My Rosfic

Prologue

I ran, fists clenched, arms pumping, lungs bursting. I ran as fast as I could, as fast as my legs would carry me. The adrenaline coursing through my body was the only thing that kept me going, as my legs should have given out a long time ago. I ignored the pain, the screaming from my muscles to stop, and kept running. My life depended on it. All of our lives depended on it.

I’d never been in the middle of anything important. Always on the outside. I was never the hero, always the sidekick, and at times it had been something that bothered me. Today however, I was wishing that it had been me on the outside, me waiting for the outcome instead of being the only hope.

I could remember only one other time in my life when I had run this fast, when lives depended on me. I was too late that day. I couldn’t be too late this time. If I failed here today, we were all going to die, and it would be no one’s fault but my own.

Chapter One: I Forgot To Remember To Forget

Walking through the streets of New York was still an amazing experience to me, even though I’d been doing it multiple times a day for the past six years. Walking the streets of Roswell, you were sure to run into at least three or four people that you knew, people who wanted to know how you were, what you’d been doing with your life and then drone on about their lives, as if anyone cared. There was also the horrible chance that someone would mention the four juniors that had disappeared years ago, and remember that I had been friends with them, and then ask if I’d heard anything, and how I was holding up.

Yes, escaping Roswell was perhaps the best choice I’d ever made in my short twenty-three years of life. Walking the streets of New York was a completely different experience. It was a rarity to run into anyone you knew, especially when you were like me and kept to yourself and didn’t know that many people to begin with. Everyone in New York was also way too caught up in their own life to worry about anyone else. Walking with the hundreds and thousands of people on the streets of New York was similar to disappearing, something I, myself, ached to do since that fateful day six years ago.

I sighed and pushed the memories of that day out of my mind as it was not something I allowed myself to think about. In fact, I’d done a pretty good job of blocking out the two years before that day as well, imagining my life only as it had been “Before the Aliens”, or BA as I referred to it among my close friends who understood why it was a time that was never spoken of.

I let myself into my studio apartment, determined to stop thinking of the past. I was greeted by Cat, my companion, purring eagerly as I scooped her into my arms. I’d been wandering back alleys around my apartment building when I first moved to the city when I saw a small grey kitten rummaging through the alley for food. A stray kitten and my heart immediately broke. I had to take her in, it was fitting in a way, as taking in strays seemed to be what I did. Stray kittens without a family, stray people with a family. I couldn’t pick a name, so she stayed Cat. It was very, “Holly Golightly” of me.

“Hi Cat.” I said, nuzzling my face into her fur. I grabbed her food and poured some in her bowl, then set her down so that she could eat. She ran her body against my leg and then began eating.

While cat was eating I jumped in the shower, eager to get the stench of New York city sewers off of me. The water beating against my back and running down my face felt good, and I let my mind go blank.

After my shower I sat down and listened to my messages. One from Mom, just checking in. I called her back and we chatted for a while. She told me what she and Jim had planned for their fifth wedding anniversary and asked me if I’d be willing to come home for the party that Kyle and his girlfriend were throwing for them. I told her I’d try. Going home to Roswell, even to visit, wasn’t something I ever looked forward too. Too many memories that I had spent too long burying.

After our phone call I pulled out my guitar and tried writing a song, like I did every night, but as usual, I got distracted and failed miserably. Writing songs was something that I could no longer do.

After my failed attempt at being a musician, Cat and I watched some television before falling asleep, which was pretty much what happened every night. I never said life in New York was exciting, and it definitely wasn’t home, it was merely my escape.

* * *

The next day began like most of my days in New York. I went to work, serving coffee at a local Starbucks. I never intended it to be my career, when I’d first come to New York I had aspirations to make music and become famous, but it hadn’t quite worked out that way, and I loved my job and the people that I worked with. I had made a few friends that I spent some time with, but none of them close enough that I had to divulge any information I didn’t feel comfortable divulging.

When I got home I fed Cat like normal and then sat down to watch television, completely ignoring my answering machine. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, so I let the little red light flash indicating that I had messages.

