Transformation
By DocPaul
***************************************
Part
Six: The Cruel Hand of Fate
“Can’t you stay?” Amy asked, unhappily watching Maria
pack.
“No. I need to be with Michael.”
“Need?” Amy remarked sharply.
Michael came to the door, he frowned at the conversation.
“Maria?”
“Almost ready.” Maria zipped the carry bag with hers
and Michael’s clothing. They could carry more now with the SUV than the bike.
The bike was out back. Kal had had it delivered.
Amy turned to confront her son-in-law directly. “Michael,
this is a safe place. Maria should stay here with me and Sean until the baby’s
born. You can’t mean to take her on the run with other aliens tracking you all
the time.”
“It’s why we need to leave now. The longest we’ve
gone undetected is three weeks. It’s getting too close. If they find us here,
they find you, and this place will be exposed.” Michael picked up their bags.
“Maria comes with me.”
Michael’s voice brooked no argument, and Maria noticed
her mother bristling at the tone. She quickly intervened.
“Mom, I’m sorry. I have to go.” Maria’s hand
wandered to her stomach. “As repelled as I am by other aliens, I have this
same need to stay very close to Michael. He wanders too far from me and my body
begins to shake, I break out in a sweat, and … I can’t breathe-like a panic
attack”
“And you think this is normal?” Amy shook her head in
disbelief.
“I think,” said Michael, “that my child is vulnerable
without me, as is Maria. I can’t—I won’t leave her behind. I need to find
out how they’re tracking us, and why. Once we resolve that, we’ll be
home—all of us.”
Amy took in how closely Maria and Michael stood to each
other, and despite their youth, she finally was coming to understand that they
were a unit, unbreakable. Smiling slightly, she nodded. “We’ll be here.”
~~~
“I was looking for you.”
Kyle snorted making a face. “You never look for me. I
have to look for you.” He turned slightly, his hand moving back to rest on the
body behind him as he was crowded forward. “I don’t want to do this—be a
convenience for you when you can steal the time or remember I’m breathing.”
“You disappeared, and I was worried.”
“Sure you were,” said Kyle unconvinced. He struggled
out of the arms and walked a few steps away, his face glancing up at the night
sky frowning at the moons, and the stars, watching the movement of celestial
bodies moving through and beyond. It was all so different now.
“I love you—you know that.”
Kyle closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He shook his
head. “No—no I don’t, and that’s the problem. Even when you’re with
me, near me—you’re not. You’re always somewhere else, in your mind—your
head thinking of other things—things not me.”
“I—I can’t apologize for being what I am.”
Kyle nodded sadly. “I know. I can’t apologize for
wanting more, and feeling less.”
The hands gripped his shoulders firmly, and Kyle closed his
eyes as he was turned not wanting to feel anything for the arms that held him,
to not want to feel the brush of the breath on his mouth. He hated that his
entire body reacted immediately to the touch of that mouth on his.
The energy burst through them, a shock of pure feeling,
intense and powerfully overwhelming. Fingers locked onto Kyle's biceps holding
him, clinging when their lips met and devoured each other's mouths. Heat rose
between them, surrounding and saturating them with this power. The mouth moved
away from Kyle's, roaming down the curve of his neck nipping at the straining
muscled cords. Kyle breathed in gasps of air as if he was a drowning man, but he
couldn't resist what was happening, caught up in the power of the moment. He
didn’t want this, and yet, he was powerless to stop it as it saturated his
body, altered his will.
The surge subsided momentarily and he pulled back, as they
practically shoved away from each other to stare again at one another in shocked
surprise and near panic. Kyle’s eyes widened in fright as he stared into
Max’s brown ones.
“Stop using me. Stop hurting me—just stop,” he
begged.
Kyle woke with a start, sitting up in the bed in the dark
room he shared with his father, who was snoring softly in the other bed.
Struggling, he got free of the tangled sheets and stumbled into the bathroom,
weaving as if he were drunk. Pushing his head into the sink he turned on the
cold water and doused his head. A few moments later he lifted his head to stare
in the mirror, the water running rivulets down his face as his hair dripped. His
fingers roamed to his mouth as his reflection stared back at himself in horror.
~~~
Max frowned when Kyle raced past him, barely glancing back.
He poured himself coffee and instead of joining the others at the table, he
drank it at the coffee bar. Ordinarily he wouldn’t have felt the snub was
aimed at him personally except for the occasional glance Kyle gave him in a
brooding manner.
“Okay, I give up.” Max said to the others. “Does
anyone know what’s up with Kyle?”
Jim glanced at his son. “I don’t think he slept too
well last night. He was up before I was.” That in itself was strange. Kyle
hated early mornings.
“He’s staring at me.”
