Winds of Change (Teen) CH 32 added 9/18/05 COMPLETE

[majiklmoon]

Disclaimer: Roswell, and its characters do not belong to me. Melinda Metz, Jason Katims and 20th Century Fox have that particular pleasure. If I was lucky enough to own them, you just know the show would still be on the air, and you be watching that instead of reading this.

Rating: Teen to Mature for inappropriate language and some violence.

Author’s Note: There was supposed to be an episode in Season Three that involved some sort of time distortion with everybody going back to the day Liz got shot. This is that story. Some of the dialogue is paraphrased from The Pilot, written by Jason Katims. No infringement is intended at all. He was the genius behind the Pilot.

Winds of Change

Chapter One – A Stranger is Watching

He peered into the CrashDown through the large plate glass window. Max Evans sat in a booth, pretending to study, but in actuality, he was studying Liz Parker. Liz, on the other hand was working hard on ignoring Max completely while she delivered plates of food to the many customers in her parent’s café. But instead, her glance kept meeting his, and each time it did, a stain of color appeared on her cheeks.


Things were not going well at all, he thought. Nothing could seem to drive these two apart. Together they were the key to Antar’s salvation. If they were kept apart, Antar would remain enslaved by Kivar. He would do everything in his power to make sure that the couple did not remain together. He knew what he had to do. The attempt could very well kill him, but it would be worth it. He knew he wasn’t ever going to leave this planet. The only way off was with the aid of the Granolith. He was here alone; he’d been alone ever since that genocidal bitch had wiped out the others. Death would be welcomed friend. He’d greet her with opened arms as soon as he set his plan in motion. Giving them one final glance in the window, the man walked away, unconsciously peeling a dry strip of skin from his face.


* * * * *

The alarm clock rang, it’s piercing shriek pulling Liz Parker from the arms of a phantom lover. She groaned and reluctantly rolled over and brought her hand crashing down on the offending appliance, sending it crashing to the floor of her bedroom.

“I’m up, I’m up,” she muttered to the empty room. “I just don’t want to be.”

Liz sat up and pushed the bed sheet off of her already warm body. It was going to be another hot day in Roswell, and a busy one at that. The UFO convention was slated to begin today, and while she enjoyed all the money she’d make, she hated the thousands of UFO-maniacs that flooded the town.

Sighing, she climbed out of the bed and stumbled across the room to her bathroom. She turned the shower on full blast, and climbed in and let the streaming water pour down around her, pounding remorselessly on her body.

Liz turned the water off and wrapped a large towel around her body to absorb the moisture that clung to her in large droplets. She wiped the steam away from the mirror and stared at her reflection. Would she ever find someone to love her the way the phantom in her dreams did? Sure there was Kyle, and he was nice, but he wasn’t the dream lover who crept into her dreams every night.

Liz shook her head, trying to clear away the foolishness that filled her mind. She didn’t have time for this. Her parents needed all the help they could get in the café today. She quickly dried her hair and pinned it up before she slipped into her uniform. She tied on her apron and grimaced when she anchored the alien deelie boppers her father insisted she wear on her head.

* * * * *

“Max Evans is looking at you again,” Maria said.

“No way,” said Liz, turning away from the register to look over to the booth where Max Evans was sitting with his taciturn friend Michael Guerin.

“He is,” Maria insisted. “He is so hot for you.”

“Maria, you’re terrible,” said Liz. “Besides, I’m with Kyle, remember?”

“Oh please, as if Kyle Valenti were even in the same class as Max Evans. It’s like comparing prime rib to hamburger, and Chica, Max is so not the hamburger.”

The two girls laughed for a minute before they resumed their duties in the busy café. Liz delivered two platters to a couple of alien hunters, pausing when she heard shouting behind her. She turned just as the one of the men stood up, sending the dishes on the table crashing to the floor.

A shocked silence filled the café until one of the men pulled out a gun.

“Liz!” Maria yelled as the patrons of the CrashDown scrambled out of their seats and onto the floor. A sharp crack filled the air, and Liz felt something collide with her body, propelling her to the floor.

Liz sat up and looked around. “Maria?” she called. “Oh my God, Maria!” She crawled across the floor to where Maria’s body rested on the floor. A small pool of blood was forming on her abdomen.

“Call and ambulance,” Max Evans said, kneeling down beside her.

“What?” Liz asked, still frozen by the events that had just occurred.

“Liz, do you hear me?” Max asked, staring deeply into her eyes. “I said go call an ambulance.

Liz shook herself from her reverie and jumped and collided with Max’s friend Michael. Michael glared at her, but gave her a gentle shove in the direction of the phone.

“Maxwell, keys!” Michael yelled.

Max reached into his pocket and pulled his keys out and tossed them to Michael who caught them and ran from the restaurant. Max ripped open the front of Maria’s uniform and stared at the pool of blood that was spreading across her abdomen.

“Maria, you have to look at me,” he said. “Open your eyes and look at me. He pressed his hand to her abdomen, and images of Maria as a child filled is mind. He saw her skipping through the playground at school with a small dark haired waif wearing a dress with cupcakes on it. He pulled his hand away, and the wound was healed.

Max grabbed a bottle of ketchup, smashed it on the counter and poured the contents on Maria’s uniform.

“You broke the bottle when you fell and spilled ketchup on yourself. Please don’t say anything.”

“I,” Maria began, but Max had already run from the café.
_____________

If you want to speculate or dig for spoilers for this story, please join is the the Winds of Change Spoiler and Speculationthread.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Two – Connections

“Lizzie! Oh my God, Lizzie, are you okay?” a concerned Jeff Parker yelled, running into the restaurant. “Is that blood?”

“Relax, dad, I’m fine,” said a shaky Liz. “It’s just ketchup from a bottle that broke when Maria fell.”

“Maria? Maria, are you okay?” Jeff asked. “Oh, God, look at you, Maria, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Y-yeah,” Mr. Parker,” Maria said, her voice wobbling a bit. “Like Liz said. I splashed ketchup on myself when I fell.”

“As long as you to girls are okay,” said Jeff. “That’s the most important thing.” He hugged first Maria, then Liz tightly. Liz could feel his fear like it was a palpable thing. He was so afraid, but it was his fear that made Liz realize that she had to keep what just happened a secret.

“Liz,” Maria whispered. “What the hell just happened?”

“I don’t know,” Liz said. “But I’m going to find out. Just don’t say anything, okay?”

“Say anything to who?” asked Maria. “Who’d believe me?”


* * * * * * * * *

“Liz, he saved me,” Maria said. She rearranged herself so that she sat more comfortably on Liz’s bed. “I was dying, and he saved me. He – he touched my soul. It was almost like he could see into it, and I could see into his.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” said Liz, remembering how she felt when she looked into Max Evans eyes for that fleeting second. She felt as if she were falling, and the only safe haven she would find would be in Max’s eyes. She perched on the windowsill, enjoying the feeling of the curtains blowing around her as she and Maria talked.

“So what happened, anyhow?” asked Maria. “The whole thing is kind of a blur.”

“What do you remember?” asked Liz, cautiously.

“Those two guys were arguing,” said Maria. “The next thing I knew, there was a gun. I remember screaming at you, and then I felt as if someone shoved me, and I went flying into you. After I hit you, I felt this thud, almost like I got hit with during a dodge ball game or something. That’s the last thing I remember.”

“I remember you screaming, and pushing into me, but that’s about it,” Liz admitted. “You saved my life, Maria. If you hadn’t shoved me, that bullet would of hit me, I’m positive.”

“Chica, I love you, you know that, but I have to be honest. I didn’t set out to save you,” said Maria. “I felt like I was rooted to the ground. I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to. I’m telling you, someone shoved me into you.”

“It doesn’t matter how you did it,” said Liz. “All that matters is that you did do it. Thank you, Maria.”

*** *** ***

“Damn it,” Nicholas swore softly. He crouched under Liz’s bedroom window, eavesdropping on the conversation between her and Maria. He plan was perfect, and it would have worked if that foolish blond waitress hadn’t gotten in his way. He waited until the exact right second, when the human had pulled out his gun. Nicholas rushed across the café, intent on killing Liz just as the bullet struck her when that ditzy blond shifted slightly, causing him to collide with her. The momentum of his body striking hers drove her forward into Liz Parker, knocking her to the ground.

“Look, Chica, I’ve got to go,” he heard the blond say. “I’ll keep quiet, for now, but if we don’t get some answers soon, I’m going to Sheriff Valenti.”

Nicholas peered in the window and watched the two friends hug each other. This was perfect, he thought to himself. Once the blond left, he’d finish Liz off, and no one would be the wiser. He ducked down and scrambled away from the window as Liz crossed her small room.

Liz climbed out onto the rooftop patio off of her room and walked to the edge to call out a goodbye to her friend. She leaned on the low wall that stood between her and the edge of the roof and looked up into the sky. Millions of stars seemed to twinkle down upon her looking like diamonds spread upon a black velvet cloth.

Abruptly, Liz spun around and walked over to the fire escape. She flung one leg over the side to climb down. A noise across the patio drew her attention and she paused, trying to locate its origin. She waited, but the sound didn’t reoccur. She shrugged her shoulders and continued her descent to street level.

Once on the ground, Liz stopped, unsure of what she wanted to do. Finally, she decided to just start walking. She turned a corner and collided with what felt like a rock wall.

“Umph,” she said, falling to the ground. “Oh, hey, I’m really sorry. I guess I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“Watch it,” said a familiar male voice.

“Oh, Michael, hi, how are you doing?”

“Go away, Liz,” Michael said, his voice taciturn. “And stay away, and tell you’re dippy friend to do the same.”

“What?” said Liz, shocked at Michael’s abruptness.

“Stay away from us,” Michael repeated. “And the same goes for Maria.” He turned away and walked down the street, fading into the darkness.

“Michael, wait!” Liz called to the empty street.

*** *** ***

Liz sat quietly in the study carrel in the library, focusing not on the schoolwork in front of her but in the whispered conversation that was being carried on across from her.

“It’s weird,” the voice said. “I felt this connection with her. I could see into her soul, and it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“What you did was stupid,” said another voice. “And it put us all in jeopardy. Why did you do it, anyhow?”

“You know why,” said the first voice. “I had to.”

“No you didn’t have to, and now you’ve brought all this attention down on us. We’re in danger. I say we leave now, before it’s too late.”

“We’re not going to leave,” the second voice said calmly, an oasis of calm in the stormy sea that surrounded him. “We’re just going to go on, living our lives the exact same way. Nothing has changed.”

“Everything has changed!”

“Guess who?” said a voice from behind her. A pair of hand covered her eyes, and Liz screamed softly.

“Kyle,” she cried. “Stop it.”

“I was worried about you, Liz,” Kyle said, pulling up a chair and sitting down beside her. “Dad told me what happened yesterday at the café.”

“Everything’s fine, Kyle. But I’m really trying to study,” she said over the scrambling sounds that came from the study carrel across from her.

She looked up to see Michael Guerin staring down at her, his eyes as hard as granite. Next to him stood Max Evans, his golden brown eyes watching her intently. She swallowed deeply, trying to tamp down the sudden feelings of fear and excitement that rose up inside of her. Liz broke the connection first, looking down at the papers on the table in front of her for a second. When she looked up again, Michael and Max were gone.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Three – Remembering

The sounds of cutlery scraping against china rang in Liz Parker’s ears. She shook her head, trying to focus, when her best friend Maria stopped her.

“Max Evans is looking at you again,” Maria said.

“No way,” said Liz, turning away from the register to look over to the booth where Max Evans was sitting with his taciturn friend Michael Guerin.

“He is,” Maria insisted. “He is so hot for you.”

“Maria, you’re terrible,” said Liz. “Besides, I’m with Kyle, remember?”

“You don’t belong with him, Liz. You belong with Max,” Maria said, her voice sounding slow and distorted, like it was coming from far away.

“I’m with Kyle,” Liz insisted.

“Max, it’s Max,” said Maria.

Liz turned away, trying to ignore Maria and focus on the rush of customers that filled the CrashDown café. She made countless trips to the window, carrying plates of food back to the tables. With each trip, the plates grew heavier and heavier until she could hardly stand their weight on her arms.

Suddenly, time sped up, and Liz found herself standing in the middle of the CrashDown while people raced around her and talked so quickly she couldn’t comprehend the words. She felt a sharp jerk, and time resumed its normal pace. Befuddled by what was happening, Liz shook her head and continued across the café to the counter. A loud crash drew her attention, and she spun towards the noise. A cacophony of screams filled the air, followed by a sharp crack.

Liz felt something push against her midsection, and she fell backwards. It seemed an eternity before she struck the floor of the CrashDown. She laughed to herself, knowing that according to the laws of physics, the fall should have taken a matter of seconds.

“Liz!” she heard Maria scream. She sounded so far away. Liz struggled to sit up, but she couldn’t move. It was getting cold, so very cold. She’d have to remember to tell her father that the air conditioner was too high.

“Call an ambulance,” she heard a voice say from far away. She felt someone kneel down next to her, and rip her uniform opened. She tried to get them to stop. So cold, she was so cold.

“It’s going to be all right,” the voice said.

Liz smiled inside. The voice made her feel safe and warm, like nothing bad was ever going to happen to her.

“Liz. Liz! You have to look at me!” the voice called. “You have to look at me!”

Liz struggled to open her eyes, and found herself getting lost in the amber depths of Max Evans eyes. She felt Max put his hand on her stomach. A burst of heat filled her abdomen, warming her to the very depths of her soul. She stared into Max’s eyes, seeing images of him as a child. She felt what he felt; the feelings of fear and loss that followed him. She saw him staring, always staring at her and felt the attraction he felt for her, just as he felt the attraction she felt for him.

With a jerk, the connection was severed.

“You’re going to be okay,” Max said. He reached above her and grabbed something and smashed it on the edge of the counter, and she feels the cool heaviness of ketchup spill over her body, and uniform, mingling with the blood that already stained it.

“You broke the bottle when you fell, spilled ketchup on yourself. Don’t say anything, please?” Max whispered.

Before she could say anything, he was gone.

“Max! Max!” Liz yelled. “Max!”

Liz sat up with a jerk, her sheets tangles up around her body. Her breath came in gasps, and her face was covered in a film of sweat.

“Oh God,” she whispered to the dark bedroom. “What was that?”

“Liz, honey, are you all right?” her mother called softly through the bedroom door.

“Yeah, um, I’m fine, Mom, Liz said. “I just had a bad dream, that’s all.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” her mother asked.

“No, I’m okay. I’m just going to go to back to sleep,” Liz said. “Goodnight.”