I flipped through a magazine as I vaguely listened to the evening news, waiting for the new episode of Grey’s Anatomy to be on. I never watched the news, it was so depressing, always talk of wars over in the Middle East and how everyone was needing a financial bailout and it bored me to tears, I never was one up on current events, pop culture was more my thing.

A news story caught my attention however and I turned the TV up and leaned forward on my bed, making sure I caught every word.

“Locals claim to have seen an unidentified flying object above Roswell, New Mexico early this morning, before then seeing a large explosion in the desert.” The news anchor said. I shook my head in disbelief. There was no way. There had to be another explanation.

“Roswell is of course infamously known for the alleged 1947 crash that many people still believe was alien.” I laughed to myself, how right those people are, but the government will never tell them that.

“Federal and local officials claim that the object was a military stealth fighter that they had been testing, but local citizens seem to be weary to trust the government. Let’s go to our local anchor Pam Troy who’s in Roswell right now. Pam…”

The scene shifted to Roswell’s very own Pam Troy, the bane of Liz and I’s existence in middle school and early high school, before the FBI and enemy aliens seemed to be more threatening than a stuck up blonde cheerleader.

“Thanks Katie. I’m standing at the edge the Roswell city limits where early this morning an alleged military stealth fighter crashed. As you can see, police officials have this area completely blocked off. No one is able to get near the crash site, but we’ve been assured that no one has been harmed from what they can tell.”

I bit my bottom lip as I continued to listen to the report. Something was not adding up in my mind, but I was trying to ignore it. It was possible that it was just a military jet, nothing to be suspicious of, but my intuition was telling me another story.

“With me I have Sherriff Jim Valenti. Sherriff, tell us what happened this morning here in the small town of Roswell?”

I smiled as my step dad came into focus and I felt my heart break a little. I did miss my family.

“As we’ve been told and we’ve told you, it was a military stealth fighter that crashed, there is absolutely no reason to believe that it’s anything other than that. The possibility that aliens crashed here is absurd.”

I laughed again. He knows all too well how absurd it’s not.

“Thank you Sherriff.” The camera focused back in on Pam. “As you know, in 1947, there was a military crash in this area as well, and then just six years ago, some citizens claim to have seen something spin up to the sky from out in the desert. Whether or not it was a UFO, we may never know, but there’s something strange about Roswell, New Mexico. Back to you Katie…”

“In other news…” I turned the TV back down and collapsed on my bed, staring at the ceiling. It had to be a coincidence… right?

The phone rang, startling me and I jumped up, grabbing it quickly. “Hello.” I said.

“Why didn’t you call me back?” An angry Liz shouted into the phone. “I’ve left you five messages!” She exclaimed.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t check my messages.” I explained.

“Did you watch the news?” She asked.

“Yeah, what is that all about?”

“Maria…” Liz said slowly. I heard her exhale.

“Liz, what’s going on?”

 “Maria…” She said again. Then the two words I’d been waiting to hear for six years fell out of her mouth and I felt the blood rush to my head. “They’re back.”

Chapter Two: 6 Years, 3 months, and 12 days… Not To Mention a Trip Across the Galaxy

“They’re back.” Liz said, and the phone slipped from my hand and landed right on Cat, who hissed, arched her back, and jumped off my lap running for cover.

“Maria…” I heard after a few seconds, minutes, or perhaps hours, to be honest I really wasn’t sure how long had passed, all that I heard was “they’re back” over and over again in my head. “MARIA!”

I pressed the phone back to my ear and let out a breath I hadn’t even known I’d been holding. “I’m here.” I said, my voice, hoarse, barely a whisper. “How do you know it’s them?”

“Max came to find me.” She whispered. “Look, get here as soon as possible ok.”

“Why?” I demanded, feeling a little frustrated that the damn aliens had been back on the planet for less than twenty four hours and I was already being bossed around.

“Maria…” Liz started, sounded agitated. “Trust me. It’s serious.”

I sighed. I would have gone back anyway. Six years and a galaxy between us hadn’t changed anything for me. “I’m on the next flight.”

“I’ll see you soon.” She said, and then hung up the phone.

* * *

The next twenty four hours seemed to pass in a blur. I immediately packed what I needed and packed up Cat, as I wasn’t sure how long I would be in Roswell and I didn’t want to leave Cat alone for too long.

