Before she realized what she was doing or listened to what her brain was telling her, Liz pushed up off of his chest and leaned forward to kiss him.
Liz brushed her lips to his as she closed her eyes and took in the feeling. It was the same as she remembered. Electrical and stimulating while at the same time loving and familiar. She felt him starting to pull away and Liz opened her eyes slowly. She saw the question in his eyes but did nothing except grab him around his neck and crushed her mouth to his. He responded immediately letting Liz access his mouth. She licked his bottom lip asking his permission to enter and he granted it willingly. She slipped her tongue in and continued to caress his not letting her take control she felt he wanted. But he ended up winning the battle and when she felt his tongue caressing the deepest recess of her mouth as a small moan escaped her.
As they kissed Khivar maneuvered them so he was on top of her. As he did, he pulled away once more and looked into her eyes to make sure that she was still okay with it all. She leaned up with Khivar meeting her halfway and kissed him passionately. Liz wrapped her arms around Khivar's neck deepening the kiss. Khivar broke of away from her mouth and gently kissed her way down her neck stopping right at the bottom. He stopped to suck the hollow of her throat, which elicited a small moan from Liz. He couldn't help but smile against her skin.
Their tongues dancing together, mouths moving in sync and their hands began to take on a life of their own. One of her hands played with the hairs on the nape of his neck while the other was running up and down his back. She could feel his hard muscles more now with his weight on her and she loved it. He had one hand tangled in her silky hair and the other was at her waist, caressing her hot skin that was left bare between her tank and shorts.
Liz couldn't believe how good it felt to have his hand touching her heated skin. She couldn't believe she had thought about denying herself this pleasure. He was the man she had loved, and was falling for now. Why shouldn't she be with him? Then she realized how fast things were going to keep going if they didn't stop things now. So she ended the kiss abruptly, gasping for air she looked at him wide eyes, she brought her fingers to her mouth where his had been. "I'm sorry about just grabbing you like that, I just couldn't..."
"You don't have to apologize." He said running his finger absentmindedly through her hair.
"I don't want you to think I regret it, because I don't. It's just that I felt myself getting lost and caught up in it and I thought we should stop before things go farther. I mean I've never...well in this life." Liz blushed feeling silly suddenly. It was just strange talking to her lover in her past life about her being a virgin in this one.
But Khivar smiled at her affectionately, "I understand. The few kisses and touches were more than I expected anyway. And as for the other part, if it makes you feel any better no one has shared my bed in the years you've been gone. The last time I was intimate with anyone was with you."
Liz stared at him in shock. He had waited for her for all these years, not just his heart but his body too. It made her heart swell, then she said, "It does."
They settled back into their previous positions with her curled up next to him. They talked some about their time spent apart, dropping kisses here and there as they did before dropping off to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning Liz woke to find herself asleep on top of a very warm solid pillow. The memory of where she was came back to her and she smiled against Khivar's chest. They had talked for a long time, telling each other the details of the lives they lived since they were separated. She opened her eyes and turned to look at him only to find him already awake and watching her. She smiled as she asked, "How long have you been awake?"
"Not long. Just admiring the view." He said.
"What time is it?" Liz asked groggily.
"Almost ten."
"I better get going," Liz said as she tried to get up but Khivar held her tight against him keeping her in place.
"You don't have to go yet." Khivar said.
"I know you have things to do and I should get back before anyone wonders where I am. I don't think anyone would care but I don't want anyone to come looking for me." Liz said as she got up. This time she did it with enough force that he let her up. She gathered her shoes and pulled on her sweatshirt before turning back to him. She giggled when she saw the slight pout on his face, "Hey, don't look so glum. I'll be back before you know it. Things with Isabel are going well and Kat and I are working on Tess. I hope she'll crack within a few days."
"Just be careful, you don't know what she might do or Max for that matter if he finds out everything. You know his temper." Khivar warned.
"I'll be fine," Liz said smiling. She watched as he got up and started looking around for clothes. She knew she should look away but she couldn't help but watch him. His muscles looked taut and strong as he moved around. He finally found some clothes and shrugged them on. They were about to leave when she decided she should probably have on some more clothes when she got to the café. She waved her hand over her shorts and turned them to jeans.
He led her out of his chambers and once they reached the door he kissed her soundly on the lips before she went out the door. She was about a foot from her car when she heard; "Somethings never change."
Liz turned to see a man standing about five feet away from her. She didn't recognize him a bit but there was something in his voice that struck a cord in her. She knew where she knew him from, even if he looked different now. "Hello Nicholas. I was wondering if I would see you, Khivar told me that you were around here some where. I see you've graduated from having the body of a twelve-year-old boy. Good job."
Nicholas glared at her for a minute with his dark eyes. He now looked to have the body of a guy in his thirties. He wasn't overly tall; Khivar and Alex had him beat by several inches, but was rather stout. He still had dark hair and if Liz didn't know any better, the cold eyes he'd had in his previous husk.