Isabel rolled her eyes. “Sure he is. Everything is about
you, Max.”
Liz glanced at Kyle following his gaze. “No, Max is
right. Kyle is staring at him.”
Isabel snorted. She was bored. This was truly tedious.
Smiling at Jesse and hugging his arm, she voiced her derision. “Shocking! You
agree with Max.”
It was Liz’s turn to roll her eyes. Hopefully, the
addition of Jesse to their group would sweeten Isabel’s sour disposition.
After a year and a half of close quarters, she could honestly say she really
didn’t like Isabel that much. The alien girl had a biting sarcastic response
to everything, as did Michael, but at least with Michael, he tended to keep his
issues non-vocal and rather allowed a person to feel his disdain with his facial
expressions, so eloquent in their meaning...
Maria was the hardest one to take. Over the last eighteen
months, she lost her best friend. It wasn’t that they weren’t still
friendly, but so much of the time they spent together was now shared with the
others, and it was Michael that Maria spent most of her time confiding in and
talking to.
Now Maria was pregnant, and they were even further apart
since Maria couldn’t stand to have the aliens, outside of Michael, too close.
Over the past eighteen months, Michael and Maria had gone off on their own,
ahead of the others, meeting them at different locations. They seemed to want to
be alone, and with the bike at their disposal, they had the means to do so. She
and Max weren’t that lucky. They were constantly with others, and except for
the times they had their own motel room, or bedroom in some rented apartment,
they never were alone.
Liz had been quiet, slightly taken aback by the news that
Maria was pregnant. She had stood speechless, unable to react. It was bothering
her, just as it was bothering Isabel.
According to Kal, once Max and Tess had their son, Zan, the
rest of Royal Four’s mating cycles should’ve activated immediately, or from
Zan’s first birthday since the Antarian kings were usually older than their
sibling. Isabel and Jesse were sleeping together when Zan came back, and they
didn’t become pregnant. She and Max were sleeping together since they married,
and they hadn’t become pregnant. All three girls were using birth control, and
yet—Maria was pregnant. It made no sense. Not unless—she, Liz, couldn’t
get pregnant.
Liz brooded quietly, thinking of everything Future Max said
to her. She hated to admit it, but she was starting to agree with the others. He
wasn’t very helpful. He gave nothing important to her. She knew that she and
Max married young, and thirteen years later, their enemies destroyed the world,
and in those thirteen years they had fought hard campaigns, battling against
their enemies. She knew that Isabel died, and a few weeks later so did Michael.
She never knew the others’ fate. She hadn’t asked either.
He had thanked her for all the times they had together and
every kiss, but he didn’t thank her for his children. He didn’t thank her for his children. Liz sat there quietly
brooding. Her life was coming to an end, according to the Shapeshifter, and she
feared that in the other lifeline, she and Max had no children, so neither did
the others. Max would need to procreate, to secure an heir or die before the
others’ mating cycles came online.
Liz frowned again, her thoughts creasing her face as they
raced behind her eyes in a kaleidoscope of torture. Max died. Michael, for a
time had been King, maybe—maybe Michael’s mating cycle was activated by his
rise to power, and as King, he needed an heir.
“When are Michael and Maria meeting us exactly?” Jess
asked.
“They should be here in two days at the latest.” Max
frowned at the slumping shoulders of Kyle, resisting an urge to go over, to talk
to the other man. He gave an involuntary flinch, as if something just below his
sense of awareness was pricking at him.
“How can you let them go off alone?”
The others glanced at Jesse, and Isabel lifted a brow.
“C’mon, Jesse, you know by now that stopping Michael is next to impossible.
He pretty much does as he wishes, and since he married Maria, it’s truer than
ever.”
“Marriage changed him?”
The group shrugged. It was hard to explain, but Michael
brooked no interference in his life with Maria. Marriage made them grow up, and
they no longer fought—not like they used to. They had settled old hurts, and
now they went everywhere together. Michael usually bartended in the same bar
Maria sang in, and they would disappear for days on end, to catch up with the
group later. Once they disappeared for three weeks to turn up looking healthier,
rested and very married. They went on a honeymoon to old
Michael and Maria weren’t excluding them, as much as
making it very apparent that they were a self-sustained unit. They stayed with
the group out of loyalty, friendship, and love. None of them was certain how
this would change now that Maria was pregnant, and Michael was so angry at
looking at not only the end of his own life, but that of his child and Maria,
and their world.
“We wait,” said Jim, not allowing the others to dispute
his decision. He needed to see Maria, to tell her about Amy, afraid she already
knew.
Jesse stood up and smiled down at Isabel. “Mrs. Ramirez,
if we’re waiting, then how about you and me go spend some quality time
together?”
