| Part 7 *************************** The Jetta stops in front of a big crowd that surrounds the place. The people are taking a lot of pictures, the local channel is covering the event while the police and the scientists are inside the hole, trying to found any evidence of what has happened. �Oh My�� Maria says, open-mouthed. �It seems that Kyle wasn't lying when he said that the hole is huge. This is incredible.� Liz is as shocked as Maria. �I guess this takes away any hope of a non-alien incident. Nothing on this world could do something like this,� Max concludes. �I sure don�t want to find whatever or whoever did this,� Michael exclaims. �Max. Michael.� Valenti comes near them. �What did they find?� Max asks. �Nothing yet. But I talked to some officers and it seems that they have taken some stones and some samples to the laboratory. Apparently, there are small signs of radiation.� �You mean like�� Michael says nervously. �Yeah. Like in Pierce�s bones,� Valenti whispers. �Damn it!!!� �Calm down, Michael,� Max demands. �What are you going to do now, Max?� Liz asks. �The only thing that we can do is wait. Whatever is out there is after us. We will discover what it is sooner or later.� �So you�ll wait until this thing appears and kills us. Good plan, fearless leader,� Michael replies in annoyance. �Michael, I�m not going to discuss this with you. Not here, not now.� �Right. Let�s discuss this when you we are all dead.� Furious, Michael turns his back to Max and heads toward the Jetta kicking some stones that are in the way. �Wait, Michael!� Maria runs after him. �Look, son. Michael is right. You can�t just sit here and wait until it's too late. You have to do something,� Valenti advises Max. �I know he�s right. But I don�t think we have any other choice here,� Max ponders remembering what Isabel told him last night. "I can feel it, Max. Something really bad is about to happen. It�s not over yet. He is coming to destroy us. You have to run, Max. You have to leave Roswell. He is going to kill you�and Michael�and he�" No. He isn�t going to run. Run to where? There�s no place safe for them anymore. Run from whom? How can you protect the ones you love if you don�t even know who your enemy is? Or how much power he has� �Max?� Liz calls him. �We have to go to the laboratory and erase all the evidence that there�s something alien going on here. Valenti, please stay here and see if you can discover something else that might help us. If something strange happens, please call us immediately.� �You can count on it, son. Good luck to you and be careful, the laboratory will be well protected.� �I know.� Max and Valenti shake hands firmly. �Let�s go, Liz.� They get into the car and Michael drives to the laboratory. ************************ In a restaurant� Isabel is tapping her fingers nervously on the table. Then she takes her glass of water and drinks it in one gulp. �Don�t you think that you've had enough water?� Alex appears in the sit in front of her. �No. If I can just drink something, you know, more alcoholic�Then, it would be better�� Isabel replies, really tense. �They're okay, Isabel�� �So, why don�t they call me? You know that�s why they invented telephones, so people can call each other to say that everything is okay.� �Why don�t you call them, then?� �I�ve tried. It�s out of service. I�m scared, Alex. What if something bad has happened already and they weren�t able to contact me, what if�� she says, panicking. �Hey. Trust me, they're okay.� He places his hand over hers. �You're right. Thanks, Alex. They're probably too insensitive to remember that I might be really worried about them. Too insensitive to just make a phone call. Too insensitive to let the Ice Queen here know if they are okay or if I have to postpone my wedding because they were killed by an alien.� She raises her voice on the last sentence and everybody in the restaurant stares at her. When she realizes what she did she laughs nervously at everybody. �My fianc� is late� �Oh.� Everyone in the restaurant nods and goes back to their lunches. Isabel couldn�t be more embarrassed. She hides her face behind the menu. �Oh God, what am I doing? Max is right. I�m going crazy. Completely. I�m in the middle of a restaurant talking to a dead guy. Concerned because of Michael and Max as always. And my fianc� is already one hour late and I can�t find him. He�s not in the office. He�s not at home. He doesn�t answer his phone and because our engagement party is tomorrow�� You know what, I�m not going to stay here waiting for Jesse, or Michael or Max. Isabel Evans doesn�t wait for anyone��� �Hey. Where are you going?� Alex asks while she throws some money on the table. �Where else? I�m going after Michael and Max, of course.