******************************
CHAPTER NINE:
Isabel was tied up and sitting on the cave floor where Rath and Nicholas were hiding out. She wore a tightly controlled expression on her face, but on the inside, she was terrified. Something about Nicholas terrified her from the time she found out about his connection to Valandra. The way he looked at her made Isabel feel like she was not in control, and that feeling frightened more than anything.
Rath and Nicholas were having a conversation at the entrance to the cave, leaving Isabel alone with her thoughts. Her mind turned to the thought that she may not make it out of this. She tried to push it out of her mind, but it kept going back to the "what ifs" if her survival was not in the cards. The biggest what if in her mind was Alex Whitman, and how strongly she did feel about him. Fate had tossed her another chance at Alex, but picked the worst time to do it in more ways than one. She was engaged to Jesse, and now she was a prisoner of her worst enemy. Isabel considered what she would do if she did survive this, knowing now that her death might cheat her of another chance to be with Alex. She struggled with the question for a good while, but then began to realize she was asking herself the wrong question.
"I've been thinking about Alex this whole time," thought Isabel. "Not...."
"Well, Valandra," said Nicholas, who knelt down in front of her. "You look startled. I must have caught you while you were lost in thought. Or, maybe just having a blonde moment."
"What do you want?" asked Isabel, in a cold tone.
"You fool, I have what I want," said Nicholas. "At least, I will have everything I want and need soon now. You see, your double, Lonnie, is probably heading back from Roswell now. And I'm sure she has your brother, his cohort, and little Ava in tow."
"What makes you think my brother will be fooled so easily?" asked Isabel.
"You were," said Nicholas. "Besides, he doesn't need to be fooled for long. If Lonnie is exposed, she just has to explain the situation, which is that if they don't come with Lonnie, or if she doesn't return, well...you will end up dead. Now, your brother won't stand for that, will he?"
"You're going to kill all of us anyway," said Isabel. "Better just me than all of us."
"Oooh, so brave of you," said Nicholas. "And so untrue. None of you have to die, if you cooperate."
"Cooperate...how?" asked Isabel.
"You'll all find out," said Nicholas.
"Yo, Nicholas," said Rath, running into the cave. "Lonnie's back with her package."
"Showtime," said Nicholas.
**
"So Nicholas is the one who is pulling the strings," said Maria. "What does that mean?"
"I don't know," said Alex, looking at her, along with Liz and Kyle. "She didn't have time to say more."
"Then this isn't just about some kind of revenge thing," said Kyle. "Something else is behind it. Nicholas and Rath and Lonnie want something."
"Question is...what?" asked Liz.
"What did Rath and Lonnie want before, when they came to Roswell?" asked Alex.
"They wanted Max to come with them to New York, for that summit, so they could return to Antar," said Liz.
"Chances are they still want to go home," said Alex.
"Fat chance of that," said Maria. "Tess took off in the granolith, so..."
"Wait a minute!" said Liz. "That's it! The granolith! Nicholas probably doesn't know its gone from this planet! He knows Max and the others know where it is, and so do Rath and Lonnie. They want the granolith!"
"But the granolith is gone," said Kyle. "Max has nothing to give them."
"Oh my God," said Alex. "If Max and Isabel and Michael don't have the granolith, then...Lonnie, Rath, and Nicholas, won't have any need of them."
"They may also be pretty pissed at having done all this for nothing," said Kyle.
"NO!" said Liz. "We can't think like that!"
"We have to!" said Alex. "We have to do something!"
"What?" asked Maria. "What can we do?"
"Face it," said Kyle. "We would be outclassed by Nicholas alone, probably."
"But they underestimate us," said Alex. "We weren't important, remember. That's how they see us. Maybe we can make that work to our advantage."
"How?" asked Maria.
"We pull our talents," said Alex. "We make them think we're trying to rescue our friends, but fail because we are pitiful, weak humans. Then, we get the drop on them."
"To repeat Maria's question," said Kyle. "How?"
"Let's think this through," said Liz.
***
"I'm telling you!" said Max. "We don't have the granolith! Tess took off with it!"
"She was in league with your boss," said Michael. "Secretly! Nasedo set up the deal long before we were born."
"I don't believe you," said Nicholas. "I would have been told. You are just trying to protect the granolith!"
"Think about it," said Isabel. "Where is Tess, huh? If she hadn't taken the granolith, don't you think she would be here?"
"He's got a point, dude," said Lonnie.
"I don't," said Rath. "They're hidin it! They want it for themselves!"
"Its hard to tell," said Nicholas. "They're story makes some sense, but there is no way to proove it."
"We can show you where the granolith used to be," said Max.
"You mean before you found another hidin place for it," said Rath.
"This bickering is pointless," said Nicholas. "There is only one way to be sure. I will have to get the information from one of your minds. Of course, once I do...there's no guarantee how much of your minds will be left."
"There's no need for that!" said Ava. "Just have Lonnie dreamwalk one of them again!"
"Won't work," said Nicholas. "She and I were able to take you by surprise because you weren't expecting us. They would be. They could fix things with their own powers over their minds so Lonnie might be seeing what they want her to see only. No, it will have to be a mind drain. Only question is...who will it be?"
End of Chapter Nine. Chapter Ten coming soon.
So, who will it be? Max? Michael? Isabel? Will their human friends be able to save them? How will this affect Isabel's conundrum over Alex and Jesse? Find out by looking out for the next installments. In the meantime, please do provide feedback with a review of this story. I greatly appreciate the feedback I have received so far, and continued feedback is always welcomed.