Isabel smiled, happiness removing the dark look she had for
some time. “I would love to, Mr. Ramirez.”
They watched as Isabel and Jesse left the cabin hand in
hand eager to be alone. Jim glanced at Max and Liz. “Maybe I should leave the
two of you alone, too? I can take my grumpy son off somewhere for the day.”
Jim suggested.
Max didn’t seem to hear. His eyes kept going back to
Kyle. He stood up and walked over to where Kyle sat alone, missing the shocked
expressions of Liz and Jim.
“Kyle—do you …”
“Leave me alone!”
Max grasped Kyle’s arm, and the two of them stared at
each other, caught in a moment as they both flashed upon unbidden thoughts.
“What is this? A dream?” Kyle asked, disoriented and
confused.
“Yeah.” Max sighed, pulling Kyle deeper into his arms,
lips nuzzling at his collarbone. Kyle arched into the touch, running his hands
up and down the smooth skin of Max’s back, holding him close—confused by the
amount of bare skin between them.
“Ah, god, you feel so good. I love how you make me feel
…” Kyle moaned, his brain dislocated from his voice, shocked by the words
coming from his mouth, confused by the sentiment, and the flooding sensation of
feelings hitting him squarely.
“I love making you feel that way,” was the muttered
reply as a warm tongue stroked across his skin. They were naked, together, in a
bed with sheets tangled between them.
Max scooted down and rolled them over, pinning Kyle beneath
him, his lips already searching for his. A warm mouth opened willingly for him,
a soft, satiny tongue greeted him. He could still taste their pleasure from
earlier—hints of semen and release from both of them, salt, sweat, a musk that
must have come from him. The tastes rolled into each other until Max couldn't
tell where one stopped and the next started. He rested his weight on his elbows
and tangled his fingers deep into the incredible sensuousness of Kyle's hair,
the silky strands tickling at his fingertips. His partner's head cupped firmly
in his hands, Max drew away from the kiss and began a gentle worship of Kyle's
face.
He heard the low gasp as he started sprinkling random
kisses across Kyle's face; first on his nose, moving to an eyelid, tracing down
a cheekbone. He tasted with his lips and tongue, creating a mental map,
following it to find the next spot of sweetness. A tongue brushed softly across
eyelashes elicited a soft moan, as did the lips that nuzzled at sideburns.
Max catalogued each sound, taste, texture, his mind
transferring the raw data into a crystal-clear image of Kyle. He traced around
kiss-swollen lips with the tip of his tongue, and then licked a path across
Kyle's jawbone, noting the roughness of unshaven whiskers. The texture of those
whiskers changed the further down Kyle's throat he went, smoothing out and
disappearing as he reached the Adam's apple bobbing so temptingly in front of
him. Kyle groaned as he licked across the tender bump, and then suckled it.
His own body was responding to the breathy moans, whispers
and quiet pleas; he was hard and throbbing against his mate, his cock demanding
release. Max growled as Kyle arched against him, brushing their erections
together.
“Want you—” Kyle shockingly breathed into Max’s
ear, the warm, moist breath tickling his skin.
“I want you too—to know that you're mine when you
come—when I thrust into you—when you call my name. I want you, body and
soul.”
“I'm already yours,” Kyle whispered breathlessly.
It was a spell they were weaving around themselves,
combining heat and friction, and coupling it with the emotions that were laid
out in the open, if yet unnamed. Max felt an ache building inside him that had
nothing to do with the physical needs of his body. Need. A bond that was
timeless and undeniable pulled at him as he buried his face in Kyle's neck,
sucking hard, biting down—needing to mark him in some way, to show ownership
and bind them together. Kyle's arms encircled him, pulling them tightly
together, as he groaned from the mix of pleasure and pain that Max's mouth and
teeth were creating.
As he drew back Max could feel the heat emanating from the
mark he'd left on Kyle's neck. The blood had risen to the surface of the skin,
causing a bright, stinging blush there. He licked it gently, hearing Kyle's
quiet moan.
“I own you,” he murmured again, before delving back
into Kyle's mouth, his ears picking up the quiet hiss of agreement before the
rest of the response was muffled by his kiss.
Max shifted so he was partially straddling Kyle, removing
some of his weight. His hands began a gentle exploration of the rest of the
supple body beneath him, stroking gently down the throat and neck, moving on to
shoulders and arms. He covered a nipple with one hand, felt the heat rising as
it contracted beneath his touch, forming into a tight little bud. Kyle groaned
at the touch—Max wasn't doing this to him. It wasn’t happening, and he
wasn’t liking it—wanting it. It wasn’t him. It wasn’t!
“What's wrong, baby?” Max left Kyle's mouth, his own
quirking with a slight smile as his partner wiggled beneath him. The smile
turned to a groan of his own as the sensual movement stimulated his already
over-sensitive penis.
