Part 62
"What is it?" Michael asked when he noticed that she was somehow affected by the note. He reached out and took it back, reading over it before tossing it aside carelessly. "So what? He bought whatever it is from some billionaire; the guy sold off his collection of," he snorted and held his fingers up as he made air quotes, "'actual alien artifacts' after his kid died." He shrugged and turned his attention back to the glass box. "Sounds to me like he was crazy."
Maria sighed as she watched him, knowing that he had no idea just how relevant this new information was. "And yet you're still trying your best to get into that box."
He shook his head. "Whatever it is, it's mine."
"The billionaire he's talking about is Brody Davis… Sydney, his daughter, she lived in my universe," she said quietly, her voice trailing off into nothing.
Michael's head shot up when her sudden mood change caught his attention. "What?" He was missing some vital piece of information and he didn't like it. "You knew this guy?" He couldn't control the jealousy that flooded his veins when he saw the look of sadness on her face mingled with memories that were obviously happier than the reality she was being faced with.
"Yeah, I knew him. Brody was the man who bought the UFO museum in Roswell." She went on to explain about the man's abductions and having his cancer cured by the aliens who had taken him, and how the aliens had used him as a transmitter in exchange for that cure. She also told him how Brody had become obsessed with anything and everything related to aliens when his daughter had been diagnosed with cancer.
"Uh-huh," Michael muttered as he finally located the button that released the glass case from the base. "Sounds to me like that fanatic had a thing for you."
"Michael, he was a lot older than me."
He set the glass case aside and reached for the soft velvet pouch lying on the cushioned base. "That's not a real answer."
"He wasn't my type; he was just someone I sympathized with because his daughter was sick and he was alone."
"I wasn't speculating that you had a thing for him," he said as he opened the pouch and held it up, letting the contents slide into his palm. "I said it sounded like he had a thing for you." He stared at the round, yellow-gold objects lying in his hand and he tipped his head to the side as he held them out to Maria. "You seen anything like this before?"
"Yeah," she reached out and picked one of them up, feeling the strange warmth that emanated from it. "The healing stones."
"Healing stones?" he repeated.
"Um-hmm, in my universe we got them from River Dog, the old Indian man at the Reservation. We used them when Michael got sick – "
She had his attention. "When he got sick? What happened?" Was it related to whatever had been happening to him?
"Yeah, he got really sick; running a fever, shaking, chills, and eventually he lost consciousness or something. We took him to the Reservation and River Dog showed us how to do this ceremony-type thing. We put Michael in the center of this circle made of sand and we each took one of the stones…"
Michael frowned when she faltered and his eyes narrowed as he watched her. "Someone didn't wanna help him?"
"Anyway, we had to drink this water – "
"Who?"
"It wasn't that she didn't want to help, Michael… she was just scared. She couldn't enter the circle and be a part of the ceremony if she had any doubts…"
He shook his head at her when he detected a hint of defensiveness in her tone. "Scared or not, all that matters is that she didn't step up when his life was at risk." He motioned to the stones in his hand. "How do they work?" He wasn't interested in discussing the other girl right then.
He listened as Maria explained the way the stones worked based on her knowledge of them and when she was finished he sat on the edge of the desk and studied them. "So, is it possible to reach that dreamplane thing you're talkin' about if you're not sick?" He had never discussed the weird episodes that he had been having and he had no intention of bringing it up now, but since he didn't know what they really meant he wanted to cover all of his bases.
"There was never any indication that they couldn't be used in any other capacity. Why? What're you thinking?"
"Maybe I'll try a little experiment. The circle was made of sand, right?"
"Yeah," she said slowly.
He nodded and got to his feet, moving back to the vault and closing it up before sliding the wall panels back in front of the hidden door and making sure everything was locked. "I need some sand," he said decisively and grabbed the healing stones. He slid them back into their pouch and carried them with him as he went back upstairs.
Maria followed him, slapping the light switch at the top of the stairs and plunging the basement back into darkness before shutting the door behind her. "Michael, I'm not sure where you're goin' with this…" She trailed off and hurried after him when she heard the door in the entryway close with a loud bang.
She found him walking around outside, an expression of annoyance on his face as he realized that chances of finding sand anywhere in the area were slim to none.
"Let's go. There's gotta be a hardware store or a gardening center or somethin' where I can get some fuckin' sand."
She knew she wasn't going to be able to talk him out of this now that he had it in his head that he could visit the dreamplane so she remained silent as he drove back into San Angelo and looked around for a store that would sell sand. Once he had purchased a large bucket of sand he went straight back to the hotel and rushed her off to her room so he could be alone.
He moved to the center of his room and glanced around before moving some of the furniture back and out of his way. He had no idea what was going to happen when he started this process so he wanted plenty of space around him. Once he felt that a sufficient area had been cleared he grabbed one of the disposable cups off of the counter in the bathroom and peeled the plastic wrapper off of it, throwing it on the floor as he bent over to pry the lid off of the bucket.
Scooping up the first cupful of sand he moved back, silently counting off his steps and beginning to create his circle of sand. When he was finished with that he moved the bucket and set it aside before retrieving a bottle of water from the mini refrigerator under the wet bar and the pouch with the stones. He checked all of the doors and windows, making sure they were locked, and then pulled all of the blinds and curtains so that they were tightly closed.
Finally he stood at the edge of the circle and he ran one hand over the lower half of his face as he considered what he was about to do. He shook himself and set the items down inside the circle and removed his shirt, boots, and socks before taking a deep breath and moving to sit in the center of the circle. He crossed his legs Indian-style and rested his hands on his knees for a moment as he brought all of his thoughts under control.
