The Rebel rh-8

by Melinda Metz

  This was definitely not a situation that she wanted the parents involved in. Fortunately they were both pretty heavy sleepers.

  "Miss you," Alex mumbled. Isabel didn't know if he meant that he'd miss her when she went upstairs or that he'd missed her when he was gone.

  "Miss you, too," she answered, meaning it both ways.

  She turned around, ran up to Max's room, and dashed inside without bothering to knock. One look at his face showed her that he was still connected. Isabel grabbed the pillow off his bed and whacked him across the head.

  "Max," she hissed. "I need you. Right now!"

  Max's eyelids fluttered open, then he lifted his head and stared at her.

  "Did you just hit me with a pillow?" he asked, sounding confused.

  "Alex is back," Isabel exclaimed. "He's downstairs."

  Max leaped to his feet and was out the door before Isabel could say another word. She followed him as he raced to the living room. He stopped so abruptly when he reached the sofa that Isabel slammed into his back.

  "I can't believe it's really you," Max said softly. Alex gave a weak smile.

  "Me either," Isabel answered. She reached out and stroked Alex's face. His skin felt a little warmer, but he was still way too pale.

  "Should I start debating whether Lime Warp or Blast! is truly the most superior alien-themed beverage?" Alex joked, his voice coming out thin and hoarse.

  "It's him." Max dropped into the chair next to the sofa and leaned toward Alex. "So what happened? How'd you make it back?"

  "You have to tell us everything," Isabel agreed. She stepped over the coffee table and sat down as close to Alex as she could get.

  "I will," Alex promised. He struggled to a sitting position, then leaned his head on the back of the sofa, as if the effort had exhausted him. "As much as I can remember, anyway, which isn't a lot. But first you've got to know that we may be getting company."

  "Go on," Max said, his eyes serious and watchful. He'd clearly heard the urgency in Alex's voice, just as Isabel had.

  Alex lifted his head. His eyes looked clearer to Isabel now. More focused.

  "I don't know how exactly, but I was in a wormhole," he began. "I could see… space, outer space, all around me in a blur, but I could breathe and everything, and I-" He stopped himself, his expression turning hard and grim. "That's not the important part. When I was in the hole, something came after me. I think… I think it might have followed me here."

  That's what terrified him-whatever was in the hole, Isabel thought. She reached out and took Alex's right hand in both of hers, then started rubbing.

  "Here earth or here this house?" Isabel asked, struggling to keep her voice low.

  "I'm not sure," Alex admitted. "I came here because I didn't know if I could handle it alone. I thought maybe there'd be need of some-some firepower, and I didn't want to lead whatever to my parents. Sorry."

  Isabel traded Alex's left hand for his right and kept rubbing.

  "Don't be sorry" Max told him. "You did the right thing. If something does go down, Isabel and I can combine powers."

  "Do you have any clue what it was?" Isabel asked. She shot a glance toward the front door, even though she was too far away to see anything out of the long, narrow window that ran alongside it.

  "I didn't see it-I just felt it," Alex answered. "And I'm pretty sure it wanted something from me. I think it would have killed me to get it."

  "Do you still feel it?" Max asked, his eyes intent on Alex.

  Alex hesitated. "I don't feel it coming after me," he said slowly. "But I don't think it's gone." He shook his head. "Maybe it didn't exist at all. Maybe my imagination is just out of control."

  "I don't think so," Max answered.

  Isabel gave him a sharp look. "You know something about this?" she demanded.

  Max stood up and began to pace back and forth in front of the coffee table.

  "I'm not sure," he said. "The consciousness has been in total upheaval tonight. It's been like a bunch of tidal waves crashing through. I was trying to get some idea of what was happening, but all the beings were too devastated to give me any info." He stopped in front of Alex. "There could be a connection."

  "The beings wanted me to go back," Alex said. "They sent me."

  "Maybe something went wrong when they opened the hole. I'll try to deepen the connection later, see what I can find out." Max started to pace again. "You're staying here tonight," he told Alex in his big-brother-has-spoken tone. "I'll go get you a sleeping bag out of the garage." He strode out of the room.

  Isabel pressed herself tighter against Alex's side. It didn't feel close enough, even though she was so close, she could feel the tiny tremors rippling through him.

  He was still seriously freaked. She twisted her body around until she was half facing him, then wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight.

  "You're home," she whispered, burying her head in his shoulder, breathing in the scent of him. "Nothing can hurt you now that you're home."

  FOUR

  "How long have I been gone?" Alex asked as Max pulled out of the driveway and onto the street the next morning.

  "Maybe two weeks," Isabel told him.

  Two weeks. Only two weeks. He could hardly twist his mind around that.

  "I hope someone taped Oprah for me, or I'm going to be seriously pissed," Alex joked. "I'm not going to be able to keep up my rep as a sensitive guy if I don't know what Oprah's doing." Isabel and Max laughed. Alex laughed, too, even though he usually thought it was lame to laugh at your own jokes. He couldn't help it. It just felt too good to be riding down the streets of his dinky little town with two of his best friends. He was home.

  "I hope everyone's already at Michael's," Isabel said as Max turned down the road toward the museum. "They can't wait to see you."

  "Yeah, and Michael said something about having a big announcement to make," Max added, glancing at Alex in the rearview mirror. "Although I don't know what could be bigger than having you back."

