Through the Venetian blinds of his father’s office Kyle watched Philip Evans take his son out to the car in the parking lot. As the door opened behind him, he turned to see his father enter the room, his face obviously unhappy. Kyle wasn’t feeling very happy either,…Liz was still a good friend, even if they weren’t a couple any more.
“You let Max go…?”
“I had no choice. I had to just let that bastard walk right out the door…the judge wouldn’t let me keep him. I know Liz is a friend of yours, Kyle…but I really had no choice.”
“Gee Dad,…you’ve got this all wrong. I came here to tell you about Max and Liz…hell, Max isn’t your guy,….I’d never believe he’d hurt her.”
“But son, Maria DeLuca told us, he’s been sort of stalking her…maybe for years.”
“Like that’s news?? Hell, everyone kidded Max about being in love with Liz in elementary school…hell, in the fourth grade. Max was always mooning over Liz, and Isabel was always trying to pull him away from her.”
“But don’t you understand, son? That’s what happens…guys fall in love with girls….or think they do, the girl doesn’t return his affection….the guy gets angry….that’s what’s called domestic violence. The guy’s feelings turn to rage when they aren’t reciprocated….he becomes angry…abusive….violent.”
“You don’t understand, Dad. You don’t understand at all. The feelings …they were reciprocated.”
“What?”
“I don’t know what happened to Max, Dad, but it happened sometime in the sixth grade. Before that…well, he was just one of the guys…except for his tongue always hanging out when Liz was around, not that she minded any. But everything had changed by junior high. Max is a good athlete, Dad. He could have made any of the teams…but he never turned out for any of them, just retreated into a shell….like he was afraid of the world. He stayed away from Liz then too, or tried to….like he was afraid of her. But you could tell it in his eyes, the way he’d watch her, he’d never really gotten over her.”
“Well that’s just it, son…..he never did get over her, but she got over him. Maybe he tried to approach her…tried to force himself on her…she rejected him…next thing you know, he’s planning to get his revenge.”
“Max isn’t that kind of guy, Dad. And besides..Liz never did get over him. I was the third guy she’s dated, and I should have known better. Both of the others warned me, but I didn’t listen.
Oh, Liz is fun to be around, but it’s like her mind is somewhere else…not really on you, if you know what I mean. And the first time Max was around when we were dating…well, I knew too, just like the other two guys had said. It was like she was trying to keep the conversation going with you, but you could tell that her eyes…and her mind…well, they were on Evans.”
“She was that afraid of him? All of this time?”
“Afraid, Dad?...of Max? I think the only fears Liz ever had of Max was that…well, maybe that someone else would bear his children and not her. She was so in love with him….even when we were dating…I mean…that’s what broke us up. Even if she had chosen me, I would have always known…known I was really second choice. Max wouldn’t have had to force himself on Liz, Dad…..all he would have ever needed to do was to stop running from her…”
4:15 PM The Evans Residence, Roswell New Mexico
“Dad, we can talk about all the alien stuff later…that doesn’t matter to me as much as it used to I guess. I’m glad you know…it’ll be nice to finally tell Mom…but what’s important right now is Liz”
“Don’t worry about your mother, kids. I think she always really did know, deep down in her heart. She sort of implied as much a few times, without ever really saying it. She’ll be OK with it…glad, in fact, that you can be honest with her about it now. But you’re right, Max. Miss Parker is the important one right now. We need to get her back…back to the people who love her.”
Philip looked at his daughter and his eyes met hers, as if in apology. Philip hadn’t REALLY believed her…not about her and Max being aliens, that he’d accepted readily enough. But Max loving the girl…since the third grade…and his parents never knowing?
But looking at his son…well, it was obvious. Max really would do anything for the girl….and only recently was Philip starting to realize what things his son was capable of doing…..he felt a shiver in his spine…not of fear for Max but fear for Valenti. Philip knew what he’d have done if he’d been sixteen and Valenti had said something like that about the one he loved. They wouldn’t have found enough of Valenti to bury. They needed to find this girl, for her sake, for Max’s sake…for everyone’s sake.
“We need more information about what happened that night,” said Philip Evans. “The people to give us that will be the other people who worked there on that shift.”
“That’d be Maria DeLuca and the cook,” said Isabel. “They were the only two still there when we left.”
“Let’s go to the Crashdown then..” said Philip Evans.
4:40 PM 8 miles outside of Roswell on Silvermine Road
Liz was crying as she struggled to pull the full cylinder up toward her chest, feeling her legs trapped…immobile between the two cylinders. ‘God if I could just move my legs…move my arms…sit up….even for just a second….’
But she couldn’t. The cylinders wedged her legs into the bottom corners of the box, and even then it was tight. She’d tried pulling the full bottle up to her first…that had been even worse. The diameter of the two bottles were too great, they’d crushed against her chest..not allowing her to even breathe. She’d fought panic as she’d pushed the full bottle back between her legs…but now, the immobilization of her legs was all she could think about, that and not being able to move her arms outside the narrow confines of the box…a box that she was almost certain was getting narrower by the second.
She fumbled with the small flashlight..found it….then decided not to turn it on. She was better not knowing.
She pulled at the full oxygen cylinder, bracing her feet against the end of the box with all her might. It didn’t budge. She didn’t have the strength. ‘How long has it been? A day…a week…?’ she asked herself. ‘You’re dehydrated, Liz, and tired from no sleep, weak from no food, laying on hard plywood, your muscles cramping from being too long in one position…’
But she knew it wasn’t going to get better. She had no food…no water…she tried turning the valve one more time..but still could get no leverage. ‘..and if anything, Liz, you’re getting weaker,’ she told herself. ‘You need to get this bottle…get it opened…get more oxygen….or use the matches…use them while you still can.’
Liz used the flashlight then, shielding it…so she couldn’t see the walls, just her wristwatch…just the second hand. She was breathing almost 20 times a minute. Was that the carbon dioxide…or the fear?
“You’ve got to do this, Liz…you’ve got to do it now…." she said out loud, her hoarse voice rasping weakly, barely audible even in the narrow confines of the box. She was crying, but there were no tears. Her body had no water to spare for them.
Incubus, Succubus, & Demon AU/Mature M/L 2/8/07 complete
Moderators: Anniepoo98, Rowedog, ISLANDGIRL5, Itzstacie, truelovepooh, FSU/MSW-94, Hunter, Island Breeze, Forum Moderators
5:15 PM The Crashdown Cafe, Roswell New Mexico
Maria watched the three enter and sit at the booth. She'd never really been close to Max, but they'd been casual friends once...before he and Liz had drifted apart. No, she realized, that wasn't true. Before Max had dumped Liz. But that wasn't true either. Sixth graders really didn't do boy-girl stuff...at least no other sixth graders had. She'd heard the rumors about him..the Sheriff...him taking the fifth. She didn't believe it..not for a minute. Maria was scared and hurting...deep inside of her. As she looked at Max's face ...well, it was obvious. He was hurting too.
"Max..Isabel..," Maria nodded as she handed out the menus, and set three water glasses in front of them. "I'm not really sure you guys are welcome here..."
"Maria, I would never hurt Liz.."