"I see you haven't changed much, despite be friends with Max." He said sarcastically. "You don't know how ironic I thought it was when Vanessa told me about you being friends with him. Then when I saw the two of you along with Ava and Vilandra at the house, I knew we were going to have to jumpstart the plan. You didn't know that I followed you later that night did you? I had just gotten done talking to Vilandra when I saw you sneak out. I pursued you but Max got to you first. Then later they were around so I could talk to you then."
"You do know that I wouldn't have believed you right?" Liz asked.
"Yeah, you like Vilandra, had too much faith in Max to consider what I said to be true. You wouldn't believe that in your past lives, he had been the tyrant and not Khivar. Hell you didn't even know you weren't human yet." Nicholas stated. He glanced towards the door then back at her, then smiled slyly at her. "But it seems you've accepted it just fine. I wonder what Max would do if he found out about it."
"I don't really care." Liz said knowing Nicholas was trying to bait her. They might have been on the same side but last fall they had acted as enemies. It was something that would be hard to get over.
"It's good to see you on our side again." Nicholas said genuinely smiling at her.
"Well people tend to have problems choosing when they don't have all of the facts." Liz said. "And I've really got to go. See you around Nicholas."
"Indeed you will." Nicholas said as he moved to shut her door. "Your highness."
Liz froze at the title and looked at him, "Why so surprised? With Khivar as king, you are the closest thing we have to a queen. So I suggest you get used to the title."
Liz knew he was right. She shut the door and headed back to Roswell.
PART 22
Deciding not to go through the café, Liz snuck through the back door. She knew that Kat should be showing up at any time so she hoped to take a shower before she got there. She was so concerned with getting upstairs, she didn't notice that the back room wasn't empty. So she was surprised when she ran into Michael and Maria. They looked just as startled as she did as she greeted them, "Hey, what are you guys doing here?"
"Michael, needed to pay the rent so we came by to get our checks." Maria answered.
"You got back quick." Michael stated. "How was Sweden?"
"I didn't end up going." Liz said.
"So you finally gave up on your foolish search?" Maria asked. Although she had defended Liz to Max a few days before, she was mad at her. She felt like she had lost two of her friends when Alex died, Liz had become so detached from her after and had solely focused on investigating Alex's death. Then she had created this wedge among their group and it was tearing it all apart. Thankfully Michael had been there for her though she wished Liz had been. After all, that's what friends were there for right? For when you needed them.
"Foolish search? I was finding out what happened to Alex. You remember him right? Your best friend? The guy who punched Michael out when you thought he was cheating on you." Liz said getting upset. She hadn't planned on getting so upset but Maria sounded like she was indulging a small child and it upset her.
"I know who Alex is." Maria said.
"Then you of all people should understand why I'm doing this. People were thinking that he killed himself! Our Alex? Never in a million years would he have done that."
"I understand that you feel like you would rather search for any little clue that you think pertains to his death rather than face it and grieve." Maria answered.
"Alex wouldn't want that! He would be the first one to step up with me and look for answers." Liz snapped. She couldn't believe that she was arguing about this when Alex wasn't even dead.
"Listen to yourself, you sound as paranoid as Michael." Maria gasped.
"Hey!" Michael said.
"I'm sorry but you are." Maria said to him.
"And you always listened to him, don't you? Like when the whole thing that happened when Topolsky came back." Liz butted in. "So why when I had such strong feelings about the events surrounding Alex's death could you not listen me? If you were really my friend then you would have."
"What? Are you saying that I'm not your friend anymore because I don't believe you?" Maria asked completely shocked by Liz's behavior.
Liz tried not to scream at the top of her lungs as she said, "Maria, our friendship has been disintegrating all year, ever since you took Max's side when I came back from Florida. I told you over and over again that I didn't want to be pushed back with him but there you were, pushing. But I knew you thought it would make me happy and didn't count it against you. Then when the whole thing with Kyle started, you didn't ask if I was okay or anything, you were just pissed that I didn't tell you. And then after you knew the truth, you didn't even seem to care about what I had done or what I had gone through. Only glad that I told you the truth. Then when you pleaded with me to go to Vegas, the last place you know I wanted to go, I went only to have you ditch me. You left to go get a massage then an audition. Did you ask me if I wanted to go with you? To have some girl time at a luxurious spa? No, instead you took off and left me with Tess. The person I despise most. That doesn't sound like what someone would do if the other person was their best friend."
Liz took a breath as she went on, she had been holding it in for so long that it wouldn't stop; "All year we've been heading in two directions. I know it's because I was going away from Max and you were fighting to be towards Michael. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for the two of you. I'm glad that you found someone Maria that you love and loves you back. But we're on different sides of the spectrum. And if I can't count on you to believe me even a little bit when I am so admit about something then I guess you're right then we're not friends anymore. Just think about that."
"Who are you?" Maria asked.
"I'm just someone who finally opened her eyes and saw what was around her, to really evaluate the people around me. And it brought me to a revelation that made me realize I had been a doormat and I'm not going to be anymore." Liz stated answering Maria's question.
Liz pushed past them and went upstairs to the apartment. When she slammed the door she saw twin looks of surprise on their faces, she turned then and saw a similar look on Kat's face. She looked to be waiting for Liz and she asked, "Care to tell me what that was all about?"
"Just talking to Maria and possibly ending our friendship." Liz answered.
