Part 54
Tess and Liz were still staring at each other, both completely shocked by what they had found in the book that was still sat closed in Tess's hands.
Liz jumped when she heard Max's voice nearby. He was obviously talking to Kyle but the words were indistinguishable. The size of this library was truly incredible. The fact that she and Tess could hear them at all meant that they were fairly close by.
Which also meant that they had to figure out what they were going to do with this book as soon as possible.
There was no question in Liz's mind that she was going to tell Max about what they had found - and yet...
She remembered the horror of hearing that message from Max and Isabel's mother that day in the pod chamber. She remembered how certain Max had been that he wanted to know the truth rather than live in ignorance...and their whole world had fallen apart the minute that message had finished playing.
They had to know what this book meant before she and Tess told anyone about it.
"Liz?" Tess sounded scared. "Should we...?" She trailed off, lifting the book questioningly.
"Open it." Liz replied firmly, taking a deep breath and straightening her back. She looked around carefully. "But hurry..." Tess' eyes widened. She seemed to understand exactly what Liz was saying.
For the moment this would stay between Tess and Liz.
Tess opened the cover quickly, flipped through the pages and pages of impossible to read text.
And then, there it was...Liz's face staring up at them from the centre pages of the volume.
And she was not alone. Max's face was right beside hers.
Liz swallowed. Her heart was beating at about fifty times its usual pace. What on Earth could this mean?
"Liz?" Tess was looking at her worriedly. "Are you okay?"
Other than feeling like her entire world as she knew it was changing, Liz was fine.
She was an alien.
There was no other explanation for it. Not only that, she was somehow connected to Max...connected enough that her face was printed beside his in some alien text.
Her emotions were in complete turmoil....fright, anger, confusion, betrayal...her life was a complete lie.
Why had her parents never told her that she was adopted? What was the point of it? Why had she never had any powers until Max healed her? It wasn't like she really had any incredible powers NOW either. She could connect with Max intimately, which was definitely special, but not in any way as powerful as Max's ability to heal or Tess' mind-warp or Isabel's gift of entering dreams or Michael's power to kill with a single blast from his hand...
And yet her overwhelming sentiment was one of great joy.
She had always known that she and Max were meant to be. The proof was finally sitting right there in Tess' hands.
But there was sadness too - that what they had was not as fateful as they had always believed. Just like Max had not chosen to be mated to Tess, apparently he had not chosen Liz either.
Or at least not without a lot of help.
Liz shook her head, trying to clear it of all the thoughts flooding it. She would have time to think about what this all meant later. For the moment they needed to figure out exactly what this book said.
"What's that?" Liz asked, her eyes lighting on the other book sitting on the table nearby.
Tess glanced at it. "Oh..." She paused. "That's the book I found in the library a couple of years ago." She finally said reluctantly.
"The destiny book?" Liz asked. She had never seen it before, had only heard about it. She went and picked it up, flipped through it. She pressed her lips together at the pictures of Max and Tess holding hands, a baby in Tess' womb, of similar pictures of Michael and Isabel...
"I don't understand." Tess was saying. "How can THAT be true AND this?" She held up the book in her hands, her expression perplexed. Liz was relieved that she didn't seem particularly upset that for one book to be accurate, the other had to be hogwash. But then Liz had known for a long time that Tess had never had half the feelings for Max that she, Liz, had. The fact that she was also madly in love with Kyle seemed to be softening the blow that maybe all that destiny talk had been just that...talk.
"I don't know." Liz replied. "That's what we need to find out." She glanced over her shoulder. She could feel Max's presence getting closer. While she felt incredibly guilty that she was going to be keeping something of this magnitude from him, she convinced herself that it was for his own good.
She knew exactly how Max was going to react to this. He was going to be absolutely overjoyed...and while Liz certainly wanted that, she also didn't want him to get his hopes up until they knew EXACTLY what they were dealing with here.
"There's only one person who can tell us what that thing says other than Max." Liz went on.
Tess nodded, understanding. "Ren."
"Right." Liz acknowledged. "And the sooner he tells us, the sooner we can tell the others."
"I'll go take it to him right now." Tess replied. She turned on her heel, hurrying back in the direction of the door to the library.
"Tess!" Liz called after the fleeing blonde. Tess stopped abruptly, whirled. "Thank you." Liz said simply. Tess just smiled. She seemed to know that Liz was thanking her for far more than just going to Ren.
Liz was thanking her for giving up her claim to Max, was thanking her for being a friend.
Because in Liz's mind there was now no doubt that Tess was a friend. She was among the best.
Liz took a deep breath, went off in search of Max, trying to put the entire matter out of her mind for the moment. She had to act normally around Max. She knew that he was already worried enough about her. If she started to act brittle and flighty - which was how she felt - he was going to get worried...and maybe even suspicious.
If there was one truth about Max Evans, it was that he KNEW Liz Parker. He was going to know she was hiding something.
Liz silently prayed that Ren cleared up the mystery as soon as possible.
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Kyle was forcing himself to be civil to Max. It wasn't Evans' fault after all that Tess was madly in love with him.
Although from what Kyle had witnessed in the jeep an hour or so ago, and after those hugs he had witnessed in the quad at school yesterday, Kyle was beginning to wonder.
If Max was playing both girls, Tess AND Liz, or if he was giving Tess false hope, Kyle was going to murder him, the fact that Evans was the King of a far-distant planet be damned.
But for the moment, until he had true proof, he had to be cool.
"So, can you read it?" Kyle asked now. Liz had left a few minutes before to find Tess. Max had seemed to understand why although Kyle didn't. Evans had just nodded, giving her an absent-minded squeeze before she disappeared. He had been engrossed in trying to decipher the alien text in front of him.
"As far as I can tell," Max replied, "It's an agricultural treatise of some sort..."
Kyle grimaced. "Like how to plant corn or something?" How boring was that?
"Sort of." Max replied, sounding tolerantly amused at Kyle's tone.
Smug bastard, thought Kyle. Kyle knew damn well that Max was just as uninterested in planting corn as he, Kyle, be it alien corn or not.
"So you remember all this alien language then?" Kyle asked now, knowing he sounded confrontational but certainly not caring one iota.
"I remember the language." Max replied. "I remember BEING the Jaxon I was when I came back here...so I remember Illyria, what its like there and stuff like that. What I don't remember," He continued, "Is my REAL life as Jaxon. You know, the one that Tarsus DIDN'T invent."
Kyle felt a pang of sympathy despite himself. Max sounded sad. It had to suck to have your mind played like that. It also had to suck to know that you had lived a whole other life that you couldn't remember... especially one that had apparently ended so badly.
Max had apparently shrugged off whatever sadness he was feeling though and was beginning to rifle through other volumes on the shelves. Kyle sighed, started to do the same, although if all the books here were as boring as that one on farming, well, he wasn't really sure WHY they were bothering.
Several minutes later Liz appeared from a nearby aisle. "Hi." She said to both of them, her voice sounding a little strange - all squeaky actually. "Find anything interesting?"
Kyle saw Max pause in the middle of sorting some books nearby. He stared at Liz, apparently also hearing in Liz's voice whatever it was Kyle had heard. "What's wrong?" He demanded, glancing behind her briefly before returning his eyes to Liz's face. "Where's Tess?"
"Nothing's wrong." Liz replied. Her voice sounded a little stronger. "I guess I'm just a little tired." She turned away, picked up a book from a shelf beside her and began to turn the pages. "Oh and Tess went to talk to Ren about something..." She glanced at Kyle momentarily, then looked away.
What the hell?
Kyle looked at Max, who was still staring at Liz suspiciously.
"I think I'll go find her." Kyle said suddenly. Liz's head snapped up. Her eyes widened.
"Kyle, I don't think that's a very good idea." She said, much too quickly.
"Why not?" Kyle demanded. Max looked confused too.
"What's going on Liz?" Max asked, sounding worried.
"Nothing." Liz insisted. "Tess just needs to talk to Ren about something to do with Illyria...and she needs to do it alone." Kyle did not miss the significant look she sent Max. He seemed to relax minutely, as thought he suddenly understood something.
Kyle frowned. This had something to do with him. He just knew it. Apparently no one wanted him to know, but he was damn well going to find out what was going on around here...
But first he had to get away without either Max or Liz stopping him.
"Whatever." He said, trying to make his voice sound as unconcerned as he could. "I'm going to look down here." He indicated another aisle. Max nodded, still looking at Liz.
Kyle hurried down the aisle, paused to look back. He saw Max talking seriously to Liz, saw Liz reaching up to stroke his hair. She took his hand and pulled him off in the opposite direction.
For the first time Kyle felt real gratitude that Liz and Max couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other. It was the distraction he needed. He turned abruptly and made his way back the way he had come.