"I know that Max, it's just...well, people talk, and the Parkers are so upset...they are hurting so bad too..they listen for any news..and hear all sorts of stuff...some of it about you."
"Can you help us, Maria?" asked Isabel. "Can you help us get Liz back?"
"Well there's a change at least," said Maria.
"Maria...don't rub it in. I was wrong, ...OK? I should have never tried to separate them. But that doesn't matter now, Maria...maybe it never did. What's important now is that we get Liz back."
"If you can tell us anything about that night, Maria,...anything that might help us understand what happened..might give us a clue. Anyone who was here...any people or even vehicles that you might have seen sitting around outside when you went home...any of that.." said Philip Evans.
"No, it was pretty much all routine. I mean, you two were here right up until almost closing. Well, Liz did forget about the bank deposit...just left it on the counter for all that time. But nobody stole it or anything. I didn't see anything unusual..there were four other customers, but the Sheriff interviewed them. I mean, two of them were the Gibsons, and they are like in their eighties, and the other two...that was a young couple and his parents picked them up just as we were closing. The Sheriff talked to them all...I guess they've all got alibis or something. Cars? I'm sure there were some parked on the street...but I don't remember anything special about any of them.."
"You!" came the shout from the back room. "You have some nerve coming here.."
"Calm down, Jeff," said Philip Evans. "Max didn't do anything to Liz."
"Then why did he take the Fifth amendment? Why didn't you tell him to talk to the Sheriff?....help him find my Lizzy?"
"Jeff, I was there. I saw how the Sheriff was treating him. The interrogation was illegal to begin with. You want to know the kinds of things the Sheriff was saying to Max....?"
Max did NOT like the direction this conversation was going.He put a hand on his father's arm. "Mr. Parker...I am so sorry for what has happened to Liz. I would do anything...anything at all to get her back safely."
"Really? Well why don't you just tell the truth, Evans. Go back to the Sheriff and tell him what REALLY happened. Oh, and that sign that says we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone...well that means you three. Maria...take their order, feed them, and get them out of here. If they come back...call the police..they'll be trespassing."
"I'm sorry, Max. I guess I wasn't much help, huh?" said Maria. "You guys know what you want to order?"
"Let's forget it," said Max. "I don't have much of an appetite right now anyway. I want to go home."
"OK, son. Izzy, we've probably got all we are going to get from here. Let's go."
"I'm sorry guys, Mr. P. is just upset, he doesn't mean it," said Maria.
"It sounded like he meant it," said Isabel.
Maria broke into tears, blubbering as she did so, "She and I have been friends since second grade...How can this be happening?"
As the three departed the Crashdown, Max Evans was the last out the door. As he left the building he saw her then, just turning the corner, returning from the Sheriff's Office. Her eyes looked up at him accusingly, tears streaking down her cheeks. "How could you, Max?"
"Mrs. Parker..I didn't."
The woman seemed to slump, suddenly seeming so small...so helpless. "Mothers and daughters have a special relationship, Max. She'd come to me sometimes...crying...her heart breaking. She loved you so much. Even in sixth grade...silly as that was. She kept hoping...even this year...picking you for her lab partner. She never did give up on you...but now she's gone. Did you do it, Max?"
How do you answer that? Did he do it? If he hadn't let her go....'No Max,' he thought, 'be honest with yourself, if you hadn't driven her away..you'd have been there with her that night. You'd have been there and you'd have died before you let anyone hurt her. The dream was right...you should have taken the chance.....you should have given her the choice.' "Mrs Parker..., she's not dead yet. I think somehow I'd know it if she was. I.....I love her too, Mrs. Parker."
"Do you, Max?," Nancy Parker asked. "Why didn't you ever let her know?"
Max didn't know what to say. He had no answer for Nancy Parker....he had no answer for himself.
Nancy pushed by him then to enter the building, turning to look back at him. "I wish," she said," that someone would have just stolen that moneybag when it was sitting there on the counter. She wouldn't have gone to the bank then. What's eleven hundred and eighty-six dollars compared to losing your little girl?"
Isabel looked at her brother...he looked like he was about to collapse. "Max? Are you alright?"
6:00 PM 8 miles outside of Roswell on Silvermine Road
Hissss. The oxygen moved against her face, briefly cooling it. It had been hot hard work. Only after she'd given up...believed she could never do it....only then had she stopped pushing with her feet against the end of the box. With her calf muscles flaccid, the tank had moved...just a millimeter or two, scarcely enough to feel. But she had pulled on it, feeling it scrape over the other cylinder, scrape over her legs. As long as she could keep her legs relaxed, she could make progress...not much, because her elbows would quickly hit the sides of the box as she inched the cylinder up. The weight on her legs ...the enforced immobility..it was so hard. Her legs would sometimes spasm..and all progress would halt. Her forearms would cramp, trying to keep a grip on the cylinder...now slick with her sweat. She had finally gotten the cylinder in position...nearly exhausted...and found that she lacked the strength to turn the valve. So she'd rested...if you could call it resting. She had massaged her forearms...her biceps...her triceps, trying to get the circulation back. She'd ripped off material from the blouse...wadding it around the valve lever, trying to get a better purchase....and finally...after what seemed like hours...she was rewarded by the sound of the oxygen flowing at last.
She was spent...emotionally and physically exhausted. But how do you rest...when you are trapped in your own tomb? She had to get out...to sit up...to be able to stretch....she couldn't take it any longer...there had to be a way...she fumbled in the darkness..finally found the flashlight..turned it on to find some way...some hope of gettng out....
But all she saw was the walls...the walls that were closing in on her, even while she watched. She started hyperventilating..feeling more and more a hunger for air...real air...cool air...air devoid of sweat and vomit and urine and ....fear. She retreated in to her mind...seeking some other place...some place where she didn't have to face the terror of reality.....
Maria watched the three enter and sit at the booth. She'd never really been close to Max, but they'd been casual friends once...before he and Liz had drifted apart. No, she realized, that wasn't true. Before Max had dumped Liz. But that wasn't true either. Sixth graders really didn't do boy-girl stuff...at least no other sixth graders had. She'd heard the rumors about him..the Sheriff...him taking the fifth. She didn't believe it..not for a minute. Maria was scared and hurting...deep inside of her. As she looked at Max's face ...well, it was obvious. He was hurting too.
"Max..Isabel..," Maria nodded as she handed out the menus, and set three water glasses in front of them. "I'm not really sure you guys are welcome here..."
"Maria, I would never hurt Liz.."
"I know that Max, it's just...well, people talk, and the Parkers are so upset...they are hurting so bad too..they listen for any news..and hear all sorts of stuff...some of it about you."
"Can you help us, Maria?" asked Isabel. "Can you help us get Liz back?"
"Well there's a change at least," said Maria.
"Maria...don't rub it in. I was wrong, ...OK? I should have never tried to separate them. But that doesn't matter now, Maria...maybe it never did. What's important now is that we get Liz back."
"If you can tell us anything about that night, Maria,...anything that might help us understand what happened..might give us a clue. Anyone who was here...any people or even vehicles that you might have seen sitting around outside when you went home...any of that.." said Philip Evans.