"What? Why?"
"It's not something I intended to do. She just rubbed me the wrong way and I kind of exploded."
"You shouldn't sever your ties with this life just because of your old one."
"What just happened doesn't have anything to do with that. Maria and I have been growing apart all year and her not believing me about what happened to Alex is just the final breaking point. Even when I showed her the small amount of evidence I had she still didn't believe me." Liz said as she plopped down in the other chair. "And for her it'll be better. When everything comes out, I know Michael will side with Max. She loves Michael and I don't want her to have to choose between us."
"Are you so sure Michael would side with Max? I know that Rath did in the past but things are different here, although on the surface it might not look like it, they are."
"I think I'll work on Isabel first and worry about Michael later. I hope that she'll believe everything or your brother will be miserable when we go back to Antar without her."
"So you've decided to go back to Antar?" Kat said happily.
Liz shrugged, "There's not much left here for me, I definitely don't want to stay in Roswell and I don't really want anyone to get wind of what we are and have to go on the run. Alex can't just pop back into the public eye and tell people he's a live because his brother, who happens to rule over another planet, ordered his men to rescue him. And I want to go back and see the changes and maybe somehow help to find a way to end the war."
The two girls headed for Liz's room as Kat told her about the dream manipulation she had worked on Tess the night before.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Maria and Michael stayed where they were after the door to the apartment had slammed. It took a few minutes before her mind would unfreeze and she could say anything. She looked at Michael and asked, "Did that just happen? I wasn't imagining it or anything."
"No, it happened alright. I wonder what's got into her." Michael stated. He had noticed that Liz had changed some since she had first found out their secret but it wasn't until now that he realized how much. She wasn't a pushover nor was she the same girl he had seen Max watching for so many years. He wondered if he should check it out.
"I don't know but that wasn't Liz." Maria said firmly. "I mean the Liz I know would never speak to me like that. So that just couldn't be her."
"I think it was," Michael said. He could see how Maria would feel confused, Liz didn't usually talk like she had. She reminded him of someone by the way she had spoken her mind and held her opinion no matter what.
He noticed Maria had turned to stare at him with surprise, "Well think about it. This year has changed all of us, and I think you just saw how it changed Liz."
"But..."
Michael didn't let her say anything as he went on. "To prove it to yourself, if someone told you a year ago that this was how things would be now, would you have believe them?"
"No." Maria answered. Everything sunk in and she realized that it was true. Everything Michael had said was true. So much had changed and those changes had made it so they weren't the same people anymore. She felt lost as she looked at Michael, "What do I do now?"
"If you can't accept what Liz said then move on, live your life." Michael stated before he guided her out of the café and back to his apartment. He knew that she was going to need some time to get everything to sink in completely.
PART 23
"So what is this I heard from Alex that you showed up at the base in the middle of the night? What happened to a certain deal you told me about?" Kat asked with one eyebrow raised. After Liz had caught a shower, the two girls had gone in search of food and now were huddled in one of the back booths. It hadn't gone unnoticed to them that Max, and Tess had come nor that Michael had come back and the three of were sharing a booth towards the front. They just chose to ignore them.
"How did he know about it?" Liz said knowing there was no point in denying, even if she wanted to. Kat would just weasel it out of her anyway. She had always had this way of looking at you that made you want to spill everything. Liz had never been able to keep something hidden when Kat gave her the look, as far as she knew no one could.
"You know how things move around in a small group." Kat said referring to the many times before Liz died that she spent in similar bases. She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and asked, "So tell me what happened. Did you jump into his bed and seduce him? Like it would take much work."
"Kat!" Liz exclaimed throwing a fry at her.
"What?" Kat muffled out around the bit of her burger she had in her mouth.
"Get your mind out of the gutter." Liz said rolling her eyes.
"Hey what can I say? I've been surrounded by guys most of time, plus we went to an all girl's school. That warped me." Kat joked. "Now quit avoiding this conversation."
"Fine," Liz retorted. "It's all your fault anyway. After our little chat I couldn't quit thinking about him. Then last night I couldn't sleep and ended up going to see him. I...this is so embarrassing...I went to his room and asked if I could crawl in next to him. I just wanted to sleep in his arms."
"I hear a but coming..." Kat said smiling.
"But I kissed him and things were like they used to be. It was like we had never been apart. But I stopped us before we went too far." Liz said sucking down some of her milkshake.
"But you stayed the rest of the night?" Kat asked eyebrow arched.
Liz smiled shyly and could actually feel her face turning red. "Yeah, what can I say? He's a comfy pillow."
Both girls started laughing causing Max, Tess, and Michael to glance their way. This caused the two of them to laugh harder, not caring one bit about the three. They finally calmed down when her dad looked at them and got back to eating. Liz couldn't help but watch Tess out of the corner of her eye.
At first glance, Tess looked normal. She was all cuddled up in her seat next to Max and listening to whatever Max and Michael were talking about. But if you looked closer and knew how she had normally looked, you could see the signs of wear and tiredness written across her face. Liz was sure that Tess had used her powers to heal the puffy eyes but she could still see some of the bloodshot eyes. She didn't feel one bit sorry for her, as a matter of fact, she decided to give her a little more of a push.