“Sweet dreams, sweetie,” her mother said.

Liz waited until she heard her parent’s bedroom door close before she jumped out of bed. She ran across the room to the mirror, and pulled up her shirt and looked at the reflection of her abdomen.

“There should be something here,” she said to the empty room. “He healed me, there should be something here.”

Confused, she reached for her journal and climbed back into her bed to record her thoughts.

It’s September 24, and I just had the strangest dream.

It was me that Max Evans healed in the CrashDown, and it felt so real, so right, but I know that it isn’t true. I was there. I saw him save Maria. It was Maria, not me, and yet, when I woke up, I was so sure it was real. I was searching my body for something. What? An entry wound? I don’t have any answers. I don’t know how Max healed Maria. What he did was unnatural, but he saved my friend from dying. Maybe we should just accept it as a gift. But my dream, it was real, so very real. I felt the bullet hit me. I could feel the life draining away from me. I need to talk to Max about this. I know I should stay away, but I can’t. It’s Max.

Liz slipped the pen into the journal and closed it and placed it on her nightstand. She reached over and turned off the small lamp beside her bed. She rearranged her pillows and slid down under her covers.

“Max,” she whispered as sleep overtook her.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Four – Logic vs. Intuition

Liz Parker sat in biology nervously drumming her pencil on the table while the teacher droned on about genetics and species. Usually, she was utterly focused during biology, but the past few days had been anything but typical.

The dream from the night before stayed with Liz like no other dream had before. She kept touching her stomach, expecting to find something, anything there, but there never was. She listened with half an ear while the teacher explained the instructions for the experiment. She doodled in her notebook while her mind went over the dream again, detail by detail.

it has to be a dream, she thought. So many things had a dreamlike quality. Liz flipped to a clean page in her notebook and began to list the items that made her positive that her dream was just a dream.

1. Voices sounding far away.
2. Time speeding up and slowing down.
3. Plates of food getting heavy.

When her list was completed, she methodically began to work on a list of things that made her question the dream.

1. Feeling the bullet slam into her.
2. The connection she felt when Max healed her.
3. The feeling that it was so real.

The bell rang, shaking Liz from her musings. She looked around with chagrin, realizing that she hadn’t accomplished a single step in the experiment during the entire class.

“Problems today, Miss Parker?” the teacher asked, standing beside her table.

Liz hastily tore the piece of paper out of her notebook and stuffed it into her book.

“Just tired, I guess,” said Liz. “I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Nightmares about what happened in the CrashDown?” the teacher asked, her voice sympathetic.

“Yeah, kind of,” said Liz. “I’m sorry, I didn’t really get anything done today.”

“That’s okay,” said the teacher, “You can make it up this afternoon, I have a couple of other students coming to do some make up work.”

“Thanks,” Liz said, ruefully. She’d never had to stay after school for anything.

She grabbed her books and exited the classroom, joining the students that streamed through the halls of West Roswell High. She made her way to her locker and stowed her biology book in side and grabbed her math books. She slammed the locker door shut and started down the hall. She paused by a trashcan and reached into her pocket and pulled out the list she had been working on. She gave it one last look and crumpled it up in a ball and tossed it toward the opening of the receptacle, not knowing or caring if it went in or not. She continued on her way to class, unaware of the person who scooped up the crumpled piece of paper from the floor.

** * ** * ** * ** *

Liz sat at her regular seat in the biology classroom and laid out all the necessary components for the experiment she had failed to complete earlier. Behind her the teacher reviewed the concepts of genus and phylum to a group of students. There was a break in the conversation behind her, and Liz turned to see Max Evans standing in the doorway.

“Hello, Mr. Evans, nice of you to join us,” said the teacher. “Why don’t you take a seat next to Miss Parker, and the two of you can get to work.”

Liz tried to control the emotions that welled up inside of her at the sight of Max Evans, but it was impossible. She found herself staring at him, drowning in his soulful brown eyes. Every nuance of her dream rushed through her mind, and again she could feel Max’s hand on her abdomen. She felt the energy course through her body healing her wound. She stared into his eyes and felt the connection strengthen between them.

“Liz, are you okay?” Max asked, putting his books on the table beside her. He stuck his pencil in his mouth and began to flip through his notebook to find a blank sheet.

Wha- oh, I’m fine,” she said, startled out of her reverie. She looked down at her notebook, trying to still the rush of color that flooded her cheeks.

“Should we get to work, then?” Max asked, placing the pencil on the table in front of him.

“Okay,” said Liz, pleased to have something other than Max’s eyes to focus on. She passed a swab and a toothpick to Max. “I need a sample of cells from the inside of your cheek so we can compare them to the vegetable cells Ms. Hardy gave us.”

Max’s face paled, and he cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Ms. Hardy,” he called, raising his hand. “I’m not feeling very well,” he said. “Would you mind if I made this lab up tomorrow?”

“You are high maintenance today, Mr. Evans, aren’t you?” said the teacher with a sigh. “Very well, you’re excused. Liz, just continue on by your self, please.”

Liz nodded, blinking back the tears that rushed to her eyes. Obviously, this, more than anything else proved that her dream was just that, a dream. Max Evans didn’t share a connection with her. He could barely stand to be in the same room as her. With a sigh, she picked up the toothpick and scraped some cells off of the inside of her cheek. She placed them on the slide in front of her and prepared to slip the slide under the microscope. She spied Max’s pencil on the table and an idea began to form in her mind.

Liz reached for the pencil, and used the cotton swab to obtain a sample of Max’s saliva. She was about to slip it under the microscope when she felt something collide with her arm.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” a voice said.

Liz looked up to see Max’s friend, Michael Guerin staring down at her.

“Yes Mr. Guerin, can I help you with something?” said Ms. Hardy. “Are you interested in actually participating for a change?”

“No, not really, I just needed to talk to Liz for a second,” said Michael, dismissing the teacher with a wave of his hand. “So, I was wondering, do you want to go to a movie or something?”

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Five – Discoveries

“You want to go to a movie with me?” Liz asked, incredulously. “Why?”

“Uh, cause I think you’re hot?” Michael said, his voice uncertain.

Liz looked at Michael and burst out laughing. “Could you at least try and sound like you mean it,” she said between chuckles. “Look, you don’t think I’m hot, in fact, you don’t even like me, so why don’t you just tell me what’s going on.”

“Fine, I’ll tell you,” said Michael. “Stay away from Max Evans. Got it?”

The mention of Max sent shivers running up and down Liz’s spine.

“I’m not near Max Evans,” said Liz. “In case you haven’t noticed Michael, he can’t even stand to be in the same classroom with me. I don’t think there’s much chance of us running away to get married.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he said resting both hands on the table beside her. “Look, just stay away from him. Don’t talk to him, don’t look at him, and stop writing about him. The same goes for that crazy friend of yours too. What’s her name, Maria? Tell her to stay the hell away from him, and me too.”

Michael left the classroom as abruptly as he had entered, and Liz sat alone at the table fuming over his words. Where did he get off telling her what to do? Who did he think he was, Max’s protector or something? Liz thought to herself.

The word protector sent a shock wave reverberating through Liz. She didn’t know why, but there was something about Michael and that word that affected her. She turned to a fresh sheet of paper in her notebook and quickly jotted down a few observations about her conversation with Michael. She underlined his name several times and linked it with the word protector.

Liz sighed and turned the notebook back to her lab notes. She picked up the swab that had Max’s saliva sample on it and made a new slide. She slid it under the microscope and peered through the viewfinder. She looked, then looked again, but there wasn’t anything there. It was as if someone had wiped the slide clean.

She sighed and examined the slide she made with the sample from her own cheek. Liz meticulously noted down every detail of her sample versus the vegetable sample in the lab packet the teacher had provided. When she was done, she cleaned up her station and passed in her work.

Liz quickly exited the classroom and traversed the now empty halls of West Roswell High. She peered into the empty classrooms as she passed, looking for any sign of Max Evans. She finally conceded defeat and made her way to the student lounge to get a soda from the machine. She sat at an empty table while she drank it, ostensibly to study her science notes. She flipped open her notebook, thumbing through the pages to find her notes. Instead she found the notes she had scribbled after her confrontation with Michael Guerin.

“Hey Chica, where’ve you been?” Maria asked, plopping down on a chair next to her.

“I had to make up a lab,” said Liz, covering the notebook with her biology book.

“You had to make up a lab? A science lab?” asked Maria. “Has the world stopped spinning? Is the end near?”

“Shut up,” said Liz, laughing at her friend’s dramatics. “I just kind of zoned out during class today, so the teacher gave me a chance to make it up.”

“You’re worrying me here, girlfriend. Zoning through classes falls under my job description, not yours. What’s wrong?”

“I’m just tired,” said Liz. “I had a nightmare last night about what happened in the CrashDown.”

“You had a nightmare?” said Maria. “How do you think I feel. There’s Max Evans, telling me to look at him. I open my eyes and what do I see, that spiky haired, freaky friend of his, Michael Guerin. Now that’s a nightmare.”

“Oh my God, you’ll never believed who asked me out,” said Liz, turning to Maria. “None other than the spiky haired freak himself.”

“No way,” said Maria. “For real?”

“Yeah way, but not for real,” said Liz. “He was warning me away from Max Evans.”

“Why? Max is so hot for you. He used to be in the CrashDown all the time, staring at you. The thing I never got is why you don’t find him equally hot.”

“I keep telling you, I’m with Kyle,” said Liz, but her voice lacked conviction.

“Please, Chica, you belong with Kyle about as much as I belong with Max’s freakazoid friend,” Maria said. “What did he say, anyhow?”

“Nothing much, just told me to not talk to him, don’t think about him and don’t,” she paused for a moment, remembering Michael’s final admonition to not write about Max.

“Not to what, Liz?” asked Maria.

“Huh, oh, um, nothing, just more along that vein,” said Liz. “Oh, and he wants you to stay away from Max and him, too.”

“He what?” Maria roared, her voice echoing slightly in the deserted student lounge. “Where the heck does that bozo get off trying to dictate to me? After all, Max saved my,”

“Maria!” Liz shouted, her voice covering Maria’s, but barely. “We’re supposed to keep that quiet, remember?”

“I’m going to give that pin headed, Metallica freak a piece of my mind,” said Liz.

“Metallica?” said Liz. “Does Michael like Metallica?”

“Loves them,” said Maria, reaching into her pocket for the vial of cypress oil she kept in there to sooth her nerves.

“How’d you know that?” asked Liz.

“Know what?” asked Maria, breathing deeply, her eyes shut.

“I don’t know. He just looks like the kind of person who likes Metallica, that’s all.”

The two girls gathered up their belongings, and walked to the parking lot where Maria had left her mother’s red Volkswagen Jetta. While Maria drove, Liz closed her eyes and leaned back against the faded upholstery and allowed her mind to wander over the events of the day.



** * ** * **


“It was you,” Max said to Liz in the sunlit filled band room. “It was you.”

Liz started to say something but found that she was no longer in the band room, and instead was in the science lab, staring into a microscope. The sample under the viewer was unlike anything she had ever seen before. She looked up from the microscope and found she was in the band room again, only this time, Max was dressed like one of the guys from the Men in Black movies, and he was pointing up to the sky. Liz took a step closer to him and found herself in the CrashDown. There was a sharp crack, and she felt something collide with her body, and she went falling to the ground.

“Look at me. You have to look at me,” a voice called.

Liz’s eyes flew open to the passing scenery as Maria drove them to the CrashDown.

[majiklmoon]

Winds of Change

Chapter Six – Connect the Dots

Liz went through the motions of serving the customers, and cleaning up after them, but her mind was everywhere but on her work. During the lull, she polished same spot on the counter over and over again as her mind worked feverishly trying to solve the riddles that filled her mind.

The tinkling of the bell over the door shook her out of her reverie, and she looked up to see Max Evans and Michael Guerin walk into the café. Michael glared at her, the antagonism, mixed with another emotion she couldn’t identify, visible in his eyes.

She schooled her features into an indifferent expression and approached their booth.

“Hi, can I take your order?” she asked.

“Hi Liz,” said Max. “I, uh, I wanted to apologize for bolting out of the lab this afternoon. I wasn’t feeling very well.”

“No problem,” said Liz, the hurt she felt reflected in her eyes. “I just did it myself. Now what can I get you?”

“We’ll have an order of Saturn Rings,” said Michael.

Liz made a quick notation on her pad and walked away before Max could say anything.


“I wanted a cherry coke,” Max complained to Michael.

“Yeah, whatever. Why are we here, Max? This is the last place we should be.”

“I thought we’d agreed that the best thing we could do was act like nothing had happened,” said Max.

“Wrong!” Michael hissed. “That’s what you agreed. I never agreed to anything.”

Liz placed their order and waited until it was filled watching them out of the corner of her eye as she filled sugar containers.

As soon as the rings were ready, Liz placed them on a tray to which she added two cherry cokes and a bottle of Tabasco sauce. Liz picked up the tray and carried over to the table and placed the rings and drinks in front of the boys, along with the unasked for bottle of Tabasco, and left without a word.

“Maybe she overheard me,” Max said, looking at the drink he had wanted but not asked for.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Michael said, doubtfully. “But how do you explain this?” He held up the bottle of Tabasco sauce like it was something disgusting he had found on the side of the road.

“Michael, we eat here all the time. Maybe she remembered that we always use it,” said Max, trying to sound reassuring.

“Sure,” said Michael, dumping Tabasco into his soda. “Whatever. Okay, look, you apologized, so can we leave now?”

“Fine, Michael, we’ll leave,” said Max. He slid out of the booth and slipped his arms into his jacket. “Oh, hey wait a second, Maria just came in. I should go see how she’s doing.”

“You should be leaving, Maxwell,” said Michael, propelling his friend towards the door. “I agreed to the hiding in plain sight thing, but there is no way in hell you need to start hanging around with those two.”

Max gave one last long, lingering look at the two girls behind the counter before he allowed Michael to push him out the door into the warm New Mexico evening. Max climbed behind the wheel of the battered Jeep he drove and started the engine.

“You coming?” he asked Michael.

“Uh, actually, I have a couple of things I have to pick up for Hank,” Michael said, referring to his foster father.

“Well, I’ll wait and drive you home,” Max offered. He knew Michael’s foster father liked to give Michael a hard time, and he worried about his friend.

“No, it’s good,” said Michael, looking at the ground. “It’d probably be better if you didn’t come around.” Hank had been gone for the past couple of days, but Michael wasn’t above using him, and his rotten home life as an excuse to get rid of Max for a while. “I’ll see you later.”

