Liz nodded, feigning a laugh. She scooted a little away from Michael and sat back on the ground. Michael eyed her behavior and sat down next to her. He leaned with his palms against the ground, and looked at the sorrowful girl.
"You know, I loved Maria. I still do." He began.
Liz groaned. "Michael, if this is some kind of pep talk…" She warned.
"Hardly… I'm not the peppy type." He joked, and continued. "Like I was saying, I loved Maria. For a long time, I thought that love was enough."
Liz watched with a tearful expression. "It wasn't?"
"When Isabel married Jesse, I was furious. At first I thought it was due to the danger it posed to all of us. Then I realized it was something else, it was me. I was mad because someone had taken Isabel from me. Now, I tried to ignore it, because, like I said, I loved Maria. Except I came to this realization, when we went on the run; she's human. She'll always be human. I'm not and never can be what she is. One day I will leave, probably not by choice, but it'll happen. Somewhere a long the way, I saw Isabel as I did when I was Rath. I saw her, and I fell in love with her. Who she is and who she was." He explained as softly as he could.
She stared at him, nodding. "So you think Max went through the same thing you did, for Tess?"
"No." He shook his head. "Maxwell didn't just love Tess. He actually married her. Something you have to realize that he didn't just give her his heart. By marrying her, he gave her his throne, he trusted her so much that he entrusted her to rule with him, an entire planet. That might seem silly to say, cause it's obvious, but when you think about it… how much love would you have to feel for someone, to be able to trust them with that? I can't imagine love like that. Love that not only survived obstacles, but it survived death." Michael sighed, feeling bad for Liz.
She gulped back the burning need to cry. "Max loves me, I know he does."
He nodded, and stood up, sullen drawn. "But is it enough?" He turned to walk, then as he was about to go back inside the van, he turned to say one last thing. "Not even death could stop them from finding each other, it just prolonged the inevitable."
Liz called out. "And what's that?"
"Destiny." He closed the van door, leaving Liz to the solemn thought that her soulmate was indeed fated for another.
As they burned a human-size hole into the perimeter fence, Max kept watch to make sure no guards saw them crawling inside the base's surrounding land. They snuck under the window of the first set of guards. Kyle took a breath and waved his hand over his own face, making it look much older. He then did the same for his clothes, and turned his normal street duds into a colon's uniform. He stood up, surprising the guards.
"You there, get your men on the phone. Our jeep stalled down the road." He commanded in a stern tone.
The guard by the phone hesitated. "Sir, I'm going to need identification." He began.
Kyle grew angry. "Listen here maggot! My boys are carrying deadly toxins! If they don't reach the base in fifteen minutes, this whole area will be quarantined, and you will be held responsible!" He threatened.
The low level guards were shaken with this prospect and quickly called up a rescue group. As they were preoccupied with the phone calls, Kyle pointed toward the base.
"I'm going to go ahead a warned the base, just in case of an emergency. You two keep calling, get as many people to that jeep as you can, hurry!" He said.
As they worked, Max and Kyle made their way toward the base, running and ducking as much as they could to let as few people know of their presence. They reached a side entrance; Kyle unlocked the door, which had a key pad, and let Max enter. They were trying to use as little of Max's powers as possibly, preserving his superior gifts for both the healing of Tess, and their getaway, which was sure to be harder than their way in.
"According to the map, we have to make it to the bottom level of the base." Max explained.
Kyle nodded. "How do you know that?"
"Because, that's where the area that was never inspected begins."
They start heading toward the bottom level, going toward the unknown. Max led the way, as his powers would give them a protective advantage, should they need it. Surprisingly there was a lot more civilian-clothes people walking around. So, after a bit of thinking, they thought they might get through this quicker, if they just tried to walk through it, as if they belonged.
Their plan worked, until they reached a check point of sorts. It was the final gate between them, and the bottom level. It was a gated section of hallway that led to an elevator, which only went down. This would be how they would reach the bottom level of the base. Max and Kyle slowed their walking down to a comfortable pace. They observed another man enter through the locked gate. He swiped a key-card, quickly followed by a finger-print scanner, which then allowed you to pass through. Without fingerprints to compare to, Kyle and Max would have no way of passing through that gate. So they pulled back, and waited for someone else to come toward their destination.
