Summary: (AU) Liz meets another alien while trying to escape from Roswell and the events of the end of Season 1 (the cave - you all know what I mean!)
Could this stranger, friend or foe, hold the key to Liz's own destiny?
Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell so I'm not taking any of the credit from the creators for this fantastic show. Pity: I'd soo love to be mega-rich by now - and better yet, hold creative license over Tess' head (behave, vixen!) :D The OC's are mine, and I will fight viciously to keep them!
Reviews: Thank all of you who responded to my query on how well Akela seems to be coming across to all of you – it helped me to get an idea of how you all see her! Thanks to all for reviewing (the response to the fight scene from last chapter was awesome!):
To XxXSarXxX: A double review – thank you heaps! I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and thanks for your response on Akela. Your review gives me hope that I have got her down in writing as accurately as I wanted – ta! The fight scene was actually fun to write – glad you liked it! I hope everything is all good with your computer – sorry to hear it was on the fritz …
To KT: Evil, huh! Cool – it's working! As for Vanessa – Liz felt that something was up, but Akela kept Vanessa's true identity to herself, so all Liz knows for sure is that things aren't quite what they seem. Not much to work on, but maybe she'll work it out on her own, … or maybe she won't until it's too late! I'm not telling, though …but thanks for reviewing!
To Just Me: Wow – what a review! I feel soo special – ta muchly! Hmmm, I'm glad you picked up on the Victus connection (think the dream), cos that is gonna play a role in the coming chapters. And your right, Akela isn't happy about his feelings, but then, as you've pointed out she is one manipulative gal, so she may have something up her sleeve! Hahaa, Akela is gonna give Tess a run for her money; poor little Tessie (NOT!) I'm not responding to the watcher bit – wait and see! But you are definitely on the mark about Whitaker; you'll just have to wait and see how right you are, though! (You are really starting to scare me some you know that!)
To CutUpAngel: Glad you liked the last chapter, and Akela's plans will start to become clearer soon … As for Akela's story, Chapter Twelve is the one you want to wait for (that's on the current plan, anyway!) Thanks for reviewing!
And now on to the next chapter …
Chapter Nine: First Strike.
The squeaking of new shoes on a linoleum surface was almost drowned out by the noisy chatter of excited gossip and the occasional slamming of metal lockers as students crowded the corridors, setting the tone for a new school year. The surrounding noise was loud enough to hold a dangerous conversation without too great a fear of someone else catching unwarranted snippets. As Isabel tried to ignore the connotations behind her close friend Michael's words, she couldn't help but agree that he had a valid point; for once.
"I am so not having this conversation!"
"You realize the killer could be here right now … walking the halls looking for us … and gee, where are we? Hey, we're right here; just waiting to be found!"
As they passed by and dove into the crowds towards their own lockers, they didn't notice that one particular girl was close enough to hear what they had meant only for each other to hear. Leaning against a locker, her inky black curls tied haphazardly back in a loose half ponytail, allowing soft tendrils to frame her slim creamy complexion, her sea green eyes glowed with vague amusement at how true the half-breed's words were. Distracted by a familiar presence, she didn't have to turn to know that Liz had arrived at her locker where they had agreed to meet the day before for Akela's first day at school.
"Ready to sign up?" Akela smiled at Liz's exuberance even as she noticed the sadness the other girl tried to keep hidden deep in chocolate brown depths, and nodded her on, following behind. Her expression hardened in distaste as she took in the crowds of other humans that filled up the building, and she steeled herself for her first experience of high school.
It hadn't been that difficult to forge believable documentation; but it wasn't the ease of gaining proper entry into the world of a human teenager that had her shaking her head in self deprecation as she left the school office. Rather, she found herself cursing whatever demon inside of her had prompted this mad move. Ari had laughed good-naturedly when Akela had revealed her plan, and even Victus had had to fight a large grin, but up until this moment Akela had not really understood their amusement. It wasn't that she hated the human race; it was just that they were so easy to manipulate that she found it hard to overcome her natural disdain for them. And here she was, voluntarily sauntering into the capital of teen Angst-Ville. At least this way, Liz would always be within her grasp – not that distance had ever been a limitation of hers.
