Chapter 49b Blood is thicker than water

Maria opened her eyes and looked around. For a second she was confused where she was and needed a little time for her brain to catch up to her sight. Still part of her wondered why she was lying on the couch in the living room and why her family was staring worriedly at her. She felt a hand brushing her hair away from her face and she turned in the direction of it. Relieved she noted that it was just Michael, who was smiling at her.

" How are you?".

Maria stared at him like she would see him for the first time. Something strange had happened, because she couldn´t remember anything after she helped her sister. What the hell was going on? " I´m pretty confused right now. But other than that alright. I think".

Kyle stepped forward and squeezed his sisters hand. He had been so glad when she had opened her eyes. " You gave us quite a scare when you fainted. What happened?

" I don´t know. The last thing I remember is walking down the steps with Lindsey and Tess. I was so happy to be there for her first date", at the mention of date Marias face cleared immediately. Now she remembered again what happened. She had glanced in the eyes of the boy and identified her halfbrother Nicolai. He must have done something to let her faint, because he wanted to avoid a scene. " Where is Lindsey?".

Amy stepped closer to her daughter and felt her forehead. Her first thought had been that Maria had caught the flu or a cold. But she had no fever and no other indication that she was ill. Yet she was mother and worried about her children. " Are you not feeling well? Maybe I should call Dr. Perkowitz. He should check you out".

Maria slapped the hand of her mother away and tried to stand up from the couch. Unfortunately she was too quick and her sight started to spin around her. She felt like she would be on the Titanic, after it crashed against the iceberg. " Don´t call him. I just need a few moments and I´m as good as new", she put her head between her legs and breathed a few times deeply in and out. After she was sure that she left the merry-go-round, she looked up at her family. Halfway she noticed the time on the videorecorder and realized that she had been out for two hours. Worriedly she faced Michael. " Can you do me a favor and get my jacket?I think fresh air will help me right now".

" Okay. If you think you´re up to it", he kissed her forehead before jumping to his feet and disappearing from her sight.

Tess sat down on the vacated spot her brother had been occupying moments ago and began stroking her best friends back. " Are you sure it´s good that you go outside? I mean wouldn´t it be better if you would rest?".

Maria rubbed her face nervously. She was touched about the concern her family was showing towards her. But she couldn´t let her sister alone with this bastard. She was scared what he already could have done to her in the hours she had been out of it. " I will feel better when I take a breath of fresh air".

" Maybe you all stop harassing her and leave her alone", Jim interfered to save his daughter from the next twenty questions. If she said that she was feeling better than it was so. Period. She was old enough to know her body.

Maria turned to her father with gratitude and smiled at him. There was a reason why she loved him so much. No matter how many times he tried to forbid her some things or even screamed at her, when it came to the point he was always staying behind her and covering her back. " Thanks Dad".

Just as her father wanted to reply something Michael stepped back into the living room with a black leather jacket on his arm and wearing his own black leather jacket. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed the looks he was receiving from everyone. " Did I miss something or why are you all staring at me?".

" They are just surprised how good you look in leather", Maria slowly rose from the couch and went to her boyfriend to get her jacket. Then she faced her family and winked. " Later".

Michael just had enough time to lift his hand before his girlfriend dragged him out of the house. He was pretty confused about her odd behaviour. Something had happened to her and it worried him that she wasn´t telling him what it was. " What is going on here?".

Maria didn´t have the patience nor the time to explain everything to him. She wanted to be gone two hours ago. Too bad that Larek hadn´t gave her the gift to space shift. That would have saved her time. " Nothing. I just need your car".

" For what? And would you quit dragging me", Michael released the hold on his arms and stopped in his tracks. If she wanted something from him, she had to tell him the truth. Either that or she could walk.

Maria was on the brink to scream the whole town down. Why couldn´t her friends or her family trust her without knowing everything? Why was it so hard for them to just do what she asked them to? She wasn´t some nutcase or so. " Please. I´ll tell you the reason when we´re in the car and on the way to the movie theatre. But we don´t have time".

Michael saw something in her eyes that scared him. Fear was clouding them mixed with a little bit of worry and panic. He never witnessed that with her. She wasn´t just some ordinary girl and she didn´t get afraid so easily. It must be something huge when she reacted that way. " All right. Get in".