He was soon back out in the stone corridor and hurrying towards the transformation chamber where Kyle knew Tess would have gone to find Ren. He couldn't be that far behind her.
What seemed like eons later Kyle had reached the spot where the entrance to the transformation chamber was located. He swiped his hand across the wall, placed his palm squarely on the familiar silver hand print.
The entrance swung open and for one moment Kyle considered what Liz had said - that whatever it was Tess was talking to Ren about was private. But he had to know - if she was talking to the shapeshifter about HIM...he had to know once and for all, had to know if he had any chance with this girl.
Kyle entered the short corridor leading to the chamber proper. He paused behind the overhang that guarded the large room. Tess' voice floated out to him quite clearly.
"...know what it means?" She was asking, sounding agitated.
"Not really." Ren replied, sounding perplexed, or as perplexed as Mr. poker-face was capable of sounding anyway. "This doesn't make any sense."
"But it changes things...doesn't it?" Tess' voice was a combination of confusion and excitement.
"It doesn't change what Jaxon was to you, Sabrya." Ren said seriously. "He was your husband. I don't know how Liz fits into that equation."
Kyle felt his heart stop. What the hell were they talking about? Was Tess asking the shapeshifter if there was a way that Max could be with both Tess AND Liz?
"But she does fit somehow...obviously." Tess continued, sounding like she was trying to work something out in her head. "I mean, it was sitting right there beside the destiny book. So maybe she CAN be with Max and we can STILL follow destiny."
"I don't know." Ren was saying, although Kyle could barely hear him through the rushing of the blood through his brain.
All he heard over and over was "we can still follow destiny...we can still follow destiny..."
It had never been more clear that Tess Harding had not given up her hope that she and Max were going to be together someday. Apparently she wanted it so badly, she was even willing to share him with Liz.
His first reaction was complete and utter amusement at the absurdity of the idea. He almost broke down laughing hysterically at the strange idea of Liz as an alien king's concubine. That was SO NOT happening...not if he had anything to say about.
And then the pain hit.
Kyle wondered why it hurt so much to hear those words coming out of Tess' mouth. He had KNOWN it all along, had known that she was pining for Max, that she was never going to get over him, but yet it still felt like she had used her small hands to reach into Kyle's chest to rip his heart out.
His knees felt weak. He collapsed against the stone overhang, smashing his head against the rock accidentally. "Dammit!" He groaned without meaning too.
He wasn't sure if the daze in which he found himself was from the pain in his head or the pain in his heart.
All conversation within the transformation chamber stopped abruptly.
A moment later both Ren and Tess were staring at him, Ren frowning, Tess looking scared.
"Kyle!" She exclaimed. "What are you doing here? How much did you hear?"
Kyle did not look at her face. He had to get out of there before he was physically ill. "I was just leaving." He hoisted himself off the ground where he had found himself after hitting his head.
"Kyle..." Tess took a step towards him as though she wanted to help him.
"Stay away from me." Kyle bit out. "I'm leaving. I can't deal with YOU right now."
He was half-way out the entrance when Tess called after him. "You can't leave Kyle! You don't have a car here!"
Dammit!
"I'll call my dad." He replied. "Just stay away from me."
"Kyle!" Tess pleaded. He could feel her close behind him. "It's not what you think! Liz and I..."
"Don't even say it." Kyle ground out. "I KNOW that Liz has nothing to do with this. I know Liz. And apparently I was right about YOU all along too."
He stalked off. He knew that Tess was not following him. He heard her gasp, took it for outrage, since he had basically just called her a slut. Not that he had EVER thought of her that way - in fact still didn't.
She was just a girl in love with another guy. She had never lied to him. She had never tried to hide it.
She had never been his.
Kyle wondered why he was having such a hard time seeing in front of him. All the lights were still on in the underground complex.
And then he understood. He was crying.
Part 55
Max watched Liz's back disappear through the doorway into the Crashdown, a slight frown on his face.
There was no doubt that she had been behaving strangely ever since she had gone to have her talk with Tess in the library. She had been doing her best to hide it but he knew her. The tension had been coming off of her in waves, and yet, no matter how many times he asked her, she just denied that anything was wrong. She had even kissed him a couple times in hopes of distracting him, but what had been MORE distracting was the fact that she had clearly clamped down on all of her emotions before doing so.
When she shut off the connection Max knew for sure she was hiding something.
Tess was acting just as peculiarly. She had been glassy-eyed and staring when she had come back to the library after talking to Ren. She had looked right at Liz, shaking her head slightly.
"Where's Kyle?" Max had asked the logical question but had been perplexed when Tess had replied that he had called his dad to pick him up. Something about basketball practice she explained, but Max had not bought it for a minute. Her tone of voice had been choked and it was clear that Tess was holding in her feelings by the barest thread.
Max had raised an eyebrow at this, but hadn't pushed the point, sure that Liz would tell him what was going on eventually. But even when they had been alone she had chattered on about inane things - about how exciting the library was, about their biology test on Monday. Her hands had been clenched in her lap and she had stared straight out the front wind-shield of the jeep, effectively not allowing him to get a decent glimpse of her face in an attempt to figure out what was going on.
And when he had finally pulled up in front of the her parent's restaurant she had seemed actually eager to get out of the car. He had never seen her like that before. Usually they dragged out every minute until they had to be separated, even to the point that sometimes he had to pretend to leave and would then come and visit her on her balcony. But this time, she couldn't get out of the Jeep fast enough. She had kissed him distractedly and told him that she would call him later and then she was gone.
Something had happened. There was now no question. And there was only one person who could fill him in.
Max backed the Jeep out of its parking spot and drove to Kyle's.
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Liz hung up the phone, sighing in frustration. She had just spent twenty minutes talking to Tess. Ren had been unable to really tell her anything about the book. The language had apparently been Illyrian, but a strange dialect of it which had made deciphering the text the work of several days - like Chaucer's English in comparison to present-day English. Tess had left the book with Ren in hopes that he would be able to make heads or tails of it.
It was then that Tess had told Liz about what Kyle had overheard.
"He totally flipped out Liz!" Tess had exclaimed, how upset she was reflected in her voice on the telephone line. "He wouldn't even listen to me. I'm not even sure WHAT he heard...but clearly he took it the wrong way! I couldn't even tell you in front of Max because he doesn't know about any of this."
"I'll talk to Kyle. It will be alright Tess." Liz had promised. And she had every intention of doing so, but she had something else to take care of first.
She knew that Max was more than aware that she was hiding something from him. The hurt look on his face when she had kissed him goodbye an hour before had almost made her spill everything, but she had to get more information first. She had to protect him, had to find out what all of this meant, if it would hurt him in any way.
As soon as Ren told her anything, she would tell Max everything.
In the meantime, she had to go have dinner with her parents. Which was perfect, because she had every intention of finding out what they knew about the insanity that had suddenly become her life.
Several minutes later Liz was seated at the dining room table. Her dad was at one end, her mom at the other and they were laughing about some strange customer who had been in the restaurant that day.
"So then he says "Have you ever seen any aliens?" Jeff told them. "I told him only every day and that he was certainly among the strangest I had ever seen...and then he THANKED me."
Liz smiled weakly as her parents broke down into gales of laughter again.
"This crazy town." Nancy Parker wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "It's certainly never boring!"
That was the understatement of the year Liz thought.
Jeff was still chuckling when he noticed that Liz wasn't really paying attention to his story. "Is something wrong honey?" He frowned slightly. "Did you have a fight with Max?"
Liz felt a flash of annoyance. "No! I do think of things BESIDES Max you know Dad!"
Liz mentally kicked herself as Jeff blinked, looked down the table at his wife, who shrugged. "I know that honey. You just seem sort of distant."
"Did you know that Max is adopted?" Liz asked her parents suddenly. Great Liz, she reflected, as Nancy and Jeff exchanged another perplexed look, now they're really going to think you're bonkers.
"No I didn't." Nancy replied finally. "Did you just find this out sweetie...is Max upset about it or something?"
Liz shook her head. "No." She told them. "I just thought that you might not know." Liz examined both of her parents, trying to look casual. She searched for a flash of guilt or surprise or anger on either of their faces but they both looked completely open.
"Sometimes I feel we don't know much about Max." Jeff told Liz, clearly pleased that she had broached the subject. "Maybe we should have invited him for dinner tonight."
"Maybe." Liz replied non-committaly. She was more confused than ever. She wondered if she should just come out and ask her parents if she was adopted...but then they would want to know why...and what was she supposed to say? Oh, because I found my picture in an alien book and it looks like I am linked to an alien king for some reason that I don't understand.
That would go over just great.
