THIRTY-SEVEN
”You won’t find him in here.”
I jumped, stifling a cry as Alex gasped next to me. We simultaneously turned in the direction of Max’s bedroom door, towards the voice, wearing the guilty expressions of the intruders that we were.
Isabel was casually leaning against the doorframe, wearing a somewhat amused expression. She raised one well-plucked eyebrow at Alex and stated simply, ”Alex.”
”Isabel,” Alex confirmed next to me.
”So,” Isabel said suavely, looking at me, ”Breaking and entering, huh?” She put her head to the side, her eyes turning incredulous. ”What’s it going to take for you to back off, Liz?”
I opened my mouth to answer, my heart beating harshly in my ribcage, but Isabel simply raised her hand in a ’Quiet, please’-gesture and looked at Alex. ”And you… Helping her?” She pursed her lips. ”Let me guess; you’re trying to get on her good side again?”
Pushing off the doorframe, a delicate frown settled in the porcelain skin of Isabel’s forehead, and she stepped into the room.
”I didn’t know she meant so much to you, Whitman,” she mused. Shaking her head with a disapproving clicking of her tongue, she added, ”Risking your well-being like this. For a human.”
I froze. She knew. Isabel knew that I knew. She obviously didn’t have any trouble insinuating that neither she nor Alex were quite human in front of me.
Maybe it had been foolish of me to assume that my discoveries had been kept secret. Had Max told Isabel? Were they close? Did they talk about these kind of things?
But most importantly; was Isabel’s knowing going to be a good or bad thing for my situation?
”I’m surprised you still trust him,” Isabel said, obviously addressing me, but keeping her eyes on Alex.
It was as if I was not in the room. Whatever was going on was between Isabel and Alex. I could feel it in the vibrations in the room, the way the air wobbled around us.
”I mean,” Isabel said slowly, stopping right in front of Alex. Isabel was fairly tall for a girl, which meant that Alex was one of the few guys I had seen actually rise above her height. She placed a dark red painted nail to his lower lip, her eyes drawn to the location of that finger while Alex stared back at her silently.
”How would you know that he is good…” a slow smile spread across her full lips as she looked up and met Alex’s stare, ”…or bad?”
I felt a blush spread across my cheeks, locally warming my cold face, and watched the same thing happen to Alex’s face.
Isabel ran her tongue slowly over her bottom lip as she pressed down on his lip with her finger, making it press downwards until she released it and it plopped back into place.
I gasped as strong desire whipped through me and Isabel’s soft laughter was like an abrupt cold shower.
”Has he told you of his ability yet?” Isabel asked and turned her head to look at me with curiosity.
I numbly shook my head, desire rippling through me while at the same time (oddly enough) I felt like grabbing her roughly by the shoulders and teaching her a thing or two about playing with my emotions.
”You’re probably feeling the effects right now,” Isabel said, her smile white against her slightly rosy cheeks. She looked as flustered as I felt. ”At least, I can.”
Huh?
Isabel looked back at Alex and her voice turned almost condescending, as if she was speaking to a child, ”Alex doesn’t have that much control over his powers yet.”
”What is it?” I whispered, my eyes flickering between Isabel and Alex. ”Is it another mind control?”
Was I being fooled into seeing what I was seeing? But it didn’t feel the same way as when Sean was controlling me. I felt perfectly like myself.
Well, apart from the icy cold that had settled into my bones, the phantom pain from injuries across my body and the inexplicable longing to have sex with Isabel.
My eyes widened and I whipped my head to Alex. Wait…
Isabel laughed. Probably at my expression. ”Yeah, that’s right. Alex here is an empath. He can regulate emotions of the people around him. If he’s not careful, he’ll also project his own feelings to people around him. Like now.”
A strong sense of discomfort and embarrassment hit me (Alex’s feelings) and I softened with sympathy for my friend. It all made sense. Why I had always felt so comfortable in Alex’s company. He had regulated my feelings. My first reaction was to feel used and hurt, but rather quickly the rational side of me decided that Alex’s ability seemed to be one of the nice ones. Like Max’s.
Not like Sean’s. And, relatively speaking, that was a good thing.
”Where’s Max?” I asked and I could tell that my sudden change of topic had surprised Isabel.
Isabel sighed and put some space between her and Alex. ”You really should go home, Liz.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. ”I’m not leaving. He’s somewhere in this house.”
”Alex didn’t tell you?” Isabel asked, a touch of smugness in her question.
I narrowed my eyes at her before glancing at Alex. Isabel was trying to play on the fresh insecurities that were already between Alex and I. But I needed Alex right now. I needed to trust him on this. I didn’t know Isabel. Didn’t know if
she was one of the good guys or not - as she herself had put it.
