Darkside of the Moon

Learn To Be Still

Eagles

It's just another day in paradise

As you stumble to your bed

You'd give anything to silence

Those voices ringing in your head

You thought you could find happiness

Just over that green hill

You thought you would be satisfied

But you never will -

Learn to be still

We are like sheep without a shepherd

We don't know how to be alone

So we wander 'round this desert

And wind up following the wrong gods home

But the flock cries out for another

And they keep answering that bell

And one more starry-eyed messiah

Meets a violent farewell -

Learn to be still

Learn to be still

Now the flowers in your garden

They don't smell so sweet

Maybe you've forgotten

The heaven lying at your feet

There are so many contradictions

In all these messages we send

(We keep asking)

How do I get out of here?

Where do I fit in?

Though the world is torn and shaken

Even if your heart is breakin'

It's waiting for you to awaken

And someday you will -

Learn to be still

Learn to be still

You just keep on runnin'

Keep on runnin'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey Maria, grab table two for me." Liz notice the look Maria gave her and

decided to add a plea. "Please."

Sighing, Maria nodded. Grabbing her pad out of the alien head pocket, she

walked towards table two, the whole time watching as Liz greeted Max

enthusiastically. It really made her sick. Even Alex was getting just as

bad. Sure his relationship with Isabelle hadn't progressed as far, but it

was getting just as gross every day. While she had to sit by and watch the

sickening displays of affection.

"Soooo," Liz began sweetly, "have plans on tonight?"

"Maybe." Max responded in a slight teasing tone.

"Maybe?" Liz responded, pretending to be taken aback.

"If you come with me tonight." Max was rewarded with a sweet smile and her

lips meeting his.

Maria sighed to herself as she overheard the conversation. Another night of

sitting home alone. Isabelle had already agreed to a date with Alex.

Although she did it reluctantly. Sure she wouldn't begrudge them their

happiness, but she could still be disgusted on the inside. "Damn aliens."

Maria mumbled as she placed the order on a clip. Okay she really didn't hate

them, call her spiteful yes. A little unhappy yes. But she really didn't

hate them. After all Max did save Liz's life. Of course the girl would be

head over heels for him. And of course Alex would be in his own world, he

was practically dating the most beautiful girl in school. Why was she the

odd one out?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alex." It was more of a gasp that escaped Isabelle's mouth. "This is

uh...."

"Good I hope." He spoke up quickly, maybe he went to far with the whole date

thing.

"Really good" she reassured him quickly. "I was just wondering why we were

walking out here."

Alex took her hand in his own and led her over to the blanket. "Well,

picnics are usually nicer under the stars."

Isabelle smiled as she took a seat. "Usually. You know I think we may have

passed Liz and Max up on romantic."

"Pass them up? Never." Alex reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a

box of matches. "They have the whole 'soulmates' thing working for them.

Then there's the saving her life thing. But hey, we're working on it." Alex

swiped the end of the match on the side of the box igniting a small flame.

"Speaking of, where did they go tonight?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Max this is beautiful. I mean it is just perfect out." Liz said softly as

she looked up at the sky from the back of the jeep.

"Thought you'd like it." He responded as he took his seat next to her. "They

said it would be perfect out tonight."

Liz smiled as she remembered the same words passing Alex's lips. "I'm

guessing you passed that news on to Alex?"

Max looked away from the night sky and down to Liz's smiling face. "I

thought it might help." he said with a slight smirk.

Liz smiled as she snuggled up against Max. "Most likely."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This is so perfect." Isabelle said softly as she turned towards Alex. "I

mean nights like this just make me forget about who I really am, and what is

really out there."

"Are you unhappy here?" Alex asked Isabelle hesitantly. He wasn't sure if it

was the best thing to ask her. But he could never really tell.

Isabelle sighed softly and pulled the blanket up under her chin. "Most of

the time. I still want to know the truth, but if this is as good as it gets

I can live with that. The life I do have here is a lot better then it could

have been under other circumstances. So yea, I'm pretty happy."

Alex nodded. "Well if you're happy then I'm happy."

Isabelle smiled as she rested her head lightly on his shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Max, do you ever get scared?" Liz inquired, breaking the comfortable

silence that had claimed them for the longest time.

"Of course. What are you thinking about?" Max inquired in a concerned voice.

"That things will change. I mean for the worse." Liz told him, voicing the

fears that haunted her everyday.

