Chapter 2

Hells Bells

Sheriff Valenti had seen about everything at this point in his career, especially since the moment he found out that real living aliens were among them and they weren´t that nasty creature from the movies either. But this crime scene was worse than anything he had to ever witness. When he arrived, after he got a frantic call from his son, he had been shocked from the picture that had been in front of him. Maria was lying in a heap of glass splinters outside the Crash Down, obviously having been flung through the front window. His son was sitting on the ground, holding his right arm at a strange angle while Tess was taking care of bleeding head wound. Jeff Parker had been lying behind the counter, the only thing visible from him had been his feet sticking out. He instantly had called an ambulance, for the wounded and a coroner for the dead person. It had been a hard blow to see two men carrying the bag outside.

Rubbing his forehead Jim was so tired of his job right now. He had never really grasped the fact that evil aliens have landed on earth to kill his children. But after this night he couldn´t ignore the fact that they were in a war and the first victim had been counted. Looking around the people lurking to see the action he finally spotted the group of teenager under his care.

Walking towards them he immediately saw the devastation in their glance as soon as the black bag was put in the car. A weeping Diane Parker was walking behind the coroners, her eyes never leaving the body. Her arms were tightly wrapped around herself. Jim quickly realized the kids feared to hear who it was. " Hey", he pulled the barrier up so that everyone of them could walk through it. " come with me".

" Who was that? Liz?", Max was afraid to hear the truth and afraid not to know it. But he was sure that he wouldn´t be able to handle if something had happened to her while they had been apart and slightly angry at each other. He didn´t want it to end their friendship like that and not at this moment in their life.

Valenti didn´t stop and didn´t turn around. He kept his pace until they were finally at the two ambulances where Kyle was sitting, his arm in a sling and a bandage across his left eyebrow. Tess was besides him, looking a little green around her nose. But after what she had seen, that wasn´t such a surprise. Besides she was having sympathy pains with her boyfriend, who seemed to be a little dazed from the pain killers one of the paramedics had injected in his arm.

" Thank god you´re here", Tess jumped from the car and headed towards her friends, glad to see that everyone was alive. She had been worried that the skins attacking them would target the others as well. She was relieved to know that she had been wrong.

Michael wasn´t sure what they were doing there and why he wasn´t in the Crash Down, trying to find a trace of the skin that had done that. He wanted to have a reason to punch someone for making him worry and maybe for killing someone he loved. Glancing around he was searching for Maria, still afraid that it would have been her in that bag. " Where are the others?".

In that moment they all heard a familiar voice cutting into their depressive mood. " Would you stop that! That hurts, you moron. Can you be a little more sensitive the wrist is already broken!".

Michael was gone in a flash, sprinting across the small distance between the two ambulances in the direction of the next open vehicle, where he saw Maria lying on a stretcher getting treated from a paramedic. Jumping inside he almost pushed the poor guy out of his way to get to his girlfriend. Stopping at her side he gasped slightly when he saw the many scratches on her face and the other parts he could see, knowing instantly that she had been the one flying through the window. But he was so relieved to see her alive that he overlooked the injuries. " Don´t do that to me ever again".

" What are you doing here?", Maria wouldn´t admit it, but she was so glad that he was at her side, even though she was a little taken aback at the way his eyes got glassy all of the sudden. She wasn´t used to this version of him.

Michael took a seat on her other side while he grasped her good hand, trying hard to blink back his tears. Now that the tension and the fear was gone, he realized how close it had been to losing her and he never wanted to experience such a feeling ever again. From now on she wasn´t leaving his side. " What do you mean? Where should I be?".

Maria hissed when the paramedic twisted her paining wrist again, making her bite her tongue to prevent herself from screaming. Glaring at the young man she wished she would be able to kick him where it would hurt him the most. " That was the second time. One more and I will knock you out".

" I´m sorry, but you´re not making it easy for me with not holding still", the paramedic complained, almost sweating bullet with the difficult patient. His first day in the emergency unit and he was already in the middle of the biggest crime the city had ever seen.

