~Chapter 21~
Week Three:
They were treated like animals. They were mere creatures to be ordered about. Mere creatures that had no feelings, no rights. They were prisoners of the worst sort.
That wasn't the end of it that day. They were forced to continue 'being together'. Until it could be detected that Victoria had conceived, Bryce said. So every few days she was taken out and tested somehow. Like today, when all Max had to do was think. The days went on as they never ended. Days flew by, though he didn't know how many. He had no idea how long they had been in this place. They knew no time or news. They sat. They slept. They were fed periodically - tasteless stuff. Sometimes they talked. They were each other's only comfort in this cold world they'd been thrust into. Max wondered what the others were doing back in Roswell. He longed to see every one of them, not the least of which was Liz Parker. He wondered what they thought had happened to him and Victoria. He was pretty sure Isabel had done a good job of covering for their disappearance with their parents, as he knew his sister and friends all knew by now that they had been taken and were not coming back of their own accord. But in that case also, there would be no rescue for them. The others could not have any clue as to where they were.
Victoria came back like times before.
He looked at her in silence with the usual question. She always shook her head and went to him where they sat in more silence. But this time, Victoria remained standing.
She bit her lip and walked to a corner of the room and just stood there, her arms folded, not looking at Max.
By her demeanor, Max didn't have to ask if it was positive this time. And then Victoria said quietly, in answer enough, "They said it probably happened that first time, but they couldn't know with certainty until now."
"Damn it!" Max hit the wall, raging at the room.
"I didn't want this either, Max." Victoria said. "Don't be mad at me."
"I'm not!" Max said at once. And then he went over to her. "I'm not," He said quieter. "It's just that this was forced on us and we are helpless to do anything about it."
"Like what? An alien abortion?" -Victoria.
"No." Max said seriously. "Like get out of here. Like, protect it."
"God help us." Victoria said, a sob catching on her breath.
Max took her into his arms and they both sat down. "You don't believe in him. Neither do I."
"I wish I could believe in something." -Victoria.
"Then believe in the future. We can't have been created to live and die in here. You know, the term 'destiny'?" -Max said.
"You don't believe in that, either." -Victoria.
"It's more like I didn't want to believe. I didn't want to think that there was a charted plan for me, for any of us. But maybe I need to believe right now that there is. And that in that plan, we get out of here." -Max.
Victoria sighed. Max said, "Do you trust me?"
She looked at him, seriously, too. "Yes."
"Well then believe me when I say we'll get out of here. All..three of us." -Max.
Victoria kissed his cheek and held him tighter. "I believe I love you, Max."
They stayed in silence for a while, each lost in similar thoughts. Then Max laughed a little.
Victoria frowned and looked at him, wondering if he was losing his mind.
"Oh, I don't laugh with a lot of humor." -Max said. "Irony, I think - and there's a certain humor in that."
"What do you mean?" -Victoria.
"It's just that this isn't the first time we've been in this situation." -Max.
She knew then that he meant about the child. "But in that life, we weren't prisoners."
"Weren't we? Sort of?" -Max.
She saw the truth in his words. "Kind of." She admitted. "But it was good then."
"Have you ever felt like our history is repeating itself?" -Max.
She said, "Yes." And in it's own way, maybe it was. But she didn't want to believe that. She could not let herself believe that, in fact. She knew a lot more about their history than he did - and she prayed most of it would not be repeated. But even as she prayed to no entity in particular and even as she hoped - she knew it was.
--
Week four:
Back in Roswell, most of the others had gone home and most continued on with school.
Michael dropped out of school. He was moody as usual, even more so when he wasn't withdrawing from the world. As the weeks went on and on and no one had any clue as to where the missing two might be, he secretly blamed himself and became more and more frustrated. Tension was high at times between all of them.
Isabel withdrew from her college classes. Michael, Jesse and herself stayed in the hotel apartment for the most part.