"He's been back for quite a while." Nancy interjected. "Is he getting caught up at school? How is he doing?"
"He's doing great." Liz said hurriedly. "I'm sure he would love to come over for dinner some night."
"I often think about how hard that whole situation must have been for his family." Nancy continued. "What a miracle it was when he came back! But it must have been even more difficult for Max...to not know WHO you are for all that time - where you came from!" Nancy just shook her head in sympathy.
Liz stared at her mother. She seemed to be opening the door for this conversation!
"Do you ever wonder about where YOU came from mom?" Liz asked quickly
Nancy blinked again. "I know where I came from Liz. I came from Florida. I was born there. I met your dad in university and we've been happy ever since." She smiled down the table at her husband, who smiled back affectionately.
"What's this all about Lizzie?" Jeff asked a moment later.
"I just realized earlier that we never talk about what it was like when you and mom were kids." Liz told him. "I want to know more about you. I mean, I need stories to tell MY kids about their grandparents."
"Liz, don't you think its a bit soon to be thinking about YOUR children?" Nancy inquired. Suddenly she blanched. "Wait a minute! This isn't about what I think it is?"
Liz frowned. "What?" She asked in confusion.
"Liz." Nancy looked like she was about to be ill. "You and Max..."
Liz glanced at her father, he looked just as confused as she, Liz, did. "What mom?"
"You aren't pregnant?" Nancy almost choked on the last word. "Is that why you're always so secretive?''
"WHAT!!!" Both Liz and Jeff yelled at the same time. Jeff turned to look at his daughter in horror while Liz just brought her hand to her forehead in frustration and then started to laugh, although this situation was certainly the farthest thing from funny there was.
"No Mom!" She managed to say, through giggles. She placed her head down on the table and laughed.
"I just wanted to know if I was adopted!" She finally managed to tell her parents.
The room became deadly silent. Liz stopped laughing as abruptly as she had begun.
Nancy and Jeff were staring at each other.
"Mom?" Liz asked, feeling scared suddenly.
"Liz! Whatever gave you that idea?" Nancy finally asked, sounding forcibly cheerful. "Of course you're not adopted! You look exactly like your father!"
Liz turned to look at her dad. He was avoiding her eyes. "Dad?"
"You're not adopted Liz." Jeff said firmly, finally looking her right in the eye. "I was in the hospital room with your mother the day you were born."
Liz looked from one to the other suspiciously. She believed them...she knew her parents and she was pretty sure that she would know if they were lying to her...
And yet...
She excused herself several minutes later and went to call Max.
It was time to tell him the truth. She needed him.
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Max flopped back on his bed in frustration, glancing at the clock on his bedside table. It was late - almost eleven o'clock.
Where the hell was Kyle?
There had been no one home at the Valenti house when he had gone there from the Crashdown. Max had then driven to the school, remembering what Tess had said about basketball practice - but the school had been locked down tightly. Clearly no practice had taken place there recently.
Max had even gone so far as to call the Sheriff at work. Valenti had told him that he had no idea where Kyle was...as far as he knew he was still working on that school project with Liz.
"What is this about Mr. Evans?" The Sheriff had asked suspiciously when Max had been silent for a moment or two after that announcement.
"Nothing." Max replied quickly. "Can you just ask him to call me when you see him?"
The Sheriff had agreed but Max could tell that he was not satisfied. Max felt bad. They had done their best to keep the Sheriff out of as much of their business as possible since the whole White Room/Destiny fiasco. He had been extremely helpful when Max had disappeared too, but Max still felt wary about getting him too involved. He didn't want what he was to get the Sheriff into trouble, worried still that the Sheriff might get into trouble for bending the laws he already had on their behalf.
They owed the Sheriff too much already.
Unfortunately Kyle's connection to Tess was making keeping the Sheriff out of it more difficult with every passing day. The fact that Kyle was changed by what had happened when Max healed him...it meant that nothing would ever be the same for the Valenti family again.
Every single person Max came into contact with suffered in some way.
When Max had finally returned home from his search for Kyle, his parents and Isabel had been standing in the front hall with their coats on.
"You're just in time Max!" Diane Evans had exclaimed, sounding pleased. "We're going to Senor Chow's for dinner. We thought you might be at the Crashdown for dinner, but now you can come with us."
Max had considered begging off but one glance at the dirty look Isabel sent him and he agreed. Max knew that Isabel still thought that he was a little stand-offish with his parent, wanted him to change...
It was just hard for Max. He was grateful that his parents knew the truth, that they loved him anyway, but he was still Max Evans. The only person he ever really opened up to was Liz...that wasn't ever going to change, no matter how much Izzy wanted them to be one big happy family.
He loved his parents, and trusted them, but he was still always on guard...
The Evans had not returned home until about fifteen minutes before. Max was now exhausted and full of food that wasn't sitting very comfortably in his stomach.
Nothing was right with his world when things were weird with Liz.
He sat up with a jolt when at that exact moment a soft tap came at the window. He knew it was Liz immediately. He could feel her presence and the only other person who ever came to his window was Michael, a ritual that had virtually ended when Michael had gotten his own place.
Besides, Michael rarely had any qualms about barging right in. A polite little tap was NOT Michael.
Max hurried to the window, opened it, smiling with pleasure at Liz, who lit up at the sight of him.
"Finally!" She said as he helped her through the window. She threw her arms around his neck, sending them both careening across the room and tumbling onto the bed. She kissed him until he was dizzy. "Where have you been?" She demanded several minutes later when he finally managed to come up for air. "I came over earlier but when you weren't here I went to Alex's to wait. He didn't know where you guys were either!"
"Out for dinner with my parents!" Max gasped, pushing her long dark hair away from her face. "What the heck is going on Liz?"
Liz's expression darkened. "I guess I don't have to tell you that I haven't been straight with you today." She finally managed to say, sounding guilty.
The feeling of relief that flooded through Max was almost weakening in its intensity. "I suspected as much..." He replied lightly, stroking his hands through her hair. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know if ANYTHING is wrong." Liz replied evasively. "I don't think I know anything anymore."
Max ceased the movement of his hands which seemed to have a mind of their own when it came to Liz. "What do you mean?" He could feel her confusion and fear, and yet there was a mingled sense of complete happiness as well.
Liz touched his face, her expression tentative. "Tess and I found something today..." she began.
It took a good fifteen minutes for Liz to finally manage to tell him everything. He just stared at her in shock when she told him about the book, about their pictures, about the fact that Ren couldn't decipher it, about questioning her parents about her heritage...
When she had finally finished, he was silent for several moments. An overwhelming sense of peace was settling over him, as though the missing pieces of a long-running puzzle were finally falling into place.
He had know it all along. Liz WAS his destiny. It wasn't even a matter of choosing it anymore...although it was the thing he wanted above all others. She was HIS. For good. And no one could deny it anymore.
"Max?" Liz's voice was small as he continued to lie beside her silently, just enjoying the way her hair brushed against his neck when her head was on his shoulder as it currently was.
"I don't think I've ever been so completely happy in my entire life." He finally told her. He felt Liz shudder in relief. He flipped over onto his elbow so that he could look at her face. "But why didn't you tell me this right away?" He asked, not angry, just curious. He knew that she had to have had a good reason.
Liz was staring up at him, her eyes dark pools of doubt. "Max, we don't know for sure what it means! This is why I didn't tell you right away...I knew that you would get all dreamy and we can't let this cloud our judgment. What if it doesn't mean what we think it means? What will we do then?"
Max raised an eyebrow. "Do you think I care?" He asked gently. "This only reinforces what we've known all along. We belong together."
Liz still looked worried. Max was determined to make her feel better. He lowered his head, kissed her gently on her forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks, her nose. She was sighing when he finally reached her mouth.
He felt the connection open between them immediately, let himself fall into it...the love she felt for him was humbling and yet, it completed him as well.
There were no more words for a very long time.
Part 56
Isabel sat on her bed, staring at the purple orb that sat on her bedside table. She was frozen with indecision.
The dinner out with her parents and her brother had only made her fear worse - had only emphasized how much she loved her life on Earth, how little she wanted to go back to Illyria...
And yet she knew that she had to find out what was happening there. Jennetta had been so sure that something was wrong.
Isabel had only seen her real mother once, that time they had played the destiny message in the pod chamber. She had only spoken to her once directly, when they had managed to use Stonehenge as an interstellar telephone booth.
Diane Evans was her mom. There was no question about it. Isabel almost felt like she was betraying her mom by even considering contacting Milena. And yet she wanted to.
But then again, she didn't. She didn't want to know, didn't want to be told that they had to go back, that she had to leave Alex and Maria and Liz and Kyle and her parents behind.
