Hi all!
I'm back to put you off the suspense :D
Angelflyer - Thank you so much for the feedback!!! :D
Urbanchick - Thank you so much!! :D
ElfGirl - Hey! Sorry... no cliffs in this story ; ) But I can reveal that I'm not too found of Tess... : D Thank you!!
.
[b]Chapter 11[/b]
[i]In a small apartment, somewhere in New Mexico
Four months later, Tuesday- 1.07 p.m.[/i]
She felt the pain ripple through her abdomen again. No, it was too soon! She leaned against the house wall and trying to catch her breath. When it had passed, she fished up her keys from her purse. With shaking hands, she placed the key in the lock, turned and opened. She stepped inside, put the keys on the table beside the door and walked towards the kitchen. She caught a look of herself in the mirror hanging on the wall. She had read all the baby books she could get her hands on, and they had informed her that all pregnancies were individual. However, nowhere did it say that she would look like this. Her body was merely skin and bones, with a protruding stomach in the center. Her big eyes were sunken in and her face was gaunt. Her hair had no vitality, no shine - it was thin and hung in wisps. She had a bruise at the side of her neck - she had obtained a lot of bruises during her pregnancy. It was as if her skin was super-sensitive.
She was exhausted all the time. She worked from nine to five as a waitress and then she started her night shift as a waitress in a bar at eleven p.m. She had a constant headache and she could barely keep anything down, she threw up most of it. The only time she felt something close to happiness was when she felt the life inside of her kick or move around. Her baby gave her some hope in her lonely existence. She left the depressive reflection in the mirror and went into the kitchen to unpack the groceries bags. As she was putting two bottles of Tabasco, which she had attained a certain crave for (she had it on about everything) during her pregnancy, she felt the pain explode in her abdomen and she had to grab the edge of the table to stop herself from passing out.
-------------------------------------------------.
[i]West Roswell High - Roswell, New Mexico
Tuesday - 1.12 p.m.[/i]
"Max, are you all right?" Isabel asked when Max once again rubbed his stomach.
Max concentrated on the pain once again, trying to subdue it with his powers - but he was repeatedly unsuccessful in his efforts. For two months he had felt a dull ache in the small of his back. During the last 24 hours, the ache had intensified and now it was also accompanied by the pain in his abdomen.
"I don't know," he answered his sister.
"Maybe you're coming down with something," Alex, with his hand clasped in Isabel's, said.
"We don't get sick," Max said.
"Right," Kyle said, not the least surprised.
They were all sitting under a tree in the school yard, eating their lunch. Max had positioned himself with his back leaning against the trunk of a tree. Maria was sitting between Michael's legs, leaning her weight against his chest. Isabel and Alex, with their fingers laced together, were sitting side by side both in Indian style. Kyle was sitting beside Tess - but there was some distance between them. The pairing was complete - except for the lonesome Max. Nevertheless, Liz's death had brought something positive to the group. They had realized how short life could be and they had forgotten about their differences and petty arguments. It hadn't taken long for Maria and Michael to pair up. Isabel and Alex moved a little slower but they were also considered an item nowadays. However, Kyle and Tess were not together, since Tess was still very consisted in her sucking up to Max - trying to get them together. It was obvious to everyone in the group, except to Tess, that Max would never get together with Tess.
"I've been having this ache in my back for about two months now," Max said.
"Maybe you're getting old," Michael said.
"And now I have this pain in my stomach," Max continued, not taking any notice to Michael's comment.
"Maybe you've eaten something weir-" Maria started to say but her voice quieted when Max with pain etched on his face doubled over.
"Max!" Isabel said, dropped Alex's hand and moved to kneel beside her brother.
During the following long forty seconds, Max focused on decreasing the pain with his powers. When the pain finally subsided he raised his head to be met by seven worried faces.
"Maxwell, what happened?" Michael asked.
"Liz..." Max whispered.
"What?" Maria said, her voice hoarse from the emotions the name of her dead friend brought forward.
Max looked Maria directly in the eyes.
"Liz is alive." As the shaken group contemplated the meaning of Max's statement, no one saw the look of horror and hatred that passed over Tess's face.
---------------------------------------------.
[i]In a small apartment, somewhere in New Mexico - 1.20 p.m.[/i]
Liz was pacing around the apartment, gathering everything she needed for the birth. Keeping her busy hindered her feelings of fear to take control over her. She was highly aware of the fact that a normal pregnancy lasted about nine months and according to her calculations she had only been pregnant about six. Something was wrong. If she gave birth now, the baby would certainly not survive.