� She stands up and goes to the exit. Alex shakes his head in disagreement and disappears. As she leaves the restaurant, the guy sitting at the table behind her, the same one that was watching her at the shop, stands up and follows her. Isabel is opening the door of her car when she suddenly feels a strange pain in her arm. �Ouch�What was that?� She rubs her arm and looks around feeling uneasy. But there�s no one around. She gets in the car and starts the engine. Leaning back on the wall of the alley, the guy sighs. �That was close. I need to be more careful�� A strange sound echoes through the alley. The guy takes from his pocket an alien device very similar to the one Brody had. �Damn it.� ********************** In the middle of nowhere� Jesse is talking to another man in a black suit. �The hole in the desert�Something big is happening�We have to run�� the man says. �I have everything set up. The wedding is going to be in a month. Then, the next stage can begin�� �Are you sure the brother and the other won�t be a problem? We can�t take any risks now.� �Don�t worry. They won�t be a problem. The plan is working just fine. � ******************* On the road�inside the Jetta. �Max, are you okay?� Liz asks concerned. �Yes. Just tired. Michael?� �Yeah. My arm is hurting a little but that�s okay.� He winces. Maria is driving like crazy. They are coming back from their little visit to the laboratory. Unfortunately, things didn�t go as well as the last time. Well, they didn�t have Tess� power to help this time, so it was difficult for them to get into it and destroy the evidence without being noticed. Michael had to lure the guards away from the lab as Max was doing the job. In the middle of the confusion Michael was sideswiped by gunfire on the arm. �Let me heal you,� Max demands. �It�s fine, Maxwell. You're still weak. It�s not a big deal. It�s just a scratch. You can heal me when you're better yourself,� Michael ponders. Max nods. Changing all those alien molecules into human ones took a lot out of him. The radiation was a hundred of times stronger than the one Michael caused last year. A car passes them going the opposite away at a high speed. Liz is the only one to notice the car and thinks it is familiar. Then through the mirror she sees that the car has abruptly stopped in the middle of the road. �Maria, stop. Stop the car,� Liz yells. �What? Why?� Maria argues. "It�s Isabel.� Liz points to the car stopped on the road behind them. �Isabel?� Michael and Max turn their heads back and gaze at the car. It really is Isabel�s car but what is she doing here? Maria goes in reverse and stops the Jetta right in front of Isabel, who has just gotten out of her car. �Isabel. What are doing here?� Max gets out of the Jetta and asks. �What does it look like? I came after you� �You shouldn�t be here.� Michael appears from the other side of the car. �Oh, I�m sorry I was worried about you�Wait!� Isabel notices that Michael is hurt on the arm and bleeding. �Oh, My God, Michael, you're hurt. What happened? Max, why haven�t you healed him?� She glances at Max and realizes that he himself doesn�t look very well. He seems pale and tired. �Oh God, Max�� �We're okay, Iz.� Max smiles weakly trying to convince her. �No, you're not. You two look terrible. Tell me what happened.� �We had some problems,� Michael says. �What is inside that hole?� Isabel asks. �Uh. Nothing really. Whatever was there has now gone but it left something behind. Radiation. Alien radiation,� Max answers her. �You mean Cadmium X?� Max nods. �Oh no,� Isabel sighs. �We had to erase all the evidence for our own safety, so we headed to the laboratory, but things got complicated, the radiation was too strong this time. It took me a lot of time and energy to change the molecules and in the process Michael got shot when he was luring the guards away to give me the time I needed.� �Why didn�t you call me? I could have helped. I should have been there with you. What if anything worse had happened�� She gazes at Michael, getting close to him. She touches his injured arm. �Ow! What are you doing?� Michael shouts. �Let me see your wound. It doesn�t seem to be too deep. I think I can manage to heal you myself.� �No. I�m fine.� Michael stirs. �Don�t be such a child, Michael. You're bleeding. Let me help you.� �No.� Michael is afraid. Afraid that if he lets her heal him, she'll connect with him and see�see�he still isn�t sure what he doesn�t want her to see�he has been so confused these days� But when Isabel stares him straight in the eye and her deep eyes are reflecting all her sorrow and concern for him, he doesn�t really have another choice. �Whatever.� Isabel smiles at him and touches his arm slightly being careful to not hurt him anymore. Michael can almost feel his body melting at her soft touch. She is about to heal him when a strident blast of energy passes like a lightning between them, hitting the Jetta which explodes immediately. The impact from the explosion throws everybody away. �Cough�Cough�� Max stands up with some difficulty. He goes to help Liz. �Are you hurt?