And so Isabel stared at the orb, tried to ignore the fact that it felt like it was calling to her - "Use me! Use me!"
For the three thousandth time since yesterday, Isabel considered going to Max, telling him the truth about what Jennetta had asked her to do - in fact had insisted that she do. Let him make the decision! He was the king!
But she already knew what Max would say. He would say that they had a duty to find out the truth. And that would land her right back where she was - in indecision-land. Because just being told to do it was not going to be enough. And then Max would be mad at her.
Isabel sighed, picked up the orb, turning it over in her hands. Just do it Isabel! She commanded herself internally. Close your eyes and try and use it!
She dropped the smooth rock onto the bed beside her. She was going to talk to Max. Maybe it WOULD be easier if he told her what to do.
Isabel stood up quickly, smoothed down her red silk pyjamas and patted her hair. She didn't want Max to see how flustered she was. She wanted to do and say what needed to be said on her own terms.
She was in front of her brother's door with her arm raised to knock when she suddenly became aware of soft voices in his room. He wasn't alone. Isabel realized that it had to be Liz, that she had likely come through the window. No one else would be in Max's room so late.
She couldn't do it tonight then. She wouldn't do it until she spoke with Max.
Isabel rolled her eyes, let the annoyance rush through her. While she loved Liz like a sister, it was very irritating on occasion to have to always come second with her brother.
She refused to allow herself to reflect on the fact that it was almost a relief to be able to blame someone else for not being able to use the communicator. It wasn't her fault. She wasn't afraid. She had just decided that Max should know, that was it! Since he and Liz couldn't seem to spend a minute apart, it would just have to wait.
She refused to reflect on the fact that Max would just tell Liz everything about their conversation anyway, that Isabel could easily go in there and ask them BOTH what she should do.
Tomorrow would be soon enough.
Isabel marched back into her room, resolutely pushed the orb near her pillow. She would talk to Max tomorrow. Everything would be fine.
She tossed and turned for what felt like hours, but finally, close to dawn, Isabel drifted off into a light sleep. She didn't even notice that the orb was touching her hand.
It was only later that she realized that was probably why it happened.
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*DREAMS* Isabel
Isabel sat up, blinked.
She looked around, confusion flowing through her. She was sprawled on a white marble floor, the cold seeping through her silk pyjamas as though she was naked. There were tall windows covering the white walls surrounding her, a dull yellow light seeping through and making the walls muted as well.
The silence was deafening.
Isabel shivered. She felt as though she was freezing to death. She didn't like this dream. Fortunately one of the benefits of being a dreamwalker was that she could wake herself up out of dreams she was not enjoying. And she was definitely NOT enjoying this dream. Being uncomfortable and cold were not options when she COULD be dreaming about she and Alex living in New York, Isabel a famous super-model, Alex a gazillionaire because he had invented some new amazing software for Microsoft...
Isabel shivered again, pinched herself.
Nothing happened.
She stayed exactly where she was.
Isabel frowned slightly, pinched herself again, harder this time. She closed her eyes, knowing that when she opened them she would either be awake or on a beach in Maui with Alex and her friends sipping Mai-tais.
And yet she was supremely not surprised to find herself still freezing AND in the white chamber when she opened her eyes.
Suddenly fear claimed her. Was she dead? Had she died in her sleep - destined never to wake up?
It was then that she became aware of the fact that the silence was no longer solid...she could hear screaming and strange crashing noises coming from somewhere...
She climbed unsteadily to her feet, looked around for a door-way. There didn't seem to be one anywhere. Isabel moved towards one of the floor-to-ceiling windows, cautiously peered out.
And found herself staring into hell.
*************************************************************************************
"MAAAXX!"
Max sat bolt upright in bed, winced when he realized that Liz had still been cradled against his chest. He glanced at the clock. It was 5:14 a.m. Their parents were going to kill them!
Liz's eyelashes were beginning to flutter, as she became aware of the loss of Max's warmth. "Mmmmm...Max?"
Max stared down at her for a moment, wondered what it was that had jolted him awake.
And then it came again. "MAAAXX!"
It sounded like a wail and a plea rolled into one. Liz's eyes snapped open, stared up at him in shock.
"Izzy!" They both said at the same time.
Max was on his feet and out his bedroom door in two seconds flat. His mom and dad were already stirring in their bedroom. "Isabel!" Max heard his mother stumbling around in the stupor of someone just woken from a sound sleep.
Max didn't pause. He threw open his sister's door, saw that she was lying on her bed, her hands clasped around an object that was resting on her stomach.
She was weeping silently now. Max could see that she was still asleep.
He fell to his knees beside her bed. "Isabel! Wake up!" Max felt Liz come up behind him, could feel her concern coming off of her in waves.
He tried to shut out the way Liz always seemed to claim all of his senses whenever he was in her presence. He had to worry about Isabel now. "Isabel!" Max gently shook her. She continued to weep, suddenly let out another ear-piercing shriek.
"JAAAAXX! Mother!!!"
Max flinched. He realized that she had not been saying "Max" at all, but rather "Jax," as in "Jaxon." Something was definitely wrong.
"TRIIISSS!"
Max felt helpless. He continued to shake Isabel but she refused to open her eyes, seemed to be trapped in a nightmare.
Max could hear Liz speaking quietly to his parents, who were now both in the room as well. He ignored them, placed his hands on Isabel's temples and struggled to connect with her.
He knew what he had to do. He had to go in and haul her out of whatever horrifying dream she had become entrapped in.
The images began to flow fast and furious...
Flash*
Isabel, accompanied by Michael, bursting into a chamber. He could feel Izzy's absolute terror... He felt her heart stop in horror at the sight that she and Michael found. Max recognized himself sprawled on the floor, blood seeping out from beneath him. He saw Tess lying peacefully on the bed in the room, looking like she was sleeping, except for the blood that stained the pillow behind her head. And suddenly the girl on the bed was no longer Tess...it was Liz...Max felt Isabel's terror becoming a frenzied crescendo...
Flash*
Isabel in a long, white, blood-stained gown. Max realized that she was cradling a body in her arms... it was Michael. He could feel her fear, and yet resignation, as faceless beings advanced on her...she knew she was going to die...And suddenly the boy dead in his sister's arms was no longer Michael...it was Alex...and Isabel's grief increased ten-fold...
Flash*
Bodies everywhere...blood stained the walls of a white marble chamber...a room lit by a dull yellow light...
Flash*
A woman, Max saw that it was their real mother, standing in the Waylandian Ring, her arms outstretched... "Save me my daughter! Mirana! Save me!"
Max could feel himself beginning to get lost in the flashes. They seemed to be repeating on a constant loop...
He had to get Isabel out of there.
"Izzy! Isabel!" He called her name, searching for her conscious self amongst all the chaos that existed within her mind.
He could feel his sister slipping away into insanity...her mind was like a thin thread...he didn't know how he saw it, but he did...it gleamed in front of him like spun gold...
As suddenly as he was in Isabel's mind, he was out.
Max collapsed onto the bed.
It seemed like a very long time before he realized that Liz was beside him, lightly stroking his face. "Max! Wake up my love! Max..."
He closed his eyes momentarily, reopened them and focused on Liz's face. She was looking at him with fear in her eyes.
"Isabel?" He croaked, after trying twice.
"She had one of the purple orbs in her hands Max." Liz told him quietly. "I took it away and she woke up."
Max looked across the bed, saw that his sister was sitting up, was being cradled in their mother's arms. He frowned. "How long have I been out?" He asked.
"At least five minutes..." Liz replied, pulling him off the floor and on to the bed beside her. "Are you all right?" She was running her hands all over his body, checking for injuries, although he could have told her that she wasn't going to find anything physically wrong with him.
It was all in his mind. He knew he was NEVER going to be able to erase those horrifying images he had seen in his sister's head.
Max turned to look at Isabel. She was staring off into nothingness, her dark eyes wide and blank. She was clutching their mother as though she never wanted to let go. Diane was stroking her blonde hair, crooning nonsense, trying to soothe her.
Max couldn't even begin to imagine how she was suffering. She had been LIVING those horrible things...
And suddenly he was staring right into his sister's haunted eyes. She blinked, became aware of him. "Max..." She swallowed. "Did you see it?"
"Yeah Iz." Max nodded weakly. Liz had her arm around him. He could feel her trying to will some of her strength into him - it actually seemed to be working.
"Max, it's not what you think." Isabel continued, as though he hadn't spoken. "That wasn't the past...I thought it was at first. But it wasn't."
"What are you saying honey?" Diane asked, continuing to stroke Isabel's hair. "What did you two see?"
Isabel ignored her. "It was the future Max...If we don't go back to Illyria, that will be OUR future."
