Chapter Twenty Two


" Liz where are you? " asked Maria holding the phone. " You're where? Why would you go back there? What? Are you serious? That's freaky. Are you coming now? Nicholas is back and we're all waiting here for you. Hurry up and make sure you're not followed " Maria hung up the phone and looked at everyone else.
" Where are they? "
" They went to the Pepper's Café "
" Why would they go to the Pepper's Café? " asked Valenti. He was standing near the door.
" They went to go see Zan and his body was gone "
" Oh God " said Isabel about to panic.
" He's alive. She said something like the dupe was hatched and Max got a flash of them together "
" Damn " said Kyle.
" How did he survive? "
" He must have healed himself somehow "
" So now there are five dupes out there running around? " asked Michael
Maria nodded like it was still coming to her. " That's so freaky "
" So what are we going to do about Nicholas? " Valenti asked Thaman.
" He just wants to see how I will handle things " said Thaman, he didn't look too worried. " I think this will be good practice for you my Lord " he said looking at Michael.
" What do you mean? " asked Michael.

" He brought five men with him. I have already killed one. You can use the others as practice We may not have to leave Roswell now. They will come here without fail. We have to protect your families"
" Isn't that a little brutal? " asked Maria
" Would you rather they kill Michael? "
Maria shook her head. If anything ever happened to Michael she didn't know what she would do.

Thaman looked at Serena. She was still unconscious in Kyle's arms. Then he looked at Michael.
" What shall we do when she awakens? " Kyle asked looking at Thaman
Thaman kept his eyes on Michael. " My Lord, since the King is not present at this time, the decision is yours "
Michael looked at Thaman. He looked for some hint of sarcasm. Nascedo had been so cold to him. He had seemed disappointed at anything that Michael tried to do. Nothing seemed good enough. He would sneer at Max and his decisions. One time he even told Max that he was weak now and that they should have just killed themselves because Max wouldn't risk lives. He told Michael that if he wanted to survive he had to learn how to fight for it. But when it came to killing innocent people Michael couldn't do that. He could kill his enemies but like Max, he would not risk the lives of innocent people. He looked at Thaman again. Who only looked at him with a waiting expression. Michael didn't know until then how much he depended on Max for direction. It was just instinct for him too. Now that Max was gone he felt lost. True Thaman had asked him for something rather simple but it left such an impression on Michael's mind. Here he was this 18 year old punk and this trained killer is asking him for advise. If he hadn't already respected this man than he certainly would now.
" My Lord please, we have little time "
Michael woke up from his daze and scratched his head. If she found out there would be a new member in the group, God this group was becoming a Fraternity. Did he really want another person to know? But Liz said that she would be a friend and help us.
" We need to deal with it when the time comes. From what we've heard I think we can trust her. Max and Liz did in the other reality. Maybe we should too "
Thaman made a little bow and stepped back from him.
Michael looked at Kyle. Kyle only gave him an indifferent look. It didn't seem to matter to Kyle if they told her or not. He looked at Maria. Even when she looked terrified like now she was still beautiful. What he wouldn't do for her. He just wanted this over. He watched how Isabel looked at Thaman. She looked at him with love and respect. He noticed the change in her attitude after he came. That frightened and sad look that was on her face so regularly, recently was gone. She looked hopeful and happy. Michael sighed. He was happy that now she wasn't alone in that department anymore and with someone so great.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Do you have any idea why he's back now? " asked Max

" It could be a number of reasons. He still wants the Granolith or Khivar's sudden visit yesterday "

" Would his visit yesterday tell us something? "asked Valenti

" He could probably be on his way to earth right now. Nicholas could also be nervous because he was sent here by Khivar to kill you in case Ava's plan with Nascedo failed. His other duty was to find the Granolith and bring it back to Khivar. He has not been able to do any of these "

" How long do you estimate his arrival? " asked Valenti

" This doesn't make sense. Future Max said that he would come in fourteen years " said Liz

" You changed the course of time Liz. In that other reality Ava never left Earth. They waited fourteen years to give her enough time to establish contact with Zan. In that reality the only option Khivar had was to attack earth "

" When is he going to be here? " asked Michael

" Depending on the amount of men he brings, " said Thaman

" What the fastest way for him? " asked Max

" Six months "

" That soon? " asked Maria.

" What if he brings his entire army? " asked Liz. " He did the last time "

" Then we have to get rid of Nicholas and his guards now, " he said looking at Max and Michael. " This will be sort of an exercise my Lords. I cannot help you in this "

" Will we have enough time to get ready for Khivar? " asked Max

" We will take things one at a time, but right now we have to focus on Nicholas and his men "

" Why can't you help us kill them? " asked Michael

" Thaman " said Isabel walking forward.