After a few minutes, a pair of men wearing jeans and T-shirts began to approach their area. Kyle and Max nodded to one another and reached out, grabbing the humans. Without much forethought, Max placed a hand on head of the men. His palms began to burn with a red color. The men struggled, but Kyle held their mouths closed, to avoid being heard. Only a moment or two after Max had begun to sear the men with his power, they collapsed, dead. Kyle was amazed at his stone-cold face. The king of Antar had just killed two men, without a second thought.
"How do we do this?" Kyle whispered.
Max studied one of the men's hands. "We have to copy their fingerprints."
"I don't know if I can do that yet." The human-turned-alien warned.
Max would not hear it, as he placed the other man's hand in Kyle's and gave him a strong look. He had no choice, he would have to do this, and he'd have to do it now.
"Buddha, forgive me." He muttered, as he concentrated on the dead man's hand.
The king quickly copied his victim's prints and waited as Kyle struggled to gain control of his own powers, enough to do this task. It took Kyle a great deal to be able to copy the man's finger prints. Once it was accomplished, Max and he dragged the bodies further down the hall, shoving them in a closet and shutting the door. Kyle melted the handle, to keep anyone from seeing the gruesome contents, at least for a while.
With newly made prints, the boys paced their way toward the gate, and passed through without so much as a second look by anyone who might have seen them. This was too easy. It only made Max worry more about their return from the base. If it was easy to get in, he just knew it would be a nightmare to get out.
Inside the elevator, they found unlabeled buttons, and a switch to start things up. Max flipped the switch, and a computerized voice spoke to them. "Confirm level destination." It ordered.
Max squirmed. "Bottom level." He announced.
"Unauthorized command, confirm level of destination, or security will be notified." It warned.
He grabbed Kyle by the arm in a desperate panic. "Uh… what now?"
Kyle looked around. Seeing no numbers on the buttons, he quickly realized they didn't need them. He counted the number of buttons and spoke aloud.
"Level nine." He exclaimed.
The computer was silent. Shortly after, the button on the bottom lit up. Max pushed it, and the elevator began its journey downwards.
"Good thinking." Max congratulated.
Kyle nodded, but added. "Nine levels, Max… just like of hell."
His conclusion of this place was not so far off. If it was anything like the base Max was held in, he knew Tess had been brutally tortured, for months. The thought sent a wave of shivers down his spine. The sadistic nature of humans was nauseating.
Their Past Lives
"He's on his way!" A young girl shrieked.
She jumped about in her dress, as her mother hurried to get her kitchen and house in order. She muttered as she ran from point to point, trying to make everything spotless.
Ava stepped in the way of her parent. "Mother, come on, please just settle down."
She sighed, settling. "I'm nervous. The heir to the throne wishes to marry my eldest daughter. What am I to do, act normal?"
"Perhaps that would be best." Ava laughed.
The young girl grinned as a knock at the door was heard. "I'll get it!" She scurried toward the door, beating everyone else.
She swung open the large front door, to find a tall man with large dark eyes, and dark hair. He looked very powerful, strong too. She stood in awe for a moment, and then he bent down and gave her a white rose.
"You must be Ava's little sister Tenna." Zan bent down to her level, handed her a white rose and patted her head. "Is Ava here?" He inquired.
Tenna nodded shyly, opening to door wider to let him in. "She's in the sitting room." She pointed, leading him toward his destined wife.
Ava heard footsteps. She knew it was Zan, she could pin point his steps from anywhere. They had met at a party, and shared their first kiss that very night. She was not royalty. Nor was she rich, her family was well off, but by no means a family that would normally run in royal social circles. Zan's father, the King had hired her to organize several meetings between the six worlds that revolved around their two suns. War weighed heavily in their system and Ava shared a political knowledge that was far beyond that of most people her age. The king had picked her personally from several students in her school. Because of her work with the king, she had been granted an invite to the annual royal ball. It was there she met and fell in love with the prince and king to be, Zan.
"Hello." His voice found her at once, making her knees buckle.
She bowed her head. "Hello, your highness." She looked at him, sorrowfully. "I'm sorry to hear about your father, he was great man." She said.