" Thanks", Maria was really greatful that he hadn´t made a fuss like usual. She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a loud kiss on the lips. Now she finally knew why she loved him so much. Startled she backed away from her boyfriend and her eyes were huge in her face. Where had that thought come from? Love? Wasn´t it a little bit to early for that? They knew each other just for three months and were only dating for one. Well not counting their past lifes.

Michael didn´t even realized the shocked state his girlfriend was in. He had been too busy with the flashes he had seen in her mind. Memories from her life as Marianna. There had been an older boy with grey piercing eyes, which were always emitting such a coldness that it was scary. His gaze spoke of deep ruted hate and something that wasn´t so easily to decipher. If Michael should place a bet he would say it was close to longing. But that wasn´t possible. You can´t hate something that you long for and you can´t long for something that you hate. Or was he wrong in his assumption and the problem was deeper than it appeared on the first look? Who was this guy at all? And why did he pop in Marias mind just now? More confused than ever he shook his head and opened his car. He wouldn´t get his answers by standing in the cold. When he sat behind his wheel he finally noticed that he was the only one inside the vehicle. " Come on Maria. Let´s go".

Maria jumped slightly when she was thrown out of her thoughts. Surprised she saw that Michael was already sitting in the car and stared at her impatiencly. Right. She didn´t have time for thinking about things that were out of her understanding. Some things just happened and nobody would ever know the reason why. And love was definitely high on that list. Hurriedly she jumped into the Dodge and fastened her seatbelt while her boyfriend started the car and pulled out on the street.

" Can I finally know the reason for your weird behaviour tonight?", Michael knew that he had no patience. A trait that had brought him enough trouble already. But if Maria was worried than he worried and he hated that feeling.

Maria considered how she could say it to him without freaking him out. It had already been strange that her ex fiance from her past life had been visiting her, but when she would tell him that her half brother was taking out her little sister at this exact moment, he would surely think she had lost her mind. " Nicholas is not who he appears to be". Now she had said it, even if she hadn´t wanted to just blurt it out like that.

Michael averted his gaze from the street in front of him and turned to his passenger besides him. All right, he knew that his girlfriend wasn´t the most sane person on this planet and maybe he liked it that she wasn´t like any other girls. But that was too bizarre, even for him. " Okay. Who is he then?".

" Can you remember Davico, the guy dating Vilandra?", Maria had seen his expression before he had turned back to look out the window and she was aware that he thought she was loco. Damn, she wasn´t crazy.

Michael mulled over the name, it was familiar somehow and he had heard it already. Suddenly his mind wandered to a scene from Rath´s life.

Flash

Rath was standing near the dancefloor and watched Larek trampling on Mariannas feet. She

was smiling at her partner and his attempt to move his feet to the rythym. For the first time he

wasn´t jealous about the fact that his best friend was with his girl. Grinning he turned to

Vilandra, who was over and over again looking at the entrance of the castle. " So if Mariannas

is already occupied, how about you dance with me?".

" Sorry, but I can´t. Davico just arrived. I´ll see you later", Vilandra took off like the devil

himself was after her.

Within seconds the scene changed and he was standing in the hall of the palace.

Flash

Rath was confronting Marianna about her intention to make a hasty retreat. He was so angry

that he couldn´t see straight. Then Vilandra stretched her head out of her bedroom door and

stared at him.

"Rath don´t do it. Please. It´s not her fault. If you want someone to blame then blame me".

He glanced at Vilandra like she lost her mind. What was she talking about? " Huh?".

" I invited the enemy into the castle. I didn´t know it at the time, but I was involved with

Mariannas brother. And I think he used me for information", Vilandra confessed remorseful.

He shook his head. He had to misheard himself. Because it sounded like Vilandra was the one

who brought all this death and destruction. " Excuse me? Did I hear correctly? You had a thing

with the enemy?".

In that moment Marianna interfered in the argument." But she had no idea that he was the

enemy then".

" You knew about that!".

End Flash

After that he came back from his visit to his past and concentrated again on the street. Now he knew why Maria had been so worried. " Are you trying to tell me your evil brother is here and dating your sister?".

Maria had to refrain from laughing out loud, although the situation wasn´t so funny. But what he just said sounded a little funky. Like they would come from a hick town and breed in. Ewwww. " Firstly, don´t mention this again, it sounds disgusting and secondly he´s the halfbrother of Marianna, which means we´re not really related to each other, at least theoretically. And thirdly, that is exactly what I tried to tell you".

