Many of the characters within this story, and the universe they inhabit, are the intellectual property of Jason Katims Productions.
Roswell: Re-Imagined
Written by Horatio Jaxx
Chapter 43: This Is New
Max was on his way back into the city of Roswell when he felt his cellphone vibrate. He knew that someone had left him a message, and his first thought was that it was from his mom or dad. He was used to losing cellphone connection when he went trekking about in the wilderness. And he was accustomed to seeing messages from them when his cellphone reconnected with the network. Without stopping the jeep, he retrieved his cellphone from the pocket of his pants, negotiated the buttons with one hand to access his voicemail and then placed the phone to his ear. Almost immediately, the message began to play.
"Max, this is Isabel. Something has happened. You and Michael need to come to the soap factory right away."
Max quickly passed the message to Michael, who was sitting next to him in the jeep. They were quickly alarmed by the fact that Isabel was summoning them to the soap factory straight away. That suggested to them that whatever happened was both a secret matter and urgent. Max began steering the jeep to that location without thought of doing otherwise. Michael was in full agreement with that decision. They were both eager to know what was so important that Isabel thought to summon them there without delay.
Max and Michael assumed that Isabel was contacting the others with the same message. It was obvious to them both that Isabel chose the abandoned soap factory to give all seven of them a place to convene in private. They had no secrets from one-another, and they knew that only something that all seven of them needed to hear it would prompt Isabel to choose that location. Max raced on towards the abandoned soap factory at the speed limit of the road that he was on at any given moment.
When Max and Michael arrived, outside of the soap factory building, they were not at all surprised to see Jason's car parked there. They knew that he and Aaron had been hiking through a different sector of the wilderness southwest of Roswell and had likely got Isabel's message around the same time that they did. That gave them an even chance of getting to the soap factory before them. They were a little surprised not to see the spare Kessler family car that Julie regularly procured for errands and social events. They anticipated that she would be the person to give Tess a ride there. And they could think of no reason why Julie and Tess were not there before them. However, that observation notwithstanding, they expected a reasonable explanation would be forthcoming. Another sight they found unexpected was the absence of the car Isabel would likely have borrowed to make this rendezvous. It was normal practice for Isabel to use Diane's car for shopping and the occasional social event. That was especially true when Max, and his jeep, was not available. Since her only other option would be Julie Kessler's car, Max and Michael were confused by the absence of Diane's car outside the factory. All these things were observed by Max and Michael without any serious concern, but what they saw last had them both confounded.
"That's Maria's car," Michael called out with a start and a point.
"You sure," Max challenged with astonishment.
"That's Maria's car," Michael insisted.
Max required no further convincing than that. He quickly steered the jeep to a parking space near Maria's car. He and Michael jumped out of the jeep a second after Max cutoff the engine. They paused for a second to examine Maria's Jetta as if they needed to satisfy their suspicion with one last look. A closer examination did nothing to change their conclusion. Seconds later, they turned toward the factory and hesitated again. The sensation they were getting caused them to study it for a moment. They had been feeling the glow of several telepathic minds from a block away. It was only at this moment that they could make out the number of auras inside. What caused them to be alarmed was the fact that there was one more of their number than they expected. At best, they were only expecting to find five minds within the factory. And that was only if Tess and Julie were present. What they were sensing inside was the presence of six minds like their own, and two of them were decidedly weaker than expected.
Michael raced into the factory with Max two strides behind. Several seconds later they came to a stop, side by side, in the storage area at the back of the factory. They both looked on in astonishment at what they found there. Standing across the way from them, twenty feet distant, was Jason, Aaron, Tess, Isabel, Maria and Liz. Each of them looked equally startled as they stared back at them. Max and Michael paused to take notice of Liz and Maria's auras.
"What's happening?" Max asked with a stunned expression.