Max nodded and let out the emergency brake. Michael banged on the hood of the Jeep as Max pulled away from the curb. He waited until Max was out of site before he started walking down the side street that would take him to the back of the CrashDown Café.

** * ** * ** * **

Nicholas smiled an evil smile as he watched Max leave the seedy little burger joint owned by Liz’s parents. He knew that if he could just keep Max and Liz apart, then this time frame would remain a reality. All he had to do was eliminate Liz Parker, and then all his problems would be solved. Or rather, Kivar’s problems would be solved. The only way his problems would be solved would be to get him off this God forsaken planet and back to Antar.

Nicholas looked around before he slipped around to the back of the restaurant. He secluded himself in the doorway of an adjacent building and settled back to wait for Liz Parker.

** * ** * ** *

Liz sighed as she carried the last bag of trash out to the dumpster behind the café. She usually hated closing the CrashDown by herself, but tonight she relished the opportunity to go over the events of the past few days in her mind.

She hefted the heavy bag into the dumpster and turned to walk back into the restaurant when she got the eerie feeling that somebody was watching her.

“W-ho’s there?” she called softly. “Kyle, is that you?” Liz foolishly stepped away from the safety of he doorway into the middle of the alley. “Hello?” She spun around slowly, but was unable to see anybody in he dark shadows of the night.

The sound of pounding footsteps captured her attention, and she turned in their direction only to be knocked to the ground.

“Liz, get down!” she heard a voice call out to her, followed by an incredibly loud crash and a flash of green light.

“Damn, he got away,” the voice said. “Are you okay?”

Liz groaned and pushed herself up onto her hands and knees and turned her head to see who was speaking to her.

“Michael?”

“Yeah,” Michael Guerin said brusquely, holding a hand down towards Liz to help her up.

“You shoved me on the ground,” said Liz. “Why?” She sounded so confused when she asked why, that Michael was afraid she had a concussion or something. He looked closer at her in the dim light and realized that her confusion was actually fear.

“I was walking down the street, and I saw some guy duck down here,” Michael improvised. He looked suspicious, so I followed him.”

“You followed him,” Liz repeated, dully.

“Look, maybe we should get you inside,” Michael said, nudging her towards the still opened door of the café.

They walked through the deserted kitchen and out to the main eating area of the restaurant. Liz sat at the counter and Michael sat in one of the booths and looked at Liz for several minutes. He could see her relaxing bit by bit in the familiar surroundings.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Michael asked, finally. “I’m sorry if I scared you, I never meant for things to get out of control.”

“What did you say?” Liz asked. She heard a roaring in her ears and the room seemed to shift a little bit.

“I said I’m sorry that I scared you,” Michael repeated. “Look, are you okay? Should I call somebody or something?”

“No, I just got this déjà vu feeling for a second, that’s all. It was kind of weird.”

“There’s a lot of weird things going on here,” said Michael, eyeing her speculatively.

“Yeah, there have, starting with Max’s miraculous healing of Maria the other day,” Liz said, aggressively. “But you know what, I could almost accept that, but there are just too many other weird things happening.”

“Like you’re knowing Max wanted a cherry coke tonight, you mean?” Michael countered.

“Do you like Metallica?” Liz asked, abruptly changing the subject.

“Yeah, I love them,” said Michael, confused by the sudden change in subject.

“Maria was right,” Liz said, softly. “Something weird is going on here, and I’m going to figure it out!”

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Seven – Shifting Realities

A soft tapping at her window woke Liz from her restless sleep. She looked around the room, but her sleep-fogged brain was unable to locate the source of the noise. She climbed out of her bed and tugged the faded tank that she slept in down to the top of her bikini panties. Yawning, she crossed the room and looked out the window. The cool night air seemed to beckon her, like the siren’s song beckoned sailors so long ago.

She raised the window and flung her leg out over the sill and climbed out onto her patio. Goose bumps dotted her flesh from the cool breeze that blew, and she shivered just a bit as she absentmindedly hugged herself. She drifted, without conscious thought over to the telescope that demanded so much of her attention of late. She’d always been interested in the stars, but lately, it seemed she’d had this burning desire to study the night skies, almost as if she were looking for something in particular.

Liz looked through the eyepiece of the telescope, unable to erase the feeling that she somehow knew what she was looking for. Abandoning the telescope after several futile minutes of scanning the night sky, she leaned over the edge of the building, her attention drawn by a scraping sound in the alley.

“Liz!” a voice called softly from the alley.

Liz leaned out over the shallow brick wall and looked down into the alley.

“Who’s there?” she whispered.

“It’s me, Max. Can I come up?”

Liz looked around, afraid that her parents would appear out of nowhere.

“Sure, come on up,” she said, trembling again, only this time it was from excitement, and not from the coolness of the air. She waited for several seconds and heard the scraping sounds of Max ascending the fire escape. His dark head appeared of the edge of the wall, smiling self-consciously.

“Hi,” he said, sheepishly.

“Hi, Max,” Liz replied. “Why are you here?”

“I don’t know,” Max admitted. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to go for a walk, and I just ended up here.”

“Here, at the CrashDown?” Liz asked, doubtfully.

“No, here, in this alley, staring up at your window. It’s weird, but it feels like I’ve done this before.”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of that going around,” Liz said, softly, shivering slightly.

You’re cold,” said Max, unnecessarily. He slipped out of the denim work shirt he was wearing and draped it carefully over Liz’s shoulders. His hands lingered on the lapels of the shirt, and he leaned in closer to Liz, preparing to kiss her.

“Liz, sweetie, are you all right?” a voice called from inside the apartment.

Max jerked his head back and looked regretfully at Liz before he climbed back down the fire escape.

“I’m fine, Mom,” she called, softly. “I couldn’t sleep, so I came outside to look at the stars.”

“It’s late, sweetie, come on inside now,” Nancy Parker said, leaning out of the window.

Liz gave one last look down at the now empty alley before she turned to face her mother.

“I’m coming, Mom,” she said, slipping her arms into the sleeves of the shirt. She could feel the warmth of Max Evans’ body caught within the material of the shirt. She paused to chat briefly with her mother before climbing into bed. She slid out of the shirt, and gathered the fabric in her hands. She brought it up to her face and rubbed it against her cheek. She breathed deeply, inhaling the musky sent of Max that clung to the shirt. She laid down, her head pillowed on Max’s shirt, and drifted off to sleep.

** * ** * ** *

Nicholas growled angrily as he watched Max Evans run down the alley. He had planned to use his powers to break away at the ledge the Liz had leaned against, but Max’s arrival had put an end to that plan. It had to look like an accident, but every time he tried, something happened to foul it up. She had to die; there was no way around it. In order to make this reality permanent, he had to get rid of Liz Parker, and it had to be soon. He could feel his grip on the time distortion slipping. He wasn’t sure if he had enough power maintain this reality much longer.

** * ** * ** *

Michael Guerin rummaged through one of the many junk drawers in his foster father’s trailer, until he found a pencil. He pushed the screen door open and climbed down the rickety stairs and went to go sit at the decrepit picnic table where he took most of his meals. He flipped open his unused Spanish notebook and stared at the blank page, struggling to see in the dim light from a street lamp.

He could, he knew, go back inside, Hank wouldn’t be back from his drinking binge for hours, but he preferred being anywhere to being in the musty trailer he called home.

Almost without conscious thought, he put his pencil to the paper and began to sketch as his mind raced over the events at the CrashDown earlier. He knew there was no way Liz had overheard Max’s desire for a cherry cola, and yet she brought it. She also brought the bottle of Tabasco sauce that neither of them had asked for. They had taken to carrying their own bottles of the condiment, rather than drawing attention to themselves by always asking for it.

What happened later troubled him even more. He had been feeling like a stalker, waiting in the deserted alley to talk to Liz. He had waited for what seemed like hours and was preparing to leave when Liz finally appeared, lugging a bag of garbage behind her.

Michael prepared to move toward the door, to confront Liz and find out what she knew when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. He saw a boy step out of the shadows and raise his hand and point it at Liz. He’d never seen the boy before yet he knew with every fiber of being that he was a danger. He reacted without thinking and lunged at Liz, knocking her to the ground, shielding her with his body as a bolt of energy passed harmlessly over their heads.

He made a lame excuse to Liz and prepared to leave when she asked him if he liked Metallica. The strange comment gave him pause, and he answered her. While he was still trying to puzzle out what Metallica had to do with anything, she stunned him further by telling him that Maria was right.

Maria DeLuca, Liz’s friend was a train wreck looking for a place to happen in Michael Guerin’s opinion. A completely and totally hot train wreck, but a train wreck nevertheless. A word from her could land them all in some lab acting like trained rats, or worse, starring in the next alien autopsy movie. This was all Max’s fault. If he hadn’t felt the need to act like such a damn boy scout, their secret would still be safe. But no, Max had to play the hero and put them all in danger.

“Hey, Mickey, what the hell you doin out there?” Hank Whitmore yelled, as he staggered out of his decrepit station wagon.

“Nothing,” Michael replied, his voice taking on the sullen tone it always did when he was forced to converse with his foster father.

“Yeah, well, get your ass inside and get me a beer,” slurred Hank.

“Get it yourself, I’m busy,” said Michael.

“You worthless whelp!” shouted Hank, lunging towards Michael. He swung a fist in Michael’s direction, but missed in his inebriated state.

Michael jumped up from the picnic table, clutching the notebook in his hand.

“I said, get your ass inside and get me a beer!” shouted Hank.

“Shut up out there,” came a shout from another trailer.

Hank turned, momentarily distracted by the shout, and Michael took the opportunity to dodge the older man and take off running down the road. He slowed to a jog when he was certain that Hank wasn’t following him. He stopped and considered the options available to him for the night. He weighed the possibilities of returning home or sleeping on Max’s bedroom floor again. He quickly disregarded the first possibility and made his way to the Evans household.

Michael rapped softly on Max’s window and waited while Max undid the latch and opened the window to admit him. True he could have opened the window on his own, but he liked to think he did have some manners and common sense. He passed the notebook to Max and climbed in.

Max tossed the notebook onto his bed and began to unroll the sleeping bag that Michael used whenever he spent the night. Michael reached into the closet and grabbed the extra pillow Max kept there and turned around to find Max sitting on the bed, leafing casually through his notebook.

Wordlessly, Max held up the notebook and showed Michael the picture he had been looking at. A picture Michael didn’t remember drawing. The sketch showed Max, kneeling down on the floor, in a pool of blood, with his hand pressing down on a woman’s abdomen. Michael stared in both horror and fascination when he realized that the picture did not depict Max healing Maria, instead, he was healing Liz Parker.

[majiklmoon]

Winds of Change

Chapter Eight – Dreams and Visions

“Did you draw this, Michael?” Max asked.

“I think that answer’s pretty obvious, don’t you, since it was in the notebook I was carrying when I got here,” said Michael.

“Maybe the question should be why did you draw this?” Max asked, holding up the notebook.

“Give me that,” said Michael, pulling the notebook out of Max’s hand and closing it. “It’s not important.”

“I think it is,” said Max, grabbing the notebook back. He flipped through the pages trying to locate the sketch when he found something else that caught his attention.

“Michael, what’s this?” he asked, passing the book back to Michael.

Michael took the notebook and examined the drawing. It showed the back of a man, standing in the rain looking at a house. From the house, a woman peered out at the man from behind a window. The woman was Maria DeLuca.

Michael stared, entranced by the poignancy in the woman’s face. He reached out with one finger and touched the face of the woman gently, his expression betraying a fierce longing.

“Michael?”

“It-it’s nothing,” said Michael.

“No, it’s something,” said Max. “Did this happen? It must have for you to be able to put so much emotion into it.”

“Of course it didn’t. I keep telling you, that DeLuca chic is a train wreck looking for a place to happen,” Michael insisted, only this time, his voice lacked conviction.

“I saw Liz Parker tonight,” Max told Michael.

“What? I thought you were going to stay away from her!” Michael yelled.

“I can’t,” admitted Max. “I’m, well, I feel like I’m drawn to her,” said Max. “I just can’t seem to keep away.”

“This is not good, Maxwell, not good at all,” said Michael. “And I don’t mean that in a we need to keep to ourselves way. Something is totally whacked.”

“What do you mean?” asked Max.

Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of notebook paper and handed it to Max.

“Do I want to read your love notes,” joked Max.

“Read it, will ya,” said Michael.

Max skimmed the piece of paper that had to headings with lists underneath them.

Reasons it was just a dream:

1. Voices sounding far away.
2. Time speeding up and slowing down.
3. Plates of food getting heavy.

Reasons it really happened.

1. Feeling the bullet slam into her.
2. The connection I felt when Max healed me.
3. The feeling that it was so real.

“Did Maria write this?” asked Max, his voice laced with concern. Something about the handwriting was bothering him. He knew he’d seen it before.

“No, it wasn’t Maria, it was Liz,” said Michael.

“Liz?” said Max, trying to catch his breath. He felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. “It was you,” he added almost to himself.

“What? Max, what did you say?” asked Michael.

“It was you,” said Max, to himself. “It was you.”

** * ** * **

Nicholas roamed the deserted streets of Roswell, struggling to maintain his hold on this reality. He could feel his power slipping away, and his grasp on the time shift was tenuous. He needed to kill Liz; that would seal their fate, and lock this timeline into place. A low rumble filled the air. Nicholas looked up into the night sky to see that a low bank of clouds had obliterated the stars, and lightning flashed from the sky.

“I hate this stupid little town,” he growled in his man-boy voice. He broke into a jog as the rain started to fall from the sky, seeking shelter from the storm.

** * ** * ** *

Maria DeLuca tossed and turned fitfully in her bed. The rumblings of thunder punctured her dreams, causing her to moan slightly. A loud bang shook the house, and she sat up in her bed.

“What was that?” she asked the empty room. Another rumble of thunder filled the room, answering her question for her. She rubbed her eyes, trying to shake the dreams of a stranger that plagued her sleep.

She slid her legs over the side of the bed and walked softly to the window. Feeling foolish, she pushed the curtains aside, fully expecting to see someone standing on the sidewalk, but there was nobody there. She stared out into the darkness for several long minutes waiting, but the phantom figure in her dreams never materialized.

Maria sighed, and turned away from the window and climbed back into her bed, but she didn’t sleep, not for a long time.

** * ** * ** *

The sun rose on a new morning, scrubbed crisp and clean from the rainfall of the night before. Liz smiled to herself as she walked down the empty sidewalks of Roswell. She was determined to put the foolish dreams of the past few nights behind her. Today was a new day. She wasn’t going to let her imagination distract her any longer, and keep her from her dream of becoming a molecular biologist.