"Liz, everything is fine right now, we have nothing to worry about. Our

parents trust us, no one is suspicious of us, and no one has any proof as to

what we really are. There is nothing out there that can hurt us." Max told

her, trying to reassure her and himself.

"I know, but everything is just so perfect now, everyone is so happy, you

know, in a content sort of way. I'm just scared something will change that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well looked what the cat dragged in."

Maria frowned into the darkness at the familiar tone. "We don't have a cat"

she said bluntly as she moved through the darkness. "Where's my Mom?"

"In bed" the slurred voice responded.

"Then why don't you go home?" Maria said angrily towards the figure she

could see on the couch.

"Because she said I was too drunk to go home. And besides," he grabbed Maria

by her legs and yanked her forward, "I like it here better."

Maria quickly jumped back. "Don't touch me." Her voice wasn't as strong as

she hoped it would be. But she didn't wait around for his response and took

off to her room. Once in, she shut the door and locked it behind her. A sigh

of relief escaped her lips at the sound of the click that put up a barrier

between her and her mother's asshole boyfriend. Throwing her purse on her

bed she began undressing out of her uniform. For some reason the whole

process itself seemed to take too much energy. Energy she didn't have. She

wasn't really depressed. When she was at school, and work, for the most part

she was happy. But then there were days like this, when she was reminded

that her friends had other interests outside of their threesome, and that

her homelife was anything but great. Those were the days when her energy

disappeared, and she went to bed feeling empty and aching. Even with the

lack of every it still took time for her to sleep. In retrospect, meeting

Isabelle and Max had in a way improved some things. It had given her

something new, something that made her life different. Then it also had

taken away other things. At this point though, things where far from

perfect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello?" Isabelle called out. Her voice seemed to bounce off imaginary

walls. Except she saw nothing as she looked from side to side. Her eyes

traveled upward and a sky full of stars hovered above her. Even with the

unknown around her she felt suffocated.

"Do you usually have dark dreams?"

Isabelle jumped at the voice. Even as she spun around, looking wildly from

side to side, she still saw nothing. "Who's there?"

"No one you know. I'm guessing you're not used to waking up in the middle of

the night sweating as you recalled clearly every painful moment in a dream."

The only sound Isabelle could hear was her own breathing. She didn't even

hear it as the unknown person advanced on her.

"Watch."

Isabelle didn't even have time to move away as a large hand touched her

head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Aaaaaa!!!"

Max spun around as he collided with something hard and loud. "Isabelle!"

"Max! Wha-. You don't dream walk." Her voice wasn't so sure. She was

obviously confused. Not just by Max's presence, but by the unknown just

moments before.

"No. But you do."

"What? No I don't think so. This is my dream Mr." Once again sure of

herself, Isabelle spoke against his accusation.

Max didn't even try to argue with her. "Maybe we're sharing a dream."

Although he wouldn't dismiss anything at this point. He was still trying to

figure out the mysterious presence that had been present in his dream just

before.

"We've never done that before, why start now?"

Max didn't have time to respond. The blackness around him seemed to move at

a dizzying speed, until whatever ride he seemed to be on stopped, and the

haziness around them formed into defined images.

"Max." Isabelle said as her vision cleared, and once her mind registered her

surroundings she called out his name again, except this time more alarmed.

"Max!"

Max tried to push the disguised men away from Isabelle but he felt himself

being pulled away. "Isabelle!" She continued to scream out for him until she

was pulled into a room and the closing door halted the sound of her

terrified voice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isabelle quickly threw out her arm, and flipped on the switch to the lamp.

The illuminating light did little to ease the fear that still ran through

her body. Her body jumped with alarm at the sound of her door flying open.

Her eyes met her brother, and she knew that they had indeed shared the same

dream. Narrowing her eyes, Isabelle also could seem a light glistening on

her brother's skin. Slowly, she brought her hand up to her neck and wiped

away the liquid that seemed to cover her burning body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looking up at the sky, Michael was once again reminded of his past search

for home. One that had led him no where, and left him hating everything that

was the same and that was different than him.

Turning away from the cliff, Michael made his way slowly back to his car.

Once in, he fired up the engine. It seemed to emanate the same angry roar

that flooded his being everyday.

Soon his search had ended. Leaving him not only empty, but angry. What he

had found was something he had known to be there all along. Something he had

been scared to face, till now. Now he would show them the feeling of loss

and fear.

