Roswell Fanatics

Part 11:

Liz’s POV

Suitcase on the bed, clothes thrown around the room, music blasting. I was packing. I was running away. I raced around the room throwing items in the general direction of the bed, spinning around, hair flying around my face, I stopped abruptly, making eye contact with a solid male chest. I slowly, slowly raised my eyes to meet a pair of caramel eyes staring down at me.
I backed up, putting distance between us, “What are you doing here, Michael?”
He ignored my question and his eyes scanned the disarray that was my room, “Going somewhere?”
I shrugged, attempting to fake nonchalance, “Maybe.”
“You can’t leave, Liz.”
“That’s really not your decision.”
“Where are you gonna go?”
Another shrug. He smirked, “No, plan, Liz? You always have a plan.”
“It hurts too much to stay.” I whispered.
“And if I ordered you to stay?”
He couldn’t, he wouldn’t. Would he? I stayed silent. He stalked towards me as I shook my head, “Liz, what if I ordered you to stay?”
“Michael, don’t do this.”
“If I told you to, you’d have to, wouldn’t you?”
“You won’t.” I backed away and hoped I hadn’t just effectively called his bluff. I walked into the bathroom but stopped short when he called out to me, “I remembered something. You. A moment of you and me.”
Silence sizzled between us as the music blared loudly:

You’ve been hit by,
you’ve been struck by
a smooth criminal

Thank you Michael Jackson, your lyrics are far too appropriate. I spun around and stared at him, “Don’t do this, Michael.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Don’t play on my emotions to get what you want. Don’t pretend to have remembered something just to get me to stay.”
“Do I look like I’m pretending?”
I stared at him, he looked deadly serious. I sighed, “Fine, Michael, what did you remember?”
“Vilandra telling me to stay away from you. Apparently I was a bit of a womanizer.”
“That’s impossible, Vilandra didn’t know about us. Ever.”
“She knew. How I felt about you, she couldn’t not know.”
I needed to ignore that comment for the sake of my sanity, “What else?”
“You and me, arguing.”
“We always argued.”
He sauntered towards me, slowly closing the gap, “You were screaming at you to stop following you, I’d just married Vilandra. I told you I loved you.”
Gobsmacked, I backed up, my back hitting the wall. I knew the exact moment he was talking about. He couldn’t of possibly seen that in any of my dreams. There was no denying it, it was his own memory. He’d remembered something. He’d remembered me. I stared at him in wonder as he continued closing the gap between us. He stopped inches from me, reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers lightly touching my cheek, “You were beautiful, Liz.”
“Stop.”
His fingertips traced my jawline, I swatted his hand away, “Don’t do this, you love Maria.”
He nodded, staring down at me, “Maria. But then there’s you and I know you, Liz. I really know you.” He tilted my head up towards him as he lowered his head, his breath caressing my face.
I shook my head, “We can’t do this.”
But my voice was cut off by his lips lightly touching mine.
Green eyes staring up at me, bee stung lips swollen. Maria.
I roughly shoved him away, blinking away tears, I glared at him; “Get out.”
“Liz...”
“No! You can’t do this, play with my emotions to get me to do your bidding. That’s not how it works.”
He closed the gap between us, roughly grabbing me by the arms and slamming me into the wall, “Fine. You’re not leaving, it’s not safe for you to leave. I order you not to leave.”
The seal on my wrist tingled. Damn him. I don’t know what happened, one moment I was staring up at his smug face, the next my palm was connecting with his cheek. He looked as stunned as I felt. I’d never hit before. Ever. “Get out, Michael....just get out.”
I brushed past him, into the bathroom slamming the door behind me. I knew he could get in if he really wanted but I was hoping he’d let me have this one reprieve. I leant against the door and slid down it to the floor. A whole new life and I still felt trapped, I was still at their beck and call. I was still a servant. I listened for the sound of his footfalls indicating he was leaving, but all I could hear was Michael Jackson singing:
All I wanna say
is that they don’t really care about us....