She knew every detail of the process of birth by heart - having memorized the baby books. She had never been to a maternal check up - there was a large risk that something was wrong with the baby. She also knew that she wasn't healthy, and she was petrified that the baby had suffered from that. She had decided not to give birth in a hospital - she was still afraid that her kidnappers were looking for her and it would be pretty easy to find her in a hospital. She would give birth here - in this apartment - alone.
--------------------------------------------------.
[i]West Roswell High - Roswell, New Mexico - 1.21 p.m. [/i]
"Oh no, he is losing it," Michael thought as he hugged the crying Maria to him. "I will hurt him really badly if he is only making this up and upsetting Maria and Isabel over nothing."
"Max, she's dead," Michael said, "You held her in your arms... I saw her, Isabel saw her - hell, even Liz's family, relatives and everybody at her funeral saw her. She's dead Max!"
Max was now standing up, pacing back and forth.
"Don't you think I know that Michael!" Max said, his voice irritated. He rubbed his forehead with one hand while the other hand rubbed the small of his back. "I don't understand it even more than you do. But I'm telling you, I can feel her. She's in pain - in so much pain."
Tess was watching the group silently - still trying to get over the fact that Max seemingly had some sort of connection to that bitch.
"Maybe you're only hoping so much that she's alive that you're imagining," Tess said.
Max looked at her, and Tess shrank back under his stare. "Bad move, Tess," Isabel thought seeing Max's deathly glare, "don't mess with Max when it comes Liz."
"I'm not imagining!" Max said, his voice hard. "She's still alive and she's in pain and I need to get to her."
"And how do you plan that we do that?" Kyle asked.
Max closed his eyes - his face masked with the sorrow that had become a second nature to him since Liz was taken from him - and sank down with his back leaning against the tree.
"I don't know," he whispered, and everyone knew how much it at that moment was eating him up inside to know that Liz was alive and out there somewhere but knowing that he lacked the knowledge that would lead him to her.
-----------------------------------------------------.
[i]Santa Fe, New Mexico - 2.30 a.m. [/i]
A middle aged couple, leaving a dinner party with some business associates, passed by a small, shabby apartment and stopped to look up at it in surprise and shock. Agonizing cries pierced through the otherwise quiet neighborhood.
"Should we call someone?" the woman asked her husband.
The man shook his head, believing it was yet another example of a relationship of physical abuse. The police would come, but wouldn't be able to press charges since the woman would be too terrified to tell what her partner had done.
"Let's go home," he said. A few minutes after the couple had left the spot outside the apartment, the cry of a baby pierced through the night, announcing the birth of a little girl.
------------------------------------.
A small lamp on the bedside table beside the one-sized bed, illuminated the room in a warm light. The covers of the bed was in disarray, smeared with blood and maternal fluids. In the large bed laid a thin figure. Her skin was glittering with sweat and her breathing was still labored from what her body had been put through. In her arms lay a little bundle, wrapped up in a small blanket. The young mother looked in awe at the miracle in her arms. She admired the small hands, with the small fingers and the even smaller finger nails. Her fingers traced the soft chubby cheeks. She was perfect. The baby's crown was covered in black hair, which still had the oily texture of a new-born. One of the infant's soft cheeks was resting against the swell of her mother's breast. She was asleep, with the taste of maternal milk still lingering on her small red lips. She was a blessing - a blessing to her mother's lonesome existence on the run.
-----------------------------------------.
[i]Roswell, New Mexico - 2003 [/i]
"Anything?" the young man asked.
The man with the sheriff star on his chest shook his head, sympathy in his heart as the young man sank down onto the coach. He looked completely lost, like he had lost his home - all over again.
"I'm sorry, Max. We can't find any trace of her. Either she's held in captivity or she doesn't want to be found."
Max rubbed his forehead, trying to think of something else they could do, somewhere else they could search. They were missing something - they had to. She was still alive. Since the pain in his abdomen two years ago had reached a climax and then abruptly ended he could merely sense her presence like a small fluttering in the back of his head. But for some reason he couldn't reach her. It was as if it was an one-way connection. She was either blocking him or she wasn't aware that he was there. He realized that she had always been there, even when he thought she was dead. He had been too consumed with grief to notice.
"Have you search all the hospitals?" Max asked.
"Yes, we did it two years ago," Sheriff Valenti said and sighed tiredly.
"But you have searched them after that too, right?" Max asked.
"Max, it's no use. She can be in Russia for all we know."
"No, she's close by." His voice was determined. He knew that everyone had given up. They had already one year ago started to question how much of what Max claimed he felt through a connection they didn't know anything about was true. Now they had just gone back to believing the common lie that Liz Parker was dead. Nowadays they felt sorry for Max because he couldn't let go off her. Max knew all that, but he also knew what his heart told him and the connection he had experienced with Liz had never been wrong before. She was alive - and he was going to find her. Even if he died searching!
