Chapter Six I got out of the Pony and walked slowly up the concrete walkway towards the front door. I had no idea what I was going to say when I got inside but I assumed I wouldn’t have to use too many words, that my look would be enough. I set my shoulders back and then heard the honk of a familiar horn. It was Kyle and Tess and the state of pissedoffness I had began to evaporate. I waved at them and smiled when they waved back. Tess was out of the car before Kyle even had it turned off. I saw her running towards me and knew she was going to hug me. I was right. She did. "Maria!" She gushed and I thought I knew why. "Look!" She held out her left hand and showed me the rock on her finger that I had helped Kyle pick out. "I'm getting married!" I laughed and congratulated her as Kyle walked up to us, his hands in his pockets and a sheepish smile on his face. "Congrat's Kyle." I hugged him and kissed the corner of his mouth. We walked to the front door together and I guess that some of Tess's happiness was spilling over on me because I was no longer nearly as pissed off as I was a few minutes ago. Isabel opened the door and I could tell that something was wrong from the not so well hidden expression on her face. I looked past her and saw Michael sitting at the empty dining room table. I guess I was wrong this morning about never seeing him again because there he was in all of his blackness. I almost got wet just looking at him. Before I could even respond to Isabel, Tess burst past me waving her hand in the air. "I'm engaged!" And so with that announcement Isabel changed from somber to excited and I knew where this night was headed, straight down the happy trail. I walked inside to Michael and immediately he stood up and took me in his arms. I felt his hands roam the bare skin of my exposed lower back and belly. I'll never tire of those warm callousy soft hands on me. He nuzzled into my neck and then kissed it. "You look amazing," he mumbled. "So do you," I sighed and I meant it. Then again, Michael always looked amazing. "Did Kyle give Tess the ring?" He whispered as he looked over my shoulder. I nodded. "Yeah, she's thrilled." I remembered that I was indeed pissed and stepped away from him. "I thought you'd be working late and that’s why you'd meet me here, but I'm early so that means that you were earlier. If I go outside and feel your hood will it be warm or cool?" I placed my hands on my hips and hoped I looked as defiant as I felt. "I thought I'd be late," he tilted his head to one side and licked his lips. He was trying to make me forget I was pissed and it was almost working. Almost. "Bullshit," I stated and thought this might be the first real fight Michael and I had ever gotten into. Okay, the first real fight would have been back at Section but that was when I only thought about screwing him, before I fell in love with him. "I don't want to argue with you Maria," his eyes said more than that. Uh-oh. "I don't care," I hissed at him. I actually hissed. "This is crap, if something is going on then you better damn well tell me right fucking now!" I got a sudden swell of bitchiness running through me and I wasn't about ready to let it go to waste. "We're in this together Michael, or did you forget?" I felt eyes on my back but at that point in time I didn't give a flying fuck. "Maria," his tone was soft but his eyes were warning. "Michael." I shot his name back at him and let him know I was playing. When it came to playing games, I was a fucking Queen. "We'll discuss this later. At home." That was not a request, it was an order and I didn't take orders all that well. As far as I was concerned I was still fucking Captain! "No," I shook my head and felt hands on my shoulders. I knew it was Kyle. Damn, why does he calm me? "Not now," he whispered in my ear. I spun on him and narrowed my eyes. Oh God. He was right. This was his night. His and Tess's. They were engaged. Damn it to hell. Not too nice to have a knockdown drag out fight in front of the newly engaged. Not too polite either. I nodded and smiled to let him know I was done before I turned back around to Michael. "The only reason I'm dropping this now is because of Kyle and Tess, not because you ordered me to. When we get home? Get out your body armor, okay?" He grinned at me and I suddenly wanted to throw him down on the table and lick him; good thing I have a little self control. The front door opened again and Max and Marcy strolled in. Marcy was okay. I mean she was pretty in a natural kind of way, which was a good, but I guess she just looked kind