" Oh shit!", Michael stepped harder on the gas pedal and ignored the speed limit. Well, he was on familiar terms with the sheriff and maybe he would have mercy when he heard the reason for the speed. Besides he had Maria sitting besides him and she would use her charme to prevent him from getting a ticket.

Maria held onto the dashboard to keep herself from getting squashed through her seatbelt. Her boyfriend had come obviously to the same conclussion she had earlier. The situation went from bad to worse. But one good thing had this whole mess. They finally knew that Lykus wasn´t alone on this planet and they had targeted her family. Those bastards would pay if Lindsey would just be missing a tiny hair. No one would be getting away with hurting the people she loved. Not as long as she was still breathing. She didn´t want to lose everyone around her again, because this time she would probably perish from the pain. It had been already too painful the first time, but the second time would be deadly.

Michael felt a sudden wave of panic mixed with fear wash over him and he almost lost control over the car. For a moment they swerved on the street before he pulled the steering wheel hard around and until the dodge was driving a straight line again. Scared he touched his chest right over his heart. He wanted to make sure that it stayed in his ribcage and didn´t come up with the idea to escape from his body. Holy shit, he almost wet his pants. He loved the adventure and the rush of adrenaline that came with it. But this had been a tad bit too much for him. He already saw his whole life passing in front of his minds eye and it hadn´t been exactly very satisfying. " Woah. That was close".

" What was that actually? I thought you could drive a car", Maria had seen herself already lying on the sidewalk with the broken dodge besides her. She almost had lost the milkshake and the cheeseburger she had been having at the mall.

Michael glared at her shortly, because he didn´t want to let the street out of his sight for too long. Now she started to mock him. He could drive a car. But not when he got surprised from the frightened feelings of his girlfriend. If anything she should apologize for startling him. " Hey. It´s your fault that I lost control. If you would keep your feelings to yourself and not broadcast them to the damn whole world, this wouldn´t have had happened".

Maria was speechless for a nanosecond. All right, she had been too worried to about her sister to make sure that she held her feelings in check. She forgot that he was an empath and felt what she felt. But that didn´t give him the right to snap at her like that. " I´m sorry that I´m worried about my family. Next time I´ll remember to leave my feelings at home".

" Oh no, don´t you start with me now", Michael pointed with his forefinger at her. He wanted to prevent them from fighting with each other. Although entertaining, it wouldn´t bring them any further. Besides they hadn´t the time for it, because they had a serious situation at hand.

Maria was really tempted to suck his finger in that moment. She loved it when he began to get mad and it made her extremely hot. Just in time she could herself hold back to jump on his lap and kiss him senseless. She didn´t care that they were on the way to help her sister or that Michael was driving. Suddenly she noticed a young couple strolling on the sidewalk in front of them. " Stop the car".

Michael, thankfully also aware of the two people walking hand in hand though the dark streets of Roswell, stepped immediately on the brake and parked his dodge at the curb. " What do you want to do now?".

" We follow them around. If Nicolai just as much as put a finger on her, I will f squish his damn skull", and Maria truly meant it. He just had to make a wrong move and she wouldn´t hesistate to take his ugly face and perform a makeover. This time she wouldn´t make the same mistake like she did on Antar and underestimate him again. Slowly she got out of the car and tried to close the door as quietly as she could.

Michael did the same and then went to his girlfriend. He was glad that they were on the same side, because quite frankly she was starting to scare him. Well, he wouldn´t act any different if he was sure that a bad guy was targeting his family, but it was different with him. At least he was looking like he could take on some baddie, whereas Maria was looking like she couldn´t hurt a fly, let alone a grown man. Besides she was his girl and he didn´t want anything to happen to her. " Are you absolutely sure that it´s him? Not that we beat on the wrong guy"

Maria looked up at her boyfriend. She was a little hurt that he was doubting her and that just in this moment. When did he start not trusting her and her instinct? " I´m certain. Trust me on this".

" All right. Then get a move on or we´re gonna lose them", Michael took Marias hand and dragged her quietly with him. They both had to be sneaky and fast or they would lose their target. He was glad that he remembered his life as a soldier, because a few things were quite useful in this life. Not that he had practise tailing someone or anything.