Kyle's father, Jim Valenti and Maria's mom, Amy Deluca - had made the days stranger for them when they announced that they were engaged to be married.
Isabel had made up an excuse about her brother, which she had to tell their parents. She said he'd dropped out of school and was going to get his GED instead, when he returned from his trip to Europe. Isabel had said that Victoria and Max had gone together on a trip. This had confused and concerned their parents. They had expected strange behavior from their son for months now, but they were surprised at this news. Although Max had been estranged from his parents for a while, they still loved him. They were especially surprised that Max had gone with Victoria. They knew of her - and had met her a couple times, but they thought Max was with Liz Parker.
And so had Liz. sort of. They had decided not to be serious, but they were basically a couple. Everyone saw it that way and everyone knew they cared for each other a great deal. Liz, Kyle and Maria stayed in school and prepared to graduate, although their grades had dropped. Liz poured herself into her schoolwork like it was her only lifeline. She applied mechanically to a few colleges, but she never really felt she would go to any of them. She couldn't make any decisions - not even small ones about her life.
Maria had actually contacted Gabriel Winston - the gorgeous guy from New York that she had met not long back. They emailed and talked long distance. She actually began to think a lot of him as a person. He was witty, funny and sophisticated for a guy his age. But for some reason, in late April, his contact just stopped.
-- - Isabel was cold. She was inside a building - a sterile, spare, modern looking building. She saw people sometimes. Men mostly, in black military uniforms, or people that looked like doctors or scientists. The people never saw her. She felt colder the further she walked. She seemed to know where she was going, although not consciously.
She came to an elevator and saw among the buttons - a B1, B2 and B3. Below ground floors. She pressed B2. When the elevator stopped, she was standing in a narrow hallway. She walked past tiny empty glass rooms that looked more like -- cages? She passed these and it opened onto a larger hallway. It was bare. She could see that there was a door in the hall.
When she got closer, she saw that there was a large panel of glass. She walked up further and looked in. Through the glass was a room. All white, bare - except it was not bare of people. A man with dark brown, almost black hair - and a woman with really long reddish brown hair. It didn't take her but a moment to recognize her own brother. It was Max and Victoria!
They sat huddled against the far wall together. They did not look up. Not even when she pounded on the glass and shouted to them. She went to the door, but there was an access code and she could not open it. She felt a presence. Turning around, she looked into a forbidding face framed with short blonde hair. She was looking at herself. .Almost.
-
Isabel woke up with a start. She jumped out of bed.
"Isabel, what is it?" A sleepy Jesse asked.
She ran to the other room - the main bedroom in the hotel apartment. There, Michael was asleep.
"Michael!" She yelled. He sat up quickly.
"I did it!" She cried. "I either dream walked one of them - or I connected somehow! It wasn't a conscious thing, because all my other efforts hadn't worked. But I know it couldn't have been just a dream."
She told them what she had seen, minus the very last part. Isabel called everyone up and they all came over. She told everyone else, once they were all gathered together.
It was late night and everyone was sitting sleepily in the living area.
"So you think that place you saw is where they're being kept?" -Liz.
Isabel nodded. "Problem is I don't know where."
"At least we know they're alive." -Maria.
"Of course they are. I never stopped believing otherwise." -Michael said sharply.
"At least we've got something." -Jesse.
"But nothing to go on yet, because we don't know where they're at and why or anything else." -Isabel said. And then, "But I'm going to try to connect again. Night and day if I have to."
"How do you think you dream walked one of them all of a sudden - when you couldn't before?" -Kyle.
".Because I don't think it was them. I think it was someone else." -Isabel.
"Who?" -several of them asked in unison.
".Lonnie." -Isabel said. Everyone looked at each other and especially her. She explained, "I think she's a part of this. And she was there. It was probably her dream or her mind that I was in. She saw me at the last of the dream. And I think she made me get out."
"That would explain it. I mean, she's a clone of you more or less. So therefore maybe that's why it happened without you knowing it." -Liz.