“Touch me …” Kyle begged in a voice that wasn’t
his. “Do something—don't just stay there like that.”
“You mean like this?” Max plucked lightly at the tender
bud, feeling Kyle's groan reverberate through his own body. “Or this?” he
rolled the nipple between his fingers, felt it tighten even more. Kyle moaned
his agreement. “Or maybe this …” Max breathed against the heated bit of
flesh, his tongue darting out to flick across the hard little point. Kyle arched
toward him, drawing his head down.
“Yeah,” he panted, “like that—god, please …”
Max covered Kyle with his mouth, sucking both nipple and
areola fiercely. Kyle arched upward again, groaning, his fingers brushing
through Max's hair as he searched for something to grab on to. Max released him,
running his tongue rapidly across the swollen bud, then kissing a path across to
the other nipple. This nipple was already stiff from excitement, the soft tissue
engorged. Max ran his tongue across it gently, knowing Kyle was much more
sensitive here. He felt his partner quiver as he suckled tenderly, tongue
circling the nipple.
His fingers continued their tactile exploration, brushing
across the tight muscles of Kyle's abdomen, stroking the soft skin and softer
hair. He picked up on the subtle difference in texture between the hair on
Kyle's chest and the hair that arrowed downward beneath his navel—the change
in heat and diffusion of that heat the lower he stroked. The skin stretched over
Kyle's swollen cock was hot and silky, thinner than anywhere else. He could feel
the blood flowing under his fingers, pulse pounding as Kyle arched into his
hand. He stroked once down the hot shaft before letting go, his thumb rubbing
tenderly over the tip that was wet from pre-cum.
“My god …" It was more of a whimper than anything
else, a rough, raw sound.
“Yeah?” Max answered, amused.
“You're killing me...” Kyle shook his head, confused,
but his voice would not still. “I wanna touch you...”
“Who's stopping you?” His tongue was tracing the path
his fingers had just taken and the words were spoken against sensitive skin.
Kyle writhed under him, breath coming in short, sharp pants as Max dipped his
tongue into his belly button.
“God—I can't—p-please—oh, yeah!”
The tongue that had circled Kyle's navel moved on,
following the line of hair to the stiff, pulsating cock. He licked his way up
the shaft, then lapped at the weeping tip, probing the tiny fissure there with
his tongue. Kyle moaned incoherently, head thrashing back and forth as Max
pulled back slightly, just enough to breathe hot, moist air over the tip before
drawing it into his mouth. He looked up to see Kyle with his head thrown back,
fingers scrabbling at the sheets. A deep breath and he opened his mouth, taking
the entire hot length of Kyle's cock into him.
Kyle screamed and thrust upward, driving himself deeper
into the waiting mouth, coming in hard pulses. Taking everything from
Kyle—everything he was willing to give, and everything he was not. He sucked
and licked the soft penis, caressing it with light touches, felt it stir
slightly against his tongue. The blood flow to the organ increased as he ran his
tongue around the head, circling under it, stroking the glans, and Kyle's
heartbeat picked up speed, attesting to his rising arousal. He didn’t last
long, as he came hard in Max’s mouth.
Kyle was boneless beneath him. He allowed himself to be
rolled over onto his stomach. Max circled his body from behind breathing in his
ear, stroking it with his breath and tongue while his hands was moving over
Kyle’s body, invading him. Max laughed softly at Kyle’s gasp watching with
hot eyes as Kyle began pushing back against him, moving under him.
Max held Kyle’s cock in his hand tight, smiling as it
thickened again, smiling when Kyle's body jerked and he cried out in pleasure.
He leaned down then, his body suggestively pushing into Kyle from behind,
taunting him with promises of being fucked. Kyle moaned, shaking his head as Max
changed the breaths on his neck to licking, and then to tiny nips as his lower
body moved suggestively against Kyle.
“Please …” Kyle begged.
“What do you want?” Max whispered in his ear.
“You,” Kyle moaned pushing back into Max. “You—my
King—my husband.”
Max’s head fell down in the crook of Kyle’s neck,
panting harshly in passion; his voice was hoarse and heavy. “Tess—my Queen,
my love…”
Both Max and Kyle gasped aloud, as they both stumbled back,
the flash broken. Kyle stumbled from the stool trying to be free of Max, the
horror and shock on his face, as confusion filled Max’s eyes, and his brown
ones met Kyle’s. Both men were appalled. Kyle shook his head as he moved away
from Max quickly, his stomach sore and nauseated. He felt—he felt—violated.
Kyle didn’t even stop. He turned. He turned and he ran.
He ran, not even stopping at the sound of Max shouting his name.