Maria almost tripped over her feet during the forceful pull of her boyfriend, but thankfully she could catch herself in the nick of time and prevent falling down and blowing their cover in the process. After that they slowly sneaked along the little shops lining the streets one after the other. While Michael concentrated on following the young couple and keeping enough space between them so that they didn´t notice their shadows, Maria tried to set up her siblings bond with her sister, in order to feel it immediately if something should go wrong. However the only thing she could sense at the moment was the growing nervousness and the excitement. Shocked she picked up the thought of Lindsey kissing the scumbag. Disgusted she tried to get her gag reflex down and not lose her meal for the second time that night. " Are you still seeing them?".

Michael spied around the corner and saw the couple disappearing through a large bush. He was glad that he was an alien, because their sight was the same no matter day or night. And although it was full moon, the streets were still kind dark at this time. " They just went through some sorta bush".

" What? Let me see", Maria pushed her boyfriend aside and took his place at the corner. Carefully she stretched her head out and looked at the mentioned place. Michael had been telling the truth. It was a bush. But it wasn´t that thickly or even deep, it was just something like a secret opening for a special spot here in Roswell, which just a few teenagers were aware of. Maria herself had visited this place once with Doug Sohn and she got her first kiss there. " Oh shit, it´s the entrance to the garden of love".

Michael scratched his eyebrow confused. Okay, that was it, Maria had probably hit her head when she fainted, because what she was saying wasn´t making any sense. Not to him at least. Maybe they should go home and she should lie down until she felt better. " What are you talking about?".

Maria didn´t answer his question. Instead she gripped the front of his leather jacket and pulled him after her. That bastard had something planned, something that didn´t involve being seen from anybody. Bloody hell, either he wanted to do her or he wanted to kill her, neither of this options were good and she had to prevent both from happening. Briskly she went to the spot where the thorns wouldn´t hurt so much. After she made sure that nobody was watching them and that nobody was near who could see them she pushed her way through the thicket. She could hear Michael faintly cursing her for dragging him into a damn pricky shrub, maybe blemish his beautiful face and probably ruining his expensive jacket in the process. Maria had to stiffle the laughter which was threatening to bubble up in her. She asked herself why she took him with her actually. He was worse bitching than a girl. But before she could tell him to shut his mouth or they would surely get detected, they came to the end of the bush. Immediately Maria pushed herself a few steps back when she noticed that her sister and Nicolai were standing almost near them. Unfortunately she hadn´t said anything to her companion, which resulted in two colliding bodies, more cursing and a pretty loud rustle. Thankfully the young couple seemed to not have noticed anything unusual and carried on with their conversation. Michael meanwhile recovered from pulling thorns from his butt cheeks and glared at his girlfriend, who hadn´t one scratch on her body, because she was so small and obviously knew her surroundings.

" You could have warned me before you went into reverse. My ass must be looking like a sieve right now, thanks to you", he whispered angrily in her ear. She should make herself ready for a beating when they came home, she deserved it after this evening.

Maria turned her head around and masked her amusement about his discomfort. He was behaving like a baby. The thorns weren´t exactly big and didn´t hurt that much. She had suffered severe wounds already and she did it with less whining. " You could have watched where you´re going. Besides we´re tailing someone. I wanted to make as little noise as possible".

Michael still rubbed his sore butt. It didn´t hurt that much, but it was about the principle here and the fact that he couldn´t let her win this round. She won too much already and he hated it. " Great. Now it´s my fault. Why do you always blame me for everything that is going wrong?".

" Because you´re my boyfriend and it´s usually your fault, honey", Maria bent closer to him and gave him a kiss. Maybe that would finally shut him up for a moment and lead him away from the bitching. When she pulled away from him she was pleased to see his dazed expression staring back at her. " Now be quiet and watch".

Michael smiled satisfied, even though he knew that he lost this round again. But after this kiss it didn´t faze him nor did he notice the obvious dig at him. Highly motivated he placed himself besides Maria and observed the scene. The first thing he noticed was two stone statues resembling a manticore, a mythical creature from the greek mystic. It had the face of a human, the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion. Both were standing in the middle of what appeared to be an old cemetery, at least according to the little heaps of stones evenly spread on the weed overgrown ground. " Where are we?".

