1Chapter 2:
Elaborate Lives, Wild Ambitions
Maria continued to stare at the mutilated fork for moment, before tossing the fork across the room. Alex ducked to avoid the flying metal object as it clattered in the corner of the empty cafeteria.
"Hey! What the hell was that for?" Maria continued to sit at the cafeteria table, her vacant gaze directed at the area where the discarded fork lay.
"Why can't you just pretend that we're normal?" her voice was barely a whisper. Alex felt his anger melt away. He sat on the table next to her, wrapped one arm around her shoulder and squeezed her in a guy only the two of them could ever share.
"There isn't a day that goes by when I don't wish that we were normal... human. But, Maria, we're not. We're different, and if we're not careful, we could hurt someone." The color drained from Maria's face. Her head turned sharply to face Alex.
"Alex, were different!" Alex frowned with an amused, but slightly confused expression on his face.
"Maria, that's what I just said."
"No Alex, we're different. Alex, what did you do today?" Alex pursed his lips together, thinking.
"Well, I didn't eat burgers."
"Alex, focus!"
"Hm, I was in the car with Liz and she wasn't talking to me, so I started talking t myself. You know, I'm really starting to get sick of this whole let's push Alex away-"
"No Alex, what did Isabel do?"
"Well, she touched my cheek, and then she smiled at me, and she was really beautiful-"
"Alex!"
"Sorry, and she led me into a room and she had a syringe and... oh. Maria, what is going on here? What happened back in that room? I think I have the right to know, especially when it's endangering us as well." Alex no longer had Maria wrapped up in a brotherly hug, but stood before her, his face stoic. Maria stared at the ground, unable to look him in the eyes.
"Alex... I-" she began, her voice barely above a whisper, but was saved from having to continue as Liz burst through the swinging doors.
"Sorry. I was looking for the bathroom. The one in the waiting room seems to be out of order. What's going on here?" Alex stared at both girls in succession, no emotion playing on his face. His chest heaved up and down once in a silent sigh.
"Nothing apparently." His voice was cold, colder than ice, echoing with a hollowness that made both girls shudder. "I mean… I have no clue what the hell- and God! What I just did, I could get arrested for. You know what… I'm done. Either tell me what's going on, or this friendship is over."
Liz's eyes widened. "Alex, don't say things that-" Alex sharply turned his hard gaze toward her.
"What, Liz? That I don't mean" He laughed hoarsely to himself. "Cause I couldn't possibly mean that. I'm just stupid, naïve, gullible, weak, little Alex Whitman, who'll do anything for anyone." He ignored Liz and focused solely on Maria, who sat on the cafeteria table defeatedly. "I am not that person." Without another word he swept out of the room, the cafeteria doors swinging violently to accent his absence. The two girls sat in silence for a few moments before Maria spoke.
"Well, that went well," she said sarcastically, getting up to retrieve the fork that lay in the corner of the room. Fatigue showed in her movements and voice.
"It could have been worse."
"Tell me, Liz. How could it have been any worse?" She threw the errant fork into a side trash can, the metal object hitting the plastic bottom with a dull thud. "We should have told him."
"No!" Liz's voice rang throughout the cafeteria. "No one else can know. Alex doesn't need to be a part of this." Maria looked at Liz incredulously.
"Don't you get it? He's already a part of this! We- no. I take that back. YOU made him a part of this. God, Liz. We can trust Alex. I thought you would have been fighting for him. What is going on with you? I don't even know you anymore!" Liz tried to grab a hold of the blonde as she passed.
"Maria!-" But the girl had already exited the room. Liz sat in the empty cafeteria, her head in her hands as a headache slowly built. She closed her eyes, trying to block the voices nagging at her to give in and simply tell all of her secrets.
She was startled out of her meditation as a well known presence entered her awareness. She snapped her head around just as the person came in through the doors. Liz frowned for a moment, thinking. 'I'm such an idiot. How could I have let myself fall for him?' before plastering the brightest smile she could muster on her face.
"Max, what are you doing up?"
He sat down next to her. Heat radiated softly from him, causing Liz to shiver slightly.
"They let me go. Apparently I had some sort of 'miraculously recovery.'" They both chuckled at the meaning behind that statement. "How are you doing?" Liz nervously tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
"Fine. I wasn't hurt." 'Thank God,' both thought, but for very different reasons. The two sat in a looming silence, each lost in his or her thoughts of the other.
"I- uh. Isabel told me what Alex did for us. Is he alright? I mean- do you think he'll say anything?" Liz sighed, closing here eyes for a moment to gather her thoughts.
