A/N: Hey all! Sorry this part's been so long in coming, my life has been
the ultimate of hectic! I hope it's OK! I haven't exactly figured out the
italics tags for here so anything started with [I] and ended with [/I] is a
flash back! Don't forget the feedback! Thanks for being so patient!
CHAPTER 21
'Believe him?' asked Maria in astonishment. 'Liz! This guy has been our friend for like ages. He's helped us out through all that time! You used to trust him with your life! How can you not believe him?'
'I used to trust a lot of people with my life, and more! And where did that leave me?' said Liz quietly, making her point clear to everyone in the room. 'And as for him being our friend for ages, Tess was our friend for a year, and trusting her was a bad idea!'
'But-'
'The reason you should believe this Liz is that deep down you know this happened!' said Serena seriously. 'Because Alex would want you to believe!'
***
[I]Adam flopped over on the rough mattress. He looked around at the dirty walls of the rank motel room. Wrinkling his nose he looked back over that Serena. She was sitting at the table, her hair flopping in front of her face, looking down at the chart before her. The chart was of New Mexico but all over it were strange markings, almost like Egyptian hieroglyphics, that were completely foreign to Adam's eye.
He let out a frustrated sigh, 'Come on Serena! You can't seriously expect to find them! It's been months. And in all this time we've had nothing solid, not one thing! Not one place indicated as to where they might be! Face it this is hopeless.'
Serena's eyes flashed up from the map. 'Nothing solid?' She repeated incredulously. 'So what do you call twelve children miraculously healed from life threatening cancer? With only the hand of Antar to show who had done it? An orb being set of?? A massing of the skins to Copper Summit? Nothing solid? That seems pretty damned solid to me! Nothing like this has ever happened on earth before, they have to be here somewhere! Everything, everyone is being drawn here to New Mexico, something weird is happening. Zan is near! We have to try,' she added softly. 'It's the only way we'll ever get my father back.'
'Your father?' shouted Adam. 'What about my brother? He's out there somewhere too! No even knowing I exist. He could be dying from some disease or something. What about him? Or does he just not count in the great measure of the problems on Antar? Is he just some worthless human to be forgotten?'
'No!' gasped Serena, stunned at Adam's implications. 'No! You think I'd do that? You really think I'd do that to you? I made a promise Adam, and I intend to keep it, no matter what happens! I do NOT break my promises!'[/I]
***
And she didn't,' said Adam quietly. 'About a month later our search brought us to Roswell. It wasn't like we expected to find anything there, Roswell was just a freak show. No self-respecting alien would hide themselves there. or so we thought!'
***
[I]Serena looked in disgust at the outside of a UFO museum. 'Humans can be so freaking dumb!' she spat. 'Oh, sorry, no offense.' she added blushing.
Adam grinned at her, 'Well I like to think some of us are better than others, after all this planet can't be completely devoid of intelligent life right?'
'No of course not!' replied Serena. 'Not while you've still got mice!'
'Awww gee thanks! I'm eternally wounded!' said Adam mocking hurt. 'Come on, let's go see what sick food they sell in this freak hole!' he added pointing towards the Crashdown.
'Yeah why not, perhaps the mice think up the menu!' she laughed and began to drag him towards the door. Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks.
'Owww! What was that for?' demanded Adam, rubbing his head where it had just hit Serena's.
But Serena wasn't listening. Heck she probably didn't even know he was talking. She was just staring straight ahead of her towards a small group of people about their age.
'Oh my God!' said Adam his jaw dropping
'It's her! She's the one!' said Serena excitedly. 'She has the strongest mark I've ever seen!'
But Adam wasn't looking at the petit brown haired girl that Serena seemed fixated with. He was looking at the tall brown haired boy clutching two suitcases, two suitcases marked with the name Alex Whitman.[/I]
***
'That was where the harmony ended.' said Serena as she threw a slight smile at Adam. 'Adam wanted to go after Alex, he was sure even at first glance that he'd found his brother and he didn't want to lose him now. But I wanted, needed to stay there in Roswell and find out more!'