"No, it was pretty much all routine. I mean, you two were here right up until almost closing. Well, Liz did forget about the bank deposit...just left it on the counter for all that time. But nobody stole it or anything. I didn't see anything unusual..there were four other customers, but the Sheriff interviewed them. I mean, two of them were the Gibsons, and they are like in their eighties, and the other two...that was a young couple and his parents picked them up just as we were closing. The Sheriff talked to them all...I guess they've all got alibis or something. Cars? I'm sure there were some parked on the street...but I don't remember anything special about any of them.."
"You!" came the shout from the back room. "You have some nerve coming here.."
"Calm down, Jeff," said Philip Evans. "Max didn't do anything to Liz."
"Then why did he take the Fifth amendment? Why didn't you tell him to talk to the Sheriff?....help him find my Lizzy?"
"Jeff, I was there. I saw how the Sheriff was treating him. The interrogation was illegal to begin with. You want to know the kinds of things the Sheriff was saying to Max....?"
Max did NOT like the direction this conversation was going.He put a hand on his father's arm. "Mr. Parker...I am so sorry for what has happened to Liz. I would do anything...anything at all to get her back safely."
"Really? Well why don't you just tell the truth, Evans. Go back to the Sheriff and tell him what REALLY happened. Oh, and that sign that says we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone...well that means you three. Maria...take their order, feed them, and get them out of here. If they come back...call the police..they'll be trespassing."
"I'm sorry, Max. I guess I wasn't much help, huh?" said Maria. "You guys know what you want to order?"
"Let's forget it," said Max. "I don't have much of an appetite right now anyway. I want to go home."
"OK, son. Izzy, we've probably got all we are going to get from here. Let's go."
"I'm sorry guys, Mr. P. is just upset, he doesn't mean it," said Maria.
"It sounded like he meant it," said Isabel.
Maria broke into tears, blubbering as she did so, "She and I have been friends since second grade...How can this be happening?"
As the three departed the Crashdown, Max Evans was the last out the door. As he left the building he saw her then, just turning the corner, returning from the Sheriff's Office. Her eyes looked up at him accusingly, tears streaking down her cheeks. "How could you, Max?"
"Mrs. Parker..I didn't."
The woman seemed to slump, suddenly seeming so small...so helpless. "Mothers and daughters have a special relationship, Max. She'd come to me sometimes...crying...her heart breaking. She loved you so much. Even in sixth grade...silly as that was. She kept hoping...even this year...picking you for her lab partner. She never did give up on you...but now she's gone. Did you do it, Max?"
How do you answer that? Did he do it? If he hadn't let her go....'No Max,' he thought, 'be honest with yourself, if you hadn't driven her away..you'd have been there with her that night. You'd have been there and you'd have died before you let anyone hurt her. The dream was right...you should have taken the chance.....you should have given her the choice.' "Mrs Parker..., she's not dead yet. I think somehow I'd know it if she was. I.....I love her too, Mrs. Parker."
"Do you, Max?," Nancy Parker asked. "Why didn't you ever let her know?"
Max didn't know what to say. He had no answer for Nancy Parker....he had no answer for himself.
Nancy pushed by him then to enter the building, turning to look back at him. "I wish," she said," that someone would have just stolen that moneybag when it was sitting there on the counter. She wouldn't have gone to the bank then. What's eleven hundred and eighty-six dollars compared to losing your little girl?"
Isabel looked at her brother...he looked like he was about to collapse. "Max? Are you alright?"
6:00 PM 8 miles outside of Roswell on Silvermine Road
Hissss. The oxygen moved against her face, briefly cooling it. It had been hot hard work. Only after she'd given up...believed she could never do it....only then had she stopped pushing with her feet against the end of the box. With her calf muscles flaccid, the tank had moved...just a millimeter or two, scarcely enough to feel. But she had pulled on it, feeling it scrape over the other cylinder, scrape over her legs. As long as she could keep her legs relaxed, she could make progress...not much, because her elbows would quickly hit the sides of the box as she inched the cylinder up. The weight on her legs ...the enforced immobility..it was so hard. Her legs would sometimes spasm..and all progress would halt. Her forearms would cramp, trying to keep a grip on the cylinder...now slick with her sweat. She had finally gotten the cylinder in position...nearly exhausted...and found that she lacked the strength to turn the valve. So she'd rested...if you could call it resting. She had massaged her forearms...her biceps...her triceps, trying to get the circulation back. She'd ripped off material from the blouse...wadding it around the valve lever, trying to get a better purchase....and finally...after what seemed like hours...she was rewarded by the sound of the oxygen flowing at last.
She was spent...emotionally and physically exhausted. But how do you rest...when you are trapped in your own tomb? She had to get out...to sit up...to be able to stretch....she couldn't take it any longer...there had to be a way...she fumbled in the darkness..finally found the flashlight..turned it on to find some way...some hope of gettng out....
But all she saw was the walls...the walls that were closing in on her, even while she watched. She started hyperventilating..feeling more and more a hunger for air...real air...cool air...air devoid of sweat and vomit and urine and ....fear. She retreated in to her mind...seeking some other place...some place where she didn't have to face the terror of reality.....
Last edited by greywolf on Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
6:35 PM The Evans Residence, Roswell NM
Isabel had been surprised at how well her mother had taken it. Her dad had been right, she’d known it was something…known it for a long time. It hadn’t really been much of a shock. She had scolded Max jokingly, telling him if that was the big secret, he could have spilled it ten years ago. But Max hadn’t laughed…hadn’t even seemed relieved that Mom knew. Something was eating at Max.
Diane served up toasted cheese sandwiches and tomato soup as they had their first ever family meeting that wasn’t colored by the need to hide the secret. It might have been enjoyable too, if it hadn’t been for Liz…and Max.
“Son,” said Philip, “..you’ve been like a zombie since we left that restaurant. Do you remember something about that night that you’d forgotten? Did Maria jog your memory about anything...anything at all?”
“It’s not really Maria, Dad. As a matter of fact…it started out today at the Sheriff’s office…when that Doctor Powers asked that we not tell anyone about the ether….because it was a secret they were holding back. When I went in to that alley…I was looking for a container of ether. I thought at first that I’d read it in the research we’d done but I went back and..she was right. That had never been mentioned.”
“That’s odd, son, but coincidences happen.”
“But today…when we ran into Liz’s mom as we were leaving the Crashdown…the last thing she said to me…about the bank deposit…I knew the amount…precisely. It was eleven hundred and eighty-six dollars. I knew that, Dad, when she told me that I already knew that.”
“That does seem like an improbable coincidence,” said Diane Evans.
“Well son, you might not have really known that. Sometimes your mind plays tricks on you. You hear something, then kind of remember remembering it…kind of like an echo in your brain. It’s not that uncommon, really. It’s called déjà vu phenomenon.
“Maybe..but the two incidents were separate…talking to Dr. Underwood…then talking to Mrs. Parker…but it seems to me that I learned those two things at the same time…that’d be kind of unusual for déjà vu I think.”
“Well when DO you remember first learning those, Max?”
“I think it was in a dream I had…a dream about Liz. In the dream…well, she told me those things…told me how she’d been kidnapped….and why…..well…why she was bitter about the two of us….just like her mom said today…bitter like that.”
“Are you sure it was a dream, Max?” asked Isabel. “It almost sounds like a dreamwalk.”