”Alex helped me get into Max’s room, because we both assumed that he was in here. I didn’t think he would be somewhere else this early in the morning.” My voice was tense. I was getting fed up with this. Max could be hurt somewhere while we were just standing around. Flirting. Well, I was watching Isabel flirt with Alex.
Isabel looked at me for two long seconds before she sighed in resignation. ”Fine.” Turning around, she moved her arm behind her in a ’Come along’-gesture and walked out the room. Expecting us to follow.
I glanced at Alex.
He read my face and whispered, ”We can trust her.”
I swallowed, wondering if he was affecting my mood right then and if that was the reason why I was so easily reassured by his declaration and found myself moving towards the door.
Isabel was waiting for her outside. She looked at us with impatience before quickly scanning the surroundings. As I had seen Max do so many times before. I distractedly wondered if paranoia was sprinkled on top of their breakfast cereal growing up.
”Be quiet,” she ordered, before turning around and walking down the corridor.
On reflex, I grabbed Alex’s hand to still my trembling nerves and together we followed Isabel down the stairs to the first floor, only to proceed by taking the stairs to the basement.
Of course, since this was a mansion, the basement wasn’t the regular dark and musty level as it was in many houses. This basement consisted of large rooms off to the sides of a well-lit hallway. It was nicely decorated and gave a very homey impression.
Still, I found myself drawing closer to Alex as we walked down the hallway. There was a chill in the air. A chill that resonated with the chill deep within my bones.
Isabel lead us all the way to the end of the hallway, to a closed wooden door. She turned around, a hesitant look on her face as Alex and I looked at her silently.
Inhaling deeply, she addressed me evenly, ”I would have lent you a jacket or something, but for some reason you seem to already be wearing a ridiculous amount of clothing, so…”
I frowned. ”Why would I need a jacket?”
Isabel’s eyes flickered to Alex, which had me also looking at Alex. His face was blank, avoiding my eyes.
”Liz. This is your opportunity to turn around. Alex will take you home.” I looked back at Isabel’s serious face, felt the pulsating pain in my abdomen and for the first time I acknowledged that the buzz of Max’s presence at the back of my head was loud.
Max was close.
”He’s behind that door, isn’t he?” I asked Isabel.
Instead of answering my question, Isabel asked slowly, ”Are you sure about this?”, her eyes firmly trained on my face.
I was as certain as my voice was firm, ”Open the door, Isabel.”
Isabel looked at me closely for a second, before shrugging. ”It’s your funeral.”
A shiver ran through me at her choice of words, wondering how true it actually was. Suddenly I was very afraid of what I would find on the other side of that door.
Isabel opened a small cabinet next to the door, revealing a keypad, and entered a code while shielding the keys she was hitting behind her hand.
There was a noticeable click from the door and Isabel closed the door to the cabinet before pressing down on the door handle.
Cold air swept towards me and I had time to register that the door was actually a metal door, with a deceiving wooden panel on the outside, before I saw his shape at the far end of the room.
My chest tightened as adrenaline mixed with concern, anger and fear simultaneously exploded inside of me. The sounds around me turned muffled until I heard only the sound of my own pounding heart in my ears as I practically ran across the white tiled floor towards him.
I fell to my knees, sliding across the ice-cold floor for a feet or two - my body propelled by my speed - and brought my hands to his face.
Tears were already blurring my vision and my hands were shaking as I brushed them through his hair, down his bare shoulders and his chilled arms.
I vaguely registered that he was basically naked, wearing only a pair of boxers, curled up in a tight fetal position on his side, with a whiteness to his cold skin and a blue tint to his lips.
”Max? Max?” My voice was frantic, my thumbs brushing across his closed eyelids, and I might have thought he was dead if it hadn’t been for the mental presence of his mind at the back of my own.
I whipped my head towards the door, where Isabel was silently observing us with an unreadable expression. ”Help him! He’s freezing!”
”This is his punishment,” Isabel said quietly. ”It’s the law.”
The law?
Anger was blazing through my heart and I snapped my head back to Max’s prone body.
”Max?” I breathed, a tear sliding down my face.
His voice was faint, his eyes still closed, as he mumbled, ”Liz?”
I sagged at his voice, bending down to press my face into the cold nook of his neck. I placed a quivering kiss against his skin before whispering, ”What are they doing to you?”
”No,” he whispered and I felt him move. ”You can’t be here.”
I pulled back and watched his lips start to tremble with the return to consciousness, shivering in response to the cold.
