Disclaimer: I don't own MBC nor the characters. Rated T for strong language and mature themes.

The vibe of the chapter (lyrics-wise at least): Love Escape by Paul Oakenfold - If I had the chance, I'd go back to the start. Hold love in my hands, not just in my heart...

...

Normal POV

At Chris' house

"What happened?" asked Chris while he was seating Sam into an armchair and sitting next to her. "Were you talking about divorce?"

Sam frowned. "What? Why would we talk about that? You want to get divorced?" Chris soon realized what he had said. If he doesn't come up with a good reason for thinking of that, other than questioning their marriage, Sam would freak out immediately.

"No. Absolutely not. It's just that you are never so down and my mom cries, divorce was the first thing that came on my mind." He checked their reactions. Both of them were moved by something. And it was definitely not the problems surrounding their relationship.

Julie was still sobbing. Chris was waiting patiently for someone to explain the situation to him. He could sense it's something serious and tragic. Sam was trying to make up the whole story of what probably happened 10 years ago in her head. He knew how she looks like when she is making schemes in her head. Finally, she decided to say something.

"I know it's hard for you, but would you mind telling the whole story? From the beginning to the... end?" Asked Sam while trying to hold her tears so Chris wouldn't know she is crying.

Julie nodded. "I can't imagine losing another person. When Heather died, I was really struggling to carry onto everything." She made a short pause to dry her tears. "I will tell you the whole story, as it must be confusing to you." She looked around the kitchen and was aware that the presence of her son and his possible involvement is not a good sign.

Julie started. "I and Heather were best friends. We've met when we started going to middle school. She had a friend, Tom. He was a little weird, but fun to be with, so we let him be friends with us. We were hanging out in the park one evening. We were thirteen I think when we saw a shooting star, which lightened up the whole place. But no one else in the park noticed. Just the three of us did. Since Heather was the adventurous one, she grabbed my hand and wanted to explore the place where it had landed. Tom came with us. After some walking, we saw a big piece of metal laying on the ground. There was a person standing nearby. It was a boy who was our age. We didn't know who he was, but we knew one thing for sure. He was someone special. Someone who seemed to be on Earth for the first time. That was our first alien encounter. We didn't know it at the time, but us four were the chosen ones. To this day, I don't have a clue why us. It could be any other group of friends from our middle school. Maybe it was because of our diversity. Heather was agile and fearless, Tom was incredibly smart, I was good with technology and gadgets. And Noel was... an alien. We made a perfect team. That day was the beginning of the end."

Chris immediately knew what she was talking about. The same thing happened to him, Sam and Danny a few years ago. He couldn't believe that his mom used to be a monster buster. He couldn't believe it was his mom, whose invents and security system caused him so much trouble. He was eager to find who the Glitch Girl is, but he knew her his whole life, she raised him.

Julie continued. "We were saving our town almost every day. Years went by and I knew that something is off with me. Girls in our age started to switch their best friends for boyfriends. I didn't want to do that. I wanted my best friend to be my significant other. You need to understand, what is acceptable today, wasn't acceptable in the '90s. I thought it's just a phase and so did my parents. I expressed my feelings to Heather. To my surprise, she didn't argue with me, she didn't laugh nor screamed at me. In fact, she didn't say anything. She leaned closer and kissed me. From that moment on we were romantically involved. We hid it from everyone. Even Tom and Noel had no clue that we are... interested in each other sexually. Loving her was unrealistically great. We were eighteen when we stopped busting. That seemed to us ar the right time to plan our life together. We hoped that we could get married and have children together. We told our parents, but they weren't supportive at all. And because we couldn't actually be together, we came up with a plan that seemed perfect to us. We will find husbands, have children with them and live side to side. Live normal lives and be together behind closed doors only. I was more lucky than Heather when searching for the right man. Eric went to the same high school as we did. We shared several classes together and I liked him. He was kind. Something told me that he is the right man for me. Eric Lang is my friend for life and he blessed me with two beautiful sons."

"Are you talking about my dad? You are living with him just to avoid suspicion about your sexuality?" Chris was shocked by the amount of information his mom just told him. It also meant she cheated on his dad with Sam's mom, who was cheating on Sam's dad.

"I truly love him for everything he did for me, but he isn't Heather. It's hard to understand and accept, I know. I don't regret marrying him. There is only one thing I regret and that's not helping Heather solve the problems she had with her husband. Honestly, if she had married Noel or Tom, it would be better for her. Out of all the men she met, she chose the worst one. Everything seemed okay at first. They got married. He was away a lot, which was good for us two. We got married and pregnant almost at the same time, so we could share every moment, every experience together. We even convinced our spouses to buy houses next to each other. Heather was wondering why is not her husband present and the explanation was simple: They just couldn't stand each other. He preferred being in the bar and staying at his old place alone. She once said that being with him is bearable. Just bearable. The only thing that kept her hanging on was our relationship. She was always on my mind. I loved our conversations. Sometimes we were finishing each other's sentences."