of plain. I smiled at them and waved and I swear it looked like she was going to cry. A crying Marcy I could do without. It's not like I tortured her or anything. I just asked her a few questions. I wasn't a monster. My eyes flicked to Max and I conveyed a telepathic message to him to shut the hell up about our afternoon visit. Of course his eyes were on my tits so I telepathied a quick 'Fuck You' to him instead. Max finally met my eyes and I hoped he saw the warning in them. Things were not going as smooth here as I would have hoped, a slip up from Max and my plans would be shot. Yeah, I really didn't have any plans but I still needed Mr. Evans to keep his big trap shut. "Well," Isabel swooped into the dining room and Alex appeared out of nowhere behind her. He was dressed in all black; he had been doing that a lot lately. Don't get me wrong, he looked great, I'm just afraid that a little Michael was rubbing off on him. "Dinner's ready so…" She looked around the room until her eyes fell on me. "Okay, it's catered food." I smiled but there wasn't any heart behind it and I could tell that Isabel knew that. She knew that I knew she was keeping something from me and neither of us was happy about it. "Well," Alex clapped his hands together. "Then let's eat!" I helped Isabel in the kitchen getting everything together; she was nervous, jittery. I set down the stack of plates in my hands and looked at her. I saw the Isabel that I had met in Roswell. The woman who befriended me without question. The woman I trusted at my back in any situation. The woman who was an alien and my husbands second in command. "What the hell is going on?" "What do you mean?" She asked quickly. "I know you Isabel and something's up," I placed my hands on my hips. "You're acting strange. Michael's acting strange. What was he doing here so early?" She shrugged. "He was just early." Riiiight. "Isabel, is something going on that I should know about?" I watched her as she thought about the question. I know I had my mysterious note tucked away in my nightstand and I guess Kyle had the CD, but I wasn't showing my secrets, Isabel was. "Talk to Michael," she picked up a bowl with something that smelled like Curry in it and darted out of the kitchen. Great. I didn't want to talk to Michael right now. I followed Isabel back into the dining room. All through dinner it made me kind of sad that Isabel, my friend Isabel, was keeping something from me. I glared at Michael as much as I could without being too obvious. Every time he caught me, he smiled. He even reached underneath the table to hold my hand. Damn, I may be pissed at him but I love him more than anything else in the world. The thought that he's keeping shit from me does more than makes me mad, it breaks my heart. I gave him a halfhearted smile and returned the table conversation about the upcoming nuptials of Kyle Valenti and Tess Harding. I found myself thinking about the black bikini that was waiting for me at home and the upcoming beach trip. I guess whatever it was Michael was hiding couldn't be too bad if he thought we'd be at the beach soon. Right? I got a tingling at the back of my neck as I looked around the table, completely oblivious to the conversation. Michael. Isabel. Alex. Kyle. Tess. Max. Marcy. I suddenly felt very alone at a crowded table. * * * Chapter Seven I tried to come back to the conversation and abandon my feeling of loneliness. These were my friends I was with, my family, and I had no right feeling sorry for myself. Not tonight. I chanced a glance at Michael; he was looking directly at me. I saw the concern in his eyes; he was worried about something. Holy shit! He was worried about me. That was never a good. I gave him an award-winning smile and turned to Isabel who was sitting across from me. She still had the worried look. I hate that. "Isabel," Tess's entirely too chirpy of a voice broke the conversation and all eyes fell on the overly excited blonde. "Uh…Well…I…I was wondering if you'd be my maid of honor!" "Really?" Isabel stood up and walked around the table to hug the newly engaged. "Of course I will." Max clapped and we all joined in. This was Americana at it's best and through all the smiles and happiness, I think we were all hiding something. "Maria?" I heard Kyle say my name and I looked directly at him. If he was going to spill about the mysterious mail I was going to have to get up and seriously kick his ass. "I'd like to ask you something." "Shoot," I narrowed my eyes at him. So I was a little apprehensive. "I know that this wouldn't really be very