Akela found Liz leaning against the opposite wall from the office doorway, her books hugged close to her chest as she watched her shoes scuff repeatedly against the polished surface of the floor beneath her feet. She could feel the conflicted emotions pass through her mind as revealed through her expressive eyes, and wondered if Liz was ever going to learn to listen to her. Surprisingly, the death of the shapeshifter had hit her hard, but Akela thought the rush of guilt she felt had more to do with the increasing strength of the vividness of the dreams the Auron was sending her weakening her emotional shields than actually feeling in any way responsible for what had happened. The first time Liz had came to her after she had learnt of Nasedo's death, she had been concerned that her connection to the Auron had not forewarned her of the event, and Akela, though surprised by the question, had chosen it best for Liz's current state of mind to twist the truth enough to firmly state that the Auron did not have a mystical power of premonition. It had taken the past Zai'eras years to master all the powers of the charm, and Liz had only had a fraction of that time. Akela was also growing incredibly weary of continuing to assure Liz that her failure in realising any danger to the shapeshifter before the attack was not true failure in anyway; she also didn't remember any of her mother's students being this fragile and unsure. A sudden gust of laughter echoed up the corridor towards her, and it drew Akela out of her thoughts as a strong scent of cedar oil assaulted her senses.
Liz hadn't moved from her huddled position against the wall, and seizing the opportunity to drive a wedge between the Zai'era, her human friends and the Reborn Royals, she reached out a hand she knew they would see to push back a stray strand of loose dark hair that fallen into Liz's eyes, her voice only slightly louder than normal.
"What are you thinking of to make you seem so sad, Elizabeth? You look as if someone you know has died …" Akela knew the answer, but wanted to hear the words spoken aloud.
"I … I just can't get over it – how I didn't know about what was going to happen until it was too late to stop it …"
Knowing that the group would have heard the reply, Akela purposely interrupted her by moving her hand to stroke Liz's cheek fondly. "Honey, I don't think it's a good idea to talk things over out in the open."
She raised her eyes to meet the darker coloured ones of the blonde girl standing towards the front of the group, and Liz pulled herself away from the wall as a stifled gasp assaulted her ears, but to Maria's evident surprise, she didn't pull away from the stranger's hand, nor did she laugh off her distraction with some excuse as she had gotten into the habit of doing since her return. Instead, she seemed to draw a measure of comfort from the gentle teasing, and wondering who this girl was, Tess sent her an appraising glance as she felt a familiar sense of déjà vu that she couldn't immediately shake off; a feeling that something was wrong with this situation beyond Liz's strange behaviour of late that even she had noticed demanding attention.
The new girl reached out to place a warning hand on Liz's arm in the face of Maria's distrusting glare, but the unspoken admonition was not necessary. Drawing in a breath to stop Maria's potential outburst, she gave her friends a weary smile that only succeeded in making the shadows under her eyes seem darker, giving her face a wan look. Without giving any of them a chance to speak, she reminded them all that class was about to start, and holding her books firmer against her chest in a self-comforting way, she turned away with the new girl beside her. As they wondered off down the corridor towards their first class, the curious statement made in a soft, unfamiliar accent echoed after them.
"The dreams are beginning to take their toll on you,…"
Maria blinked away at her rising confusion as the dread Tess felt before clutched effortlessly at her heart, and Alex turned towards his volatile friend with his hands raised in surrender at the inevitable eruption.