”Get him some clothes,” I demanded without looking at the two aliens that were standing - just standing and watching - over by the door. ”Now!”
”We can’t do that,” Isabel replied with remorse in her voice.
I turned to look at Alex, burrowing my eyes through his head. He shifted uncomfortably, scratching behind his ear.
”Alex…” My voice was a promised warning. If he didn’t-
”It’s the law,” Alex said, echoing Isabel’s excuse.
I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to control my anger and frustration.
Why are they not helping? How could they just stand there?
Monsters. They’re all monsters.
”Leave, Liz. Please.”
I whipped my head back to Max, finding his eyes looking up at me. But they were not the same warm brown hue, glinting with fire and sometimes mischief. These eyes were watered out, bland and lifeless.
Had they done this to him every time? First beaten him up and then thrown him in here? Was this common practice?
My whole body was tightening and I felt like jumping to my feet, crossing the room and strangling the life out of Isabel Evans if she didn’t help me help Max.
But I couldn’t get myself to leave his side. Instead, I shrugged out of the jacket and the cardigan I wore. They were too small for him to wear, but I placed them over his trembling shoulders, hoping they would give him some warmth.
I pulled the beanie off my head and gently pulled it down over his hair, down over his ears.
The look in his eyes as he was watching me unsuccessfully dress him was tearing me apart. ”Iz, get her out of here. Before dad-”
”I’m not leaving,” I grumbled, getting annoyed with him. I got that he was afraid of what his father would do were he to find me here. But I honestly didn’t care. Not as long as Max was isolated in a bright white tiled room at chilling degrees wearing nothing but his underwear.
”We should leave,” Alex said.
”You’ve seen him now,” Isabel reinforced. ”It’s time to leave.”
I ignored them, instead laying down on my side so that I was facing Max. I don’t know if he was trying to fight me or push me away, but he didn't seem to have the energy to do either as I positioned my head on his arm - the one closest to the floor - and pushed the front of my body up against the front of his, pulling his other arm down in the curve of my waist.
I slung my uppermost positioned leg over his thigh and scooted my lower body up against his. I ignored the feel of his body against mine, of the hardness of the muscles underneath that chilled skin, and wrapped my arms tightly around his shoulders.
I was trying to, the best way I could with my slight frame, wrap him up in my body heat.
The cold from the floor and the chill from his normally really warm body, was already seeping through my layers of clothing and I tried to resist the temptation of my jaw to shake.
Instead I focused on the connection, trying to reach him through it. I had presumed that his defenses would be down, that I would be hearing his thoughts and feeling his every emotion. But I could feel the weakness of his mind, could feel him circling in and out of consciousness.
”Alex, you need to take her out of here,” I heard Isabel say.
”You obviously don’t know Liz as well as I do,” Alex grumbled in reply. ”You don’t get her to do anything she doesn’t want to.”
”So we should just leave her here? On the floor? With Max? And wait for my father to check in and see what he will do?”
”You’re just protecting your own skin. Afraid that you’ll get punished for taking her here?”
I could hear the smirk in Alex’s voice and I briefly considered how Alex never had as much as glanced at Isabel during our upbringing, but how Isabel and Alex were now talking as if they’d known each other for years. And they probably had. Just not officially.
I ran my fingers up Max’s cold bicep, over his shoulder, and up the side of his neck, watching the goosebumps form in the trail of my fingers before I buried my hand in his hair. I loved his hair. It was so soft. Gently letting my fingers massage his scalp, I scooted even closer and pressed my lips softly to his closed eyelid, brushing against the painful blackness surrounding his eye.
A trembling sigh floated from his mouth and I felt a boost of fire through my body.
”No,” Isabel answered Alex with a snap. ”But she’s interfering. And you know as well as I do that she’s not protected here. She’s breaking the law now, too.”
”And what kind of law is that?” I whispered, but my voice was clear enough to cut through ice. The question sliced through the chill of the room and made Alex shift uncomfortably and Isabel tense.
”
Our law,” Isabel stated.
”Alien law?” I asked, my thumb brushing over Max’s eyebrows, down across his closed eyes and his dark long eyelashes. I never had a chance to get this close when he was alert. I had never felt brave enough to adore his features with my fingers before.
”Yes,” Isabel confirmed.
”Don’t you have human- I mean,
alien rights? Or at least,
your equivalent of
humane?”
”This is our way of punishing individuals that do not follow the rules,” Isabel replied, her voice rigid. ”You have your jails and prisons; for obvious reasons we can’t have anything as public as that. So everyone has to build a room like this, which can serve as a pool room or home cinema under normal circumstances, but which are used to restrain our own when they break the law. It’s nothing different from what you humans are doing.”