"And you managed to keep your relationship secret for so many years? My mom was 30 when she died, that means you were together for almost 15 years." Sam remembered her mom and Chris's mom spending time together, but even now, after knowing the truth, she wouldn't say it was something more than just a friendship.

"When you have someone special to live your life with, 15 years go fast. I was hoping for more though." Julie made a pause and was about to cry again. "The most precious thing we have is time and they've stolen it from us. I remember, there were signs that something bad is going to happen."

"We need to know more. As I told you earlier, as a former club member, which my mom was as well, I am in danger. But it could also be Chris or Danny or Cathy. If we knew what to keep our eyes on or what should we be aware of, it would be a huge help and a lifesaver indeed."

"Everything went suddenly wrong. Now that I know aliens have to do something with it, it all makes sense now. I thought that we have just changed. Everything was falling apart. Our relationship with Heather hit the rocky road, Noel was unbearably mean to everyone and Tom was slowly drifting apart from us. Maybe it wasn't just a coincidence. They were getting in our heads with an attempt to take control of our lives. We were tricked without knowing it."

"So you are telling us that our feelings and actions are controlled by someone else?"

"Of course. Haven't you worked on a case before that involved some sort of manipulation or control over your actions? I bet you did. It will try to get into your head and make you either go insane, drift apart from the rest, or kill yourself accidentally. Maybe that's why Heather crashed. Police said she was drunk, but I know it's bullshit. It was weird, but I would have never thought that it was aliens who killed her."

"Let me get this straight: All of you had some sort of problems or detected a strange behavior? If that's the case, all of us are in danger and the one who dies is the one who will be the first to fall into pieces? And we probably won't know what is real and what is not." Sam thought out loud.

"Good thing is that we know what to expect. It will be hard to tolerate cruel remarks or arguments, but we can't let them win. We have to be strong together." Chris' statement made Sam feel a bit better. She was so sure he wouldn't let her down under no circumstances.

"I wish I knew what was going on. The last thing I told Heather was that I hate her for ruining my life." Julie closed her eyes. "I couldn't stand it anymore, everyone was getting on my nerves. She was full of hatred and anger. Even talking to her was unbearable, I just wanted her to finally shut up." Chris's mom took a deep breath and finished her sentence with a chilling ending - "And she did."

"Oh lord." gasped Chris in disbelief. This sent chills down his spine. He already knew about one thing that might trigger drama between the four. Knowing about Cathy's pregnancy made him feel terrible. He just hoped Cathy will tell Danny tonight. He hoped for the best outcome. He could feel the secret eating him from the inside out. He had a lot of crazy schemes in his head on what might happen if he comes clean, and what will happen if he chooses to remain silent about it. He decided to remain silent for a bit longer.

The other thing he started considering in his head was his relationship with Sam. Lately, it's been weird. He knew he loves her. He hoped she loves him back. Still, there was something off. Could that be because of alien influences on his emotions? Sam has a lot on her plate now. Maybe that's why she is so straight-forward and relational. Chris hated this bitter side of her. He also knew the more troubled she was, the harsher she was. The stream of his inner thoughts had been interrupted by his mom again.

"If I got it right, you two, Danny and Cathy were the monster busters? I am so glad your duty is over. If I knew in what danger you were, I wouldn't be able to sleep calmly at night." Said Julie casually.

Chris exchanged a look with his wife. Should they tell Julie that her other son is in that danger currently? Sam decided to tell her.

"Julie... I wouldn't have told you, after what you just confessed and what you got to know, but I am fed up with hiding everything. I don't want to have secrets, I hate secrets. I have never had a secret in front of Chris, and he never hid anything from me, and I want to be genuine to you as well." Chris was biting his lip nervously as she was saying that. He didn't want to hide anything from her but also knew, he shouldn't tell her now. "John is a monster buster now."

Chris's mom gasped, nodded and thanked Sam for telling her. She knew that her daughter-in-law is brutally honest and doesn't hide around the bush. She was actually quite relieved. At least she knows, what is her son up to. It made her feel terrified, on the other hand, she knew, there is nothing she can do about it. She was about to go to her room, to ask her husband about his day. She stood up and sensed the tension between Sam and Chris.

"If it started already, don't let it affect your relationship. It didn't work out for me and Heather, so at least our kids have to be happy together. I truly believe you could be happy. You are both smart. I think you will be able to find some possibilities and solutions to this mess."

They both nodded silently without looking at each other. Sam asked her final question: "How long did it take?"

"We were having problems for a month. Then, you know what happened. And you are also aware of the aftermath."

They both knew, that Noel is living alone and chose to forget about his friends. Tom had moved far away while Julie tried to live her life without her soulmate and took Heather's daughter Sam under her wings and provided a family environment to her. It is safe to say it had changed their lives forever.

Sam and Chris were still sitting silently side by side. They both knew what is at stake. They also knew it was worth fighting for and the first step was to get the whole former team to the cheerleading team.