traditional, but I have to ask anyway," he smiled and I felt weak. "Maria, would you consider being my best man?" Me? I pointed to myself stupidly. A best man? Kyle's best man? Oh, hell yeah! "Serious?" "Dead," Kyle winked. "Damn straight I'll be your best man!" I followed Isabel's lead and got up to hug him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and whispered wetly in his ear. "You're insane." "Right back at 'ya," he laughed and kissed my cheek. "Thank you." So there, it was settled. My second favorite man in the world and his blonde alien were getting married; Isabel, another alien, was going to be the maid of honor and I was going to be the best man. Only in my world. Dinner went on without a hitch. I started to forget I was so pissed off and even laughed and poked fun at the newly betrothed. I drank with Kyle and Alex and even forgot about all that mysterious mail I had received. Well, at least I forgot about it until Kyle pulled me into the kitchen with him on the pretense of more beer. "What are we going to do about…" He raised his eyebrows up and down at me and I giggled. "Damn it Maria, this is serious!" Shit. "I know Kyle, I know it's serious. But I don’t know what to do. Maybe tonight I'll mention it to Michael." I looked around the kitchen nervously. "Did you happen to notice that Michael and Isabel are acting a little strange?" "More than usual?" My eyes rolled before I could stop them, sometimes I think they have a mind of their own. "Yeah, more than usual. They're hiding something." "So we all have something in common," he whispered and leaned in closer to me. "Maybe the mysteries are related but we shouldn't say anything since Michael and Isabel aren't, right?" "Don't be such a smart ass Valenti," I pushed him away from me. "Where is the CD?" "In my car." Great. "In the glove box," Kyle shook his head. "Locked." Better. "Tell him tonight Maria," he slipped his arm around my waist and then hugged me. I promised I would and we went back to the party. I mingled and was even overly nice to Marcy, I guess someday I'll have to ask her last name. I almost bet its something like Jones. Or Smith. Or wait, even better Doe. That’s it, Marcy Doe. When I smiled at myself and my own amusement, I felt Michael behind me and my blood temperature rose to about nine hundred. "You really look amazing," his lips are at my ear and I shiver. He walked around me and knelt on the floor in front of the ottoman I was perched on. "Are you in danger?" Damn! I let the words slip out without thinking. He gave me that wicked little grin. "No, I'm not in danger." "Am I?" Damn! I did it again. He didn't answer me right away and now I was scared. I felt the goosebumps on my arms and my nipples tighten. I looked over and saw Max looking at me. I wonder if titty-radar is part of his alien genes. "No," he ran the back of his hand over my cheek and my eyes closed. "No Sweet Maria. You know I'd never let anything happen to you." I nodded but for some reason I didn't feel as confident as I should have. I kissed the back of his hand as the newly hatches butterflies in my stomach turned into bats. "I love you Michael." His eyes met mine and I could see how much he loved me in them. He had been the one to pull me out of my doomed life and give me a new one; and at the same time I had given him a real life. We had a life together and so help God no one was going to take that away from us. His lips were soft as they touched my forehead. "My wife." He whispered and let out a deep breath. "My Sweet Maria." I crumbled. Sometimes all it took was just a few words and I was good. I glanced out of the corner of my eye at Kyle and saw him smiling at Tess. I turned my head slightly and saw Isabel and Alex holding hands. Next was Max, he wasn't staring at my tits anymore, he had his arm draped around Marcy's shoulders and seemed to be having a good time. "Tonight?" Michael said softly. "We have to talk. When we get home." The bats in my stomach died and sank to the bottom like a ton of bricks. Fuck. * * * Chapter Eight My mind began to wander entirely too far away from me. I couldn't imagine what the hell was going on. I mean, I knew it had to be alien related otherwise Michael and Isabel wouldn't be acting so…Alien. And I guess they hadn't let Max in the loop yet because he wasn't doing anything out of character. He was still staring at my tits when he wasn't gazing at Marcy. And Tess? Well, Tess was acting like a newly engaged woman. I scooted over and let Michael sit next to me on the ottoman; I clutched his hand. Not amorously, but for