A/N- This chapter is kind of a turning point for the story. It's coming to the point where, although it gets confusing, questions are slowly being answered, even though you may not realize they're being answered at the time. Thank you all SO much for your tremendous support- I couldn't do it without your reviews. This story is quickly becoming my most popular story of all time. I hope you all continue to read and enjoy, and hopefully review to tell me if I'm doing this the way you'd hoped. Thank you so much.
Again, as a side note, I don't know much about New Mexico geography. So please excuse any errors in distance between towns, size of towns, etc.
Chapter Nine
The sun broke over the horizon, its rays stretching slowly across the desert, wrapping the world in the light of the new day. Max and Liz leaned against the outside wall of the motel in silence, watching the new day arrive. They'd been there for hours, speaking no words but sitting in a silence that is content only in two who understand one another; understand the complexity that comes from the secrets that hide so deep within someone's soul.
Max turned his head, looking at the girl sitting next to him. She had her eyes closed softly, not in sleep but in relaxation. He looked at her long hair, cascading down over her shoulders and curling under her chin. Max thought back to hours before as he'd held her as she cried, her name spilling repeatedly from her lips before they'd both fallen to the ground in exhaustion, leaning against the wall for support.
Slowly, Max watched as Liz's eyes opened and turned toward him. She smiled lightly, the sunlight falling across her face. "Good morning," she whispered.
He smiled back at her. "Good morning, Liz. Liz Parker."
Liz turned her head forward again, watching the sun slowly lift in the east. "Max?" She looked at him questioningly and he nodded, encouraging her to ask he questions he knew were tumbling through her mind. "So you... I mean, what...?" Her sentence trailed off, not knowing what she was trying to ask. He understood that she still didn't quite comprehend his past or what he and the others were.
"We crashed here in 1947; well, our ship did at least. We were in pods, though. When we came out of the pods, we looked like we were seven."
Liz's brow furrowed in confusion. "So you're...?"
Max nodded slowly. "Yes, Liz, I'm an alien. Isabel, Michael, and I are aliens."
"What the hell!?" The voice broke out loudly, startling Max and Liz. They quickly scrambled up, turning toward the source of the voice. Max sighed as he saw Michael standing next to them, anger in his eyes.
"What the hell, Maxwell? What do you think you're doing?" He asked, his voice sharp with anger. The second door opened and Isabel and Maria came quickly rushing out, their faces a mix of confusion and apprehension. Maria looked at Michael's angry face and instantly rushed to his side, placing her arm around him in an attempt to cool the fire in his eyes.
"What's going on?" Isabel asked, glancing from one person to the next attempting to register what the disruption was.
"You want to know what's going on? Max is just walking around blabbing all of our secrets, that's what's going on!" Michael screamed, his face growing hot with agitation.
At once, five voices started talking in unison, their voices rising and tumbling over one another as they attempted to get their questions answered.
"Stop!" Max screamed. Liz looked at him as his voice rang above the crowd, a look of command burning in his eyes that she had never seen before. At once, the voices ceased, each person turning their attention toward him, the confusion still swirling in their expressions. "Will everyone just please listen?"
"We just want answers, Max." Michael said, his voice calmer, more reserved.
Max paused, his gaze shifting from one person to the next until it fell on Liz. He lingered there for a moment before turning back to the group. "Yes, Liz knows. Liz knows everything. Liz knows I'm the healer; Liz knows what Tess did to us; Liz knows, and I'm sorry, but it had to be that way. You all know that I would never purposely put any of you into danger. You have to trust me here. Please, trust the decision that I made. Liz knows everything. She now even knows that here name is Elizabeth Parker."
There was a silence before the voices began again. The others looked from Max to Liz, then back to Max again, the questions still evident in their eyes and poised at the tips of their tongues. Liz was amazed at the order he could bring about, the quiet he could cause with a single word. It became evident to her that they saw him as their leader.
"Your name is Elizabeth Parker," Isabel said, her voice straining to be calm, but fear still lining the edges of her words.
Liz nodded slowly, "I remembered last night."
