285
South…..
Mr. Sommers entered the classroom carrying a large stack of
papers. “Everybody has their secrets. There isn't a person alive today who's
what they appear to be. Exposing these secrets is the job of the...historian.
Even the most normal of us has extraordinary qualities just waiting to be
uncovered.”
Maria moved uncomfortably in her seat. Dead people. Why did
she need to learn about dead people? They were…dead.
Stopping at the first roll, Mr. Sommers handed out a stack
of papers to be handed back. “For tonight's assignment, I've paired you
together. It is your job as...historians, to find out as much as you can about
your partner by asking these specific questions, and then writing up an oral
history report for tomorrow.”
Maria took her paper and glanced at the questionnaire
quickly, her mouth opening in sync with her hand flying into the air. “Uh,
excuse me, but these are kinda personal, don't you think?”
Maria’s eyes narrowed as Mr. Sommers beady eyes zoomed in
on her.
“Exactly. Personal is the goal of the professional
biographer. And who knows? You just might make a new friend.” Maria snorted as
he consulted his class roster. “Ok, so the partners are as follows: Daskal
with Hausman, Kalinowski with Nell. Parker with Evans...that's
Oh no! “Wait, did you just say Guerin?”
Smiling, Mr. Sommers confirmed the horror. He was doing it
on purpose. He had to be. Bastard. “Yes, Michael Guerin.”
Maria looked around the room helplessly. No. No. “No, no,
I'm sorry. That's unacceptable.”
“I beg your pardon?”
You should beg,
buddy. Maria gestured to the room. “I mean, the guy's not even here.”
“Well, then it'll be like true field work, tracking down
your subject.” Maria’s eyes narrowed at his condescending response. He
delivered it with relish and went on as if she never protested. “Trussell with
Wolf...”
Leaving the classroom with Liz, Maria sent one final glare
at the inhuman history teacher, not that it phased him in the least. Obviously,
years of hardening of his arteries and heart were already in play. At least she
had Liz. Liz would listen and care.
“I mean, this is like cruel and unusual education. I
mean, aren't there, like, Geneva Convention rules against this sort of thing?”
Liz looked over at Isabel Evans shrinking beneath the cold
disdain in the tall girl’s stare. “Could this possibly get any worse?” she
sighed. For a moment, just one small short moment, she thought she was paired
with Max. No. It had to be Isabel. Liz faltered in her steps, tuning Maria’s
rant out, as she saw Kyle and Max talking. Oh god, this could get worse!
Kyle tried to keep Max Evans’ attention. “All right, so
let's meet at the Crashdown after school today, get started on some of these
questions. Get to know each other a little.” Max frowned, quickly agreeing.
Kyle couldn’t have said it anymore suspiciously. Liz stopped next to Max
watching Kyle walk away.
“I can't believe this. He has been acting so weird since
we broke up.”
“It'll be fine.” Before Max could make another comment
a lady from the office interrupted.
“Max Evans? Phone call in the office.”
~~~
“This is it. The thing from my dreams.” Michael held
his future in his hand, his first real lead to his world, oblivious of the world
around him, even of Max and Isabel. The students of West Roswell High were
equally unaware of how important this felt to him as they went about their day.
“Can we get back to the part where you got arrested,
please?” said Isabel, not in the least bit interested in what Michael was
interested in, only in his actions. First the painting, and now this? He was out
of control, on the verge of getting them exposed.
Michael rolled his eyes at her disapproving tone, refusing
to let them take this from him. “Look, it's over, ok? Max fixed it.” He
looked out over the football field, ignoring them at the bleachers.
“No, it's not over. This is getting serious.” Max said,
his voice echoing Isabel’s. Typical, a united front, the ‘Let’s bury our
heads and stay in
“I know.
Isabel lost what small sliver of control she had on her
patience. “Have you completely lost it?” The dripping sarcasm and anger
rolled off Michael.
“No, Isabel. I've found it. And you guys are too scared
to admit it.” Michael’s gut soured, but he wasn’t going to let this drop.