Maria knew why he was asking her that. The first time she put a foot in there, she felt like a character from the movie " Pet Cemetary". She had felt really uncomfortable and had been scared. The had feeling even intensified when she accidently tripped over a heap of stones and destroyed it. Not even Doug had managed to calm her and after they shared their first kiss they both had disappeared immediately. " This had been a Indian cemetery before the white man came, banished them from town and forced them to live in reservation out in the desert. They say an old medicine man cursed the property and after that everybody who dared to try to built something on this land had either given up or had been having an accident. Since the sixties nobody had set a foot in there. Well, except for just a few teenagers looking for secluded spot to to make out".

" That is so cool", Michael had a secret passion. He loved history and he read much about the native americans and the stories about them. It was instructive and fascinating at the same time. It all had started when he saw " the last of the mohicans". After the movie he read everything he could about the indians and even made an attempt to become one of them. Needless to say he didn´t make it, which was still paining him a little.

Maria ignored her boyfriend and concentrated again on her sister, who had started giggling when Nicolai had taken her hand. She didn´t hear what they were saying, but she tried to read the body language. Lindsey was constantly playing with her hair or her jacket, nothing unsual. After all she had been the same at her first date. But Nicolais stance was slightly worrying her. He seemed to be waiting to attack, like a tiger lying in hiding until its victim was close enough to tackle it. Immediately all her instincts were coming online and were making her ready to help her sister as soon as it would look like she needed it.

Michael noticed the fighting stance the moment Maria tensed up. He followed her sight and he saw the same thing she witness seconds earlier. Nicolai had something planned and it had nothing to do with seducing a highschool girl. Maybe it had to do with the evil vibe hanging in the air or the electricity tickling their skins. " Do you feel that?".

" Yeah. Strange", Maria didn´t avert her eyes from the scene in front of her. She knew that something would be going down soon and she didn´t even know what it was. For a second she winced when she saw Nicolai pulling her sister closer to himself and kissing her.

Michael was on the brink to step between the two and get Lindsey away from the crazy alien. But he knew that wouldn´t be smart to do that. They weren´t even sure if it was really Nicolai. He could still be a normal teenager trying to score with a girl. They couldn´t interfere as long as nothing dangerous would happen.

But suddenly a moan was heard and it wasn´t the – oh my god, what a great kisser – kind. It sounded like the person was in pain. Simultaneously Maria and Michael stormed from their hiding place and used their powers to push Nicolai away from Lindsey, who seemed to be drained from whatever was done to her and crashed on the ground with a loud thud. Lucky her, because after she fainted the show really hit a new level.

" Who do we have here? My backstabbing sister and her weak lover", Nicolai had shaken off the blast hitting him and was now standing in front of his attackers. The smile on his face wasn´t friendly or even welcoming. But it was a sign that he wasn´t so surprised like he should.

Maria stepped closer to his small form and circled around him. She had to see everything or she wouldn´t believe it. Grinning broadly she stopped before him. " What happened to you? Did you hit a time machine and went in the past or did your human suit shrink?".

Michael laughed really loud about the dig at Nicolais height, who was glancing vitriolic at him for mocking him so openly. " Hey don´t glare at me. I found the line funny".

" Enjoy the laughter, because it will be your last", Nicolai threw a green blast in his direction at the same time Maria stretched her hand out and shoot a red blast of her own. With a ear splitting bang the blast crashed against each other and dissolved in midair.

" Is that all you have to offer? We should go and come back when you reach our level", Maria was in the process to turn around and walk away from her half-brother. She knew that he had been having one flaw and that was his ego. Hopefully it still was like that.

Nicolai realized what game she wanted to play with him. But he learned his lesson a long time ago, actually the day he and his mates won the war against her and her weak friends. He wouldn´t do the same mistakes again and fall in Marias traps. She wanted to make him mad? Then she had to come up with something better. Bored he eyed his fingernails before faced Maria. " Fine. Do whatever you want", he smiled over her shoulder at something. " But you have to go past my friends first".