"What the hell just happened?" At Alex's unspoken denial of knowledge, Maria turned on Max beside her with a frustrated growl. "Did you notice the non-introduction? What is going on here – did something happen between you and Liz for her to be acting so weird and un-Liz-like; something that you haven't already told me! This is not the time to be holding out on me …"
Max's face remained blank, engrossed in watching Liz walk away from him without acknowledging he had even been standing before her, and as his expression did not reveal if he had heard a word Maria had thrown at him, Tess released a frustrated sigh of her own before interrupting Maria's vent.
"Look, now is not the place or the time to be having this sort of discussion; and class is about to start. We'll talk about this later."
With a firm hand guiding an unresponsive Max, she tossed her blonde curls and pushed her way down the hall towards their shared History class. As the pair walked away, Maria blew out the deep breath she had inhaled at Tess's interruption to keep her from snapping back, her frustrated growl ringing down the almost empty corridor in emphasis.
"I am never going to like that bitch…"
The day passed slowly, and Liz managed to successfully avoid her friends, her pale countenance and eerily quiet demeanour an unwelcome change from her normal behaviour. Maria had been determined to corner her best friend in the cafeteria, but somehow Liz must have been subconsciously aware of that plan and steadily avoided all her usual lunchtime haunts. Maria had complained loudly, and for a long time, when she heard Pam Troy mention maliciously as she passed by in the corridor that she had spotted Liz sitting in a corner in the old library meditating with the new transfer student, and it had taken all of Tess' self control not to snap callously at the unnatural concern all of them felt for the only one of them not currently present. She just didn't understand why Max felt this need to keep going back to Liz, when all she seemed to do lately was to push him away, as she was now trying to do to all her friends.
Usually, Liz sat with her two best friends during the last class of a Monday, the trio sharing a double lesson of gossip rather than actually paying close attention to the yawn-fest that was Health and Human Development, but today, Liz sat on the far side of the room away from her usual seat with the new transfer student from that morning. Tess vaguely recalled her name being something along the lines of Akira Morton or something similar. She overheard them talking about some vivid dreams Liz had been having and someone named Catriona as she had entered the class from the back, but their conversation had stopped dead when Alex had sat as close to them as he could, and Liz tried to involve them both in a more neutral topic. Tess chose a seat a few rows in front of theirs, and noticed that the new girl had suddenly lost interest in the conversation and sat back to watch the other students enter the room.
A niggling feeling of something vaguely familiar tugged at the back of her mind, and Tess frowned at the sensation that she remembered she had felt that morning. She hadn't thought much of it then, but if she thought about it, the only way she could find it familiar was if it was unearthly, too. As the teacher began a role call, Tess realised that she was under scrutiny from someone somewhere behind her, as if a pair of eyes were boring holes into her psyche with the scratching sensation she sometimes felt when she used her powers on others with strong mental barriers. She slowly turned her suspicious gaze around to meet the confident and somewhat mocking return of the sea green eyes of the new girl.
"Akil – no, Akela; Akela Morton, is it?"
Akela smiled assent, not breaking her gaze with Tess as she answered the teacher's call, and the force behind those eyes startled Tess enough to drop her own gaze. Something behind those eyes had awoken that familiar feeling again, and Tess' heart twitched with the beginning grip of fear. All the complaining Maria had done throughout lunch about her oldest friend's "unusual" behaviour started to make sense within her mind, and she had to admit that "unnatural" was a better way to describe it.
It wasn't that she hadn't seen that Liz was suffering under some sort of inner turmoil that had changed her aura since her return over the summer, but she had seen this current weakness as an opportunity to make it easier to push her out of Max's mind once and for all. That, of course, hadn't happened quite like she had hoped, but now she was sure this was something she should be worried about for a different reason. Not for the first time since his death, she wished Nasedo was alive to help her find her way through this, but she had been trained well, and gritting her teeth in determination, she swore silently that if this Akela had anything to do with their protector's death, she would personally destroy her. Turning back to shoot another glare in her direction, she was slightly unnerved with the way Akela was watching her with a maliciously amused grin, a glint in her eye that gave Tess the unsettling suspicion that she could hear everything that Tess was thinking and was highly entertained by it all.