~~~
Liz and Jim came to join a devastated Max who chased Kyle
out of the cabin, calling his name, begging him to come back.
“Max? Max, what just happened?” Liz asked grabbing her
husband’s arm.
Max turned to see Jim and then Liz, his eyes meeting
Liz’s in guilt, as shame flooded his body. He shook his head, and like
Kyle—he ran. All he could hear in his ears was the tingling laughter of Tess,
her laughter taunting him that she had been right, and he had been wrong. He
couldn’t escape destiny.
~~~
Isabel walked into the living room. They were renting
off-season cottages in
“Isabel?” Liz begged, but the alien girl shook her head
as she rejoined her husband. No sign of either Max or Kyle. They had both been
gone all day, and no one was sure when either would return.
Jim entered the cabin coming back from searching. He shared
a look with Jesse, who also shook his head slightly. No, he hadn’t found them
either. Jim sighed and went to the bedroom he was sharing with his son to
freshen up and prepare for dinner. He came back almost immediately.
“My room! It was searched.”
The others stood. Isabel held onto Jesse’s hand hard.
“Are you sure?”
“Hard to miss when everything is tossed about!” Jim
didn’t bother to lower his voice or bite back the sarcasm.
Isabel glanced at Liz and quickly rushed to her and
Jesse’s room. Jesse had beaten her home, and she hadn’t gone in there since
she returned. Gasping, she staring at her room, also tossed, and turned to the
sound of Liz’s voice.
“Ours was searched too.” Liz voice was subdued, but
Isabel could hear the fear in her tone. She immediately took Liz’s hand in
comfort.
The four returned to the living room, uncertain what to do.
It had to be Skins. They had been found again, and with Max and Kyle missing,
and Michael and Maria not yet here, they couldn’t run. The group was quietly
returning order to the cabin, none of them talking, too afraid to even speculate
while members of their group were missing.
Max entered the cabin to the stunned silence of the others.
He stood glancing at them, hardly able to meet Liz’s eyes.
“Max!” Both Isabel and Liz cried in unison, but Isabel
beat Liz to Max, hugging her brother tight as Liz’s steps faltered until Max
reached out and pulled her into an awkward three way hug.
“Kyle?” Max asked. “Is he back yet?” Both Isabel
and Liz shook their heads no as Max closed his eyes rubbing his face. “Dammit.
I looked everywhere. Every camping ground, other cabins, and then some. I walked
the woods, and …”
“What happened, Max?” Jim asked quietly searching the
younger man’s face. “Why did he run? Is it the power?”
Max wasn’t sure how to answer, or even if he had answers
to what had happened, so he merely nodded.
“While we were out searching for you and Kyle, our rooms
were ransacked,” Liz informed her husband. “What should we do?”
“I can only deal with one problem at a time. Let’s work
on the problem of someone searching the place, then Kyle.”
Jim looked uneasy, but Kyle was an adult, over the age of
consent, and since he took himself away, he’d bring himself back. He finally
nodded. “Whoever it was, they were looking for something.”
Liz frowned shaking her head. “They’ve been close to us
before, and they never entered our homes or rooms—they never searched. They
merely attacked us.”
The group went quiet realizing something had changed, but
what? They were once again in the dark.
~~~
Liz turned to lie on her side in the bed, staring at the
dark form next to her, surprisingly quiet and distant. Max always slept close
with his arms around her, but not tonight. He was literally hugging the other
side of the bed, almost as if he was ready to leave it.
“Max?”
Max closed his eyes at the tentative sound in Liz’s
voice. She knew something was wrong, but she didn’t know what. He felt sick.
He had felt sick for a while now. All the criticism and anger heaped upon him,
he took quietly with a growing stoicism. Guilt was the ailment of his pancreas
secreting poison into his very system.
The war was coming. He had failed. His parents—Liz’s
parents—gone. All those he saved were slated for a short life and the cancer
children would never know that. A bitter lifetime of decisions and actions was
eating away at him, and guilt was the only constant shadow he walked in.
Max took the barbs of hate aimed at him by Kal, Kyle and
the sarcasm of Michael like stinging poniards, barely flinching. Inside, he
agreed with them, even despite knowing he tried his best, never meant harm. All
his decisions were what he felt was the best he could make at the time—but
meaning well meant nothing on the eve of destruction.
And then there was Kyle.
Sighing, Max turned to face Liz. He stared at her in the
dark as she stared back. She was his lifetime mate, his choice—the one thing
he had risked everything and everyone for, and even looking at her hurt. He
didn’t save her, only gave her a few additional years, and now it was apparent
that those years were going to be filled with sorrow and fear—a war they could
not win. No joy. No happily ever after. He lied to her in so many ways, he
couldn’t even count them. He was lying again, using the dark to cover the
deceit on his face.
