Chapter Twenty Three

" That's great, I know people probably saw that shot or heard it at least. Didn't sound like any bullet I've heard " said Maria.
" Nobody saw or heard anything " said Thaman
" What do you mean? You would have to be deaf to not hear that "
" Nicholas has put another time barrier up "
" Again? "
" He's testing us. Khivar must have some plan or else he wouldn't have done this again "
" But we beat him the last time " said Michael
" That was when Tess was here my Lord. Like I said, this is a practice round. You must kill them using your own abilities. Even though there are other things I can only do on Earth, they basically know what my powers are. You have to prove that you are strong. Remember I am only going to watch and protect, but the rest is up to you "
Everyone looked at each other nervously.
" What are you guys talking about? " asked Serena. " Do you mean that you all have powers just like me? "
" Your powers are nothing compared to theirs, but you are their helpers " said Thaman
" Why didn't we humans disappear, " asked Valenti
" Their shield from this communicator protected you from it. Nicholas has to know I have it now. But it has only slowed the process. Once you leave the confines of this shield, you will have two hours before you join the rest of the town "

" We need to find where this field is coming from " said Liz
" So we humans will go look for that and you guys hunt the bad guys " said Kyle
Serena looked at who were human: Kyle, Liz, Maria and she guessed Kyle's dad. So Max, Michael and Isabel were like Ava. Why couldn't she have guessed that? She wondered if Liz and the rest of them had special powers too. She felt happy now. It was a good choice to come to Roswell. She would fit in perfectly with this group. They knew she wasn't crazy and they would understand what she's been through.
" Let's split up " said Max to Valenti and Thaman. " Thaman, you protect them. We'll go find Nicholas "
" I am afraid you will not win if you face Nicholas by yourselves my Lord "
" I'll protect them " said Valenti
Max looked at Liz. She walked over to him and kissed him. Michael went over to Maria and kissed her.
" Go Max" said Liz. " We'll be fine "
" Hurry, it doesn't look like we have much time, " said Serena
" Get going Space boy " said Maria in a low tone.
~~~~~~~~~~
" We stick together no matter what " said Max as the three of them ran down an alley.
" Maybe if you just give me up nobody has to get hurt " said Isabel
" That is not an option anymore " said Michael " Maxwell's right, we need to stay together "
" Oh I hope Thaman's nearby, " said Max.
" He is " said Isabel smiling. " I can feel him "
" Isabel now is not the time to be dreaming, " said Michael impatiently.
She gave him an evil look as they continued on. They saw the cars stopped in the middle of the street. Empty stores and quiet streets. If they thought Roswell was quiet before it was nothing compared to this. There wasn't any living thing in sight. Someone ran by them and up the street.
" Stop! " yelled Michael as he ran after him.
" Michael " yelled Max.
Michael stopped in the middle of the block and turned to look at them. He saw another one behind Max and Isabel. " Look out! " he screamed reaching out his hand and throwing an energy beam at him. Max grabbed Isabel and fell to the floor. The beam hit the guy and he flew backwards. " Run! "
Max pulled Isabel to her feet and they both ran towards Michael. When they got to him they turned around and saw nobody.
" They're playing with us " said Max
" We're being hunted like animals, " said Isabel clinging to Max. She really wished that she could see where Thaman was. " We have to do something "
" We're getting no where standing here " said Michael.
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" We don't even know where we're going, " said Maria " How are we supposed to find this thing anyway? "
" We have to think " said Serena " This is not a time to think negative " she put her hands on each of Maria's shoulders.
" It would have to be outside the town " said Liz
" Yeah the last one was " said Kyle
" That leaves us a big area to check and we only have an hour and a half left " said Valenti. He was driving around Roswell trying to get clues.
" Or maybe it could be in the middle of the town. I don't think Nicholas would be stupid enough to do that again. He would make sure there was things around to keep it safe " said Liz
" But what's in the middle of Roswell? " asked Serena.
" The Park " said Valenti
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Isabel could feel her heart beating faster and faster. She thought she was going to faint. She was scared almost witless. She walked by herself down an alleyway. Turning her head this way and that. Something fell behind her and she jumped as she turned around. Nothing. She turned around and there was one of them standing in front of her. She tried to scream but nothing came out. She stepped back but he grabbed her.
" Do not fear us Vilandra " he said grabbing her shoulders and looking into her eyes. Before she knew it he was inside her head and reading her thoughts. She squeezed her eyes to stop the connection and BAM he was gone.
Isabel stood there almost paralyzed as Max came out from the trash can. The remaining flakes of skin were floating in the air and Isabel thought about the time she had killed Whittaker and Tess had killed that whole town of skins in one blow. The same thing happened then. Just a cloud of skin flakes floating in the air like snow.
" Are you ok? " asked Max grabbing her.
She nodded.
" Come on, we need to get to Michael " they both ran towards the end of the alley.