security. I felt like my world had been rocked but I didn't know why. Usually I have some idea of what the hell is going on. I know who I'm up against, but this time, I didn't. I didn't have a clue what was going on and that, more than anything else, scared the crap outta me. "So, are you going to wear a tux, Maria?" I snapped my head towards Kyle. "Do you want me to?" He nodded slowly knowing full well that I would wear a tuxedo if he wanted me to. Okay, so I was going to wear a tux. No big. I'm sure I'll find a way to Maria-it-up a little. "You'll look beautiful in a tuxedo," Michael whispered hotly in my ear. I turned to face him and ran the back of my hand across his cheek. There was stubble where this morning there hadn't been. Our eyes met and something familiar passed between us. I felt my heart swell and I was flooded with all the emotions of belonging. As he took my hand I knew without question that we would always belong to each other. We were just like any other couple in the world, there were going to be ups and downs and I was just going to have to deal with them. We were kind of in a down right now with all the secrets, but that was going to change tonight when we got home. I was going to tell him mine and even if I had to beat it out of him he was going to tell me his. I caught Isabel staring at me and smiled. When she smiled back without that pinched worried look she had going on earlier, I felt a little better. "Well, I think we might hit the road here pretty soon," Kyle stretched and yawned, I could tell he was faking it. He just wanted to get home and play around with his new fiancée. "You just want to go home and get some!" Alex laughed with his bottle of beer held tight against him, the slurring in his voice was a dead giveaway that young Mr. Whitman had indeed imbibed too much of Mr. Wiser. Maybe you know him? First name Bud? "Alex," Isabel's hushed, yet warning, whisper echoed through the room. "C'mon Iz!" Alex smiled that smile that I know Isabel loves and pulled her into him. "It's all I could think about when we got engaged too!" I laughed, probably a little too loud, but it seemed to break the tension that was suddenly suffocating the room. Michael laughed a little and Isabel smiled at me, it was a big thank you smile. I winked back at her. "Seriously," Kyle raised his hands chest level. "We're going to get going here in a minute." His eyes fell on me and I knew we were going to have a little tete-a-tete before he left. "Maria? You want to get that CD out of my car before we leave?" If I would've had a gun I would have shot him. "Yeah." I managed to spit out with a nod. "What CD?" Michael asked and I wondered how in the hell I was going to lie to him. "One I made for her," Kyle stepped in and saved my ass from lying to Michael. "You know, one of those crazy mix CD's. Your wife isn't exactly competent about downloading and burning." I shrugged and wondered exactly how red my chest was getting. "Oh, right." Michael said the words to Kyle but he was looking at me. "You'll be right back?" I nodded. "Of course I'll be right back." I leaned into him and kissed his lips. I could taste the chocolate from dessert and I wanted desperately to throw him down and cover him in one of my favorite condiments. Maybe later. Maybe tonight. I followed Kyle out of the house and cast a quick glance over my shoulder at the rest of the gang while they were still in my sight. "I saved your ass in there," Kyle stopped walking and waited for me to catch up. "You're welcome." "I'm sorry Mr. Valenti," I shook my head. "You think that was saving my ass? That was helping me out of a little pickle. You'll know when you're truly saving my ass." I looped my arm through his and we walked to his Pony. I let him go long enough for him to unlock the glove box and retrieve the seemingly blank CD from it. He handed it to me and as I held it up in front of me, the beam from the streetlight hit it and temporarily blinded him. "Damn it Maria!" he shielded his eyes and I smiled. As the light reflected I saw something on the disc. I motioned for Kyle to come around next to me and once he got done grumbling about being blind for life, he did. "What the hell?" He saw the same thing I did. Almost like a watermark on a dollar bill. As my eyes narrowed I could make out what seemed to be a symbol of some kind. "Brand name?" "Could be," Kyle was becoming disinterested and I realized so was I. "I'm going to talk to Michael tonight, I promise." I nodded and looked over my shoulder at the Whitman house. "We'll get everything all cleared