Not this time. “Gimme the keys to the jeep. I want to go to
Seeing Isabel’s reaction, and wading into the fight
between the two, Max tried a tone of reason. “Let's just wait until we can
find out more about this place.”
“Max, I’m connected to this thing, all right?” This
was big, real big. How could they not understand that? “I mean, I see it when
I close my eyes. I dream about it when I go to sleep. And it's not letting me
wait, no matter what you guys say.” He shook his head, jumping over the
railing walking off. There was no use talking to them. If it was them getting
the visions, they wouldn’t be so cautious or willing to wait.
Max looked at Isabel. “He won't get far without a car.”
~~~
Great day, awesome. It was awesome how much it sucked.
Maria, still fuming over the history assignment, gave up. She was never going to
find him, and she was already late running an errand for her mother. Okay, so
maybe she didn’t look for him too hard, but she really didn’t want to spend
her day chasing him down.
Maria reasoned with herself, arguing both points, almost on
the verge of justifying cheating, by answering the questions for him, when she
spotted him. Big, moving fast, and not very tidy, Michael Guerin didn’t walk,
he stomped. Dammit, this was a sign. It had to be. She was being tested by the
Almighty, and failing, her soul would be condemned to hell.
Maria stepped up her pace to intercept. If she was going to
burn in eternal hellfires, it sure as hell would be for a better reason than
lying on a questionnaire about Michael Guerin. Placing herself in his path, she
stopped her project from charging straight through her.
“Hey, wait.” Frantically looking through the papers,
trying to remember the lame questions. “Uh, what's your favorite ice cream
flavor?” He wasn’t stopping. “We have to do this completely queer history
project for tomorrow.” There. It was all said without a breath or pause.
“Sorry, I'm busy.” Michael brushed her aside, ignoring
her like something small and easily stepped over.
“Wait,” Maria put her hand on his chest, stopping him
again, “will you just answer these questions, ok? Uh, um...who's your favorite
relative?”
“Get lost, all right?” Michael frowned his impatience
to be gone. “I've gotta...”
“What? You've gotta what?” Maria stomped her
frustration. This was beyond the call of normal education. “What?” She waved
her hands around in impatience, very much mimicking his demeanor.
Michael’s eyes were drawn to the flash of something
shiny, her keys in her hand. “You driving somewhere?”
“Yeah, to the Lift-Off gas station to drop off a box for
my mom.”
Michael’s eyes narrowed shrewdly. “The one near the
highway?”
“Yeah. So?” Her head tipped as she tried to read his
sudden change in attitude. Alien mystique or just stupid boy, it was hard to
call.
“So, give me a ride and I'll answer your stupid
questions.” Michael bargained. She just saved him from having to steal a car.
“Ok.” Maria shook her head as he hurried them along.
She took it back. He wasn’t only animated when he painted. This looked pretty
much alive. Intrigued despite herself, and later she would chastise herself over
her own curiosity, she went with him.
~~~
Exasperated, Maria pulled into the gas station, her pretty
face a model of irritation as she glared at Michael.
“You can't just make up answers.”
“Who said I'm making 'em up?” Michael looked over at
the man at the station.
“You do not
watch "The View".”
“Keeps me in touch with my feminine side.” Michael said
smirking, inordinately pleased at how irritated he was making her. If he
wasn’t so busy and needing to be gone, he might enjoy messing with her a
little. She was easy to rile, very quick off the mark.
“Fine...you know what? I’ll just make up the answers
for you.” Pounding the steering wheel, she opened the door. “Help me with
the box.”
Michael cleared his throat,, trying not to stare at the
car’s keys in the ignition. “Bad back.” Maria rolled her eyes. Taking out
the box, she stomped off to get this nightmare chore done so she could kick a
certain lazy alien butt to the wayside.
“C.O.D. That's 126 bucks.” She said to the man, “And,
uh...cash is preferable.” Waiting for him to get the money, she looked over at
the sound of her car starting.
“He's stealing my car!” Maria left the box, rushing
over to the passenger side of the Jetta, getting in before Michael could take
off, “You're stealing my car!”
“I'm borrowing your car.” Michael corrected. “Now get
out.”
