Two Sides of the Coin
Rating: Teen/Mature
Part Five
Liz leaned her head against the window of the replacement bus and watched the road signs slip by into the night. Thoughts whirled around in her head like a merry-go-round as she tried to make sense of what she had learned.
She knew the man beside her was Zan, even though he wouldn't admit it. But she couldn't figure out why he was here. Then there was the whole 'what's so great about normal,' thing, hearing it almost brought tears to her eyes. For a second, it was like Max was standing there beside her again. She couldn't quell the heady sense of excitement that shot through her when she thought, for just an instant, that Max might be alive. Logically and realistically, she knew it wasn't true. And she knew that with all their alien abilities, resurrection wasn't something they had mastered, but her heart still skipped a beat at the thought of Max being alive.
"Stop it," she said out loud. That kind of thinking was getting her know where. Max was dead. He wasn't coming back. Nothing was going to change that – ever. And nothing included the Max wanna be sitting in the seat next to her. She shifted slightly, trying to put a little space between herself and Zan, but it didn't work. His body seemed to shift to take up every available inch of space.
Liz sighed and gave up, succumbing to the pull of sleep. It had been a long day to say the least, and she was struggling to keep her eyes open as it was. The endless drone of the bus wheels fed her already somnolent mood. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the window of the bus and allowed the lethargy to wash over her, and drifted off to sleep.
The damp street looked familiar, but Liz couldn't place it. She looked around and tried to get her bearings, but the images kept shifting. One minute, she was sitting in the CrashDown, and the next, she was back on this same street.
She took a tentative step, and the images stopped shifting and she stood on the city street looking around. A flash of movement caught her eye, and she looked up and saw Max walking. She started to step forward towards Max, when she saw herself across the street, calling out to Max, waving her hands and pointing upward. Liz screamed out, pointing to the shadowy figures behind Max, but he couldn't hear her. She watched, helpless as Max towards the other image of herself and a scaffolding came crashing down to the ground from a nearby building. Her horror intensified as she saw Lonnie and Rath run down the street with Tess trailing after them. Something she hadn't seen from her vantage point across the street when the scaffold really fell.
The scene shifted again and this time, she was on a crowded city street. Traffic whizzed by and the people on the crowded sidewalk walked through her, not around her.
"I know this," she said out loud, but her words were heard by no one but herself. "How do I know this?"
She saw Lonnie, Rath, Ava and Zan walking down the street. Not the Zan that she knew, he looked more like Lonnie and Rath. They walked along like they didn't have a care in the world, but Liz could feel a sense of urgency surround them.
Suddenly, Lonnie pulled Ava back and covered her mouth, and Rath reached out and shoved Zan into the path of an oncoming truck. Liz watched as Rath stuck his arm out and caused the truck to accelerate, bearing down on Zan. Liz screamed a soundless scream and watched as the truck ran him over.
There was a shift, and Liz saw the same scene; Lonnie grabbing Ava and covering her mouth, and Rath pushing Zan down to the ground. Again and again the scene replayed. Liz struggled to prevent it from happening, but she couldn't move. It was like she was frozen in place.
The scene shifted again, and Liz tried screaming out to Zan. She watched, and realized something was different. She looked closely at Ava. She was staring at Zan, but not with the look of horror Liz had first imagined. She looked almost peaceful. Her nose wrinkled a little, and she watched Zan's body go flying away from the path of the truck. He stood up and waved at Ava and ran off.
Liz woke with a start and tried to move but found herself pinned against Zan's chest, his arm wrapped firmly around her.
"Hey, Z," she stopped, unsure of what to call him. She couldn't call him Zan; she wasn't supposed to know who he was. "Hey, come on, wake up," she whispered, trying to wake him. "Come on, I need some room."
"What, what is it, what's the matter?" Zan asked, groggily. "Are we there yet?"
He shifted slightly and looked at Liz. She looked into his eyes, and she swore for a moment, only a moment, she saw Max. Almost unwillingly, her hand moved, and she reached up slowly and stroked his cheek softly.
"No, I'm sorry I woke you," she said. "I, I had a bad dream, that was all.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Zan asked. He shifted slightly giving Liz room to move away from him, but she didn't. She remained wrapped in the familiar yet unfamiliar arms.
"I'm not sure," Liz hedged. She knew if she revealed the dream to Zan, he'd know she knew who he was. "You know, I don't even know what to call you," she said, hoping to distract him from the subject of her dream.
"What's wrong with hey you?" Zan joked.
"Seriously," said Liz. "What should I call you?" She didn't ask him for his name because she didn't want him to lie to her.
"Later," Zan said. "Tell me about your dream.
Liz sat silent for several minutes, trying to decide what to do. Her head said to play it cool, if only to see how far Zan would take this charade, but her heart urged her to lay it all on the table.
"Well, it was kind of weird," Liz said, slowly, unsure of how much to reveal. "I was in a city. I think it was New York." She looked up trying to gauge his reaction before continuing. "And I saw someone almost get killed, and then I did see someone get killed. He was run over by a truck. Or at least I think he was, but then it all changed. I guess I'm not sure what I dreamt about."
"Let's lay our cards on the table," Zan said, his voice harsh. "You know exactly what you saw and what it meant. And you know exactly who I am, so why all the games?"