The drive into Roswell wasn't filled with the worry and fear that he would

have felt at one time. He had no home, and he wasn't about to allow anyone

else to either. The world wasn't fair, he had heard more then once over his

life on earth. It was about time he made that known to some people. Maybe

drive them over the edge in the process. He gave little care for human life

anymore. That had been proven on a few, unfortunate, occasions. The same

feeling was directed at his own race.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Srating Problem

No Doubt

my eyes are so rootless

they wonder, I follow

I keep staring, I can't stop it

I know I shouldn't

but I can't stop it

such a cute girl

I'm so jealous

I wished I looked exactly like her

what's it like to have that body?

I'm gawking while I wonder

S-T-A-R-I-N-G

I cant stop staring

S-T-A-R-I-N-G

I cant stop staring

with my envy I steal glances

resentful fault finder

this peek-a-boo's become a problem

predisposed cat fighter

S-T-A-R-I-N-G

I cant stop staring

S-T-A-R-I-N-G

I cant stop staring

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watching in the shadows was not something new to him. Hiding from the light,

in his own hell inside his mind. On the outside, a loner. But inside eaten

up with hate and bitterness. Only the thought of the suffering of others put

a song in his heart.

Years of searching for the truth just to find out the fantasy was better had

pushed him over the edge. Focusing on the pain, disappointment and

bitterness. He turned his journey for truth into one for revenge. Revenge to

those who slept in a soft bed at ignorant to the truth.

It was easy to find them. The Internet is a wonderful thing. To think he

would spread his pain in the same place it had started. Roswell, New Mexico.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So you guys never shared a dream before?" Liz asked as she snuggled further

into Max's arms. They were all spread out on a blanket under a group of

trees in the park.

"No. This was a first." Isabel commented from her place in Alex's lap. "Can

we please stop talking about this it was probably nothing" she begged her

control freak brother. All she wanted to do was enjoy the day with her

friends and good food. Speaking of food where was Maria. "Hey where's Maria?

She should be here by now."

"Oh I forgot she called me said she'd be a little late. Something about

falling out of bed and landing on her wrist." Just when Liz was done talking

Maria jogged up to the group. She had an ace bandage wrapped around her left

wrist. "Hey guys could you help me? I have all the stuff in my car I just

can't carry it all" she said, waving her wrist in the air.

Setting Isabel off to the side, Alex jumped up and said "Don't worry little

lady us here men will help ya." He finished with a tip with his baseball

cap. Max gave Liz a quick kiss and went to help Maria too. They walked away

with Liz and Isabel talking about what a smutty outfit Pam Troy had been

wearing yesterday and the three on their way to the car, joking around. None

of them knew they were being watched, or the danger they were in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hidden by the trees he watched. They left themselves open too easily.

Discussing there other-worldly abilities out in the open like that. He

should start playing with them sooner, going at this rate they'd get

themselves caught in no time.

They were too weak. Too human. Hate burned it's way though his blood as he

watched them laugh with the humans. They were too weak, they would snap in

no time. He would start tonight. Start with Liz. A strange sense of joy

overcame him as he thought of ways to terrorize the little brunette.

Just then the other female human member of their group, she said something

waving her hand around. The one boy, Alex, got up to help. After making a

fool of himself he got Max to go with them. They were too safe in their

little world. But he was More than up to shattering their world.

Making his way back to his car he looked back one more time with an eerie

smile. He would start tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Liz loved days like this. She loved being with her friends and her Max.

Sitting on her bed she opened her journal to document today’s events. When

she got to the next blank page she let out a little squeal and dropped the

book, and went to dial Max's number with shaking hands. Getting a busy

signal she put the phone down and picked the book back up to reread the

message. ' I know what he is. Do you know what I am? I'm watching you.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yet Another Movie

Pink Floyd

One sound, one single sound

One kiss, one single kiss

A face outside the window pane

However did it come to this?

A man who ran, a child who cried

A girl who heard, a voice that lied

The sun that burned a fiery red

The vision of an empty bed

The use of force, he was so tough

She'll soon submit, she's had enough

The march of fate, the broken will

Someone is lying very still

He has laughed and he has cried

He has fought and he has died

He's just the same as all the rest

He's not the worst, he's not the best

And still this ceaseless murmuring

The babbling that I brook

The seas of faces, eyes upraised

The empty screen, the vacant look

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maybe it had been the wrong choice. She hadn't exactly been the lowest rung

in the ladder. He could have started with the weak blond, or the lovesick

boy. Having her threatened seemed to genuinely alarm the so-called-leader of

their group. But what was to say that surprise wasn't the best tactic. Even

with that in mind he still chose to tone down a little. He had gotten out of

hand for a moment. Starting at the bottom and moving up would give their

fear time to build. And that's how he wound up under her window.