up and then you can start planning your wedding." He nodded but not in the confidant way. "Promise?" "I promise," I clipped him on the shoulder and once again wondered when I had become so tomboyish. "I'm going to put this in my car and then we'll go back in so you can gather your little blond number and I can get Michael. We'll have this whole thing sorted out by morning, okay?" I turned away from him and heard the heels of my boots click on the street as I walked to my car. I slipped the CD in the glove box and turned back around. "Kyle?" My heart began to pound as my eyes scanned the street in front of me. Kyle was gone. He was standing there a second ago and now he was gone. "Kyle!" I shouted and heard the tremble in my voice. "This isn't fucking funny! Where are you?" Silence. Oh fuck. "Kyle!" I shouted louder and felt the sweat forming on the back of my neck. In the Maria-verse this is what I would call a big bad. Damn! * * * Chapter Nine I had one of those moments when my heart felt like it was in my throat. I couldn't swallow. I don't think I could barely breath. The night was closing in on me and I started to gag. "Kyle!" My scream was muffled in my throat as rationality seized me. Kyle Valenti was gone. Tess had been gone once but we had gotten her back. But this was different. I don't know how I knew that, I just did. This time there was something else going on and it was scaring the hell out of me. Kyle. I closed my eyes and counted to three. I couldn't even get to five anymore; my patience was wearing too thin these days. I wished on the stars I was sure that were still above me that when I opened my eyes Kyle would be standing in front of me with that classic Valenti smile. I opened my eyes. No Kyle. My feet felt like they were made of lead. I couldn't move. I couldn't scream. I couldn't do anything because there was no way in hell this could be happening. "Maria?" I knew that voice and it wasn't Kyle's. Michael. "Kyle's gone and I can't find him and he's not answering and I'm scared and-" I let the words tumble from my mouth and the tears slid down my cheeks as my husband ran to me in giant strides. "Michael…" "Tell me what happened," he said in that low, sexy voice he has as he took me into his arms. I told him. Okay, I didn’t tell him about the CD or note. That seemed inappropriate. No… More like irrelevant. Kyle wasn't involved in anything. He wasn't an alien. He wasn't getting strange packages in the mail. He wasn't an ex-con who got a second chance. He was human. He was just Kyle Valenti. One of the best men I've ever known. "What's going on?" I heard the timid voice of Tess from behind me. Damn! I turned around slowly and wiggled out of Michael's clasp so I could face her. Before I could speak I saw the tears in her eyes. "Tess…" "What happened? Where is Kyle?" Her voice quivered and I wanted to hug her. So I did. I looked over my shoulder at Michael and hoped he could read my mind. The others were still inside; the others including Marcy who was as oblivious to the freakish world we lived in as I was to anything happening to Kyle. Michael must have read my mind because he did an about face and bolted inside the Whitman's. I swear it was only seconds later that Max and Marcy came outside and drove off. I assumed Max would be back because if this was something alien related then all the damn aliens should be accounted for! "Maria?" Tess whimpered. I forgot I was still hugging her. My how things can change. I let her go and looked into the wetness that covered her pretty blue eyes. "Where's Kyle?" I didn't want to lie to her and I didn't want to scare her. She had been engaged for like ten seconds and then all of a sudden her fiancé was gone. "I don't know." Ha! Didn't have to lie at all. "What do you mean you don't know?" She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand; they were not replaced. Oh, shit. "Tess," Isabel was there now and touching the smaller woman's shoulder. The little blond swung around and I saw, no, I felt the fury that was becoming loose in her. "What?" She snapped and I broke out into goosebumps. "Tell me Isabel, what the hell is going on? Where. Is. Kyle?" "Tess," Michael with that sexy voice said her name and I watched in amazement as the sharpness of Tess's demeanor dissipated. I thought his voice only affected me like that. I guess I was wrong. Not too sure how I feel about that one. "What the hell is going on?" Alex had somehow very stealthily joined our small group outside and no longer appeared to be as buzzed as he had been inside. He swayed and I