Part 12:

Another royal ball. This time Rath hadn’t said a thing when Vilandra insisted I go. Instead he stared at me intensely, his eyes boring into me. We, the three of us stood at the entrance to the ball room. I was holding my breath. “Just breathe.”
I turned my head and I was face to face with Rath. He grinned and winked at me. He ran a finger down the length of my arm.
“It’s like victorian foreplay.” I groaned and turned my head at the sound of Kyle’s voice. The royal four were yet again invading my dreams and they’d brought along Kyle, Alex and Maria. I glared at them and turned back to the action. Vilandra was being announced which meant we had to walk down those stairs with everyone watching.
“Let’s go, princess.” Rath spoke into my ear. Pressing his palm onto my back, he gently guided me through the door, then released me. I gripped the stair railing for dear life. Everyone was staring at me. That wasn’t true they were staring at Rath and Vilandra. But I was there. I somehow managed to escape the royal madness and sat on the sidelines watching the dancing, admiring the dresses that I could only dream of owning. Someone sat down beside me, I turned my head and quickly averted my gaze again. The King had just plopped himself down beside me.
“I hate balls.”
Nervous, I looked around, he couldn’t be talking to me, could he?
“Your highness?”
He smiled at me, “They’re just so boring. Don’t you think they’re boring?”
“I think they’re fascinating.”
He laughed and I wondered if that was the wrong thing to say. Probably. He leaned closer to me, “And where are you from? I haven’t seen you before.”
Of course you have your highness, you’ve just over looked me. “I’m from here. I live at court.”
“Impossible. I know everyone at court and I would never miss a beauty like you.”
I was sure I was blushing as I nervously brushed an errand curl behind my ear, “Well, actually your highness, I live in the Princess’ quarters.”
He looked surprised and slightly disgusted. “You’re....you’re a servant?”
“Yes, your highness.”
He couldn’t have gotten away from me faster. I was left sitting by myself once again. The King had effectively made me feel as small and insignificant as a bug. He couldn’t have made me feel worse about myself if he’d actually been trying.
“Wow, Max, you were an arse.” Kyle again. I glared at the peanut gallery, then fiddled with my dress feeling incredibly insecure.
A large hand appeared in my line of vision, “How about a dance, princess?”
I took his hand and let him lead me to the dance floor, awkwardly I placed my hand on his shoulder, the other clasped his hand as his spare hand went around my waist and I let him lead me around the floor.
“Why do you keep calling me princess?”
“Because you look like one.” He whispered, his lips brushing my ear. I pulled back, slightly, blushing. He grinned down at me. I wasn’t sure he should be dancing with me.
“Did you have a nice chat with our fearless leader?”
“I think he was flirting with me.”
He chuckled, “Probably.”
“He told me I was beautiful.”
“Well, you are.”
Another blush and I smiled shyly. “He couldn’t get away from me fast enough when he found out I was Vilandra’s servant.”
“He is nothing else if not a royal arse.”
“You can’t say that!”
“Why not? It’s the truth.”
“He’s the King.”
“And I’m the second in command, so what?”

The ballroom faded away as one memory merged into another, this time I was walking down a dusty road with Rath walking beside me.
“Why do we need to go to market?” If I didn’t know better I’d say Rath was whining.
“Because we need material for new dresses for Vilandra.”
Rath scoffed, “The princess has enough dresses. She doesn’t need new dresses, she wants new dresses, big difference.”
“Fine. She wants new dresses, hence we need material. Therefore we have to go to market.”
“No. She needs new material, that’s why you have to go to market. Why do I have to come?”
“Do you really want me going by myself? There are peasants who get a little grabby.”
He slung an arm around my shoulders, “You have a point.”
We strolled through the stalls looking at swatch after swatch of material, none meeting my requirements for my princess. I stopped short at a stall and held up a bundle of crimson red material, “Do you think this would suit Vilandra?”
Rath leant against the stall, watching me, he shook his head, “Not Vilandra.”
I sighed and went to put it back, Rath’s hand stopped me, “What are you doing?”
“Putting it back, you said it wouldn’t suit Vilandra.”
“Yeah. But it would be perfect for someone else.”
I frowned up at him as he stared down at me, a twinkle in his eye, “Who?”
“You.”
I laughed, “Be serious, this is ball gown material.”
“So?”
“So, I don’t go to balls.”
“You’ve been to two.”
“Yeah, well, that’s it. No more.”
He leaned down, closing the gap between us, “But Ellie, who will dance with me if you’re not there?”
I laughed and pushed him away. As I pushed him away, the memory faded seamlessly into another....