She didn't close her eyes this time, not wanting to draw attention to herself, so instead she focused on one point on the tabletop. She didn't care that there were a few other customers in the café, no one would know it was her. After all Tess would be the only one affected. So she focused on her curly haired enemy and projected a memory at her. One of Liz's own.
Tess listened as Max and Michael discussed idly about Liz giving up her search and her actions with Maria earlier. They were talking about how she was acting so different and such when something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. A figure had moved to sit down at the counter, which wasn't unusual. No what was strange was that it was Alex. It was really Alex, sitting and smiling at the counter waiting for one of the waitress to come over. She blinked a couple of time but like before the image didn't disappear.
If it was possible, Tess could feel all of the color drain from her pale face. This wasn't like before where she had just seen an image of Alex; this time there were other people around. Was the image real? Was it really Alex? She had to know for sure. She pulled away from Max's side and wandered toward the counter.
Max felt Tess pull away from him and start to leave the table. He was shocked to see how suddenly pail she was and if he wasn't mistaken, she was shaking slightly. What was even stranger was the fact that she seemed to looking directly at someone but there was nothing but an empty stool in front of her. He watched as she cautiously approached the empty stool and reached out.
Tess reached out to touch Alex on the shoulder but encountered nothing except air. Then he completely disappeared. Tess let out a gasp and pulled her hand back. She looked around and saw that no one else was acting like anything had happened. Except for Max, who was staring at her oddly, "Tess? Are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah." Tess said tripping over her tongue. "Just thought I saw someone from one of my classes that I needed to ask a question but it wasn't her."
Max looked her up and down and could by her body language that she was lying. He couldn't figure out what had been going on with her lately, she had been acting so strange. Tess was always very attentive and focused on him. He had to admit that it had boasted his ego more than once but over the last few days she had been distant and detached. What was going on with the people around here? First Isabel and Liz did a complete 180 to where he didn't even recognize then and now Tess was acting...well very un-Tess like. Deciding he was going to get to the bottom of at least one of the girl's behaviors so he grabbed Tess's arm and pulled her out the front door of the café.
Once outside he turned her to look at him, "Tess, I know you are lying. Now tell me the truth, what is going on with you? It's like you're here but not really here."
"Max, just because I'm not lapping at you leg like a puppy doesn't mean that something is wrong. I happen to have things going on that has nothing to do with you." Tess snapped. Her nerves were too taut by this time and she just couldn't handle Max snapping at her, demanding to know things she had no intention of telling him. She turned away from him and stalked off leaving Max looking after her in confusion.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Liz watched Max come back inside from whatever he and Tess had been talking about and felt his confusion over the whole thing. He glanced in her direction but she just rose an eyebrow as if in question although she could care less. What she did care about was how she seemed to be affecting Tess state of mind. And it appeared that her and Kat's influences were working better than she thought on Tess.
She glanced over and saw Kat smiling slyly at her. "You would have something to do with that little episode now would you?"
"Me?" Liz said innocently.
"Liz, you're not fooling me at all. I know that face and it is anything but innocent." Kat said smiling even bigger. Just then her phone rang and she answered it. After a few hushed words she hung up, "I've got to go. My 'little' brother is insisting I bring him his stuff as soon as possible. Oh, and my older brother wants you to call him."
Liz nodded and Kat proceeded to leave. As she went out, she walked by Kyle and the two talked for a few minutes. Liz watched the two with interest. They seemed to be more comfortable around each other, like something had happened between them. But that couldn't have happened, could it? A few minutes later, Kat finally left and Kyle strode over to her. "Hey Kyle, what's up?"
"Nothing. Just came to get some lunch." Kyle stated.
"I'd stay and talk to you but my rooms a mess so I need to go upstairs." It was true, Liz just didn't tell him that it would be cleaned within a few minutes with the help of her powers and that the main reason she was going up was so she could call Khivar. He nodded to her as he placed his order with the waitress. Liz hurried upstairs and into her room. She grabbed up her cellphone and hit the button that would pull up Khivar's number in her memory. She hit the talk button and waited. He picked up in the middle of the second ring, "Hello?"
"I heard you wanted to talked to me?" Liz asked with humor in her voice.
"Hey," Khivar said softly. "I just wanted to hear your voice."
"I only left a few hours ago." Liz stated.
"Humor me, I've had to go too long without hearing it." Khivar said, "And after having you next to me last night, it's hard to not want you here."
Liz couldn't help but feel the little flutter in her heart at his words and said, "Well I told you this morning, I shouldn't be much longer. Tess is weakening and I'm thinking about approaching Isabel. I think she'd be up for especially when she finds outs everything. I just have to figure out the best way to do it."
"The sooner the better." Khivar stated.
"I wish I was there, you're so cute when you pout Khivar." Liz joked as she waved her hand over her dresser to clean up the mess. But her hand stopped in midair when she heard a gasp and saw Kyle standing in her doorway with wide eyes and a look of astonishment.
PART 24
Liz knew her eyes had to have widened as much as Kyle's had as the two starred at each other for a few minutes. He finally snapped out of it to say, "Who are you and what have you done with Liz?"
