Author: X_tremeroswellian
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: Obviously they are not mine. They belong to Melinda Metz, Jason Katims, the WB...*Sighs* This is just for entertainment so please don't sue me. You wouldn't get much anyway because I'm but a poor college student who can barely afford the insurance on her car. Oh, the song used is Sarah McLachlan's "Building a Mystery," which appears on her albums Surfacing and Mirrorball.
Rating: R for language, sexual content, adult situations
Spoilers: Possible for the first five books of Melinda Metz's Roswell High, up through "Blood Brothers" of the tv series, and my fic, "Matters of Trust," which this story is the sequal to. If you haven't read "Matters of Trust," you're going to be really lost.
Author's Note: This is going to be really long and will deal with a lot of stuff with Liz. It will, of course, deal with all of the other characters...and I'm a total conventional shipper so...it will have a lot of M/L, some A/I, and M/M...If this isn't your thing, bail out now. Oh, and just fyi, I wrote this chapter at 10:00 at night, and managed to freak myself out with it (which is kind of scary all in itself), so if you're like me, and reading freaky stuff before bedtime bothers you, read this in broad daylight when you have plenty of time to get it off your mind before you go to sleep. Meanwhile, I am going to go stay awake for a few more hours before I attempt to sleep, which is bad, because I have to work tomorrow.
Thanks to Linda, Mel, Bec, and all the other people who have supported and given me feedback on my stories! :) Thanks, guys! :)
Ghosts (Part 7)
Michael glanced across the dinner table at Isabel and Max, who both ate their pizza in silence.
"So, Michael, how do you like your art classes?" Phillip Evans asked.
He looked up. "They're pretty cool. Painting is my main thing."
Diane Evans smiled at him. "I remember that dome that you painted back in high school. It was excellent."
"Thanks." Michael shifted in his seat, slightly uncomfortable. No matter how relaxed he was with Maria, Alex and Liz, anyone outside of his direct "family" made him a bit tense. Just being back in Roswell made him tense.
He'd driven past his old trailer, where he had once lived with Hank, but Hank had moved right after Michael left for college. He didn't really care, but sometimes he wondered what the old bastard was up to.
He looked across the table at Max, who had a worried, distant expression on his face. Michael kicked him under the table and Max looked up, startled. Michael frowned at him, but Max just shook his head slightly.
"How's Alex, hon?" Diane asked Isabel, who smiled.
"He's fine, Mom."
"He called this afternoon, didn't he?" Phillip asked her, glancing up from his slice of pepperoni pizza.
"Yeah, he wanted to make sure we made it here okay."
Diane smiled. "He's a fine young man."
Isabel blushed and focused her attention on picking off the green peppers that were on her pizza.
"Max, honey, how's Liz?"
Max looked up, once again startled out of his distant look. "Oh, um..."
"She's been a little stressed lately," Isabel answered for him.
Diane looked back and forth between her son and daughter. "Is she all right?"
"Yeah, she's okay. It's just--you know, Liz. She's trying to do everything all at once," Max lied.
Michael narrowed his eyes at him, but Max ignored him.
"Yeah, she was like that in high school, too," Isabel said quickly. "You know...work, honor's program, treasurer of the science club, yearbook staff..."
Diane smiled at them. "And how's Maria?" she asked Michael.
"Homesick," he answered honestly. "She really wanted to see her mom this weekend but she had to work at the library."
"I wish you kids weren't so far away," she said wistfully. "I miss having my children around." She reached over and touched Michael's arm. "All of them," she added.
Michael looked up at her and she smiled warmly at him. Then he smiled back.
"God, could this food be any grosser?" Maria moaned, picking up a forkful of limp, runny spaghetti and holding it up for Alex and Liz to see.
Liz made a face. "Whoever said high school food was bad obviously never ate here at Ding."
Ding was the nickname the students had given the rec hall when the college opened nearly ninety years ago, but no one really seemed to know why.
"I'd rather eat hospital food," Alex commented, looking down at the bowl of murky potato soup on his tray in front of him.
"No wonder everyone goes home on the weekends," Maria said, glancing around the nearly empty cafeteria.
"Yeah, to eat real food," Liz replied, picking at the soggy lettuce in her salad that had no salad dressing on it.
"Or to get treated for food poisioning," Alex said, pushing his tray away.
"Well, look who it is. The freaks of Blueridge U.," a voice behind Maria said.
They looked up to see one of Pete's friends, Alan Freedman standing there.
"Where are your other freak friends?" Alan demanded.
Alex rose to his feet. "Leave us alone, Freedman," he said warningly.