Feeling the weight of pressure against her mind strengthen, Tess turned away sharply from the mocking expression that seemed to imprint itself against her vision, gripping the edges of the table to steady her senses. Her breathing grew erratic as she pushed at the invasion to her mind with all her strength, but the wall of fire she could always rely on failed her. She had to keep her focus if she was going to warn the others that she had found their enemy, but no matter how hard she tried, the edges of her mind seemed to curl up against her as if it were being controlled by someone other than herself. The lights seemed to dim, and a dark shadow stretched ominously across the front of the room. Tess watched in growing horror as the shadow meandered around the teacher's desk, and turned reaching wisps to travel down the aisles toward her. The sensation of absolute darkness surrounded her, a feeling that she recognised as the atmosphere appeared to darken and the impression of evil reached for her again.
The glinting of moonlight shined through the coloured glass panes of her window to shimmer across the metallic wand-like weapon she held in her left hand, the edges of the vicious dagger in her right hand dulled by the drying black blood left from the already dead enemies. The panic welled up within her, as she knew the shadow had found her, the enemy she couldn't fight. Glancing wildly around, she realised she was trapped; screaming in rage and terror as the shadow began to envelope her, stripping her of her control like acid on her fragile skin, her choked cry was cut off as she lost consciousness to the pain.
"Khivar...!"
The memory was ripped from her as a scream welled up in her throat, and Tess realised this wasn't the first time she had faced this sensation; she felt as helpless now as her pure alien counterpart had then. Just as suddenly as it had come, the shadow pulled away from her, back within itself, and a mocking laughter echoed around her head to fade with the pure fear she had been feeling only a moment ago. The lighting in the room returned with a flash that almost blinded her vision before returning to normal, and after blinking away the after-effects, she looked up to find the teacher bending over her, a concerned expression on her face as Tess caught the last part of her question. Glancing around the classroom to find the faces of her classmates holding various expressions of amusement to suspicious concern, Tess realised that she had just experienced her first mind warp, and finding an answer for her teacher on instinct, responded just before the last bell of the day rung out to end the class.
Frowning in confusion, Tess watched the students as they raced to be the first to grab all their belongings and make it out of the class to their lockers before the crowds grew out of control, trying to think back to what had happened over the last hour and a half, but her memory of the class remained a blank canvas. Knowing that something alien had just happened to her, her human side wanted to scream in panic, but forcing it down Tess felt the powerful sensation of being watched lighten, and looking up towards the door, she caught Akela's smug smile as she followed a clearly distracted Liz out into the crowded hallway, and instinctively she knew the new transfer girl was more than she pretended to be.
Quickly grabbing her things, she made for the door after them, almost knocking an already frustrated Maria out of her way, but she wasn't fast enough; both Akela and Liz managed quite easily to merge into the faceless crowd. Tess also knew Akela wasn't finished with her yet, and realising that the rest of her "family" needed to be warned of the danger that lay within the school walls, she calmed herself and stepped out into the flow of the crowd. She didn't need to focus to find their presence; the way the others dismissed their eternal connection frustrated her, especially Max's refusal to acknowledge the connection between the former King and Queen of Antar as the strongest, but Tess was not like them, always wanting to push away their alieness in favour of their humanity.
She found Max first, his dark head bent towards his closed locker, his gaze focused intently on something beyond her line of sight. Pushing past a few students to stand in front of him, she waved her hand before his eyes to gain his attention, and his gaze transferred to her own as she caught the flare of annoyance at her interruption not bothered to be hidden deep within his russet coloured eyes.
"We need to talk!"
His eyes broke their shared gaze to move to a spot above her short head as he responded, "So, talk."
"It's about something important." She waited for Max to give her his full attention, but when that didn't happen, she sighed and continued. "I think something really is up with Liz."
