Laurie Dupree tapped on the steering wheel in time with the music as she drove through the town of Roswell, New Mexico. She didn't know why but she had this uncontrollable urge to return to the town that had once been nothing but trouble for her, and she wasn't sure whether it was just to visit who she considered to be her only relative now left in this world, Michael Guerin.
But she was desperate to see him. She had been offering to stay for four months now, and had been begging him to come to Arizona but he always declined. It was always too dangerous. She was better off without him. Yeah, because being left alone without any relatives is always a good thing.
This time, however, she didn't allow him to refuse. She practically pleaded then told him determinedly that she was coming. They had argued on the matter for ten minutes, but then she felt a change in him and when she called back later to confirm that she was leaving he seemed to be happy for her to come to town.
Also there was something that she needed to talk to him about. For the past week she felt something strange was happening that she couldn't explain. She had been plagued with nightmares which wasn't anything new. She had been having them for four months now ever since her ordeal in Fraser Woods. But now it was a different kind of nightmare. One that was more terrifying than being buried underground. And she thought that there couldn't be anything more terrifying than that experience.
She couldn't remember that much about the dreams only of waking up in a cold sweat, frightened to the core. And voices. Voices that were as terrified as she was after awakening.
She hadn't been sleeping much either. Only about two hours, but it didn't feel like she needed anymore than that. And there was the weird cravings she had been having lately. She wondered if this had anything to do with the crystals that had tried to feed on her four months ago.
Laurie stopped at the traffic lights and glanced at the address on the slip of paper. The only places she had ever been to before in Roswell were the hospital, the sheriff's station, and Sheriff Valenti's house. She didn't exactly know her way around town.
She looked around at the junction and bit on her lower lip trying to decide which way to go when she heard a car horn come from behind. The light had changed to green, and putting the car into gear she turned right and travelled down that road. It didn't her long to arrive at the building she had been looking for. Pulling over to the curb she put the handbrake on and switched off the engine. Locking the car behind her she entered the building, only to bump into another figure.
"Sorry," Laurie quickly apologised before she finally saw the other girl's face. Maria DeLuca stood grinning at her with a twinkle in her eye.
"Hey, stranger," Maria hugged her. "How've you been doing?"
"Fine," Laurie smiled coming out of the embrace. "How are you?"
Maria averted her eyes. "Good. Great. I'd stay and hang out but I have to get to work," she said in a hurry.
"Maria, are you all right?" Laurie asked curiously.
Maria stopped on her way out of the door and gave her a sad smile. The twinkle that was in her eyes just a few moments before seemed to have vanished. "Sure. I'm good. Bye."
With that she was gone.
Laurie still looked at the door that Maria had left by, and jumped a little when she heard a voice come from behind.
"Hey."
She turned to see Michael standing on the bottom step of the stairs. His eyes seem to be bright and he gave her a small smile. She had really missed him. Even though they were only together on the road and in Arizona for a little while, Laurie felt a bond with him that he was family. And he was. As far as she was concerned he was her brother and the only family that she wanted to know now.
"Michael," she hugged him tightly, and felt his arms close around her. They stood like this for almost a minute before they pulled back. "I just ran into Maria…" She stopped when Michael's expression turn just as sad as Maria's had.
"What happened?"
"Nothing," Michael shook his head. "It doesn't matter."
She felt like it did matter. Whatever it was it mattered a great deal.
"Do you have any cases?"
Laurie nodded. "Yeah, I've got a suitcase in the car."
"I'll get it," Michael offered before Laurie quickly stopped him.
"No, it's okay I can get it later. I'll have a coffee though if you have any."
Michael nodded and touched her shoulder. "I'm glad you're here, Laurie."
Laurie touched his hand that was resting on her shoulder. "Me too."
Michael nodded again in understanding before walking up the stairs. Laurie glanced at the door that was Maria's exit once more before following Michael up the stairs, unsure if her brother needed to know her own strange situation since he seemed to have problems of his own.
*****Alex sighed as he strolled up the path leading to the Evans house. He didn't know why he had let Isabel talk him into this. Why did she think that he needed to get into shape? Well, maybe because Liz had mentioned in front of her that he'd been eating a lot of burgers lately at the Crashdown. What could he say? Lately he had developed an active appetite. He was a hot blooded young guy after all.