" Max " said Isabel as she stopped running, her face was flaring. How could that guy just try to steal her thoughts and rape her mind? She wouldn't be that vulnerable anymore. She had to be strong or else she was going to get everyone killed again. 'I'm not going to run and expect to be protected by anyone', she thought. " I kill the next one "
He nodded to her and they both ran towards Michael. They ran down the alley, following the sounds of shots being fired continuously.
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" Ok now this is a big park " said Serena.
" How are we supposed to find it here? " asked Maria
" Look for anything that looks like it doesn't belong " said Valenti " Anything that doesn't seem right to you or anything unusual "
" We have to find this thing fast " said Kyle looking at his watch. " We have an hour "
Liz looked around the park. " We have to find this now " Oh please let us find it in time.
" I would say split up but I don't think that's such a good idea " said Kyle
" Why not? " asked Maria " Wouldn't that be faster? "
" No, " said Liz " Because someone's watching us "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" Ok I think we need another plan " said Michael as he ducked behind the wall they were hiding behind. The guard was shooting at them nonstop. " This guy isn't going to stop shooting at us " The brick wall was breaking apart. Bits of it was flying at them.
" I am so damn tired of getting shot at and taken advantage of " said Isabel getting up. Her face was red.
" Isabel what the hell are you doing? " asked Max as she tried to grab his sister. She smacked his hand away and walked beyond the wall.
" Isabel! " yelled Michael.
Isabel stood up with determination on her face. She definitely had that look of complete and utter annoyance.
A shot was fired right towards her. She squinted at the beam. It was coming towards her with incredible speed.
" OH God! " Max, Michael and the guard all screamed at once.
The beam stopped right in front of her. It was so close the sparks almost hit her face. She didn't put her hand out or anything. She just stood there squinting at it. She gave the guard an evil look and shot it back at him. He flew towards the wall from the impact and evaporated into a cloud of skin flakes. She turned around.
" Hmp " she said flinging her hair over her head. She put her chin up and walked over to her brother. She looked at Michael. " Your turn "
Max and Michael smiled at each other. " Is it Christmas yet? " asked Michael finding he was making a joke at a time like this. He hung out with Kyle and Maria too much.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" Do you know where he is? " asked Maria, feeling her uselessness yet again. She wished she had some alien powers. It was weird enough that Liz and Kyle had them but now Serena, new person, had powers too. This was totally unfair.
" No, I just feel him " said Liz. " But he's close "
" He's protecting it. It must be close by " said Serena
BANG! Everyone fell to the ground in panic. Kyle had felt the bullet fly past him. They all looked up to see Valenti struggling with what seemed like a guard. They were fighting over the gun. It was pointed at them. Liz stepped in front of them and closed her eyes. BANG! The bullet flew towards Liz. Maria covered her eyes. Kyle watched as the bullet seemed to get caught in Liz's shield like a fly on a web and bounce back. That was incredible. Valenti kneed the guard in between the legs and fired at him. Of course the bullets only pushed him back a little. Kyle ran over in a tackle position and knocked the guard off his feet. Valenti twisted his gun in his hand and swung it towards the back of the guard with all his strength. The guard was gone, only a cloud remaining.
" This has to get easier " said Kyle panting.
" It is getting easier " said Valenti looking at him and then at Liz. " I see Thaman has already begun training you "

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

Michael looked around at the silent streets of Roswell. It felt so eerie, just like the other time. But this time he was walking by himself. Max and Isabel were behind him in hiding. He wanted to kill the next one. He just hoped that he could. A noise came from behind him and he swung around. Nothing. He looked in front of him, nothing. He looked around the street. He saw only the empty buildings and cars. He looked down at the pavement below him and exhaled in frustration. Great, the hard one is the one that he gets. Then he saw something from the corner of his eye. Something was up against the wall. He looked straight at it but then it disappeared. He looked back down and looked from the corner of his eye. Just faintly was an outline of the other guard. He was standing perfectly still beside the wall. He was looking right at Michael waiting for the right moment. Michael pretended to look up at the rooftops of the buildings as he ran towards the wall. He grabbed the guard and pulled him onto the street. He looked at the guard in amazement and disgust. He hadn't had time to change yet. So it was like a side of the wall painted on a human body. Then slowly the guard started disappearing. He was disappearing into the background right in front of him.

" No you don't! " yelled Michael holding up his hand. Instead of an energy ball, an invisible jolt escaped his hand. The Guard arched his body from the impact in pain and then he disappeared.

Michael blinked his eyes in shock. He had done it. He had killed one.

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

" Kyle, do you remember where we are? " asked Serena looking at the bench next to them

" This is where we were last night, " said Kyle looking at her.

" They first came to us here "

" What does that mean? " asked Maria

" That's strange, " said Valenti walking over to it.

" What is it Sheriff? " asked Liz following him.