Liz paused at the corner as she waited for the light to change, signaling her opportunity to cross. When the light was green, she stepped out into the crosswalk and began to cross the street. The sound of squealing tires caught her attention, and she stopped, foolishly trying to locate the sound.

“Liz, look out!” Maria screamed from the other side of the street. Liz looked up to see a black pick up truck bearing down on her. She remained rooted in place, frozen by fear. In that split second, she stared into the windshield of the truck, looking at the driver. She knew him. She’d seen him before, she was certain.

A jolt brought her back to the present, and Liz found herself rolling on the ground, her face scraping against the pavement. She lifted her head in time to see the truck turn the corner and speed off out of sight.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, thanks to,” she stopped when she turned to look into the amber eyes of her rescuer. “Max,” she said softly.

“You’re hurt,” Max said, his voice filled with concern.

He put his hand on her stinging cheek, and Liz felt a warm glow on her face. When he removed his hand, the pain was gone.

“Here comes Maria,” he said, softly. “You’ll be okay, now.”

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Nine – Confrontations


“Hey, hey you, Max Evans!” Maria shouted over the voices in the hallway of West Roswell High. “Wait up. I want to talk to you.”

Max looked over his shoulder, a feeling of dread welling up inside of him. This was one confrontation he didn’t want to have and had gone out of his way to avoid. He stopped, knowing he had no other alternative, and waited for Maria to catch up to him.

“Hi, Maria, what’s up?” Max said, trying to force himself to act casual.

“Don’t you give me that what’s up crap,” said Maria. She reached out and grabbed Max’s arm and dragged him into an empty classroom. “We’re going to talk, and we’re going to do it now.”

“Okay,” said Max, trying to humor the petite blond spitfire. “Talk. I’m listening.”

“Nice try, girlfriend,” said Maria, poking him in the chest. “But you’re the one doing the talking, I’m the one listening.”

“What did you just call me?” asked Max.

“Don’t you dare try and change the subject, Max. You have some serious explaining to do,” ranted Maria.

“Look, can you just sniff some cedar oil or something and calm down,” suggested Max.”

“In the first place, lavender is for relaxing, and in the second place, how do you even know I’m into aromatherapy?” asked Maria. “I suppose that freak friend of yours told you or something.”

“I don’t know how I knew,” admitted Max. “Why did you call me girlfriend? Last time I checked, the anatomy wasn’t quite right for that particular job description.”

“I-I don’t know,” said Maria. “It just seemed right,” she looked at Max, her confusion evident in her eyes.

“This isn’t just some ploy to distract me, is it?” she asked.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” said Max, grabbing her arm.

“Watch it!” snapped Maria. “I’m delicate, I bruise easily.”

“Right,” laughed Max. “Not to be insulting, Maria, but you’re about as delicate as a pit bull. Now come on.” He tugged gently on her arm and pulled her out into the hallway.

“Hey Maria, what’s up?” a voice called from the hallway.

“Alex,” Maria. “Uh, hi, how’s it going?”

“I think the question is, where are you going?” asked Alex.

“We have an errand to run,” said Max, brusquely.

“Max, wait,” Maria said. She jerked her arm free of Max’s grip and rushed back to Alex and hugged him tightly. “I love you,” she said.

“Thanks,” said a clearly puzzled Alex. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine,” said Max. “She’ll see you later.” He propelled Maria ahead of him and out the school doors into the warm New Mexico sunlight.

“Where are we going?” Maria demanded as Max led her to his jeep.

“Some place where we can talk without being overheard,” said Max. “Get in the car please, Maria.”

“You know, there are some who would say that what your doing is kidnapping, no abducting me, but that seems more like your spiky haired friend’s style.”

“I’m not abducting you, Maria, relax,” said Max. “It’s just that there are some really weird things going on, and we need to talk about them. I guess I was kind of acting like Michael, wasn’t I?”

“Yeah, please, curb your inner cave man tendencies when you’re with me,” said Maria. “You’re the romantic one, remember? Why did I just say that?”

“I don’t know, why did you just say that?” asked Max, his had paused over the ignition. “Do I strike you as the romantic type?”

“Well, let’s just put it this way,” said Maria. “Wait, never mind. Why am I having this conversation with you? I’m getting out of here.”

She turned to open the car door to find Michael Guerin standing on the other side of it.

“Great, my day is now complete,” said Maria with a moan. She turned to Max. “Why is the poster child for emotional constipation standing outside the door?” She looked to one side of Michael and saw Liz standing next to Michael. “With my best friend?” she added.

Max swiveled in his seat and peered past Maria to look out the canvas and plastic door of the Jeep. He opened the door and climbed out and stared at Michael over the top of the jeep.

“What are you doing here, Michael?” he asked.

“Following you, what does it look like, Maxwell?” Michael responded.

“Max,” Liz said in her soft voice. “Alex told me he saw you and Maria leave school. I got worried, so I came after her, Michael came with me.”

“You were with Liz?” Max asked, his voice tinged with jealousy.

“Jesus, chill, will you, Max,” said Maria, who had, by now, climbed out of the jeep. “If Liz wants to talk to your stone faced friend, though I for the life of me couldn’t see why, what’s the big deal?”

“You’re right,” said Max, giving himself a mental shake. “Look, we all obviously need to talk, let’s get out of here.”

“Wait, my car,” Maria said. “I can’t leave it here.”

“You have a car?” asked Michael in disbelief. “What is it, Mommy’s Ford Escort?”

“It’s a Jetta, actually,” said Maria, trying to sound dignified. She pushed the door open, hitting Michael with a bit more force than necessary, enjoying the feeling of the door coming in contact with his shin.

“Get out of my way, stone face,” she said.

“What is your problem?” Michael shouted. “Where do you get off telling me what to do?”

“Well, obviously, someone needs to, but cause you can’t even dress yourself. Look at that shirt. I wouldn’t wax my car with that shirt,” Maria shot back.

“If that red piece of garbage over there is you’re car, then I’d say you’re right,” said Michael. “If you tried waxing it, the pressure of the rubbing would probably make it fall into a million pieces.”

“You know, that’s just like you,” said Maria walking off towards her Jetta. “You just have to belittle everything.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Michael, following her through the parking lot.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Michael Guerin,” said Maria, her voice growing softer as she moved across the parking lot.

Max turned to Liz, his expression hopeful, but guarded.

“So, you want to ride with me?” he asked.

“Um,” said Liz, catching her lower lip between her teeth. “Sure, I guess. Where are we going, anyhow?”

“I thought we should go someplace private,” said Max.

Images began to fill Liz’s head as Max spoke. She saw herself in the eraser room with Max, sitting in Max’s jeep in a run down trailer park, her and Max jumping of a bridge in the dark of night into a swirling river.

“Liz, Liz, are you all right?” Max shouted.

“What?” asked Liz, dazed by the images that filled her mind.

“I was talking and talking, but it’s like you weren’t even here,” said Max.

“I don’t think I was,” said Liz.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter 10 – Summit Meeting

“Where are we, anyhow?” Liz asked, after Max parked the jeep.

“An old abandon quarry,” said Max. “Haven’t you ever come out here swimming?” He climbed out of the jeep and came around to the passenger side and opened the canvas door for Liz.

As the walked over to where Michael and Maria waited, Liz laughed, and the delicate sound tickled something in Max’s mind. The fragments of a memory teased at the edges of his mind. He struggled to grasp it, but it flitted out of reach.

“Max, swimming here is against the law. I couldn’t do that. My parents would kill me if I ever found out.”

“That’s right, we couldn’t have little Miss Perfect doing anything illegal,” said Michael joining the conversation.

His words triggered a reaction in Liz, and she saw herself standing with Max beside a car, holding a gun. The images in her mind shifted, and she saw herself in a store, pointing the gun at a cashier.

“Liz. Liz! Are you okay?” Maria yelled. She reached out and grabbed Liz by the shoulder and shook her hard. “What did you do to her?” she demanded, staring at Michael.

“I didn’t do anything,” said Michael. “I didn’t touch her. Hey, come on, snap out of it,” he said to Liz.

“I’m- I’m okay,” Liz said, shaking her head a little to clear the images from her mind. “Maria, I’m okay,” she said again, this time looking at Maria’s hand, still on her arm.

“What happened to you?” demanded Maria, fumbling for a vial of lavender oil to sooth her nerves.

“Never mind, let’s just forget it,” said Liz.

“We can’t just forget it, Liz. It could be something important,” said Max. “Please tell us what happened.

“It was something Michael said,” began Liz.

“See, I told you it was you’re fault,” said Maria, striking Michael gently in the midsection.

“Me, I didn’t do anything,” he said, vehemently.

“He didn’t do anything, Maria,” Liz said. “It was something he said. I had this incredible feeling of well, not déjà vu, but something similar to it.”

“Well that really cleared it up,” Michael said in his typical snarl. “Come on Maxwell, let’s get this summit on the road. I’ve got things to do tonight.”

“What did you just say?” asked Max, his face as white as Liz’s had been a few minutes earlier.

“I said let’s get this summit on the road,” said Michael.

“I’ve been to a summit,” said Max, quietly. “In New York.”

“Max, what are you talking about?” demanded Michael. “You’ve never been to New York in your life.”

“I know,” said Max. “But I was there. I was. And so was Brody.”

“Who the hell is Brody?” Michael shouted.

“I don’t know,” Max admitted.

“You’ve never been to New York, but you’ve been there, and you’ve been there with Brody, but you don’t know who he is. Maxwell, something is whacked here, and I’m beginning to think it’s you,” said Michael.

“No, the same thing happened to me the other night,” said Maria. “It was raining out, and I went to my window, and looked out. I was certain somebody would be outside.”

“Outside, in the rain,” said Michael, trying to sound gruff, but failing.

“Yeah, it was like I was expecting someone to be standing on the street, looking at my window. Not in a stalker sort of way,” she was quick to add. “But like he needed my help or something, but was afraid to ask.”

“Michael, you have to show her,” said Max.

“Bullshit,” said Michael. “I don’t have to show her anything, and I’m not.”

“Yeah you do,” said Max. “It’s the right thing to do.”

“Wait, you know something,” said Liz. “I have some questions I want answered before you show us anything.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of notebook paper, opened it and glanced down at it. “How were you able to do what you did to Maria?” she asked.

Max and Michael looked at each other, but didn’t respond.

“Max, look, that bullet hit Maria. I did some research, and Max, I’m sorry, it had to do some serious damage to her.”

“Liz, I,” Max began.

“I want some answers Max, and if I don’t get them, I’m going to go to Sheriff Valenti and tell him everything.”

“Tell him what?” asked Michael. “You don’t know anything.”

“I know Maria got shot, and by all intents and purposes, she should have died. Are you trying to tell me you just miraculously healed her?”

“Would you accept that as an answer?” Max asked, his voice hopeful.

“Not even close,” said Maria.

“You have to promise me you won’t ever tell anybody,” said Max.

“Maxwell, don’t!” said Michael, his voice angry. “We don’t tell anyone. Ever!”

“They have a right to know,” said Max. “They’re a part of this now. Look,” he said, turning to the two girls who waited expectantly. “Michael, Isabel and me, we’re not from around here.”

“Right, so you’re from out of town, so what?” asked Maria. “Not everybody who lives here is born here. So where are you from?”

Max didn’t answer, he only raised one hand and pointed a finger upward.

“North, you’re from up north,” said Liz.

Again, Max said nothing, he simply raised his hand higher.

“You’re not like an alien, are you?” Liz asked, her voice rising a bit in disbelief.

“Well, I prefer the term not of this Earth,” said Max with a sheepish smile.

“Max, you idiot!” said Michael. “You’ve ruined everything.”

“What, like you’re going to perform alien experiments on us now?” asked Maria. “I’m so afraid. Wait, what am I saying, I am afraid. Liz, these guys are freaks. I’m getting out of here, now.”

“You don’t even have one freaking clue in that tiny little brain of yours, do you?” asked Michael. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two pieces of paper. He unfolded them and handed one to Maria, and one to Liz.”

“Nice,” said Maria, barely giving the picture a glance. “I’m glad to see you stayed in the lines. Maybe next week you can move up to finger paints.”

“Maria, I think you’d better look at these,” said Liz, shoving the picture Michael had given her into Maria’s hands.

“Oh my God,” she said slowly, pausing between each word. “That’s it, that’s my dream, well, not a dream,” she amended. “But it’s what I thought I should see the other night. How did you do that?”

“I don’t know,” Michael admitted with atypical candor. “I just drew it, the same with that one.”

Maria looked down at the other picture, the one that depicted Max, saving Liz, and not her, and alarm bells began to ring in her head.

“What the hell is going on here?” she said.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Eleven – Proof of the Thesis

Liz sat on her patio, wrapped up in a blanket, rereading the journal entry she had just written. A cool breeze blew, causing her to pull the blanket more tightly around her.

Max Evans told me something today, she read. I’m not sure if I believe it, but how can I not? As a scientist, I shouldn’t reject any theory out of hand, but everything inside of me screams that this can’t be true. Max Evans cannot be an alien. He was not brought to Earth in the ‘47 crash, and he did not emerge from some sort of incubation pod ten years ago. It didn’t happen, it couldn’t happen. This is real life, not some bad science fiction television program.

And it isn’t just him, it’s his sister Isabel Evans, the Ice Queen of West Roswell High, as well as Maria’s new nemesis, Michael Guerin.

Liz paused from her reading to remember some of the interactions and byplay that occurred between her best friend and Max’s best friend. If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear there was some deep hidden passion lurking underneath their animosity. She lifted her glance to the starry sky above and wondered at the rest of Max’s pronouncement. Was it possible that one of those far away distant planets was actually home to Max Evans? With a sigh, she returned her gaze to her journal and continued reading.

Maria did not handle Max’s announcement very well, in fact she insisted we leave the quarry immediately.

“Liz? Liz, are you up there?” a voice called. Liz, blanket and all; walked over to the edge of the roof and looked down to see Max Evans standing on the street below.

“H-hi,” she called, trying to quell the nervous, but exciting feeling that enveloped her each time she came in contact with Max. “What are you doing here?”

“We didn’t really get to talk today,” said Max, climbing the fire escape to her rooftop patio. “I know you said you had some questions.”

“Some?” said Liz. “More like thousands, especially after our conversation today.”

“Yeah, look about that,” said Max.

“Don’t tell anybody,” said Liz. “Don’t worry, I mean, who’d believe me anyhow?”