“You're telling me
to get out?” Her mouth opened in indignation, her ass firmly remained planted
where it was. No way in hell! “This is my
car. Actually, it's my mother's car, and if anything happens to it, life as I
know it will be over. So, wherever it goes, I go.”
“Fine. You had your chance.
“Oh, my God. You're kidnapping me. No, wait, you're
abducting me!” Maria stared at him, his uncaring profile. Quelling the fear,
she clandestinely removed her cell phone hitting the autodial for Liz.
“Hello. Maria, is that you?”
Maria could hear Liz’s voice. Glancing at Michael, she
quickly started babbling to cover Liz’s voice, and send her a message. “It
feels kind of strange, you know? Being alone in a car with you.”
“In a car alone with who?”
Maria grimaced at Liz’s voice, and kept talking to hide
it. “Not knowing where we're going, or....when we'll be back.”
Michael glanced at her in irritation. “Do you always talk
this much?”
“Was that Michael?”
Cursing under her breath, Maria tried to send a message to
Liz. “Liz says I talk a lot when I’m nervous. Very nervous.”
“You're nervous about being in a car alone with
Michael?”
Maria rolled her eyes, quickly clearing her throat,
searching the roadsides for anything that could help. “So, how far will we be
going? South on 285, huh?”
“South on 285?”
“What are you...? “ Michael looked over, hearing
Liz’s voice, he saw the cell phone. Maria bit her lip, and before she could
respond, he took the phone. “Great.” He tossed it out the window, ignoring
Maria’s gasp at the destruction of her phone.
~~~
“
“It's only 3 more hours.”
“You...you are going to be arrested.”
Michael looked at her frowning. What the hell was she
yammering about now? “For driving to
“Across a state line with a minor? In a stolen vehicle?
There are laws, you know.” Maria said smugly. “And that cell phone you just
tossed?” Oh yeah, he was totally toast, jail fodder. “Vandalism of personal
property. God, I just...I knew you had
criminal tendencies. You even drive erratically.”
“What's exactly wrong with my driving?” Michael tossed
out in irritation. Okay, so maybe she had a few points, and he hadn’t thought
this through. Rolling his eyes, he dismissed that. It didn’t matter. All that
mattered was getting to
“I told you not to go over eighty. The engine won't take
it.”
“Maybe it's just tired of hearing you talk.”
Michael’s voice dripped sarcasm.
“Oh, so what?” Maria asked. “What's in
“You wouldn't understand. You don't understand anything
about us.”
“Listen, I already know more than I want to, ok?” Maria
rolled her eyes. Knowing a person would require them to give out information,
making an effort. Her not knowing them was hardly her fault.
“See, it's all about you, isn't it? This could be the
most important day of my life and all you care about...” Michael swore looking
in the rearview mirror. Great. Just fucking great! A police squad car pulled in
behind them as Michael stopped the car on the shoulder and put it in park.
“Are you happy now? Go ahead, tell 'em I kidnapped you and I stole your car. I
mean, what's one more arrest on my record, huh?” Michael punched the steering
wheel in frustration. “Damn it!”
Maria looked over her shoulder at the approaching police
officer. “What do you mean, this could be the most important day of your
life?”
“Forget it.” Michael sat back dejectedly. He couldn’t
cut a break. Standard procedure of his fucked up life.
Maria forced him to look at her with her words. “You have
20 seconds to convince me.”
Michael stared in her eyes, seeing the clear regard.
Looking in the rearview mirror at the approaching cop, he quickly gave in. He
had nothing left to lose by trusting her.
“See this place? It's the first real connection we've
ever had to finding out where we come from and it's in
The Officer stopped outside the car, looking in at Michael
as he glanced across to Maria. “Where you going in such a hurry, son?”
Maria moved around quickly drawing the Officer’s
attention. Smiling in embarrassment, she sputtered through her explanation.
“I've really gotta pee. See...I, I've...I have this like really weak bladder
condition and I drank a big gulp at the last station, and it had caffeine, you
know, so it makes me have to go even more. So he was just driving really fast so
we could get to the next station so I could pee.” Michael stared at her in
amazement, and then, because he didn’t know what else to do, he stared
straight ahead, praying the Officer believed her lame excuse.