" You must learn to work on your own. You must kill them on your own now or else we all might as well kill ourselves when Khivar arrives "

" Just watch over us, " said Max

Thaman looked around at all the sleepy faces. It was only 5:30. " I think it best if we all got some rest before we go out. We have all had a long night "

" I would say long month, " said Kyle

" We can't separate now, " said Max

" You should all sleep here, " said Liz

" How? " asked Maria

" Girls get the room. Boys sleep outside " said Isabel pointing towards the window.

" It's cold out there, " said Kyle

" I will get the necessary items, " said Thaman bowing slightly before disappearing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Why did you guys go back there? " asked Isabel. The three girls were lying horizontally on Liz's bed. Each had their heads on a pillow and facing the ceiling. Serena was still on the loveseat.

" I kept having these nightmares about Zan. I needed to know why "

" So they're out there, " said Maria. " Living a happy life together. So there are two Max's and two Liz's out in the world "

" I hope they're happy, " said Liz " I'm sorry I scared you guys "

" I understand Liz, " said Isabel. " I know what it's like to have dreams and want to know their meanings " her eyes were red as she covered her yawn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Do you think we can do this Maxwell? " asked Michael looking up at the sky.

" I hope so Michael "

" I feel like a useless human, " said Kyle aloud. " At least you guys have special powers "

" Kyle's right " said Valenti. " What can the rest of us do to help? We all know guns don't do anything "

" Kyle you've killed one before " said Max

" That was different, I was angry "

" Well stay angry cause that's how you can help, " said Michael
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" So um Isabel " said Maria
" Yeah? "
" You never really got into how you knew how Thaman felt about you. He doesn't seem very expressive in that department, how did you find out? " she looked at Isabel's face. Expecting her to frown and tell her it was none of her business. But Isabel kept her gaze on the ceiling ahead of her. Maria knew that Isabel had a flash and that is how she knew, but she wanted more information.
" I felt it in my flash " she said softly.
Maria and Liz shared a look.
" Did you guys kiss? " asked Maria
" Maria " said Liz in a high tone.
" Isn't that a way of getting one? "
" No, we didn't kiss to connect, " said Isabel calmly. She was not going to share that she had kissed Thaman earlier and share with them how it felt. " He made one with me when we touched. He wanted to just show me that I wasn't entirely a bad person on our planet. I saw that whole devastating scene of myself dying and then I saw how he felt about my death. I told you guys this though "
" You didn't give details, " said Maria trying to lean in closer, but Liz was laying in the middle. " You just said that he kissed your dead body "
Isabel looked at Maria and Liz. Liz looked uncomfortable about having the conversation for Isabel's sake and Maria looked interested.
" There wasn't really anything that he did besides killing Ava and taking my body. But when I had the flashes I felt everything he felt and I felt what he felt about me. It's like it's only natural for me to love him. He was the love of my life and he still is ".
" I can't believe he let Tess become part of us when he knew what she was really about " said Maria
" He must have had his reasons " said Liz " He told me that I was going to be Queen of Antar "
" Really? " asked Isabel looking at her smiling.
" Was that what Max was talking about when he told Drake that he had tried to kill the future Queen? " asked Maria.
Liz nodded.
" Oh God Liz. That's so out of this world " said Maria
" I know it's hard to believe. I just think its funny " said Liz
" What do you think about the idea that Liz is queen? " Maria asked looking at Isabel. She knew Isabel wouldn't appreciate Liz being in a higher position than her.
" Thaman hasn't been wrong yet and if he says that then I believe it " said Isabel looking up at the ceiling again.
" You really love him don't you? " asked Liz examining her face.
" Yes " she breathed. " Is it that obvious? " she asked looking at the two other girls.
" Oh yeah " said Maria
" I can tell " said Liz smiling at her.
" You have that whole glow going on. I saw the way he looked at you when he was, you know " said Maria eyeing them both waiting for their nods of understanding. They both nodded. " Isabel he did all that for you "
" No he didn't. Alex was our friend "
" No Isabel " said Liz. " We all know that he was going to bring back Alex because of you "
Isabel looked at her in surprise. Both Maria and Liz smiled. " He must love you a lot, " said Maria.
" I want to thank you guys "
" For what? " They both said at once
" For deciding to bring him back. I know you guys wanted Alex back " she said. " I wanted them both to come back. I couldn't lose one or the other "
" Alex was a great friend and a wonderful person. He loved us all " said Liz
" And he'll always be with us " said Maria