“What about Maria, can she be trusted to keep quiet?” Max asked.

“Quiet, no,” said Liz. “But can you trust her with you secret, of course.”

“Can you come for a ride?” Max asked.

“Now?” asked Liz. “I don’t know, it’s kind of late.”

“Please, Max asked. “It’s really important.”

Liz looked into Max’s brown eyes and felt her resolve wavering. She remembered Michael’s taunting comments about her never doing anything wrong, and she decided to throw caution to the wind.

“Give me a minute,” she said. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”


** * ** *

“Hey,” Max said softly, when Liz opened the back door of the CrashDown. “Thanks for coming down.”

“Yeah, well,” Liz said, feeling suddenly shy. How did one talk to an alien anyhow, or at the very least, someone who thought he was an alien.

“Yeah, well,” Max repeated, unsure of what to do next.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” Liz asked while at the same time Max asked,

“Do you want to go for a drive?”

The two laughed self-consciously and Max smiled down at Liz, the dark night masking the two spots of color that burned on his cheeks. There was something about this girl that drove all intelligent thought right out of his mind.

“A walk it is, then,” he said. He reached down in an unconscious gesture and took Liz’s hand in his and they began to walk down the deserted city streets.

“So, where are we going?” Max asked.

“I don’t know, the park, maybe?” Liz offered, pointing to the darkened entrance.

“Sounds good,” said Max. “That is if you trust me enough to go into a deserted park late at night.”

“Max, you saved my life,” said Liz. “How can I not trust you?”

“What?” asked Max. “Liz, what did you just say?”

“I said you saved my life, but that’s not right, you saved Maria’s life,” said Liz. She sat down on the edge of the fountain and trailed her fingers through the chilly water. “Max, I keep having all these weird, God, I don’t even now what to call them. It’s just weird.”

“I know,” said Max. He put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed gently. “We’ll figure this out, I promise.”

Liz sighed gently and relaxed against the strong lean body of Max Evans. She felt safe in his arms, which was odd as she’d never been in his arms before. Nevertheless, being with him evinced a feeling of safety and security like she’d never felt before, didn’t think she’d ever feel again.

“Max? How did you heal Maria?” Liz asked, hating to end the quite moment she shared with Max, but knowing it had to be done.

“We, Michael, Isabel and I can manipulate molecular structure. I’m not really sure how it works, but I could just visualize the bullet dissolving inside of her, and the damaged areas of her body healing.”

“That’s like incredible,” said Liz. “What else can you do?”

Max removed his arm from Liz’s shoulder and stood up. She watched as he walked away from the fountain, missing the weight of his arm more than she cared to admit. He touched a street lamp and the light began to revolve, almost like a glittery disco ball. A kaleidoscope of dazzling light danced around the park.

Liz brought her hand up to her mouth and laughed gleefully at the shimmering display of lights.

“Max, stop it, what if someone sees you?” she whispered.

As quickly as it began, the dazzling light display ended and Liz sat on the edge of the fountain looking bereft.

“What’s the matter?” Max asked.

“I don’t know,” Liz admitted. “Seeing that made me realize how alone you must have felt, keeping this secret to yourself.”

She stood up and walked the short distance to the lamppost where Max still stood.

“But you’re not alone anymore.”

Max took her in his arms and held her tightly, looking down into her soulful brown eyes. He lowered his head to kiss her when the blaring of a nearby car alarm jarred them apart.

“We, uh, we should probably be getting back,” he said regretfully.

“Yeah,” said Liz, her voice ripe with disappointment and longing.

“Thanks for talking with me,” Max said as he and Liz began to walk down the path. “You’re right, I always have felt so alone. Talking to you really helped.”

Behind a tree, Nicholas watched, his face contorting in an evil grimace. It wasn’t working, they were still coming together. He had to keep them apart, he had to make this time line a reality before he died. He felt himself grow weaker and weaker with each passing hour. If he died before he killed Liz, all hope would be lost.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter 12 – Jigsaw

Liz grabbed the large bin of dirty dishes and carried them to the kitchen. She stifled a small scream when she realized that Michael Guerin was standing there, tying on an apron.

“M-Michael,” she stammered. “What are you doing here?”

“Working,” Michael replied, in his usual taciturn manner.

“Since when?” Liz asked.

“Since now,” said Michael.

“Oh,” said Liz, faintly. She dropped the dishpan full of dirty dishes in the sink and went back into the café. She seated some new customers and brought them some water. While she performed the routine tasks, her mind went over the events of the past few days, including Michael Guerin getting a job at the CrashDown.

There’s something strange going on, she thought. We all feel it. Why can’t we figure it out?

Liz was so distracted by her thoughts that she failed to notice Maria come in for her shift. The petite blond was at her locker fixing her hair when she noticed Michael Guerin standing at the grill.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “Liz, what is he doing here?”

“Michael works here now, Maria,” said Liz, walking into the back room.

“Since when?” demanded Maria.

“Since now. You got a problem with that?” asked Michael.

“Yeah, I do, but since nobody asked my opinion, I guess it doesn’t matter,” said Maria.

“That’s right, it doesn’t,” said Michael. He turned back to the grill, but not before Liz caught a glimpse of pain in his eyes.

“Maria,” she whispered. “I think you hurt his feelings.”

“Him, he doesn’t have feeling,” Maria said.

“If you say so,” said Liz, her voice filled with doubt. “I have to get back out there,” she added, motioning towards the café.

Maria watched as Liz pushed through the swinging doors that led back to the café. She turned and walked over to the grill, and stood next to Michael, waiting for him to acknowledge her.

“Uh, hello, standing right here, you know,” she said after waiting several minutes.

“Yeah,” answered Michael, looking over at her, briefly. “I’m hoping if I ignore you long enough, you’ll go away.”

“Nice,” said Maria, glaring at Michael. “Have you ever wondered why you don’t have any friends, Michael?”

“Look, was there something you wanted because you’re really starting to get on my nerves,” said Michael.

“I’m getting on your nerves?” Maria shouted. “Oh that’s rich. Here I am, trying to make you feel better, and this is the way you act. Nice, really nice.”

“This is how you try and make someone feel better?” asked Michael. “Man, I’d hate to see you try and piss someone off.”

“Listen, Michael, I don’t have to stand here and take this crap from you. I don’t know what your problem is, I only wanted to say,”

“I don’t care what you wanted to say,” Michael interrupted. “I don’t need you; I don’t need anyone, so just leave me alone.”

“You know, I just don’t get you,” Maria said, pushing Michael’s arm. “I’d think that someone who was just starting a new job would want to make an effort to, oh, I don’t know, get along with the people who have worked her forever.”

“I’m not here to get along with you people,” said Michael. “I’m here to earn enough money to pay my rent, get it? So why don’t you just leave me alone, and let me do my job?”

“Rent?” Maria snorted. “On what? Wait, let me guess, you’re trying to save up to rent a personality, right?”

“Aren’t you just the funny one,” said Michael, turning back to the grill. “It’s for an apartment. I was declared an emancipated minor, and I have to support myself now.”

“Oh,” said a now deflated Maria. She didn’t know what it was about Michael Guerin, but she vacillated between wanting to hug him and wanting to kill him. Right now, she wanted to hug him. Imagine being responsible for yourself completely and totally. Sure there were times when her mom drove her absolutely crazy, but she couldn’t in a million years imagine not having her around to depend on.

“Oh, wow, that, wow, that sucks,” she said, finally, at a loss for words.

“Yeah, well, it’s better than where I was,” Michael said, uncomfortable with the compassion showing on Maria’s face. “So, look, if we’re done here, I really need to get back to work.”

“No, no, I don’t believe you just said that,” said Maria, shaking her head. “I mean, I’m standing here, right in front of you, feeling bad for you, and you, I don’t know, you dissed me, that’s what you did, you dissed me.”

Michael turned away and started go move closer to the grill, a move that only served to further incense Maria.

“Don’t you dare walk away when I’m talking to you, Michael Guerin,” Maria said, stepping back in front of him.

“Right, and you’re gonna stop me, how?” Michael asked.

“Argh, you are so infuriating,” said Maria. She pushed ineffectually at his chest, and Michael reached down to grab her arms, stopping her from hitting him.

He stared down into her eyes, losing himself for a moment in their dazzling blue depths. He lowered his head to hers and kissed her, violently at first, but then with a growing passion neither one could understand.

Around them, the CrashDown began to shake uncontrollably, and Michael pulled her closer to him in an attempt to protect her from danger.

“What was that?” Maria asked, when the kiss ended. She looked around the kitchen but could see no evidence of the earthquake she had just felt.

“I don’t know,” said a shaken Michael. He looked around the kitchen, trying to reconcile what he thought had just happened with what he saw. He muttered something, then spun around, trying to focus in on the flash of movement he caught out of the corner of his eye.

“What?” asked Maria. “What did you just say, and did you feel that?”

“Another piece to add to the puzzle,” Michael said cryptically.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Thirteen – Distortion

Nicholas leaned against the wall, behind the dumpster, winded from his exertions. This was not something he had counted on. He knew he needed to keep that imbecile Zan away from that slut, but he hadn’t counted on Rath forming any attachments on this god-forsaken planet.

“Rath, of all people,” he said between breaths. “He couldn’t bond with a goldfish back on Antar, and he falls in love here? I wasn’t counting on that.”

His breathing had slowed enough to allow him to push himself off the wall, and start walking down the street.

“How am I going to do this?” he asked himself. “Do I need to keep all of them apart, or are just Zan and Liz the key?”


** * ** * ** *


“Did you just see that?” Michael asked Maria.

“See what?” asked Maria, still dazed by Michael’s kiss.

“There was somebody in here just now,” Michael responded, still looking around. He shook his head slightly

“Hey Michael, how’s that burger, oh, sorry,” said Liz, poking her head through the pick up window. “I, uh, didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“Liz, no wait,” Maria called. “This isn’t what it looks like. Will you let go of me,” she hissed under her breath at Michael who still had his hand on her shoulder.

“Uh, yeah, right,” said Liz. “No problem. I was just checking on my burger.

“Did you feel that earthquake?” Maria asked, smoothing down her hair, and trying to catch her breath. She’d been kissed before, but never with such intensity. She didn’t think Michael Guerin was capable of showing any type of emotion, least of all, passion.

“What earthquake?” asked Liz, picking up the plate Michael passed through the window. “There wasn’t any earthquake.”

“You cannot tell me you didn’t just feel that?” Maria asked. She glared at Michael one last time and exited the kitchen to go stand beside Liz. “It felt like the entire building was shaking.”

“Maybe it was just Michael making the Earth move for you,” joked Liz.

“Do not even go there, Liz,” Maria said, darkly. “That was an aberration, that’s all.

“I don’t think so,” said Liz, looking towards the kitchen.

Maria turned and followed Liz’s glance and saw Michael standing there watching her intently, only instead of the usual hate she saw in his face, this time, she saw confusion and passion.

“No, no, no,” said Maria, shaking her head vehemently. “I so do not think so. Mr. Stone Face over there does not have the hots for me. Is that clear?”

Maria stalked away to seat some new customers, while Liz filled a drink order and laughed silently to herself. The concept of Maria together with Michael was not as weird as she would have thought; in fact she found the idea to be oddly reassuring.

Liz hefted the tray of drinks and crossed the floor to deliver them to the waiting customers. As she walked, she got an eerie feeling that someone was watching her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she slowly turned around, trying to locate the cause of her unease. Unable to do so, she quickly dispensed the beverages and returned to the kitchen. For some reason, the urge to confide her suspicions to Michael was very strong.

“What?” Michael asked, staring at her.

“I, uh, I, oh never mind,” Liz said. She started to turn away, but Michael reached out a restraining hand and stopped her.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing, really,” Liz said. “I just feel like someone’s watching me. It’s weird, I know but I just can’t shake it. Never mind,” she said abruptly. “Forget I said anything. I don’t know what I’m talking about.”

She jerked away from Michael and went back out to the café. She worked steadily for the next several hours, forcing down her feelings of unease all the while. When the dinner rush ended, she grabbed a soda and retreated to the employee lounge to try and make some sense of the insanity that had become her world.

Things seem to be spiraling out of control. She wrote in her journal. I don’t know what’s real anymore. Max Evans fills both my waking thoughts and my dreams, but I don’t know why. And then there is continual feeling of unease. I’m starting to wonder if I’m suffering from some type of paranoid delusion. Nobody is watching me. Why would they? I’m Liz Parker; plain ordinary Liz Parker. And yet, there is something. I’m not sure what. Some fleeting, tantalizing memory, dancing on the fringes of my mind, I can almost reach out and grab it, but when I try, and dances out of reach yet again, taunting me. It’s driving me crazy.

I am not a paranoid person. I don’t feel like the world is out to get me, or everyone is against me, but I can’t shake the feeling that someone IS watching me. I can’t talk to Maria about it, she has her own issues to cope with. Michael Guerin is working at the café now, and she is less than pleased about it.

Maybe the best thing I can do is put the whole thing out of my mind and just stay away from Max Evans. I can’t help but feel that all of this comes back to him somehow. I don’t know how, but I’m almost certain of it.

Liz looked at the clock, sighed and slipped her pen into her journal. She stuffed the journal back into her backpack and slid it into her locker. She walked out into the kitchen and grabbed a rack of clean glasses from the dishwasher as her mind continued to race. Usually when she wrote in her journal, she felt freed from the problems that plagued her, but not today. Confused thoughts still whirled around in her mind like some out of control carnival ride.

The rack in her hands began to rattle dangerously as images from a carnival filled her mind. She could hear the sound of calliope music floating on the air, mingling with the cheerful screams of children on the various rides.

“Hey, Liz, are you all right?” a voice behind her said.

Liz turned and looked at the speaker and the rack of glasses fell from her hands. The glasses shattered, sprinkling shards of broken glass all around her.

“Alex,” she whispered, bringing her hand to her mouth. “You’re dead.”

[majiklmoon]

Winds of Change

Chapter Fourteen[/b\] – Flash Forward

That’s nice, Liz, thank you very much. And how am I supposed to respond to that anyhow? You’re ugly?” said a clearly confused Alex.

“I, uh, Alex, I’m sorry,” said a flustered Liz. She knelt down on the ground and began to pick up the pieces of broken glass that covered the floor. “I don’t know why I said that.”

“Look, Liz, there’s something really strange going on,” said Alex. He placed his books on the counter next to him and knelt down and began to help Liz pick up the broken glass. “You and Maria have been acting really weird lately. You’ve been avoiding me like crazy, and when I do catch up with you, you start talking about Czechoslovakians. Liz, Czechoslovakia hasn’t been a country for like fifty years. And now, you’re telling me that I’m dead. I demand to know what’s going on Liz. I want some answers.”