“You know I don’t dreamwalk, Izzy. Besides, I really didn’t even have a picture of Liz….only an old one….from sixth grade.”
“One from back when you were still close friends, Max? That actually might have worked better.”
“No Isabel, that’s impossible. I mean if you had seen the dream…you’d know it couldn’t have been real.”
“But that’s just it, Max. The dream ISN’T real, it’s a dream. What you see the person doing in a dreamwalk is usually controlled by them, not you. I mean, if Liz dreamt that I was bringing her a flower, and you were dreamwalking her, you’d see me bringing her a flower. But if she dreamt that YOU were bringing her a flower, well in your dreamwalk..you’d probably actually be bringing her a flower…unless you used your will to alter what you were doing. When I dreamwalk Alex, a lot of time he is dancing with me. When I step into the dream, I don’t see him dancing with me, I just find myself in his arms dancing. Was your dream something like that?”
“Max, are you OK,” asked Diane Evans, the alarm obvious in her voice. “He’s turning all red and choking, Philip. Should we do the Heimlich maneuver?”
“I think…dear….maybe he’s just blushing….”
Isabel had been surprised at how well her mother had taken it. Her dad had been right, she’d known it was something…known it for a long time. It hadn’t really been much of a shock. She had scolded Max jokingly, telling him if that was the big secret, he could have spilled it ten years ago. But Max hadn’t laughed…hadn’t even seemed relieved that Mom knew. Something was eating at Max.
Diane served up toasted cheese sandwiches and tomato soup as they had their first ever family meeting that wasn’t colored by the need to hide the secret. It might have been enjoyable too, if it hadn’t been for Liz…and Max.
“Son,” said Philip, “..you’ve been like a zombie since we left that restaurant. Do you remember something about that night that you’d forgotten? Did Maria jog your memory about anything...anything at all?”
“It’s not really Maria, Dad. As a matter of fact…it started out today at the Sheriff’s office…when that Doctor Powers asked that we not tell anyone about the ether….because it was a secret they were holding back. When I went in to that alley…I was looking for a container of ether. I thought at first that I’d read it in the research we’d done but I went back and..she was right. That had never been mentioned.”
“That’s odd, son, but coincidences happen.”
“But today…when we ran into Liz’s mom as we were leaving the Crashdown…the last thing she said to me…about the bank deposit…I knew the amount…precisely. It was eleven hundred and eighty-six dollars. I knew that, Dad, when she told me that I already knew that.”
“That does seem like an improbable coincidence,” said Diane Evans.
“Well son, you might not have really known that. Sometimes your mind plays tricks on you. You hear something, then kind of remember remembering it…kind of like an echo in your brain. It’s not that uncommon, really. It’s called déjà vu phenomenon.
“Maybe..but the two incidents were separate…talking to Dr. Underwood…then talking to Mrs. Parker…but it seems to me that I learned those two things at the same time…that’d be kind of unusual for déjà vu I think.”
“Well when DO you remember first learning those, Max?”
“I think it was in a dream I had…a dream about Liz. In the dream…well, she told me those things…told me how she’d been kidnapped….and why…..well…why she was bitter about the two of us….just like her mom said today…bitter like that.”
“Are you sure it was a dream, Max?” asked Isabel. “It almost sounds like a dreamwalk.”
“You know I don’t dreamwalk, Izzy. Besides, I really didn’t even have a picture of Liz….only an old one….from sixth grade.”
“One from back when you were still close friends, Max? That actually might have worked better.”
“No Isabel, that’s impossible. I mean if you had seen the dream…you’d know it couldn’t have been real.”
“But that’s just it, Max. The dream ISN’T real, it’s a dream. What you see the person doing in a dreamwalk is usually controlled by them, not you. I mean, if Liz dreamt that I was bringing her a flower, and you were dreamwalking her, you’d see me bringing her a flower. But if she dreamt that YOU were bringing her a flower, well in your dreamwalk..you’d probably actually be bringing her a flower…unless you used your will to alter what you were doing. When I dreamwalk Alex, a lot of time he is dancing with me. When I step into the dream, I don’t see him dancing with me, I just find myself in his arms dancing. Was your dream something like that?”
“Max, are you OK,” asked Diane Evans, the alarm obvious in her voice. “He’s turning all red and choking, Philip. Should we do the Heimlich maneuver?”
“I think…dear….maybe he’s just blushing….”
8:30 PM 8 miles outside of Roswell on Silvermine Road
Liz really wasn’t sure why her mind had taken her back to that room…..the dream there had, in its own way, been as painful as her current reality. Perhaps there was no sense in any of it…not the one you love abandoning you just as you are becoming old enough to truly explore the wonders of that love…not the present certainty that 16 years of life is all you are going to get on this planet, and most especially not the miserable senseless way that you are departing this mortal coil.
But the human mind can only take so much, and Liz was, after all, only human. She had endured the hunger and the thirst and the terror of claustrophobia and near suffocation…and in the end she had even endured the knowledge that her life was nearly spent and she would die a gruesome and meaningless death.
Yes, she’d gone through all the steps…the denial, the anger, the bargaining with a fate that wasn’t interested in bargaining, the depression,..and now she was finally at the last stage…the acceptance.
The death of Liz Parker was going to happen. The dreams she had were never going to be. No, not the dreams of molecular biology, not the dreams of Max Evans, not the dreams of college and graduate school and marriage and a family and a wonderful life. None of those things were going to be. What was going to happen was death, and death would come soon for her…death in the spark of a match and an intense fire that would end her suffering in less than a minute…..and she had accepted that.
Liz had once read a story about bomber pilots in WWII. They lost 5% of the planes each mission, and the tour of duty was 50 missions….meaning only one in six would survive. The pilots said that in order to function at all they had to give up all hope of surviving….and only then could they stand the stress…which then would only return on their last mission, where they might again hope that they would somehow survive their tour.
Liz felt like that. She had given up all hope…and found some small degree of comfort by doing so. She felt that she couldn’t afford to hope…that hope at this point would drive her totally insane. Resignation…resignation and acceptance of her fate…that was the only way that a 16 year old girl could face a senseless death with a measure of calm.
She lay back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling of the room…but she didn’t see it…didn’t care about the room whatsoever. She was simply waiting…waiting with quiet acceptance for the time of death…..
9:00 PM, Max Evans room, the Evans Residence, Roswell New Mexico.
He had been laying in bed for almost an hour, staring at her sixth grade picture. But sleep wouldn’t come, and certainly not a dream…let alone a dreamwalk. In the last hour his parents had each checked on him once, and Izzy twice. That really wasn’t conducive to sleep either.
He looked at her picture..trying to visualize the little girl in the sixth grade…but the image wouldn’t come. What he saw was Liz…Liz the one he’d always wanted…Liz the one he’d always loved….buried alive…screaming in terror for help…while he lay there in his home…comfortable…surrounded by a loving family.
So sleep wasn’t coming easily for Max Evans, laying there looking up at the ceiling…it was hard to concentrate on the picture…in the dim light….with his vision blurred by tears……
Liz really wasn’t sure why her mind had taken her back to that room…..the dream there had, in its own way, been as painful as her current reality. Perhaps there was no sense in any of it…not the one you love abandoning you just as you are becoming old enough to truly explore the wonders of that love…not the present certainty that 16 years of life is all you are going to get on this planet, and most especially not the miserable senseless way that you are departing this mortal coil.