'So I told her that I was leaving either way, she could either help me or we'd be over.'
'So I figured it was time Adam got his chance, it wasn't as though you guys were going anywhere fast and this guy seemed to know you, so it was win win. Right?'
'Yeah well we followed him to the airport, normal. But then the car turned round and began to head in the opposite direction.'
'Not so normal!'
'And we ended up here, something was SO wrong.'
***
[I]'Serena what the hell's going?' demanded Adam, slamming the door behind him.
'Just trust me!'
'Look, I've trusted you blindly up until now but I think it's time you told me what's going on! I've just enrolled into a university I've never seen, under a name I've never heard, into a subject I know squat about! What the hell are you doing?'
Serena let out a sigh of annoyance, 'It's complicated OK?'
'Complicated? This was meant to be the simple part of this whole quest! Finding my brother! How is this complicated??'
'Look! Something's not right!'
'I know something's not right! For starters my brother is sitting just down the corridor from me and yet I'm not talking to him! And for another thing I don't even want to be at Las Cruces University! And again within the last few months I've found out Aliens exist and yet I haven't had a nervous break down!! OF COURSE SOMETHING'S NOT RIGHT!!'
'Something's not right with Alex!' replied Serena. throwing herself down onto the bed, almost in tears.
'What?' asked Adam, his voice softening slightly.
'I-I think someone's mind warping him!' sighed Serena in defeat.
'Mind what?' asked Adam, taken aback.
'Controlling him, making him do stuff!'
'Controlling him?' asked Adam, increasingly anxious. 'Like alien kind of controlling?'
Serena nodded weakly.
'So who's doing it?'
'I don't know!' she replied, frustrated at herself. 'But it makes everything so much more complicated!!'
'So how do we break him out of it?' asked Adam gently as he sat down next to her.
'I don't know if I can!' Serena blinked back further tears. She was failing, she couldn't keep her promise to Adam, she couldn't keep her promise to herself! She couldn't save her father, all she knew was there was a traitor and that messed up everything!
'We'll work it out!' said Adam as he took her into his arms, cradling her head on his shoulder. 'It can't be that hard to break a mindwarp, maybe we can just jolt him out of it!'
'No!' cried Serena, pulling away. 'We can't!'
'Why?'
'We just-' Serena hesitated. 'We just can't!'[/I]
***
'Serena was right, it did make everything a whole lot more complicated! Now we needed a plan of action. The only problem was, Serena and I were going for completely different things!'
***
[I]'I just don't get the point of this!' moaned Adam angrily. 'Isn't the whole point to break Alex out of the mind warp and get him to take us to Zan?'
'No!' said Serena, dropping down onto her mattress and running through her hair. 'I need to know why he's being controlled, and by who! Otherwise I don't know how breaking him out of the mindwarp will affect him! I don't even know how to break him out of the mind warp!'
'What do you mean affect him?' demanded Adam.
'I- I mean if we were to do it wrong he could be hurt,' she sighed. 'Maybe even killed.'
'Killed?' gaped Adam.
'Yes,' she groaned. 'And then what ever traitor is doing this will know something's up!'
'Great, just great!' muttered Adam sarcastically and he walked from the room.[/I]
***
We followed Alex for about a week and got more and more confused! The only time he left his room properly it was to go to the Litvack building!'
'Serena insisted we never approached him. The only problem was I've never really been very patient!'
***
[I]Serena walked back into the dorm, two Thai take-aways in her hands. 'I got the food Adam. Adam?'
She walked fully into the room and saw it was empty. Her heart rate raised a few notches. Surely they couldn't have been found? They'd been so careful!
The room was in perfect order, not a thing out of place. Except. a small white piece of paper was lying on Adam's bed. She walked swiftly forward, laying the food down on the near by table. She picked up the paper and began to read, her eyes growing larger and more panicked the more she read.