“Alex, Alex, Alex,” said Maria, joining the conversation. “You want answers, I’ll give you answers.

She knelt down next to Alex and placed her hand on his shoulder and leaned into him and whispered conspiratorially. “You want to know what we’re talking about, fine, I’ll tell you.”

“Maria!” Liz whispered, her face a mask of fear.

“When we’re talking about Czechoslovakians, we’re talking about cramps,” Maria continued. “And we didn’t want to gross you out, but if you want to know about all our female problems, we’ll gladly share them with you.”

“Thank you no,” said Alex, standing up. “That is way more information than I need to know. I’ll just be going. Liz, I brought over the CD my band just made, but I’ll just leave it here for you.” He dropped the CD on the counter and began to back away as if he were afraid the ‘cramps’ were contagious.

“I’ll just see you later,” he added as he crossed the restaurant floor.

Liz and Maria laughed as they watched their friend beat a hasty retreat from the café.

“How did you think of that?” Liz asked, trying to contain her laughter.

“I have no idea,” said Maria, “but it was perfect.” They quickly made short work of picking up the rest of the broken glasses and Liz prepared to carry the tray back to the kitchen.

“What happened, anyhow?” Maria asked, nodding in the direction of the tray.

“I don’t know,” said Liz. “I saw Alex, and I had this overwhelming feeling of dread, like something terrible had happened, and that he shouldn’t be here. It’s stupid, I know, but it felt so real.”

“Yeah,” said Maria, almost to herself. “I think I know what you mean.” She thought back to the other day when she saw Alex in school, she was consumed with an overwhelming need to hold him, and never let him go. It was like she was never going to see him again.

“Maria, what’s happening to me?” asked Liz. “I think I’m losing my mind.”

“Well if you are, then I’m right there with you, Chica. Because for the last few days, my world has been spinning of its proverbial axis. And I’m betting it has something to do with that pointy haired freak in there,” Maria said, darkly, looking towards the kitchen where Michael worked over the grill.

“Listen, Maria, I’m not feeling very well, can you cover for me?” Liz asked. “I’m just going to go upstairs and lay down for a while.”

She turned and left, not waiting for Maria’s answer and climbed the steps to her family’s apartment. Liz wasted little time with her mother, explaining her early departure from work with the tried and true excuse of cramps, and slipped away to her room.

In her room, Liz looked at the journal she’d left on her bed that morning, then eyed the bathroom door, weighing the merits of a shower versus trying to analyze everything that had been happening recently. The need for relaxing won out, and Liz quickly removed her hideous waitress uniform and turned the shower jet. Steam quickly filled her small bathroom, and she stepped under the hot stream and allowed the water to cascade over her body.

Liz absent-mindedly reached for a bottle of apple scented shampoo and began to wash her hair. As her fingers worked her heavy tresses into a lather, she tried to focus on the events of the past several days, but the combined heat of the shower, and the beguiling scent of her shampoo caused her thoughts to wander aimlessly.

She rinsed the shampoo from her hair, and along with the soap, she could feel her worries slipping away. She smiled slightly as she squeezed a dollop of conditioner in her hand and began to smooth it into her hair. The scent of apples grew stronger and began to permeate the room. It brought to mind the image of a fall day, and Liz saw herself riding under the warm fall sun, next to Max Evans.

Liz relaxed and enjoyed the happy images that filled her mind. There were no pressures, no worries, just herself, and Max, riding along enjoying the day. Her body began to tense as she felt the jeep leave the road, and she saw the Earth and sky spin around her.

The image shifted, and Max was still in the Jeep, unconscious, with his head resting on the steering wheel. The image shifted again, and Max was now in a hospital bed, while Liz, Michael, Maria and Isabel looked down at him. The image shifted again and this time she saw Max being strapped down to a gurney, fighting and screaming as he tried to break free from the restraints. She could feel his fear as if it were his own. They shocked his body, they cut into it while he screamed and screamed.

Liz screamed, and the noise jerked her back into reality. She hurriedly rinsed the remaining conditioner from her hair and stepped out of the shower. Dressing quickly, she slipped out of her room and downstairs. Once outside, she stood helplessly on the street, unsure of what to do. She slipped back into her family’s apartment and then went down into the kitchen of the CrashDown. She walked up to Michael without hesitation and tapped him on the shoulder.

“You have to help me,” she said, bluntly. “Max is in danger.”

[majiklmoon]

Winds of Change

Chapter Fifteen – Visions of Yesterday

Michael cleaned the grill while he listened to Liz. He poured more water on the grill; steam billowed upward, obscuring his features and served to mask the fears he knew showed there.

What she said to him made no sense, but in the inner recesses of his mined, what she said struck a chord of truth. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that Liz was telling the truth. The only question was, what to do about it.

“Thanks,” he said, brusquely. “But just stay out of it. I’ll take care of everything.”

“But Michael, Max is in danger,” Liz said. “We have to do something.”

“We don’t have to do anything. You’re not a part of this,” Michael said. He removed his apron and grabbed his coat out of his locker. He barely spared Liz a glance as he walked towards the door. He reached out and opened the door, but before he left, he turned to Liz.

“Stay out of it,” he said as the door slammed behind him.

Liz watched from the window as he climbed on his motorcycle and drove off into the night. A spirit of defiance filled Liz’s soul. She wasn’t about to let Michael tell her what to do. Max was in danger, and despite everything that had happened between them, she knew she had to help him. Just like she always did, a voice whispered in the back of her mind. No matter what happened to Max Evans, she was right there at his side like some sort of trustworthy little pet.

Liz shook her head, trying to rid herself of the emotional rage that filled her mind. Why was she so angry? It didn’t make any sense at all. She barely knew Max Evans, why would she start thinking about all the things that happened to them. Short of his saving Maria, and a car ride to the quarry, nothing had happened between them.

Except for Tess, the same small voice whispered in the back of her mind. A feeling of intense hatred welled up in Liz, and was shocked at it. She didn’t know anybody named Tess. Her reactions made no sense. Torn, Liz looked at the door to outside, and the stairs back up to her apartment. She wanted to go upstairs and open the new journal she had started. This one wasn’t really scientific. In it, she was recording all the strange memories that filled her head, and the déjà vu experiences she had been having. But she also knew Max needed her.

Compromising, Liz grabbed a blank order pad and scribbled everything that had just occurred down, and ripped off the top sheet and stuffed it into her jeans pocket. She reached into Maria’s locker and pulled out a jacket and slipped out into the cool desert night. She looked longingly at her parent’s car, but decided against it and began to walk down the empty sidewalk.

The chirping of the crickets made a lonely accompaniment to Liz’s thoughts as she reached the edge of the residential district where the Evans family lived. She paused for a moment, trying to decide if she really did have a reason to be there. Maybe she was losing her mind. The possibility scared her, and she stood, frozen in thought trying to judge her own sanity when the headlights of a passing car caught her in their glare. Instinctively, she put a hand up to shield her eyes and she took an involuntary step backwards as the car pulled over to the curb.

“Liz Parker, is that you?” a female voice called through the night. “It’s Isabel Evans.”

“Isabel, hi,” Liz said as a feeling of relief washed over her. She wasn’t particularly close to Isabel, actually, she wasn’t in the same league as her, but at least she was fairly certain that Isabel wasn’t about to turn into a mad rapist or anything.

“What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?” Isabel questioned, climbing out of the Jeep she shared with her brother.

“I, oh, uh, I was just out for a walk,” she said.

“Well it’s late, you shouldn’t be out walking alone this late at night,” said Isabel. “Climb in, I’ll give you a ride home.”

Liz looked regretfully in the direction of the Evans house before she climbed into the Jeep. She wanted to talk to Max, but couldn’t see herself explaining that to Isabel.

“Thanks,” she said to Isabel, not meaning it, but at the same time, grateful that someone had taken the choice out of her hands.

Isabel pulled away from the curb, and the two rode in silence for several minutes, each alone with her thoughts. Finally Isabel broke what was rapidly becoming an awkward silence.

“Max told you,” she said, making it a statement and not a question.

“Yeah, but Isabel, you have to know I wouldn’t ever tell anyone,” Liz said in a rush. “I swear.”

“I know, Liz,” said Isabel, her voice uncharacteristically soft. “I don’t know why I believe that you won’t, but I do.”

They drove on in silence for a few minutes before Isabel spoke again. “Can I ask you something?” she said to Liz. “Were you going to see my brother?”

“Why do you want to know?” Liz.

“I just want to tell you there isn’t any possibility of a relationship between you and him. We agreed a long time ago not to let anybody into our lives. You’re a nice person Liz, and I don’t want to see you get hurt. Just give up on Max. There isn’t any room in his life for you.”

Even though Isabel’s voice was gentle, it cut into Liz like a thousand different knives. She felt her eyes fill with tears, and she reached into her pocket and pulled out a tissue.

“Pull over,” she said, her voice thick with tears. “Pull over now.”

Isabel pulled the Jeep over to the side of the road, and Liz jumped out and began to run, heedless of Isabel’s voice calling out after her. Isabel watched the other girl run off into the night. When she could no longer see Liz, she reached over to shut the door that Liz had left open. As she did, she spied a folded piece of paper on the seat where Liz had sat.

Isabel hesitated for only a minute before she unfolded it and began to read. The graphic images Liz had recorded on the order slip filled her with fear and horror, and she found herself recalling a military installation. The memory caused her to shiver slightly and she pulled her jacket tightly around her. Images flashed through her mind. She saw Max being tortured, and screaming out in agony, and she felt helpless. She wanted to reach out to him, but didn’t know how.

Suddenly, she was overcome by an intense feeling of comfort and security, and she saw herself dancing with a tall dark haired man. She didn’t see his face, but she was certain that she knew him. Just as quickly the image shifted and she saw herself laying a rose on a coffin, tears streaming down her face.

“Alex,” she whispered to the empty Jeep. She felt a dampness on her face and found that the tears were not just in her memory, they were real.

[majiklmoon]

Winds of Change

Chapter Sixteen – Stargazing

Alex Whitman sat at an empty table in the warm Roswell sunshine and unpacked his lunch. He hated eating alone, but given the way Maria and Liz had been acting lately, alone was definitely the safer alternative. The less he heard about cramps masquerading as Czechoslovakians, the better for his piece of mind.

He opened his soda and scanned the crowded eating area looking for someone to talk to when he spied Isabel Evans holding her tray and scanning the crowd. His heart began to pound rapidly, and he felt his face begin to burn as Isabel began to walk in his direction. Not that this reaction was anything new to him. He fell in love with Isabel in third grade, the first time he saw her get off the school bus, and the feeling had never subsided. Not that she knew who he was. Isabel Evans didn’t deign to speak to lesser mortals such as him. He was so far out of her league that it wasn’t even funny.

“Hi, do you mind if I sit here,” a voice said, breaking through his thoughts.

Alex looked up and saw Isabel standing next to him, ready to put her tray down on the table. Alex swallowed the mouthful of soda he had just drunk, and immediately began to choke.

“Su-sure,” he sputtered, his voice cracking. “S-sit down.”

“I’m Isabel Evans,” Isabel said in a cheery voice.

“I-I know,” said Alex, struggling to regain his composure. “Everybody knows who you are.”

“I don’t think so,” said Isabel, smiling at Alex’s comment. “You’re Alex Whitman, right?”

“You know who I am?” Alex asked, his voice breaking again.

“Alex, we’ve been in school together since the third grade. Of course I know you,” Isabel answered.

“Yeah, but you normally don’t talk to me,” said Alex. “Did you lose a bet or something?” He swiveled around in his seat looking to see if he could spy some of Isabel’s giggling friends, or someone with a camera to record the moment. “Can I have a copy of the picture someone is surely taking as proof so I can forever remember this moment?”

Isabel threw her head back and laughed, and her long hair cascaded down her back like a golden waterfall, shinning in the sun. Alex felt his breath catch as he observed her heartbreaking beauty.

“Alex you are too funny,” said Isabel. “Can’t I just hang out with you?”

“In my dreams yes, in reality, no,” said Alex. “Not without causing irreparable damage to your social standing. So why don’t you just tell me what you want, or whatever, and that way you can get back to your little friends.”

“Alex, I don’t want anything from you,” said Isabel, and something in her tone half convinced him that she was telling the truth.

”Isabel, come on someone like you doesn’t come sit with someone like me for no reason. It just doesn’t happen.”

“Fine, you want to know the truth, I’ll tell you the truth,” said Isabel. “Last night, I had a dream about you.

“Right,” said a still skeptical Alex. Him dreaming about Isabel that made sense; Isabel dreaming about him, now that was the stuff of fantasies.

“No, seriously, I did,” said Isabel. I was wearing a red dress, and you were in the most handsome tux, Alex, and we were dancing. It was magical. At first, I didn’t see your face, but finally it came into focus. Alex, we were so happy and it was so beautiful.”

“Okay,” said Alex. “We danced, again, I’m not seeing why this would make you want to come an sit with me. It was just a dream, right?”

“But then it changed,” said Isabel, her voice catching slightly. “I, I was at a funeral, and I put a flower on a coffin. Oh, God, Alex, it was you’re coffin. You died. It was terrible.”

“What?” asked Alex, the color draining from his face. “What did you just say?”

“You died Alex. In my dream, you were dead,” said Isabel, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “It was horrible.”

“Yeah, horrible,” muttered Alex, his thoughts racing. “Seems to be a lot of that going around lately.”

“A lot of what?” asked Isabel, confused by Alex’s apparent change in conversation.

“Me dying,” he said. “Liz said the same thing to me the other night at the CrashDown. She took one look at me, dropped a tray of glasses and told me I was dead. I’m starting to not feel the love from everybody, let me tell you.”

“Liz Parker?” asked Isabel.

“Yes, Liz Parker. Do I hang out with any other Liz’s?”

“We need to talk to her, Alex. “Something isn’t right, and I think it involves Liz,” said Isabel. “Do you know where she is?”

“Usually, she’s right where you’re sitting,” said Alex in a dry voice. “But her and Maria have been avoiding me lately - something about Czechoslovakians or something.”

“Czechoslovakians?” asked Isabel. “Who’s Czechoslovakian?”

“Apparently cramps are,” said Alex, standing up. “Come on, if they’re not out here, then chances are they’re holed up inside one of the empty science rooms.

“They?” asked Isabel. “Do we have to talk to Maria, too?”