“Could I see your license, please?” The Officer asked
Michael, who quickly handed it over.
“Of course, officer.”
The man looked at the license checking the name and
expiration and comparing it to Michael. Handing it back, “There's a drive-thru
about three miles up. Nice clean rest rooms.” Michael held his license in his
hand, unable to speak, staring dumbfounded at the man. “And watch your
speed.”
Michael just sat there for a moment or two as the Officer
left giving them a verbal warning. His hands rested on the steering wheel,
blinking, he frowned. What just happened?
“You owe me big,” said Maria.
Michael’s head bobbed in relief.
~~~
No. Awwww, no. Maria hand rested on the dash of the car. It
was sputtering. The engine struggled as they slowly pulled off the roadside. She
had told him. Didn’t she tell him?
“Did you pull on the chokey thing?” He couldn’t have.
That always worked.
“Yes, I did pull on the chokey thing.” Michael said in
exasperation. All the cars in the world that he could steal…borrow, he gets
one with a commentator.
The car sputtered, jerked, and stalled, steam coming out
from under the hood.
“Hurry, just do something. Go!”
“Don't tempt me.” Michael groaned. Dammit.
“Come on. Wiggle your nose, blink your eyes, do the
Samantha-Jeannie alien thing.” Maria gestured to the engine. “Come on.”
“I can't.” Michael scowled at her.
“Why not? Come on!” Maria shook her head. It was dark.
They were on the roadside. They were stuck on the roadside, in the dark. “If
there's ever a time to have secret powers, now’s the time.”
“They're not secret powers.” Michael shook his head.
His weren’t secret anything. He was lucky to unlock a door most days.
“I don't care what you call 'em! Just use them and get us out of here!” Maria could feel the stress of
the day pulling on her insides. She didn’t want to be here, couldn’t be
here. It was dark. She wasn’t home. A tinge of hysteria entered her voice.
“I'm not that good at it, all right?!” There, now she
knew too! Bad enough that Max and Isabel lorded their ability to control their
powers over him, now Maria knew too. Now she knew he was not only not human, but
not even a very good alien either.
“Figures! Hah!” Maria said in derision. If she had to
get stuck with an alien, at least she could get one that worked.
Michael sneered at Maria. Her attitude stank of every
person in the world that looked down on him and found him wanting. “Your car
sucks!”
“And so do you.” Maria retorted back, hurt that his
hatred of her car obviously reflected on her. Michael got out of the car to look
under the hood. Concentrating for a moment, he ran his hand over it, trying to
fix it. Something had to go his way, just once. He needed this. He desperately
needed it.
The engine blew up in flames.
Of course it didn’t work. Hell, lifetime mode or
operation, why change? Nothing good never happened to him. Leaning in the car,
he happily blamed her for the incident. She pushed him into it.
“Now that I'm humiliated, and the battery's fried, I'm
gonna take the back seat.” Maria turned in her seat watching him climb into
the back seat.
“Wait
a minute. Ok. You kidnap me, and you blow up my car, and you expect me to spend
the night in here with you?”
“Not exactly my fantasy evening either.” If he closed
his eyes, maybe this day would go away. Maybe the world’s most irritating
human would go away. He couldn’t get comfortable. The damn Jetta’s back seat
was small, and a large box was in his way. Pushing it aside, he struggled to
make more room.
“Don't touch that. It’s sensitive!”
“Can you shut up?” Michael asked in anger and he shoved
the box hard. A green alien inflated inside pushing out of the box. Michael
stared eye to eye at the standard little green
“Well, that's nice.” Michael said rolling his eyes at
the stereotypical depiction of people like him.
“What? What? My mother makes them. What?” Maria frowned
as he got out of the car. “Where are you going? Where are you going?!”