'Crap!' she gasped as she ran dropped the note and ran from the room. The small white scrap of paper glided gracefully down to the carpet with the words;
Serena, I can't wait any more. Gone to talk to Alex. Be back later. Don't worry. Adam
Written on it in a messy hand.
Serena felt like screaming in frustration or blowing something up as she pushed her way down the hideously crowded corridor. Why the hell did they make these damn corridors so small? And what was it about college people that they had to have huge parties and invite half the people on campus, even when their room was the size of a match box?! The corridor was for freaking walking along! Not for having a party!
'Hey gorgeous,' leered a near by jock, reaching out his hand and grabbing her by the arm.
'Get your hand off me!' she said glaring at him.
'Oh come on sweet piece, surely a little thing like you is up for a good time!' he leered at her.
She didn't even think, it was just reflex. Like a flash her hand connected with his face, causing him to stumble back. His hand dropped her arm and reached up to his face in anger. But Serena wasn't sticking around for more, she was off like a shot, well like a shot in a very crowded hall way!
'You Bitch!' screamed the jock from behind her, pushing forwards after her.
Oh great! Thought Serena, this is all I need! Here I am trying to do a good deed like save a world and reunite a family and what did she get? She got molested by a drunk jock. damn she hated those guys!
'Yo! Come back slut!' the jock yelled after her.
That was where Serena lost her temper, she turned round, raised her hand and sent him flying into a group of people.
'What the hell do you think you're doing?' they yelled.
'FIGHT!!!' screamed someone as Serena took off even further into the crowd.
OK, thought Serena looking at the doors over the heads of the people in the crowd. 187. 188. 18- Why the hell do these people have it in for me? Can they not just go the same way as me! You know make way please, hot alien coming through off to save her best friend from a psycho human being controlled by an alien!! 'Aghhhh!' screamed Serena aloud. But the only answer she got was a few strange looks from the people around her.
190.
191.
192!!!
Serena almost leapt in the air for joy as she thrust her way through the crowd at Alex' door. Throwing her hand down she jerked the door handle urgently.
Come on! Come on!! Just open!
Locked? Aghh! What God did I upset today?
She shot a look around her to see if anyone was looking. Then she shook herself, she was in a corridor stuffed full of what must be about 50 drunk college students, of course someone was looking! But Adam was in trouble, or at least making his way swiftly towards it so who gave a damn who saw what!
Jamming her hand back down at the handle she concentrated until there was a sudden click. She jabbed forward into the room and threw the door closed behind her.
'Adam!!' she screamed, looking at the scene in front of her.
Adam was lying on the floor, blood pouring from a gash on his arm, standing just above him was Alex, knife in hand, poised for the last blow.
'No!' screamed Serena as she ran at him, throwing him back from Adam, the knife grazed past her neck, shooting sharp pain through her. She collapsed down on the floor next to Adam's prostrate figure. 'Adam! Adam!' she whispered. 'Come on!'
'Rena?' asked Adam in a voice barely more than a whisper. His eyes creeping open.
'Are you Ok?'
'Serena!' Adam shouted hoarsely, pointing behind her.
Serena leapt up and swung round coming face to face with Alex.
'Traitor!' she hissed.
'No, not a traitor, a follower. Kivar's follower! He shall be King, worthless Royalist!' he screamed as he brought the knife plunging down.
'Rena!' shouted Adam. A blinding white light filled the room and all went black.
.
Adam groaned and rolled over on his side, he winced, pain shooting through his arm. Where was he? What was going on?
'Adam?' cried a voice.
'Rena?' he asked hoarsely, straining to open his eyes. 'Where am -' he broke off, it all flooding back to him. His eyes shot open and he sat bolt up right. 'Whoa,' he gasped as the world began to spin around him.
'Careful, careful!' said Serena, grabbing hold of him.
'Alex!' said Adam desperately. Was he OK? was Serena OK? What had happened? He scanned the room looking for his brother. His eye's lit upon a bed, on it was laid a body. Alex' body. 'My God!' he gasped.