Tess and Liz were still staring at each other, both completely shocked by what they had found in the book that was still sat closed in Tess's hands.
Liz jumped when she heard Max's voice nearby. He was obviously talking to Kyle but the words were indistinguishable. The size of this library was truly incredible. The fact that she and Tess could hear them at all meant that they were fairly close by.
Which also meant that they had to figure out what they were going to do with this book as soon as possible.
There was no question in Liz's mind that she was going to tell Max about what they had found - and yet...
She remembered the horror of hearing that message from Max and Isabel's mother that day in the pod chamber. She remembered how certain Max had been that he wanted to know the truth rather than live in ignorance...and their whole world had fallen apart the minute that message had finished playing.
They had to know what this book meant before she and Tess told anyone about it.
"Liz?" Tess sounded scared. "Should we...?" She trailed off, lifting the book questioningly.
"Open it." Liz replied firmly, taking a deep breath and straightening her back. She looked around carefully. "But hurry..." Tess' eyes widened. She seemed to understand exactly what Liz was saying.
For the moment this would stay between Tess and Liz.
Tess opened the cover quickly, flipped through the pages and pages of impossible to read text.
And then, there it was...Liz's face staring up at them from the centre pages of the volume.
And she was not alone. Max's face was right beside hers.
Liz swallowed. Her heart was beating at about fifty times its usual pace. What on Earth could this mean?
"Liz?" Tess was looking at her worriedly. "Are you okay?"
Other than feeling like her entire world as she knew it was changing, Liz was fine.
She was an alien.
There was no other explanation for it. Not only that, she was somehow connected to Max...connected enough that her face was printed beside his in some alien text.
Her emotions were in complete turmoil....fright, anger, confusion, betrayal...her life was a complete lie.
Why had her parents never told her that she was adopted? What was the point of it? Why had she never had any powers until Max healed her? It wasn't like she really had any incredible powers NOW either. She could connect with Max intimately, which was definitely special, but not in any way as powerful as Max's ability to heal or Tess' mind-warp or Isabel's gift of entering dreams or Michael's power to kill with a single blast from his hand...
And yet her overwhelming sentiment was one of great joy.
She had always known that she and Max were meant to be. The proof was finally sitting right there in Tess' hands.
But there was sadness too - that what they had was not as fateful as they had always believed. Just like Max had not chosen to be mated to Tess, apparently he had not chosen Liz either.
Or at least not without a lot of help.
Liz shook her head, trying to clear it of all the thoughts flooding it. She would have time to think about what this all meant later. For the moment they needed to figure out exactly what this book said.
"What's that?" Liz asked, her eyes lighting on the other book sitting on the table nearby.
Tess glanced at it. "Oh..." She paused. "That's the book I found in the library a couple of years ago." She finally said reluctantly.
"The destiny book?" Liz asked. She had never seen it before, had only heard about it. She went and picked it up, flipped through it. She pressed her lips together at the pictures of Max and Tess holding hands, a baby in Tess' womb, of similar pictures of Michael and Isabel...
"I don't understand." Tess was saying. "How can THAT be true AND this?" She held up the book in her hands, her expression perplexed. Liz was relieved that she didn't seem particularly upset that for one book to be accurate, the other had to be hogwash. But then Liz had known for a long time that Tess had never had half the feelings for Max that she, Liz, had. The fact that she was also madly in love with Kyle seemed to be softening the blow that maybe all that destiny talk had been just that...talk.
"I don't know." Liz replied. "That's what we need to find out." She glanced over her shoulder. She could feel Max's presence getting closer. While she felt incredibly guilty that she was going to be keeping something of this magnitude from him, she convinced herself that it was for his own good.
She knew exactly how Max was going to react to this. He was going to be absolutely overjoyed...and while Liz certainly wanted that, she also didn't want him to get his hopes up until they knew EXACTLY what they were dealing with here.
"There's only one person who can tell us what that thing says other than Max." Liz went on.
Tess nodded, understanding. "Ren."
"Right." Liz acknowledged. "And the sooner he tells us, the sooner we can tell the others."
"I'll go take it to him right now." Tess replied. She turned on her heel, hurrying back in the direction of the door to the library.
"Tess!" Liz called after the fleeing blonde. Tess stopped abruptly, whirled. "Thank you." Liz said simply. Tess just smiled. She seemed to know that Liz was thanking her for far more than just going to Ren.
Liz was thanking her for giving up her claim to Max, was thanking her for being a friend.
Because in Liz's mind there was now no doubt that Tess was a friend. She was among the best.
Liz took a deep breath, went off in search of Max, trying to put the entire matter out of her mind for the moment. She had to act normally around Max. She knew that he was already worried enough about her. If she started to act brittle and flighty - which was how she felt - he was going to get worried...and maybe even suspicious.
If there was one truth about Max Evans, it was that he KNEW Liz Parker. He was going to know she was hiding something.
Liz silently prayed that Ren cleared up the mystery as soon as possible.
************************************************************************************
Kyle was forcing himself to be civil to Max. It wasn't Evans' fault after all that Tess was madly in love with him.
Although from what Kyle had witnessed in the jeep an hour or so ago, and after those hugs he had witnessed in the quad at school yesterday, Kyle was beginning to wonder.
If Max was playing both girls, Tess AND Liz, or if he was giving Tess false hope, Kyle was going to murder him, the fact that Evans was the King of a far-distant planet be damned.
But for the moment, until he had true proof, he had to be cool.
"So, can you read it?" Kyle asked now. Liz had left a few minutes before to find Tess. Max had seemed to understand why although Kyle didn't. Evans had just nodded, giving her an absent-minded squeeze before she disappeared. He had been engrossed in trying to decipher the alien text in front of him.
"As far as I can tell," Max replied, "It's an agricultural treatise of some sort..."
Kyle grimaced. "Like how to plant corn or something?" How boring was that?
"Sort of." Max replied, sounding tolerantly amused at Kyle's tone.
Smug bastard, thought Kyle. Kyle knew damn well that Max was just as uninterested in planting corn as he, Kyle, be it alien corn or not.
"So you remember all this alien language then?" Kyle asked now, knowing he sounded confrontational but certainly not caring one iota.
"I remember the language." Max replied. "I remember BEING the Jaxon I was when I came back here...so I remember Illyria, what its like there and stuff like that. What I don't remember," He continued, "Is my REAL life as Jaxon. You know, the one that Tarsus DIDN'T invent."
Kyle felt a pang of sympathy despite himself. Max sounded sad. It had to suck to have your mind played like that. It also had to suck to know that you had lived a whole other life that you couldn't remember... especially one that had apparently ended so badly.
Max had apparently shrugged off whatever sadness he was feeling though and was beginning to rifle through other volumes on the shelves. Kyle sighed, started to do the same, although if all the books here were as boring as that one on farming, well, he wasn't really sure WHY they were bothering.
Several minutes later Liz appeared from a nearby aisle. "Hi." She said to both of them, her voice sounding a little strange - all squeaky actually. "Find anything interesting?"
Kyle saw Max pause in the middle of sorting some books nearby. He stared at Liz, apparently also hearing in Liz's voice whatever it was Kyle had heard. "What's wrong?" He demanded, glancing behind her briefly before returning his eyes to Liz's face. "Where's Tess?"
"Nothing's wrong." Liz replied. Her voice sounded a little stronger. "I guess I'm just a little tired." She turned away, picked up a book from a shelf beside her and began to turn the pages. "Oh and Tess went to talk to Ren about something..." She glanced at Kyle momentarily, then looked away.
What the hell?
Kyle looked at Max, who was still staring at Liz suspiciously.
"I think I'll go find her." Kyle said suddenly. Liz's head snapped up. Her eyes widened.
"Kyle, I don't think that's a very good idea." She said, much too quickly.
"Why not?" Kyle demanded. Max looked confused too.
"What's going on Liz?" Max asked, sounding worried.
"Nothing." Liz insisted. "Tess just needs to talk to Ren about something to do with Illyria...and she needs to do it alone." Kyle did not miss the significant look she sent Max. He seemed to relax minutely, as thought he suddenly understood something.
Kyle frowned. This had something to do with him. He just knew it. Apparently no one wanted him to know, but he was damn well going to find out what was going on around here...
But first he had to get away without either Max or Liz stopping him.
"Whatever." He said, trying to make his voice sound as unconcerned as he could. "I'm going to look down here." He indicated another aisle. Max nodded, still looking at Liz.
Kyle hurried down the aisle, paused to look back. He saw Max talking seriously to Liz, saw Liz reaching up to stroke his hair. She took his hand and pulled him off in the opposite direction.
For the first time Kyle felt real gratitude that Liz and Max couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other. It was the distraction he needed. He turned abruptly and made his way back the way he had come.