TBC...
I'm back to put you off the suspense :D
Angelflyer - Thank you so much for the feedback!!! :D
Urbanchick - Thank you so much!! :D
ElfGirl - Hey! Sorry... no cliffs in this story ; ) But I can reveal that I'm not too found of Tess... : D Thank you!!
.
[b]Chapter 11[/b]
[i]In a small apartment, somewhere in New Mexico
Four months later, Tuesday- 1.07 p.m.[/i]
She felt the pain ripple through her abdomen again. No, it was too soon! She leaned against the house wall and trying to catch her breath. When it had passed, she fished up her keys from her purse. With shaking hands, she placed the key in the lock, turned and opened. She stepped inside, put the keys on the table beside the door and walked towards the kitchen. She caught a look of herself in the mirror hanging on the wall. She had read all the baby books she could get her hands on, and they had informed her that all pregnancies were individual. However, nowhere did it say that she would look like this. Her body was merely skin and bones, with a protruding stomach in the center. Her big eyes were sunken in and her face was gaunt. Her hair had no vitality, no shine - it was thin and hung in wisps. She had a bruise at the side of her neck - she had obtained a lot of bruises during her pregnancy. It was as if her skin was super-sensitive.
She was exhausted all the time. She worked from nine to five as a waitress and then she started her night shift as a waitress in a bar at eleven p.m. She had a constant headache and she could barely keep anything down, she threw up most of it. The only time she felt something close to happiness was when she felt the life inside of her kick or move around. Her baby gave her some hope in her lonely existence. She left the depressive reflection in the mirror and went into the kitchen to unpack the groceries bags. As she was putting two bottles of Tabasco, which she had attained a certain crave for (she had it on about everything) during her pregnancy, she felt the pain explode in her abdomen and she had to grab the edge of the table to stop herself from passing out.
-------------------------------------------------.
[i]West Roswell High - Roswell, New Mexico
Tuesday - 1.12 p.m.[/i]
"Max, are you all right?" Isabel asked when Max once again rubbed his stomach.
Max concentrated on the pain once again, trying to subdue it with his powers - but he was repeatedly unsuccessful in his efforts. For two months he had felt a dull ache in the small of his back. During the last 24 hours, the ache had intensified and now it was also accompanied by the pain in his abdomen.
"I don't know," he answered his sister.
"Maybe you're coming down with something," Alex, with his hand clasped in Isabel's, said.
"We don't get sick," Max said.
"Right," Kyle said, not the least surprised.
They were all sitting under a tree in the school yard, eating their lunch. Max had positioned himself with his back leaning against the trunk of a tree. Maria was sitting between Michael's legs, leaning her weight against his chest. Isabel and Alex, with their fingers laced together, were sitting side by side both in Indian style. Kyle was sitting beside Tess - but there was some distance between them. The pairing was complete - except for the lonesome Max. Nevertheless, Liz's death had brought something positive to the group. They had realized how short life could be and they had forgotten about their differences and petty arguments. It hadn't taken long for Maria and Michael to pair up. Isabel and Alex moved a little slower but they were also considered an item nowadays. However, Kyle and Tess were not together, since Tess was still very consisted in her sucking up to Max - trying to get them together. It was obvious to everyone in the group, except to Tess, that Max would never get together with Tess.
"I've been having this ache in my back for about two months now," Max said.
"Maybe you're getting old," Michael said.
"And now I have this pain in my stomach," Max continued, not taking any notice to Michael's comment.
"Maybe you've eaten something weir-" Maria started to say but her voice quieted when Max with pain etched on his face doubled over.
"Max!" Isabel said, dropped Alex's hand and moved to kneel beside her brother.
During the following long forty seconds, Max focused on decreasing the pain with his powers. When the pain finally subsided he raised his head to be met by seven worried faces.
"Maxwell, what happened?" Michael asked.
"Liz..." Max whispered.
"What?" Maria said, her voice hoarse from the emotions the name of her dead friend brought forward.
Max looked Maria directly in the eyes.
"Liz is alive." As the shaken group contemplated the meaning of Max's statement, no one saw the look of horror and hatred that passed over Tess's face.
---------------------------------------------.
[i]In a small apartment, somewhere in New Mexico - 1.20 p.m.[/i]
Liz was pacing around the apartment, gathering everything she needed for the birth. Keeping her busy hindered her feelings of fear to take control over her. She was highly aware of the fact that a normal pregnancy lasted about nine months and according to her calculations she had only been pregnant about six. Something was wrong. If she gave birth now, the baby would certainly not survive.