'No! Adam it's OK! He's alive. just. He just barely breathing, I don't know what's wrong. But he's getting worse.'
CHAPTER 21
'Believe him?' asked Maria in astonishment. 'Liz! This guy has been our friend for like ages. He's helped us out through all that time! You used to trust him with your life! How can you not believe him?'
'I used to trust a lot of people with my life, and more! And where did that leave me?' said Liz quietly, making her point clear to everyone in the room. 'And as for him being our friend for ages, Tess was our friend for a year, and trusting her was a bad idea!'
'But-'
'The reason you should believe this Liz is that deep down you know this happened!' said Serena seriously. 'Because Alex would want you to believe!'
***
[I]Adam flopped over on the rough mattress. He looked around at the dirty walls of the rank motel room. Wrinkling his nose he looked back over that Serena. She was sitting at the table, her hair flopping in front of her face, looking down at the chart before her. The chart was of New Mexico but all over it were strange markings, almost like Egyptian hieroglyphics, that were completely foreign to Adam's eye.
He let out a frustrated sigh, 'Come on Serena! You can't seriously expect to find them! It's been months. And in all this time we've had nothing solid, not one thing! Not one place indicated as to where they might be! Face it this is hopeless.'
Serena's eyes flashed up from the map. 'Nothing solid?' She repeated incredulously. 'So what do you call twelve children miraculously healed from life threatening cancer? With only the hand of Antar to show who had done it? An orb being set of?? A massing of the skins to Copper Summit? Nothing solid? That seems pretty damned solid to me! Nothing like this has ever happened on earth before, they have to be here somewhere! Everything, everyone is being drawn here to New Mexico, something weird is happening. Zan is near! We have to try,' she added softly. 'It's the only way we'll ever get my father back.'
'Your father?' shouted Adam. 'What about my brother? He's out there somewhere too! No even knowing I exist. He could be dying from some disease or something. What about him? Or does he just not count in the great measure of the problems on Antar? Is he just some worthless human to be forgotten?'
'No!' gasped Serena, stunned at Adam's implications. 'No! You think I'd do that? You really think I'd do that to you? I made a promise Adam, and I intend to keep it, no matter what happens! I do NOT break my promises!'[/I]
***
And she didn't,' said Adam quietly. 'About a month later our search brought us to Roswell. It wasn't like we expected to find anything there, Roswell was just a freak show. No self-respecting alien would hide themselves there. or so we thought!'
***
[I]Serena looked in disgust at the outside of a UFO museum. 'Humans can be so freaking dumb!' she spat. 'Oh, sorry, no offense.' she added blushing.
Adam grinned at her, 'Well I like to think some of us are better than others, after all this planet can't be completely devoid of intelligent life right?'
'No of course not!' replied Serena. 'Not while you've still got mice!'
'Awww gee thanks! I'm eternally wounded!' said Adam mocking hurt. 'Come on, let's go see what sick food they sell in this freak hole!' he added pointing towards the Crashdown.
'Yeah why not, perhaps the mice think up the menu!' she laughed and began to drag him towards the door. Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks.
'Owww! What was that for?' demanded Adam, rubbing his head where it had just hit Serena's.
But Serena wasn't listening. Heck she probably didn't even know he was talking. She was just staring straight ahead of her towards a small group of people about their age.
'Oh my God!' said Adam his jaw dropping
'It's her! She's the one!' said Serena excitedly. 'She has the strongest mark I've ever seen!'
But Adam wasn't looking at the petit brown haired girl that Serena seemed fixated with. He was looking at the tall brown haired boy clutching two suitcases, two suitcases marked with the name Alex Whitman.[/I]
***
'That was where the harmony ended.' said Serena as she threw a slight smile at Adam. 'Adam wanted to go after Alex, he was sure even at first glance that he'd found his brother and he didn't want to lose him now. But I wanted, needed to stay there in Roswell and find out more!'
'So I told her that I was leaving either way, she could either help me or we'd be over.'