Just as Maria wanted to turn to see if her half brother was bluffing, a strong arm wrapped around her throat. Starlted she tried to get them off of her and pulled at the grip. But unfortunatly her attacker had her in a tight hold and just squeezed stronger the more she tried to fight against it. Slowly she noticed her heart pounding in her chest and panic crawling up in her body. Desperate she glanced besides her to see why Michael didn´t help her. Surprised she saw some tall guy with dark hair bending over him with a knee on his back and pushing his face in the dirt under him. Great she couldn´t count on her boyfriend coming to her rescue. Well, you could only trust yourself in situations like this. Quick she tried to think about using her powers, but she didn´t know how, because the lack of air was making her mind fuzzy. Suddenly a scene from a movie popped in her head and with the last remaining strenght in her body she pushed the arm higher, put her mouth lower and bit forcefully into the skin. Immediately a cry of pain was heard and the grip around her throat went away. Relieved she bent down to breath normal again and get her heartbeat under control.

" Bitch. You almost bit my whole arm off".

Maria jolted up when she heard the familiar voice behind her. Angrily she twirled around and stood face to face with Lykus. Why was she so shocked to see him here with Nicolai? She should have expected it. " Be glad it´s just your arm and not something important. Ups sorry. You can´t bite something off that is not there".

Lykus got really mad when a snigger came from the man kissing the ground besides him. Furious he lifted his arm fastly and wrench it to the side. Maria felt a pain like a truck would hit her and flew through the air. After a long flight she landed with a hurtful thud on one of the statue with her back. For a moment she lost her breath again and she had problems keeping her consciences. Over and over again it got black in front of her eyes and she had to fight against the threatening darkness. But suddenly she heard something that brought her back right away. A growl from her lover. With a quiet moan, much effort and a great part of ignoring her aching bones, she slide down from the manticore and put her unsteady feet on the ground. It was probably more adrenaline pumping through her veins that was keeping her standing, because her legs were feeling like gum. But she didn´t care about that, it was just important that she was standing at all. Rage was errupting from somewhere deep inside her at the sight that greeted her. The strange guy and Nicolai were holding Michaels arms while Lykus was cutting long wounds on his face.

" That is for taking my girl away from me again".

Michael fought the arms keeping him prisoner and struggled against his restrains. This pussy´s had to take on him with three of them. That was pathetic and he had to quell the urge to laugh in their faces. " I didn´t take away anything. You just weren´t man enough to hold a girl like Maria. She needs a real man and not just some wannabe like you"

Lykus reach back with his fist and then punch Michael with it pretty hard until his lip was bloody. " I wouldn´t open my big mouth if I would be you".

Michael spit his blood in the face of his opponent. He wasn´t against losing a little blood, it was rather a nice catalyst for a familiar person to come out to play. And he learned to control the other side of him quite well in the last few weeks. " Now that wasn´t very nice. Don´t you know that it´s not wise to wake a sleeping dog if your scared of it?"

" Are you trying to scare me, or what?", Lykus bent closer to him until they were practically nose to nose. " Because frankly, it doesn´t work".

Suddenly the knife in his hand was blasted out of it and something hard hit his back. Startled he turned around and looked at the statue where Maria was still lying lifeless on. Confused he faced his two fellows to check if they saw something unusual. But unfortunately they just stared surprised at him. It seemed like they also didn´t know from where the blast had been coming from.

" What is going on? You already lost interest in torturing me?", Michael was pretty bewildered at the moment. Why had Lykus just stopped all of the sudden? Why had the grip of the two lads behind him lessened? And who had shot the blast?

Before anyone could answer the questions, Lykus fell on his kness with a loud scream at the same Nicolai and his lackey were ripped away from Michael, who felt immediately a pair of arms wrapping around his middle and supporting his body. A little scared he looked around to see the owner of the arms, but strangly nobody was standing near him. Expect for the three sissy boys lying on the ground and trying to protect them from invisible blows, he was alone. Holy Shit, the lost souls of the indians buried here were coming out of their graves and wanted to get him. Just as he was in the process to free himself from the grip around him and get the hell out of here, something like a veil was lifting from his eyes.

" Are you alright?".

Michael turned his head to his right and looked in the worried green eyes of his girlfriend. When did she appear? And why was she holding him upright? " Whoa. Didn´t you just lie on the stone statue a moment ago?".

Maria chuckled slightly and winced at the movement. During her collision she must have hurt something on the inside, because everytime she breathed or just moved in general pain was exploding in her body. " No. That was just what your sister wanted those idiots to believe", she pointed at them.