They were relieved it's Friday. They had a free weekend ahead of them with an exception of showing up at the basketball match taking place at their school on Sunday evening. As cheerleaders, they will be cheering their school's team for the first time. Chris was nervous about it. Sam was looking forward to it. She taught several people new tricks and couldn't wait to show they are capable of winning a competition if they want to. The only thing that bothered her was the timing. The state competition and also the possible end of her life were both just a month away...

Chris and Sam are used to spending the weekends together at Sam's house. They both grabbed several things, jumped over the fence and went inside. Everything was clean and tidy as always. They went into Sam's room instantly, sat on her bed while remaining silent. They needed time to think. A few minutes passed by when Chris finally spoke up: "Are you alright?"

Sam looked at him and answered with a question: "And you are alright?"

They both lied down on the bed next to each other, being a little tense and shaken by everything.

"Well, there are several things that I worry about. For instance, we probably won't know, who will be the target, right? How can we prevent them from being hurt then?"

"That's a good question. Do you think they will go for just one of us, while the rest will crumble and panic, or will they tease all of us and wait for the one who will be a nervous wreck first and thus prone to hurt themselves?"

Chris made out a sigh. "Both are possible. But the bad thing is that we won't know which one of them is happening. It's going to be a nerve-wracking experience. That reminds me of Catch 22 - Either way, we will lose."

Sam wasn't as pessimistic as him and didn't want to give up a fight just yet. Maybe Cathy and Danny will provide a different point of view.

At Danny's house

Cathy's feet were leading her to Danny's front door. After her conversation with Chris, she decided to tell Danny without thinking about it too much. Sam and Chris were known to be over-thinkers and she knew how many problems that caused them. It was a Friday evening, she knew his mom was at the community center and dad was on duty, probably just sitting in his car all night and patrolling the city. When Cathy finally arrived, she was suddenly a bit hesitant. Her heart was pounding faster and louder than it normally would. She took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell.

"Is it a pizza delivery? I am coming!" Danny said loudly as he was going down the stairs. When he opened the door, his expression changed drastically. "Cathy? Is something going on?" He asked carefully.

She nodded. "Can I come in? It's a serious matter."

Danny invited her in and instructed her to go to his room. Cathy sat on his bed and crossed her legs. Since she hadn't been home yet, she put her school stuff on the floor.

"Were you somewhere after school?" Danny asked her as he saw her school bag.

"I stayed there a little longer and then I went to a pharmacy and bought something."

Cathy stood up and asked if she could use the bathroom. Danny didn't know what to make out of this. His ex-girlfriend came to his house without saying anything. Maybe she just wanted to pee while walking home and his house was the closest. As the minutes went by, Danny gazed out of the window. It was already dark outside. Many thoughts were running inside his head. He didn't have a clue on what could that serious matter be.

Meanwhile, Cathy was waiting for the results of the pregnancy test. She wanted to be one hundred percent sure before she tells him the news she is eating for two. Or possibly more, if we consider her appetite. She starred at that little piece of plastic in front of her knowing it is going to change her life. Two stripes appeared. Two stripes confirmed what Wendy told her earlier. She is pregnant. Everything around her stopped. It was just her and the test results. Her, Danny and their child. Their future.

Cathy was determined to tell the truth. She went to the window he was standing by.

"Can we talk? But please, promise you won't get mad at me."

Danny nodded while still looking out of the window.

"I won't hide around the bush, I wanted to tell you that..." Her sentence was cut short due to a phone call.

...

"Isn't that... Sam? Where is she running?" Cathy recognized a known face in front of Danny's house. She was heading towards the forest. There was something off with her legs. One of her legs seemed wobbly to her. Cathy wondered if she got injured somehow.

"Sam! Stop!" Chris was running after her. When he realized he is by Danny's house - and he also knew Cathy is there as well, he stopped and screamed at them: "I need your help! Sam has completely lost her mind. She is bonkers!"

Cathy and Danny had exchanged a look and went down and out of the house. Cathy was sad she was interrupted, but Sam's safety was more important at the time. She asked what happened.

"I don't know. I told her that I want to talk to her." Chris had trouble catching his breath. He's not an athlete after all. "And you know what she did? She jumped out of the window and started running away!"

Their jaw dropped. "That is shockingly weird behavior for her. We have to go after her."

"Please go. I will catch up with you later. I'll call John to help us."

Cathy and Danny started running towards the forest. "I am glad you didn't jump out of the window as I wanted to tell you something."

"That will, unfortunately, have to wait. But don't be afraid, I wouldn't do anything that is considered as suicidal."

A few meters behind them Chris kneeled on the floor and called John via his smartwatch. John answered the call on his V-com.

"Chris! I just wanted to tell Alexa I like her!" John was mad at his older brother for interrupting his confession.

"Though I am proud of you, it will have to wait. If Alexa is near, grab her by the hand, use an MBV and get here as fast as possible. Sam is possessed by an alien or something! We need you."

"Holy Molly, give us one minute."

...

Thanks for reading! Please, write a review, if you like the story - or not, so I have feedback.

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