Michael growled angrily while his hand grasped the collar of the man over the head from Maria and the glare directed at the other male was deadly. He had no humor when it came to this girl and someone not treating her right. " You´re hurting her again I will rip your head off, okay!".

Maria smiled smugly at the paramedic. Patting Michael´s stomach, she motioned for him to sit down again. For once he didn´t make a fuss for getting ordered around from her and she was stunned about that change. " Easy. I still need him".

" For what? For breaking your other wrist", Michael glowered at the other man, watching him like a hawk and waiting for a small wince from Maria so that he could take his dark feelings out on someone.

Maria pushed the blanket a little aside to show him her right leg, which had a huge glass splinter sticking out of the flesh. Blood was still pumping out of the wound, soaking the bandage around it. Thankfully they already gave her something for the pain or she would have screamed the whole town down. " No for this".

Michael shook his head, not wanting to know in how much pain she had to be right now. The only thing he really wanted to know was what had happened and who had to pay for this. He wouldn´t rest until he found out who was responsible for this destruction. " I´m so sorry. It´s my fault".

" Don´t. It´s actually my fault. I didn´t react on time and the guy caught me unprepared. I should have run, but all I did was standing there, shocked and paralyzed", Maria squeezed his hand, which had found its way in hers again. She couldn´t blame her spaceboy because she was human and defenseless or for the situation at all. She promised as soon as she was better she would take Self defense lessons and maybe learn to handle a weapon.

Michael kissed her knuckles, thanking whoever was looking over her for keeping her alive. For a moment his heart had stopped beating when he had thought that she was the one in the black bag. " I will never leave your side again. From now on we´re joined at the hip".

Maria was just in the process to ask if that was a treat or a promise when she saw Kyle, Tess, Courtney, Max, Isabel, Alex and Jim standing at the open doors of the ambulance staring at her like she was a freak. Winking at the other who haven´t been there when hell broke loose, her gaze lingered on her hopefully not so soon step brother and she felt bad. " Sorry Kyle. I hadn´t meant to hurt you".

" It´s okay, I shouldn´t have sneaked up on you while you were armed", Kyle smiled reassuringly, knowing that the injury hadn´t inflicted intentionally or he would have been very pissed at her otherwise. But accidents happened when you were in action and especially when you were fighting evil aliens.

Jim saw the many confused glances and he was sure that the kids wanted to know what had been going on in the Crash down. Unfortunately they couldn´t ask their questions because of the paramedic that was still present. Motioning the young guy to him, he used his authority as Sheriff to clear the spot from prying ears. " Could you leave for a few minutes. I have a few questions for the young woman. I will get you when we´re done".

Michael was grateful as soon as the stupid paramedic was gone and the others piled in the car. Well as much as it was possible anyway. Jim and Courtney stayed outside and listened from there. " Okay now I want to know what happened".

" Alright. I came to Liz, very much in a bad mood. She was in the process to clean the restaurant to close it for the night. I helped her so that we could still spend some time together before she had to go to bed. But then everything went so quickly, I just remember that the backdoor was flung open and six or seven skins walked inside, pointing their hands in our direction. I took Liz and ran with her to the door. Unfortunately they blocked it somehow and so we were trapped. There was this boy, the one you thought you had killed and your dupe Michael. They said something about Khivar sending them to get the leverage and you know me I couldn´t stop my mouth. The next thing I felt was the impact with the floor behind the counter. When I stood up I saw the baseball bat that a boy had forgotten and took it. I don´t know how I managed it but I was able to kill two of the skins trying to take away Liz. In my adrenaline rush I didn´t notice someone behind me until it was too late. Then I can´t remember anything, because I blacked out after I flew through the window", Maria tried to recall everything that could be of importance, but she hadn´t been conscious for the rest. She just came around when they pulled her in the ambulance.

Kyle carefully patted the bandage around his soon to be turning black eye. Yeah it had a hell of a fight and they barely managed to keep alive throughout the whole thing. Thankfully Maria had been able to reduce their numbers or else they probably would have been killed. " That´s when it got worse. This small dude and the Michael lookalike retard had knocked Liz out and where trying to drag her out the back when Mr. Parker came down, warning that he was armed and had called the police. He saw his daughter in the arms of those guys and he tried to help her. Unfortunately he didn´t make it".