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Serena slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes were drowsy and her head felt really light. She rubbed her eyes and tried to focus on where she was. She blinked a couple times before her mind registered that she was in Liz's room. What was she doing sleeping in Liz's room? She sat up on the loveseat and saw Isabel, Liz, and Maria sleeping on the bed. Maybe they had fallen asleep as they were talking. But she remembered leaving the house and going with Kyle. She tried to remember. She was talking to Kyle and then she didn't remember. Think Serena, she told herself. There was something else. A kid was there and he was asking Kyle something. Where were they? Where were who? Did they mean Ava? Who's they? Serena looked at the clock. 10:00am. And how did she get back to Liz's house? The curtains were closed when Serena got up and stretched.
Liz started stirring and opened her eyes. She looked at Serena like she didn't know what to do.
" Hey " she managed to say as she sat up. Her sudden movements stirred Isabel who had been asleep next to her. Isabel yawned once before opening her eyes. She sat up with Liz, took one glance at Serena standing there and looked at Liz with a worried look on her face.
" Hey " said Isabel.

" Hey " answered Serena even more confused at their reactions. " Do you guys know how I got here? "
" You came with Kyle, " said Liz.
" When was that? " she asked sitting back down.
" It was a little late, " said Liz " You don't remember? "
" I don't remember coming here. I only remember talking to Kyle, and then this kid comes out of nowhere with five guys " her thoughts were racing. She knew she didn't make sense to them. But she had to explain why she was there at Liz's house and didn't remember how. " He pushed us on our backs without touching us. I think, yeah he tried to shoot something at us from his hand but it didn't hit us. He kept asking Kyle, 'Where are they?'. Then he tried to shoot at us and then it bounced off and didn't hit us. I don't know why it didn't hit us. Then I feel like a hand on my chest and then... "
" And then what? " asked Maria. Serena hadn't even seen her wake up.
" I woke up here " she said putting her hand on her forehead. " I know it wasn't a dream. This is happening again "
" Again? " asked Liz coming towards her.

Serena buried her face in her hands.