Kyle started walking backwards and out of the door. Liz knew she would have to act fast or he would run to the others. "Khivar, something's come up. I've got to call you back."
"What's going on?" He demanded to know. She could hear the alarm and knew he was probably worried about her but she had to take care of Kyle.
"I'm fine, but I can't talk right now, bye." Liz said quickly before she hit the end button before turning the phone off completely. Then she turned her attention back to Kyle. "Kyle...it's me. I swear."
"No, you're not Liz." Kyle said shaking his head. "Liz doesn't have powers..."
"I can explain that. Kyle, if I wasn't Liz then I wouldn't know that when you tried to kiss me for the first time I didn't realize what you were doing and turned my face. You ended up almost poking out my eye when your lips landed there." Liz explained. She saw acceptance in Kyle's eyes and she knew he believed her. So now she had some explaining to do. "I know what you saw and overheard me talking Khivar but I swear to you that this isn't what it looks like."
"Khivar? You were just talking to Khivar? As in the guy who killed the aliens?" Kyle asked. Because of the hysteria in his voice, Liz couldn't help but think about how Maria had first reacted when she found out about the aliens. At least he hadn't run screaming from the apartment.
"Let me explain."
"Explain? Yeah, now would be a good time for that." Kyle said nodding. His legs suddenly felt like jelly and like they were going to give out so he moved to sit on Liz's bed. She sat down next to him and started to explain, "Okay, where do I start? You know I didn't go to Sweden but what I didn't tell you was where I was. I got a phone call before I got on the plane that gave me information that made me realized that Alex had never gone to Sweden. I was leaving the airport to come back to Roswell to figure out what had really happened with him but I was kidnapped before I could."
"What? You were kidnapped? Why didn't any of us know about this?" Kyle asked.
"Why would you? None of you knew that I wasn't on my way to Sweden." Liz said and shrugged. She knew that he would understand that the group thought she was gone and hadn't considered that she might be in danger. "And although I was kidnapped I wasn't in any danger, not really. You see the people who took me were Khivar's men. He had ordered them to pick me up and bring me to him."
"He wanted you because of your involvement with Max right?" Kyle asked and saw Liz shaking her head. "Okay, I'm not going to shut up now and just let you explain."
Liz smiled at him before she started. "Khivar wanted me picked up because I'm an alien too. I'm from Antar and was recreated like the others were but differently. They are hybrids where I'm a full alien. Nothing was changed with my DNA when I was recreated and I came out of my pod when I was a baby. The reason was because different scientists created us, the others by scientists loyal to their side while I was created by scientist who were loyal to Khivar."
"I know you're probably wondering why he recreated me," Liz said and saw Kyle nod. "You see, in my previous life, I was involved with Khivar, we were going to be married." When she saw Kyle's mouth drop open in shock, she couldn't help but start laughing. "I'm sorry, it's just your face is priceless."
"I think I'm entitled to be a little freaked out." Kyle stated.
"Since you now you know why I'm involved with Khivar, I'll tell you the whole story. In my past life, my name was Enola and I was part of the royal class on Antar. I was raised around the other four as well as other members of the Royal class. My best friends were Ardeth and Katrin and they were the younger siblings of Khivar. When we got older, Khivar and I became reacquainted and ended up becoming romantically involved. He wasn't involved with Vilandra like we thought, she was involved with his brother instead."
"So you were with Khivar and Isabel was with Ardeth?" Kyle asked. "You were in love?"
"Yes." Liz stated. "Now you see why I was so special to him that he had me recreated."
Kyle nodded showing that he was keeping up so Liz went on. "Everyone was happy for Khivar and I except for one person, Zan. He thought he was in love with me and hated the fact that I was with Khivar. When he took the throne after his dad died, Zan started making mistakes with his ruling. I won't bore you with the politics but Khivar was favored by a lot of people and we came up with the idea for him to overthrow Zan. It totally pissed off Zan and he banned Vilandra from seeing Ardeth. He was also upset with me and took it out on me. That was when Ardeth and I were killed, recreated and sent to Earth. So we could be together again and so he could have his brother again."
"Who is Ardeth?" Kyle asked.
"Alex." Liz answered. "Fast forward to present day, the war is still going on and Khivar comes down to Earth to pick up the two. But what he found wasn't what was planned."
Liz tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and looked Kyle dead in the eyes. "What I'm about to tell you Kyle cannot leave this room. I trust you enough to tell you but I'm dead serious about this."
Kyle could see the seriousness etched over all of Liz's face and knew how crucial it was to keep his mouth shut. "I promise Liz, I won't tell anyone about anything you've told me."
"All right, now brace yourself." Liz stated. "Alex is alive."
Kyle felt like he was back in his football days and had just been tackled by linebacker. All the air left his lungs and he found it hard to breathe. He gasped for breath and the burning in his lungs began to disappear. Alex was alive. He couldn't believe but knew that Liz wouldn't lie. When he finally got his shock under control, he asked, "Where is he? What happened?"