"Thank you." He touched her cheek, and gave her a small box. "I was hoping we might talk alone." He suggested.
She nodded, motioning for her curious mother and sister to leave them. "What is it you wanted to see me for?" She asked, almost blushing, as somehow she already knew.
He dropped to his knees, folding himself on the ground. He took her hands in his and stared into her giant blue eyes.
"When I first met you, I knew I'd never meet another girl that could make me feel this way." Zan reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver bracelet, the symbol of marriage.
Ava's heart melted, she too fell to her knees and greeted his eyes with her own. "I'd be honored Zan of Antar, to accept this." She let him slide the silver chain over her hand onto her wrist.
They embraced; his arms wrapping her up. Her chin rested on his shoulder and they cried together.
Their present lives
Max stumbled back a step. Kyle braced his arm. He looked inquiringly at the alien king.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
Max shook his head. "A memory… Tess is close, I can feel it."
Kyle started to scoff when he saw his friend's look of desperation. He wanted to ask him what this new found fascination with Tess was, but he figured any answer would be vague at best. Still, he couldn't resist a chance to get answers.
"Max, since I'm risking my life for this quest, can you at least tell me, why?" Kyle was serious, and stopped moving forward, pressing that he needed an answer, now.
The alien king hesitated. "Kyle…" He began to protest.
"No way, you have to tell me, what happened to change your mind about Tess?"
He sighed, and leaned against the cold cement wall. "It wasn't a change, it was more like… waking up from a dream, and finally seeing the truth that you've been running toward your whole life."
"And you think Tess is the answer to this truth?"
Max nodded. "Kyle, I remember her, and us. I remember the day I asked her to be my wife, and the day that we died. I remember dying to protect her, and to this day I would do the same. I'm ashamed of how I acted, and how I treated her. We shared so much, and I threw it away to try and become human."
"Wow."
Kyle was amazed at his sincerity. Max truly had come to a decision. As his friend, it was his duty to help him through these obstacles, and he would, even if it meant his death. Max gave him his life, and he would risk it to repay him.
They wandered through the bottom level halls, until they reached a large metal door that was guarded by two men. The boys held back, and considered their options. They could go up to them and try their hand at bluffing their way through. Or they could-
Before Kyle could continue that train of thought, Max was already marching toward them, his hand outstretched, ready to attack. Kyle started sprinting to catch up. By the time he'd gotten to the other side of the hall, Max had already placed his hands on the two men, killing them the same way he'd killed the men upstairs. Kyle gulped back, trying not to freak out. They had now killed four military men, and lord only knew what would be on the other side of that door.
"Let's go." Max ordered.
Kyle nodded, using his powers to unlock the metal door. "It's dark… I can't see a thing."
Max nodded, agreeing that it was way too dark to see. He held out his hand, and the lights above them turned on. They looked around. It was a large room with a metal operating table in the middle. In the far right corner was a chair with arm and leg straps. The alien king gulped, flashing back to his time in the white room. Unlike his cell, this place was filthy. The smell of dried blood and wounded flesh hung in the air with a thick odor that threatened to ruin their noses.
The proceeded further into the room. Now they could vaguely make out the shape of someone lying in the far left corner.
"Tess?" He stepped closer.
The figure did not move.
Kyle fretted. "Is she?" He wondered aloud.
"No." Max insisted, bending down beside the body.
Rolling it from its side, his eyes once again took in her face. It was indeed Tess. Her hair was longer now, and her face was pale. Her skin was dry, her lips cracked. She looked severely malnourished, and dehydrated. Bruises, cuts, and wounds scattered across her body, which had been stripped of clothing. Max began to cry at the sight she'd been left in. He stroked the side of her face, his hot tears hitting her cheek.
"Tess… Tess, wake up." He encouraged.
Her eyes fluttered weakly. "No… this isn't real." She spoke, her voice so weak it was barely above a whisper.
Watching this scene caused a great flood of compassion to fill Kyle's heart. He'd had his doubts about Tess, but she had redeemed herself with her selfless sacrifice. She had given her life to these monsters so that they might live, all of them – even those who would have killed her. He hated himself for even considering letting her rot here. Michael, Isabel and Liz sickened him now, more so than he thought possible.