I rushed to JFK airport and booked the first flight that would get me to Roswell. I ended up travelling from New York to Chicago, Chicago to Atlanta, and then finally Atlanta to Albuquerque, but I guess that’s what you get for booking your flight at the last minute. I took a cab from Albuquerque to Roswell.

Throughout the entire travelling process, I couldn’t sleep or get my mind to calm down in the least. All I could think of was that day, six years ago… the day that changed my life forever.

* * *

I walked into my bedroom, my heart breaking and bursting with happiness all at the same time, if that was possible. I had just had the most amazing night with Michael Guerin, we had finally slept together, and it had been amazing, everything I’d dreamed it would be and more, and he was amazing. He truly loved me and he showed me that, and I had never been happier.

Our happy moment was killed by the fact that Michael was leaving. Tess was pregnant and had to go back to Antar, their home planet, and Max, Michael, and Isabel were leaving with her. This was it, their one shot at going home. How could I stand in the way of that?

“I can’t believe this is happening. I… I just can’t believe it’s possible.” I say, finding Liz laying on my bed. I collapse next to her, not sure how long I can hold it together.

“Umm Hmm…” Is all Liz can manage to say. I can’t imagine how she’s feeling at this moment, knowing that the man she believed to be her soul mate had impregnated another woman. Poor Liz.

“Larek.” I suddenly hear. I look at Liz, unsure that I heard right, but by the look on her face, I can tell I did. “He says his name is Larek and he’s an alien. Who is Larek?”

“My Mom…” I say to Liz. What is she doing up? It’s the middle of the night. And why is she talking about Larek? Tess mind warped her to forget that whole incident.

“And he’s taken over this whole place. And he’s holding us hostage here with a gun. He’s pointing a gun at my daughter. He threatened my daughter.”

Liz and I bolt into the kitchen. “Mom, mom! What’s wrong?” I ask her urgently.

She shakes her head lightly like she’s breaking out of a trance and looks at me with a confused look. “Maria! What are you doing up, it’s the middle of the night. And Liz? What are you still doing here?”

My mom turns back to the dishes and begins tapping and I’m reminded of something. Kyle, tapping at the Crashdown, Alex tapping his guitar the night he died. I quickly look at Liz, she’s remembering the same thing.

“It’s Tess! Tess mind warped Alex!” She says to me.

“What?” I ask.

“And Kyle!” And then it makes sense. “Look we’ve got to go now!”

Liz and I run from the house, completely forgetting my mother doing the dishes. We jump in the Jetta and take off toward the Valenti house as fast as we can. As I drive, Liz fills me in on her theory. It makes perfect sense. Tess mind warped Alex to decode the book. She mind warped my mom at the UFO center the night Brody had held us hostage and she must have mind warped Kyle too.

“No. There’s no way I’ve been mind warped. I’d remember it.” Kyle tells us when we finally reach his house.

“Kyle,” I say, wanting to slap him on the head for his stupidity, “that’s the whole point of being mind warped. You don’t know it’s happening to you.”

Kyle shrugs. “So what, I’m supposed to look around the room and then what?”

“I don’t know.” Liz tells him. “See if you have an unusual response to anything.”

Kyle started looking around the room, as he did he started tapping his fingers on the dresser.

“Liz…” I say quietly.

“Sorry, nothing.” Kyle tells us.

“Kyle, it could be really close, so keep looking, keep trying.” Liz says.

All of a sudden Kyle’s face went blank and it’s like he’s hypnotized. He stayed that way for several seconds while I silently freaked out on the inside.

“I carried his body. She made me think it was luggage.” He says, something sad in his voice. I feel a lump well into my throat, but I swallow hard, pushing it down. “She killed him. Tess killed Alex.”

And we are back in the Jetta in no time. We headed for the pod chamber, just praying that we could make it in time.

“There’s the mile marker!” Liz tells me. “Kyle, how much further?”

“It’s just up ahead.” I see the rock that the pod chamber is held in and I slam on the brakes, the Jetta coming to an unhealthy stop, dust blowing up everywhere.