This time he did meet her gaze, an intent stare that awoke a dormant feeling that curled around her belly with intensity she was a little afraid of, but she reminded herself with a silent, sarcastic laugh that he was only listening to her because she had used the sacred "L" word. Struggling to hide the embers of her raging jealousy, she focused on what she had to tell him.
"There's something not right about that new transfer student …"
"What do you mean, not right?" His gaze had moved to that spot above her head, and Tess turned her head to see what it was he was so drawn by. Not surprisingly, she found the form of Liz standing out in the doorway leading to the front courtyard, the late afternoon sun shining around her as if a halo was sent from above with the intention of highlighting her shy beauty. Gritting her teeth, she turned firmly back to see that not only did she no longer have Max's attention, but that he was moving around her to walk towards the vision he so desperately wanted to be his once more.
Leaning back against the locker to watch, her face a mask of cold irritation, she chose not to interfere in whatever Max was about to do. He stalked down the hallway, the sparse crowd parting to let him through alone, and Liz lifted her head as if she felt his approach, her eyes widening in uncertainty. From her vantage point, Tess saw Max pointedly ignore Akela as she emerged from the open doorway to stand close to Liz with a possessive expression marring her usually light façade, instead he turned to keep Liz the centre of his vision, his words meant for her alone.
"No matter what happens from here on in, I want you to remember one thing. Forget the past; don't worry about the future. Focus on this: I'm coming for you, and nothing is going to stand in my way – especially not some planned destiny that I didn't get a say in!"
He didn't wait for any words to pour from Liz's shell-shocked expression; he turned away with one last potent, soul gazing look, and walked away down the corridor to exit into the nearby parking lot. Tess wanted to follow him, her fury at his careless dismissal of her own role as well as his making her slightly nauseous, but something made her stay. Liz hadn't noticed her, but she did notice Akela's own hard glare, the other girl's anger rising as if Max's words were a challenge to herself.
"What was that all about?" The words were bitten off as if she didn't trust herself not to snap someone's neck in a show of unnatural rage. Liz didn't seem to notice the violence behind the tone, shrugging meekly without using words to answer her chosen new friend, before slipping through the gap between Akela and the open door after muttering something about "being late for work …", aware that she was simply delaying the electrical confrontation rather than truly avoiding it.
As Akela glared after Liz's subtly fleeing form, Tess watched her with a growing sense of alarm. Determined to find out what the two girls were attempting to hide, she held herself still in the shadows until Akela passed by, and then slinked down the corridor after her.
To Tess, it seemed that Akela appeared not to notice that she was being followed out of the school grounds and into the town enter of Roswell, but she was wrong; Akela had known she had an extra shadow from the first moments it had joined her own. She had placed a cerebral link deep within Tess' mind the last time she had delved into those depths, the blonde girl's presence becoming a constant factor on her mental radar, and she hid a malicious smile as she sprung the trap that would yield to her advantage.
Tess had the strangest inkling that she was being led in a circle, as she followed Akela from one novelty shop to another, the other girl displaying a fascination for the macabre and gruesome plastic alien memorabilia that Roswell was world famous for. The sicking pit that had dug a hole in her midsection earlier on deepening as she watched Akela browse endlessly through display after display, an unbidden thought that Akela was sending her a message forcefully present. At last, Akela stopped off at the ever-constant Crashdown Café; the haunt of all students after school hours had ended for the day before trudging back home to begin the tiring necessity that is homework. Her trek had been a long one, and by the time she had reached this last stop, most of the students had already departed for home, and the clientele numbered of those that visit the café during the lonely hours before the dinner rush.