� Liz only shakes her head. �What is happening, Max?� Max stares at her with a lost expression on his face. Maria is shocked. She is standing up in front of the car on fire, bursting into tears. �Maria�� Liz runs to her friend. Max is too weak to think properly, it�s all blurred in his mind but��Isabel�� He searches for his sister desperately. He sighs in relief when he finds Michael helping her to stand up. He runs to his family. �Iz..� He embraces his sister tightly. �I�m fine, Max,� she whispers looking over his brother�s shoulder to meet Michael�s eyes. She smiles sadly at him. Then, she notices a red light crossing the sky in their direction. �Max!!� She yells. Max turns immediately and seeing the same as Isabel raises his hand and builds his shield, protecting the five of them. Max staggers at the impact of the red blast. Michael and Isabel give him support. �What the hell�� Michael is astonished when he gazes at the sky. A hundred other blasts appear on the sky ready to hit them. �Oh, My God, Liz. We are all going to die�� Maria screams in panic. �Max!!� Liz yells. �I can�t do this. The shield isn�t strong enough. I�m not strong enough.� He bends his head and shakes it slowly. �Yes. You can. Look at me.� Isabel lifts his chin. �We are not going to die here, okay? I won�t lose you or Michael. Not in this life. I�ll help you. And Michael will too. Together we are stronger.� Max nods. Isabel holds his hand letting her powers floats to him. Before them all is red. The blasts are just a few inches from their target, i.e., them. �Michael!!!� Isabel yells at him. He isn�t moving. He can�t. What if this doesn�t work�Then it�s all over�He is afraid�too afraid although he doesn�t exactly know why�but the fear is so strong� �Michael. Give me your hand. Trust me.� She puts out her hand to him�But Michael is lost in her eyes and her words �He has another flash�of a little girl saying the same thing to a little boy in a different world, one with six suns, four of them blue, and the others two red like the rivers on that place�Then he has a flash of when they came out of the pods�how he was afraid �that same fear was there�the one he doesn�t know where it comes from�the one that comes from his soul�He remembers how he didn�t take Max's hand�how he lost them� At the last moment he takes Isabel�s hand, and the once green shield turns too a deep golden color. All the tree aliens scream in pain when all that blasts of energy clash into the shield. Maria and Liz hug each other closing their eyes afraid of what might happen� When they open their eyes, it's all gone. The shield has worked. They are all alive. The red threat has disappeared. The aliens are staring at each other exhausted, panting. �Michae!� � Max!� Maria and Liz jump for joy. The two girls run to the arms of their respective boyfriends. Michael and Max return their embraces and their kisses. Isabel folds her arms, uncomfortable. Apparently there�s no place for her here. She should be used to it by now, but it still hurts. Then far away, she sees someone coming. A man with long black hair that swings with the wind, he walks towards them slowly with an enigmatic grin across his face. �Max!� she warns him. Max winces at the sight of the guy. There is a kind of aura emanating around him. A red one. �Run!� Max yells grabbing Liz and starting to run. They all run to get into Isabel�s car. "Idiots. You can�t escape from me.� The man who is wearing a long black leather jacket raises his hands releasing a red blast that hits Max. �Max!!!� Liz cries his name as he hits the ground. Michael and Isabel freeze. Maria is already inside the car trying to start the engine. The guy is getting closer. Isabel stares at Michael, then turns abruptly and runs to help Max. Michael follows her. �Get in the car, Liz!� Michael shouts at her. �But Max�� Liz is crying �We'll help him. Go. Go.� Michael pushes her. �Max�Max� Come on. He�s getting close,� Isabel shouts. �Aww!� Max screams in pain. �I�m sorry�I know it hurts but we have to take you out of here.� Michael and Isabel are helping Max when they hear the guy's evil laughter. They turn his head just to see the guy raising his hand to attack them again. But before he can release his power again, from nowhere this other guy appears grabbing the black-haired one and in a second both disappear before their eyes. �What was that?� Michael asks puzzled. �I don�t know. And I don�t want to stay here to find out either. � They head to the car carrying Max. Hoping that whatever happened today has ended here. But deep down they know that this is only the beginning. |