"He's safe, he's with Khivar and the others." Liz explained. "Kyle, I was right. It wasn't an accident, he was murdered. Well it would have been murder if they hadn't gotten to him in time."
"But if it wasn't Khivar then who was it?" Kyle asked.
"Tess." Liz stated and waited for the news to sink in. Kyle just sat there and absorbed what she said. The girl that he had been living with for the past few months had tried to kill his friend. And would have if someone hadn't rescued him. She had tricked him so completely. "Why? Why did she kill him?"
"She was mindwarping him the entire time that he was supposed to have been in Sweden. She took him to Las Cruces and had him decode that stupid destiny book. But she didn't it for too long and too much. There was a lot of damage done and he broke out of her warp. He confronted her and she tried to warp him again. But it was the straw that broke the camel's back and he collapsed. Umm..." Liz hesitated not knowing how to proceed.
"What?" Kyle said seeing her pause. Then he realized why she had; she must be about to tell him something really bad. He took a deep breath and said, "Liz, I know there is more, so just hit me with it."
"From what Alex told me, you walked in during the whole thing. She mindwarped you too." Liz said. She could see the shock hit him although she could see him trying to stay impassive. But he couldn't hold on to it. "How could she do this to me? I've been there for her practically since she moved in with us."
"I'm sorry Kyle." Liz moved to wrap a comforting arm around him and let him adjust to the new information. Liz didn't know how long they stayed like that, she didn't really care. It was kind of nice for her to have talked to Kyle about it and hoped he would completely freak out. It had been so quiet that she almost jumped when he finally spoke, "So now I know why she's been acting so strangely lately."
Liz looked at him sneakily and said, "Well I had a little something to do with that."
PART 25
Kyle looked at her strangely and said, "How could you have done anything to make Tess act weird?"
"You see one of my powers is similar to her mindwarp. I can make people see their memories, kind of like replaying them and I used that to mess with Tess. Ever since I got back, I've been making her see memories of Alex. One of him working on the book, and another one a little earlier. I also had a friend who can dreamwalk that has been helping me."
"But why?" Kyle asked.
"Because I wanted her to feel guilty for what she did. To have a respect for life." Liz explained.
"And hopefully have her confess?" Kyle asked. "I'm right aren't I?"
"Yes." Liz said warily, not knowing how Kyle was going to react.
"Liz, I'm not going to bash you for it. I understand even." Kyle stated. "It's just not like you."
"Yeah, well I'm not just Liz anymore, I'm Liz and Enola." Liz answered.
Kyle seemed to ponder this bit of information before a smile broke across his face and said, "You know, Max is going to have kittens when he learns about all of this."
Liz and Kyle looked at each other before they burst out laughing.
After their laughter subsided, the conversation turned half-serious again. It was then that Kyle put two and two together and came up with four. "Kat."
Liz looked around the room thinking her friend had arrived but saw nothing. "What?"
"Kat is one of you guys, an alien." Kyle stated explaining what he had come up with. "So which is she? Like you? Or one of those skin things? Or a shapeshifter?"
"Kat is like me, what on Antar is called a Alorian. She's the one who has been helping me with Tess, she's been dreamwalking her." Liz described.
Kyle shook his head, "Am I just like an alien magnet? First I date you then Tess and I were, I don't even know but ended up to be like brother and sister. And now I've kissed another alien."
"You kissed Kat?" Liz said her eyes getting big. "When?"
"Last night."
"But I was with her last night." Liz said confused.
"I know." Kyle said sheepishly. "I went out for a run and when I stopped for a rest, I found out that I was in front of Alex's house. Kat pulled up then and we got to talking. She ended up talking me into going for a swim and I ended up kissing her in the pool but then Mr. Whitman caught us. Wait a minute...do your and Alex's parents know you're aliens?"
"Yep. They are too. They're the descendents of the eight guardians who were sent with us over fifty years ago." Liz stated. "Kind of blows your mind huh?"
"Yeah, you could say that." Kyle stated then a thought occurred to him. "Do you think I could talk to him? To Alex, like on the phone or something?"
"I don't see why not." Liz said shrugging. "Khivar's probably having a hissy fit because I hung up so abruptly. I'm surprised that a bunch of his men haven't already came storming in here."
"You mean he has people in town?" Kyle asked flabbergasted. "Like skins?"
"Yep, and probably some like me, never thought to ask." Liz said. "But before you freak, just remember that the skins are the good guys. I'm on their side."
"Rriigghhtt." Kyle said drawling it out. He trusted Liz but it was a weird concept to him.
Liz turned her phone back on and hit the number to dial Khivar again. There was only a half of a ring before it was answered. "You are so lucky I haven't had you dragged back here after that."
"You wouldn't dare because you wouldn't want to live with me if you did that." Liz said defiantly. She knew he was just being protective because of what had happened to her when she was Enola but she wished he'd understand that she could take care of herself. And this time she wasn't underestimating anyone.
"What would you expect me to do? I hear you getting all panicked and tell me you have to go then suddenly all I hear is a dial tone. I try to call you back and your phone is turned off. How am I supposed to know that Max or Tess didn't walk in and hear you talking to me?"
"Because I'm sure your scouts have told you where Max and Tess are and left the Crashdown a while ago." Liz stated still upset that he was acting the way he was.