Crouching lower, he waited silently. Her room was empty and dark, but he

knew for sure she was home. He had waited patiently at the Crashdown, and as

they began to clean and shut down he had walked to her house. Thirty minutes

later she walked in her front door. But she wasn't the only one there. He

had already found that out. He had mapped out the whole house, and what he

found was the girl’s mother not being to pure and proper in her bedroom with

a semi drunk man. Roswell seemed to be the place for happy homes. So the

now-spent couple still occupied the house as the girl entered her home. At

some point though the man had moved from the room he knew. It took the girl

longer than he had thought to reach her room. And after of an hour of

waiting at the Crashdown and over thirty minutes at her house, he was

beginning to become impatient. Soon though he was rewarded with a noise. A

quite pitiful one though. Her soft cry traveled through the glass and to his

ears. It was of little concern to him. But that was too much in itself.

The light in her room flickered on, and his eyes watched her. They watched

every moment, every look that passed her face, every step she took, and

every tear that slid down her cheek. But like before he hardly cared.

His eyes didn't falter, not even as she unzipped her waitress uniform. Her

head hung low as she pushed the tacky piece of cloth over her shapely hips.

As it fell to the floor she stepped out of it and made no move to pick it

up. As she stepped further from his view and away from the window, he moved

closer. Although not able to see her, he caught her full reflection in her

mirror clearly. It was the first time he got a good look at her face. He

could see her puffy eyes, and the red lines that criss-crossed over the

whites of her eyes. Her arms moved around to her back, and he noticed in the

back of his mind that she moved slightly to toe off her shoes. But his eyes

stayed trained on her reflection. His eyes remained on her face as he soaked

in every detail about her. He had planned for a more subtle scare. But he

wanted to put much more effort into this one. His eyes flew from her face as

he became fully aware of the fact that her bra had taken a dive to the

floor, and she was now standing in only her underwear. He couldn't help but

tear his eyes away as nervousness filled his body. He glanced around him

quickly as if he had been caught, but when he looked back, she was already

pulling a shirt over her head. For the most part he felt relief. As for the

other part, he chose to ignore it.

Moments later she crawled into bed, her cries seemed to gain in magnitude as

she turned off the light, and he couldn't help but become aware of the

curiosity as to what her pain was. They soon quieted, and he found himself

once again sitting silently, waiting. Even after her cries halted, and after

her sniffling had ended, he still waited. He waited until he was sure

everything was quite, and everyone asleep, then he made his entrance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maria's eyes opened lazily as her alarm went off. She reached over and

fumbled with it until it shut off. Sitting up she rubbed her eyes which she

knew were puffy. Throwing her legs over the side of her bed, she quickly

moved towards the bathroom, in hopes that a shower would help her to look

more like her normal self.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stepping out of the steaming bathroom, Maria walked quickly down the hall,

in fear that he was still there. She had unfortunately forgotten her clothes

in her room. Once in her room she shut her door quickly behind her and

locked it. With a sigh of relief, she moved to walk towards her closet, but

was stopped short as she found a piece of paper laying on her bed. To her

best knowledge, she hadn't put that there. Walking forward, her eyes

remaining on the paper, Maria moved towards the unknown object. When at the

end of her bed she leaned over and picked it up. Her mouth gaping open, she

found herself staring at a perfect image of herself sleeping.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"God Maria, that is you." Liz said with awe as she looked over Max's

shoulder who was also studying the picture carefully.

"Well duh. But I mean that was last night. That's how may hair looked when I

went to bed, and the same thing I wore to bed. The sheets were the ones on

my bed, and that stuffed animal was still on my bed last night." Maria

paused for a moment as her fear from earlier that morning came back to her.

"Meaning someone was in my room last night watching me, they were most

likely waiting outside for me to get home."

Liz moved away from Max and sat next to Maria, and put her arm around her.

"Maria we are going to figure out who is doing this and stop them."

"Alright, whoever this is has already been to Liz now Maria, and we can

assume maybe he was the one in our dreams. Now what?" Isabel asked, because

at this point she was at a loss. And of course she turned to her brother for

the answers.

Still staring at the picture, Max shook his head, "I don't know."

"You don't know! We have to do something!" Isabel yelled at him.