"Well then," Isabel said, her eyes moving from Liz to Max, "let's go find out who Liz is."
An Hour or so Later
They'd navigated the streets of the small town until they found the library in its core. The building was old, sagging at the corners, dark, and musty from years of overused books and cramped spaces. It was seemingly empty from the outside, but when the group entered the building, they found many people milling about. There were children scattered in and out of the shelves full of children's books, leaning up against walls and reading. There were bodies filling chairs by the window, the people occupying them distracted with their noses shoved in books. The group headed toward the computers, immediately locating one and perching themselves around it.
"Well, where should we start?" Maria asked, placing her fingers on the keyboard. She turned her head, scanning the faced around her.
"Go to the newspaper database and search 'Elizabeth Parker.' I guess that's as good of a place to start as any," Alex said, shrugging his shoulders.
Maria turned toward the computer, following his commands. She typed Liz's name into the search box and they waited as the computer whirred, pulling a list of search results. They scanned the list quickly.
"There, that one," Michael said pointing to the third entry on the list. "It's about Liz's disappearance. Let's read it."
Quickly Maria clicked on the story, pulling it up to read.
Artesia Press
March 4
A local girl, Elizabeth Parker, was found missing yesterday evening. Police reports show that the girl was last seen on the evening of March 2 in a shopping mall two blocks from her home. Police have no released a list of suspects, but a source close to the family shared with us that the police have been questioning the family of Parker. Elizabeth Parker lives just outside of Artesia and is a graduate of East Artesia High School. She lives with her mother, Nancy Parker. Police will not confirm that Nancy Parker is a person of interest in this case.
The group was silent as they all scanned the newspaper article. When they finished, Maria spoke up, confused. "March fourth? But that doesn't make sense... you didn't show up until mid April." She said, her voice heavy with confusion.
Liz's eyes stayed fixed on the screen, her gaze running over the words, and then beginning again, over and over again. She couldn't make sense of what they were saying. Everything still seemed so confusing. Her name was Elizabeth Parker. She was from Artesia, New Mexico. Her mother's name was Nancy Parker.
A cold chill began to run through Liz. She felt it trickling down her spine, circulating throughout her veins as the hair on the back of her neck began to stand on end. She quickly looked behind and around them. The group spoke around her, each trying to make sense of the story, but her mind was elsewhere. She searched the faces around her, studying one and then quickly moving on to the next. She could feel it. It was a feeling so vaguely familiar to her. Something she knew she's felt many times before, but couldn't quite recollect. She could feel the evil in the room.
She turned to Max, sliding her hand timidly into his. He turned toward her and she leaned up. "We need to leave," she whispered into his ear. He looked down at her. He could see the fear in her eyes, and so he quickly brought order to the group and told them it was time to leave. He silenced the words of protest, ushering them out of the library as quickly as he could.
As they walked out of the library, Liz looked around. She caught sight of the man sitting at computer a couple desks away from theirs, and she felt her heart skip a beat. She could feel it inside of her again. Instinctively, she knew the darkness that man felt in his heart.
They walked to the parking lot and piled into the cars. "Drive a couple miles out of town and we'll pull off onto some road," Max said to the others. "I know you're confused, but I don't want to hear your questions until we stop, do you understand?"
They drove quickly out of town, their tires flying over the hot highway roads. They pulled off onto a deserted road and drove for a few minutes, before pulling off into an area surrounded by neglected brush. Max turned to Liz in the backseat, and instinctively she took off her seatbelt and slid out of the jeep.
"I need to talk to Liz alone," he said, turning to the others. "Please let us. We'll come back and explain to you why we left once I understand the situation."
The pair walked for a few minutes until the two cars disappeared behind them and they were alone in the heat of the morning. Liz sighed, leaning her weight against Max and feeling the salty tears slide from her eyes. He quickly pulled her closer, running his hand through her hair, attempting to soothe her tears into submission.
"Liz, what's wrong?" He asked her a few moments later after her tears had calmed.
Liz took a breath, tilting her head upward toward him. "We were in the library, Max, and I felt this feeling. It was so familiar yet so mysterious. I could feel something was off. I could feel... evil. I could feel a dark presence near us. I know, it sounds crazy..." her words trailed off.