Max reached for the light turning it on to face her. He
couldn’t be that boy any longer, struggling to be a man. There was no time.
“I had a flash with Kyle.”
Liz sat up a little, facing him. “What kind of flash?”
She prepared herself for the worse. Kyle abused? Did Max steal something Kyle
wanted no one else to see? Or was it prophetic like her visions seeing disaster
in the horizon? “Max?”
“They were sexual. Like the one I had with Tess when she
first came to
“Sexual?” Max watched as Liz’s face paled, but she
faced him, nodding her head as her hand clenched together. “Tell me,” she
whispered hoarsely.
Max began to tell her everything, every word and sensation
leaving nothing out.
~~~
Michael glanced at Maria with concern. They were close, and
her hands were fidgeting. The closer they got to
“Maria?”
“I’m fine. We’re fine.” There was a film of sweat
on her upper lip as she nervously tried to settle her insides. It wasn’t them.
It was the baby. They were moving towards more aliens, and the baby was
unsettled.
Maria put her hand on her flat stomach and absentmindedly
rubbed her stomach in a soothing gesture, almost humming to herself. Michael
quickly pulled to the side of the road at the first motel he found, his hand
joining hers. She looked up at him meeting his eyes. It was dark, and they had
planned drive all night to make the final leg of the journey.
“Michael?”
“We’ll finish it first thing in the morning.”
“We’re only miles away. We could be there in less than
an hour.”
“I know, but let’s rest tonight—alone one more night
before we’re back into it.” Maria smiled knowing he was protecting her,
trying to make it easier. “Look, Maria,” Michael scratched his brow,
uncertain how to say it, but it was something he was working on since they left
Amy and Sean. “I don’t want to tell the others about Amy or Sean, where they
are, or even that they’re alive.”
“Why? Michael, their own parents are gone, and …”
“I know.” Michael took Maria’s head to still her.
“Until this is over, no one knows where we hid them. No one but you, me and
Kal.”
“What are you afraid of, Spaceboy?”
“Exposure. Secrets—they’ve been given away before. I
need a safe place to retreat, a place where you and the baby can go. I trust the
others, but I can’t trust how much will be taken from their minds if they’re
taken by a Skin, like Nicholas. He probed the mind, taking thoughts and secrets
easily. I don’t want your mother’s location known. Our child might be there
one day hiding with his grandmother. The fewer who know—the better.”
“Agreed,” said Maria as she continued to rub her
stomach.
~~~
Kyle woke up to a pounding head, and a very dry throat.
Stretching, he hit something warm and fleshy. Turning, he stared at the woman in
bed with him. She was older, and in the light of day, much older than she had
appeared last night.
Sitting on the side of the bed, he buried his head in his
hands. Dreams. They were haunting him. He could see a world with multiple suns
and moons, a place with rocks and red waters, and the feel of Max’s hand on
his skin. Kyle almost jumped when a hand moved up his back, and the woman moved
into him.
“Are you leaving?”
Kyle glanced back at her turning a bit. He slowly peeled
the sheet away from her, his eyes moving down her body. For her age, she was
seriously tight. With memories he didn’t want in his head, he smiled at her
with a touch of feral beast. “Oh, no. I don’t think I’ve had enough
yet.”
He needed a hell of a lot more to wash that dirty flashing
bastard out of his mind.
The woman gave a high yelp when his teeth mouthed her
nipple, and then a moan of pleasure when he surged back inside taking her, along
for the ride.
~~~
Morning brought no relief.
They were still discussing their options, the most pressing
at the moment being the lack of food in the house, followed by missing Kyle,
Skins searching their place, and finally the elusively missing Michael and
Maria.
Jim swore a blue streak. “How the hell did you people
survive this long?! This is not a democracy! Decisions need to be made, and
quickly. Not this nimbly pimply bickering and dickering.”
“That’s what Michael says,” screamed Isabel at Liz in
anger. Liz was being unreasonable in the discussion. Isabel wasn’t sure what
was going on, but Liz entered the kitchen early that morning with red rimmed
eyes. The discussion of breakfast and groceries quickly dissolved in a screaming
match over cooking and household duties.
Kyle stood in the doorway scratching his unshaved face.
“Good, I guess I didn’t miss anything.” They all turned to his voice.
“Kyle!” Jim quickly went to his son, hugging him, then
berating him. “Where the hell did you go? We searched all yesterday for you,
and …”
“Are you all right,” Max asked quietly, drawing a look
from both Kyle and Liz.
“None of your fucking business!” Kyle exploded pointing
an accusing finger at Max. “You stay away from me.” He glanced at Liz.
“Did he not tell you what happened?”
Liz nodded, her face a study of misery.
