you, Isabel, and then I suggest we leave, because it's best, and then you blow up on me!" Michael said. "We have to leave. We can't ever come back here, remember?" He ran his hands through his hair and then stormed off to his blanket about twenty feet away. He sat down on it, looking away from the group. All was silent. Michael continued to stare at the woods. "We can't go into Roswell. They'll catch us and kill us." He continued to talk to himself. Maria came over and sat next to him.
"Michael," she said softly. "We can't leave, not yet." Michael didn't look at her. "We have to figure out what to do about Liz and her parents. We have got to figure this out. I don't want to leave here." Michael looked at her.
"You wanted to come along in the first place, Maria. It was your decision to run away with us. Are you saying, you would rather risk getting yourself killed than running off and being safe with me?" he asked, acussingly. Maria didn't say anything. Michael put his arm around her. "I'm not going to let that happen. We can stay 'til we figure out what to do, then we have to get out of here. It's so dangerous for us to be here." He kissed her forehead. "I know I shouldn't have blown up on Isabel. I just don't think it's safe for us to just sit around here. Especially now since Kyle is gone, we don't have a spy. If Kyle would have continually drove here and back to town, they would have know he was hiding something here, but we still need someone to sneak in." Maria pulled away from him and looked at him, but he was laying down on the blanket.
"I can go into Roswell," she said, laying down beside him, but she didn't want to do that. She didn't want to risk getting caught.

Max watched Michael and Maria as they lay down, then he looked back at Liz. She was looking at him. She hadn't said a single thing since she had woken up. She just looked around. It was like she was autistic. Oh no, Max thought to himself, please don't let it have changed her. He looked around. Everyone else was dozing, but he and Liz were wide awake.
"Liz," he said. "Say something to me." He whispered that so softly into her ear. "Let me know that you are okay. Please." Liz had been laying down, but she sat up, staring at Max. He knew she wanted to say something, but she was holding herself back. "Baby," he kissed her hand, "just tell me you're okay. Just let me make sure that you are fine. I need to know that. Please." He was so sensitive when it came to Liz. He was sad because all she did was sit there and stare. It reminded him of an autistic child he once knew. His name was Samuel. Max had met him around Christmas time a couple of years back and he had made Max realize that Liz was his family, no matter what. He continued to stare at her. "Liz, I love you," he said, on the verge of tears now. He put a hand next to her face. "Don't let me lose you now."
Liz continued to sit there, staring at him. He could see in her eyes that there was something she wanted to say, but she just couldn't. Max took her face in his hands and pulled her face gently towards his. He kissed her softly on the lips, and, as usual, there were flashes, but this time there was something other than the usual flashes. He was seeing parts of her being attacked. He was seeing things from Liz's point of view. She had fallen, then something dark and shadowy towered above her. Something was being thrusted into her stomach through her belly button. Then he saw her laying there, battered. He broke the kiss and looked at her.
"Oh, baby," he said slowly, pulling her into a hug. "I'm going to kill him." Max hadn't been sure who it was. It was very possible that it was Kivar who wanted to kill Liz. "You're going to be okay. I promise you. I won't let anyone hurt you again." He continued to hug her. "I just need you to talk to me. Tell me why he would come after you. I know you know." She pulled away from his hug. For the first time she was actually looking at him, not through him, like it seemed. It looked like she was there, and she was coming back to herself. "Liz?" He put her head in his hands and gazed into her eyes. "Honey, talk to me, please." He heard her clear her throat a little.
"It was Kivar," she said, in a raspy sort of voice. "He wants to kill me because.." She started to cough. Max reached over and grabbed a bottle of water, helping her to drink it.
"Now, why does he want to kill you?" Max asked. Liz swallowed the water and rubbed her throat a little. Max looked into her eyes. "It's okay. I won't let him hurt you now." Liz looked away from Max for a minute.
"You can't freak out on me," she said, slowly, "if I tell you the truth." She looked at Max. He shook his head. "Kivar wants me dead because I'm carrying the heir to Antar."