“See that motel over there?” Michael said leaning down
to talk through the driver’s window. “I’m gonna some sleep.” He stalked
off, more than pushed beyond his tolerance level. The day started sucking that
morning when he got arrested for breaking into the
“No, Michael. Waaaait!” Maria climbed out of the car,
going after him. He couldn’t leave her there, alone, stranded on the roadside.
He kidnapped her, stole her car, destroyed it, and now he was deserting her to
her fate? No way. He stole her; she was his responsibility.
~~~
Entering the motel room, Maria hung back unsure looking
around first.
“It's like the porno version of Aladdin.”
Michael shrugged. It was better than where he lived. “At
least it's warm.”
“I don't even want to think about what I could catch in
here.” Maria said careful not to touch anything. Oh god, she was with a mean
kidnapper, a car blowing up alien in a motel that charged by the hour.
Irritated by her attitude, Michael made a face at her.
“You know, if you’d stop being such a princess about things---”
“Princess? No, no...” Maria couldn’t let him get away
with that. It was completely unfair. “I think I've been a pretty good sport up
until now, but I'm cold, and I'm hungry, and I'm in some nookie motel with a guy
I--I barely even know, and I...and I just--I really want to go home right
now.”
Michael looked down at her, his eyes meeting hers. She was
afraid, really scared. He hadn’t meant to do that. Suddenly feeling bad that
he only thought of what he needed, he felt an uncharacteristic sympathy for her.
“Why don't you stay here? I saw some vending machines outside. I'll go see
what they have.” Opening the door, he looked back at her. “Lock the door.”
Maria stared at the door in amazement as it closed, pausing
before locking it. His voice had been almost…gentle. Who was that masked alien
boy, and what did they do with the evil Michael Guerin?
~~~
Maria watched him as he tossed a handful of candy bars on
the bed, taking one, opening it and adding
“So, do you get hungry just like the rest of us?” She
bit on a nail in curiosity.
“Yeah. Of course I get hungry.” Michael made a face. He
was eating wasn’t he? She saw him eat at the Crashdown. For a human, this one
wasn’t the brightest bulb in the pack.
Maria looked at him. He suddenly looked huge, taking up
most of the space in the small cheap room. Suddenly feeling the strangeness of
her situation, she tried to ask him casually, but it sounded anything but,
“What, uh...what other human urges do you feel?”
Michael stopped eating, completely understanding her
meaning. He approached her and stared her in the eye, almost nose to nose,
“Not if you were the last woman on Earth.” Now that her car was dead, she
had nothing he needed.
“Ditto.” Mean nasty prig. “And so you'll know, I am
not gonna be getting an "F" on this assignment, so...you better start
answering some questions. Right now, Pally, and I mean for real.” Maria
quickly turned her paper over. He’d better answer, she so deserved to get
something out of this fiasco. “So, favorite ice cream flavor?”
Michael slumped into the armchair opposite and grabbed his
knee, lacing his fingers, “Pistachio.”
“Pistachio,” Maria wrote it down, “...favorite TV
show?”
“Win Ben Stein's Money.”
“Ok, favorite book?”
“James Joyce...Ulysses.”
Maria paused narrowing her eyes. He had promised to tell
the truth. “You have not read
Ulysses.”
“"What incensed him the most was the blatant jokes
of the ones who pass it all off as a jest, pretending to understand everything
and in reality not knowing their own minds." Page 655,” Michael retorted.
“...Told you, you wouldn't understand. Next question.”
“All right, if you're so smart, then how come you fail
every class in school?”
“What number is that?” Michael asked pointedly looking
at the paper. He wasn’t answering any extraneous questions. That was not on
the questionnaire.
“It's my own personal question, ok?”
“I don't answer
personal questions, ok?”
“All right, fine. Then maybe it's the answer to number
16.” Maria said meeting his eyes, and refusing to back down. “What are you
afraid of?”
A long pause. “I hate this. This is stupid.” Michael
finally answered in frustration. Hated school. Hated her.
“All right, how about just one personal question? You
know, since I didn't turn you in back there.” Maria bit her lip, unsure why it
was important he answer the questions. “Why is it so important to you to find
out where you come from?”
