Ellie: Hope I you saw my explanation to why jim is there under your fb, thanks for your always on going support!
angelina:I think your going to seriously hate tess after this, thanks so much for being you angelina, I couldn't ask for a better friend.
Natalie: Tess will get her's but it won't be easy. thanks so much for being here.
Eve:Thanks so much Eve, always happy to see you at my stories
Ginger:thanks ginger, so happy you like this
cjeb: wow what a sweet fb, just made my day, so happy you found this and enjoy it, thanks so much for letting me know.
PML: thanks so much Peter, Congrats right back at you! So excited to see your work get the acknowledgment it deserves! so happy you like this!
6throck:thanks so much for your sweet fb, always love to see new people here!
Chapter 21
Alex had only a few more inches to go as he continued to slice against Liz’s restraints with the sharp metal from the seat belt before the door swung open taking them both by surprise.
“Nice try, now I’ll have to separate you two.”
Alex was crushed hearing Tess’ demented voice through the burlap sack knowing Liz didn’t have long.
It was painfully clear that she needed to connect with Max in order to heal very soon and now he had no idea how he was going to help her.
Feeling strong hands grasp her shoulders roughly an idea popped into Liz’s weak mind.
“Wait! P-Please before you take me away from him can I just hug him one last time? I’m not stupid Tess; I’m guessing I’m not getting out of this alive. At least let me say goodbye, I think you owe me at least that much.”
Muffled voices argued outside of the car that grew in volume before she felt a sharp blade slip between the ropes on her wrists releasing her.
Her body stiffened as she felt the cool alien’s lips close to her ear.
“Make it quick Liz, and no tricks, you know what I'm capable of.”
Swiftly she threw her arms around Alex’s neck and whispered as fast as she could.
“Try and sleep so Isabel can come to you, tell them where we are – “
Feeling a rough tug on her shoulders she was violently pulled out of the car.
Alex felt small hands checking his bindings making sure they were secure.
“Get comfortable Alex, I’m afraid your efforts just bought you a long cold night's stay in this luxury vehicle.”
Slumping down in the seat he took a few deep breaths wondering how the hell he could possibly fall asleep under these conditions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michael immediately became defensive as Kathleen slipped out of the truck behind Jim.
Maria threw her hands up in the air in complete disbelief.
“Are you freaking kidding me? Can things seriously get any worse?”
Replacing his arm with Maria’s so Max could stand Michael fearlessly walked towards the both of them.
“Why are you following us?”
Taking a deep breath Kathleen stepped out in front of him and raised her arms in the air.
“Look you’re all in danger, we came here to warn you, we’re the only chance you have at coming out of this alive, so please just hear us out.”
Shaking her head Maria rolled her eyes.
“I’m afraid you’re a little too late to be reading us warning labels considering the FBI has been chasing us for days.”
Groggy and weak Max lifted his head and whispered softly.
“Why would you want to help us, I don’t understand, I thought you were part of all this?”
Yelling back towards Max Michael raised his hand in the air.
“She is Max, that’s why we have to get rid of her now, there isn’t much time left.”
Blocking her body Jim pleaded for them to listen.
“Look you’re right, you have no reason to trust her but think about it, if she wanted to turn you over you would be surrounded right now. Max you a smart guy, why would we show up alone.”
Stepping out from behind Jim Kathleen quickly assessed the situation.
“Where are the others?”
Refusing to trust her Michael kept his hand directly raised towards them. “Explain to us why you feel the need to help us again?”
Nervously Kathleen scanned the area around her before looking back at Michael.
“My partner told me what they plan to do, it's not pretty and there's no one standing in their way, You have to believe that I had no idea, I would never agree to hurt innocent kids. Listen to me there isn't must time, you have no choice but to trust me, If we were able to find you, you can bet the FBI isn’t far away.”
Jim focused on Max as he spoke.
“Her partner was just killed trying to warn her of what the government had plan to do to you, Please you need to get out of here, once they have you there's nothing we can do to save you.”
Suddenly they heard the on coming hum of a motor approaching them from the darkness.
“They’re here! They must be tracking you somehow, do you have cell phones on you?”
Glancing at each other then at Max they waited for him to give an order.
Max just shook his head.
“Everyone has a say, I’m not your leader, but my vote is to trust her, the sheriff is right if she was still working for them we’d be in the hands of the FBI by now, time is running out, we have to find Liz and Alex.”
After a nod from Isabel Michael lowered his hand. “How do we get out of here?”
Jim opened the jeep door rushing them inside. “Smash your phones on the rock on the edge of the woods and take my truck. We’ll keep them here as long as we can. Drive till you get to the devil’s mouth and push it over the cliff, it's too steep to get to. They’ll think you died instantly. It’s your only hope.”
Holding onto the door Max lifted his weary eyes towards the Sheriff.
“Why?”
Remembering the night at bitter lake Jim rested his hand on Max’s shoulder seeing only an innocent kid not an evil monster.
“Because I would hope if my son needed help someone would be there.”
Spotting the evidence of headlights Kathleen pulled Jim out of the way and closed the door.