Everyone crashed at the hotel that night, falling asleep in the early morning hours.
Michael drew Isabel aside when all the others had fallen asleep.
"How was she? I know what you said about them, which wasn't much. But- could you sense anything?" -Michael asked, anxiously.
Isabel shook her head. "Only that it was cold. And they looked bad - as in, not healthy. And not happy of course."
Michael sighed and turned. "I'm sorry, Michael. I wish I had better news."
"Yeah, me too." He said and walked away.
Isabel watched him go and she felt about as downcast as he did. But she had given them all hope that night. She only hoped that she could live up to their expectations. It was all on her to discover more, especially where the two were being kept. She didn't have a good feeling about the two, from the dream. And she had no idea if they would stay alive or what was happening to them. Max was her beloved brother and Victoria, she had even kind of gotten close to her. She didn't know if knowing that they were in that place - whatever it was or not knowing the other answers was the worst.
- - -
catch your breath
hit the wall
scream out loud
as you start to crawl
back in your cage
the only place
where they will
leave you alone
cause the weak will seek the weaker till they've broken them
could you get it back again
would it be the same
fulfillment to their lack of strength at your expense
left you with no defense
they tore it down and I have felt the same
as you I've felt the same
as you I've felt the same locked inside
the only place
where you feel sheltered
where you feel safe
you lost yourself
in your search to find
something else to hide behind
cause the fearful always preyed upon your confidence
didn't they see the consequence
they pushed you around
the arrogant build kingdoms made of the different ones
breaking them till they've become
just another crown
and I have felt the same
as you I've felt the same
as you I've felt the same
as you I've felt the same
refuse to feel
anything at all
refuse to slip
refuse to fall
can't be weak
can't stand still
watch your back
cause no one will you don't know why they had to go this far
traded your worth for these scars
for your only company
and don't believe the lies that they have told to you
not one word was true
you're alright
you're alright
you're alright and I have felt the same
as you I've felt the same
as you I've felt the same
as you I've felt the same
They were treated like animals. They were mere creatures to be ordered about. Mere creatures that had no feelings, no rights. They were prisoners of the worst sort.
That wasn't the end of it that day. They were forced to continue 'being together'. Until it could be detected that Victoria had conceived, Bryce said. So every few days she was taken out and tested somehow. Like today, when all Max had to do was think. The days went on as they never ended. Days flew by, though he didn't know how many. He had no idea how long they had been in this place. They knew no time or news. They sat. They slept. They were fed periodically - tasteless stuff. Sometimes they talked. They were each other's only comfort in this cold world they'd been thrust into. Max wondered what the others were doing back in Roswell. He longed to see every one of them, not the least of which was Liz Parker. He wondered what they thought had happened to him and Victoria. He was pretty sure Isabel had done a good job of covering for their disappearance with their parents, as he knew his sister and friends all knew by now that they had been taken and were not coming back of their own accord. But in that case also, there would be no rescue for them. The others could not have any clue as to where they were.
Victoria came back like times before.
He looked at her in silence with the usual question. She always shook her head and went to him where they sat in more silence. But this time, Victoria remained standing.
She bit her lip and walked to a corner of the room and just stood there, her arms folded, not looking at Max.
By her demeanor, Max didn't have to ask if it was positive this time. And then Victoria said quietly, in answer enough, "They said it probably happened that first time, but they couldn't know with certainty until now."
"Damn it!" Max hit the wall, raging at the room.
"I didn't want this either, Max." Victoria said. "Don't be mad at me."
"I'm not!" Max said at once. And then he went over to her. "I'm not," He said quieter. "It's just that this was forced on us and we are helpless to do anything about it."
"Like what? An alien abortion?" -Victoria.
"No." Max said seriously. "Like get out of here. Like, protect it."
"God help us." Victoria said, a sob catching on her breath.
Max took her into his arms and they both sat down. "You don't believe in him. Neither do I."
"I wish I could believe in something." -Victoria.
