Chapter 29


Liz stumbled backwards as the dog jumped up on her.
"Michael, get that dog off of her!" Max demanded.
"Torpid! Stop it!!"
Max and Michael shared a surprised look when Liz's laughter tinkled through the air. The dog was licking her face, his front paws resting on her chest, his tail wagging back and forth in rapid movements.
"Who is this cutie?" Liz got out between dog licks and laughter.
"Eh... my dog…" Michael answered, feeling slightly confused. No one had reacted like that around Torpid before, maybe because Torpid had never acted so happy around anyone before. Michael raised his voice and sharply demanded, "Torpid, get down! Sit!"
After some sad hesitation the Labrador stopped assaulting Liz and compliantly sat down, his tongue hanging out from one side of his mouth as he urgently looked at his master for further instructions.
"What race is he? He looks like a Labrador, but…"
"He's a mongrel. A mix between Labrador and German Shepherd, I think," Michael answered, scratching behind his ear. "So, what were you guys up to?"
Guiltily, Liz and Max glanced at each other and quickly answered in unison, "Nothing."
Michael furrowed his brow in suspicion as he eyed the red color of Max's ears. "Nothing, huh?"

"No, eh... we were just talking," Max said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Should he let his hands remain in his pockets, or should he keep them out? When he couldn't find anywhere to put his hands other than his pockets, he tucked them back in again. Michael narrowed his eyes at his antics. That man was sooo gone.
"How old is he?" Liz asked, hunched in front of the dog, scratching him behind his ear.
Michael shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno."
Liz turned to look at him with a smile. "You don't know? You don't keep track of how old your own dog is?"
"Well, stuff like that never was one of Michael's strong suits," Max informed her.
"Oh," Liz said in understanding.
"Two," Michael huffed.
"Sorry?" Liz asked.
"I guess he's two," Michael answered.
"Well, he's just adorable," Liz turned her attention to the dog, "Aren't you, puppy? Aren't you just adorable? Such a little cutie."
Michael and Max both rolled their eyes over Liz's puppy talk.

"Michael found him out on the street when he was a puppy," Max explained.
Liz looked at Michael with interest in her eyes.
"I couldn't just leave him there! He was all wet and shivering."
Liz smiled warmly. In the short time she had known Michael, this was one side of him that she hadn't seen before. But she had a feeling that his nonchalant exterior was just a facade. She could understand that. She lived her life the same way. Hiding behind a false exterior.
"That's a beautiful thing to do," Liz said.
Michael looked down, a little surprised, and then he straightened up. "That's what I said!"
Max sighed in trepidation. "Oh no, I can hear your head swelling, Michael!"
"Don't sweat it, okay Max," Michael warned. "So, what are you guys up to today?"
"Umm..." Max mumbled.
"We're getting to know each other," Liz answered merrily.
Michael raised one of his eyebrows. "Really?" He looked pointedly at Max. "Getting to know each other, huh?"
Max shot him a warning glare that Michael answered with a smug glance.
Her complete attention on the dog, Liz answered, "Yeah."

"Are you doing that sightseeing tour? Maria's gonna be so pissed if she finds out you did that without her." Max sighed and looked at Michael. Michael was grinning at him, obviously happy about the idea that Maria would be angry with someone else for a change.
"We're not really sightseeing," Max denied, "We've only been to the park so far. We were going to find Maria after lunch."
"Are you eating at the CrashDown?" Michael asked.
Max shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so. What do you think, Liz?"
"Fine by me," Liz said, but turned her head to look at him as he chuckled. "What?"
"You really like dogs, don't you?" he asked.
"I love animals," Liz answered.
"They sure love you too," Michael muttered.
Max snorted. "Are you jealous, Michael?"
"What?" Michael huffed. "No, I'm not jealous!"

"Torpid is not quite what you would call a social dog. He only appreciates Michael's company. Well, until he met you."
Liz giggled. "Why is he called Torpid?"
"He's normally extremely slow," Michael mumbled, "But I don't know what he had for breakfast, cuz he's full of energy now!"
Max chuckled. He had no difficulty understanding why Torpid acted the way he did around Liz. It was just the force Elizabeth Parker put on you.
Taking a hold of Torpid's collar, Michael said, "Are we going to the CrashDown or not? I'm starving!"