"Max, heal her as much as you can, and then we have to go!" Kyle hurried.
Max held out his hands and cupped her face. His palms began to emit a white glow, which surrounded her head. Soon the wounds and bruises began to lessen. Her eyes opened slightly more, and her mouth attempted to smile.
Her lips mouthed words. "I always believed in you." She stated in a soft whisper.
"Shush now, I won't be able to heal you totally until we're to safety." He explained, helping her to stand.
Kyle turned away from her naked, shivering body. Then, without looking back at her, he handed her his coat. She accepted it, and wrapped it around herself. Max helped her to button it, as her coordination was lacking.
"Can you walk?" Max asked.
She considered. "I think so." She said quietly.
She took a step forward, seemed fine, but as her feet attempted the next step her knees gave way under her, and she plummeted to the floor once more.
"Tess!" Max grabbed her arm, keeping her up.
He was so warm, and safe. She couldn't believe that he'd come for her. It was a miracle. As he half dragged her from her cell, her mind wandered to a past almost forgotten, as memories of her former life filled her mind. She grasped at the wall, as guns began to fire. Even with all of the noise and commotion, her thoughts floated away, to another place, another time.
Their Past Lives
It was the night of their wedding. The sky was filled with silver and gold sparkles. Stars that seemed to light up the night even more than normal. Ava stood out on her bedroom balcony and breathed in the crisp, cool air. As her skin began to get goose bumps, warm hands rolled over her arms. She closed her eyes, and took in the familiar scent.
"I thought I wasn't going to see you until later." She breathed.
He kissed her neck. "It was too long to wait."
She turned to greet his grin. They embraced with a tightness, as if they had not seen each other in a long time. She knew, as she gazed up at him, that he was the only soul for her. That no matter were she traveled, or what would occur in the future, that he was going to be there – forever.
Their Present Lives
"Get down!" Max screamed.
He pushed Tess to the ground, as bullets whizzed above their heads. He erected his green energy barrier. The guns fired, but their bullets never reached their targets. They hit the barrier and fell innocently to the ground.
Kyle was trying to unlock a door that led to a set of stairs. "I can't do it… I'm too nervous."
Tess looked up, painfully pulling herself onto her knees. She could feel her insides begin to turn; her power was starting to pump inside her chest. Thoughts of her son, and how if she failed to get out of here, he would be left without protection. As surely once Kivar realized he was indeed the rightful heir to the throne, his life would be the sole target of their enemy's army.
"Move." She grunted, outstretching her hand in front of her.
Kyle stepped to the side, just as the door he'd worked on exploded. The entire metal door came from the hinges, leaving a gapping hole in the wall where it had once been.
Max turned to see her use her energy. "No!" Just as he tried to stop her; she blew the door out of the wall, and fell to the ground – completely tapped of energy.
"Kyle, run!" He ordered his friend to start without him.
The alien king let out a wave of energy, knocking the attacking soldiers to the ground. He spun around, scooped up Tess, who was unconscious. He slung her over his shoulder, and began to speed down flights of stairs, all the while keeping his hand wary of men who were chasing them, just out of shooting range.
Kyle could hear Max making his way down the stairs. He was a good two flights ahead of them, and he stopped to let them catch up – guarding the stairwell door at the same time. Max caught up, and he pushed him to continue running.
"No matter what, don't stop." Max explained.
He nodded. "Right."
Max slung Tess' arm over his shoulder, as Kyle took her other arm. They began to run again, dragging the unconscious girl between them. The human made hybrid alien held out his hand, and blasted the door in front of them. As they charged into the next hall, they were greeted by several units of military police.
"Fire!" The leader yelled.
Bullets once again began to whiz past them. They hit the floor, letting Max erect his barrier again. This time Kyle knew that Tess would not save them, he would have to do it. Max was busy keeping them from becoming Swiss cheese; it was his duty to make sure they got out of there. Spinning around, he looked down the other side of the hall. He tried to remember the map of the base. Suddenly he got an idea.
"This way!" He called from behind Max.
They began to move backwards, toward a dead end. The troops followed quickly. They'd given up shooting, as their bullets never reached their targets. Now they were attempting to trap the aliens, at this rate Max was sure they would be trapped.