In response to that question, the group in front of Max turned their eyes to Liz. She held her focus on Max for another few seconds and then began looking about her as if she had lost something. Shortly, she fixed her eyes on a rusty bucket not more than ten feet away. She fixed her attention on it and soon it began to wobble. Seconds later, the bucket rose off the floor. The bucket floated four feet into the air before released it out of her mind and allowed it to drop back to the floor with a clang. She then looked back to Max with an expression of fear. He was staring at her with an amazed expression. They held these looks for several seconds before anything else was said.
"How am I doing this, Max?"
Liz's question was the thought that was on all their minds at that moment. No one had an explanation. Everyone looked to the others for an answer.
"What's going on?" Maria questioned into this silence. "How did Liz do that?"
Maria was the most confused of anyone there. On top of not knowing what was happening to Liz or why, she had no idea why everyone was looking at her with equal amazement. She noticed that to a far greater extent in Michael's stare. A second after she submitted her question, he approached her while holding an intense study of her person.
"What?" Maria questioned behind a ruffled brow.
"It's not just Liz," Isabel pointed out softly. "It's happening to her as well. I can feel it."
"You're saying that what happened to Liz is happening to me?" Maria questioned no one in particular. "Is this some kind of contagion?" She continued with a hint of hysterics.
"How is this happening, Max?" A frightened Liz inquired a second behind.
Max hesitated to respond because of his own confusion. After a few seconds of silence, he whispered out the one thing he felt was likely true.
"It can't be a contagion."
"Why not?" Isabel queried with a sudden outburst.
Isabel had been considering that idea from the first moment she noticed the change in Liz and Maria. She was never convinced it was true, but she was convinced that it was one of only two possible answers.
"If this is something that can be passed along, then our parents should have gotten it a long time ago." Max asserted to all in the room.
"So, what is it, Max?" Liz softly questioned with a look of worry on her face.
No one thought to answer Liz's query. Max, Michael, Isabel, Tess, Jason and Aaron were all thinking the same thing. But it was the new sensation that just entered their awareness, which was holding their attention at that moment. They all, minus Maria, turned their attentions towards the front of the factory and moved a half step into this new awareness. Liz felt it too, a couple of seconds behind the others. She turned her attention towards the sensation that was radiating in from the front of the factory. Maria noticed the change in the mood among the others and the sudden shift in interest towards the front of the building.
"What's wrong?" Maria almost whispered.
"It's Julie," Tess announced to all present.
"There's something wrong," Aaron corrected with a curious inflection.
Tess had already come to that conclusion, as did the others, minus Liz and Maria. There was something different about the aura of her mind that none of them could make sense of. It was not an unusual feeling. It was simply an unexpected one. As the seconds ticked off and the aura got nearer, the peculiarity of the feeling intensified. It was not until after another few seconds that they all understood why her aura felt so different. Isabel and Tess responded to their comprehension with a sudden soft gasp for air. Max, Michael, Jason and Aaron responded with sudden and noticeable looks of alarm. Maria took note of the increased tension in the room and was just then noticing a strange sensation emanating from the direction where everyone was looking. She took half step backwards out of apprehension for what was coming. Liz's awareness of the sensation had been growing by the second. She quickly recognized that it was different from what she was sensing from everyone there, and she suddenly understood it was approaching from outside the storeroom. That knowledge prompted her to ask a pair of questions.
"Who's Julie? And who's the other person?"
All eyes were focused on the entrance to the storage area. A second after Liz had asked her questions, Isabel responded to it in a hushed tone.
"There shouldn't be another person."
Everyone went quiet after that. They were all listening to the sounds of slow and careful movements coming from the hallway outside of the storage room. Several seconds later, Julie stepped through the entrance with a look of grave concern. She too had noted the presence of more telepathic minds than she expected. She scanned the faces of all present, stopping to give quick studies of Liz and Maria. seconds later she moved ten feet further into the room. Following two steps behind was a young man, a teenager by the look of him, who looked to be about five-foot ten-inches tall. He had a healthy build, but not appear to be athletically inclined. He had sandy brown hair and decidedly handsome facial features. He walked into the storage area with a nervous look to him. He came to a stop beside Julie and quickly glanced into the faces of all present. A few seconds more ticked off in silence and then Julie spoke.