"Yeah, you're just so frightening, Whitman." He towered Alex by a good five inches.
Maria stood up and turned to face him. "Go away."
"What are you going to do about it?" he demanded, getting in her face.
Liz stood up before Alex had a chance to get around the table to him. "Don't touch her," Liz said darkly, her eyes blazing with anger.
Alan turned his attention to Liz. "Ooh. Are you fiesty like your friend here?" he asked.
"Back off!" Alex growled.
"No. I want her to show me how fiesty she can be," he said, grabbing her and pushing himself up against her. "You're a hot little number."
Liz felt his hardness pressed up against her. Suddenly she felt like she was going to be sick. "Do you remember what to do when a man says he wants you, Lizzie?" Uncle Charlie lowered his hand to her leg and it brushed over the inside of her thigh. Her eyes widened in horror and she struggled to break free of his grasp. "No!" she cried.
Alex yanked Freedman away from her. He spun around and punched Alex in the jaw, and Alex tumbled backwords.
Without warning, Maria grabbed her purse off the table and pulled out a mini-can of pepper spray. "If you want to be blind for the rest of your life, touch one of my friends again," she warned.
"You don't have the guts," Alan said, laughing darkly.
"Try me, fuckrag!" Maria said angrily, her eyes flashing. Alan glared at her, but Maria didn't back down. She held the can out warningly.
After a long moment, he moved away from them and left the cafeteria. Maria knelt down next to Alex, who was holding his jaw, a cut on his lip bleeding. "Alex, are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." He looked around. "Where's Liz?"
Maria looked up. Liz was nowhere in sight. "I don't know." She stood up and helped Alex to his feet.
"Well, we'd better find her," Alex said quickly.
Liz leaned back against the stall of the girl's restroom in Ding, trying to catch her breath after she got sick. Tears and sweat mingled and slid down the side of her head. The room was spinning.
"So what? You've got a boyfriend and now you can't let any other man touch you?" he demanded. "I have news for you, Lizzie. That Max kid only wants your body."
"You're wrong," she said shakily. "Max doesn't see me that way."
He laughed, his eyes flashing. "Of course that's how he sees you. That's how every man sees you. He sees you just like everyone else, for the little whore that you are!"
Liz squeezed her eyes shut and fisted her hands, digging her nails into the palms of her hands. "Go away!" she whispered.
"Liz?" she heard Maria's tentative voice call from the doorway. "Are you in here?"
She took a deep breath and stood up, opened her eyes, and flushed the toliet. She wiped her face with the back of her long-sleeved shirt. "Yeah." She unlocked the stall door and stepped out, going straight for the sinks. When she glanced down at her hands, she realized, with some horror, that they were both bleeding where she had dug her fingernails into them. She washed her hands quickly, biting back a wince, and grabbed a paper towel.
"Are you all right?" Maria asked in concern.
"Yeah, sorry. I just..." She didn't know how to finish her sentence.
Maria stepped forward and hugged her. "It's okay. You don't have to try and explain it."
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Let's go back to Jewell, okay?"
"Yeah." Liz followed her out of the room, and met up with Alex outside. He searched her eyes and without a word, he moved to her side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She looked at him greatfully, and then the three of them walked back to their dorm together.
Liz lay awake, staring at the stars on the bottom of the top bunk bed. She heard a soft tapping sound and she frowned. It stopped. She sighed and turned over in her bed, staring at the wall of pictures she had tacked up. The tapping started again. Liz sat up and looked around the dark room.
"What is it?" she wondered aloud. She looked at her alarm clock. It was 11:21. She could hear the distant sound of loud music playing from North. She and Maria were in the only ones in their hall, except a senior who lived in the first room of the hall, Alyssa.
The tapping sound continued. Liz couldn't even figure out where the damned noise was coming from. She crawled out of bed and pushed the curtains open. There was no one outside her room. She listened closely, but she still couldn't pinpoint where the sound was being made. She slowly moved towards the door, her feet padding across the thin carpet.
She unlocked the door as quietly as she could, reaching for the baseball bat next to the door. She turned the handle slowly and pulled the door open, only to find a figure waiting there. Liz screamed and jumped back.
Maria screamed and jumped back.
They both gasped for breath and stared at one another. Then, in unison, "Did you hear that tapping sound?"
Their eyes widened. "Can I stay in here with you?" Maria asked quickly, shivering.
"Please," Liz answered.
"Let me grab my pillow and blanket," she said quickly, running next door and throwing the door open.
Liz stood in the dimly-lit hallway, looking up and down the corridor, which was dead silent. A second later, Maria hurried out of her room, locking the door, and carrying her pillows and blankets and her teddy bear her mom gave her back in fourth grade. Liz ushered her inside and quickly closed and locked the door.