“You have to go now! Drive as fast as you can!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flying down the road the four of them sat in silence still stunned by what had happened.
Taking a deep breath Max held his head in pain.
“If I feel this bad she must be in agony, we have to find them, Isabel you have to try to reach Alex, Liz will be too weak.”
Panicking she held her hands up in the air. “I don’t have a picture of him, does anyone?”
Shaking her head Maria sighed. “My purse is in the Jetta, I have nothing.”
Sitting back in the seat Isabel began to cry. “That’s it, they could be anywhere, we’ll never find them now.”
Holding tight to the wheel Michael turned towards Max. “I thought you could reach Tess, tell her to come to you or something.”
Letting his head fall back he sighed out in frustration. “I’m not strong enough yet, besides there’s no guarantee she’d bring Liz or Alex.”
“Wait!” Maria yelled from the back seat as she pulled a guitar pick from her pocket.
“He made me take it for good luck, I know it’s not a picture but it is special to him, do you think you could make it work?”
Lying back Isabel closed her eyes and held the pick tight against her heart.
“I’ll do my best.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After several attempts Alex knew only one thing would relax him enough to allow him to possibly fall asleep.
It took a few minutes but he soon found himself in the arms of his love dancing slow in a room lit by candlelight.
After several spins around the dance floor he pulled her close and lifted her chin up towards his lips.
It was as if she was in a trance caught up in the moment, he was definitely dreaming.
Parting slightly he breathed out lost in her wanting to stay this way forever.
“This is really nice Alex, but if we’re going to rescue you I have to know where you are.”
A wide grin appeared across his face as he held her tight. “I knew you would find me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gasping for air Isabel sat straight up in her seat.
Yelling from the front Michael eyed her in the rear view mirror. “Did it work? Do you know where they are?”
Wiping the sweat off his forehead Max smiled slightly knowing his sister.
“Judging from her blushed cheeks I’d say it worked just fine.”
Thoroughly embarrassed Isabel smoothed out her blonde hair and pointed out the side window.
“They’re not far, but he’s alone, they took Liz out of the car. I can describe where they are but we have to move fast. Alex said she didn’t have much time.”
Lowering his head Max whispered to Michael as his heart pounded against his chest.
“Hurry, Michael …please.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kicking down the door of the abandoned building Tess threw Liz inside furious at her attempt to escape.
Kneeling down to her covered face Tess pulled the sac off and positioned her flashlight so it was shinning straight in her eyes.
“Get it done Tess!”
Liz shivered as she heard the cold monotone voice of Nasedo as he slammed the door behind him.
Sitting Indian style across from her she titled her head to the side studying the frail brunette.
“If you tell me what I want to know I'll make it quick, if not, well lets just say I have ways of making a few hours seem like a lifetime, do we understand each other?"
Fighting to keep herself from loosing consciousness Liz nodded slowly.
“Question is do you care enough about Max to save his life?”
Coughing from her severely dry throat and increasingly constricting lungs, Liz took a shallow breath before answering her.
“What do you want from me Tess?”
“Does he have it back?”
Resting her head against the cold wooden slates of the broken down building Liz sighed.
“Does he have what back?”
Standing Tess kicked her hard in her ribs sending her crashing to the floor wincing in pain.
“Would you like to play more games, or are you ready to talk, because honestly Liz I could do this for hours, this is the most fun I’ve had in a really long time.”
Spitting out a small amount of blood Liz curled into a ball on the floor.
“I’m not sure, he was pretty weak after it was over, I don’t know if he has all his memory or not, and that’s the truth.”
Looking back as the door opened Tess quickly turned back around and kicked her hard once more in the face this time knocking her out cold.
“I think she was telling the truth.”
Folding her arms she nodded towards Nasedo and smiled.
“Yeah so do I, I just couldn’t help myself, she's just so cute when she's sleeping.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the four of them stood at the edge of the Devil’s mouth watching the sheriff’s jeep burn Max fell to his knees in agony.
Rushing to help him Michael knelt beside him. “What is it!?”
“It’s Liz, she’s dying, Isabel, you have to connect with Alex again. Tell him to distract them away from her. I have a plan, but I’m going to need all your powers to make this happen, we’re going to have to work together.”
Running as fast as they could with Max in their arms, they began to make out what looked like the bumper of the Jetta parked in front of the broken down structure that looked more like a shack.
Lifting his drained body his hoarse voice cracked with pain as his connection to her became stronger.
"She's in there, I can feel her, oh my god she's so scared."
Whispering Maria’s voice shook with fear.
“What the hell are we going to do now?”
Bracing himself against a tall pine tree Max gazed over in her direction overwhelmed with the feeling of her love for him.
It was that moment he knew exactly what they needed to do.
"We have to combined our powers, our essence."
Isabel rested her hand on his shoulder worried about what could happen.
"But Max, we've never tried this before, what if something goes wrong?"
Reaching out for her hand he smiled without fear or doubt.
Giving a reassuring nod to Michael he stepped out from the tree struggling for the strength he knew he had to find for her.
"It's been there all along, we just had to have faith, separately we don't have a chance, but together they can't touch us."