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Liz watched as Max took the Tabasco bottle, removed the lid, and poured it over his banana split. He plunged his fork in the mixture, and moved the piece to his lips. The fork stopped mid-air as he caught Liz watching him with scientific interest flaring in her eyes.
"You want some?" he teased.
She jerked out of the spell and smiled guiltily at being caught staring. "No, no. You eat it."
"Okay," Max said and put the Tabasco covered banana in his mouth. Liz watched him chew with a mixture of nose scrunches and fascinated stares. Max took another piece and put it in his mouth. Moaning in pleasure, he leaned back in his seat.
"Good?" Liz asked.
"Wonderful," Max answered after swallowing the mouthful.
"Can I taste?"
Max couldn't hide his surprise. "You wanna taste?"
"Yeah," Liz said casually, as if it wasn't really Tabasco on the banana split.

"Oookaaay," Max said slowly and put his fork in a piece of banana. As he raised his fork to give to Liz, Liz had already closed her eyes and was leaning towards him across the table with her mouth slightly open. Max found his body heating up quickly. His hand slowly moved to put the fork in her mouth and, mesmerized, he watched her lips close around the fork and pull backwards, her mouth slowly moving. Max had never seen anything so sensual in his life.
"Well…" she said. It was enough to snap Max out of the spell.
"Did you like it?" he asked, surprise etching his voice.
She opened her eyes and looked at him as a mixture of a smile and a grimace of nausea played over her face. Max automatically handed her a glass of water. She took it and tried to get it to wash away the taste from her taste buds.
She put down the glass on the table. "Eww... that was disgusting."
Max casually shrugged his shoulders. "I told you that you wouldn't like it."

"Yeah, remind me to listen to you a lot more in the future," Liz said, lifting the glass again as the spicy taste stubbornly lingered in her mouth.
Max grinned. "No problem."
The bell on the door chimed, announcing the arrival of a new customer.
"Hi Max!"
Liz looked up to find a blonde middle-aged woman approaching the table.
"Hi, mom," Max answered.
Liz momentarily looked at Max in surprise before turning her eyes back to the woman who was now smiling warmly and looking at her.
"Hello," Mrs. Evans said, reaching out her hand to Liz, "I'm Max's mom."
"Oh, mom, this is Liz Parker," Max said.
Liz took Mrs. Evans warm hand and shook it firmly. "Hi, it's so nice to meet you."
"I haven't seen you around before. Are you from around here, or...?"
"I'm from New York," Liz answered.
Mrs. Evans face brightened in stunned surprise. "Really? So you met each other in New York?"

"Yes, mom," Max answered, glancing at Liz.
"That's nice. Are you staying here long?"
"I don't know actually. But I'm free from work for two weeks..."
"Oh, Max! We should invite Liz over for dinner-"
"Mom, really that's not nec-" Max protested. He wasn't sure that Liz was comfortable enough to get the third degree by his mother. He knew how inquisitive she could be during dinner.
"I'd love to," Liz interrupted, smiling brightly at Mrs. Evans.
"Wonderful," Mrs. Evans said, clasping her hands together, "I'll leave you two alone. I was just here to pick up a cake. I'm so happy to have you home, Max."
Max smiled at his mother. "I'm happy to be home too."
His eyes followed his mother as she walked over to the counter and they sat in silence until she was out of ear-shot. He turned his head back to Liz to find her looking at him with a brooding expression mixed with a small smile. As if she were trying to figure something out.
"What?" he asked.
Liz dropped her eyes and unfolded the napkin beside her plate, only to fold it again moments later. "Nothing," she said innocently.

Max opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again. He watched how she methodically folded and unfolded the napkin and looked up at the sound of the doorbell to see his mother leaving the CrashDown with a small wave his way.
"You know, you don't have to go if you don't want to," Max said as he watched the door close after his mother.
Liz looked up at him, putting the napkin under her plate. "No, I want to go. Why wouldn't I want to go?"
"Well, you don't know my mother," Max said slowly.
"That's one more reason to get to know her during dinner," Liz responded lightly.
"Are you sure?"
Liz sighed. "Max, could you please stop treating me like a nutcase?"
Max chin dropped. "What? I'm not treating you like a nu-"
"Yes, you are," Liz said, "You're acting like I'm going to start climbing the walls if I encounter too much pressure or something."