But the human mind can only take so much, and Liz was, after all, only human. She had endured the hunger and the thirst and the terror of claustrophobia and near suffocation…and in the end she had even endured the knowledge that her life was nearly spent and she would die a gruesome and meaningless death.
Yes, she’d gone through all the steps…the denial, the anger, the bargaining with a fate that wasn’t interested in bargaining, the depression,..and now she was finally at the last stage…the acceptance.
The death of Liz Parker was going to happen. The dreams she had were never going to be. No, not the dreams of molecular biology, not the dreams of Max Evans, not the dreams of college and graduate school and marriage and a family and a wonderful life. None of those things were going to be. What was going to happen was death, and death would come soon for her…death in the spark of a match and an intense fire that would end her suffering in less than a minute…..and she had accepted that.
Liz had once read a story about bomber pilots in WWII. They lost 5% of the planes each mission, and the tour of duty was 50 missions….meaning only one in six would survive. The pilots said that in order to function at all they had to give up all hope of surviving….and only then could they stand the stress…which then would only return on their last mission, where they might again hope that they would somehow survive their tour.
Liz felt like that. She had given up all hope…and found some small degree of comfort by doing so. She felt that she couldn’t afford to hope…that hope at this point would drive her totally insane. Resignation…resignation and acceptance of her fate…that was the only way that a 16 year old girl could face a senseless death with a measure of calm.
She lay back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling of the room…but she didn’t see it…didn’t care about the room whatsoever. She was simply waiting…waiting with quiet acceptance for the time of death…..
9:00 PM, Max Evans room, the Evans Residence, Roswell New Mexico.
He had been laying in bed for almost an hour, staring at her sixth grade picture. But sleep wouldn’t come, and certainly not a dream…let alone a dreamwalk. In the last hour his parents had each checked on him once, and Izzy twice. That really wasn’t conducive to sleep either.
He looked at her picture..trying to visualize the little girl in the sixth grade…but the image wouldn’t come. What he saw was Liz…Liz the one he’d always wanted…Liz the one he’d always loved….buried alive…screaming in terror for help…while he lay there in his home…comfortable…surrounded by a loving family.
So sleep wasn’t coming easily for Max Evans, laying there looking up at the ceiling…it was hard to concentrate on the picture…in the dim light….with his vision blurred by tears……
10:10 PM 8 miles outside of Roswell on Silvermine Road
The decision had made it all…..easier, somehow. It was logical…despite the terror…only because of that measure of calm that came from the resignation. That had allowed her to think….to think clearly at last, her mind unencumbered by fear…by longing…by…love.
They weren’t going to come for her…..she realized that. If anyone had seen him do it…if anyone had seen her being buried….if any one had a clue that she was buried in the box…they would have surely done something by now. And with the calm…with the resignation…there came an objectivity that was unyielding in its logic.
‘You are going to die here, Liz,’ she told herself. ‘Your only choice is to die quickly…or to die slowly.”
They didn’t know where she was….hell,…she didn’t know where she was….didn’t know even who had done this to her or why. But the resignation allowed her to understand…to look at the future objectively…with no hope, because there was none…but with no EXPECTATION of hope….and that was somehow less painful…less stressful…less horrible than keeping hope alive…knowing that hope was a lie. She’d kept hope alive…kept the lie about Max alive for the last three years. It hadn’t worked out either. It was time for the pain to stop.
So she had already made the decision. She would not prolong the agony…not even for the day or two that might be squeezed from the remaining cylinder. Once she left the dream room, whenever that happened, she would return to that hell...the hell of a space too small, of air too rank, of pain and hurt and walls closing in. But she would not be there for long…little longer than it took to strike one match.
Perhaps resignation wasn’t contentment….but it was close enough…and the brief flare of pain as the fire consumed her really wouldn’t be all that bad.
She stared at the ceiling of the room….laying back on the dream bed..her arms and legs spread like she was making a snow angel…knowing from that alone that this was a dream…knowing that she would never have that freedom again.
The decision had made it all…..easier, somehow. It was logical…despite the terror…only because of that measure of calm that came from the resignation. That had allowed her to think….to think clearly at last, her mind unencumbered by fear…by longing…by…love.
They weren’t going to come for her…..she realized that. If anyone had seen him do it…if anyone had seen her being buried….if any one had a clue that she was buried in the box…they would have surely done something by now. And with the calm…with the resignation…there came an objectivity that was unyielding in its logic.
‘You are going to die here, Liz,’ she told herself. ‘Your only choice is to die quickly…or to die slowly.”
They didn’t know where she was….hell,…she didn’t know where she was….didn’t know even who had done this to her or why. But the resignation allowed her to understand…to look at the future objectively…with no hope, because there was none…but with no EXPECTATION of hope….and that was somehow less painful…less stressful…less horrible than keeping hope alive…knowing that hope was a lie. She’d kept hope alive…kept the lie about Max alive for the last three years. It hadn’t worked out either. It was time for the pain to stop.
So she had already made the decision. She would not prolong the agony…not even for the day or two that might be squeezed from the remaining cylinder. Once she left the dream room, whenever that happened, she would return to that hell...the hell of a space too small, of air too rank, of pain and hurt and walls closing in. But she would not be there for long…little longer than it took to strike one match.
Perhaps resignation wasn’t contentment….but it was close enough…and the brief flare of pain as the fire consumed her really wouldn’t be all that bad.
She stared at the ceiling of the room….laying back on the dream bed..her arms and legs spread like she was making a snow angel…knowing from that alone that this was a dream…knowing that she would never have that freedom again.
10:30 PM Max Evans room, the Evans Residence, Roswell New Mexico.
The room seemed to materialize around him….the same room…the same bed….but a very different Liz Parker.
She lay there…naked before him…but lifeless. Her eyes were open…unmoving…staring unseeingly at the ceiling. His heart seemed to stop beating. He thought at first it was too late…..wondering if his love for her was so very great that it had followed her even into death…but then he saw the shallow breathing.
This was not the Liz Parker that Max Evans knew…even less so in fact than the black lace clad woman who had previously met him in this very room. There was no life in her eyes…no hope…no sparkle of humor or kindness. She was beautiful, but it was a stark beauty….an unLiz-like beauty…a cold sterile beauty.
“Liz..?” he said. But there was no response. He walked to her side and took her hand…like taking a hand of cold clay….
“Liz.” He tried again, “It’s Max…. Liz…we need to talk..”
His hand felt her face….her lips….he looked at her unblinking eyes. She appeared catatonic…not feeling…not hearing….like she was already dead in her own mind…her body just carrying on out of habit…..the spirit already departed, and the body simply too ignorant to know.
“LIZ!!! It’s MAX. You’ve got to talk to me Liz. Liz, you have to wake up….Please Liz. Please…”
But the body lay there, her breasts barely rising and falling, her unmoving eyes not even blinking….not even shedding a single tear……
“Oh God,” asked Max, “Why? …..Why..?”
The room seemed to materialize around him….the same room…the same bed….but a very different Liz Parker.