“What?” Kyle couldn’t believe it. “And—you’re
okay with this?”
“Kyle, we need to talk about it, and …”
“Talk! I’m not talking about this! I’m not gay!”
“What?”
exploded Jim, as both Jesse and Isabel sat up straighter.
Kyle made a laughing sound that held no amusement.
“Didn’t Max tell you? He flashed me yesterday—gave me a sexual flash of
him and me, and …”
“Max?” Isabel stared at her quiet brother in shock,
quickly glancing at the equally quiet and embarrassed Liz.
“It wasn’t like that!” Max stated hoarsely. “It was
like the flashing fantasies I had with Tess, back when she first came to
“Remember?” Isabel snorted. “There was no destiny!
And unless you’re suggesting that Tess can reach out from the grave and create
a mindwarp, then you better come up with a better explanation.”
Max looked pained as he stared at his wife pleadingly. “I
can’t! I don’t understand it. I just know that I feel something around
Kyle—a recognition.”
Liz made a sound of distress followed closely by Kyle’s
sound of disgust.
“I’m not interested, Evans!”
“Okay, enough.” Jim quickly interceded between his
red-faced son and Max trying to cool the room. “We need groceries, and maybe
after breakfast we can all sit down and talk this out calmly.”
Jesse took Isabel’s hand in his, pulling her into his
body, as he aligned himself close, his hand running down her arm. “Iz and I
will go pick up food.”
“I want to stay and …”
“Honey, we’ll get the scoop when we get back.” Jesse
suggested not wanting to be involved in a sorted love triangle between Max, Liz
and Kyle. Jim could be the adult mediator. Jesse’s only purpose was to keep
and hold Isabel close to him, his attentions completely on her. He pulled a
reluctant Isabel with him having every intention to stay gone long enough for
the latest crisis to pass.
Jim stared at his agitated son. Sighing, he brushed a hand
over the back of his head. “Where were you, Kyle?”
“Out.” Kyle could tell his attitude wasn’t
ingratiating himself with his father. Shrugging, he went to find juice or
something to drink. “Just call it my internal alien coming to roost. Selfish.
Vain. Inconsiderate. Self-involved. Think I have the right to do as I actually
damn well please, with everyone else’s life unimportant except in regards to
my own.”
Kyle drank the rest of the orange juice, his mouth dry, and
his body tired. “I went and got drunk, if you must know, which is a strange
sensation right now. I get this euphoric out of body feeling, with tingling
senses, almost hyped up. Then I picked up this woman, who was about forty and
proceeded to fuck my brains out for the remaining twelve hours.” Tossing the
empty juice container in the trash, he turned to the others. “I don’t
remember her name, and yep, I was getting off on it. Anything else you want to
know?”
“Did you at least use protection?” Jim asked quietly,
unsure how or what to say to his son, who was not only of an age of consent, but
obviously in a lot of pain.
Kyle scratched his neck ruefully. “Which time?”
Max’s face paled, and he felt sick. Shaking his head, he
tried to organize his feelings, get them under control. Somehow, the thought of
Kyle with someone else was disturbing him, upsetting him, and that was something
he didn’t want to feel, or explain.
“You should’ve called,” was all Max was willing to
say, anything else would be damning to his relationship with his wife, and
definitely his already strained relationship with Kyle.
Kyle sneered at Max. “Says who? You?”
“No. Me.” Jim interjected. “We ran around all day
yesterday searching for you, and while we were doing that, a Skin searched the
place.”
“Oh, so that’s my fault?!” Kyle felt it in his
stomach, a burning bitterness; one that belonged to him, but something else too.
It was like an eating disease in his gut. “Why am I not surprised that you
take his damn side?”
“Kyle …”
“No! Don’t! I’ve had enough! I remember being happy
once. I remember once being a happy jock with an eye on a basketball
scholarship, a father that ignored me for his damn job, and a mother who
deserted me. But—I remember that despite that, being happy. We went camping;
fishing, hiking, and you came to my games. You were the Sheriff, and we didn’t
have much, but we had each other. That was before you got your damn jones on for
Max, and everything Max.” A glass jar exploded near Kyle. “Well, forget it!
I’m not going to bend over for the alien bastard so you can get him finally as
your dream son, or son-in-law. Forget it!”
“Kyle!” Jim shook his head at the bitterness and anger
in his son’s voice.
“What?” Kyle faced Max. “So every person you save has
to bow down to you, or give it up? Obviously all that is needed to feel
attracted to you or your soulmate is to have you lay hands on a
person—nothing special there. You save Liz, and she dumps me and gets her
panties in a twist trying to give it up to you. Tess is a queen bitch, killing
and maiming, mindwarping all for her love of you in a past life. Now me? Who’s
next? The children? My own father?” Kyle sneered nastily. “Oh, I forgot, my
father is already used to being fucked by you—always begging for more!”