Liz talked over to her and bent down holding Serena's hands in her own. " You can tell us, " she said reassuring her.
Serena looked at her.
" Trust me, we won't think you're crazy " said Maria
Serena looked at Isabel. " Go ahead " she said smiling warmly. " We're here for you "
~~~~~~~~~~
" They're on the balcony "
" What are they doing? " asked Nicholas. The guard was talking to him through a radio from the top of the building across the street from the Crashdown.
" They're crowded around the windows. Like they're listening to something "
" All of them are there? "
" Just the men. I feel the women are inside " he said. He was crouched low onto the roof, careful to not be detected. " What do we do now my Lord? " he asked
" Bleed one "
~~~~~~~~~~~
" It all started about four years ago when I was 15. I didn't remember exactly what happened. I was walking to school and then I blanked out. When I came to I was on the floor somewhere and he was standing over me "
" Do you know who he was? "
" I don't remember. I've tried to remember. He said that I had seen something I wasn't supposed to see so I was taken. I don't even remember what he was talking about. I didn't remember anything at the time. Only later did I realize what he was talking about " she said looking down at her hands. " I saw him change his shape and become another person. I had tried to run but he grabbed me and I ended up there. He said he was waiting for someone to come and fix it "
Tess and Nascedo, Isabel thought but she knew from Maria and Liz's faces that they were thinking the same thing.
" Then she came, he called her Ava. She was short with blond hair and blue eyes. She looked about my age. She looked scared to see me there. He said something to her and she closed her eyes. Then I was home again and my parents acted like nothing had happened. They hadn't even noticed that I was gone. It was like a normal day. I seemed to forget about what happened until two weeks later. Then I started having these flashes and dreams. I was sure that it wasn't a dream. That something did happen to me. I tried to tell my parents and they didn't believe me. They took me to a therapist. He kept asking me why I kept tapping my hands on the table. When I continued ranting about someone kidnapping me and doing something to me and the guy that changed, he eventually told my parents it would be better if I stayed in the sanitarium. I stayed there for a year and eventually they let me out on good behavior. To keep my mind san while I was there I learned how to fight and protect myself. Somehow I figured I would need to learn. I was determined to get out of there and find them. Finally I pretended to deny my own story so that I could get out sooner. They let me out and when I went home things were different. My parents had both died six months earlier and I got all the money and the house. I can't forgive my parents for letting me to go that awful place. I was the only sane one there and they let me stay there. They had never visited me. I remember crying when I was being taken in the truck. I can still remember their faces as I was being driven away. They didn't even really care that I was gone and didn't seem to care. " said Serena sadly. She was talking really fast. It looked more like she was talking to herself rather than the girls. " But anyways, it was clear what I had to do after that. I decided to search for Ava. "
" Did you find them? " asked Liz
" Yes I did "
" How? " asked Isabel. Nascedo was a shape shifter.
" I tracked down the place that I had been taken to and I remember where I had seen him shape shift. I did my research. He was there because there was a mysterious killing in that area at about the same time. I did research on the guy that died and I eventually found them "
" What happened when you found them? " asked Maria
" He tried to kill me " said Serena
" How did you survive? " asked Isabel
" He shot at me with his hand and it hit me " she said. " I was lying on the floor and my life flashed before my eyes. I could remember everything. The pain was excruciating. I thought I was going to die. I knew that at any moment he would walk over to me and finish me off " she was looking at the floor. During her whole story she kept her eyes on the floor. " But he never came. I heard shouts and then I saw her come over to me and bend down next to me. I couldn't read her expression as she looked at my wound. Before I knew what she was doing she put her hand on top of my wound. Something happened, it was like I saw into her or something. When she put her hand away from me, I could still feel the wound but the pain was less now. She didn't look at me but just walked away "
" She healed you? " asked Maria
" I guess she tried or something. I don't know why she did it. I don't think it was because she felt sorry for me or anything. I just feel that her healing me was part of her plan. I didn't go to the hospital after that. I felt if I did then something bad would happen to me and maybe they would find me again. So I wrapped my wounds up and prayed that I didn't have to. I don't want to go back to the sanitarium. "
" What did you do the next couple years? " asked Liz
" I was trying to find them again. I tracked them in Colorado and then there was nothing left to go on. But during these past couple years I've been noticing something weird happening to me " said Serena uneasily.
" What do you mean? "
" I can tell people what to think. I felt something happening to me. I found out that I could make people see things. I had this gift. It takes a lot out of me when I do it but I can do it for a short period of time. I was even more determined to find Ava but I had no clue as to where she was to ask her. I've been wandering around since, trying to find her. My last clue was when I saw the news report on that ship taking off and the murder of Sally Jenkins. I knew it had to be that guy that killed her "
Serena finally looked up at the three faces. They probably thought that she was crazy. They had this unreadable expression on their faces. " You probably think I'm a total whack job "
" You're not "
Serena snapped up to see Michael was looking at her through the window. She looked and saw that Michael, Max, Kyle and an older man were standing by the window. They had heard her whole story. Oh what was she thinking, telling it. Now all of them thought that she was a freak.
"WOHW! " yelled Valenti
BAM!
All of them jumped at the noise. Michael looked up to see a guy on the roof of the building across the street.
" Max! Michael! " screamed Liz and Maria in unison. The girls got out of the way as the guys came in through both windows. Max, Michael and Valenti stooped low to the ground as they peered out the windows.

Serena looked at them in confusion. They weren't acting panicky. They were acting like they were almost expecting this. What was that?
" They're here " said Thaman appearing behind them.
" They're shooting at us! " said Michael.
Serena gasped but was surprised to see nobody else was scared. They had almost expected him to do that. But Thaman hadn't been there a moment ago. And who and why was someone shooting at us?
" Did you get a look at who shot it? " asked Max looking at the guys. They all nodded. " At least we know what one looks like "
" But nobody got hit. Are they stupid enough to miss us? " asked Kyle
" It bounced off the shield " said Valenti
" What shield? " asked Kyle
" Did you really think I would let you sleep outside without some protection? " asked Thaman.

~~~~~~~~

" You idiot! " rang the receiver. " I told you to hurt one not let them know your position "
" How was I to know they had a shield? "
" If you don't start thinking I swear I'll kill you myself! " yelled Nicholas. " Thaman's protecting them, don't you think he would have thought about some idiot like you shooting at them? " Nicholas stopped. " Are any of the humans with them? "
" Yes Kyle and Valenti as far as I can see my Lord "

Author's Note: Ok I hope I didn't lose anyone with Serena's account. I couldn't just make her a regular human. She had to have some edge to her. J I hope you don't mind. I had to hurry up her account cause this story is very long already. I couldn't wait as long as, a season, worth of happenings to explain her story. There is a reason why I made her this way. So please don't let that discourage you from reading further. As always I would really love your thoughts. Thank you again for reading my story.