retract the last statement. "Kyle is gone." Tess said the words slowly and deliberately. Her eyes landed on mine and I felt the anger ripple through me. She may play the part of bouncy blonde beautician to perfection, but in that instant I knew that Tess wasn't to be reckoned with. And damn it to hell, she was trying to reckon with me. "I don't know where he is." I said and felt proud that my eyes didn't roll. I didn't know where he was but I would walk through fire to find out. Hell, I'd even listen to descriptions of the pod chamber if it meant I could get Kyle back. "Maria?" Isabel whispered and I wondered if she was going to spill what her and Michael were keeping from me. I cocked my head to one side and waited. If I would have been a little less perceptive I wouldn't have noticed the quick glance between Isabel and Michael. Okay, so now another question popped in my head. Was the thing that I knew they were both hiding from me something to do with Section and they couldn't talk about it? Was it a matter of National security? Or was this something that a leader and his second in command are sharing thus making it completely alien related? Me thinks I need answers. "What the fuck is going on?" I placed my hands on my hips and faced both Michael and Isabel which put Tess at my back, not exactly where I wanted her right then, but I'll recover. "What do you mean?" Michael sidestepped a little closer to Isabel and all that did was piss me off just a little bit more. "I mean exactly what I said! What the fuck is going on?" "What's she talking about?" Tess stood next to me and I felt better. "Isabel?" Alex stepped up next to his wife. Great, he didn't seem to know anything either. "Do you know where Kyle is?" Tess asked. I noticed the returned tremor in her voice and now I was super pissed. "No." Isabel answered without looking at Michael first. "But we should look for him instead of standing around bickering, shouldn't we?" Damn. My friend Isabel had a point. I conceded with a nod. "Let's scour the streets. Someone call Max and tell him where to go after dropping Marcy off." I didn't wait for an answer; I just started walking quickly away from the crowd. Maybe I didn't want to say anything I was going to regret. Maybe I didn't want to hear the only people in the world I trusted lie to me. I rounded the corner and wiped at my tears hearing Michael and Tess call me back. I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings, but instead I was wallowing somewhere between upset and pissed off, still. If I would have been paying more attention then I would have known I wasn't alone long before I felt a hand on my mouth. "Fu…" My word was lost against flesh before the lights went out on me. * * * Chapter Ten I saw myself floating above my old house. The house I lived in with my dad. The house he died in. I looked down and saw myself playing ball in the backyard with my daddy and it made me want to cry. I saw myself smile and my dad laugh. The images of childhood were slowly being replaced with a dull ache in my head. My eyelids seemed to have gained about a hundred pounds each and I had to argue with them to open. When they listened I kind of wish they hadn't. Stupid eyes. I had no idea where I was. I mean, I was in a room, I could tell that because there were four walls around me and an apparent floor and ceiling. Besides the basics I was clueless. I was sitting in a chair and I was bound to it somehow. I didn't feel any ropes or tape or anything, but I couldn't move my arms or legs. I actually had to look down to make sure they were still there. Thank God, they are. Next problem? The room was dim, like the time outside right before dark when Michael and I used to make love on the beaches. When we used to talk on the phone while he was at Section and I was at home. I felt myself slipping away again and wondered what they hell they had given me. I kind of wondered who 'they' were as well. I wondered about a lot of things. Most of all, though, I wondered if I should have told Michael I loved him before just stomping off into the night. * * * "They're nowhere!" Isabel Whitman screamed into the face of her superior, both in this world and the other. "We'll find them," Michael took her in his arms and let her cry the tears for him that he couldn't. "We'll find them." * * * My head began to tingle as I swam back into whatever the fuck was going on. I still couldn't move my appendages but I checked again, still there. Still a good. The room was a little lighter now and I couldn't see anything binding my wrists to the