Michael was shocked for a second. Bloody hell, when did all these people arrive here? Baffled he watched Kyle beating the shit out of Lykus with a baseball bat, Tess kneeling besides Lindsey and checking her, Larek and some blonde babe punching the remaining two gals with their fists. " Did I miss something here?".

" Nothing important", Maria eyed the scratches on his cheeks and the bloody lip. The corner of his mouth turned a nice shade of blue and it would probably hurt like a bitch in the morning. Tenderly she stroked over the small wounds and instantly they disappeared. Thankfully that they hadn´t been too deep or else she would have needed more energy.

Kyle finally stopped his punch practise and went to the side of his sister and his friend. " What has gotten into you? Stepping into a dangerous situation without back up! Be glad that I had a bad feeling when I heard the Dodge driving away or you could have been really hurt or worse!".

Michael just rolled his eyes at his roommate. Nothing bad had happened. Well except for a few blows to his ego and some small injuries. " You sound like your father".

" And? He´s not so wrong about certain things", Kyle glanced at the spot where Tess was speaking with a now awake Lindsey. Too bad that her date hadn´t gone like she planned and unfortunately for her, she would never have the chance to go on another date again when his father knew about this incident.

Maria followed her brothers sight and the same thought was shooting through her mind. She was already trying to formulate a plausible lie they could sell their parents, because they couldn´t just tell them the truth. " Let´s not overreact. Nobody got hurt and nobody had seen anything happening".

Tess decided in this moment to place herself besides her boyfriend and laid her head on his shoulder while she let her eyes wander around her friends faces. " Is everyone okay?".

" Yeah", Maria didn´t mention the pulsating feeling at her side. She didn´t want to worry anybody. Besides she had good healing powers and everything should be gone by tomorrow. " How is Lindsey?".

Tess looked back at the young girl sitting on the ground with her knees pulled tightly at her body. She had been through the most hurtful torture someone could inflict on a person. A mind rape could be as bad as a normal rape. Just that you are really helpless to do anything against it, especially when the person didn´t even know what was going on. " Better. I mended some bursted vessels in her brain, because when Nicolai invaded her memories he was acting like a bull in a china shop. Thankfully I could erase most of the things happening tonight".

Maria immediately knew what happened and tears were glistening in her eyes. Without saying anything she released Michael and walked over to her sister. Carefully because of her injury, she sat down next to her. Straightaway Lindsey snuggled her head on her sisters shoulder while Maria laid an arm around her and slowly rocked her. Both girls were crying quietly.

" Yo, what did we miss?", Larek and Corly were finished with letting their frustration out and finally send the their punching bags away with a warning to their king.

Michael watched his former best friend keeping the blonde tightly at his side and he wondered if they both had something going on. The girl was strangly familiar to him, but he couldn´t place her. Hopefully it wasn´t some chick he nailed at one time and never saw again after that. " Not much. Unlike me. What are you doing here? And who´s she?".

Larek smiled boyish and his eyes were twinkling happily. " That my friend is Courtney and she is my girlfriend. Her name on Antar was Corly and she was the one saving Mariannas life", he drew his attention to Maria and her sister for a moment. They both had been lucky tonight that not more happened. " As for what we are doing here, we got the batsignal, jumped immediately in our batmobil and drove here".

" Who gave you a signal?", Michael knew that it hadn´t been Maria nor him. He turned to Tess and Kyle. Maybe they had called for back up. But how did they know something was wrong?

Just as the thought was finished a shadow rose from the floor and stood up to its full height. When the moon shone on the face everybody looked at Lykus. Grinning innocently he glanced at the shocked expressions. " I warned them actually".

Larek sensed that a lot of question would be coming soon and he knew that there were a few things he need to explain to his friends. A few things that Nolak thought should wait until their charges were ready for them. But it was late and it had been an eventful evening. " I know that you have many questions and believe me, I will anwer them all. But not now. We can meet tomorrow at lunchtime in UFO-Center. There I will explain everything".

" Am I too late? Did I miss the action?", everybody startled when Hanson stormed through the bush, his gun drawn in front of his body and his face twisted into an angry mask. He looked around and noticed his audience staring at him funny. Huffing he faced Larek. " Damnit. Why didn´t you wait for me? I wanted to have some fun, too".

Michael´s jaw almost hit the ground. " Yeah. You have to explain a lot".

TBC