He glanced down at himself. Anyway it wasn't like he put on anymore weight. In fact he looked about the same. He felt great too. Better than he did in years. Yep, there was definitely no need for a morning workout, and sure enough once he got up to that door he was going to inform Isabel Evans of that very fact.
He was courageous after all. He'd been managing to stand his ground a lot lately, and not just with Isabel, but everyone. Sweden had done wonders for him. He had felt free with no worries of keeping secrets and watching his step around certain people. He missed Sweden. He missed Leanna more though. But it was a long distance romance that he knew wasn't going to last. And he knew that deep down he still had feelings for Isabel. They weren't as strong as they used to be, but they were there nonetheless.
Before he had the chance to knock on the door, it opened and Isabel stood smiling at him. He tried to stop his jaw from dropping at the sight of Isabel in a sweater and tight shorts. "You look… nice."
"Thank you," she looked him up and down and grinned at him. "You look good in sweats."
He glanced down at himself, hoping that he had managed to duck his head before a blush had managed to flood his cheeks. "See if I already look good then I don't see why I have to do this?"
Isabel rolled her eyes and closed the door. "C'mon, Alex."
She was already jogging down the path, and Alex had to jog to catch up with her. "Seriously, I've never felt better so I don't see why I have to workout."
"Because it's good for you."
"No, it's good for people who enjoy it."
"You'll enjoy it. Just give it time."
"See that's another thing, if you need time to enjoy something then really is it worth enjoying at all."
Isabel sighed as she stopped. "Okay, how about we just take a run around the block, and maybe tomorrow we'll try something a bit more… distant."
Alex felt his heart plummet. "Tomorrow?! We're doing this again tomorrow?"
Isabel rolled her eyes and began to jog away from him. Alex took a deep sigh before following her. They had been jogging for only five minutes before Alex settled into it. Actually it didn't seem too bad. He was jogging with ease and he didn't feel worse for wear. He actually felt like he had been feeling a lot lately… refreshed. Jogging like this, however, was beginning to grate on his nerves. Picking up the pace he moved ahead of Isabel, but it wasn't that long before she was once again at his side. He smirked as he glanced at her and she gave him an irritated look, which didn't ring true since she had a smirk of her own on her lips. He jogged ahead once more, for her to be at his side with ease once again.
He grinned, knowing that Isabel could probably leave him for dust due to her powers. He was sure that speed was one of them. It wasn't like she was Supergirl, but he knew that the aliens could move very quickly. For some unknown reason however he wanted to challenge her. Put her to the test. Just to see how quickly she could move.
Alex gave her a challenging look, only to receive the same look in return. Picking up the pace he broke out into a flat out sprint, and ran at full pace. Isabel overtook him, but surprisingly didn't run too far ahead. Maybe she was letting him think that he could keep up with her. She seemed to be hanging back even more and soon Alex found himself overtaking her. He didn't want to go too far ahead and when it came to the end of the block he planned on letting Isabel win, even though she could do it herself, letting her win seemed to be the gentleman thing to do.
He felt great though. Even breaking into a sprint like this he felt like he could go on for longer. Isabel overtook him, and he didn't know why but he pushed himself forward and took the lead again. Okay now he was beginning to feel the strain. He wanted to stop but something inside him wouldn't let him. He realised that they had been running right around the block and were almost at the Evans again.
He felt his chest tighten and his legs grow tired and allowed himself to fall to his knees on the Evans' front lawn. He was panting hard and clutching his chest. He really shouldn't have broken out in a flat run like he did. He wasn't even sure why he did it. He wasn't at all athletic, and if anything tried to avoid any kind of fitness or sport at all. He looked up to see Isabel beside him doubled up with her hands resting on her legs. She was panting hard, and was that sweat he saw on her. She had broken into a sweat from her run?
"How did you do that?" she panted at him.
Alex frowned trying to catch a breath. "Do what?"
"Run like that?"
"Like what?"
Isabel looked at him curiously. "Alex, I was going flat out… using my… talent," she said between breaths glancing around to see if anyone was watching them. "And you kept up with me."
Alex's eyes widened before he laid back down on the grass and looked u at the clear blue sky above him. This was getting very strange.