chair. I didn't see any windows but the dimness had been replaced with a warmer, softer glow like the time right before the sun would rise and Michael and I used to make love on the beach. When we used to talk on the phone when he was already at Section and I wasn't out of bed yet. Holy shit! Was it morning? Was it afternoon? Was there a window in here that I can crawl out of and run home into my lover's arms? I opened my mouth and screamed like I've never screamed before. I felt like my lungs were going to explode out of my mouth and flop on the floor like dead fish. Luckily that didn't happen. However it didn't seem like anything else was either. I didn't want to scream again because that was futile and it gave me a slightly sore throat. I thanked my lucky stars that I hadn't started smoking again because I know I would be gagging right about now. Deep breath. This wasn't so bad. I'd been trapped in places before and always managed to get out, right? Hell, I took down Section. I had help. Kyle! Oh shit! I started to remember what the fuck was going on and now I was scared. I had that tingling thing going on at the base of my neck and knew that every single fucking thing was connected. It had to be. The wacky CD and the could-it-be-more-vague note. The hidden innuendo between Michael and Isabel. The apparent kidnapping of one Maria DeLuca, damn, Guerin, and the strange disappearance of Kyle Valenti. In reality I guess it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out everything was relative. Or was it? This was probably not a good time to start to second-guess myself. Here I was trapped in a fucking chair in a fucking room and I was second-guessing myself? Fuck that. "Where the fuck am I?" I screamed and waited. Nothing. Imagine that. "Fuck!" I cocked my head to one side and got the goosebumps when I heard a muffled breathing sound coming from somewhere really fucking close to me. "Who's there?" I demanded in my most authoritative voice. I was met with silence and began to wonder if I had heard the sound only in my head. That kind of thing happens and it scares me more than any other big bad in the universe. My mind began to slide back to a time when I was alone and I heard things. I heard voices and whispers that weren't mine even though I was the only one in the room. In a small room. Alone. As I tried to halt them, my memories skittered uncontrollably back to my time in the pokey. Back to the time I was completely alone. I clenched my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut trying to block it out, but I couldn't. I couldn't not see myself the way Michael saw me on the tape from my Section dossier. My shirt hanging open, crawling on the ground. Trying to cut my wrist by scraping it against the floor. "No!" The word flew from my mouth as I shook my head. The showers in the prison. The way I was raped… "No!" I wanted to keep screaming the word over and over until I made the memories run away again; but something stopped me. I controlled my breathing as any good alien hunter would and counted to four before letting out a slow deep breath. I heard the noise again and it wasn't from me. Woo hoo! I wasn't fucking crazy! I tried to turn my head as far as I could to look in back of me and realized that the back of my chair was just entirely too high. I heard the breathing noise again and my heart began to pound. I knew that breathing noise. I knew it well. I rocked back in my chair until I felt the legs of it move a little off the ground. Chair? Not bolted down. With a giant push off from my toes I closed my eyes and went sailing backwards, the chair landed on its back with a giant bang, with me still trapped in it. I opened my eyes and almost cried. Or maybe I almost wet myself. Either way I was just so fucking happy. Hovering above me in a chair identical to mine was a familiar face. Of course the face was attached to a head which was hanging down with his chin almost on his chest. I found Kyle! Woo hoo! "Kyle!" I shouted his name and waited for a response as fear struck me. He'd been in this place with me the whole time and I had been screaming and he never said a word. Fuck me. "Kyle!" My head was almost to the tips of his toes and I waited with something like bated breath and an Eagle-eyed stare until I saw those pretty long eyelashes of his flutter just a bit. His eyes opened to barely a squint and I was beaming up at him with one of my big toothy grins. His pitch was low and his voice was crackling; but it was still classic Valenti. "Why did I know you'd be here?" * * * |
| PARTS 6-10 |