He hesitated. “Because there's gotta be something better
out there for me than
“No, no. It's just, um...” Maria shook her head, amazed
by his answer, “when I was a kid, I used to stay up at night and, um, make up
stories about my father...you know, and who he was and...what he was doing. And
they all ended exactly the same way. He would come in a limo and pick me and my
mom up and take us off to some exotic place where we'd live like royalty.
Because, you know...I thought to myself,” Maria stressed the point, slightly
embarrassed by her romantic notions, “...there's got to be something better
out there for me than
“Substitute a spaceship for a limo, and you know what I
mean.” Michael stopped scowling for a moment, searching her face. She wasn’t
kidding, or just saying it to make him feel less foolish. Her eyes were clear,
perhaps the clearest green he had ever seen.
Maria squirmed under his regard, unable to sit still, she
stood up. “Yeah. I...I'm, uh, I'm getting kind of tired.”
“Yeah. It's been a long day, huh?” Michael got off the
bed, standing too. He looked down at her. She was so small compared to him. Her
mouth was…damn, it would help if she wouldn’t lick it so much.
“Yeah.” Maria shifted nervously.
“I don't suppose we could share?” Michael asked
gesturing to the bed.
Maria stood really close to him, her mouth a breath away.
Licking her lips, she leaned in real close to him, looking up his long body, and
stared at him eye to eye, “Not if you were the last alien on Earth.”
Michael nodded, smirking. Yeah, he thought so.
~~~
The room was dark, and despite being tired, Maria
couldn’t sleep. Looking over the side of the bed, she couldn’t see him on
the floor, but she knew he was there.
Maria smiled slightly. “So you get sick?”
“Never.” Michael sighed. The room was dark, he was
tired, but he couldn’t sleep. Maybe he could pretend to be asleep, and she
would shut up with the questions. Why he didn’t just remain quiet was a
thought he didn’t want to examine.
“Can I feel your head?”
“What?” Michael stared up in the dark where her voice
was coming. Feel his head? For what? A fever?
“Just to check for antennae.”
Despite himself, he actually smiled at that. “Don’t
have one.”
“Okay.” Maria looked down at him. Her eyes were
adjusting, and she could almost make him out in the darkness. Maybe he wasn’t
that weird or scary looking. “Polyester?”
“Synthetic. Hate fake shit.”
“Ditto.”
Michael smiled slightly. “Greatest fear?”
Maria didn’t hesitated. “Being left behind.”
Michael was quiet. Another thing they had in common.
“Yeah, that sucks.”
Maria laid in the dark. She could hear him breathing.
“What is your greatest ambition?”
“Surviving.” Michael said.
Maria leaned over and tried to peer into the dark down at
him. “That’s mine too. Actually it’s making sure that you survive.”
Michael was quiet, so she moved back on the bed. After a
long pause, he finally spoke. “Why?”
“Why do I care?” She couldn’t see him move, but she
knew he was waiting. “I…I don’t know. I was afraid at first, but now…now
that I know you…all of you, I realized that maybe we aren’t so different. No
one should be so far from home. No one should be left. I…I just care, that’s
all. Okay?” It would be easier if he didn’t ask her to explain, because that
would require her knowing why she cared, and she didn’t.
“Okay.”
~~~
A startled Maria woke to the door opening, rolling over in
surprise, she fell off the bed onto Michael, hitting him and the floor.
“Aah!” Michael’s body jerked reflexively as her knee
almost took a part of his anatomy he was utterly attached to. They both sat up
quickly when the lights came on, blinking owlishly at the change in light.
“Maria.” Liz voice raised to a high squeak, surprised
at seeing the tangle of limbs on the floor. Maria struggled to stand up, pushing
off Michael’s body. Strange, she never noticed how surprise made Liz’s voice
so high and piercing.
“What are you guys doing here?” Maria struggled to
maintain composure, straightening her clothes.
“Um...well, we thought you were in trouble, but...” Liz
looked pointedly at Michael still on the floor, “yeah...I guess we're
wrong.”
“No no. You don't think--I mean, that is, like so unreal!
I mean...come on,” Maria stared at Michael who was putting on his shoes,
“would you tell them?”