'So I figured it was time Adam got his chance, it wasn't as though you guys were going anywhere fast and this guy seemed to know you, so it was win win. Right?'
'Yeah well we followed him to the airport, normal. But then the car turned round and began to head in the opposite direction.'
'Not so normal!'
'And we ended up here, something was SO wrong.'
***
[I]'Serena what the hell's going?' demanded Adam, slamming the door behind him.
'Just trust me!'
'Look, I've trusted you blindly up until now but I think it's time you told me what's going on! I've just enrolled into a university I've never seen, under a name I've never heard, into a subject I know squat about! What the hell are you doing?'
Serena let out a sigh of annoyance, 'It's complicated OK?'
'Complicated? This was meant to be the simple part of this whole quest! Finding my brother! How is this complicated??'
'Look! Something's not right!'
'I know something's not right! For starters my brother is sitting just down the corridor from me and yet I'm not talking to him! And for another thing I don't even want to be at Las Cruces University! And again within the last few months I've found out Aliens exist and yet I haven't had a nervous break down!! OF COURSE SOMETHING'S NOT RIGHT!!'
'Something's not right with Alex!' replied Serena. throwing herself down onto the bed, almost in tears.
'What?' asked Adam, his voice softening slightly.
'I-I think someone's mind warping him!' sighed Serena in defeat.
'Mind what?' asked Adam, taken aback.
'Controlling him, making him do stuff!'
'Controlling him?' asked Adam, increasingly anxious. 'Like alien kind of controlling?'
Serena nodded weakly.
'So who's doing it?'
'I don't know!' she replied, frustrated at herself. 'But it makes everything so much more complicated!!'
'So how do we break him out of it?' asked Adam gently as he sat down next to her.
'I don't know if I can!' Serena blinked back further tears. She was failing, she couldn't keep her promise to Adam, she couldn't keep her promise to herself! She couldn't save her father, all she knew was there was a traitor and that messed up everything!
'We'll work it out!' said Adam as he took her into his arms, cradling her head on his shoulder. 'It can't be that hard to break a mindwarp, maybe we can just jolt him out of it!'
'No!' cried Serena, pulling away. 'We can't!'
'Why?'
'We just-' Serena hesitated. 'We just can't!'[/I]
***
'Serena was right, it did make everything a whole lot more complicated! Now we needed a plan of action. The only problem was, Serena and I were going for completely different things!'
***
[I]'I just don't get the point of this!' moaned Adam angrily. 'Isn't the whole point to break Alex out of the mind warp and get him to take us to Zan?'
'No!' said Serena, dropping down onto her mattress and running through her hair. 'I need to know why he's being controlled, and by who! Otherwise I don't know how breaking him out of the mindwarp will affect him! I don't even know how to break him out of the mind warp!'
'What do you mean affect him?' demanded Adam.
'I- I mean if we were to do it wrong he could be hurt,' she sighed. 'Maybe even killed.'
'Killed?' gaped Adam.
'Yes,' she groaned. 'And then what ever traitor is doing this will know something's up!'
'Great, just great!' muttered Adam sarcastically and he walked from the room.[/I]
***
We followed Alex for about a week and got more and more confused! The only time he left his room properly it was to go to the Litvack building!'
'Serena insisted we never approached him. The only problem was I've never really been very patient!'
***
[I]Serena walked back into the dorm, two Thai take-aways in her hands. 'I got the food Adam. Adam?'
She walked fully into the room and saw it was empty. Her heart rate raised a few notches. Surely they couldn't have been found? They'd been so careful!
The room was in perfect order, not a thing out of place. Except. a small white piece of paper was lying on Adam's bed. She walked swiftly forward, laying the food down on the near by table. She picked up the paper and began to read, her eyes growing larger and more panicked the more she read.
'Crap!' she gasped as she ran dropped the note and ran from the room. The small white scrap of paper glided gracefully down to the carpet with the words;
Serena, I can't wait any more. Gone to talk to Alex. Be back later. Don't worry. Adam
Written on it in a messy hand.