She knew every detail of the process of birth by heart - having memorized the baby books. She had never been to a maternal check up - there was a large risk that something was wrong with the baby. She also knew that she wasn't healthy, and she was petrified that the baby had suffered from that. She had decided not to give birth in a hospital - she was still afraid that her kidnappers were looking for her and it would be pretty easy to find her in a hospital. She would give birth here - in this apartment - alone.
--------------------------------------------------.
[i]West Roswell High - Roswell, New Mexico - 1.21 p.m. [/i]
"Oh no, he is losing it," Michael thought as he hugged the crying Maria to him. "I will hurt him really badly if he is only making this up and upsetting Maria and Isabel over nothing."
"Max, she's dead," Michael said, "You held her in your arms... I saw her, Isabel saw her - hell, even Liz's family, relatives and everybody at her funeral saw her. She's dead Max!"
Max was now standing up, pacing back and forth.
"Don't you think I know that Michael!" Max said, his voice irritated. He rubbed his forehead with one hand while the other hand rubbed the small of his back. "I don't understand it even more than you do. But I'm telling you, I can feel her. She's in pain - in so much pain."
Tess was watching the group silently - still trying to get over the fact that Max seemingly had some sort of connection to that bitch.
"Maybe you're only hoping so much that she's alive that you're imagining," Tess said.
Max looked at her, and Tess shrank back under his stare. "Bad move, Tess," Isabel thought seeing Max's deathly glare, "don't mess with Max when it comes Liz."
"I'm not imagining!" Max said, his voice hard. "She's still alive and she's in pain and I need to get to her."
"And how do you plan that we do that?" Kyle asked.
Max closed his eyes - his face masked with the sorrow that had become a second nature to him since Liz was taken from him - and sank down with his back leaning against the tree.
"I don't know," he whispered, and everyone knew how much it at that moment was eating him up inside to know that Liz was alive and out there somewhere but knowing that he lacked the knowledge that would lead him to her.
-----------------------------------------------------.
[i]Santa Fe, New Mexico - 2.30 a.m. [/i]
A middle aged couple, leaving a dinner party with some business associates, passed by a small, shabby apartment and stopped to look up at it in surprise and shock. Agonizing cries pierced through the otherwise quiet neighborhood.
"Should we call someone?" the woman asked her husband.
The man shook his head, believing it was yet another example of a relationship of physical abuse. The police would come, but wouldn't be able to press charges since the woman would be too terrified to tell what her partner had done.
"Let's go home," he said. A few minutes after the couple had left the spot outside the apartment, the cry of a baby pierced through the night, announcing the birth of a little girl.
------------------------------------.
A small lamp on the bedside table beside the one-sized bed, illuminated the room in a warm light. The covers of the bed was in disarray, smeared with blood and maternal fluids. In the large bed laid a thin figure. Her skin was glittering with sweat and her breathing was still labored from what her body had been put through. In her arms lay a little bundle, wrapped up in a small blanket. The young mother looked in awe at the miracle in her arms. She admired the small hands, with the small fingers and the even smaller finger nails. Her fingers traced the soft chubby cheeks. She was perfect. The baby's crown was covered in black hair, which still had the oily texture of a new-born. One of the infant's soft cheeks was resting against the swell of her mother's breast. She was asleep, with the taste of maternal milk still lingering on her small red lips. She was a blessing - a blessing to her mother's lonesome existence on the run.
-----------------------------------------.
[i]Roswell, New Mexico - 2003 [/i]
"Anything?" the young man asked.
The man with the sheriff star on his chest shook his head, sympathy in his heart as the young man sank down onto the coach. He looked completely lost, like he had lost his home - all over again.
"I'm sorry, Max. We can't find any trace of her. Either she's held in captivity or she doesn't want to be found."
Max rubbed his forehead, trying to think of something else they could do, somewhere else they could search. They were missing something - they had to. She was still alive. Since the pain in his abdomen two years ago had reached a climax and then abruptly ended he could merely sense her presence like a small fluttering in the back of his head. But for some reason he couldn't reach her. It was as if it was an one-way connection. She was either blocking him or she wasn't aware that he was there. He realized that she had always been there, even when he thought she was dead. He had been too consumed with grief to notice.
"Have you search all the hospitals?" Max asked.
"Yes, we did it two years ago," Sheriff Valenti said and sighed tiredly.
"But you have searched them after that too, right?" Max asked.
"Max, it's no use. She can be in Russia for all we know."
"No, she's close by." His voice was determined. He knew that everyone had given up. They had already one year ago started to question how much of what Max claimed he felt through a connection they didn't know anything about was true. Now they had just gone back to believing the common lie that Liz Parker was dead. Nowadays they felt sorry for Max because he couldn't let go off her. Max knew all that, but he also knew what his heart told him and the connection he had experienced with Liz had never been wrong before. She was alive - and he was going to find her. Even if he died searching!
TBC...