We run up the rocks as fast as we can, looking for the opening that even if we find, none of us can open.

“Wait it’s right here! Hey guys open up!” Liz screams.

I remember standing there screaming and pounding on that rock until my throat was sore and my hands and arms were bleeding. It was useless. No one could hear us, and no one was coming back.

We never gave up, we pounding and screamed until the Granolith flew up into the air, rocks flying everywhere. Kyle grabbed both Liz and I and forced us to the bottom, helping us find shelter so that we wouldn’t get hurt.

We stayed there for a long time, almost the whole day, none of us speaking a word, but trying to deal with what had happened in our minds. Tess had killed Alex, we had figured it out too late, and she was probably going to kill Max, Michael, and Isabel. Our friends, our lovers, our family was dead. And we were to blame. We couldn’t save them. It was a guilt that had plagued all of us for the past six years. It was why we never spoke of that day, why we never even thought of that day… until now.

“Ma’am…” The cab driver looked back at me, breaking me from my thoughts. “you said the CrashDown Café right?” He asked.

“Yeah.”

I stood in front of the CrashDown for several minutes, just staring at the place that held most of my memories. I thought about all the nights Liz and I would stay late after close, talking about how cute she thought Max Evans was, and what a jerk his best friend Michael Guerin seemed to be. The nights that Alex would join us, divulging how in love he was with Isabel. Yes, those aliens consumed our lives long before they were even in them.

I shifted my weight from foot to foot, trying to think of ways to get out of going inside. As long as I had waited for this day, I still wasn’t sure how to handle it, because the truth was, I never expected this day to come. I was not prepared for this at all.

“You going to go in or just stand out here all day staring at the place?” Came a voice from behind me.

I didn’t have to turn around to know who that voice belonged to. I’d know it anywhere, whether I was dead or alive. It was the voice I’d been dreaming of every night for six years.

“I haven’t decided yet.” I say, trying to keep my cool, not sure how he would react to me, but knowing that my feelings were just as strong as they’d been when he left, and if I hadn’t been sure of that before, I definitely was after hearing his voice. My heart was racing, my palms sweating, and I was having a hard time breathing.

“I think you should go in.” He said, still standing behind me. I was afraid to turn around, not really sure if I could believe that he was really here. I was hearing his voice so clearly, but for all I knew I was going crazy. I think I was really afraid that if I turned around and he wasn’t there, my heart wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“What if it’s not what I expected?” I asked him.

“Nothing’s what we expect… not really.”

“I’ve spent too long burying this.” I tell him. “Six years too long. I don’t know if I’m ready to dig it all up again.”

“Me too.” He sighs. “Six years, three months, and twelve days of burying all of it. Not to mention a trip across the galaxy.” We both stood in silence for several seconds before he spoke up again. “I missed you.” He admitted.

“I missed you too.” I said, and turned around to lay my eyes upon Michael Guerin for the first time in six years.

Chapter Three: The Runaway Found

It was strange how just looking at Michael could still leave me breathless. The six years and whatever he’d dealt with on Antar had aged him physically as well as emotionally. He had a few more lines on his face, very subtle that most people would probably not notice, but I noticed because I’d spent hours upon hours studying that face so long ago. Above his right eye there was a scar that went up to the middle of his forehead and another one, smaller, on his lower left cheek. Michael had never been someone that looked soft and cuddly, but somehow he looked harder, tougher, like he’d seen things that he wasn’t ready to deal with, but he was still Michael.

His hair was shorter, the shortest I’d ever seen Michael’s hair. It was very clean looking, very military looking. He resembled a soldier, which was what he was on Antar, so it made sense. In his eyes I caught the hint of something sad, but they were still soft and inviting, beautiful, and I got lost in them the moment I looked at him.

We stood there just taking each other in for several minutes, neither one of us wanting to move, to ruin the moment. I was still afraid that he’d disappear, that this whole thing was a dream, that I was going to wake up any minute and he’d be gone.

“Is it really you?” I finally asked, my voice soft, my confidence wavering.

He nodded, taking a step closer. I reached out my hand slowly, my fingertips just barely brushing across his chest. “It’s me.”