" Benches are usually bolted to the ground, " said Valenti pointing to the bottom of the bench.

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

" Not too bad " said Nicholas. He was leaning with his arms crossed across the street. " But not good enough I'm afraid "

" Care to give it shot? " asked Michael

" You don't have a chance second, " said Nicholas

" That's what you are too. Only second, never first " said Michael glaring at him.

" We are one in the same in some ways aren't we Rath? " he asked. " We both have leaders that we disagree with constantly. So we remain the hand me down. The second in line and nothing else " he walked forward. He looked at Max and Isabel who were walking slowly towards him. " Why do you continue to follow a weak leader? "

" Why do you follow a loser? " asked Michael folding his arms.

" When Khivar comes you won't be able to survive " said Nicholas smirking again at the three of them. " So where is Ava? I brought one guy for each of you "

" Don't worry about her, " said Max

" She isn't here is she? " said Nicholas. He looked up at Max as he stood towering above him. " She was on the ship when it took off "

Max only looked at him.

" So you found out about her didn't you? " laughed Nicholas " She was never too bright. I was surprised she kept up her act for so long. She must be pregnant too. From her last report you and her were getting very chummy " Nicholas shook his head. " You are so stupid Zan. Even in your other life. Nothing changes I guess, almost as stupid as your second in command here " he said pointing to Michael.

" Are you going to bore us all with a history lesson Nicholas? " asked Thaman appearing beside Nicholas.

" Thaman, Thaman " said Nicholas " Nice job you're doing here. Not much for you to work with "

" That remains to be seen Nicholas "

" I wouldn't be making comments, " said Michael " We could whoop your ass right now "

Nicholas laughed and then looked at Isabel. " What do you say Vilandra? " he said " Do you want to return to your man or do you want to die with them again? "

" Don't talk to her, " said Max. " She's not like you "

" She is just the same. Just as you all are. History always repeats itself " he looked at Michael " Just as I killed you in the last life. I will do it again "

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

" Ok so it looks like a park bench and feels like a park bench " said Kyle " How do we destroy it? Just get an ax and tear it up? "

" Whatever you do, do it fast, " said Maria looking at her hand. It was slowly disappearing. " Oh God " she said as she disappeared completely.
" Maria! " screamed Liz.
" We'll get her back. Right now we have to focus on getting rid of this " said Valenti.
" How did you get rid of this thing the last time? " asked Serena totally feeling out of place and in the dark. This was just too incredible. It was like they were used to stuff like this happening.
" We short-circuited it " said Kyle. " We used jumper cables and blew a fuse in it "
" I'm sure Nicholas has thought of something better to protect it " said Valenti
" Why don't we try this? " asked Serena. She started breathing very deeply as she closed her eyes and concentrated. She made a picture of the bench in her mind, like a scanner. Slowly she began breaking up the frequencies that were hiding it one by one. The frequency was strong but she kept pressing her mind to keep going.
" Serena how...? " asked Kyle as he watched the bench change from the energy rod that he had been the last time to a bench. It kept going back and forth.
Serena clenched her teeth in pain. She had been training her mind to do things like this, but whatever was behind this mind warp was very strong. Something a hundred times stronger than her. She grabbed her head in pain and collapsed in Kyle's arms.
" Serena! " called Kyle " Serena! "
She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. " Did it work? "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" How does it feel Thaman? To know that you're going to fail again? " said Nicholas looking up at Thaman. " To watch them die again "
" That will not happen "
" Really? " he said as he thrust out his hand and shot at Michael. Thaman did the same and his shot knocked the other shot and it hit the wall beside them.
" Why are you testing me Nicholas? " said Thaman " You did not come here to fight. You came here to watch "
" I only came here for one thing, " said Nicholas " And it's not to kill you, yet. Khivar wants to do that personally "
" So he is coming, " said Max
" Not so stupid after all " said Nicholas
" So why did you come? " asked Isabel
Nicholas looked at her and smiled. " You know what I came here for Vilandra "
Isabel looked at him strangely, what did he mean?

" She's not going anywhere with you " said Michael.
" She doesn't belong with you " said Nicholas. " She belongs with us "
Isabel stepped behind Thaman.
" You know I'm right Vilandra "
" Tell him what he wants to hear Princess " heard Isabel echoed in her ear. She looked at Thaman. He looked back at her.

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

" Did it work? " asked Serena weary. She looked up and saw a long green, glowing rod standing in the place of the bench.

" Yes it did, " said Kyle squeezing her shoulder

" Ow! " she screamed.

Kyle jumped back and looked at her arm.

" Serena what happened? " asked Liz running over.

" I guess the bullet swiped my arm there, " said Serena turning her arm so that she could see it.

" Does it sting? " asked Kyle.

" Now it does that I look at it " she said laughing.