"He's angry, I mean, really, really angry. I don't think I've ever seen him this pissed before. But he's a really loyal friend. I don't think he'll tell anyone." Her voice was terse with pain.
"Liz, I really wish we could tell him but-" Liz held her hand up to Max's mouth to silence him.
"I know. I told Maria the same thing." Realizing she still had her hand to Max's mouth, she snatched the hand back quickly and after hesitating for a moment, again tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Umm- we should probably go. I'm sure Isabel is probably looking for you." Max said nothing and followed Liz out through the doors, reveling in the memory of Liz's fingers on his lips.
"Damn!" Kyle threw the file back into the cabinet. He rubbed his eyes. He'd been searching through the office for over an hour and still nothing. He glanced at his watch. "Dad'll be home soon," he thought. Kyle reached for the next file. Suddenly he froze his hand inches from the soft cardboard covering the sheriff's papers. He listened for a moment before shrugging it off. "Get a grip Valenti." His fingers grazed the files' surface.
"Ahem… uh-"
"Holy shit!!!" Kyle whirled around toward the door. "Whitman? What the hell are you doing in my house?" Alex leaned back against the door fame looking down at his feet.
"I came to talk-"
"To me? Oh…I get it. A spy." Alex looked up at him.
"What?" I'm just-"
"Liz sent you to see if I told anybody anything, right?"
"No, I need to… wait. Told anybody what?" Kyle coughed a laugh and pushed past Alex into the living room.
"You know what hurts the most? She sent the B-team… I mean you and not Maria."
"Kyle, I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Yeah, you think I'm gonna believe Liz didn't let you in on her secret? I'm not that stupid. You-" Kyle looked out the window as headlights reflected off the glass.
"You know…I don't need this." Alex backed out of the front door heading for the truck in the driveway. Kyle walked up to the glass watching as Alex slid into the passenger seat to talk to Sheriff Valenti. They talked for a moment before the truck lurched, backing out of the driveway. Alex glanced back to the window to see Kyle glaring at him.
Speeding through the streets, Alex tried to ignore the continuous tirade of questions Sheriff Valenti was frantically firing at him. He gave non-committal answers to each, his mind not on the conversation but on the events of the day. How had Isabelle been able to draw his blood? He didn't feel any needle. Hell, he didn't even know what a needle felt like. He noticed an ink pen on the floor of the car. Scooping it up he pressed it into his forearm. The plastic bent into an impossible loop. No way that girl got a needle into his arm. She would have be some kind of supernatural… "No."
"What? No what? Alex…you need to talk to me. I need to know what's going on."
"No…actually Sheriff I think you know too much." Valenti turned to look at Alex to find him glaring back in the dark. "What do you know about Isabel Evans? And don't try and pull a "Liz Parker" on me. I'm so tired of people lieing to me."
"Alex, son, I have no idea what you're talking about. Isabel…she…um…perfectly normal teenage girl."
"I'll bet. Pull over."
"What? Alex, we're miles away from you're hou-"
"Pull over!" Alex dropped his fist onto the dashboard of the truck creating a dent in the thick plastic. The car screeched to a halt and they sat in silence for a moment.
"Alex…"
"You're not going to tell me. Even if whatever secret you're keeping could hurt me…or worse Maria."
"I'm sorry. I pro-"
"Save it," Alex popped open the car door stepping out into the night. "Sorry about the car." He slammed the door closed and started walking waiting until Valenti's headlights were out of sight before taking off in a run. As the wind whipped by the trees blurs in his peripheral vision his mind wandered. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were hiding something and whatever it was affect both him and Maria. No matter how mad at her he could get there was no way he was letting Max Evans and temptress Isabel hurt her. He stopped in front of his house. Seeing all the windows dark, he sighed. Alex let himself into the house, colappsing on the couch dropping his heel on top of a pile of magazines on the coffee table. His body hit auto pilot channel surfing with out actually looking at the screen.
"Alex, is that you out there?" He whirled around.
"Hey dad. I didn't know you were back there." He heard his dad laugh from his room. Alex concentrated his hearing sharpened.
"Those kids…sometimes they seem so alien." Alex laughed. "What's funny?"
"Um…Monkey wrestling on the tube. Wanna join?" Alex didn't have to hear his dad's response to know what he would say. He jumped off the couch to grab a bag of chips and froze his arm extended toward the bag. "You've got to be kidding me." He ran back to the table throwing the magazine off of a book that lay underneath. Aliens among Us, a stupid joke gift Maria had given him months ago. He had thought she had meant the two of them but what if… He opened the book to read the note she left him.