Max dropped the picture and looked at his sister. "Isabel, calm down, we're

fine right now at school. But right now you know as much as I do, and that

isn't a lot. What is obvious here is the person or alien as it may turn out

to be, has the upper hand here. Unfortunately we are going to have to wait."

"Look, if someone is crazy enough to sneak into someone’s room and sketch

them, do you think they aren't capable of other things?!" Maria exclaimed.

"I can't just wait, what if the next step up is one of us getting hurt!"

Max really didn't have any time to respond, Maria jumped up and took off,

with Alex and Liz following behind her. Looking at his sister he found her

staring at the sleeping image of Maria.

"She's right you know. So far, this whole thing is escalating, from a dream,

to Liz’s journal entry, to a sketch of Maria sleeping. What if the next step

up is one of us getting physically hurt? He's trying to scare us right now,

but I know he has other plans." Isabel looked back up at her brother. He

didn't respond but she could see the frown forming on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a long consideration, he had made a decision. It was about time that

he introduced himself. There was little he could do at this point to scare

them without revealing himself. Hopefully they would all be together

tonight. In fact he counted on it. At this point he knew that they wouldn't

want to be alone. Michael smiled at the fact that he instilled fear. He

loved it, and just knowing the things that he could do to them, without them

having a chance to fight back gave him such a rush. Sure the two like him

could fight back against him. But being raised with weaklings like humans

must have had some affect like producing feelings of care and guilt. He

didn't feel those things. He never felt those things. They were immune to

him. Erased by hate. Hate was his ally now. And it was a powerful one that

gave him the upper

hand. Nothing could take him down now. Nothing could ever effect him in such

a way that would make him question his decisions and feeling, and that was a

relief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey." Liz said and smiled as Max walked up to her.

"What time do you get off?" Max inquired.

"Not till closing time unfortunately" she responded as she placed her hands

on his chest and leaned forward to kiss him. But before their lips met, he

was knocked backwards and onto a table. "Max!"

Isabel screamed and grabbed her brother to stop him from falling to the

ground. She felt the muscles in his body tense, but he showed nothing of

being aware of her or Liz's presence. His eyes were squeezed shut and his

face held a look of intense concentration. But a moment later his eyes

flashed open, and he began breathing erratically.

"I had a vision." Max said to Isabel.

Isabel looked around at the watching bystanders and pulled her brother up.

"What do you mean?"

"A place in the desert. I don't know of what importance it is, but I think

we need to go" Max told her urgently not even noticing the people still

staring.

Isabel nodded at her brother, noticing the still tense look on his face.

Michael on the other hand smirked from the other side of the street as he

turned to leave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Maybe we shouldn't have come." Maria said as they drove out of Roswell and

out into the empty desert.

"Hey you were the one that threw a fit saying you where a part of this and

you have the right to come. We're not turning back now." Isabel informed

her.

"I know that. But maybe none of us should be going. Who knows what is

waiting for us out there. What if it has something to do with this freaky

stuff that is going on?" Maria responded back with a touch of fear in her

voice.

"Maria we know that, but we need to know what is going on. And I think with

all of us together we are safer then being alone." Of course it most likely

didn't comfort Maria, because Liz’s own words weren’t comforting to herself.

Maria finally just resigned herself from any further attempt at persuading

them to turn back and slumped down in the seat.

"Look, I think the three of you should stay in the jeep. Most likely this

person is one of us and it would be probably best if we handle it" Max said

firmly, of course Liz followed in a protest.

"Max, no. We are not going to let the two of you go out there alone. We

stick together" Liz quickly told him without a second thought of her own

safety.

"I agree with Liz. We can't just let you two go out there" Alex said. He had

no plans of letting Isabel go out there without him.

"Not this time. This time we deal with it. This person may be dangerous if

he is one of us, and you three will not be able to protect yourselves" Max

argued.

"Max we're involved too. Not just you two" Liz reminded him. But she could

still tell he wasn't going to changed his mind.

"Liz, please don't fight me on this. You would make it so much easier if I

know you were here in the jeep."

"Okay Max." Liz agreed. She waited silently hoping that either Alex or Maria

would speak up on her behalf, but they didn't.

"Thank you" Max said softly to her.

Liz broke contact with his eyes and turned away to look out towards the

desert.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Max I don't see anything." Isabel said in an impatient tone. "Well if

you’re not counting sand and rocks. And bugs!" Isabelle screamed as she

kicked away something black and crawling.