He was soon back out in the stone corridor and hurrying towards the transformation chamber where Kyle knew Tess would have gone to find Ren. He couldn't be that far behind her.
What seemed like eons later Kyle had reached the spot where the entrance to the transformation chamber was located. He swiped his hand across the wall, placed his palm squarely on the familiar silver hand print.
The entrance swung open and for one moment Kyle considered what Liz had said - that whatever it was Tess was talking to Ren about was private. But he had to know - if she was talking to the shapeshifter about HIM...he had to know once and for all, had to know if he had any chance with this girl.
Kyle entered the short corridor leading to the chamber proper. He paused behind the overhang that guarded the large room. Tess' voice floated out to him quite clearly.
"...know what it means?" She was asking, sounding agitated.
"Not really." Ren replied, sounding perplexed, or as perplexed as Mr. poker-face was capable of sounding anyway. "This doesn't make any sense."
"But it changes things...doesn't it?" Tess' voice was a combination of confusion and excitement.
"It doesn't change what Jaxon was to you, Sabrya." Ren said seriously. "He was your husband. I don't know how Liz fits into that equation."
Kyle felt his heart stop. What the hell were they talking about? Was Tess asking the shapeshifter if there was a way that Max could be with both Tess AND Liz?
"But she does fit somehow...obviously." Tess continued, sounding like she was trying to work something out in her head. "I mean, it was sitting right there beside the destiny book. So maybe she CAN be with Max and we can STILL follow destiny."
"I don't know." Ren was saying, although Kyle could barely hear him through the rushing of the blood through his brain.
All he heard over and over was "we can still follow destiny...we can still follow destiny..."
It had never been more clear that Tess Harding had not given up her hope that she and Max were going to be together someday. Apparently she wanted it so badly, she was even willing to share him with Liz.
His first reaction was complete and utter amusement at the absurdity of the idea. He almost broke down laughing hysterically at the strange idea of Liz as an alien king's concubine. That was SO NOT happening...not if he had anything to say about.
And then the pain hit.
Kyle wondered why it hurt so much to hear those words coming out of Tess' mouth. He had KNOWN it all along, had known that she was pining for Max, that she was never going to get over him, but yet it still felt like she had used her small hands to reach into Kyle's chest to rip his heart out.
His knees felt weak. He collapsed against the stone overhang, smashing his head against the rock accidentally. "Dammit!" He groaned without meaning too.
He wasn't sure if the daze in which he found himself was from the pain in his head or the pain in his heart.
All conversation within the transformation chamber stopped abruptly.
A moment later both Ren and Tess were staring at him, Ren frowning, Tess looking scared.
"Kyle!" She exclaimed. "What are you doing here? How much did you hear?"
Kyle did not look at her face. He had to get out of there before he was physically ill. "I was just leaving." He hoisted himself off the ground where he had found himself after hitting his head.
"Kyle..." Tess took a step towards him as though she wanted to help him.
"Stay away from me." Kyle bit out. "I'm leaving. I can't deal with YOU right now."
He was half-way out the entrance when Tess called after him. "You can't leave Kyle! You don't have a car here!"
Dammit!
"I'll call my dad." He replied. "Just stay away from me."
"Kyle!" Tess pleaded. He could feel her close behind him. "It's not what you think! Liz and I..."
"Don't even say it." Kyle ground out. "I KNOW that Liz has nothing to do with this. I know Liz. And apparently I was right about YOU all along too."
He stalked off. He knew that Tess was not following him. He heard her gasp, took it for outrage, since he had basically just called her a slut. Not that he had EVER thought of her that way - in fact still didn't.
She was just a girl in love with another guy. She had never lied to him. She had never tried to hide it.
She had never been his.
Kyle wondered why he was having such a hard time seeing in front of him. All the lights were still on in the underground complex.
And then he understood. He was crying.
Part 55
Max watched Liz's back disappear through the doorway into the Crashdown, a slight frown on his face.
There was no doubt that she had been behaving strangely ever since she had gone to have her talk with Tess in the library. She had been doing her best to hide it but he knew her. The tension had been coming off of her in waves, and yet, no matter how many times he asked her, she just denied that anything was wrong. She had even kissed him a couple times in hopes of distracting him, but what had been MORE distracting was the fact that she had clearly clamped down on all of her emotions before doing so.
When she shut off the connection Max knew for sure she was hiding something.
Tess was acting just as peculiarly. She had been glassy-eyed and staring when she had come back to the library after talking to Ren. She had looked right at Liz, shaking her head slightly.
"Where's Kyle?" Max had asked the logical question but had been perplexed when Tess had replied that he had called his dad to pick him up. Something about basketball practice she explained, but Max had not bought it for a minute. Her tone of voice had been choked and it was clear that Tess was holding in her feelings by the barest thread.
Max had raised an eyebrow at this, but hadn't pushed the point, sure that Liz would tell him what was going on eventually. But even when they had been alone she had chattered on about inane things - about how exciting the library was, about their biology test on Monday. Her hands had been clenched in her lap and she had stared straight out the front wind-shield of the jeep, effectively not allowing him to get a decent glimpse of her face in an attempt to figure out what was going on.
And when he had finally pulled up in front of the her parent's restaurant she had seemed actually eager to get out of the car. He had never seen her like that before. Usually they dragged out every minute until they had to be separated, even to the point that sometimes he had to pretend to leave and would then come and visit her on her balcony. But this time, she couldn't get out of the Jeep fast enough. She had kissed him distractedly and told him that she would call him later and then she was gone.
Something had happened. There was now no question. And there was only one person who could fill him in.
Max backed the Jeep out of its parking spot and drove to Kyle's.
*************************************************************************************
Liz hung up the phone, sighing in frustration. She had just spent twenty minutes talking to Tess. Ren had been unable to really tell her anything about the book. The language had apparently been Illyrian, but a strange dialect of it which had made deciphering the text the work of several days - like Chaucer's English in comparison to present-day English. Tess had left the book with Ren in hopes that he would be able to make heads or tails of it.
It was then that Tess had told Liz about what Kyle had overheard.
"He totally flipped out Liz!" Tess had exclaimed, how upset she was reflected in her voice on the telephone line. "He wouldn't even listen to me. I'm not even sure WHAT he heard...but clearly he took it the wrong way! I couldn't even tell you in front of Max because he doesn't know about any of this."
"I'll talk to Kyle. It will be alright Tess." Liz had promised. And she had every intention of doing so, but she had something else to take care of first.
She knew that Max was more than aware that she was hiding something from him. The hurt look on his face when she had kissed him goodbye an hour before had almost made her spill everything, but she had to get more information first. She had to protect him, had to find out what all of this meant, if it would hurt him in any way.
As soon as Ren told her anything, she would tell Max everything.
In the meantime, she had to go have dinner with her parents. Which was perfect, because she had every intention of finding out what they knew about the insanity that had suddenly become her life.
Several minutes later Liz was seated at the dining room table. Her dad was at one end, her mom at the other and they were laughing about some strange customer who had been in the restaurant that day.
"So then he says "Have you ever seen any aliens?" Jeff told them. "I told him only every day and that he was certainly among the strangest I had ever seen...and then he THANKED me."
Liz smiled weakly as her parents broke down into gales of laughter again.
"This crazy town." Nancy Parker wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "It's certainly never boring!"
That was the understatement of the year Liz thought.
Jeff was still chuckling when he noticed that Liz wasn't really paying attention to his story. "Is something wrong honey?" He frowned slightly. "Did you have a fight with Max?"
Liz felt a flash of annoyance. "No! I do think of things BESIDES Max you know Dad!"
Liz mentally kicked herself as Jeff blinked, looked down the table at his wife, who shrugged. "I know that honey. You just seem sort of distant."
"Did you know that Max is adopted?" Liz asked her parents suddenly. Great Liz, she reflected, as Nancy and Jeff exchanged another perplexed look, now they're really going to think you're bonkers.
"No I didn't." Nancy replied finally. "Did you just find this out sweetie...is Max upset about it or something?"
Liz shook her head. "No." She told them. "I just thought that you might not know." Liz examined both of her parents, trying to look casual. She searched for a flash of guilt or surprise or anger on either of their faces but they both looked completely open.
"Sometimes I feel we don't know much about Max." Jeff told Liz, clearly pleased that she had broached the subject. "Maybe we should have invited him for dinner tonight."
"Maybe." Liz replied non-committaly. She was more confused than ever. She wondered if she should just come out and ask her parents if she was adopted...but then they would want to know why...and what was she supposed to say? Oh, because I found my picture in an alien book and it looks like I am linked to an alien king for some reason that I don't understand.
That would go over just great.