She lay there…naked before him…but lifeless. Her eyes were open…unmoving…staring unseeingly at the ceiling. His heart seemed to stop beating. He thought at first it was too late…..wondering if his love for her was so very great that it had followed her even into death…but then he saw the shallow breathing.
This was not the Liz Parker that Max Evans knew…even less so in fact than the black lace clad woman who had previously met him in this very room. There was no life in her eyes…no hope…no sparkle of humor or kindness. She was beautiful, but it was a stark beauty….an unLiz-like beauty…a cold sterile beauty.
“Liz..?” he said. But there was no response. He walked to her side and took her hand…like taking a hand of cold clay….
“Liz.” He tried again, “It’s Max…. Liz…we need to talk..”
His hand felt her face….her lips….he looked at her unblinking eyes. She appeared catatonic…not feeling…not hearing….like she was already dead in her own mind…her body just carrying on out of habit…..the spirit already departed, and the body simply too ignorant to know.
“LIZ!!! It’s MAX. You’ve got to talk to me Liz. Liz, you have to wake up….Please Liz. Please…”
But the body lay there, her breasts barely rising and falling, her unmoving eyes not even blinking….not even shedding a single tear……
“Oh God,” asked Max, “Why? …..Why..?”
The last thing Liz Parker wanted was to dream about Max Evans, but even through the sadness…the resignation…she could somehow tell he had come into the dream. She didn’t have to see him to know that..it was like she could sense his presence…even there in the corner of her brain where her mind had retreated. She felt him…and she knew.
Liz wasn’t crazy…not yet…just resigned…and determined to not have to go through the painful process again. It was bad enough to finally accept that you would never again see your parents…see Maria…Alex….and yes….even him. Bad enough to know that sixteen years was all you were to be allotted……bad enough to accept the loss of all your dreams……but even that hell she had been through would be worsened….if she dreamed of him.
The reasons she wanted not to dream of him were threefold.
Yes, she had resigned herself to her fate…to the future that would now never be, but that did not exorcize the memories…..and Max reminded her of those memories. She had been angry at him in the other dream…but angrier yet at herself. Angry at him…for pulling away…but angry too, even angrier at herself…too proud to follow him…to push him…to ask him. No, it wouldn’t have had to been wearing black lace and ravishing him, almost against his will…simply asking…'where did it go wrong?’ ‘Max, what happened to us?’ Even these simple things might have been enough..but now she’d never know….for now it was too late. When she thought of all those missed opportunities, the regret overwhelmed her.
Regretted too were the three years she had lived in her dreams, and not in the real world. Her dreams and daydreams would be filled with this imitation…not a real love…and certainly not Max. And even here, still the prissy Perfect Miss Parker. A thousand dreams and daydreams and fantasies, and only now…buried in the ground…about to die…only then getting past second base. ‘What would you have done, Liz,’ she asked herself in her mind, ‘ if you’d known it would be all over at age sixteen? Would you have wasted those years on fantasies?’
But the third reason…the most important reason was that it had already cost her too much to get where she was….to get to that level of resignation. For her to dream of Max…even acknowledge his presence in the dream…that would start the process all over again. And Liz Parker simply didn’t have the strength to go through that process again.
So she lay there…hearing in her mind his voice as he called to her….determined not to answer…determined not to let him in….not to lower the defenses even one more time….the pain was simply too great. She heard him call out...ask...beg...invoke God....she didn't care. He was only a dream...a dream that could only bring pain....and she had ample pain already. She'd given that dream three of her sixteen years....it was time to move on.
Liz wasn’t crazy…not yet…just resigned…and determined to not have to go through the painful process again. It was bad enough to finally accept that you would never again see your parents…see Maria…Alex….and yes….even him. Bad enough to know that sixteen years was all you were to be allotted……bad enough to accept the loss of all your dreams……but even that hell she had been through would be worsened….if she dreamed of him.
The reasons she wanted not to dream of him were threefold.
Yes, she had resigned herself to her fate…to the future that would now never be, but that did not exorcize the memories…..and Max reminded her of those memories. She had been angry at him in the other dream…but angrier yet at herself. Angry at him…for pulling away…but angry too, even angrier at herself…too proud to follow him…to push him…to ask him. No, it wouldn’t have had to been wearing black lace and ravishing him, almost against his will…simply asking…'where did it go wrong?’ ‘Max, what happened to us?’ Even these simple things might have been enough..but now she’d never know….for now it was too late. When she thought of all those missed opportunities, the regret overwhelmed her.
Regretted too were the three years she had lived in her dreams, and not in the real world. Her dreams and daydreams would be filled with this imitation…not a real love…and certainly not Max. And even here, still the prissy Perfect Miss Parker. A thousand dreams and daydreams and fantasies, and only now…buried in the ground…about to die…only then getting past second base. ‘What would you have done, Liz,’ she asked herself in her mind, ‘ if you’d known it would be all over at age sixteen? Would you have wasted those years on fantasies?’
But the third reason…the most important reason was that it had already cost her too much to get where she was….to get to that level of resignation. For her to dream of Max…even acknowledge his presence in the dream…that would start the process all over again. And Liz Parker simply didn’t have the strength to go through that process again.
So she lay there…hearing in her mind his voice as he called to her….determined not to answer…determined not to let him in….not to lower the defenses even one more time….the pain was simply too great. She heard him call out...ask...beg...invoke God....she didn't care. He was only a dream...a dream that could only bring pain....and she had ample pain already. She'd given that dream three of her sixteen years....it was time to move on.
Last edited by greywolf on Fri Mar 02, 2007 3:52 am, edited 2 times in total.
Max had never been sure that there was a God and if there was one Max didn’t know if He listened to the prayers of an alien….but he did his best.
He looked down at Liz…her body still unmoving…her eyes with the same vacant stare….he’d known her since the third grade…seven years…she didn’t deserve this. Maybe there were no gods….he didn’t know. But he knew there was a demon…a demon who destroyed beauty and purity and kindness. And suddenly keeping the secret really didn’t really seem all that important…the life of Max Evans itself did not really seem all that important.
Finding the demon…that was what was important. Perhaps it was already too late for Liz, and maybe it was for Max as well..for his dreams would die with her. When the dream dies, what of the dreamer? Well, he would die too….but not yet. Not until he’d faced the demon. If there was a God would he approve of vengeance? Max didn’t know…and he didn’t care. He’d face Hell gladly if he could drag the demon down with him.
He looked down at Liz…her body still unmoving…her eyes with the same vacant stare….he’d known her since the third grade…seven years…she didn’t deserve this. Maybe there were no gods….he didn’t know. But he knew there was a demon…a demon who destroyed beauty and purity and kindness. And suddenly keeping the secret really didn’t really seem all that important…the life of Max Evans itself did not really seem all that important.
Finding the demon…that was what was important. Perhaps it was already too late for Liz, and maybe it was for Max as well..for his dreams would die with her. When the dream dies, what of the dreamer? Well, he would die too….but not yet. Not until he’d faced the demon. If there was a God would he approve of vengeance? Max didn’t know…and he didn’t care. He’d face Hell gladly if he could drag the demon down with him.