CHAPTER NINE:
Isabel was tied up and sitting on the cave floor where Rath and Nicholas were hiding out. She wore a tightly controlled expression on her face, but on the inside, she was terrified. Something about Nicholas terrified her from the time she found out about his connection to Valandra. The way he looked at her made Isabel feel like she was not in control, and that feeling frightened more than anything.
Rath and Nicholas were having a conversation at the entrance to the cave, leaving Isabel alone with her thoughts. Her mind turned to the thought that she may not make it out of this. She tried to push it out of her mind, but it kept going back to the "what ifs" if her survival was not in the cards. The biggest what if in her mind was Alex Whitman, and how strongly she did feel about him. Fate had tossed her another chance at Alex, but picked the worst time to do it in more ways than one. She was engaged to Jesse, and now she was a prisoner of her worst enemy. Isabel considered what she would do if she did survive this, knowing now that her death might cheat her of another chance to be with Alex. She struggled with the question for a good while, but then began to realize she was asking herself the wrong question.
"I've been thinking about Alex this whole time," thought Isabel. "Not...."
"Well, Valandra," said Nicholas, who knelt down in front of her. "You look startled. I must have caught you while you were lost in thought. Or, maybe just having a blonde moment."
"What do you want?" asked Isabel, in a cold tone.
"You fool, I have what I want," said Nicholas. "At least, I will have everything I want and need soon now. You see, your double, Lonnie, is probably heading back from Roswell now. And I'm sure she has your brother, his cohort, and little Ava in tow."
"What makes you think my brother will be fooled so easily?" asked Isabel.
"You were," said Nicholas. "Besides, he doesn't need to be fooled for long. If Lonnie is exposed, she just has to explain the situation, which is that if they don't come with Lonnie, or if she doesn't return, well...you will end up dead. Now, your brother won't stand for that, will he?"
"You're going to kill all of us anyway," said Isabel. "Better just me than all of us."
"Oooh, so brave of you," said Nicholas. "And so untrue. None of you have to die, if you cooperate."
"Cooperate...how?" asked Isabel.
"You'll all find out," said Nicholas.
"Yo, Nicholas," said Rath, running into the cave. "Lonnie's back with her package."
"Showtime," said Nicholas.
**
"So Nicholas is the one who is pulling the strings," said Maria. "What does that mean?"
"I don't know," said Alex, looking at her, along with Liz and Kyle. "She didn't have time to say more."
"Then this isn't just about some kind of revenge thing," said Kyle. "Something else is behind it. Nicholas and Rath and Lonnie want something."
"Question is...what?" asked Liz.
"What did Rath and Lonnie want before, when they came to Roswell?" asked Alex.
"They wanted Max to come with them to New York, for that summit, so they could return to Antar," said Liz.
"Chances are they still want to go home," said Alex.
"Fat chance of that," said Maria. "Tess took off in the granolith, so..."
"Wait a minute!" said Liz. "That's it! The granolith! Nicholas probably doesn't know its gone from this planet! He knows Max and the others know where it is, and so do Rath and Lonnie. They want the granolith!"
"But the granolith is gone," said Kyle. "Max has nothing to give them."
"Oh my God," said Alex. "If Max and Isabel and Michael don't have the granolith, then...Lonnie, Rath, and Nicholas, won't have any need of them."
"They may also be pretty pissed at having done all this for nothing," said Kyle.
"NO!" said Liz. "We can't think like that!"
"We have to!" said Alex. "We have to do something!"
"What?" asked Maria. "What can we do?"
"Face it," said Kyle. "We would be outclassed by Nicholas alone, probably."
"But they underestimate us," said Alex. "We weren't important, remember. That's how they see us. Maybe we can make that work to our advantage."
"How?" asked Maria.
"We pull our talents," said Alex. "We make them think we're trying to rescue our friends, but fail because we are pitiful, weak humans. Then, we get the drop on them."
"To repeat Maria's question," said Kyle. "How?"
"Let's think this through," said Liz.
***
"I'm telling you!" said Max. "We don't have the granolith! Tess took off with it!"
"She was in league with your boss," said Michael. "Secretly! Nasedo set up the deal long before we were born."
"I don't believe you," said Nicholas. "I would have been told. You are just trying to protect the granolith!"
"Think about it," said Isabel. "Where is Tess, huh? If she hadn't taken the granolith, don't you think she would be here?"
"He's got a point, dude," said Lonnie.
"I don't," said Rath. "They're hidin it! They want it for themselves!"
"Its hard to tell," said Nicholas. "They're story makes some sense, but there is no way to proove it."
"We can show you where the granolith used to be," said Max.
"You mean before you found another hidin place for it," said Rath.
"This bickering is pointless," said Nicholas. "There is only one way to be sure. I will have to get the information from one of your minds. Of course, once I do...there's no guarantee how much of your minds will be left."
"There's no need for that!" said Ava. "Just have Lonnie dreamwalk one of them again!"
"Won't work," said Nicholas. "She and I were able to take you by surprise because you weren't expecting us. They would be. They could fix things with their own powers over their minds so Lonnie might be seeing what they want her to see only. No, it will have to be a mind drain. Only question is...who will it be?"
End of Chapter Nine. Chapter Ten coming soon.
So, who will it be? Max? Michael? Isabel? Will their human friends be able to save them? How will this affect Isabel's conundrum over Alex and Jesse? Find out by looking out for the next installments. In the meantime, please do provide feedback with a review of this story. I greatly appreciate the feedback I have received so far, and continued feedback is always welcomed.