"He's been back for quite a while." Nancy interjected. "Is he getting caught up at school? How is he doing?"
"He's doing great." Liz said hurriedly. "I'm sure he would love to come over for dinner some night."
"I often think about how hard that whole situation must have been for his family." Nancy continued. "What a miracle it was when he came back! But it must have been even more difficult for Max...to not know WHO you are for all that time - where you came from!" Nancy just shook her head in sympathy.
Liz stared at her mother. She seemed to be opening the door for this conversation!
"Do you ever wonder about where YOU came from mom?" Liz asked quickly
Nancy blinked again. "I know where I came from Liz. I came from Florida. I was born there. I met your dad in university and we've been happy ever since." She smiled down the table at her husband, who smiled back affectionately.
"What's this all about Lizzie?" Jeff asked a moment later.
"I just realized earlier that we never talk about what it was like when you and mom were kids." Liz told him. "I want to know more about you. I mean, I need stories to tell MY kids about their grandparents."
"Liz, don't you think its a bit soon to be thinking about YOUR children?" Nancy inquired. Suddenly she blanched. "Wait a minute! This isn't about what I think it is?"
Liz frowned. "What?" She asked in confusion.
"Liz." Nancy looked like she was about to be ill. "You and Max..."
Liz glanced at her father, he looked just as confused as she, Liz, did. "What mom?"
"You aren't pregnant?" Nancy almost choked on the last word. "Is that why you're always so secretive?''
"WHAT!!!" Both Liz and Jeff yelled at the same time. Jeff turned to look at his daughter in horror while Liz just brought her hand to her forehead in frustration and then started to laugh, although this situation was certainly the farthest thing from funny there was.
"No Mom!" She managed to say, through giggles. She placed her head down on the table and laughed.
"I just wanted to know if I was adopted!" She finally managed to tell her parents.
The room became deadly silent. Liz stopped laughing as abruptly as she had begun.
Nancy and Jeff were staring at each other.
"Mom?" Liz asked, feeling scared suddenly.
"Liz! Whatever gave you that idea?" Nancy finally asked, sounding forcibly cheerful. "Of course you're not adopted! You look exactly like your father!"
Liz turned to look at her dad. He was avoiding her eyes. "Dad?"
"You're not adopted Liz." Jeff said firmly, finally looking her right in the eye. "I was in the hospital room with your mother the day you were born."
Liz looked from one to the other suspiciously. She believed them...she knew her parents and she was pretty sure that she would know if they were lying to her...
And yet...
She excused herself several minutes later and went to call Max.
It was time to tell him the truth. She needed him.
*************************************************************************************
Max flopped back on his bed in frustration, glancing at the clock on his bedside table. It was late - almost eleven o'clock.
Where the hell was Kyle?
There had been no one home at the Valenti house when he had gone there from the Crashdown. Max had then driven to the school, remembering what Tess had said about basketball practice - but the school had been locked down tightly. Clearly no practice had taken place there recently.
Max had even gone so far as to call the Sheriff at work. Valenti had told him that he had no idea where Kyle was...as far as he knew he was still working on that school project with Liz.
"What is this about Mr. Evans?" The Sheriff had asked suspiciously when Max had been silent for a moment or two after that announcement.
"Nothing." Max replied quickly. "Can you just ask him to call me when you see him?"
The Sheriff had agreed but Max could tell that he was not satisfied. Max felt bad. They had done their best to keep the Sheriff out of as much of their business as possible since the whole White Room/Destiny fiasco. He had been extremely helpful when Max had disappeared too, but Max still felt wary about getting him too involved. He didn't want what he was to get the Sheriff into trouble, worried still that the Sheriff might get into trouble for bending the laws he already had on their behalf.
They owed the Sheriff too much already.
Unfortunately Kyle's connection to Tess was making keeping the Sheriff out of it more difficult with every passing day. The fact that Kyle was changed by what had happened when Max healed him...it meant that nothing would ever be the same for the Valenti family again.
Every single person Max came into contact with suffered in some way.
When Max had finally returned home from his search for Kyle, his parents and Isabel had been standing in the front hall with their coats on.
"You're just in time Max!" Diane Evans had exclaimed, sounding pleased. "We're going to Senor Chow's for dinner. We thought you might be at the Crashdown for dinner, but now you can come with us."
Max had considered begging off but one glance at the dirty look Isabel sent him and he agreed. Max knew that Isabel still thought that he was a little stand-offish with his parent, wanted him to change...
It was just hard for Max. He was grateful that his parents knew the truth, that they loved him anyway, but he was still Max Evans. The only person he ever really opened up to was Liz...that wasn't ever going to change, no matter how much Izzy wanted them to be one big happy family.
He loved his parents, and trusted them, but he was still always on guard...
The Evans had not returned home until about fifteen minutes before. Max was now exhausted and full of food that wasn't sitting very comfortably in his stomach.
Nothing was right with his world when things were weird with Liz.
He sat up with a jolt when at that exact moment a soft tap came at the window. He knew it was Liz immediately. He could feel her presence and the only other person who ever came to his window was Michael, a ritual that had virtually ended when Michael had gotten his own place.
Besides, Michael rarely had any qualms about barging right in. A polite little tap was NOT Michael.
Max hurried to the window, opened it, smiling with pleasure at Liz, who lit up at the sight of him.
"Finally!" She said as he helped her through the window. She threw her arms around his neck, sending them both careening across the room and tumbling onto the bed. She kissed him until he was dizzy. "Where have you been?" She demanded several minutes later when he finally managed to come up for air. "I came over earlier but when you weren't here I went to Alex's to wait. He didn't know where you guys were either!"
"Out for dinner with my parents!" Max gasped, pushing her long dark hair away from her face. "What the heck is going on Liz?"
Liz's expression darkened. "I guess I don't have to tell you that I haven't been straight with you today." She finally managed to say, sounding guilty.
The feeling of relief that flooded through Max was almost weakening in its intensity. "I suspected as much..." He replied lightly, stroking his hands through her hair. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know if ANYTHING is wrong." Liz replied evasively. "I don't think I know anything anymore."
Max ceased the movement of his hands which seemed to have a mind of their own when it came to Liz. "What do you mean?" He could feel her confusion and fear, and yet there was a mingled sense of complete happiness as well.
Liz touched his face, her expression tentative. "Tess and I found something today..." she began.
It took a good fifteen minutes for Liz to finally manage to tell him everything. He just stared at her in shock when she told him about the book, about their pictures, about the fact that Ren couldn't decipher it, about questioning her parents about her heritage...
When she had finally finished, he was silent for several moments. An overwhelming sense of peace was settling over him, as though the missing pieces of a long-running puzzle were finally falling into place.
He had know it all along. Liz WAS his destiny. It wasn't even a matter of choosing it anymore...although it was the thing he wanted above all others. She was HIS. For good. And no one could deny it anymore.
"Max?" Liz's voice was small as he continued to lie beside her silently, just enjoying the way her hair brushed against his neck when her head was on his shoulder as it currently was.
"I don't think I've ever been so completely happy in my entire life." He finally told her. He felt Liz shudder in relief. He flipped over onto his elbow so that he could look at her face. "But why didn't you tell me this right away?" He asked, not angry, just curious. He knew that she had to have had a good reason.
Liz was staring up at him, her eyes dark pools of doubt. "Max, we don't know for sure what it means! This is why I didn't tell you right away...I knew that you would get all dreamy and we can't let this cloud our judgment. What if it doesn't mean what we think it means? What will we do then?"
Max raised an eyebrow. "Do you think I care?" He asked gently. "This only reinforces what we've known all along. We belong together."
Liz still looked worried. Max was determined to make her feel better. He lowered his head, kissed her gently on her forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks, her nose. She was sighing when he finally reached her mouth.
He felt the connection open between them immediately, let himself fall into it...the love she felt for him was humbling and yet, it completed him as well.
There were no more words for a very long time.
Part 56
Isabel sat on her bed, staring at the purple orb that sat on her bedside table. She was frozen with indecision.
The dinner out with her parents and her brother had only made her fear worse - had only emphasized how much she loved her life on Earth, how little she wanted to go back to Illyria...
And yet she knew that she had to find out what was happening there. Jennetta had been so sure that something was wrong.
Isabel had only seen her real mother once, that time they had played the destiny message in the pod chamber. She had only spoken to her once directly, when they had managed to use Stonehenge as an interstellar telephone booth.
Diane Evans was her mom. There was no question about it. Isabel almost felt like she was betraying her mom by even considering contacting Milena. And yet she wanted to.
But then again, she didn't. She didn't want to know, didn't want to be told that they had to go back, that she had to leave Alex and Maria and Liz and Kyle and her parents behind.
