Disclaimer: You know the drill…the characters aren't mine. A lot of stuff in the beginning is taken from End of the World. God knows THAT'S not mine. Anything that makes sense and makes it all better, now that's mine. Seriously, Roswell and all characters belong to Jason Katims, 20th Century Fox etc. I'm just borrowing them.

Chapter Seventy The Haunting of Tess Harding

Phase 1

Tess stared dreamily out the classroom door, her mind on the life that she would have on Antar, with Max, and their baby. Suddenly, she sat up, and looked intently out the window of the classroom door. Someone was out there watching her. She could feel their eyes bearing down on her. It was unnerving.

It's probably Liz, she thought to herself. "Mr. Seligman," she called, raising her hand in the air.

"Yes, Miss Harding? And what fine bit of scientific wisdom do you have to add to our discussion?"

"Um, I don't, that is, could I have a bathroom pass please?"

"As you wish, Miss Harding," said the much maligned science teacher.

He scribbled out a pass, and Tess grabbed her books, and the pass and stepped out into the halls. She looked up the hall in time to see a shadowy figure turn the corner.

"Hey, wait!" she called, running down the hall. "Liz Parker, is that you?"

She rushed down the hall after the shadowy figure. Tess turned the corner and stopped in shock. The normally well lit hallway was shrouded in a misty fog. Peering through the mist, she saw the shadowy figure beckoning her closer.

"What kind of a trick is this, Liz?" she called. "I don't feel like playing your stupid games, bitch. I don't have time for this. You lost, why don't you just accept it?"

"Tess," the voice at the end of the hallway called out. "Tess, come closer."

Almost unwillingly, Tess moved closer to the voice. "Liz?" she called out. "You can stop the freak show, it isn't going to work."

"You killed me," the shadowy figure whispered to her. "Why did you kill me, Tess? I thought we were friends!"

"Wha?" Tess said softly. "Alex?" She peered through the fog, trying to focus on the shape at the end of the hallway. "It can't be you, you're dead."

"I am dead," said the voice. "And you're the reason why. You must pay for what you did, Tess. You and you're baby. You're not safe here any longer, Tess. I'm going to make you pay."

Tess closed her eyes, and opened her mouth and started to scream, but the noise was drowned out by the ringing of the bell. She opened her eyes to find the mist was gone, and the hall filled with hundreds of students pushing past her to get to their next class.

"Tess, are you okay?" said Isabelle, appearing out of nowhere to stand next to her. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"I did, I mean, no, I'm fine. I just need to find Max, right away." Tess rushed off down the hall, and Isabelle smiled and pulled out her cell phone. She punched in a number and waited a second before saying.

"It worked. Start phase two, immediately."

Phase 2

Max walked down the hall towards Tess, and slid his cell phone into his pocket.

"Hi," he said, sliding his arm around Tess' waist. "How are you doing? Are you okay, you're looking a little pale."

"Actually," said Tess, "I'm not feeling all that great, do you want to drive me home."

"I can't," said Max, trying to make his voice sound regretful. "I have an exam this period, and I can't afford to miss it. Don't you have you're car here?"

"Yeah, I do," said Tess, almost absentmindedly. "That's a good idea. I'll take my car and go home."

She started to walk down the hall, and stopped when Max called out to her.

"And Tess!" he shouted to her retreating figure.

"Yes, Max," Tess answered, turning around to smile hopefully at him.

"Don't forget to sign out at the office," he said, smothering a grin as her expression fell.

Tess scowled and turned in the direction of the office. Max waited until her retreating figure was out of sight, and pulled out his cell phone.

"You're on," he said into the mouthpiece.

Phase 3

Tess climbed into her SUV and pulled out of the school parking lot. She turned the air conditioner on full blast, and turned up the radio, in an attempt to drown out her thoughts.

As she drove, she tried to get a handle on what she had seen in school.

"I must be sick," she said aloud to the empty car. "Yeah, that's it. I'm sick, I have a fever or something, and I'm having delusions. Or, maybe it's the baby. That could be it! The baby could be making me see things. I mean, even Nescedo had no idea of how our bodies would adapt to pregnancy down here. The baby could be making me see things that aren't there!"