"What do you think that sound was?" Maria asked.
"I don't know. Probably just mice or something. No one else is here," Liz said, trying to calm her racing heart.
"Mice. You're right. Probably in the walls, right?" she said nervously.
"Right."
"Okay." Maria tossed her pillows on the top bunk and climbed up. She settled herself under the covers and laid down. Liz swallowed hard and crawled back into bed. She closed her eyes, feeling a bit more relaxed knowing she wasn't alone in the room.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, music started blaring from her cd player. "You come out at night, that's when the energy comes, and the dark side's light, and the vampires roam..."
She sat up so fast she nearly hit her head on the top bunk. Maria did the same. "Liz," she said fearfully.
"Yeah?" Liz asked, staring at the player.
"Please tell me you just turned on the cd player."
"I was hoping you did," she answered, trembling.
Maria leapt off the top bunk and landed on her feet. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" She hugged her teddy bear as she crawled into Liz's bed beside her. "This is so freaky!"
Liz reached over and hit the 'off' button on her cd player.
Just then, they both heard the tapping noise again. Liz looked at Maria, her eyes wide with fear. Maria looked at Liz, her eyes mirroring the same terror. "That's it. I'm calling Alex," Maria said, reaching for Liz's telephone. She quickly dialed the number.
On the fourth ring, someone picked up. "Hello?" the sleepy voice mumbled.
"Todd, I need to talk to Alex!"
"Whitman. Phone. It's one of your girlfriends."
A second later, she heard Alex's voice. "Maria?"
"How'd you know it was me?"
"Because you're the only one who would call me at 11:30 at night," he responded, yawning. "What's going on?"
"We need you to come over here, like, right now! Please," she added.
"Why? What happened?"
Maria looked at Liz, who was watching her, and shaking slightly. "Because! Please, just come over!" she begged.
"I'll be right there." He hung up.
Maria hung up Liz's phone. "He's on the way."
Liz just nodded as she looked around the darkened room. "It's freezing in here." She wrapped her blanket around her tightly. Maria did the same, both of them leaning against the wall. They sat in silence. After what seemed like an eternity, there was a knock on the door.
Maria leapt up from the bed and rushed to it. "Alex?"
"Yeah, it's me." She unlocked the door and pulled it open to let him in. He stepped inside, looking from Maria's scared face to Liz's. "What's going on?"
"We've been hearing weird noises, and Liz's c.d. player started playing on its own."
Alex rolled his eyes. "Right. Okay, when you want to stop pulling the old sixth grade joke, let me know." He headed for the door.
Maria blocked his path. "Alex!"
"She's telling the truth," Liz said quietly from across the room.
He turned to look back at her. He frowned. "Okay, this building's really old. You're probably hearing mice or termites or something, and...maybe you forgot you programmed your cd player."
"Liz's cd player is old. It doesn't have programming on it," Maria informed him, shivering. "And, I don't know of any termites that tap on the walls."
"Cd players don't turn themselves on," Alex pointed out to her.
"This one did," she answered darkly.
Alex turned to look at Liz. Her legs were pulled to her chest and her knees were tucked under her chin. She was shaking. "Okay, what do you want me to do?" he asked.
"Stay here with us," Maria said quickly.
"Please," Liz added so softly he could barely hear her.
He looked from Maria to Liz and then sighed slightly. "Okay. I'll stay."
Maria sighed in relief and then crawled back up on the top bunk and under the covers. She pulled them over her head.
Alex stared at her for a moment and then sat down on the edge of Liz's bed. "You okay?" he asked.
She nodded slightly, but didn't move from her defensive position.
Alex scooted back on the bed so his back was leaning against the wall like hers was. When he looked over at her, he saw tears on her face. "Liz?" He moved closer to her. "Hey, it's okay. You're safe," he whispered.
"I'm scared, Alex," she whispered back.
"I know you are. That's why I'm here, remember?" He opened his arms to her and she moved slowly until he was holding her. He could feel her trembling. "It's okay, Liz. The others will be back tomorrow and everything will be okay."
"I hope so," she whispered.
Max sat up, gasping for breath. He looked at his bedside clock. It read 11:35.
"Max?" Michael asked, sitting up on his sleeping bag. "What is it?"
"Nightmare," Max answered, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"About?"
"I don't know. It was confusing." He swallowed hard and shook his head. "Michael, I want to leave earlier tomorrow."
Michael peered at his friend through the darkness. "Okay."
"Okay," Max repeated. He laid back against his pillow. But it was a long time before he got back to sleep.