Seeker
Chapter Three
Tess is back. Isabel sat in shock, hearing Jesse's voice repeat those three words. Dread filled her. Tess was capable of murder. Tess had killed one of their own, a human. Alex. Alexander Charles Whitman, his tombstone read. That tombstone was a cherished place in her heart, however morbid that was. It was her Alex that had died at the hands of that psychotic alien hybrid. Tess was a murderer. And she was back.
Tess is back.
Tess is back.
Tess is-
"Isabel?" Jesse's voice penetrated the loop, the memories. "Honey, are you all right?"
Looking at him, Isabel could not fathom why he was calling her 'honey.' Then she remembered that the man in front of her was her husband, Jesse Ramirez. "Uh... no. No, I'm not all right," her voice gained strength. She turned to her adoptive parents. "Look, there's no time to explain, but we have to get Tess and the baby out of here, okay?"
"What?" Diane gasped. "What is going on, Isabel?
"I said there's no time! We have to go now!" she exploded in panic. A knock at the door interrupted her. She went taut as a spring.
"You are going to explain yourself," Philip demanded sternly. She looked at him, wishing, not for the first time, to have Tess's mindwarping abilities.
"There are bad people after Max's baby." Her voice was low and urgent, desperate for them to trust her.
"This is the United States Air Force! Open this door now!" The muffled shout filled the silence.
Philip looked to Isabel in disbelief. "Those are the bad people after Max's baby?" While Diane asked again, "What is going on here?"
Anger abruptly filled her. And trepidation. Max had come back into the room. He looked just how she felt. The resignation on his face gave her a new determination. Max was the king, he was supposed to be strong. But he was her brother. She had to be strong for him. Opening herself to the connection she had felt the week before, she let an inner calm buoy her. She turned back to their parents.
"Max's baby is an alien. So am I."
The next few minutes were a flurry of activity. Max, Tess, and the baby hurried out the back door with brief hugs and admonitions to be safe. Philip answered the door, while everyone else regained some sort of composure. The men in uniforms streamed through the front door over Philip's demands for a search warrant. They were all over the house. Isabel watched in horror as the videotape of her using her powers was confiscated from the VCR.
Jesse herded her into the kitchen. "Don't worry," he whispered into her hair. She felt a warmth, but knew it was not from the tenderness her husband displayed. The connection was still open, and there was an outpouring of affection and reassurance from her mysterious companion.
To let Jesse know she heard, she squeezed his hand, and smiled briefly. His answering smile set off a wave of guilt at the betrayal she was committing against her husband. Granted, she had done nothing untoward with anyone. But she loved another, not her husband.
At last, they were released from custody, and the Air Force officials tracked Tess's scent away from the house. Isabel bid her parents goodnight and got into the car with Jesse.
The car ride home was silent. She felt his eyes on her, worried, when he was not watching the road. The silence was oppressive, but she did not want to talk. Talking about Tess led to other subjects. Such as Alex. Somehow Alex had never come up in their relationship. 'Somehow?' she thought disparagingly. 'I purposefully kept everything about Alex from Jesse. When Jesse asked me if I had ever been in love, I said he was the first. When Jesse asked me about the guitar pick I wore as a necklace, I told him I used to play and it was a good luck charm. I never told him that Alex gave it to me after he played a song for me. He wrote that song, too. For me. For us.'
They were home, and Jesse had opened her door, waiting for her to come out of the car.
"Rough night," he muttered.
Understatement of the year goes to… "Yeah," she muttered noncommittally.
"Isabel?" Again, that worried tone.
She sighed. "Sorry. I was just thinking."
They went inside. They had no sooner turned on the lights than Michael was pounding on the door, Max and Tess behind him. Tess was carrying the baby closely, possessively. There was a strangely maternal softness to her as she instinctively rocked the baby and made soothing sounds.
Isabel savagely torn her eyes from the striking scene and tried to recall how much she hated Tess. It was not hard. All she had to do was bring Alex's face to the forefront of her mind, and a blazing fire of hatred for Tess was ignited.
Michael was on the phone, agitated. Maria, she thought, amused. That's definitely his "Maria voice."
Within a half hour, everyone was gathered in the Ramirez household living room. Liz and Maria were in the doorway to the kitchen, Maria acting as a guard between Liz and Tess. As Isabel met Liz's eyes, she noticed they were darker and tighter than before. The skin around her mouth was very white, and her lips were a thin line. A suspicious crackle of green energy snapped from her hand as she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. Isabel looked away quickly. Perhaps Maria was more of a buffer.
Michael was across the room, studiously ignoring Maria. It was obvious in how he looked in any direction but hers that he was anything but ignoring her. Isabel rolled her eyes at their childishness. Yet a part of her warmed with affection for her other brother's attitude. It really was funny how he and Maria reacted to each other.
Kyle and his father were nearest the door. They appeared ready to bolt, Kyle more so than his father, Jim. Kyle looked like a ball of nervous energy. He kept glancing at Tess, then pulling his eyes away and pacing. Each time he set eyes on the blonde alien, his eyes got wider and more wild. If Kyle had come into his powers already, she knew he would be blowing up every object in her house.
Tess was in the corner, her back to the wall. At some point she had become separated from her son. She no longer had a maternal glow to her. She seemed more like a hunted animal, waiting to fight for survival. Isabel shivered at the animalistic look in the other woman's eyes. There was something else, though. There was a deadness in that look.
She walked to the window and waited. The stars were shining down. The waiting continued. There were seven cars across the street, three were some shade of blue. The moon came out from behind a cloud. It was waning, not quite to a quarter yet. The bedroom door opened.
Isabel snapped around to look at the emerging occupant. Max had a gentle appearance, despite the weariness radiating from him. He was truly a father. It was at that moment she believed.
The next moments as Tess's fate was decided were strained and went quickly. Jesse had decided not to participate, understandably so. He had looked at his wife as she cast her vote, a tired gleam in his eyes as she said Alex's name. What was surprising was Liz's vote. She did not vote to turn Tess in to the Air Force.
The next morning, Liz and Tess were both missing. Isabel was the only one awake when Liz came back in. There was a peace to her, a slight satisfaction to her, that told Isabel Tess was gone. Dead. Justice was served. She turned away so Liz would not see the tears fall from her eyes as she wept once more for Alex.