”We don’t torture our criminals,” I bit out, my leg tightening around Max’s hip and a weak wave of heat flowed through my body, ignited by Max.
”You did, not too long ago.”
”So, you’re doing it the medieval way in the 21st century?” I asked tightly. ”How visionary. I would have thought - since you were advanced enough to travel through space and successfully inhabit another planet - that you would be more advanced than that.”
There was a moment of silence, before Isabel answered coldly, ”You think you know so much about us, just because Max has told you a thing or two? Huh? You know nothing about us.” Her voice rose, ”Nothing!”
I pressed my face into the hollow between his chin and the top of his chest, my silent tears wetting his numbed skin and I doubted that they could hear me as I said, ”How long will he be in here?”
But Isabel heard me. ”In total; 24 hours.”
”On whose order? Your father’s?”
”No. Of course not.” She had the audacity to sound offended. ”This is ordered by the sergeant. No one else is allowed to make the decisions.”
My chest trembled with my strained breath. ”He’s the judge too?” Before Isabel could answer, I bit out, ”So this is a dictatorship?”
”No,” I could tell that Isabel was getting annoyed. Angry even. ”But he is in charge with upholding the law.”
”And what is Max’s crime?” I had a suspicion about the answer, but I needed her to tell me.
Isabel’s laugh was short and bitter. ”Why don’t you tell us? You were there.”
”Liz, we really should be going,” Alex interrupted, sounding antsy and worried.
I pressed myself closer to Max, ignoring that I was now myself terribly cold and shivering.
”Max accused Sean of trying to rape you. Of either getting you drunk, drugging you or both, to make you defenseless. Max made the whole thing very public by dragging both Maria DeLuca and the principal into it.”
I inhaled deeply against the sudden guilt as Isabel confirmed my hunches. Damn it.
”Let’s just say that turning against your own and hanging them out to the humans, is very much frowned upon within our community.”
My eyes fell on the small area of bruising over Max’s left shoulder, the blackness around his eye and the dried blood to the abrasion on his cheek. My body was trembling, not only with cold but with concern for him. If I had been stronger, if only I had been bigger, I would have carried him out of here - damn the consequences.
”He did it to save me,” I mumbled sadly, trying to rein in my tears.
I heard someone cross the floor and felt the heat from that body as it stopped next to the coiled up shapes of Max and I.
”I know,” Isabel said softly and crouched down behind my back. I flinched as she put a hand on my hip. ”But they don’t care about that.” I felt heat flow into my hip, into my body, and I realized that she was trying to heat me up. ”What Max did was serious. He has jeopardized our cover, jeopardized the sergeant’s position and reputation.”
My heart skipped a beat in anger as the heat from her hand continued to flow into my hip, and I looked up at her perfect face with burning eyes. ”Why don’t you heat up your brother instead of me?!”
She grimaced sadly, glancing at her barely conscious brother. ”Because I’m not allowed to.” She paused and licked her lips. ”But
you are. You’re not restricted by alien law.”
I frowned. Was she suggesting that I should transfer the heat that she was giving me to Max?
”Don’t look so shocked,” Isabel said. ”I know that you’re connected. You’re probably already giving him heat, that’s why you are getting colder so quickly.”
My mouth went dry as I stuttered, ”How?” and looked at Max’s pale face.
Out of the corner of my eye, Isabel shrugged. ”I’ve never been connected to anyone, so I don’t know the details.”
How could I feed him energy? I needed to help him. It was, after all, my fault that he was in this situation. I pulled on my memories of how he usually connected to me. Of how he looked into my eyes, cradled my face with his (usually) warm hands…
But Max’s eyes were closed and I could tell from the faint buzz of our constant bond that his semi-conscious state wouldn’t allow me to contact him through mere eye contact.
”You know what to do,” Isabel whispered. ”And once you’ve done it; you need to leave.”
I looked at her, feeling a sudden kinship to Max’s sister. She had finally understood that I wouldn’t leave Max’s side until I had made sure that I had helped him in some way, that he was feeling better. She had finally realized that she couldn’t force me to leave.
”Okay?” Isabel asked.
”Yes,” I whispered and took a deep breath, suddenly knowing what to do.
I shut out the surroundings, blurred out Isabel’s curious eyes and Alex’s presence by the door, and leaned in.
We were alone now.
I kept my eyes open as I, for the first time, instigated the fusion of our lips. His were cold against my warm ones, but the contrast only heightened the (always) overwhelming sensation of kissing him.