The room went into shock at a resounding slapping noise, as
the four stood facing each other with pale white faces, Kyle’s with a red mark
on his cheek from where Jim slapped him. The two men, father and son stared at
each other in shock.
Anger lined Jim Valenti’s face, making the already worn
lines even more evident while Kyle stared at his father defiantly, then with an
increasing lessening of severity to regret. Airing his grievances and taking his
father down with him wasn’t his intention.
“Kyle,” said Max quietly, not sure how to approach
Kyle, or what he could do that would not offend both Kyle and Liz. “I called
you Tess.”
“I got that! You think I want to be the stand in for your
queen? I told you—I’m not gay!”
“Guess what? Neither am I!” Max roared finally snapping
to the stress.
Kyle snorted in derision, making a rude comment under his
breath. That set Max off, and soon the two men were flinging angry accusations
at each other while Liz and Jim watched uncertain they should enter the fight.
“Aw! Home sweet home,” said Michael’s sarcastic voice
from the doorway where he stood with Maria as he dropped their bags on the
floor. “Here I was afraid you only fought for my entertainment.”
“Not everything is about you, Michael!” Max warned
Michael, happy to vent his spleen on his too absent brother.
“Says you!”
“Michael,” Maria admonished, frowning at the scene.
“Great, now I’ve got the ever sarcastic Guerin back! My
life is sucking, and I’m blaming you!” Kyle told Max. He glanced at Liz.
“Can’t you control your sexually deviant husband; maybe give him a reason to
not flash away from home?”
“Flash?” Michael laughed. “What, Max take off his
clothes and run naked through the woods? Take a dip in the
“Flash, you dork! Like enter my mind in a mind altering
warp, giving me thoughts not my own!”
“Sexual thoughts?” Michael’s face fused with color as
he literally bent over laughing. “Woo hoo! Don’t tell me! Don’t tell me!
You—you think you’re his soulmate?”
The room exploded in voices at that.
“Michael, could you …” Jim started seeing the redness
of the others faces.
“I should beat the crap out of you!”
“You and who’s army?”
“Don’t threaten him! If anyone deserved to be beaten
it’s you—you alien molester!”
“I didn’t—that was an accident. It wasn’t about
you! I called you Tess, and …”
“Max, how could you?”
“I didn’t! Or I didn’t mean to, and well—dammit, it
just happened!”
“Um, could someone tell me what is going on?”
“Tess? He called you Tess?”
“Yeah, and his queen—he wasn’t wearing any
clothes.”
“Eww! Enough of the details!”
“Michael, honey—I’m hungry. Is there any food?”
“Isabel and Jesse went to get groceries.”
“Jesse? He’s here too? How did Valenti get here?”
“Not now, honey. We’ve got to find out why Kyle is
Max’s queen.”
“I’m not a damn queen! I keep telling everyone. I’m
not gay, and I don’t even like Evans.”
“I don’t know—he called you his queen, and despite
the whole two lesbians thing, it might have been a fluke.”
“I just fucked a forty year old barfly. She had a killer
bod.”
“No? Was this after Max fucked you and made you his
queen, or before? You might be in denial.”
“Michael, I was thinking we should get a puppy. Puppies
are good with babies, and …”
“Could all of you please calm down? Liz, stop crying.
It’s not going to help. Kyle—Kyle, don’t hit Max. Michael, could you
just—I don’t know—stay out of it?”
“Ouch! Get your hands off me! I didn’t just call you my
queen—you called me your king.”
“Bullshit! I was under duress after the damn blowjob. I
was weakened.”
“Blowjob? Max gave you …?”
“Michael! Please. Liz, are you okay? I mean, it didn’t
really happen, right? Right?”
“Liz?”
“Don’t talk to me! First Tess and now Kyle?! Once a
cheater, always a cheater!”
“I didn’t cheat! I didn’t touch Kyle!”
“Well, to give a blowjob, Maxwell—that does require a
bit of contact.”
“Shut up!”
“Shut up!” Everyone screamed at once.
Isabel and Jesse came to stand in the doorway observing the
six people engaged in a fight, except for Maria who was mumbling about dogs, and
different breeds good for children. Maria saw them first. She started to smile,
but then her face paled, and she gripped Michael’s arm hard, stepping back in
a panic.
“Honey, just a second. I want to know more about this
unholy alliance between Max and his new queen.”
“Michael …” Maria pushed hard into him coming up to
his back, her body shaking and nauseated.
Michael’s eyes turned to see Isabel and Jesse in the
doorway, and without thought, his hand came up in a protective gesture as he
sent a blast of energy towards the door as Isabel screamed, “No!”