"Look Isabel this is it. There is a reason we have to be out here." Max

said, and he ventured further, ignoring Isabel’s tantrum she was throwing at

the insect. This was it, he knew it was. And the annoying thing was he

didn't know why he knew. What vision he had told him where to go. And this

was it. Now only if it had told him why he was coming here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michael scowled as he kneeled behind the rock. He had wanted them all

together. After the two like him passed him and ventured farther away he

stood, and looked towards the jeep. But after reconsidering the actions he

would have to take, maybe it would be for the best anyway.

Walking quietly towards the jeep from the back he began to feel the rush of

excitement, and hoped that he wouldn't move on with anything to fast. As he

neared for the brunette, the one he knew you could hurt the boy with, the

one in charge, the most logical choice, he stopped. Instead his eyes roamed

over the boy and to the blond. She was the easiest. The most fragile. The

one who contained more fear. He made his decision and moved towards her.

Even as he stepped to the side of the jeep they still didn't hear or see

him. Grabbing her by her arm he yanked her out.

"Liz!" Maria screamed. She opened her mouth to yell again, but only a choked

noise escaped her mouth as an arm wrapped around her throat and the other

grabbed her around her waist yanking her against something hard.

"Maria!" Liz exclaimed and jumped forward, almost bumping into Alex as she

did.

"Get out of the jeep now." Michael said to both of them as he backed up

still taking the girl with him. He noticed how they hesitated. "Now!"

Michael yelled and as he did each tire popped creating a loud hissing noise,

and caused the jeep to drop to the ground.

Liz jumped at the realization of what he was and scrambled out of the jeep

with Alex close behind her. Once out Liz looked at the person that still had

Maria. He wasn't old. In fact he could have been the same age as Max and

Isabel. His face though was firm and angry looking. Which seemed to make him

scarier combined with his good looks. He was tall and built and stood over

Maria.

"We are going to go meet your two friends. You all were supposed to be out

there. Start walking." Michael said to them and motioned his head in the

direction that the other two had disappeared in. Michael released the blond

but quickly grabbed her upper arm. "Come on, lets go." he said and yanked

her as he began to follow the other two.

After walking in silence for the next few minutes, and almost stumbling to

the ground a couple of times only to have the boy yank her back up

painfully, she finally found the courage to open her mouth. "What are you

going to do with us?"

Michael turned to her amused, as he noticed the scared tone in her voice.

"You’re not going to cry are you? Or do you do that every night?" He noticed

her breathing become uneven, and he couldn't quite catch the look on her

face, she turned away too fast.

"How long where you there for?" Maria forced out shakily.

Michael smirked. "From the moment you walked in, I saw everything." She

didn't cry or do anything. But he still couldn't help but laugh.

Liz listened on angrily as he verbally tortured her best friend. It was all

she could do to not turn around and hit him. But what was to say that he

wouldn't hurt her back.

"Hey you."

Liz turned around, to find him looking at her. "What?"

"They’re up ahead. Now call for them." Michael ordered her firmly.

"No." Liz said and shook her head.

Michael raised his eyebrows. "Really?" Yanking the blond in front of him, he

wrapped one arm around her waist and placed the other on her chest. He let

his hand began to glow softly and a soft cry came from the girl.

"Stop!" Liz screamed.

"Do it!" Michael yelled and let his hand began to glow brighter.

"Leave her alone!" Alex yelled to the boy, and he moved forward only to have

Liz grab him and pull him back.

Liz looked on as Maria’s eyes became hooded, and she opened her mouth to

call when she heard Maria’s voice.

"No." Maria told Liz and shook her head to the best of her ability.

Michael heard the girl, and in a rush of anger and their unwillingness to

cooperate, he let his power go, and the girl screamed.

"Max!!!" Liz yelled along with Maria’s scream. "Max!!!"

Maria slumped forward after whatever he did to her stopped. She heard

faintly some yells. Some of them even sounded like Max's responding to

Liz's, but she wasn't sure. They seemed to get softer for some reason. She

began to wonder though why she couldn't stand up. And why the person behind

her was cursing.

"Dammit." Michael cursed softly as the girl began to get heavier in his

arms. He never did have a lot of control when he became angry. He hadn't

really planned on taking it that far. Looking around to see if the other two

had found them yet, he frowned to find that they hadn't. Grounding his teeth

together in anger, Michael let his power flow again, this time into her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To be contiued.....