He smiled down at her, "do you really think I'd accuse you of sounding crazy?"
A small smile played on her lips. "I just knew we had to leave. As we were walking out, I saw a man a few computers away from ours and I knew that the darkness was emanating from him. He had ill intent, Max, and I could feel it. He did not mean us well."
Max was silent for a moment, drinking in her words. "Are you sure?" He asked.
She nodded, "more sure than I've been about anything."
He sighed, letting her lean into him. He could feel the tremors of fear running through her body, causing his heart to ache in protectiveness. He longed to make her feel better. He placed his finger under her chin, tilting her face upward and letting his lips fall to hers. He could feel his mind unwinding as they kissed, the connection springing instantly to life without effort. And then, Max felt it. He felt the connection as it began to flow both ways, and before he could say anything, one image flowed freely from inside of Liz.
Liz threw her backpack lazily onto the kitchen table of the small apartment. Her mother looked up from her paper and smiled at the girl as she came into the room.
"I'm so sick of school," Liz sighed, as she fell into the chair. "Everyone is so shallow. They'd be easy to read even if I wasn't me," she said, a small laugh escaping her lips.
"Oh Lizzy, don't be so hard on everyone," her mother said, folding her newspaper in half and placing it on the table. "You really should start trying to get to know people."
"It's totally useless, mom. I mean, look at Susan Watters. She's the most popular girl in our class but she's totally fake. I mean, her boobs definitely aren't real. I walked by her today, and I knew for sure. God, if only everyone knew that she's been secretly sleeping around with some low-life from the south side of town. And she thinks she loves him, yeah right. He writes her this totally heinous poetry about how beautiful her eyes are or something and she calls that love? I just wish I could tell everyone how fake she truly is."
Nancy's brow curved into a frown as she looked at her daughter. "How do you know all of that?" She asked. From her expression, Liz could tell she already knew.
"How do you think?" She asked, matter-of-factly.
Nancy's face fell, anger creeping into her features. "Liz, you have to stop doing that. You know they're going to put you away one day if you don't stop thinking you can do that. It's a lie. I wish you'd just give it up. Stop thinking you understand people."
Liz's face clouded over as she looked at her mother, her eyes squinting together. She was silent for a moment after her mother stopped speaking before she said, "Don't pretend it isn't real mother. You of all people know what I am."
The image slowly faded away and Max looked down at Liz who was staring up at him, her face bent in confusion. "Max, what's wrong?" She asked quickly, her eyes searching his face.
He considered his words for a moment, before looking down at her. "Liz, we need to go to Artesia. We need to find your mother."
Later that Day
They drove for over an hour before reaching Artesia. They pulled into a small gas station to fuel up, and Liz walked into the shop and immediately located the phone book. She took a deep breath before opening it up to the P section and scanning the names. She found her mother quickly, and scribbled the address on the palm of her hand.
The two cars traveled to the east part of town, zigzagging through the small neighborhood streets before finally locating the group of apartments where Liz's mother lived. They all got out of the car, looking up at the apartment building. Liz looked up at the apartment building, shielding her eyes from the bright sun above before looking toward the others. "Well, let's go," she said, beginning to walk toward the door.
They walked up to the third floor, wandering down the hall and pausing outside the door. Max looked toward Liz before knocking. His eyes searched hers, silently asking her if she was ready. She pushed through the others toward the door and nodded at him, raising her own hand and knocking on the door.
There was a light rustling in the apartment before they heard the locks click and the door swung open. A short, red haired woman stood in front of them.
"How can I help-" Her words broke off as she scanned the group, her eyes landing instantly on Liz. She sucked in her breath, stumbling backward. "No," she said quietly. "NO!" She screamed louder.
"Mrs. Parker, we were just hoping-" Max began, but she quickly rushed toward them, cutting him off.
"No, you can't be here! No! You're gone, you're gone! They said, they said you'd d- I mean, you're..." the color drained from her face. Her last sentence came out barely a whisper, "They said you were dead."