She could hear him about to say something but stopped when she realized that she had a point. So instead she kept on talking. "I'm safe and everything is fine. Kyle happened to walk in and see me use my powers and talking to you. I kind of had to do some explaining."
Khivar rubbed his eyes and was about to say something about telling humans about them but realized that she knew the dangers and wouldn't have told him if she didn't trust Kyle. And he knew that the two had known each other for quite some time so he figured that she knew Kyle well.
Liz heard Khivar let out a deep sigh and said, "And how did he take it?"
Liz smiled, she was glad that he wasn't upset or that he hadn't chastised her from letting out their secret. Of course she would have just yelled back at him but at least they could avoid that argument. "Not bad. He didn't think it was me at first but when I finally convinced him that I was who I said I was, things went a lot smoother. He knows it all now pretty much, who I am, about Alex and Tess. He even knows about your sister."
"Kat? Why?" Khivar asked.
"Well he met her yesterday and they've become quite friendly it seems." Liz informed him as she smiled at Kyle. He glared at her for her joke but it didn't affect her.
Liz could also hear Khivar's surprise huff at the new bit of knowledge but didn't ask questions. He probably remembered that Enola and Kat never gave out information about the other's personal life. So it would have been a wasted effort. "I think I'll have a talk with Katrin as soon as she gets done with Alex."
"Alex is why I called. Kyle wanted to talk to him and I said I'd see what I could do." Liz stated. "Is he around?"
"Somewhere, not sure. How about I track him down and have him call you back?" Khivar asked.
"That'll be fine." Liz said. "I'll talk to you later."
"Are you going to be visiting tonight?" He asked. She was sure she heard an air of enthusiasm in his voice.
"As much as I'd like to, I think I should stay home tonight. Don't want anyone finding out that I'm disappearing at night and get suspicious. They might follow me and find out where I'm going. And that wouldn't be good if they found out before we wanted them to know." Liz said.
"Alright. I'll have Alex call back after I've found him. Goodbye."
"Bye, Khivar." Liz said with a slight sorrowful smile as she hung up. She wished she could go back to the compound now but knew she couldn't yet. She had some things to deal with and she knew she better hustle before she went nuts. She looked over and saw Kyle staring at her, an amused smile on his face. "What?"
"I was wondering why you didn't tell me." Kyle said.
"Why I didn't tell you what?" Liz asked confused.
"That you had fallin for your old squeeze, for Khivar."
"What?" Liz blushed. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yeah, sure you don't. Liz, me of all people knows what you look like when you like someone." Kyle stated. "I knew you cared about Max before you did."
Liz flinched slightly at Kyle's mention of Max and the start of their relationship. Kyle caught it and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't meant to mention that."
"It's okay, I know you didn't mean to." Liz assured him. "As for Khivar and me, you're right. We are together."
"Are you happy?" Kyle asked. "I mean really happy? Not a little happy here, a little happy there like with...you know who."
Liz smiled as she said, "I'm happy. I can't explain it but I feel more settled into myself than I ever have before. Maybe my previous life was just waiting to get out. Two sides of the same essence that were trying to be one. The whole spiel about reincarnation and stuff."
"And you guys make fun of me for quoting Buddha." Kyle commented. Before they could say more, Liz's phone rang and she tossed it to him.
As Kyle spoke to Alex, checking on him as well as apologizing for his part in the whole thing, Liz thought was her next course of action should be. She knew Kyle would want to help but she couldn't let him, it would be too dangerous. Kyle didn't have any powers to defend himself if Tess caught wind of what they were doing. She did not doubt for a moment that Tess would get rid of anyone who would interfere with her being with Max. So she would have to figure out something for him to do. Maybe she could talk to Kat about keeping him busy. She'd only have to do it for a day or two and Liz doubted her friend would mind much since the two were on such friendly terms.
Liz figured her next step was Isabel. And she thought that it was a good idea to reunite Isabel with her love.
PART 26
After Kyle finished talking to Alex, Liz took the phone and explained to him her plan. He was miserable without Isabel so he quickly agreed. She planned everything to the minute and the plan was set into action. She then talked to Kat and told her what she'd like her to do with Kyle. They were to act normal and go out on a date like they were supposed. Liz explained that she didn't want Tess to get suspicious but she knew that Kat didn't buy it. Her friend knew Liz wanted her to keep an eye on him. Her last conversation was with Khivar who warned her to be careful.
The plan was for her and Isabel to talk and Liz tell Isabel the true story of her past life. That the betrayal she had been told about wasn't the horrible thing she thought it was and it certainly hadn't led to their deaths. Liz just hoped she could get Isabel to listen and she planned to project as much of their past life as she needed to, to get her point across. Then Alex would show up to help and reunite with Isabel.
Her next phone call was to Isabel. She told her that she needed to talk to her and wanted to know if she would meet her at the podchamber at nightfall. Liz explained that out there they could talk freely without having to worry about anyone overhearing and maybe even stargaze. She told her that they might be a little late so if she wanted to tell her parents she was staying over again, she could. Isabel didn't suspect a thing and agreed quickly.