I stared at him standing there in al his military glory about to marry someone else. About to marry Vilandra. I felt like someone had shoved their hand into my chest, grabbed my heart and ripped it out.
“The human race are lucky,” I spun around and was face to face with the King’s mother. I curtsied.
“We Antarians are advanced in so many incredible ways...but this...marriage, we’re still so far behind. Humans have it right. We marry for an advantageous match. Humans marry for love.” She paused and smiled kindly at me, “My daughter may have him in marriage but his heart belongs only to you.”
My eyes widened in shook and her kindly smile widened, she leant closer to me, “Don’t worry dear, I know how to keep a secret. No one will ever hear about you and Rath. Not from me.”
Isabel gasped, “That’s our mother. Liz knew our mother.”
“And apparently our mother knew about the illicit affair between Liz and Michael.” Max practically spat out in disgust.
My head spun and everything faded and altered. Yay, new memory.

I barged into the Princess’s quarters, the quarters she now shared with Rath. Vilandra was no where to be seen, but he was there. Lounging in bed, sheet just covering his lower anatomy and from the bare chest staring back at me and the rumpled bedclothes it was clear they had obviously been doing a hell of a lot more than just playing dominoes.
I shook my head and ignored the butterflies fluttering in my stomach and stormed over to the bed. He cracked open an eye and grinned that disarming smile of his, “Hey, baby.” He drawled.
I shoved my wrist in his face, “Don’t ‘baby’ me. What the hell is this?”
“The royal seal.”
“Oh. It’s the royal seal. Wow, great. That’s just peachy,” I snarked. I grabbed a pillow and thumped him with it. “You branded me, you bastard!”
He struggled to sit up, then shrugged nonchalantly, “So?” He scratched his eyebrow in that infuriating way he did.
“So? So?!, You branded me, as if all I am is a piece of property, as if I’m cattle!”
He remained silent which only served to infuriate me more, “Speak! Say something! Anything!”
“I love you, baby.”
I glared at him, turned and walked away, “Fuck you, Rath.”
“Anytime, Ellie, anytime.”

Part 13:

I barged into the hall dedicated for two things: Royal Balls and Defence meetings. It was being used for the latter on that particular day. Rath at one end of the table, the King at the other, the sides flanked by Antar’s best political, educated minds. They all looked at me, this little servant girl barging into an official meeting. Rath quirked an eyebrow, excused himself from the meeting, the King smirking, Rath ushered me out the door, his hand firmly gripping my forearm. “What the hell do you think your doing? You can’t just waltz into an official meeting!” He snapped.
“Why not? Because I’m a servant or because I’m human?” I spat. Ok, so there may have been the tiniest bit of bitterness there.
He pushed me back into the wall a little too harshly, “No. Because it’s rude and because no one...and I mean no one is privy to these meetings.”
“Did you ever think that maybe I have some information that you could use or need?”
He smirked down at me; “Do you? Or did you just want to see me, get me alone?”
I shoved him away; “You know what? Forget it.”
I brushed past him and stared at the marble floor, I didn’t get very far when he sighed and called after me, “Alright, sweetness, what do ya know?”
Slowly, cautiously, I turned back around, “Ok, fine, but you have to listen to me without jumping in.”
“Fine, give it to me, then.”
“Vilandra has a thing going with Kihvar.”
There was silence which lingered between us. Then he was laughing, “Vilandra? My Vilandra? With Kihvar?”
“Yes. Vilandra. Your oh so devoted wife has a thing with Kihvar.”
He shook has head decisively, “Not possible.”
I closed the gap between us, grabbed his face in my hands, stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his. His fingers ran through my hair as the flashes hit. Flashes of my conversation with Vilandra about how she was in love with Kihvar. Gasping, he pulled away from me, “Vilandra and Kihvar?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck.” Fuck didn’t quite cover it up.
“Yeah.”
He twirled a strand of my hair around his finger, “Ellie, this has to stay between us for now, you got it?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
He smiled down at me, “Good, now get out of here.” He said with a wink. Then he disappeared back into the meeting.
There was a low whistle behind me, I spun around and glared at the dreamwalking group, Kyle was smirking, “This is like a really bad soap opera...and so are the days of our lives.”
Tess smacked him on the back of his head. I rolled my eyes as the scene of my dream/memory faded and changed into something new: me scanning the shelves of the royal library. I stumbled and squealed as a large hand roughly clamped down on my arm and dragged into an aisle, practically throwing me against a wall. By back hit the wall a little too hardly but I didn’t have time to think about it, two hands slapped flat against the wall either side of my head caged me in. I stared up into stormy eyes.
“Go to your quarters, pack a bag, pack whatever you want then meet me back here in half an hour.”
I furrowed my brow in confusion, “What?”
“You’re leaving. I’m getting you out of here.”
“What? Rath...why?”
“I can’t tell you. But something’s going to go down and I need you gone. I need you safe.”
I shook my head, hair flying everywhere, panic knotting my stomach, “No. I can’t. No. No. No.”
“Ellie! This isn’t up for arguement. You are leaving. You will be gone. If I have to carry you myself.”
Tear welled up in my eyes, panic turning almost to hysteria, “No. I can’t. I have to stay here with you. I need to be with you.”
“I need you gone.”
“What?” My voice cracked as I asked the question. I couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. He looked around, then grasped me by the arms, his fingers digging into my skin.
“Ellie. Elizabeth. I need you not to be here. I can’t do what I need to do if you’re here.”
“Why can’t you do what you need to do if I’m here?”
“Ellie...what I have to do could hurt you.”
“How?”
He stared down at me and I knew he was contemplating, having an inner battle with what he should tell me, “If I take something Kihvar loves away, he’ll take something I love away.”
I still wasn’t getting it, “What?”
“Ellie. What I love most is you.”
“Ok.”
“And what is it that Kihvar loves most?”
I shook my head, I didn’t even want to consider what he was implying. He grabbed my chin and tilted my face upwards, “Ellie, what does Kihvar love?”
“Vilandra.” I whispered as a tear rolled down my cheek. His thumb brushed it away and he backed away, “That’s right.”
“But you wouldn’t....you wouldn’t hurt her.”

