Part 3

March 12

It's early morning and I'm sitting at the table in silence. I only slept a couple of hours. I can feel that my eyes are swollen. It's so quiet I end up playing with my food.

Maria sighs, breaking the silence. Usually at this hour we would be getting up, making breakfast, and throwing baking flour at each other.

"So, Liz, what happened yesterday?" Alex asks me. I look up from my plate and see two sets of eyes looking at me.

What do I say?

"Um, was I with Max yesterday?" I ask. The Max flashes still bother me.

"No, you weren't. Well, except for two classes," Maria tells me. "Remember, you and Max are being watched by the principal because of the Eraser Room incident."

"That's exactly it," I say as I sit up. "I don't remember being in school. And this isn't the normal forgetting. I don't remember a thing about yesterday, and a couple of days ago I was sitting in my room and the next thing I know I'm in my bathroom."

"So you're saying that you don't remember things. Liz, I've heard of these types of things before."

"You have, Alex?" I asked.

"Well, it was on the Discovery Channel and it was about alien abductees----"

"Alex, Liz hasn't been abducted," Maria says.

"What did it say?" I ask, unmoved from Maria's comment.

"Well this one guy was taken from his bedroom and he would end up in different places and not remember any of it," he finishes.

"Ok," I say. I ponder the idea. "We can't rule anything out. So who would be kidnapping me?" I ask, suddenly getting a sense of fear.

"Maybe it has something to do with the orb you and Max found in the desert," Maria wonders aloud.

"Maybe, but it has something to do with Max. Remember when I wasn't feeling well on Thursday? I felt like crap and then flashes of Max passed over me and then I was ok," I say.

"Of course this has something to do with the Czechs, a day wouldn't be complete without them," Maria says with resentment.

"Things still rough with Michael?" I ask.

"Yeah" she responds quietly, changing the subject quickly. "So what do we do about it?"

"I say we ask them about it," Alex says defiantly.

"I don't want to mention it to Max yet. I can't fully talk about it if I don't understand it myself. I don't want to close myself off, but I guess I want to think about it," I say. I look at Alex and Maria and hope they comply.

"Of course Liz, but if this keeps on happening we have to tell them. You have us," Maria says. She gets up and hugs me. I hug her back and Alex joins us.

"So do you think Jonathan Franks has anything to do with this?" Alex asks, with wide eyes.

"What?" Maria and I respond.

It's later that day we go to the local billiard. Normally we would head for the Crashdown, but we know Max, Isabel, and Michael would be there. I can't face Max with the way I'm feeling, not yet anyway, I wouldn't be able to look at him the same way if what's happening is because of something Max did. But my dream is still bugging me. Was that an actual dream or was it one of those flashes I received when I was with Max? I wasn't with him so he couldn't have stimulated it.

"Your turn?" Alex says.

I grab the pool thingamajig. Even though I've played pool with Max, that doesn't leave me with the names of the things. Balls, hit, good.

I go up to the table, lean over, and hear Maria say, "Nice form." I laugh and face her. She's checking me out. So on purpose I stick out my butt. We all laugh and of course I miss the pocket or socketthe hole, ok?

This has been fun. Afterwards, with no lapse in time, we have some food there. Not like the Crashdown, but still good. Everything has been great.

No weird sickness. Nothing. I'm perfectly fine. Maybe I spoke too soon. We head home and I go off to the Crashdown while Maria and Alex go to their respective homes. I want some time to myself. Alex was apprehensive about that, but I promised to call if anything was wrong.

The streets are pretty empty and the sun is settling. An elderly couple passes by me. It's beautiful to see a couple together for such a long time. They've been coming to the Crashdown since I've been little.

I see a shadow behind me. A shiver runs down my spine and I don't want to turn around. I pick up my pace, but the sense of dread is still there. I turn around to face whoever it is. Why I did thatI don't know.

I turn around and I see the man from my dream. The same man from the mirror reflection. The hairs on the base of my neck rise and I lift my legs to run, but they don't move. Instead, my feet become blocks of ice.

"Liz," he says. His tone is gentle, as if he doesn't want to scare me, but he's doing a bad job of it.

"Who are you?" I respond with a shake in my voice.

"You must have a ton of questions," he says.

I look at him and realize that once you get a good look, he has the familiar face. I've seen him somewhere. Exactly where I'm not sure.

"Yeah, but who are you?" I ask again.

"My name is Gabriel," he says, "Let's take a walk."

"Um, I don't think that's such a good idea," I say. No way I'm I going to go somewhere with this guy. Familiar face, shamilar face. No way.

"Liz, please, the people here won't understand," he says.

"Why not?" I ask curiously.

"Because they are not like us," is his response.

I look at him with a questioning look.

He notices my clearly confused statement and says, "If you take a walk with me I'll try to make this a little less fuzzy...I promise."

ok, but not too long, I have to get home," I say. We begin to walk. We walk near the UFO Center and we take a turn. I become scared because I know where he is taking me --- the cemetery.