And so Isabel stared at the orb, tried to ignore the fact that it felt like it was calling to her - "Use me! Use me!"
For the three thousandth time since yesterday, Isabel considered going to Max, telling him the truth about what Jennetta had asked her to do - in fact had insisted that she do. Let him make the decision! He was the king!
But she already knew what Max would say. He would say that they had a duty to find out the truth. And that would land her right back where she was - in indecision-land. Because just being told to do it was not going to be enough. And then Max would be mad at her.
Isabel sighed, picked up the orb, turning it over in her hands. Just do it Isabel! She commanded herself internally. Close your eyes and try and use it!
She dropped the smooth rock onto the bed beside her. She was going to talk to Max. Maybe it WOULD be easier if he told her what to do.
Isabel stood up quickly, smoothed down her red silk pyjamas and patted her hair. She didn't want Max to see how flustered she was. She wanted to do and say what needed to be said on her own terms.
She was in front of her brother's door with her arm raised to knock when she suddenly became aware of soft voices in his room. He wasn't alone. Isabel realized that it had to be Liz, that she had likely come through the window. No one else would be in Max's room so late.
She couldn't do it tonight then. She wouldn't do it until she spoke with Max.
Isabel rolled her eyes, let the annoyance rush through her. While she loved Liz like a sister, it was very irritating on occasion to have to always come second with her brother.
She refused to allow herself to reflect on the fact that it was almost a relief to be able to blame someone else for not being able to use the communicator. It wasn't her fault. She wasn't afraid. She had just decided that Max should know, that was it! Since he and Liz couldn't seem to spend a minute apart, it would just have to wait.
She refused to reflect on the fact that Max would just tell Liz everything about their conversation anyway, that Isabel could easily go in there and ask them BOTH what she should do.
Tomorrow would be soon enough.
Isabel marched back into her room, resolutely pushed the orb near her pillow. She would talk to Max tomorrow. Everything would be fine.
She tossed and turned for what felt like hours, but finally, close to dawn, Isabel drifted off into a light sleep. She didn't even notice that the orb was touching her hand.
It was only later that she realized that was probably why it happened.
*************************************************************************************
*DREAMS* Isabel
Isabel sat up, blinked.
She looked around, confusion flowing through her. She was sprawled on a white marble floor, the cold seeping through her silk pyjamas as though she was naked. There were tall windows covering the white walls surrounding her, a dull yellow light seeping through and making the walls muted as well.
The silence was deafening.
Isabel shivered. She felt as though she was freezing to death. She didn't like this dream. Fortunately one of the benefits of being a dreamwalker was that she could wake herself up out of dreams she was not enjoying. And she was definitely NOT enjoying this dream. Being uncomfortable and cold were not options when she COULD be dreaming about she and Alex living in New York, Isabel a famous super-model, Alex a gazillionaire because he had invented some new amazing software for Microsoft...
Isabel shivered again, pinched herself.
Nothing happened.
She stayed exactly where she was.
Isabel frowned slightly, pinched herself again, harder this time. She closed her eyes, knowing that when she opened them she would either be awake or on a beach in Maui with Alex and her friends sipping Mai-tais.
And yet she was supremely not surprised to find herself still freezing AND in the white chamber when she opened her eyes.
Suddenly fear claimed her. Was she dead? Had she died in her sleep - destined never to wake up?
It was then that she became aware of the fact that the silence was no longer solid...she could hear screaming and strange crashing noises coming from somewhere...
She climbed unsteadily to her feet, looked around for a door-way. There didn't seem to be one anywhere. Isabel moved towards one of the floor-to-ceiling windows, cautiously peered out.
And found herself staring into hell.
*************************************************************************************
"MAAAXX!"
Max sat bolt upright in bed, winced when he realized that Liz had still been cradled against his chest. He glanced at the clock. It was 5:14 a.m. Their parents were going to kill them!
Liz's eyelashes were beginning to flutter, as she became aware of the loss of Max's warmth. "Mmmmm...Max?"
Max stared down at her for a moment, wondered what it was that had jolted him awake.
And then it came again. "MAAAXX!"
It sounded like a wail and a plea rolled into one. Liz's eyes snapped open, stared up at him in shock.
"Izzy!" They both said at the same time.
Max was on his feet and out his bedroom door in two seconds flat. His mom and dad were already stirring in their bedroom. "Isabel!" Max heard his mother stumbling around in the stupor of someone just woken from a sound sleep.
Max didn't pause. He threw open his sister's door, saw that she was lying on her bed, her hands clasped around an object that was resting on her stomach.
She was weeping silently now. Max could see that she was still asleep.
He fell to his knees beside her bed. "Isabel! Wake up!" Max felt Liz come up behind him, could feel her concern coming off of her in waves.
He tried to shut out the way Liz always seemed to claim all of his senses whenever he was in her presence. He had to worry about Isabel now. "Isabel!" Max gently shook her. She continued to weep, suddenly let out another ear-piercing shriek.
"JAAAAXX! Mother!!!"
Max flinched. He realized that she had not been saying "Max" at all, but rather "Jax," as in "Jaxon." Something was definitely wrong.
"TRIIISSS!"
Max felt helpless. He continued to shake Isabel but she refused to open her eyes, seemed to be trapped in a nightmare.
Max could hear Liz speaking quietly to his parents, who were now both in the room as well. He ignored them, placed his hands on Isabel's temples and struggled to connect with her.
He knew what he had to do. He had to go in and haul her out of whatever horrifying dream she had become entrapped in.
The images began to flow fast and furious...
Flash*
Isabel, accompanied by Michael, bursting into a chamber. He could feel Izzy's absolute terror... He felt her heart stop in horror at the sight that she and Michael found. Max recognized himself sprawled on the floor, blood seeping out from beneath him. He saw Tess lying peacefully on the bed in the room, looking like she was sleeping, except for the blood that stained the pillow behind her head. And suddenly the girl on the bed was no longer Tess...it was Liz...Max felt Isabel's terror becoming a frenzied crescendo...
Flash*
Isabel in a long, white, blood-stained gown. Max realized that she was cradling a body in her arms... it was Michael. He could feel her fear, and yet resignation, as faceless beings advanced on her...she knew she was going to die...And suddenly the boy dead in his sister's arms was no longer Michael...it was Alex...and Isabel's grief increased ten-fold...
Flash*
Bodies everywhere...blood stained the walls of a white marble chamber...a room lit by a dull yellow light...
Flash*
A woman, Max saw that it was their real mother, standing in the Waylandian Ring, her arms outstretched... "Save me my daughter! Mirana! Save me!"
Max could feel himself beginning to get lost in the flashes. They seemed to be repeating on a constant loop...
He had to get Isabel out of there.
"Izzy! Isabel!" He called her name, searching for her conscious self amongst all the chaos that existed within her mind.
He could feel his sister slipping away into insanity...her mind was like a thin thread...he didn't know how he saw it, but he did...it gleamed in front of him like spun gold...
As suddenly as he was in Isabel's mind, he was out.
Max collapsed onto the bed.
It seemed like a very long time before he realized that Liz was beside him, lightly stroking his face. "Max! Wake up my love! Max..."
He closed his eyes momentarily, reopened them and focused on Liz's face. She was looking at him with fear in her eyes.
"Isabel?" He croaked, after trying twice.
"She had one of the purple orbs in her hands Max." Liz told him quietly. "I took it away and she woke up."
Max looked across the bed, saw that his sister was sitting up, was being cradled in their mother's arms. He frowned. "How long have I been out?" He asked.
"At least five minutes..." Liz replied, pulling him off the floor and on to the bed beside her. "Are you all right?" She was running her hands all over his body, checking for injuries, although he could have told her that she wasn't going to find anything physically wrong with him.
It was all in his mind. He knew he was NEVER going to be able to erase those horrifying images he had seen in his sister's head.
Max turned to look at Isabel. She was staring off into nothingness, her dark eyes wide and blank. She was clutching their mother as though she never wanted to let go. Diane was stroking her blonde hair, crooning nonsense, trying to soothe her.
Max couldn't even begin to imagine how she was suffering. She had been LIVING those horrible things...
And suddenly he was staring right into his sister's haunted eyes. She blinked, became aware of him. "Max..." She swallowed. "Did you see it?"
"Yeah Iz." Max nodded weakly. Liz had her arm around him. He could feel her trying to will some of her strength into him - it actually seemed to be working.
"Max, it's not what you think." Isabel continued, as though he hadn't spoken. "That wasn't the past...I thought it was at first. But it wasn't."
"What are you saying honey?" Diane asked, continuing to stroke Isabel's hair. "What did you two see?"
Isabel ignored her. "It was the future Max...If we don't go back to Illyria, that will be OUR future."