“Come on, honey, we don't have to lie.” Gasping in
disbelief, Maria kicked him.
Isabel rolled her eyes at the two. “I believe you. The
day Michael calls anybody honey, it's all over.”
Michael looked up at Isabel, his eyes narrowing at the
sarcastic tone. Max and Isabel stood as their usual united front. “So I guess
you're here to be supportive, as usual?” He regained his feet as the others
came completely into the room. Maria moved over to stand next to Liz, wanting to
be out of the range of the aliens.
“No. I'm here to clean up your mess as usual.” Max
missed Maria’s look, as she shot him a glare at his nasty condescending tone.
“Michael, what were you thinking?”
“I was thinking I can't wait around for the two of you
anymore.” Michael straightened, his back stiff and unyielding. “You like
“Kyle!” Maria looked at Liz sharply. That high squeak,
again, Maria frowned. She truly had never noticed that before. She quickly filed
it away in her memory’s knowledge of her friend.
Kyle stared at the group, his eyes narrow and suspicious.
“Everyone in this room is what?”
Michael advanced menacingly. “Get out.”
Kyle wasn’t finished. He didn’t allow Michael’s
threatening demeanor to sway him. “Why don't you go ahead and finish what you
were saying? Or are you afraid that I'll find out what your little secret is?
Are you afraid that I might find out what the hell you guys are doing out here?
In the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night?”
Michael charged forward again, the anger he felt at Isabel
and Max’s attitudes adding fire to his already barely suppressed temper. He
had had a long bad day, and it was not a good time to get in his face. “I
said...get out!”
Max quickly saw the signs that Michael was losing his
control. “Michael, don't.” He grimaced. Too late. Michael easily threw Kyle
across the room into the opposite wall, using his powers.
Kyle shook his head, unable to comprehend what just
happened. One moment he was standing in front of an angry Michael Guerin, the
next, he was hitting a wall. “Who the hell are you guys?” The group was
quiet, afraid to talk, afraid of what Kyle would say about this. Kyle looked at
them all, as he slowly regained his feet. “What's going on here? And what are
you doing here?” Faced with their silence, Kyle had enough. He had come for
Liz. Taking her arm, he tried to lead her to the door. “I'm gonna get you out
of here. Come on.”
Max finally moved. “Leave her alone.” He pulled Liz out
of Kyle’s grasp, gripping Kyle hard.
Liz, afraid of the possibility of Max losing control like
Michael had, quickly tried to keep
Max and Kyle from fighting. “Just...” Max and Kyle were suddenly involved in
a very real physical altercation. Kyle tossed Max’s hand off him.
“Get off of me!”
Liz got between them. “Just stop it, both of you, ok?
This has gone so out of control! I am not your girlfriend anymore, Kyle.”
Kyle looked at the rest of them, the late hour, and the
cheap motel room, he addressed Liz only. “Liz, I don't know what's going on
here, and I don't care. I just want you to come back with me.”
Liz shook her head. He needed to leave before he caused any
more problems. “You don't belong here, Kyle. This is none of your business.”
It was bad enough that she dumped him for Max Evans using
some lame excuse about his friends, but now this. Kyle stared at her in
disbelief. “I don't know...I don't know what I ever saw in you.” He left the
room, not bothering to look back.
They all stood there as the echo of the slamming door
seemed to reverberate outward, making normal hearing impossible. Stunned, no one
talked.
Max cleared his throat, worried at the devastated look on
Liz’s face as she watched Kyle leaving. “I'll take you guys home.”
Liz shook her head. This was insane. “No! No more secrets
from us! Maria and I, we’re a part of this now. If we don't know everything,
how are we supposed to protect ourselves? And how are we supposed to help
you?”
“We don't need any help!” said Michael, angry with
everyone in the room, and mostly himself for losing control and using his powers
on Kyle.
Maria snorted in derision. “Right. Next time, steal
someone else's car and try getting away with it.” She folded her arms in front
of her chest. Ungrateful jerk. After all she had been through, all she had done
to satisfy a lame history grade, she had gone beyond the call of duty for either
school or friendship. Her mother’s car was trashed, her report undone, she was
kidnapped and abducted across state lines, and this was his response? Ungrateful
jerk.