Maria had said that focus was important at this point so he forced his mind to clear of all other thoughts before removing two of the stones and placing them next to him and then taking a long drink of the water. He had no clue what the hell the water was for, but just to be safe, he was including that part of the ritual.
"Okay," he muttered as he took a stone in each hand and let his wrists rest on his knees. He felt like a complete fool as he sat there, knowing he looked like some moron doing yoga. "Focus, Guerin!"
He focused on the stones and the dreamplane, not knowing what he was expecting, but knowing that the sudden flash followed by desert scenery wasn't it. He looked around, no longer seeing his room, but the desert. He was surrounded by large outcroppings of rock formations and cliffs and his heart pounded crazily when he turned and the images seemed to tilt for a moment before righting themselves. Just as he began to adjust to the scene everything around him went black and within seconds stars slowly appeared and he realized that he was still in the desert, but it was nighttime. A light suddenly streaked across the night sky and his breath caught in his throat when scenes started to hit him hard and fast.
A ship unlike anything he had ever seen crashing into the desert floor and bursting into flames as explosions erupted around it. A hidden door sliding open and the air filled with the sounds of strange, unrecognizable voices screaming in a language that was almost familiar, cries of pain and desperation as a few small, grey beings emerged, struggling to free several pod-like things from the burning wreckage. He watched as they fought against weakness, time, and their own failing bodies to hide the pods inside a cave before the human soldiers came for them.
"It's weird to see it for real," a voice commented.
He turned slowly, knowing who he would see, but still unprepared for the shock of seeing himself standing there. He made a face at the younger version of himself dressed in black from his tee shirt to his jeans, spiky hair defiantly remaining unmoving despite the gentle breeze blowing around them. As he opened his mouth to speak the scene shifted back to the place he had first been and his irritation notched higher when his alternate self stared down at him from a rocky formation several feet away.
"What the fuck is goin' on?" he demanded. "And why the hell are you here?"
"Not that bright, huh?" his double asked, tone mocking. "You haven't figured it out yet?" He jumped down from the boulder, feet barely making a disturbance in the shifting sand. "I expected you to be smarter."
The momentary speechlessness suddenly faded and Michael quickly became pissed off as he turned, following his double's constant movement. "Don't play this shit with me, you little … ghost bastard! I've got enough to deal with without havin' you thrown in the mix."
His double simply stared back at him for a while before slowly walking up to him, not stopping until they were just a few inches apart. "Think, dumbass, think! I've been here all along and you know it. You just didn't wanna accept the truth for what it is." He leaned back slightly and crossed his arms over his chest. "I think I've given you enough clues."
Michael's eyes narrowed as he watched his double, horrified and wondering just how long his double had been hanging around. Spying on him. Haunting him. His eyes suddenly widened as understanding hit him right between the eyes. That night, so many months ago, when he had fallen asleep leaning back against the couch only to be awakened by horrific chest pains with the taste of blood on his tongue.
His double smirked. "Bingo."
Michael's temper moved closer and closer to the boiling point as he remembered every time he had been assaulted by the strange feeling of illness, the ability to do things like cook, the inability to perform sexually, and he suddenly realized it had been his double's influence.
"You smug motherfucker!" he screamed, enraged at the man's audacity. "You stupid, untrained, moronic little bastard! This's my fuckin' life!" He paced back and forth as he ranted, uncaring of the fact that he was yelling at himself in some form. "You had no right to come into my universe and fuck everything up! I could kill you for this! I've sure as fuck killed for less! I've worked for everything I've got… I have every right to live my life the way I wanna fuckin' live it!" He whirled around to face his double and it only pissed him off even more when he saw the calm expression on his face. "Why? Why would you do this to me?"
His double straightened up and a look of sadness entered his eyes. "Never gonna leave 'er," he said, the words spoken in a voice eerily calm, but heavy emotions underlined them.
Never gonna leave her… but how? He had been in another universe. How had this other version of himself known how to find him? How had he known that Maria would be here? It made no sense! Michael paced, wondering how this was all supposed to work when his double just shrugged. Of course, he realized, the little bastard was in his head, he knew what he was thinking!
"When you die, it's just…" Michael struggled with the words, hesitant to explain the great mysteries of the universe. One day, the Michael of this universe would understand. He shoved his hands in his pockets and repeated in a very soft voice, "Never gonna leave 'er."
Somehow, the words calmed him as nothing else would have. He hadn't acknowledged the emotion, but he knew he was in love with her, just as in love with her as his other self in that other universe. He would have done the same thing had their roles been reversed. His thoughts turned to speculation as he suddenly wondered if it was him, in fact, that loved her… or was it his double who loved her through him?
"I had no role in that."
His head snapped up and he glared at his double.
His double shrugged. "You fell for her all by yourself. We are the same, after all. Doesn't matter what universe it is, Michael Guerin is meant to fall in love with Maria DeLuca. That's just how it works; the stonewall hasn't been built that she can't get past."
Not another word was spoken as a silent agreement passed between them and when his double held his hand out, Michael accepted the gesture and shook his hand.
Michael's eyes snapped open as the dreamplane suddenly blinked out of existence and he found himself back in his room, still sitting in the circle of sand.
Author's Note: As we stated way back at the beginning, The Man Who Didn't Belong will have two endings. From this point on, the fic will take the first path and we will be posting Ending Number One.