"To enlighten yourself, Whitman. Not everything is what it seems. Love, Maria." He hit himself in the head with the novel. She did everything but come out and say it.
"Dad I'm going out!"
"But you just got back."
"I have to get…a new razor. The ladies love it when I shave." What? He thought. And the lame excuse award goes to…
"Lock the door when you get back in." Alex shook his head smiling as he walked out of the door, walking a few yards before breaking into a run not slowing until his hand was right in from of Maria's door. KNOCK KNOCK!
"Alex…what the heck?" He dropped the book into her hands. She glanced down at it as a sly smile caught her lips. "Well, well…it certainly took you long enough."
The grey metal gleamed in the dark void, casting an eerie halo around its form. A lone figure sat just beyond the edge of the glow, scowling at the hunk of metal. The figure shifted slightly, grabbing something off of the ground. The figure made a throwing motion and a small stone flew out of his hand at an extremely fast rate toward the metal form. The pebble sped toward the form until, a few inches from the side, the rock slowed and changed direction, hitting the back of the barn with a dull thud. The figure stood, back erect, frustration and sadness playing across his face; he raised his fist over the metal form and began to bring it down-
"Clark?" Clark snatched his back away from the small ship in front of him.
"Clark? Can you hear me? Your mom said you were out here?" Using his x-ray vision, Clark could see Lana working her way toward the doors of the barn in which both he and the vehicle which brought him to earth hid. He panicked.
"Hold on just a second, Lana! I'll be right out!" Clark quickly threw the tarp lying on the ground back over the ship. He hurriedly composed himself before walking toward the door. Just as he reached for the handles the door swung open.
"There you are." She peered past Clark into the darkened barn. "What were you doing in here?" Clark smiled nervously and shifted his weight, trying to further hide the tarp-covered ship.
"Oh, nothing. Just... thinking." Thinking he had deterred her, Clark looked more closely at Lana. "Are you alright? You look pale."
"Your compliments are enthralling," she deadpanned. "Bad night. Don't worry about it. Besides, you don't look to hot yourself."
"I didn't sleep all that well either."
"Bad dreams?" she pushed. "You want to talk about them?"
"I- uh- don't remember them," he said haltingly. "Haw about you?"
"Yeah. I don't either." She smiled, somewhat knowingly. "So, are you going to let me in out of the heat or are you just gonna keep me in the doorway?" She looked pointedly into the darkness toward the hidden ship.
"I…uh…" he faltered, but was saved by the sound of a honking horn coming from the driveway.
"Hey Lana! You ready to go?" Chloe's shout echoed across the farm. As Clark was momentarily distracted by Chloe's interruption, Lana sighed silently and rolled her eyes. She quickly put a smile back on her face as Clark turned his attention back to her.
"Go? Where are you going?" Lana hesitated. Clark could see the wheels spin in her head.
"Oh… I'm meeting Aunt Nell in Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit with some relatives and uh… Chloe's coming with me to keep me company."
"Oh," Clark said quietly, somewhat questioningly. "Well- have fun." Lana smiled brightly.
"I'm sure it will be interesting. See you later, Clark." She smiled and standing on her tip toes, gave him a kiss on the cheek. Coming back down, she smiled again a Clark and then left.
"Bye-" He was still standing in the doorway of the barn, smiling, when Pete found him ten minutes later.
"Hey man. Was Lana just here?"
"Yeah, did you see her leave?" Pete slapped him on the back, laughing.
"No, man. But you're smiling like an idiot and that can only mean that Lana was here. So where'd she go?" Clark shook himself out of his daydream.
"Oh-uh. She said she was visiting some relatives in Albuquerque." Pete frowned, confused.
"I don't think Lana had any relatives outside of Kansas. At least, I've never heard of any."
"Well, she said she was meeting Nell there. Maybe she has some relatives we've never heard of, or she hasn't." Pete shook his head, continuing to frown.
"I just saw Nell at the Talon, complaining as usual. She was saying she had to come back for some sort of real estate issue and how she hoped it wouldn't take too long since she had to be back to work tomorrow." Clark slumped down onto the bench beside the barn, thinking.
"That's not like Lana… although, Chloe was going with her." Pete laughed knowingly.
"Oh man, with Chloe it can only mean trouble!" Clark sighed as he remembered something.
"Chloe had this article up about some waitress who'd been miraculously healed after being shot in New Mexico. But you don't think they-"
"Come on, this is Chloe we're talking about. She'll do anything to get a story, no matter how dangerous it is. So what do you want to do?" Clark stood, strength and determination filling every muscle of his body.
"We follow them, and make sure they stay out of trouble."