“Where Liz goes, so goes Maria,” said Alex. “Why?”

“I- I don’t know,” said Isabel. “I just have this weird feeling, like she’s going to try and get me to wait tables or something.”

Alex laughed out loud at the visual of Isabel in a CrashDown uniform with little alien deely boppers on her head.

“Don’t worry, Isabel, I don’t think that’s ever going to happen,” he said. He waited until she stood up, and the two began walking toward the school together.

“Do you know what you want to do for college?” Isabel asked, trying to make conversation. She didn’t feel uncomfortable with Alex. It was exactly the opposite. Talking with him, she felt like she was coming home, or something. She felt safe and protected, and that wasn’t a feeling she was used to feeling.

“Yeah, I’m thinking MIT,” said Alex. “And Liz wants to go to Harvard, so we’ll still be able to hang out and stuff.”

“You and Liz are pretty close, aren’t you.”

“She’s my best friend,” said Alex, simply. “Well one of them anyway.”

“So, MIT?” asked Isabel. “You’re not looking at anywhere local, are you, like Las Cruses or something?”

“Thank you, no,” said Alex, suppressing a shudder. “I don’t ever want to see Las Cruses again.”

“You’ve been there?” Isabel asked, amazed at the alarmed feelings she had.

“No, I haven’t,” said a puzzled Alex. “I know I haven’t, but I feel like I have.”

“We need to fine Liz,” said Isabel, slipping her hand in his. “We need to find her right away.”

[majiklmoon]

Winds of Change

Chapter 17 Dreamscape


It was an odd group that met at Michael Guerin’s apartment that evening. On one side of the room sat Max, Michael and Isabel, while on the other side of the room, Liz, Kyle, Maria and Alex perched uncomfortably on Michael’s faded, threadbare couch.

“What’s he doing here?” grumbled Max, looking pointedly at Kyle who glared right back at him.

“He’s a part of this, too,” said Liz.

“I thought we agreed to keep this between us,” said Michael. “You know we can’t tell anybody about it.”

“She didn’t tell anybody,” said Maria, stepping to Liz’s defense.

“She obviously told the Laughing Buddha over there,” said Michael, his face growing red as his temper flared. “Or else he wouldn’t be here.”

“Stop it all of you!” shouted Isabel. “Something’s going on here, I don’t know what it is, but I think Liz is the key. So if she thinks that Kyle needs to be here, then I think he should stay. Besides,” she said in a quieter voice, “I have a feeling we can trust him.”

“Look, we don’t even know what’s going on,” said Alex, trying to be the voice of reason. “Can we please start at the beginning and bring everybody up to speed, and go from there?”

Max looked at Michael and Isabel, he knew they had to reveal their secret to two more people, but he was unwilling to do it unless he had the approval of both of them. Isabel was biting her lower lip thoughtfully while Michael glared angrily at everyone. Finally Isabel nodded slightly. Max looked to Michael who gave one angry jerk of his head before he threw himself down on the floor and reached for a piece of pizza from the box that rested on the decrepit coffee table in the middle of the floor.

Max made short work of explaining who they were, and what had happened in the past several weeks. When he was finished, he sat back expectantly and waited for the barrage of questions he was sure would come. He was shocked when both Alex and Kyle seemed to accept what he had told them.

“Why aren’t you freaked by all of this?” Max asked, looking at both men, a curious expression on his face.

“Well, I can’t answer for Kyle,” said Alex, “But I kind of feel like your telling me something I already knew. Like it was a story my mom used to read to me as a kid, and I just heard it again.”

“We’ve all been having feelings like that lately,” said Liz, who had begun to relax a bit now that the truth was out. “Or at least I have.”

“I still don’t know why he’s here,” grumbled Michael with another pointed glare at Kyle.

“Well, I didn’t know why I was here at first,” snapped Kyle, giving Michael his own angry glance. “I told Liz about this crazy dream that I had, and she just about freaked out and said she had to go find Evans and talk to him right away.”

“What dream?” asked Isabel. “Max never told us about your dream, Kyle.”

“That’s because I never got the chance to tell Max,” Liz said. “Tell them Kyle. They need to hear this.”

“Well, I dreamt I was in that cheesy UFO Museum, and I got shot. I guess it was getting robbed or something,” said Kyle. “Anyhow, I was dying, and my dad was there begging Max to help me. Next thing I know, I was sitting in a lotus position contemplating my existence in this world.”

“A lotus position?” laughed Maria. “What like Buddha and meditation and all that stuff?”

“I guess,” said Kyle. “Anyhow, I woke up, but I was totally freaked by it. But the dream stuck with me. Usually, I don’t remember my dreams, but I remembered that one. I can still feel the bullet ripping through my,”

“Through your stomach,” said Max. “The bullet hit you in the stomach like the one that hit Maria.”

“Or the one that hit Liz if you go by Michael’s drawing,” said Maria.

“You know, maybe I am starting to get a little freaked,” said Alex. “This is like an episode of the Twilight Zone or something.”

“I’m not finished,” said Kyle. “I finally fell back to sleep, and I had another strange dream.”

“You didn’t tell me about that, Kyle,” Liz said.

“Did you give me a chance,” said Kyle. “After I told you about my first dream, you went on your quest for Max Evans, and you dragged me around half the school looking for him. It wasn’t conducive to intimate conversation.”

“Sorry,” said Liz, blushing slightly. She had been a bit of a termagant this afternoon dragging Kyle all through the school.

“Anyhow, all of us were someplace pretty fancy, I mean, we were all dressed up, and we were paired off in couples,” said Kyle.

“How’s that work, there isn’t an even number?” asked Maria.

Kyle ignored Maria and continued his story. “Liz and Max were together, and Alex and Isabel were together. You looked great by the way,” he said to Isabel.

“Of course I did,” said Isabel. “So go on, there doesn’t seem to be anything to ominous about this dream.”

“I’m getting there,” said Kyle. “Maria and Mr. Personality over there were an item.”

“What!” Michael and Maria shouted together.

“And I was with this cute little blond chic,” said Kyle, ignoring the outburst. “She was really hot, and I do mean hot. Anyhow, my dream kind of flashed to a different time, you know and we were all at a funeral, well, almost all of us were,” he said, softly.

Isabel reached down and grabbed Alex’s hand and squeezed it tightly and tears began to fall silently down her face.

“How did you know?” Kyle asked in amazement, watching the sadness play across Isabel’s face. “Alex was the only one who wasn’t there,” he added for the benefit of the others, but he could see it wasn’t necessary.

“Is that it?” Max asked, his voice thick with emotion.

“No, I wish it was,” said Kyle. “After that, I was standing in my room and Liz was sitting on my bed drumming on something. I was looking in my mirror, and I saw Alex and that cute blond chic I was telling you about, or their reflections, anyhow. They were fighting, and she scrunched her face up and Alex fell to the floor. I woke up screaming and didn’t sleep for the rest of the night,” finished Kyle.

“Tess,” said Liz, her voice bleak. “Her name is Tess.”

[majiklmoon]

Winds of Change

Chapter Eighteen – Nightmare

I feel as though there’s a hollow space where my heart used to be. Liz wrote in her journal. All it took was the mention of a name. Four letters arranged in a random pattern to form a word that is capable of destroying my very existence, but I don’t know why. That’s what is frustrating to me – the not knowing. My life was always so predictable, mundane even until this thing with Max started. Now it seems as though everything is in a state of flux. What’s happening to me – to us? Its almost as if we are all just puppets acting out some macabre play for an insane puppeteer. Something other than fate is bringing us all together. It has to be. Fate is random, but there seems to be some sort of pattern to all of this, if only I could figure it out.

“Liz, can you come here honey?” a voice called from inside the Parker apartment.

“Coming, Mom,” Liz answered. She slipped her pen into her journal to mark her place, closed the book and left it lying on her chair. She climbed in through her bedroom window and went to see what her mother wanted.

Nicholas waited patiently until he was certain Liz was gone before he climbed up the fire escape. He looked around surreptitiously, making sure he was unobserved before he climbed over the low wall that enclosed Liz’s rooftop patio.

Without a qualm, he opened her journal and began leaf through it. He scanned it rapidly, his face falling as he read the pages. His heart began to pound a staccato rhythm in his chest, and his breath came in short gasps as he realized how close they were to ruining everything. A noise alerted him to the fact that Liz was returning, and he quickly ducked behind a large planter. His hiding place provided him with a view to both the patio as well as the bedroom.

A soft breeze whispered across the patio, and the leaves from the plant brushed against his face. Angrily Nicholas shoved them away, waiting for an opportunity to escape off of the patio. He watched in fascination as Liz slowly ran a brush through her hair. His breath caught in his throat, and desire played across his face as Liz began to unbutton her blouse. It slid down off her shoulders and fluttered to the ground. Nicholas began to breath faster, his breath came in short gasps, and he felt himself grow warm with desire as Liz raised her arms above her head and stretched languidly.

Nicholas moved slightly from behind the brick planter to allow himself a better view of Liz. She was beautiful, he admitted to himself. It was a shame she had to die, Nicholas thought to himself. Maybe he’d use her for himself before he killed her. He caught his breath as she undid the snap on her jeans, and began to ease them down over her hips. Nicholas moved unconsciously towards the window as passion clouded his judgment.


He reached out to climb through the window when something tackled him from the side, sending him crashing into the brick wall. Liz heard the noise, and saw a blinding flash of light and screamed. She pulled her jeans back up over her hips and grabbed her shirt off the floor and pulled it on.

“Lizzie, is everything okay?” her father yelled from somewhere in the apartment.

“Oh, uh, yeah, fine dad,” she called back. “Just a couple of cats fighting or something. It scared me.”

She moved cautiously to the window and peered out into the darkness. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized that there was a body lying several feet from her window. She choked back the sobs that threatened to spill out and climbed carefully out of the window and knelt beside the body.

She reached out with shaking hands and carefully rolled the body over so that she could see who it was. Tears fell from her eyes when the face of Michael Guerin came into view, covered with horrible disfiguring burns. Liz jumped backwards and began to retch violently at the disfigured face in front of her.

When her insides felt as empty as her heart, Liz pushed herself up off the ground, and checked to see if Michael was still breathing before she staggered through the window into her room. She grabbed her cell phone and quickly punched in a number.

“Max,” she said. “It’s Michael, he’s been hurt. He’s at my house, please hurry.”

Liz stuffed her cell into her pocket with shaking hands and grabbed the blankets and pillows off of her bed and climbed back through the window. Once outside, she stood with trepidation as she realized whoever had hurt Michael could still be out there. Tamping her fear down, she moved over to Michael’s body, and carefully lifted his head up and slipped the pillow underneath him. Then she covered him with the blanket in the hopes of staving off the shock she was sure would set in.

“Maxwell,” Michael whispered, struggling to sit up.

“Michael, it’s Liz. Please don’t try and get up, Max is on his way.”

“Danger,” Michael moaned.

“Michael, try not to talk,” said Liz, brushing his hair off of the burnt skin on his forehead. “Don’t worry, Max will be here soon.”

She started to say more, but was interrupted by the ringing of the cell phone in her pocket. She reached for the phone, dropping it on the blanket that covered Michael in her haste to answer it.

“Hello?” she said, softly, trying not to disturb the injured man beside her.

“Liz, girlfriend, get ready. Alex and I will be by to pick you up in ten minutes. I don’t know where we’re going or what we’re doing, but who cares,” came Maria’s voice through the phone.

“Mu-Maria,” Liz whimpered, quietly.

“Liz, what’s the matter?” Maria asked, a sense of urgency in her voice.

“It’s Michael,” Liz said.

“What did he do now?” demanded Maria. “If he’s bothering you, I’m going to kill him.”

“He’s hurt, bad,” Liz said. “I think someone tried to kill him.”

“Liz, where are you?” asked Maria, panic rising in her voice.

“M-my house,” said Liz. “M-Max is on his way. Oh, God, Maria, I think he’s dying. Maria? Maria, are you there?”

Liz waited a minute before closing the phone and slipping it back into her pocket. She sat on the ground next to Michael, and held his hand in hers. The gesture may not have done anything for Michael, but it served to sooth her frayed nerves slightly.

After what seemed like hours, but was, in reality only several minutes, Max appeared on the fire escape. He climbed over the low wall, and raced across the rooftop, with Isabel on his heels. At the same time, the door to Liz’s bedroom opened and shut and voices could be heard in the room. Max and Isabel stood protectively over Michael and Liz, each of them holding an arm outstretched before them. Maria and Alex appeared in the window, and Max and Isabel lowered their hands and turned their attention back to Michael.

“What happened?” asked Max.

“I don’t know,” said Liz. “I was in my room, getting changed when I heard a bang, and there was a brilliant flash of light. I came out here and I found Michael. He was lying face down on the ground. I turned him over, and then I called you. After that, I came outside and covered him up.”

Max pulled the blanket off of Michael, and both Isabel and Maria gasped when they saw the burns that covered his body. Whatever had done this to him was so intense that his charred clothing seemed to merge with the burnt flesh that was underneath it.

Max started at Michael’s head, holding his hands as close to his friend’s body as he could without touching it. A soft light emanated from Max’s hand, and the charred flesh on Michael’s face began to heal, slowly smoothing out and returning to a normal flesh tone. Max moved his hands slowly down Michael’s body, healing each burned surface one by one, until finally he Michael was completely healed.

“Why isn’t he waking up?” Maria asked.

“Don’t worry,” said Alex, his voice filled with awe at what he had just witnessed. “He’ll be okay.”

He reached out and took Maria by the hand and pulled her over to where the others stood. Max stood up and held out his hand to Liz, and they, along with Isabel, formed a circle around Michael. After several minutes, Michael’s eyes fluttered open and he looked around at the others standing over him.

“Thanks,” he said, his voice raspy. “Thank you,” he said again, looking directly at Liz.

“We need to get him home,” Isabel said.

“I’m going with you,” said Maria.

“You don’t need to,” began Isabel.

“Yes, I do,” interrupted Maria.

“We’ll all go,” said Max, stemming the argument that was about to occur. “Michael, can you climb down the fire escape?”

“Yeah,” said Michael, his voice shaky. “I think so.”

“I’ll go first,” offered Alex. “As long as you promise not to land on me.”

Maria climbed back through Liz’s window, while Max and Liz watched Alex, followed by Michael and Isabel.

“Are you coming?” Max asked, looking down into Liz’s eyes.

“Yeah. I’ll ride with Maria.”

“We’ll meet you at Michael’s apartment,” said Max. He swung one leg over the ledge and turned back to Liz. “How did you know my cell phone number?” he asked. “I just got it the other day.”