Max bent over to kiss her goodbye….there was nothing else to be done. It was supposed to be a gentle kiss, a tender chaste goodbye…and that was how it started. But three years of dreams and a lifetime of loving her couldn’t be denied. His mouth took her greedily..his tongue tasting the sweetness of hers.
Liz fought to ignore him…fought desperately…. ‘It’s only a dream, Liz…it can’t change anything…don’t do this…don’t go back there….don’t let this dream give you hope….because if you embrace hope…even for a second…you’ll only have to deal with the loss again.’
As he pulled her close…clinging to her… he buried his head in her shoulder, his body racked by sobs his heart breaking.
‘Don’t do this Liz,’ she told herself as she felt her body flush..her nipples hardening as if trying to answer their own need to press against him. ‘This isn’t real…only a dream.’ But even as she thought it..she felt her body answer to his touch…her labia becoming tumescent….opening to meet him…urging him to possess her.
He felt her body shudder…saw her areola darken…heard her quiet groan…watched the flush spread to her thighs…saw her open for his entry. He ran his hand down across her abdomen…feeling her skin respond to his touch….feeling her body warm to his touch….felt the silkiness and warmth as her body readied itself for him. He kissed her again …deepening the kiss….a lifetime of loving her….of need…of loss….the closeness of her overcoming his senses.
His body reacted to hers…his erection finding her entrance without conscious thought….her body thrusting outward…upward…enveloping him as her moans came more frequently, his body answering thrust for thrust.
Liz fought against the feeling…the pleasure…fought to ignore it….fought to stay locked in to her mind where there was only acceptance of her coming death…fought not to think of Max…not to think of her body…fought to ignore the feeling of him inside of her...fought to ignore the feelings that were building……the feelings that were so strong…coming so quickly…so undeniably. She held off….held off…on willpower alone she refused to let it happen, even as her body burned with the fire that wanted release inside of her….but in the end her body betrayed her…and holding off merely increased the pleasure when it finally came.
There was a quick intake of breath from Liz as she tightened around him and the entire universe exploded for Max Evans. Their bodies locked together as they intertwined, her legs and arms combining to pull him in to her…holding him deeply within her as the spasms wracked her pelvis.
She felt the warmth of him within her….felt the wetness overflowing from her….felt the spasms of pleasure deep within her…..
“No…..” said Liz Parker. “Oh no….please….no. How could you…how could you do this?” she asked herself aloud.
Max looked into her eyes…eyes that were alive once more…and felt ashamed…ashamed of how he had used her….without her consent…without her even being conscious. As he tried to pull away….struggling to find something to say…some apology to make… he felt her hand go to the back of his neck…felt her pull him down to her mouth…felt…as her tongue found his…the contractions of her second orgasm squeezing him….slowly milking his seed from him…
‘Damn. Liz,’ she thought to herself. ‘You’d accepted it….it was all going to be done. But you couldn't let go of the thought of him...... Now you have to go through the pain all over again....for a dream.’
She pulled him closer, her mouth devouring his hungrily. It was too late now….it wasn’t like she could avoid thinking of what she had lost…not now....not with the feel of his warmth inside of her.. She knew there would again be the same horrible price to pay before she could once more accept the inevitability of her death....and she would pay that price....but not now...not this second....not in the middle of this dream……
She would pay the price later......but now.....well..., now she could at least TRY to get her money’s worth….. The second orgasm came then….and then the third….
Liz fought to ignore him…fought desperately…. ‘It’s only a dream, Liz…it can’t change anything…don’t do this…don’t go back there….don’t let this dream give you hope….because if you embrace hope…even for a second…you’ll only have to deal with the loss again.’
As he pulled her close…clinging to her… he buried his head in her shoulder, his body racked by sobs his heart breaking.
‘Don’t do this Liz,’ she told herself as she felt her body flush..her nipples hardening as if trying to answer their own need to press against him. ‘This isn’t real…only a dream.’ But even as she thought it..she felt her body answer to his touch…her labia becoming tumescent….opening to meet him…urging him to possess her.
He felt her body shudder…saw her areola darken…heard her quiet groan…watched the flush spread to her thighs…saw her open for his entry. He ran his hand down across her abdomen…feeling her skin respond to his touch….feeling her body warm to his touch….felt the silkiness and warmth as her body readied itself for him. He kissed her again …deepening the kiss….a lifetime of loving her….of need…of loss….the closeness of her overcoming his senses.
His body reacted to hers…his erection finding her entrance without conscious thought….her body thrusting outward…upward…enveloping him as her moans came more frequently, his body answering thrust for thrust.
Liz fought against the feeling…the pleasure…fought to ignore it….fought to stay locked in to her mind where there was only acceptance of her coming death…fought not to think of Max…not to think of her body…fought to ignore the feeling of him inside of her...fought to ignore the feelings that were building……the feelings that were so strong…coming so quickly…so undeniably. She held off….held off…on willpower alone she refused to let it happen, even as her body burned with the fire that wanted release inside of her….but in the end her body betrayed her…and holding off merely increased the pleasure when it finally came.
There was a quick intake of breath from Liz as she tightened around him and the entire universe exploded for Max Evans. Their bodies locked together as they intertwined, her legs and arms combining to pull him in to her…holding him deeply within her as the spasms wracked her pelvis.
She felt the warmth of him within her….felt the wetness overflowing from her….felt the spasms of pleasure deep within her…..
“No…..” said Liz Parker. “Oh no….please….no. How could you…how could you do this?” she asked herself aloud.
Max looked into her eyes…eyes that were alive once more…and felt ashamed…ashamed of how he had used her….without her consent…without her even being conscious. As he tried to pull away….struggling to find something to say…some apology to make… he felt her hand go to the back of his neck…felt her pull him down to her mouth…felt…as her tongue found his…the contractions of her second orgasm squeezing him….slowly milking his seed from him…
‘Damn. Liz,’ she thought to herself. ‘You’d accepted it….it was all going to be done. But you couldn't let go of the thought of him...... Now you have to go through the pain all over again....for a dream.’
She pulled him closer, her mouth devouring his hungrily. It was too late now….it wasn’t like she could avoid thinking of what she had lost…not now....not with the feel of his warmth inside of her.. She knew there would again be the same horrible price to pay before she could once more accept the inevitability of her death....and she would pay that price....but not now...not this second....not in the middle of this dream……
She would pay the price later......but now.....well..., now she could at least TRY to get her money’s worth….. The second orgasm came then….and then the third….
Last edited by greywolf on Fri Mar 02, 2007 11:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
It wasn't a problem that Max would have ever anticipated as he lay on the bed beside her.
"I just don't want to talk about it..." said Liz.
"But Liz...if we can't get more information...you'll die."
"Of course I'm going to die.....that's inevitable. I don't like it, but talking about it won't change that...and talking about it...it just depresses me, and I can't see what good it would do."
"But if you tell me....maybe I'll be able to find you.....maybe I'll be able to find whoever did this to you....and make him talk."
"This is a dream...only a dream. And while I have to admit...it was a particularly lovely dream this time...and last time too, nothing I can do in a dream is going to change what happens to me in the real world."
"You can't, Liz, ...but I can. I can go back to the real world...I can work there."
"You? You're just my dream...not the real Max...not real at all."