Tess didn't know the waitresses on duty that well, used only to visiting the café when Maria was on duty. She ducked into a far booth while Akela made a quick pitstop to the ladies room, and waited for Akela to reappear and find herself a seat before waving one of the waitresses closest to her over to order a small desert. The waitress that came to serve her was of a similar age to her own, with short darker blonde hair, but Tess didn't recognise her from school and only vaguely noticed the nametag read an unfamiliar, "Courtney" before her attention turned back to remain focused on Akela. The other girl placed her order, and sat back to wait, pulling out a small dark red book and began to read, chuckling every now and then as if the story contained within was an amusing one. Her order arrived swiftly, before Tess' own cold order, and Tess turned her back to lean against the wall in her boredom.
Akela thanked the waitress, and then looked around her table for a salt container. Finding none, she spied an unused one on a nearby table that was empty of patrons. Tess ducked her head to her chest, as Akela checked to see if anyone was watching, then looked up again in time to catch Akela raise one finger, bending it slightly towards her. The salt container bust into life, levitating slightly above the table, then racing towards her with a quick speed before settling down onto the table within easy reach. Tess almost had to swallow her tongue to bit back a sharp sound of glee at catching Akela in the act; her suspicions confirmed as she realised her intuition about Akela being otherworldly had been right. Grasping her mobile phone in her left fist, she slinked out of her stall and out through the swinging doors to the back room that would lead to the privacy of the alley beyond. She didn't notice the gaze of assessing eyes watching her carefully, not did she see the smug grin Akela was no longer bothering to hide as she placed the salt container back on the table. Dropping the right amount of currency on the table, she left her warm food uneaten as she exited the café through the front doors, ignoring the waitress as she called out a salutation after her.
Tess had reached the empty alleyway, allowing the café's door to swing shut behind her. She was so focused on dialling the right number that she didn't observe the sleek grey and white tabby cat that was skulking by the back door until it yowled in protest at almost being trodden on, forcing her to rear back, almost tripping over her heels in her haste. Laughing off her near fright, Tess tossed back her curls as she raised the now ringing phone to her ear, her plan to round up the others to a emergency meeting in motion. In her haste, she forgot to be cautious, not realising she was not alone in the alleyway until it was too late.
A sharp blow caught the back of her head, and Tess slipped into the realms of the unconscious before she could catch a glimpse of her attacker. Her one chance to call for help gone as her mobile phone slipped from her suddenly slack grip to clatter uselessly to the ground, mirroring almost perfectly her body's journey to hit the hard concrete. A shadow passed ominously over the flashing display as her attacker watched the call connect in cold disinterest, completely silent to the tinny voice that called out to the passing wind, a lonely echo in an empty void.
"Hello, … hello?"
The name "Max" flashed a moment more then froze into posterity as a sharp heel crashed down onto the screen with enough force to crack it as it made contact before continuing on its path down the alleyway towards the waiting car, its prey thrown carelessly over one shoulder without effort. As the squealing of tires peeled off to speed towards the city limits, a shadow watched from behind a crate, taking in the whole scene with a curious interest. As the wind picked up, it emerged from its perch to reveal the markings of the same grey and white cat, padding gently out to sit beside the broken phone for a moment as it watched the car's progress before losing interest. With a lazy poise, it turned to stalk gracefully down to the opposite end of the alleyway and beyond into the shadows once more.
Next Chapter:
Chapter Ten: The Masks We Wear; The Secrets We Keep:
Tess is missing, and the panic is beginning to set in. While the search is on to find the blonde Queen, Liz is searching for some answers of her own, and fighting to keep a few held close to her chest. Is the one responsible for Nasedo's death the same one responsible for Tess' disappearance, or is there someone else Liz should be wary of …
AN: I am soo so sorry that it took so long to post this chapter; hopefully it was worth the wait and that you won't have to wait so long for the next chapter to get up there – let me know though if this last chapter was a drag, and I'll try to do better with the next one.
Love you all heaps, and glad some of you are still reading my story (you are, right? You haven't given up on me, have you? … Hello, is anyone there?) The unnatural weirdness may end if you review – of course, that isn't a promise, cos it still may! How 'bout if I say please? Desperate, much!
Ciao Ciao xxxx