"This is my boyfriend, Jeremy."
Julie had already surmised that they had encountered identical situations to the one that she had been dealing with for the past two hours. After speaking, she paused for a couple of seconds to hear their response. When it became obvious that nothing was going to be said, she turned her attention to Jeremy.
"Show them," Julie instructed softly.
Jeremy took a moment to return her look, and then he looked back at the faces staring at him from across the room. A few seconds later he pushed out a thought for all the telepaths to hear.
What's happening to me?
"Oh my god," Maria shouted out.
Maria brought her hands up to her head as she jumped a step back. The question that suddenly erupted in her head came as a terrifying shock. Michael quickly raced to her side and put his arms around her.
"It's alright," Michael assured in a soothing voice.
Liz was also surprised by the voice in her head, and her eyes went wide with shock.
"What was that?" Maria questioned in between gasps for air.
Michael quickly explained to her that she had perceived a thought that was telepathically sent to her. Even before he finished explaining that Isabel turned to Max with a dire expression.
"Max, this can't be a coincidence."
The original seven paused to reflect on what they were seeing as Liz, Maria and Jeremy looked on in wonderment. Liz turned to Max several seconds later and asked the question that she, Maria and Jeremy were desperate to have answered.
"What does this mean?"
After a moment of thought, Max ignored Liz's question and turned his attention to Jeremy.
"Were you adopted?" Max asked him directly.
"Yes," Jeremy answered with a look of confusion. "Why?"
The original seven turned to one-another with looks of startled apprehension. The seven of them inched back as they fathomed the full significance of what that suggested. A second later Aaron looked to Jason and blurted out, in a word, the thought he was obsessing over.
"Ashley!"
An instant behind that, Jason turned to the others and announced that he and Aaron had to leave. They promised to return after their investigation into their suspicions. No more was said of that. Max, Isabel and Michael watched them race out the entrance to the storeroom. They understood that it was their belief and fear that the same transition was happening to their girlfriends. Maria noted all that was happening with more than a little confusion. Liz was fairing a lot better, but a dread for what she was thinking was delaying her acceptance of it.
"I need to find Kyle," Tess declared to Julie in a voice laced with worry.
Julie quickly agreed to help with a nod of her head. She promptly instructed Tess to come with her. Together, with Jeremy in tow, the three of them hurried out of the storeroom and out to Julie's car. Max, Isabel, Michael, Maria and Liz were the only ones left in the storeroom. Max, Isabel and Michael looked on at Maria and Liz with mixed expressions of worry and comprehension. A dozen seconds later there was nothing but silence in the building. The sounds of footfalls trailed out into the distance. Maria was the first to speak into the quiet.
"What's happening?" Maria nervously questioned.
The event of Jeremy telepathically speaking into her head was still causing a great unease within Maria. Experiencing that was inhibiting her ability to keep up with everyone else's thinking on what was happening. Liz was putting the pieces together in her thoughts with methodical precision. Her only delay was the reluctance she was feeling for where her thinking was going.
"This can't be right, Max," Liz spoke up with a mixture of comprehension and fear.
Max and Isabel looked on at her with affectionate concern. Michael continued to attend to Maria's anxiety.
"There has to be a mistake," Liz insisted without conviction. "There must be another explanation," she continued with a mix of fear and hysterics.
Max was fearful of contradicting her. He knew the conclusion she had come to, and he continued to watch her with concern. Liz stared into empty space in front of her. Her mind was desperately trying to analyze away the obvious explanation for all that had happened. Nearly a minute later, she turned to Max and spoke in a decisive voice.
"Take me home, Max."