She was right. Not the part where he thought that she would start to climb the walls, but he was afraid that she would retreat into that black emptiness inside of her. That place where she was unreachable. Judging from what had been going on with her lately, what had happened to her ever since he'd known her, he didn't think he was out of line to be afraid of what she would do next. He didn't know how she worked. He didn't know what triggered her 'attacks' or what brought her out of them. He didn't know why one day she could laugh and talk like any normal being, and the next day she would talk about wanting to die and hanging onto a thin thread to remain conscious. It was that unpredictability that scared him. It was not knowing what to do. His mom might ask one wrong question and Liz would disappear, and that scared him. He didn't want her to disappear. He wanted to protect her from it. But how could he when it was all in her mind and obviously too complicated for herself to handle alone.

"To be honest, your mental state isn't exactly stable," Max said, deciding to be brutally honest.
Liz dropped her eyes, picked up a spoon and slowly turned it around on the empty plate which created a faint squeaking sound.
"It's not like I can help it," she said.
"That's exactly my point," Max said, "Do you even know when you are going to break down again?"
"I don't break down," Liz protested, looking up into his eyes.
Max stared at her with disbelief. "Of course you do."
"I'm fine-"
"Don't even start with that. We both know that you're not. Do you even remember when this happens or why?"

Liz slowly put down the spoon and reached for her purse sitting next to her in the booth. Without meeting his blazing look she mumbled, "I need some fresh air. Can we go now?"
Max reached across the table and grabbed her by the wrist, stopping her movement. The warmth hit her like a strong wave, making her feel dizzy.
"Max...It's just a dinner. I've been at dinners before and I've been doing all right."
The last 'dinner' she had attended she had passed out and stayed unconscious for several hours after, but Max didn't want to bring that up. "Okay," he relented, releasing her hand. "I know. It's just dinner. But promise me, Liz, if you're starting to feel weird or something, please tell me and we can just go outside for a while. Maybe that will help."
Liz looked up and met his eyes with her own, which were pools of indecipherable emotions.
"Don't worry, Max. I can handle it."

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The folder was slammed down against the wooden surface of the mahogany desk.
"Here are the results, sir."
"All of them?"
"Yes. We also investigated those 'rashes' that were found on Jeffrey Parker following his remarkable recovery."
"And?"
"No other cases of rashes like those have been reported. They are truly unique." The sarcasm was not lost in the utterance.
"And the test results?"
"The fibrous structure of the hair is human, the composition of the nails - human."
"So, what are we dealing with here? Just a remarkable wonder kid?"
"Not exactly. We found a paper towel with blood on it. There is something odd about the blood cells."

"What do you mean?"
"At first glance, they appear human. They look human, but there is something that isn't right about the apportionment of the components in the blood cells."
"What are you saying?"
"That Elizabeth Parker has either some unknown blood disease or she isn't completely human."
"What? Are you leaning towards that extraterrestrial theory again?"
"Actually, neither makes sense. She is far too human to be alien from a scientific viewpoint, but there is something about her blood cells. If even a small percentage of her blood cells were put into the circulation of a ordinary person, the blood cells would probably take nutrition from all of the vital organs. The affinity of her blood cells is higher than that of blood cells in a normal human being."
"In English, please."
"Let me put it this way. The blood cells in Elizabeth Parker are working a thousand times more efficiently than the blood cells of any other human being, but if we were to transfuse Elizabeth Parker's blood cells into another person the recipient would die within a couple of hours."
"Her blood is toxic?"

"You could say that. The blood cells would work like a sponge, draining all of the vital organs of their nutrition, energy, and oxygen, which would end in failure of all of the organs."
"And how do you explain the rashes on her father?"
"All we know is that he was in a highly critical state before her visit that day, and was completely recovered after her visit, with rashes on his body. Somehow his daughter made him better. We don't know how yet."
"Well, you had better hurry up and find out. If Elizabeth Parker possesses only a fraction of the powers we suspect her of, she is dangerous to the human population and should be taken into custody immediately."
"Yes, sir."

TBC…