" What are we going to do? " asked Liz looking around.

" Kyle, where's your dad? " asked Serena looking around.

Kyle jerked his head around. " He's disappeared again, " he said shutting his eyes. He let out a soft sigh and decided not to think about it. " But we can't think about that now. We have to break this thing before we all disappear " he said looking at Serena's arm. " But first " he said touching her arm and closing her eyes.

" Kyle what… ? " asked Liz watching him. Kyle had his eyes closed like he was meditating again. What was he doing?

Kyle could feel the energy flow through his body and into Serena. This time he focused his energy on it and it didn't take as much out of his as it did the first time with Maria. He opened her eyes and her arm, fully healed.

" How did you? " she asked looking at him amazed.

" You're not the only one with gifts, " he said smiling at her. " I've been practicing too "

Serena noticed that he looked blurry. " No Kyle, you can't. Kyle! " she screamed as he disappeared in front of her. She looked helplessly at Liz. Liz responded to her gaze with a determined one.

" We have to do this, " she said getting up and walking over to the rod.

" But where do they go when they disappear. Are they dead? Are they stuck in a time warp? What happens when…? "

Liz turned around but nobody was behind her anymore. She opened her mouth to call for Serena but she knew it was useless. Serena had joined them in the void. If I just focus my energy I think I can over ride the system of this thing. I just have to concentrate.

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

" You're right Nicholas, " said Isabel. Her voice sounded stronger than she felt. Nicholas wasn't right, what was she saying?

Max and Michael both looked at her. " What? " asked Michael

" Isabel what are you saying? " asked Max grabbing her arm.

" I'm not Isabel. I'm Vilandra " she said looking at Thaman with scorn. " And I belong with Khivar and Nicholas " she said releasing Max's grip and walking over to Nicholas. " You told me once about our secret meetings Nicholas. Maybe we can still have them after they're gone " she said touching Nicholas' face.

" You know there's nothing more I want than you Vilandra, " he said closing his eyes.

Isabel was screaming in her head. What was Thaman planning? Nicholas wasn't stupid enough for this. Why was she playing temptress? A thought flashed in her mind almost causing her to jump.

" Princess " said Thaman in a soft and gentle voice. " Princess you need to come back here "

Isabel looked like she was in a daze as she looked at him.

Nicholas looked at the look on her face. " So you really are mind warping her, " he said. Pulling Isabel close to him. " You crazy "

" What? " asked Thaman in an evil tone. " You will not have the Royals and I will die before you take them away from me " he said looking at Isabel.

" No Nicholas. Don't let him do it to me again. They're holding me here and making me do things. Nicholas you have to help me " she pleaded grabbing his collar and looking down at him. " Stop his mind control before he does it again! "

Before Nicholas could react Thaman waved his hand towards himself and Isabel flew into his arms. With his other hand he struck Nicholas with a jolt and Nicholas flew down the street. Max and Michael stepped forward.

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

" Ok, here I go, " said Liz trying to stay calm. She knew that at any second she would be gone. She closed her eyes and breathed in and out. She remembered Max telling her to take deep breaths and tried to let her mind go blank. She pictured the rod in her mind. Like lightning her vision of it magnified and she saw the core of it. It was a bright yellow light and it was almost blinding. She was inside the rod. She saw two main balls of light in the nucleus of the rod. It was the core. These two main balls were circling each other and never touching. Liz took another deep breath and grabbed each ball. They were hot and they were burning her hands. She had to stop herself from dropping them. She grabbed onto them tighter. She tried to combine them but they were like magnets that wouldn't come together. She strained her mind and her hands as she brought them together with a crash. A white light consumed her and she felt light and on air.

" Liz! " said Maria shaking her vigorously with excitement. " Liz! We did it! " she screamed hugging her.

Liz's mind heard her friend but it took a few minutes for her body to respond. " Oh My God we did it! " she heard Maria scream again.

" Again! " screamed Kyle joining them. He grabbed Serena and pulled her close to him. " Dad! "

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

" You've gone insane Thaman " said Nicholas looking at him in surprise. " I didn't think you had it in you. Maybe your true side is coming out as well "
The empty streets of Roswell were now crowded with the usual traffic. The city around them came alive, oblivious to what had just happened. The sudden appearance of the humans caused them to look around. They ran towards the sidewalk to avoid traffic. When they turned their heads Nicholas was gone. Thaman still held Isabel close to him. She had her hands on his shoulders. She looked at the people and then at Thaman.
" He's gone " said Max
" Why? " asked Michael
" You are not the only ones that avoid unnecessary attention my Lord "
" But he'll be back " said Isabel
" For you " said Michael.
" That was incredible Thaman " said Isabel glowing.
" It was no idea of mine Princess " he said looking at Max " It was your brother's "
" Max? "