He pressed the palm of his hand against my cheek and I closed my eyes. Every wall, every defense that I’d ever built crumbled to the ground the minute his skin touched mine. I was putty in his hands, just like I’d always been, I’d just been too proud to ever admit it.

I could have stood there looking at Michael’s face, getting lost in his eyes for the rest of my life, in fact, it was what I preferred to do with the rest of my life, however our moment was interrupted by a throat being cleared very purposefully, very agitated.

“I hate to interrupt your reunion, but we have more important things to deal with right now.”

Tess.

I pushed away from Michael, needing to see her for myself. She stood behind us, hands on her hips, condescending look on her face. Did they not know? Did they not know what she’d done? She killed Alex. She was the reason that Michael, Max, and Isabel had been gone for six years. She was the reason my life had been ruined, that all of our lives had been ruined. I was going to kill her.

“What the hell is she doing here?” I yelled, wanting to lunge at her, but holding back, knowing Tess could kill me with the snap of her finger.

“Not here, Maria.” He told me firmly.

I looked at him angrily.  “Do you know what she did?”

 “Maria, please. You’re making a scene.” Tess snapped. She had some nerve.

 “Well you killed Alex, my best friend. I’m kind of okay with making a scene about it.”

Michael grabbed me by the arm and began to pull me into the CrashDown. “Keep your voice down.” He demanded. “I’ll explain everything inside.” It was so Michael of him, thinking he could just order me around. I wasn’t having it.

“Don’t touch me!” I yanked my arm from Michael’s grip and stomped inside the CrashDown, looking over my shoulder every few seconds, glaring at Michael, and checking to make sure Tess wasn’t going to stab me from behind. At this point, I put nothing past her.

When I walked into the CrashDown, I immediately saw Liz standing by the door to the back room, arms wrapped around herself. She didn’t look like she was handling this very well. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun and her eyes had dark circles under them, indicating that she was extremely tired.

After Max left, Liz had fallen into a deep depression, which was extremely unlike Liz. She had a hard time pulling herself out of it, and we were all really worried about her for a long time. For the first semester of our senior year, Liz had been sent to an all girl’s boarding school in Vermont. By Christmas she had started to become Liz again, but she was never truly the same, not really.

“Liz!” I cried, wrapping my arms around my best friend. “How are you?” I asked, knowing that this had to be taking a major toll on her. Not only were the aliens back, which was enough drama for all of us for the rest of our lives, but Max had come back with Tess, the girl he’d slept with who also killed our other best friend. This was a bad situation.

“I’m okay. How are you?” She asked.

 “I’m fine. Where are Max and Isabel? Is Kyle coming?”

She nodded. “Everyone is upstairs. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Are we ready now?” Tess asked as her and Michael approached us.

“Yeah.” Liz said. “We’re ready.” She pushed open the door to the back room, letting Michael and Tess pass us. I looped my arm through hers and we followed them upstairs.

“What is she doing here?” I hissed in Liz’s ear as we walked up the stairs.

“You’re about to find out.” Liz told me.

“What do you know?”

“Not much more than you to be honest.” She said. “They said they’d explain when we were all together.”

“Why are you acting so nonchalant about this?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well you’re walking up the stairs so casually, so calm, like we aren’t walking behind a murdering, home-wrecking, bitch.”

“I can hear you.” Tess snapped from in front of us.

“It’s not like it’s a secret.” I said, rolling my eyes. It felt a little juvenile, but the whole situation was making me feel like I was seventeen again.

“Maria, it’s good to see you.” Isabel was the first person I saw upon entering the apartment, as she was emerging from the living room. She looked about as bad as I’d ever seen Isabel look. Her hair was also shorter all one length that framed her face, and it was darker, I hated it. She didn’t look like Isabel to me. She’d also gotten extremely thin, too thin. She hugged me briefly, and I was afraid I would break her.

“Everyone’s in here.” Isabel told us, nodding towards the living room.

Upon entering I glanced around the room, looking for Kyle, happy to see him standing with his Father, leaning against the wall.

“Maria!” Jim called, waving me over to them. I hugged my step-father and step-brother, glad to see them. It had been too long.