Ok, guys here's part 14. I'm not happy with it, still suffering from writer's block, I don't consider it to be my best work ever but here goes......

Just like that I was sitting head in hands on the ratty couch in Michael’s apartment. And I was still dreaming. That was a memory I didn’t want to remember. Rath telling me he’d kill Vilandra if he had to. That memory could stay hidden in the crevices of my mind.
“Why is she dreaming about Michael’s apartment?” Max demanded as I stared off into space.
“Maybe it’s her safe place when the memories get too much.” The hushed tones of Tess’s voice was a welcome contrast to the harsh edge in Max’s. Max’s voice made my head hurt.
“Rath was going to kill Vilandra.” Alex stated as his eyes bore into me. A tear ran down my cheek.
Happy thoughts. I needed happy thoughts. Fluffy bunnies and puppy dogs. That sort of thing.
I was vaguely aware of Kyle crouching down in front of me, “Hey, Liz, you ok?”
I raised my watery eyes to meet his. My bottom lip quivered, “What if he did it? What if he killed her?”
“You were there Liz you saw whatever happened.”
I shook my hair sending it flying, “No. I didn’t see it. I caught Vilandra when the energy blast hit her. But I don’t know who it came from.”
Kyle touched my cheek, “Kivhar killed her, Liz. He killed you all.”
“But what if he didn’t. There were only two people I loved: Rath and Vilandra. What if one destroyed the other?”
Kyle stroked his thumb across my cheek, “Life’s too short for what ifs, Lizzie-girl. Vilandra betrayed you all and Rath was willing to do whatever it took to protect you all.”
A sniffle escaped me as I shook my head, “Vilandra didn’t....she didn’t betray us....she just...she fell in love.”
“Like you and Rath....”
“What if he did it, Kyle?”
“So what if he did.” Tess crouched down beside Kyle, “Liz, it doesn’t matter. It was another life time. A war was waging, I’m sure we all did what we had to to survive.”
I shook my head, “If I could.....”
“If you could what?”
“If I could go back...there’s so much I’d change. If I could have just stopped it all.”
They all exchanged uneasy looks. Alex stepped forward and asked in a soothing tone: “What would you change? What could you have possibly stopped?”
“I should have stayed away from him. Rath. Vilandra just wanted him to love her and he couldn’t...because of me. That’s why she turned to Kihvar.” I pressed the heel of my hands into my eyes as another wave of tears came rushing forward. There was a silence that lingered and I wondered if they agreed with me.
“That’s bullshit.” I didn’t lower my hands but there was no question as to whose lips had emitted those harsh words. Rough hands wrapped around my wrists and wrenched them away from my eyes.
“That’s bullshit. You understand, Liz?”
I shook my head. It just hurt. Michael’s grip around my wrists tightened and he yanked me forward so our faces were mere inches apart. “You are a factor in this fucked up mess but you are not the defining factor. Take you away and we’d still be this tangled mixed up mess of a group but none of it is because of you. Understand?”
Wake up......Wake up.....Wake up....a voice whispered in my ear. I squeezed my eyes shut and with a gasp I was bolting upright in bed......

