~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 1: Strangers and Revelations

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

July 2020


Abby jerked awake and gasped for breath. That was the fourth time in a week she had had that same dream, the dream she had been having for years. She was on a rocky mountain in the middle of the desert. All she could see was the stars, the V-shaped constellation burning brightest. Suddenly she realized there was another person with her. A man, whose face she couldn't see. All she knew was that he was familiar, yet a stranger. He reached out to take her hand and then, out of nowhere, a bright light surrounded them. The man began to lead her into the light and, right as they entered the object the light emanated from, she turned to look at his face. And then she woke up, sweating. "Damn," she said, looking at the clock. It was only 3:30 and she was sure she'd never get back to sleep. "You're going crazy, Abby. Seeing strange boys in your dreams; you're starting to ACT like an alien." She climbed out of her bed and sat at her desk and began writing. She really didn't know who the letters were to, but she wrote them nearly every night. Lately she had suspected they were meant for the guy in the dream, but she didn't know. After she had finished the letter she closed the journal she kept them in and went to the kitchen to get a cup of tea.

As she walked back upstairs to try to get some sleep, Abby noticed the light on in her brother's room. Knocking on the door, she was greeted with a grunt. A second later the door was unlocked and Abby wandered in, sitting on the bed.

"Up late, aren't you, little sis," Nathan said, sitting back down in his chair.

"I could say the same for you," she replied, using the same mocking tone. "Just climb back in the window?"

"Nah, I actually got in about midnight. I just couldn't sleep." Nate had been dating Elena, daughter of their parents' best friends, for a year and a half now, and they tended to stay out very late most nights.

"Oh, Lane wouldn't put out, huh?" Abby joked, tossing her brother's stuffed soccer ball in the air.

"Please, Abbs, don't ask about my sex life. You know how much that creeps me out," he begged, knocking the ball from her hand.

"Believe me, not as much as the idea of my best friend and twin brother sleeping together does," she whispered under her breath.

"Why are you up so late, anyway?" Nate asked.

"I just couldn't sleep," Abby sighed.

"Another dream?" he asked with concern. Abby nodded and he moved over to the bed, wrapping his arms around her. "See anything else this time." She shook her head.

"No, it's the same thing every time. Rocks, stars, guy, light. And then I wake up right before I see his face. I just wish I could see who it was in the dream. He feels so familiar, and yet so strange. It's driving me insane."

"Well, maybe if you try taking control of the dream, you can see where it's going."

"I tried, it's like the dream is in control of me. I don't like it. Maybe we could ask Aunt Isabel to dreamwalk me and find out what happens."

"Are you sure you want to do that? I mean, it may work, but first you'd have to deal with one of Uncle Max's crazy interrogations. Is it worth it?" Abby laughed.

"You're always so down on Uncle Max. He's just trying to take care of us."

"Just think about it before you do anything. You never know what else she might see, huh?" He nudged her in the shoulder and smiled, and she responded by punching him lightly in the gut.

"Well, I'm going to try to get some sleep. You should do the same. Remember, Di and Phil are coming into town tomorrow so we get the joy of helping Lane watch Alex while Uncle Max and Aunt Isabel go to pick them up." She walked towards the door.

"Oh believe me," he replied deviously, "I haven't forgotten how you're going to watch Alex while Lane and I have fun."

"You just keep thinking that, Space Boy," she laughed, adopting their mother's nickname for their father. "Just keep thinking that."

"Night, sis," he laughed, launching the stuffed soccer ball at the door as she closed it. Abby smiled and then went back to bed, hoping the rest of her night would remain dream-free.

~*~


"C'mon Abby, get up. We're gonna be late!" The disdainful sound of her brother's voice kept playing in her head, but Abby chose to ignore it. She pulled the blanket over her head to block the noise and sunlight, and burrowed back into her pillow. All would have been fine, if not for her brother's stupid powers. Within a few seconds she heard the "click" of the lock being opened and soon she was on the floor in a pile of covers. She looked up angrily to see her twin brother, Nathan, standing above her.

"Why I outta..." she grumbled, kicking him.

"You outta what?" he replied, mocking her as he dragged her to her feet. "Say 'thank you, darling big brother for waking me when I was running late'? That's what I thought."

"You're not my big brother and I'm going back to bed."

"10 minutes, baby. I won the 'let's get born race'. Now get dressed or no food for you. It's already 10:30." He walked out of the room. Realizing the time Abby rushed to get dressed and ready and then headed for the kitchen. Nate was already there, enjoying a bowl of some overly sugary cereal mixed with Tabasco sauce. Abby plopped down next to him.
"Why did you let me sleep so late?" she asked grumpily, pouring a bowl of cereal for herself. "We're supposed to be at the Evans's at one and you know I have a million things to do before then."

"You looked tired last night, like you haven't slept a lot lately. Since you were actually getting some sleep, I thought I'd let you enjoy it." Abby smiled at him.

"Wow," she exclaimed. "My brother showing he DOES know the meaning of the word 'kindness.' Call the police, he's been abducted and replaced with an alien.... oh wait, he IS an alien." Nate smirked at her crack and then responded by slyly shoving her out of her chair.

"Ow," she said, standing back up and rubbing the sore spot where she had fallen. "Was that really necessary?" He nodded and then went back to eating.