I looked around again and saw Max and I almost couldn’t believe it was him. I’d never in my life seen anyone look as bad as Max did. Compared to Max, Liz and Isabel looked like healthy, happy, well rested individuals about to be in a beauty pageant.

Max’s hair had gotten longer and was extremely shaggy and he was unshaven, looking very rugged. It would have been a good look for him if he hadn’t looked like he was going to drop over and die at any minute. There were circles under his eyes that were so dark, it looked like bruises from being punched in his sunken-in face. He’d lost weight, just like Isabel. He looked broken and sad, nothing like the Max Evans I remembered. Antar had aged Max in a completely different way than it had aged Michael.

“Momma!” A small voice cried, and I watched as a little ball of energy ran through the room.

The little boy that clung to Tess was the spitting image of Max. He had dark brown hair, deep soulful eyes, if it was possible to have soulful eyes at six, and Max’s slightly larger than normal ears. I could see little of Tess in him except that his hair was slightly curly. 

The sight of Max when I first looked at him was nothing compared to how he looked while Tess held their son. He hovered over them, watching their every move, or rather watching Tess’s every move, with a terrified look on his face. I’d never seen anyone look so distraught, unhealthy, and scared at the same time. It was heartbreaking.

I now knew exactly why Tess was here.

Of course Max wouldn’t be able to destroy the mother of his child, not when it would then destroy his child. That was just Max, and because of it, Max was destroying himself.

“Max, let’s get this show on the road.” Michael said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah. Everyone should probably have a seat.” Max said, not looking away from Tess or his son. “Isabel.”

Isabel was immediately at Max’s side, reaching down for the little boy. “Come on Zan.” Zan hugged his mother quickly and then followed Isabel into Liz’s room.

“He’s my son, Max.” Tess told him, glaring.

“Sit down Tess.” He ordered, authority in his voice, but no expression on his face.

“Maria.” Max said, noticing I had arrived. “It’s nice to see you.”

“You too, Max.” I said. He had a seat and looked down at the floor, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Especially Liz.

I sat down next to Liz and grabbed her hand. This couldn’t be easy for her. I had a feeling she was feeling more horrible than any of the rest of us, aside from Max, who was maybe feeling more horrible than anyone else on the planet, at least that’s how he looked.

“So what’s going on, Max?” Kyle asked as Isabel rejoined the group.

Max looked up at all of us with his sad eyes. “Our war is coming to Earth.” He explained. “And you four are in serious danger.”

Chapter Four: Good News For People Who Love Bad News

“Our war is coming to Earth.” Max told us. “And you four are in serious danger.” He looked around at each of us, an apologetic look in his eyes. “I’m so sorry. I hate to drag any of you into this; we’ve put you through enough already,” He glanced at Tess.  “But I don’t have a choice.”

“What does that mean?” Liz asked.

Max was very careful not to make eye contact with Liz as he looked around the room. It was strange, to see how he carefully avoided looking at her, normally we were all annoyed because he wouldn’t stop looking at her. “Because of the wars that have been going on for hundreds of years on our planet, it’s become unlivable. Antarians have been working on a way to survive here on Earth, and they’ve finally found it.”

“So Earth is about to be infested with illegal aliens?” Jim asked.

Isabel nodded. “Yes. A lot of them.”

“Wonder how immigration deals with that.” Kyle said quietly.

“Really, Kyle? Really?” Liz snapped, rolling her eyes. I could tell that the stress was getting to her.

“What?” He asked innocently. “I was just saying.”

She shook her head, extremely annoyed, and looked back towards Max. “So what puts us in more danger than everyone else?” Liz asked.

Max sighed, pausing for a moment, like he was gathering his thoughts. He looked at Isabel and Michael briefly before continuing. “Khivar knows that we were all connected. We’re afraid he’ll target you four first to get to us.”

“Max…” Michael started, but Max looked at him, a look of authority in his eyes, and Michael closed his mouth. It was strange to see Michael fall in line behind Max.

“So what’s the crazy bitch doing here?” I nodded my head towards Tess. She rolled her eyes.

“She’s Zan’s mother.” Max whispered.

“She killed Alex.” Kyle snapped.