"Then believe in the future. We can't have been created to live and die in here. You know, the term 'destiny'?" -Max said.
"You don't believe in that, either." -Victoria.
"It's more like I didn't want to believe. I didn't want to think that there was a charted plan for me, for any of us. But maybe I need to believe right now that there is. And that in that plan, we get out of here." -Max.
Victoria sighed. Max said, "Do you trust me?"
She looked at him, seriously, too. "Yes."
"Well then believe me when I say we'll get out of here. All..three of us." -Max.
Victoria kissed his cheek and held him tighter. "I believe I love you, Max."
They stayed in silence for a while, each lost in similar thoughts. Then Max laughed a little.
Victoria frowned and looked at him, wondering if he was losing his mind.
"Oh, I don't laugh with a lot of humor." -Max said. "Irony, I think - and there's a certain humor in that."
"What do you mean?" -Victoria.
"It's just that this isn't the first time we've been in this situation." -Max.
She knew then that he meant about the child. "But in that life, we weren't prisoners."
"Weren't we? Sort of?" -Max.
She saw the truth in his words. "Kind of." She admitted. "But it was good then."
"Have you ever felt like our history is repeating itself?" -Max.
She said, "Yes." And in it's own way, maybe it was. But she didn't want to believe that. She could not let herself believe that, in fact. She knew a lot more about their history than he did - and she prayed most of it would not be repeated. But even as she prayed to no entity in particular and even as she hoped - she knew it was.
--
Week four:
Back in Roswell, most of the others had gone home and most continued on with school.
Michael dropped out of school. He was moody as usual, even more so when he wasn't withdrawing from the world. As the weeks went on and on and no one had any clue as to where the missing two might be, he secretly blamed himself and became more and more frustrated. Tension was high at times between all of them.
Isabel withdrew from her college classes. Michael, Jesse and herself stayed in the hotel apartment for the most part.
Kyle's father, Jim Valenti and Maria's mom, Amy Deluca - had made the days stranger for them when they announced that they were engaged to be married.
Isabel had made up an excuse about her brother, which she had to tell their parents. She said he'd dropped out of school and was going to get his GED instead, when he returned from his trip to Europe. Isabel had said that Victoria and Max had gone together on a trip. This had confused and concerned their parents. They had expected strange behavior from their son for months now, but they were surprised at this news. Although Max had been estranged from his parents for a while, they still loved him. They were especially surprised that Max had gone with Victoria. They knew of her - and had met her a couple times, but they thought Max was with Liz Parker.
And so had Liz. sort of. They had decided not to be serious, but they were basically a couple. Everyone saw it that way and everyone knew they cared for each other a great deal. Liz, Kyle and Maria stayed in school and prepared to graduate, although their grades had dropped. Liz poured herself into her schoolwork like it was her only lifeline. She applied mechanically to a few colleges, but she never really felt she would go to any of them. She couldn't make any decisions - not even small ones about her life.
Maria had actually contacted Gabriel Winston - the gorgeous guy from New York that she had met not long back. They emailed and talked long distance. She actually began to think a lot of him as a person. He was witty, funny and sophisticated for a guy his age. But for some reason, in late April, his contact just stopped.
-- - Isabel was cold. She was inside a building - a sterile, spare, modern looking building. She saw people sometimes. Men mostly, in black military uniforms, or people that looked like doctors or scientists. The people never saw her. She felt colder the further she walked. She seemed to know where she was going, although not consciously.
She came to an elevator and saw among the buttons - a B1, B2 and B3. Below ground floors. She pressed B2. When the elevator stopped, she was standing in a narrow hallway. She walked past tiny empty glass rooms that looked more like -- cages? She passed these and it opened onto a larger hallway. It was bare. She could see that there was a door in the hall.
When she got closer, she saw that there was a large panel of glass. She walked up further and looked in. Through the glass was a room. All white, bare - except it was not bare of people. A man with dark brown, almost black hair - and a woman with really long reddish brown hair. It didn't take her but a moment to recognize her own brother. It was Max and Victoria!