I was aware of the pulsating flow of heat through my hip, originally supplied by Isabel, as I gently coaxed Max back into awareness with a soft slow nibbling of his lips.
Our bond fluttered and an invisible line formed from my hip, along the length of my upper body, to the place where my lips were fused with his.
His feelings were coming alive in my mind, his consciousness waking up as he started to reciprocate my kiss. I could feel his confusion blend with fear, in the midst of an incredibly warm sensation. Gratitude. And love.
Then the arm that I had positioned in the curve of my waist flexed, flushing my body with his as his hand moved up the back of my neck and buried itself in my hair as he pressed my head closer, deepening the kiss.
Desire was awakening, curling my cold toes, flowing deliciously up my legs and settling hotly in my core as I felt his strong demanding presence return.
My fingers ran down the side of his face and, as if in response, his eyes snapped open. My heart faltered before I fell.
I gasped as heat brushed through my body, sparked at my lips, and left my body with something akin to a pulling force. His eyes widened, but he didn’t stop kissing me.
It was something fascinating to watch and feel the emotions in his eyes while he gently met my lips. Over and over again.
A comforting sleepiness and daze was washing over me, making me want to curl up even closer (but that wasn’t possible; we were as close to each other that was physically possible) and go to sleep.
As soon as that feeling came over me, Max pulled away.
”Enough,” he whispered thinly, his voice a very weak replica of his normal strength.
I felt him pushing at the connection, forcing me away, closing himself off as a chilliness spread through my body.
”No,” I protested, my hand tugging at the hair at the base of his neck. ”You need more.”
He sighed, deep concern in the eyes that were more alive now than before. ”Leave.”
He was going to be here for more than 20 hours. He needed more. ”No-”
”Iz,” Max interrupted, and even though his voice was barely there in strength, he still managed to sound authoritative. Naturally, I was made aware of the fact that we were not alone. Something I had tried very hard to make myself forget.
”Alex,” Isabel said in response, calling to the attention of the guy at the door.
”Before dad comes to check on me,” Max continued and coughed.
I pressed my body against his, melting my hand against his bloodied cheek, and whispered with my eyes strongly locked with his, ”No. You need more.”
His face softened and his fingers in my hair curled tenderly against the back of my head. A small smile settled on his lips and he whispered, ”Yes.” I bit my lip, unconsciously attracting his eyes. Those eyes darkened with a familiar emotion as he added, ”But even more, I need you to be safe.” He coughed again and I shuddered at his weakness. ”And you’re not safe here.”
Alex’s hand closed around my upper arm. His touch was warm even through my multiple layers of clothing. ”Liz. It’s time to go.”
My eyes were still on Max as he mumbled, ”Break the connection.”
”Not yet,” I whispered back, a tear tumbling down my cheek.
Grief so intense and bright that it abruptly sliced through me flashed in his eyes before he closed them and pressed his lips to mine in a gentle caress. Pulling back, he caught my eyes again, let his hand flutter down my spine before he removed it from my body.
I shivered at the coldness and tightened my leg across his thigh in response, displaying my reluctance at his withdrawal.
”As long as it’s before Sean notices it,” Max compromised, letting me keep the connection for as long as the Gods of fate would allow.
Alex’s hand around my arm tightened. ”Liz?”
”Go,” Max whispered and pressed his lips to my forehead.
I sighed, tightening my embrace, before scooting my stiff body away from his. Alex bent to help me to my feet as Isabel’s warm presence took my other arm and helped me regain my balance.
My chest was tight with anxiety, worry, fear and deep grief as I looked down at his naked shape on the floor. He was shivering again, his skin turning gradually whiter almost in front of my eyes, and his eyes were already closed.
I felt the buzz at the back of my head diminishing and my frustration grew along with it. Had my energy helped him at all? It didn’t even seem to last.
”He’ll be fine,” Isabel said next to me, taking my hand. I let her hold it, feeling like I was about to crumble.
”Once his punishment is over, he’ll be healed,” Alex explained.
I fought my tears as Isabel, still holding on to my hand, bent down and picked up my jacket and cardigan and gently pulled my beanie off Max’s head. She silently bundled up the articles of clothing under her arm and I felt her questioning look on the side of my face.
”We need to leave,” Alex mumbled. ”Now.”
I swallowed and nodded. With one final look at Max, I let the aliens turn me around and walk me out of the freezing room.
TBC...
But the admins seem to have fixed it *happy dance*, which means that I come bearing gifts. In the shape of - not one, but - two chapters. The first one is a bit short and the second is a bit long. So it all balances itself out 
Where have I heard that before? 
They were wonderful. Thank you very much. 
