Chapter Twenty Venom
Max was closest to the door when the knock came, so he jumped up and opened it to find Liz and Kyle standing on the other side. A feeling of rage welled up inside of him, and he gripped the doorframe trying to contain it.
"Oh, God, Max, stop it," Liz cried. She pointed to his hand on the doorframe and he moved, it, revealing a scorched imprint of his hand.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked. "And is Michael okay."
"Like you care," Max said, bitterly. "It took you long enough to get here. What did the two of you do, stop and park or something?"
Liz recoiled as if she had been slapped, and tears flooded her eyes. The venom in his voice, and the anger in his voice was a double-edged sword, and she stepped back into the shelter of Kyle's arms as if she had been stabbed.
"What the hell is your problem, Max?" demanded Kyle. "She got here as soon as she could. She came flying down into the CrashDown, white as a ghost, but low and behold, none of you, or your kind had waited around for her. The one who saved your friend's life. Remember that?"
"Forget it Kyle, let's just get out of here," said Liz. "We can go check out that thing at the library."
"What thing at the library?" asked Max, jealously.
"Don't worry your pretty little head about it, Senor Presidente," snapped Kyle.
The term only served to enrage Max further, and he turned to close the door when Isabel pushed him aside.
"Maybe you'd better come in," she said. "The doorway isn't the place to be having this discussion."
"Is Michael okay?" Liz asked, her concern evident in her voice.
"He's resting," said Isabel. "Maria's in with him, though for the life of me, I can't figure out why. Those two can't stand each other."
"What happened tonight, Liz?" Alex asked from his perch on Michael's decrepit sofa.
Liz's gaze wandered around the apartment as she formulated her thoughts. Her eyes stopped at the large television that overpowered the dusty corner of the room, then moved to the coffee table littered with the remains of several meals.
"It wasn't much more than I told you already," said Liz. "I was sitting outside, writing, when my mother called me. When I got inside, she told me I had a phone call, but when I picked up the phone nobody was there. I asked her who it was, and she said she thought it was Alex."
"I didn't call you, Liz," Alex said. "Maria and I were practicing with my band, and we planned on calling you later."
"Yeah, well, anyhow, I went back to my room and started getting changed. I was going to jump into the shower, when I heard a loud bang outside, and saw a flash of light. I ran outside and found Michael. Come on, I told you all of this already. Nothing's changed since then," Liz said in frustration.
"Are you sure you don't remember anything else?" asked Max. His voice was still very harsh. Every time he looked over at Liz standing next to Kyle, he felt something churning in his gut. He had to force back the burning desire he had to kill Kyle right then and there.
"You know what, Max. I don't have to take this from you," said Liz. "I'm not some docile little lamb destined to follow you around. You have a different destiny, one that doesn't involve me. Now go chase after him if you have to, but leave me alone."
"Liz, what did you say?" asked Kyle as everyone else looked at Liz in shock. Nobody ever expected such a violent outburst to come from her.
"I said he had a different destiny, and it didn't involve me, and he could go chase after it if he wanted to, but to leave me alone," said Liz.
"No, no you didn't," said Isabel. "You told him to go chase after him. You said him, not it. Who is he, Liz? Do you remember?"
"It must have just been a slip of the tongue, Isabel, that's all," said Liz.
"I'm not buying it Liz," said Max, this time, his tone gentle. "It wasn't a slip of the tongue, and it wasn't a coincidence, any more than any of the other things that have happened lately have been a coincidence. We just have to figure out what it all means."
"You might as well tell him the rest of it," said Kyle in resignation. He flung himself onto the couch next to Alex and began to cough when a cloud of dust rose up around him.
"I'm not really sure," said Liz. "There's something about the library, but I don't know what. Kyle stopped by the CrashDown tonight to see if I wanted to get something from the library, and that seemed so familiar to me, but I don't know why."
"Plenty of guys ask girls to go to the library," said Max, the jealous tone creeping back into his voice.
"Not me," said Kyle from the couch. "The library's the last place I'd want to go."
"And then when we were driving here, something really weird happened," said Liz.
"What was it?" asked Isabel from behind the counter in the small kitchenette. While she talked, she scrubbed futilely at the filthy grout. Finally, in resignation, she passed her hand over the counter and used her powers to eradicate the grime that had built up over the years. She changed the color of the tile to a blue while she looked at Liz speculatively. A memory echoed in her mind, dancing just out of reach. She turned the tile back to white while she waited for Liz to answer.
"Well, Kyle and I were discussing how we thought we make better friends than anything else," said Liz.
"Well, that's no startling revelation," said Maria joining them. She stood in the doorway to Michael's bed her arm around Michael's waist, lending support to his shaky body. "I told you that a long time ago. No offense, Liz, but I was telling you that a long time ago."
"Michael, should you be out of bed?" asked Max.
"Yeah, I'm good," Michael said with a slight groan. "So does somebody want to tell me who the hell happened tonight?"
"Well, we were kind of hoping you could," said Max. "Do you remember anything at all?"
"Well, I stopped by the CrashDown to pick up some food. I was climbing on my bike when I saw someone going up the fire escape. It looked like the same guy I saw in the kitchen the day of the earthquake," Michael explained.
"What earthquake?" asked Max.
"Never mind, that's not important," said Maria.
"Well, I followed him up the fire escape, and watched. At first, he was just reading some book, and I figured maybe I was wrong and Liz was just gonna be studying with someone. Anyhow, then this guy starts staring in her window, moving closer and closer. It took me a minute to realize what he was doing, and when I did, I jumped him. That's the last thing I remember until I opened my eyes and saw Liz putting a pillow under my head."
Michael closed his eyes, and tried to erase the memory of the searing pain on his skin. Nothing, including the many beatings Hank had given him had even come close to equaling the agonizing pain he had felt tonight. He had thought he was going to die, and had in fact, prayed for a quick release from the agony he endured. But through the pain, he had heard a soft voice calling to him, telling him to hold on. He opened his eyes, to see Liz leaning over him. He had saved her, and she had repaid the favor in turn.
They all began talking at once, each trying to be heard over the other, and nobody paying attention to each other, and the noise level grew louder and louder.
"We all need to stop," said Isabel, suddenly. "There's too much going on. We're not planning and thinking – there's no organization to anything that we're doing. If we keep going on like this, we're not going to accomplish anything."
"I agree with Isabel," said Liz. "I've been trying to keep track of everything that's been happening to me, in my journal. Maybe if we make up a master plan or something, we can find a pattern to all of this."
"Liz, where is this journal of yours?" asked Michael, his voice still shaky.
Liz paused to think for a moment before answering, trying to remember where she'd left it.
"Oh," she said suddenly. "I was writing out on my patio when my mother called me. I left it there when I went inside."
"And that's what our mysterious stranger was reading, before he decided to become a peeping Tom," said Max.
"We need that journal," said Michael.
"I'll go back and get it," said Alex. "The Parkers won't think twice about letting me into Liz's room."
"I'm going with you," Isabel said with amazing speed. "You shouldn't be out there alone."
Alex looked as if he was ready to argue, but one look at Isabel's determined face quickly changed his minds. She'd get no arguments from him. They made their way to Alex's car and drove off into the night, unaware of the car that followed them at a discreet distance