Satisfied with her conclusion, she hummed along with the radio as she drove along.

"The baby isn't making you sick, Tess," said a voice beside her. "The baby is sick."

Tess looked over into the passenger seat and saw Alex, sitting next to her and screamed.

"Scream all you want, Tess. There isn't anybody to help you. You need to listen to me."

"Why should I listen to you?" she shouted. "You don't want to help me, you want to hurt me, you said so yourself."

"Tess, listen to me, your baby is very sick."

"I don't believe you," she sobbed, trying to control the vehicle as the tears streamed down her face.

"Believe me, Tess," said the entity sitting next to her. "I'd like nothing more than to see you dead, but your baby is an innocent in all of this, and he's going to die unless you leave this planet."

"Why are you doing this to me?" she sobbed. "Why?"

"Tess, you have to listen to me, it's going to get worse. Soon, you'll start to experience terrible pains in your stomach. Your baby can't survive in this atmosphere. It's killing him. You must leave, immediately."

Dimly, Tess became aware of a car honking. She looked back to the road, and saw that her SUV had swerved into oncoming traffic. Yanking on the wheel, she swerved back into her own lane.

"Alex, how? How can I go home?" she looked over to the passenger seat, but it was empty.

Phase 4

Tess lay on the couch in the Valenti's living room, her face bathed in sweat. Sheriff Valenti wiped her head with a cool cloth, and looked at her with concern.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"How did I get here?" she asked.

"The office notified me that you were on your way home. When you didn't get here, I took my car out and went to look for you. I found you in your car, on the side of the road, unconscious, and I brought you home."

"Thank you," whispered Tess."

"Oh, and I called Max," continued the Sheriff. "He's been frantic about you. He heard you weren't feeling well, but had no idea what was wrong. He said you were fine when he saw you before school this morning. He said if he'd had any idea you weren't feeling well, he'd never have left you alone. Anyhow, he's on his way out here."

"That makes no sense," said Tess. "Max saw me just before I left school. He said he had a test and couldn't drive me home."

"Are you sure?" asked the Sheriff. "He told me he didn't have anything big going on at school today, and he'd be over as quick as he could."

"Maybe I misunderstood," said Tess, her voice puzzled.

"Maybe," agreed Jim. "Why don't you close your eyes and rest for a while. I'll wake you as soon as he gets here.

Tess closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

Phase 5

"Tess, can you hear me?" a voice whispered. "Tess"

"Max, is that you?" Tess asked, opening he eyes and looking around the room. Her eyes landed on a figure sitting in a chair across the room.

"You're still here, Tess. Why? Don't you care about your baby?"

"Of course I care about my baby. I'd do anything for him."

"You need to leave this planet," said the voice. "If you don't, your baby will die."

As the voice spoke, the room seemed to fill with light. Tess strained to see the figure in the chair. Slowly it came into focus, and she screamed. It was Alex sitting in the chair, his body slowly decomposing, with maggots crawling over his body.

Phase 6

"Tess, wake up, it's me, it's Max."

"Max, is it really you?" cried Tess, clinging to the arms that held her.

"Tess, why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well today?" asked Max.

"I did, in the hall, just before lunch," said Tess. "I asked you to take me home, and you told me to drive myself, that you had a test you couldn't miss."

"Tess, I would never do that," said Max. "I could never let you put yourself in jeopardy that way. Now, tell me, what's wrong?"

"Wait, I need to get up," said Tess. "I want to go get a drink."

"Are you sure you should be moving around?" asked Max. "Sheriff Valenti said he found you unconscious in your car earlier. I was so worried, Tess."

"I'll be okay," said Tess, struggling to stand up. Slowly she walked out to the kitchen and got herself a glass of water. Max watched as she crossed the kitchen floor, the glass in her hand. Suddenly, Tess screamed, and slumped to the floor clutching her stomach, while broken pieces of glass sat in a spreading puddle of water.

"Tess, are you okay!" shouted Max, springing from the chair, and running to the kitchen.

"Max, the baby," cried Tess. "Something's wrong, he's dying. He can't survive here on Earth. The atmosphere is poisoning him. Oh Max, our baby's going to die."

"No he won't," said Max, his voice grim. "If he can't live here, then we'll take him back to Antar."