After her phone call with Isabel, she had some time to kill so her and Kyle talked some more. She told him more about her life on Antar, about her family and friends and how her life had been in general. She also filled him in on her powers. She couldn't help but laugh when he said that her powers were better than Tess's.
It was soon time to go pick up Isabel and go to the podchamber. Liz said goodbye to Kyle and headed out in her dad's truck. She picked up Isabel but told her that they would wait until they reached their destination before talking. When they did indeed reach the chamber she saw evidence that Khivar's men had been there already and retrieved the granolith. She wondered what Max would think when he came out and found it gone. He'd probably completely flip. She wondered if she would get a chance to it, she hoped she would.
Her and Isabel clamored out of the truck and up part of the rock face. Once they were settled Isabel asked, “So what did you want to talk to me about?
Liz’s face turned serious as she began. "I called you out here so that I could talk to you without being interrupted and not have to worry about being overheard."
"Sounds serious, what is it?" Isabel asked.
"It is serious." Liz said. "What if I told you that I could tell you about your past as Vilandra?"
At the mention of her name from her past life, Isabel couldn't help but gasp in surprise. Not to mention the shock of Liz announcing that she knew about her past. It was just too strange of a topic for Liz to bring up, especially since the last few nights Isabel had been having the strangest dreams. Dreams that seemed so real, dreams that she thought might be memories. They were of her and a man, a man she could tell she loved very much. She hadn't seen his face though, was it Rath or Khivar? She wasn't happy with the idea of either one. "What...? How can you ask that? How would you even know?"
Liz could feel Isabel's emotions going crazy and knew she was panicking. "Isabel, I know that had to have freaked you out and I don't mean to. I want you to know the truth. About who you are and what really happened on Antar."
Isabel couldn't help but be curious by what Liz was saying. "What do you mean what really happened?"
Liz tried not to smirk at Isabel's change in attitude. She couldn't blame her thirst for wanting to know the truth. "I can tell you about your past. Almost anything you want to know."
"But how?"
"Because I was there. I was actually a friend of yours." Liz started. She saw that Isabel was about to say something but Liz stopped her. "I know it sounds strange but it's true. Think about it Isabel. Listen to your inner self and you'll know I'm not lying or anything."
As much as Isabel wanted to say that Liz was acting crazy or some other wild theory something inside her told her to listen. And strangely enough the voice sounded like Alex. "Okay. Tell me."
Liz blew out a breath of relief before she started. "You know that your name was Vilandra and that you and Max were really brother and sister on our world. But much like here you two didn't always agree. One of your biggest fights was about your political views. When Whitacker said that you went against your family for love, she was speaking the truth. But it wasn't this horrible betrayal that you think it was. You just had opposing views on who you thought should lead our people. He thought he should and you thought Khivar."
"So I was with Khivar?"
"No, you weren't. You were in love with his younger brother Ardeth. You just stood by Khivar's cause." Liz said hoping that she would believe her.
"Ardeth?" Isabel said. The name sounded familiar, like the symbols in the cave had.
"Hmm. You two were very much in love. You told me once that he got your attention because of how he acted. You had this tendency to be very cold to people, you didn't trust people because you thought they were just being nice because you were a princess. Well one day you said something snotty to Ardeth and he told you to get rid of your attitude in not the most polite of terms. You were so surprised that he had raised his voice to you. It was then you realized that he wouldn't put up with you and things kind off went from there." Liz explained. She could feel Isabel's internal struggle and tried to think of someway to help her.
"So where do you fit into all of this?" Isabel asked. She wasn't sure if she believed what Liz was telling her but she wanted to. She wanted to believe that she wasn't some horrible person. That she had just been a strong independent woman with her own views on things that her family didn't agree with. That she hadn't just followed the path that had been blindly set before her and had wanted to live her own life.
"My name was Enola. I was bestfriends with Ardeth and his sister. I was also a close friend of yours and we went to school together." Liz explained.
"Were you with Max? Um, Zan?"
"No. I was friends with him and he would have liked for more but I was with someone else. I was the one who was with Khivar." Liz stated.
Isabel could feel her eyes bulge slightly at Liz's words. "You were with Khivar? Like with Khivar?"
"Yes. I was. Right before I died Khivar and I were planning on getting married, as a matter of fact you were helping me plan the wedding. In full Planning Nazi style."
"So you died before us?"
"Yes, Ardeth and I both did. We were sent down here first, we were actually created while you four were still alive. Different scientist recreated us then the ones that did you. We don't have any human DNA in us while you are half-and-half. That was mostly because they wanted you to look different then you did in your past."
"Wait a minute, you mean Ardeth is with you?" Isabel asked sounding enthusiastic. "He was recreated and sent down to Earth?"
"Yes, he was." Liz said tensely. But then she suddenly relaxed when she picked up on the arrival of the exact person she was talking about along with another she was glad to see.
"Do we know him?" Isabel asked.
"Yes we do."
"Well who is it?"
"It's me, Isabel." A familiar voice said. Isabel turned then only to see a pair of very memorable blue eyes. That was when Isabel did something that she had never done nor thought she'd ever do. She passed out.
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