“We didn’t know about Tess murdering Alex until just recently.” Isabel told us. “We’re still trying to decide what to do.”

“Oh okay.” I snickered. “Well let’s hope she doesn’t off any of the rest of us while you’re taking your precious time deciding what to do.”

“Maria…” Max started, but I cut him off. I had reached my limit. I was pissed.

“No Max. After everything you’ve all put us through, you come back here, bringing your alien war and putting us right in the middle of it. And then you bring Tess, Tess of all people, into Liz’s house!” I cried. “Do any of you care about us at all? Because you’ve done nothing but hurt us and put all of us in danger from day one.”

“I don’t remember any of us asking you to get involved!” Michael snapped at me.

“Max involved Liz the minute he saved her life!” I told him.

“Yeah, well, I guess he should have just let her die then.”

“Michael!” Isabel gasped.

“Michael, that’s enough.” Max yelled. He actually yelled. He then turned back towards Liz and I. “I’m sorry. I wish I hadn’t dragged you into all of this. I would give anything for you four to be safe right now.” He told us. “But I don’t for a second regret saving Liz’s life that day.” He sighed. “I never have and I never will.” He added quietly.

“So how do we know Tess isn’t mindwarping us right now?” Kyle asked quietly.

“While on Antar, we learned that we have more abilities than we thought. For instance, by taking my rightful place as the King of Antar, no Antarian can disobey a direct order from me.” Max explained. “Tess can’t use her powers unless I give her a direct order too, because I’ve forbid her.” Max said “I forbid her from hurting you, from touching you. She can’t touch any of you. She can’t hurt you.”

“Really?” Liz asked skeptically.

 “Let me show you.” Max looked at Tess and she glared at Max. He said nothing, just looked at her, but it was a frightening look that would have made anyone do what he wanted. He had embraced the fact that he was King, and it seemed that he wasn’t making life easy for Tess by any means.

We all watched anxiously as Tess stood up begrudgingly and walked over to Jim. She reached her hand out to touch him, and about a half an inch away from his skin, her hand stopped. It wasn’t noticeable unless you were paying close attention, but it seemed as though it bounced back a bit, as though it had hit a force field. She tried several times, but the same thing happened every time. Her hand bounced away from Jim.

I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding. “Fine, she can’t hurt us.”

“I promise, we will do whatever we can to keep you safe.” Max said.

“So now what?” Liz asked.

Max shrugged. “We don’t know when Khivar will get here. We expect about three to four weeks. We stole the only ship built to travel to Earth. He was still engineering his ship when we escaped. I guess it’s a waiting game until then.”

Liz sighed. “So we’ve got about three weeks to wait around until we all die. Fabulous.”

I grabbed her hand and squeezed it, trying to comfort not only her, but myself. I was rarely scared, it just wasn’t like me to be scared, but today I was terrified. I’d dreamt about Michael coming home so many times, but not once had my dreams ever included inevitable death.

I looked around at everyone in the room, silent, processing. I spent a few moments looking at each of my close friends individually and my heart started to break. As angry as I was at Max, Michael, and Isabel, I could see in their eyes, in the way they carried themselves, in their overall demeanor that they were just as scared as we were. It wasn’t their fault that we were in danger. We knew the risk we were taking getting close to them. We’d known that the risk could possibly cost us our lives. We just hadn’t expected it to actually happen.

Chapter Five: Feels Like Home to Me

The drive home was silent. Jim, Kyle, and I had nothing to say to each other. I know that I was too busy processing everything that had just happened, and I think that they were too.

I tried my best to pretend with my mom. She was so surprised to see me that I think she bought my excuse of being exhausted and allowed me to head to bed early.

Despite actually being exhausted from the flight and the meeting and the not sleeping for more than 36 hours, I just couldn’t sleep. I stared at my ceiling for what seemed like forever, Cat curled up next to me.

I don’t know why I was startled or shocked when there was a tapping on my window. I wasn’t expecting him, but I wasn’t surprised by him either. Typical Michael.

I threw open my window and glared at him, still angry about his comments from earlier. “What do you want?” I snapped.

“I’m sorry for what I said today at Liz’s.”