"But I am the real Max, Liz. I'm dreamwalking you. Right now I'm back home laying in my bed....joining you in your dream.... We've done it twice now."
She shook her head sadly. "What you are is my unconscious mind...too stubborn and too stupid to give up...even when it ought to know that it's lost the fight. You've come into my dreams and my daydreams a thousand times in the last three years....but it's just been me being stupid. Just me refusing to admit that Max Evans doesn't want me in his future...that he doesn't care.
So I make up these fantasies....because they are more pleasant than the painful reality. But I honestly thought this time I was over him...I really did. Then I dream up you...dream of you caressing me....and these times since I've been in the box....it would be so damn awesome, if it weren't so damn pathetic. Who'd have guessed that when you face death you can let your dreams go wild like that.....but that's all they were...dreams...and pretty soon..they won't even be that."
"You are wrong, Liz. It's me...Max. It really is. I came into your dream to talk to you...to get information."
"You're not Max. You are just a dream. I wish you were Max, though....I guess I'd like to know, before I die...what happened....what I did wrong...why after being my friend for three years.....why he pulled away. That I really would like to know."
A thousand times Max had dreamed of telling her the truth...dreamed of having her accept him for who and what he really was. He'd never really believed it possible, ...not that she would accept him.....but it no longer mattered. All that mattered was saving her life before it was too late.
But as he looked at her next to him ...naked...seeing the sheen of sweat still covering her from their lovemaking...he himself would have never believed that it would ever happen like this.
"Max pushed away from you.......I pushed away from you, Liz,...because I knew you would never accept me....because I knew you deserved someone better...someone ...normal."
"Normal? What would YOU know about normal? You aren't even real. You are only a dream.....you wouldn't even know why he did it...anymore than I would."
"I am Max, Liz. When you gave me that picture...in the sixth grade...I knew you wanted to be more than friends..but I'd been living a lie and if we'd gotten closer...you would have discovered the lie. Then you would have hated me...and I could never have borne that."
"This makes no sense. You aren't real, Max can't be here...this is all just a dream...and soon I'll wake up...wake up to the ceiling a few inches above me...the sides a few inches from me.....I'll wake up to reality...THAT reality...not to you. You're just a dream."
"Liz...I don't know how to tell you but to tell you....I'm an alien."
"You're a ...what??"
"An alien, Liz. I was in a pod in the 1947 crash...in suspended animation. I sort of hatched from the pod about a year before we met in third grade."
She looked up at the ceiling in shock and disbelief. "That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard. God, I must be insane...even my unconscious mind has gone around the bend. My dream thinks he's an alien. It thinks THAT'S why Max Evans doen't really give a damn about me anymore. Because Max Evans is an alien." She laughed then, a hoarse short laugh...that turned to tears.
"Go away...you aren't even real. Leave me in peace."
He reached up to the beige wall above the headboard. "Liz, look at me. Watch this. I can manipulate matter, Liz. That PROVES I'm an alien. I can make this wall ...blue." He touched the wall and it was like blue ink swirled out from his hand..coloring the wall...going around the corners of the room, coloring the whole room blue.
Liz looked him in the eye and shook her head in disbelief. She reached out her hand and touched where he had touched. "It's only a dream," she said, as the beige color swirled out to restore the room to beige. "So you can dream it a different color...who can't?"
"I just don't want to talk about it..." said Liz.
"But Liz...if we can't get more information...you'll die."
"Of course I'm going to die.....that's inevitable. I don't like it, but talking about it won't change that...and talking about it...it just depresses me, and I can't see what good it would do."
"But if you tell me....maybe I'll be able to find you.....maybe I'll be able to find whoever did this to you....and make him talk."
"This is a dream...only a dream. And while I have to admit...it was a particularly lovely dream this time...and last time too, nothing I can do in a dream is going to change what happens to me in the real world."
"You can't, Liz, ...but I can. I can go back to the real world...I can work there."
"You? You're just my dream...not the real Max...not real at all."
"But I am the real Max, Liz. I'm dreamwalking you. Right now I'm back home laying in my bed....joining you in your dream.... We've done it twice now."
She shook her head sadly. "What you are is my unconscious mind...too stubborn and too stupid to give up...even when it ought to know that it's lost the fight. You've come into my dreams and my daydreams a thousand times in the last three years....but it's just been me being stupid. Just me refusing to admit that Max Evans doesn't want me in his future...that he doesn't care.
So I make up these fantasies....because they are more pleasant than the painful reality. But I honestly thought this time I was over him...I really did. Then I dream up you...dream of you caressing me....and these times since I've been in the box....it would be so damn awesome, if it weren't so damn pathetic. Who'd have guessed that when you face death you can let your dreams go wild like that.....but that's all they were...dreams...and pretty soon..they won't even be that."
"You are wrong, Liz. It's me...Max. It really is. I came into your dream to talk to you...to get information."
"You're not Max. You are just a dream. I wish you were Max, though....I guess I'd like to know, before I die...what happened....what I did wrong...why after being my friend for three years.....why he pulled away. That I really would like to know."
A thousand times Max had dreamed of telling her the truth...dreamed of having her accept him for who and what he really was. He'd never really believed it possible, ...not that she would accept him.....but it no longer mattered. All that mattered was saving her life before it was too late.
But as he looked at her next to him ...naked...seeing the sheen of sweat still covering her from their lovemaking...he himself would have never believed that it would ever happen like this.
"Max pushed away from you.......I pushed away from you, Liz,...because I knew you would never accept me....because I knew you deserved someone better...someone ...normal."
"Normal? What would YOU know about normal? You aren't even real. You are only a dream.....you wouldn't even know why he did it...anymore than I would."
"I am Max, Liz. When you gave me that picture...in the sixth grade...I knew you wanted to be more than friends..but I'd been living a lie and if we'd gotten closer...you would have discovered the lie. Then you would have hated me...and I could never have borne that."
"This makes no sense. You aren't real, Max can't be here...this is all just a dream...and soon I'll wake up...wake up to the ceiling a few inches above me...the sides a few inches from me.....I'll wake up to reality...THAT reality...not to you. You're just a dream."
"Liz...I don't know how to tell you but to tell you....I'm an alien."
"You're a ...what??"
"An alien, Liz. I was in a pod in the 1947 crash...in suspended animation. I sort of hatched from the pod about a year before we met in third grade."
She looked up at the ceiling in shock and disbelief. "That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard. God, I must be insane...even my unconscious mind has gone around the bend. My dream thinks he's an alien. It thinks THAT'S why Max Evans doen't really give a damn about me anymore. Because Max Evans is an alien." She laughed then, a hoarse short laugh...that turned to tears.
"Go away...you aren't even real. Leave me in peace."
He reached up to the beige wall above the headboard. "Liz, look at me. Watch this. I can manipulate matter, Liz. That PROVES I'm an alien. I can make this wall ...blue." He touched the wall and it was like blue ink swirled out from his hand..coloring the wall...going around the corners of the room, coloring the whole room blue.
Liz looked him in the eye and shook her head in disbelief. She reached out her hand and touched where he had touched. "It's only a dream," she said, as the beige color swirled out to restore the room to beige. "So you can dream it a different color...who can't?"