"Um, Kyle… dead ends are not the best was to escape." He warned.
Kyle smirked. "For humans, sure. For us, it's the best way."
Max set Tess against the wall and took a moment to check her pulse. Satisfied that she was still ok, he turned to Kyle, simultaneously putting his barrier up to keep the troops at bay.
"What's the plan?" He asked
Kyle smiled, putting both his hands on the wall. He took a deep breath and concentrated on the point where his hands touched the wall. Soon the wall began to bubble, as if melting from beneath his skin. Pushing lightly on the spot the wall began to give. He opened his eyes and turned to Max, who was carrying Tess now.
"Go." He said, motioning toward the wall.
Max hesitated. "Through the wall?"
"Yea."
He nodded. "You're nuts."
His banter meant nothing however, as he marched toward the spot and carefully tested the wall. He pushed his hand through the cement and brick, then slowly a leg. Feeling a little safer about the idea, he clutched Tess tight and leapt through, landing safely on the base lawn outside. Moments later, Kyle fell through the wall, just as it hardened and became cement and brick once more.
"Ouch." Kyle moaned, rubbing his butt as he got up.
Max helped him to stand. "That was pretty cool." He complimented.
They each took one of Tess' arms and ran toward the perimeter of the base. Kyle's plan had helped them get a good size head start on their enemies. They were able to make it past the fence before troops got outside. From there the Sheriff would meet them about a mile into the desert, so they just had to keep low and out of sight until then.
The sun was just breaking over the horizon. Liz was sitting inside the van, with her knees firmly tucked to her chest. She was staring into nothingness. Michael woke up and saw the girl, concerned he turned to Isabel who was watching Liz as well.
"How long has she been like that?" He asked.
Isabel shrugged. "I don't know, I woke up about an hour ago, and she hasn't moved."
"Ok… weird."
Michael scooted over to Liz and touched her shoulder. Liz suddenly blinked and snapped out of her trance. She stared at Michael with a grin on her face.
"What are you so happy about?" He asked.
She became serious. "Don't you ever get sick of it?"
"Sick of what?"
She touched his shoulder and drew his attention toward her eyes. "Of being under his control."
"No one controls me." He protested.
Liz laughed. "He controls all of us. We're sitting here, waiting for Max to bring a murderer back with him. If that's not control, I don't know what is."
Isabel's mouth gapped open. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was Liz trying to get Michael to turn against Max? If so, why?
"Liz, Max just wants his son back." Isabel assured them.
Michael considered them both. "Hang on a minute Isabel, Liz here has a point."
"Don't even think about it." She warned him.
It was too late. Michael got up and moved toward the driver's seat and sat down. He rested his hands on the wheel and stared out the windshield. He wanted to leave, but part of him new he couldn't do that to Max.
Seeing Michael's hesitation, Liz sat beside him in the front of the van, and encouraged him to leave. She placed a hand on his and spoke softly to him.
"If we don't leave, we'll die. Max may never come back." She said.
Isabel grabbed Liz's wrist and took it off of Michael. "Look, Liz." She said with distain. "If you have a problem with Max, and with staying here, maybe you should be the one to leave."
At this, Liz rolled down the window and let some fresh air into the van. She stared at Isabel and smiled with knowledge of something that Isabel couldn't pin point. It was like a secret she should have known, but couldn't remember.
"Don't act all high and mighty, Vilondra. You want to be the leader just as much as Michael." She snorted out in defense.
Isabel was startled by the girl's rash words. "That's not true." She insisted.
"Oh, no?"
Liz slapped a palm on Isabel's forehead. A red light passed from her hand to Isabel's head, engulfing her with a red glow. Liz took a deep breath and let every memory of her former life she had slip into Isabel's mind. She knew it would awaken her own memories, things she was sure Isabel would be horrified to know about.
Isabel's head snapped back as image after image flooded her mind. First came memories from a life Liz had lived before this one. One where she was just like them, living on Antar. Then soon, those memories reseeded and her own memories of being Vilondra began to come back. Slowly at first, but soon they were pounding into her head like nails into a coffin. She remembered everything so clearly.