My heart was beating way too fast. Sweat was beading, I couldn’t stop shaking. Rath, my mind whispered....And I could hear voices. Great, to top it all off I was losing my marbles, flying off to lala land. I closed my eyes and willed the headache which was forming to go away. A crash sounded and the sound of breaking glass coming from downstairs made me reconsider the losing my marbles theory. Carefully, tentatively, I eased out of bed, wrapped a blanket around myself and holding onto the rail slowly made my way down the stairs into the break room just in time to see Michael pinning Max to the wall. Isabel was screaming at them to stop, Maria was crying. Again. Tess was tugging on Michael’s arm, her effects seemed a little half-hearted to me. Kyle was smirking, Alex was holding onto Maria. I leant against the wall and slid down and landed on the stair. They all appeared oblivious to me as they talked over the top of each other. The pain in my head was piercing. Clutching my head I screamed; “Shut up!”
Stunned, they all turned towards me. If my head wasn’t killing me it would have been quite comical. Michael still had a fistful of Max’s shirt. I stared warily at him, “Michael, what are you doing?” My voice came out as barely a whisper. His eyes softened as they bore into me and his grip on Max’s shirt loosened until he’d let him go completely.

Tess rushed to my side, her palm connecting with my forehead, I watched as her brow furrowed; “She’s burning up.”
Alex shook his head, “I’ve never seen her that pale.”
They were talking about me as if I wasn’t even there. Roughly, or as roughly as I could manage, I pushed Tess’s hand away, “I’m fine. Just these dreams...memories...whatever...and you all being in them...it’s just too much.”
The world spun in a way I knew it shouldn’t. I closed my eyes as tightly as I could. Make it stop hurting. Somebody lifted me up and I was being cradled close to a warm, hard chest. I pressed my ear closely and listened to the thump, thump, thumping of a beating heart, it was a warm melodic beat and I allowed it to block everything else out.
I whimpered as I was lowered down into what I assumed was the back seat of a car. Either the jeep or jetta. I didn’t know. I didn’t particularly care. I was just so tired.

I groaned as a motor started loudly and a soothing hand ran over my head and through my hair. Just leave me alone. Let me sleep. Let me be. I drifted in and out of some kind of sleep and was vaguely aware of the car stopping and then me being carried a short way, being gently placed on what felt like a couch and then everything was just black.
My eyes fluttered open and for the first time in weeks I felt....well rested. I tried to focus. I was in Michael’s apartment, on his couch wrapped in a blanket. The royal four were sitting around the kitchen table speaking in hushed tones.
“Liz is staying here for now.”
It sounded like Michael was laying down the law. He shot a pointed look around the table; “And there’s to be no more unscheduled visits to her subconscious.”
Max opened his mouth to more than likely protest but Michael cut him off; “It’s not up for negotiation, Maxwell.”
Max crossed his arms and pouted like a petulant child; “Who died and made you king?”
Tess rolled her eyes and her gaze flittered over me. “Guys, she’s awake.”
Her chair scraped back and in a quick stride she was crouching in front of me, her hand connecting with my forehead.
“How do you feel?”
“Better. Still really tired but better.”
“No dreams?”
I looked over Tess’s head at Isabel, “Nope. No dreams.”
“Tess mindwarped you. To trick your overactive mind into sleep.” I watched as Michael scratched his eyebrow in that nervous way he did.
A blush crept up under Tess’s pale skin. “I didn’t know if it would work. I just wanted to help.” She was babbling. I reached out and clutched her hand; “Tess. Thank-you.”
“You’re welcome.” She whispered.
I think in that moment, I bonded with Tess.