Shortly after finishing breakfast and running their errands, Abby and Nate jumped in the red Jetta their parents had bought them for their sixteenth birthday eight months ago and headed to the Evans's house, home of Max, Liz, and their best friend, Elena. Max and his sister Isabel were going to pick their adoptive parents, Phillip and Diane Evans, up at the airport and the whole clan was rallying at the Evans house to greet them. Of course, Max's wife Liz and Isabel's husband Kyle were at work, so that left the teenagers stuck with babysitting the youngest alien in the bunch, Kyle and Isabel's six year old son, Alex. Later in the evening there would be a dinner at the Evans house that everyone, Max, Liz, Elena, Kyle, Isabel, Alex, Michael, Maria, Abby, and Nathan, would attend to welcome Phillip and Diane. If Ava and Sean were in the area they might stop by, but it was unlikely since they often disappeared for weeks at a time inexplicably, traveling the world and avoiding the settled life that neither Ava nor Sean desired.

No one knew why Phillip and Diane had suddenly decided to visit, but word had it that there was a big surprise they planned on unveiling shortly after arrival.

Once at the Evans's, Abby took to playing with Alex while Nathan and Elena went to her room for some "quality time." Abby sighed but consented as usual. Back when they were children, the three had been like the Three Musketeers. They were the same age, had the same family, and shared the same secret. As they grew older, however, things changed. Lane and Abby became good girlfriends, sharing all their secrets, but Lane and Nate became a lot more than that. Eventually their attraction for one another became unbearable and they started dating when they were fourteen. Nearly two years later they were still together, but, as their relationship had grown stronger and more serious, Abby had begun to feel more and more left out. That's when her strange dreams had started.



About a half an hour had passed since Max and Isabel had left to wait for their parents at the airport and Abby and Alex were coloring happily in the living room when there was a knock on the door. Abby got up to answer it and found Phillip and Diane, as well as a stranger, on the other side.

"Phil, Diane, what are you guys doing here?" she exclaimed, going to hug Diane. "Your flight wasn't supposed to land for another 15 minutes."

"I know," Diane said, "but the airport bumped us off our flight and told us we could take an earlier one or a later one, so of course we came early."

"Well, I'm glad to see you," Abby said. At this point she noticed the stranger with them. He was a tall young man, about 19 or 20, with dark hair and dark eyes. He was very intense and the moment Abby locked eyes with him she lost all sense of time and reality.

"Grandma, Grandpa," Alex shouted, running to his grandparents and bringing Abby out of her daze. She blushed and stepped backwards.

"Why... Why don't you guys come in and I'll go get Lane," she stuttered, unable to remove her eyes from the dark haired man's gaze. Phil, Diane, and the boy walked in, Diane clutching Alex in a tight embrace. Abby ran up the stairs, flushing as she went to Lane's room and banged on the door.

"We're kinda in the middle of something," came an angry reply from the other side of the door.

"Well pull your pants up, Nate, 'cause Phil and Diane are here," Abby managed to order, still thinking about the man downstairs. She heard a few curse words muttered on the other side of the door and some banging around as her brother and Lane struggled to dress quickly. In a few seconds Lane burst through the door.

"Are my Dad and Aunt Iz with them?" she asked, gasping for breath and straightening her shirt.

"No, they took an earlier flight," Abby replied. Lane looked relieved. "But, there is some guy with them that I don't know, so no Czechoslovakian stuff, ok?" Nathan came out the door at that instant and, nodding in acquiescence, they all headed downstairs. Abby heard Lane gasp as they approached her grandparents and the boy, but she was too busy being lost in his eyes to take much notice. There was a short reunion between Lane and her grandparents before she greeted the young man.

"Oh, Lane, honey, we're sorry," Diane apologized. "It was rude of us not to introduce you. This is Connor, ..... your.... our.... a ... friend of ours. Connor, honey, this is Nathan, Abby, and our granddaughter Lane. We told you about them, remember?" Connor nodded, not taking his eyes from Abby.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you all." Abby smiled at him and then examined her shoes. There was an awkward pause and then Lane spoke up.

"Well, I better go call Dad and Aunt Iz and tell them you're here." She paused. "Abby, why don't you come with me?" Abby looked confused and then got the idea.

"Oh, yeah, sure," she said. "We'll be right back." She and Lane rushed into the kitchen and Lane pulled her aside.

"I think I know that guy," she whispered.

"Do you think he's... you know... him?" Abby asked. Lane nodded.

"You saw him, how could he not be?"

"Well, we won't find out in here, so call your Dad and let's get back in there." Lane stared at her.

"Wait, why are you blushing so much? You wouldn't have a crush on 'mystery man,' would you?" Abby hit her in the shoulder and handed her the phone.

"Dial," she commanded. Lane took the phone and called her father. She informed him that the grandparents had arrived early and they had a guest with them. But, it was the tail end of the conversation that Connor and Nate caught as they walked into the kitchen in search of the girls.

"And Daddy," they heard Lane say. "I think he's your son. No, I don't know for sure, but I feel it, you know. I'm almost certain he's Zan.... why else would he be here?" She hung up the phone and looked up to see Connor and Nate standing in the doorway, Nate staring at Connor and looking like he had been hit by the truck of realization. There was a long silence and then Connor spoke.

"So, you know," was all he said.