They sat huddled against the far wall together. They did not look up. Not even when she pounded on the glass and shouted to them. She went to the door, but there was an access code and she could not open it. She felt a presence. Turning around, she looked into a forbidding face framed with short blonde hair. She was looking at herself. .Almost.
-
Isabel woke up with a start. She jumped out of bed.
"Isabel, what is it?" A sleepy Jesse asked.
She ran to the other room - the main bedroom in the hotel apartment. There, Michael was asleep.
"Michael!" She yelled. He sat up quickly.
"I did it!" She cried. "I either dream walked one of them - or I connected somehow! It wasn't a conscious thing, because all my other efforts hadn't worked. But I know it couldn't have been just a dream."
She told them what she had seen, minus the very last part. Isabel called everyone up and they all came over. She told everyone else, once they were all gathered together.
It was late night and everyone was sitting sleepily in the living area.
"So you think that place you saw is where they're being kept?" -Liz.
Isabel nodded. "Problem is I don't know where."
"At least we know they're alive." -Maria.
"Of course they are. I never stopped believing otherwise." -Michael said sharply.
"At least we've got something." -Jesse.
"But nothing to go on yet, because we don't know where they're at and why or anything else." -Isabel said. And then, "But I'm going to try to connect again. Night and day if I have to."
"How do you think you dream walked one of them all of a sudden - when you couldn't before?" -Kyle.
".Because I don't think it was them. I think it was someone else." -Isabel.
"Who?" -several of them asked in unison.
".Lonnie." -Isabel said. Everyone looked at each other and especially her. She explained, "I think she's a part of this. And she was there. It was probably her dream or her mind that I was in. She saw me at the last of the dream. And I think she made me get out."
"That would explain it. I mean, she's a clone of you more or less. So therefore maybe that's why it happened without you knowing it." -Liz.
Everyone crashed at the hotel that night, falling asleep in the early morning hours.
Michael drew Isabel aside when all the others had fallen asleep.
"How was she? I know what you said about them, which wasn't much. But- could you sense anything?" -Michael asked, anxiously.
Isabel shook her head. "Only that it was cold. And they looked bad - as in, not healthy. And not happy of course."
Michael sighed and turned. "I'm sorry, Michael. I wish I had better news."
"Yeah, me too." He said and walked away.
Isabel watched him go and she felt about as downcast as he did. But she had given them all hope that night. She only hoped that she could live up to their expectations. It was all on her to discover more, especially where the two were being kept. She didn't have a good feeling about the two, from the dream. And she had no idea if they would stay alive or what was happening to them. Max was her beloved brother and Victoria, she had even kind of gotten close to her. She didn't know if knowing that they were in that place - whatever it was or not knowing the other answers was the worst.
- - -
catch your breath
hit the wall
scream out loud
as you start to crawl
back in your cage
the only place
where they will
leave you alone
cause the weak will seek the weaker till they've broken them
could you get it back again
would it be the same
fulfillment to their lack of strength at your expense
left you with no defense
they tore it down and I have felt the same
as you I've felt the same
as you I've felt the same locked inside
the only place
where you feel sheltered
where you feel safe
you lost yourself
in your search to find
something else to hide behind
cause the fearful always preyed upon your confidence
didn't they see the consequence
they pushed you around
the arrogant build kingdoms made of the different ones
breaking them till they've become
just another crown
and I have felt the same
as you I've felt the same
as you I've felt the same
as you I've felt the same
refuse to feel
anything at all
refuse to slip
refuse to fall
can't be weak
can't stand still
watch your back
cause no one will you don't know why they had to go this far
traded your worth for these scars
for your only company
and don't believe the lies that they have told to you
not one word was true
you're alright
you're alright
you're alright and I have felt the same
as you I've felt the same
as you I've felt the same
as you I've felt the same