Serena felt like screaming in frustration or blowing something up as she pushed her way down the hideously crowded corridor. Why the hell did they make these damn corridors so small? And what was it about college people that they had to have huge parties and invite half the people on campus, even when their room was the size of a match box?! The corridor was for freaking walking along! Not for having a party!
'Hey gorgeous,' leered a near by jock, reaching out his hand and grabbing her by the arm.
'Get your hand off me!' she said glaring at him.
'Oh come on sweet piece, surely a little thing like you is up for a good time!' he leered at her.
She didn't even think, it was just reflex. Like a flash her hand connected with his face, causing him to stumble back. His hand dropped her arm and reached up to his face in anger. But Serena wasn't sticking around for more, she was off like a shot, well like a shot in a very crowded hall way!
'You Bitch!' screamed the jock from behind her, pushing forwards after her.
Oh great! Thought Serena, this is all I need! Here I am trying to do a good deed like save a world and reunite a family and what did she get? She got molested by a drunk jock. damn she hated those guys!
'Yo! Come back slut!' the jock yelled after her.
That was where Serena lost her temper, she turned round, raised her hand and sent him flying into a group of people.
'What the hell do you think you're doing?' they yelled.
'FIGHT!!!' screamed someone as Serena took off even further into the crowd.
OK, thought Serena looking at the doors over the heads of the people in the crowd. 187. 188. 18- Why the hell do these people have it in for me? Can they not just go the same way as me! You know make way please, hot alien coming through off to save her best friend from a psycho human being controlled by an alien!! 'Aghhhh!' screamed Serena aloud. But the only answer she got was a few strange looks from the people around her.
190.
191.
192!!!
Serena almost leapt in the air for joy as she thrust her way through the crowd at Alex' door. Throwing her hand down she jerked the door handle urgently.
Come on! Come on!! Just open!
Locked? Aghh! What God did I upset today?
She shot a look around her to see if anyone was looking. Then she shook herself, she was in a corridor stuffed full of what must be about 50 drunk college students, of course someone was looking! But Adam was in trouble, or at least making his way swiftly towards it so who gave a damn who saw what!
Jamming her hand back down at the handle she concentrated until there was a sudden click. She jabbed forward into the room and threw the door closed behind her.
'Adam!!' she screamed, looking at the scene in front of her.
Adam was lying on the floor, blood pouring from a gash on his arm, standing just above him was Alex, knife in hand, poised for the last blow.
'No!' screamed Serena as she ran at him, throwing him back from Adam, the knife grazed past her neck, shooting sharp pain through her. She collapsed down on the floor next to Adam's prostrate figure. 'Adam! Adam!' she whispered. 'Come on!'
'Rena?' asked Adam in a voice barely more than a whisper. His eyes creeping open.
'Are you Ok?'
'Serena!' Adam shouted hoarsely, pointing behind her.
Serena leapt up and swung round coming face to face with Alex.
'Traitor!' she hissed.
'No, not a traitor, a follower. Kivar's follower! He shall be King, worthless Royalist!' he screamed as he brought the knife plunging down.
'Rena!' shouted Adam. A blinding white light filled the room and all went black.
.
Adam groaned and rolled over on his side, he winced, pain shooting through his arm. Where was he? What was going on?
'Adam?' cried a voice.
'Rena?' he asked hoarsely, straining to open his eyes. 'Where am -' he broke off, it all flooding back to him. His eyes shot open and he sat bolt up right. 'Whoa,' he gasped as the world began to spin around him.
'Careful, careful!' said Serena, grabbing hold of him.
'Alex!' said Adam desperately. Was he OK? was Serena OK? What had happened? He scanned the room looking for his brother. His eye's lit upon a bed, on it was laid a body. Alex' body. 'My God!' he gasped.
'No! Adam it's OK! He's alive. just. He just barely breathing, I don't know what's wrong. But he's getting worse.'