Everybody dropped their glances for a moment, realizing that Jeff Parker had been in that black body bag. Max felt guilty, because his was so glad that it hadn´t been Liz and Tess felt guilty because she hadn´t been able to save that life. She had been so occupied with preventing Nicholas and Rath from taking Liz that she hadn´t realized anything else.

" Wait. If that hadn´t been Liz, where is she now?", Michael hadn´t noticed it before, but now that he knew that it hadn´t been one of their own being dead, he recognized that their number had been ceased. He was fearing for the worst and as soon as he saw the crestfallen expression on Kyle and Tess´ faces, he knew that his instincts were correct.

Kyle exchanged a glance with his girlfriend, trying to tell her that she should be the one telling them about their current problem. She was at least able to dodge whatever the former alien king would send his way. But Tess was strangely tongue tied as well, which left him no other option than to be the messenger of the bad news while making a manly attempt to hide behind his girl. " The skins have her".

Max instantly reacted on the information, putting his face in his hands and shaking it. He couldn´t believe that their enemy had her now and was doing god knows what with her to torment him. He shouldn´t have let her push him away, even if she wasn´t in love with him anymore. He should have realized that his enemies would know his weak spot and use it against him.

" Then what are we still doing here. We should make a plan to get her back", Maria hadn´t known anything about her best friend and she felt bad because she hadn´t thought about her at all, too busy with her own pain. But now she was ready to get in action, even though knowing that she wasn´t exactly in shape to do that.

Michael felt sympathy towards his brother and he was sure that in the same situation he would have already jumped on his bike to tear Roswell apart in his haste to find Maria. But he couldn´t let the girl out of his sight, not at this point, not when he knew that Khivar was aware of his love for her. " Max, I know that you always try to be human and I accepted that. But now you can´t just ignore the fact that we´re not human. We have to step up to our roles".

Max looked up at his friend, seeing the truth in the other man´s eyes. He understood now what had driven Michael to work so hard on his powers while he had tried to hide the fact that he wasn´t exactly a normal teenager. They couldn´t sit on their asses and let everything come their way anymore. They had to take action when they wanted to save those they loved. " You´re right. It´s time we stop pretending".

" Excuse me when I interrupt this melodramatic moment. But I don´t think we have to worry about Liz right this moment", Courtney couldn´t listen any longer, considering the news she had been getting from a very resourceful person working for her. The news she had wanted to share with the others before everything broke out in chaos.

Isabel instantly wrapped her arms around Max to prevent him from attacking the blonde skin. Even Alex had to use the little strength he was possessing to keep a hold of the alien leader, which was harder to manage than it appeared. But it was strangely the Sheriff stepping in that disarmed the whole situation. " Stop that. Let her explain, I´m sure she didn´t meant it like it sounded".

Courtney had flinched for a moment, knowing that pissing of Max wasn´t such a smart idea. Even if the King wasn´t such a force to be recommended with like Rath had been, he could be pretty powerful when he was angry. " Thanks Jim. I´m not dismissing Liz or her safety, I like the girl. But I know from a friend of mine that they had planned something like that, even though I didn´t when or I would have told you sooner about it. Unfortunately they made a mistake, which means they will not harm Liz, not yet at least".

" What do you mean with that?", Tess was confused and judging after the many clueless faces she wasn´t the only one. What was the other girl talking about? And what mistake could they have done? Nicholas and Rath were known for their thoroughness in such things, they wouldn´t just leave the place if something went wrong.

Courtney felt like a teacher, trying to get something across to her students and not managing it. Okay she was sure that they were still in shock, but she didn´t want to point something out that was more than obvious in her opinion. " They have the wrong girl".

The others needed a second to get the drift, instantly realizing that not Liz had been the target, but someone else. Almost simultaneously they all glanced at Maria, who was slightly taken aback from the attention. Then she finally figured it out as well. They had wanted her.

TBC