Isabel quickly noticed the look that both Maria and Liz
wore. They were pushed to their limit. Sighing, she swallowed a lifetime of
preservation. “What do you want to know?”
Liz looked at Maria for a second. “Everything.”
“That'll make you accomplices.” Isabel warned.
Maria snorted looking away, and Liz cocked her head. They
were accomplices from the moment they staged the accident during the Crashdown
party. “Go ahead.”
Max needed Liz to understand, so he started. “A few weeks
ago, Michael and I broke into Sheriff Valenti's office trying to find that
picture you saw from 1959,” Max stared directly into Liz’s eyes, “...the
dead body with the handprint.” Liz nodded, remembering. She remembered the
handprint. It was the one piece of lingering evidence that had tied the two
cases.
“It's the only proof we've ever had that there's other
aliens besides us.” Michael said quietly, finally calm.
Max continued, his eyes never leaving Liz’s. “We found
a key. When Michael touched it, he had a vision.”
“Of this dome.” Michael said, his hands moving
nervously, as if they were still painting the geodesic dome. “The one in
Liz stared at quiet aliens. “So you guys think that this
key is gonna unlock the dome and then...and then you guys are gonna find
something there...something that's gonna help you guys figure out where you
actually come from?”
Max looked at the others, Michael and Isabel subdued,
answered in unison, “Yes.”
Liz lifted a brow to Maria who gave her a slight nod.
“Then what are we waiting for?”
~~~
They arrived at the dome, and Isabel couldn’t believe it.
It was suddenly so real. “It's just like you drew it, Michael.”
“I told you it was something.” Michael was out of the
jeep and moving to the front door. He tried to unlock the door with the key, but
it did not fit. Max reached over unlocking the door with his powers.
Seeing Michael’s disappointment that the key didn’t
work, Max nodded for him to enter the dome. “We've come this far. Maybe it
unlocks something inside.” They slowly entered the abandoned dome. Liz turned
around, slowly observing the mess, stating the obvious.
“Somebody was definitely looking for something here.”
Max had to agree. The place had been searched, and from the
state of the dust covering the place it was not recently. “Whatever it was,
they probably found it a long time ago.”
“Try holding the key again.” Isabel said to Michael.
The group watched as he held the key in his hand concentrating, his eyes closed.
“Nothing.” The frustration was evident on his face. All
this for nothing, so close…so close.
Maria sighed, and crossed the room to stand next to him.
“Try it again,” she said softly. Michael nodded, closing his eyes, he
concentrated as Maria closed hers as well, hoping for his sake. Michael saw a
blurry image of a hidden room. He opened his eyes, his hopes renewed.
“There's something here. A room.”
“Where?” Max moved closer, finally getting into the
search.
“I don't know. It's hidden.”
They all started searching the room. Michael looked around
frantically and then seeing something, he brushed dust and cobwebs off a part of
the rock wall revealing a lock. “Max. Isabel.”
Isabel licked her lips, her hands suddenly sweaty. “The
key, Michael.”
Michael nodded, not needing to be told. The key fit easily,
and he turned it. All of them turned at the sound of the mechanical clicking
noise of a latch released as a trapdoor in the floor opened. For a moment, they
all stared at it, but not for long, it was what they came to find.
The hidden room was covered in even more dust than the
rooms above. Cobwebs covered the area, and Maria and Liz stayed together, trying
to keep from brushing against anything disgusting, the two of them holding
hands.
Isabel found an old lantern, and with her powers, lighted
it. The light helped. They searched the room. Michael found a box. Opening it,
he looked inside at the mound of dusty papers, and then over at Max.
“Jackpot, Maximilian.” It was something, a tangible
piece of a lifetime of hope. Before anyone could comment or search the box,
there came a noise above in the main dome.
Footsteps, followed by a scuffling noise, and the sound of
a body hitting the floor hard.
“Oh my God!” said Liz, holding onto Maria tight.