“Whatever, Michael.” I folded my arms across my chest and continued glaring. “I don’t care.”

“Obviously.” He smirked. Try as I might, I couldn’t stay angry with him, not with that look on his face, not with the impending war we were going to deal with. I didn’t know how long we had left together.

He reached his arm in my window. “I want to show you something.”

“Michael…” I started, not sure if it was a good idea

“Please Maria.” He pleaded with his eyes. “Please.”

“Okay.” I nodded. I grabbed my sweatshirt off my bed and went back to the window. Michael stuck his hand out again, helping me through. “You know, we’re twenty-three. I probably don’t need to sneak out the window.”

Michael laughed. “Yeah, but it’s more fun this way.”

As we walked, we talked. He asked about my life, what I’d been doing for the past six years. I told him about New York, about working at Starbucks and how my music career had never taken off. He seemed shocked by that, but said nothing, just let me talk, tell him about me and my life. He seemed genuinely interested, and it made me happy to see that he really had missed me and he really did care about me.

“So where are we going?” I asked, after we’d been walking for awhile and I was tired of talking about myself.

“We’re almost there.” He said, reaching for my hand and dragging me along a little bit longer.

When we stopped I was confused. “Why are we hanging out by the railroad tracks?”

He dropped my hand and looked around. “Before… When I lived with Hank, I used to come here to calm down, to figure things out. Max, Isabel, and I would meet here to discuss.. things. Alien things.” He picked up a rock and tossed it. “It seems like a simpler time… back then.”

“Back before me?” I said with a dejected voice. He nodded.

I wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear anymore. It had already been a terrible day and being rejected by Michael wasn’t going to make it any better.

“But back when it was just me, Max, and Isabel, I was always searching for something, anything that would give us a clue to who we are, to where we were from. I thought that if I could find home, I’d find some kind of contentment. I thought I’d find myself.”

He turned to me and grabbed both my hands. “The funny thing was, I found home long before I went to Antar. I found home right here on Earth. You are my home Maria. I don’t regret Max saving Liz that day, because it brought me to you.

I was speechless, completely blown away by Michael’s words. He’d rarely opened up to me that way, and I was taken utterly by surprise. Michael said no more, but lifted my chin and kissed me softly. I was a goner… again.

“You’ve obviously been taking pointers from Max in the speech giving department.” I said, wiping the tears that were rolling down my cheeks.

Michael laughed. “Thanks for ruining my moment.”

I shrugged. “We aren’t really romantic moment kind of people.”

“I guess we’re not.”

He wrapped his arms around me and I rested my head against his chest. “I love you.” He said, pressing his lips to my head.

“I love you too.” I told him, but as soon as I said it, my heart dropped.

“You have to understand something though.” He continued, while he held me. “My life hasn’t gotten any less dangerous, in fact, it’s way more dangerous since I’ve taken my place as Max’s second in command, and being linked to me makes your life extremely dangerous. My sole job is to protect Max, Isabel, and Zan, and I’m taking it very seriously. There’s a good chance I won’t come out of this alive.”

“Michael…” I shook my head, tears threatening to spill again. “Don’t say that.”

He pushed me away from him, holding my arms and forcing me to look into his eyes. “It’s the truth Maria. I’m the number one target on Khivar’s list, because he knows he can’t get to Max, Isabel, or Zan with me alive. He knows I’ll die protecting them. You need to know that I’ll die protecting you.

“I am probably going to die Maria. You need to understand that. And if you want to leave right now, if you want out, then I won’t blame you.”

“Of course I’m in!” I cried. “I’ve always been in, since day one. I don’t care how dangerous it is, I never have.”

“Then you have to promise me you’ll stay safe no matter what happens. Promise me you’ll do whatever I say when it comes to dangerous situations. No arguing. Promise me.”

“I promise.” I whispered, tears again rolling down my cheeks.

He pressed his lips to my forehead and pulled me back into him. “Thank you.”

I held back my sobs, not wanting to freak him out or upset him, but I was scared, more scared than I’d ever been in my entire life. I didn’t want to think about Michael dying, and I really didn’t want to think about what my life would be if he did.