“I – I don’t know,” Liz said, helplessly. “I don’t know.”

[majiklmoon]

Winds of Change

Chapter Nineteen – Disclosure

Liz charged down the stairs into the CrashDown café and skidded to a halt and looked anxiously around for Maria. She scanned the crowded café, and while she saw a lot of familiar faces, she didn’t see the gamine features of her best friend anywhere.

“Lost?” a voice said beside her. Liz turned and saw Kyle standing beside her, an expectant look upon his face.

“Have you seen Maria?” she asked, still looking around, frantically.

“Yeah, she took off out of here on two wheels just as I was pulling in. Why what’s wrong?” he replied.

“Come on, we have to hurry,” Liz said. She grabbed his hand and began to pull him towards the front door of the café, shooting a smile and a wave at her father.

“You two kids don’t be too late, okay?” her dad called from his post at the register.

“We won’t dad,” Liz said. “We’re meeting Maria, Alex, and a few other kids. See you later. Don’t wait up,” she added over her shoulder as the door closed behind her, it’s silver bell tinkling in their wake.

“Do you mind telling me what’s going on here?” Kyle demanded, stopping on the sidewalk.

“Come on,” Liz said, frantically, tugging on the sleeve of his jacket. “I’ll explain on the way. We don’t have much time.”

Kyle looked down to Liz’s face and saw the anguish in his eyes. It was a feeling he was all too familiar with of late. Instinct told him to get the hell out of there, as quickly as possible, but his heart told him he was right where he belonged. Much as it pained him to admit it that is.

“Okay,” he said in resignation. “Let’s go, only tell me, where are we going? Though I suppose as long as it’s not Mars, I’m good.”

Liz gave a small giggle, despite the seriousness of the situation and followed Kyle to his car. Once inside, she gave him a brief overview of what had happened, and asked him to take her to Michael’s new apartment.

“What was he doing out on your patio, anyhow?” demanded Kyle.

“I don’t know,” admitted Liz. “But I’m glad he was. I mean if there are more of them out there, and some of them aren’t friendly, I guess I’m glad that he was out there.”

“Great, it wasn’t enough to be dreaming that Alex dies, now we’re in actual danger,” said Kyle. “Excuse me if I’m not excited at the prospect of little green aliens trying to kill me. You know, I didn’t sign on for any of this. I was only stopping by the CrashDown to see if you could help me find something at the library.”

“Kyle Valenti at the library?” asked Liz. “I’m having a hard time seeing that.”

“Maybe I’m trying to turn over a new leaf,” Kyle said, his voice filled with mock defensiveness.

“More like trying to impress a girl,” teased Liz.

“Yeah, about that,” said Kyle, flushing a little. “I know we dated some last year and during the summer but I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem,”

“Quite right,” Liz finished for him. “I was thinking the same thing. Something is kind of off about it.”

“Exactly,” said Kyle. “Liz, you’re a great person, and I’d do just about anything for you, but I just don’t think we’re destined to be together.”

“Wh-what did you say?” Liz said.

A concerned Kyle looked over at Liz, her features illuminated by the streetlights under which they passed.

“Please don’t tell me you’re having another one of those freaky déjà vu things,” Kyle begged.

“No, not really, Liz hedged. “Something about the phrase destined to be together just rubbed me the wrong way. I just didn’t like it very much.”

The two drove along silently for several minutes, Kyle concentrating on the road as a way of avoiding the real issues at hand, and Liz staring out into the night, her mind a million miles away.

“Did you mean it?” she asked him suddenly.

“Did I mean what?” asked Kyle, still watching the road ahead.

“About doing just about anything for me,” said Liz. “Did you mean it?”

“Yeah, I guess,” said Kyle. “I mean, I’m not going to rob a bank for you or anything, but otherwise, yeah, sure.”

“Would you sleep with me?”

“What?” Kyle shouted. His foot jammed on the brake and the car skidded to a halt. Kyle’s hand reached out instinctively to stop Liz from hitting the windshield, and he twisted around in the drivers seat to stare at her.

“What did you just say? Cause I’m telling you Liz, as far as propositions go, that one kind of sucked.”

“I – never mind,” said Liz, shaking her head. “I don’t know what I was saying. Just forget about it.”

“Like hell I’ll forget about it,” said Kyle. He pulled the car over to the side of the road and switched off the ignition. “What’s going on, Liz. We just got done having a discussion about how we don’t belong together, and now you’re asking me to sleep with you? Something isn’t making any sense at all.”

“That’s just it, Kyle,” Liz said crying softly. “Nothing has made sense for a long time now. Ever since the day I was shot in the CrashDown.”

“Liz,” Kyle said gently, beginning to fear for Liz’s sanity. “You weren’t shot in the CrashDown, remember? Maria was.”

“I know,” Liz almost wailed. “I was there, remember?”

“Then why are you saying you were shot, if you know it was Maria?” Kyle asked. He tried to keep his voice calm and even, hoping to placate Liz long enough for someone to come along and get him some help.

“Kyle, I’m not losing my mind,” said Liz. “Stop looking like you expect me to go psycho on you.”

“You already did that when you asked me to sleep with you?” said Kyle, laughing to hide his nervousness.

“Look this is your fault,” said Liz. “You told me you didn’t want to know about anymore of those déjà vu things, remember?”

“So you decided to shock the shit out of me instead? Nice plan, Liz.”

Liz sat with her face in her hands, and her shoulders shaking violently. Kyle, always uncomfortable with sobbing females reached over and patted her clumsily on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Liz. I didn’t mean to upset you. Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out, I know we will.”

Liz took her hands away from her face and looked at Kyle, her face wreathed in smiles.

“You’re not crying?” he asked.

“N-no,” she choked out between giggles. “I’m not.”

“You’re laughing – at me, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I’m sorry, Kyle, but yes, I’m laughing at you,” said Liz. “But I’m laughing at me, too, so don’t feel bad. I just replayed that whole conversation in my mind. Oh Kyle, the way you reacted was priceless.”

“Great, well if you’re done laughing at my last great act of nobility in this lifetime or the next, can you please move on to the part about us sleeping together. Because now that I’m thinking about it, I’d be stupid not to take you up on it,” said Kyle, relaxing a little now that he was fairly certain Liz wasn’t losing her mind.

“It was just this whole thing that flashed through my mind when you said that bit about us not being destined to be together. I saw Max, and I, and this blond girl. Then I saw Max again, in a sombrero. Then Max was next to me in my room, but it wasn’t Max, he was older, colder and harder. Then there was an Elvis wedding chapel and then I saw you and I in bed.”

“Wedding chapel,” said Kyle. “Vegas. Harvey Wallbanger, Tom Collins, Rob Roy.”

“Brandy Alexander, Margarita Salt, Pina Colada and Shirley Temple,” continued Liz. “Kyle, are we playing a drinking game?”

“You knew those names, Liz,” Kyle said excitedly. “You didn’t even think about it; you knew those names. Why? Why do we know this stuff?”

“I don’t know,” Liz admitted. “I really don’t. Come on, let’s get to Michael’s and make sure he’s okay. Maybe the others can help us make some sense of this.”

“I doubt it, but okay,” said Kyle.

He eased the car back out onto the road in the direction of Michael’s apartment, and hopefully, some answers.

[majiklmoon]

Winds of Change

Chapter Twenty Venom

Max was closest to the door when the knock came, so he jumped up and opened it to find Liz and Kyle standing on the other side. A feeling of rage welled up inside of him, and he gripped the doorframe trying to contain it.

“Oh, God, Max, stop it,” Liz cried. She pointed to his hand on the doorframe and he moved, it, revealing a scorched imprint of his hand.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked. “And is Michael okay.”

“Like you care,” Max said, bitterly. “It took you long enough to get here. What did the two of you do, stop and park or something?”

Liz recoiled as if she had been slapped, and tears flooded her eyes. The venom in his voice, and the anger in his voice was a double-edged sword, and she stepped back into the shelter of Kyle’s arms as if she had been stabbed.

“What the hell is your problem, Max?” demanded Kyle. “She got here as soon as she could. She came flying down into the CrashDown, white as a ghost, but low and behold, none of you, or your kind had waited around for her. The one who saved your friend’s life. Remember that?”

“Forget it Kyle, let’s just get out of here,” said Liz. “We can go check out that thing at the library.”

“What thing at the library?” asked Max, jealously.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, Senor Presidente,” snapped Kyle.

The term only served to enrage Max further, and he turned to close the door when Isabel pushed him aside.

“Maybe you’d better come in,” she said. “The doorway isn’t the place to be having this discussion.”

“Is Michael okay?” Liz asked, her concern evident in her voice.

“He’s resting,” said Isabel. “Maria’s in with him, though for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. Those two can’t stand each other.”

“What happened tonight, Liz?” Alex asked from his perch on Michael’s decrepit sofa.

Liz’s gaze wandered around the apartment as she formulated her thoughts. Her eyes stopped at the large television that overpowered the dusty corner of the room, then moved to the coffee table littered with the remains of several meals.

“It wasn’t much more than I told you already,” said Liz. “I was sitting outside, writing, when my mother called me. When I got inside, she told me I had a phone call, but when I picked up the phone nobody was there. I asked her who it was, and she said she thought it was Alex.”

“I didn’t call you, Liz,” Alex said. “Maria and I were practicing with my band, and we planned on calling you later.”

“Yeah, well, anyhow, I went back to my room and started getting changed. I was going to jump into the shower, when I heard a loud bang outside, and saw a flash of light. I ran outside and found Michael. Come on, I told you all of this already. Nothing’s changed since then,” Liz said in frustration.

“Are you sure you don’t remember anything else?” asked Max. His voice was still very harsh. Every time he looked over at Liz standing next to Kyle, he felt something churning in his gut. He had to force back the burning desire he had to kill Kyle right then and there.

“You know what, Max. I don’t have to take this from you,” said Liz. “I’m not some docile little lamb destined to follow you around. You have a different destiny, one that doesn’t involve me. Now go chase after him if you have to, but leave me alone.”

“Liz, what did you say?” asked Kyle as everyone else looked at Liz in shock. Nobody ever expected such a violent outburst to come from her.

“I said he had a different destiny, and it didn’t involve me, and he could go chase after it if he wanted to, but to leave me alone,” said Liz.

“No, no you didn’t,” said Isabel. “You told him to go chase after him. You said him, not it. Who is he, Liz? Do you remember?”

“It must have just been a slip of the tongue, Isabel, that’s all,” said Liz.

“I’m not buying it Liz,” said Max, this time, his tone gentle. “It wasn’t a slip of the tongue, and it wasn’t a coincidence, any more than any of the other things that have happened lately have been a coincidence. We just have to figure out what it all means.”

“You might as well tell him the rest of it,” said Kyle in resignation. He flung himself onto the couch next to Alex and began to cough when a cloud of dust rose up around him.

“I’m not really sure,” said Liz. “There’s something about the library, but I don’t know what. Kyle stopped by the CrashDown tonight to see if I wanted to get something from the library, and that seemed so familiar to me, but I don’t know why.”

“Plenty of guys ask girls to go to the library,” said Max, the jealous tone creeping back into his voice.

“Not me,” said Kyle from the couch. “The library’s the last place I’d want to go.”

“And then when we were driving here, something really weird happened,” said Liz.

“What was it?” asked Isabel from behind the counter in the small kitchenette. While she talked, she scrubbed futilely at the filthy grout. Finally, in resignation, she passed her hand over the counter and used her powers to eradicate the grime that had built up over the years. She changed the color of the tile to a blue while she looked at Liz speculatively. A memory echoed in her mind, dancing just out of reach. She turned the tile back to white while she waited for Liz to answer.

“Well, Kyle and I were discussing how we thought we make better friends than anything else,” said Liz.

“Well, that’s no startling revelation,” said Maria joining them. She stood in the doorway to Michael’s bed her arm around Michael’s waist, lending support to his shaky body. “I told you that a long time ago. No offense, Liz, but I was telling you that a long time ago.”

“Michael, should you be out of bed?” asked Max.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Michael said with a slight groan. “So does somebody want to tell me who the hell happened tonight?”

“Well, we were kind of hoping you could,” said Max. “Do you remember anything at all?”

“Well, I stopped by the CrashDown to pick up some food. I was climbing on my bike when I saw someone going up the fire escape. It looked like the same guy I saw in the kitchen the day of the earthquake,” Michael explained.

“What earthquake?” asked Max.

“Never mind, that’s not important,” said Maria.

“Well, I followed him up the fire escape, and watched. At first, he was just reading some book, and I figured maybe I was wrong and Liz was just gonna be studying with someone. Anyhow, then this guy starts staring in her window, moving closer and closer. It took me a minute to realize what he was doing, and when I did, I jumped him. That’s the last thing I remember until I opened my eyes and saw Liz putting a pillow under my head.”

Michael closed his eyes, and tried to erase the memory of the searing pain on his skin. Nothing, including the many beatings Hank had given him had even come close to equaling the agonizing pain he had felt tonight. He had thought he was going to die, and had in fact, prayed for a quick release from the agony he endured. But through the pain, he had heard a soft voice calling to him, telling him to hold on. He opened his eyes, to see Liz leaning over him. He had saved her, and she had repaid the favor in turn.

They all began talking at once, each trying to be heard over the other, and nobody paying attention to each other, and the noise level grew louder and louder.

“We all need to stop,” said Isabel, suddenly. “There’s too much going on. We’re not planning and thinking – there’s no organization to anything that we’re doing. If we keep going on like this, we’re not going to accomplish anything.”

“I agree with Isabel,” said Liz. “I’ve been trying to keep track of everything that’s been happening to me, in my journal. Maybe if we make up a master plan or something, we can find a pattern to all of this.”

“Liz, where is this journal of yours?” asked Michael, his voice still shaky.

Liz paused to think for a moment before answering, trying to remember where she’d left it.

“Oh,” she said suddenly. “I was writing out on my patio when my mother called me. I left it there when I went inside.”

“And that’s what our mysterious stranger was reading, before he decided to become a peeping Tom,” said Max.

“We need that journal,” said Michael.

“I’ll go back and get it,” said Alex. “The Parkers won’t think twice about letting me into Liz’s room.”

“I’m going with you,” Isabel said with amazing speed. “You shouldn’t be out there alone.”

Alex looked as if he was ready to argue, but one look at Isabel’s determined face quickly changed his minds. She’d get no arguments from him. They made their way to Alex’s car and drove off into the night, unaware of the car that followed them at a discreet distance.