  "Yeah, I am pretty huge," Alex joked, stretching out his arms.

  Isabel shook her head but giggled. "Looks like Maria's here, at least," she commented as Max pulled into the museum parking lot.

  "Get ready for some major squealing," Max told Alex. He pulled to a stop by the stairs leading up to Michael and Adam's apartment.

  Almost on cue, the door to the apartment flew open. "Alex!" Maria screeched. She took the stairs three at a time, Liz right behind her.

  Alex scrambled out of the Jeep and started to run as soon as his feet touched the pavement. His legs were still a little weak, but running was the only option. He was about a third of the way up the stairs when Liz and Maria reached him. He didn't know whose arms were wrapped around him or who was kissing him, and he didn't care.

  "Come on! Come upstairs," Liz exclaimed. She and Maria each took one of his hands, and they all squeezed up the staircase without losing their grips on each other.

  "Okay, break it up, break it up," Michael called as they pushed through the front door. He waved them into the living room. When Alex passed by, Michael gave him a fast, hard hug.

  "Good to have you back," he said, not quite looking Alex in the eye.

  "Thanks," Alex answered. He felt a tentative hand on his shoulder, and then suddenly Adam had him in a half hug, half choke hold.

  "We've been trying to get you home," Adam said as he released Alex.

  "Yeah, we almost did," Liz added.

  "It was so close. We tracked DuPris to the caverns-I figured that part out," Maria jumped in.

  "Excuse me. I think I had something to do with it," Isabel said from behind him.

  Alex gazed from person to person, soaking up the sight of them. Liz, Maria, Michael, and-some strange guy.

  "Clearly I missed something more than a few Oprah eps," he said. "I'm Alex, but I guess you figured that out," he told the guy.

  "I'm Trevor, or at least that's close enough to my name," the guy answered after a glance
at Michael. He reached out and shook Alex's hand.

  Alex got a fuzzy, unpleasant twinge of deja vu. He tried to figure out if he'd ever seen the guy before. There was something familiar about him.

  "I'm guessing Trevor is part of this announcement," Max said to Michael.

  So the others don't know him, either, Alex realized.

  "He's pretty much the whole thing," Michael answered. "I know this is going to sound bizarre. I mean, I know I'm not even supposed to have one. At least that's what-wait, maybe I should start with-see, I could feel what Trevor-" He started laughing, laughing so hard, he started to choke and snort. "I sound like Maria."

  This is a change, Alex thought. Michael was acting, well, silly was the only word for it. Alex had seen Michael be sarcastic lots of times. And Michael definitely wasn't a guy to step away from gross-out humor. But silly-that just wasn't him.

  "And what's wrong with acting like me?" Maria asked, hands on her hips in mock indignation. Michael laughed harder.

  Alex smiled. He felt himself entering the sappy zone again. Maria being Maria was a pretty enjoyable sight. So was Michael being not Michael.

  "If you don't stop giggling like you're deranged or something and tell us whatever you dragged us here to tell us right now-" Isabel threatened.

  "All right. All right." Michael pulled in a deep breath. "I'll just say it-Trevor is my brother."

  "How can that be possible?" Liz asked.

  "Your brother?" Isabel exclaimed at the same time. "Your brother?"

  "Wait, there are even more of you?" Maria blurted out, her words overlapping with Liz and Isabel's. "Not that that's a bad thing," she added quickly.

  "Start at the beginning," Max instructed, his eyes darting between Michael and Trevor. "Tell us everything."

  Alex didn't say anything. He was still trying to figure out why Trevor seemed so familiar. Just standing near him was making Alex uneasy, sort of tense and restless.

  Michael started explaining, and he was talking so fast, Alex could hardly understand him. Alex wished he had the ability to see auras. He bet at that moment Michael's was awesome, bursting with the colors of absolute joy.

  Alex wouldn't mind seeing Trevor's aura right then, too. Maybe if he could see Trevor's aura, it would reassure Alex that the guy was… okay.

  "Anyway, they left Trevor with this group called the Kindred," Michael was saying. "Or at least what translates to the Kindred in English. It's a group that believes that people should be able to have as many children as they want."

  "They just left you there?" Maria asked Trevor. Her blue eyes were warm with sympathy.

  Alex used the interruption to head over to a stack of flattened beanbag chairs along the nearest wall. He sat down, positioning himself so that he still had a clear view of Trevor. The muscles in his stomach relaxed a little now that there was more distance between the two of them.

  "Our parents were going to go back and get me once they found a safe place, a place where they wouldn't have to keep one of their kids in hiding," Trevor explained. His eyes were on Alex, even though he was answering Maria's question.

  Alex met his gaze as long as possible, but finally he had to look away when he felt hot bile begin to rise up his throat.

  Michael reached out and squeezed Trevor's shoulder. "You all know the rest of the story," Michael said.

  Michael and Trevor's parents had died in the crash, the crash that had made Roswell the T-shirt-selling, green-food-producing tourist attraction it was today. Sometimes Alex wondered what it would be like to live in a town that made most of its money off your parents' death, practically celebrated it, even.

  "So, how did you get here?" Max finally asked after they'd all taken a moment to absorb what Michael had said. Max walked over and sat down next to Alex. The burst of relief that spread through Alex made him feel like a total wimp. What-he didn't feel safe without Max around to protect him?

  "I knew that my parents had died on earth and that my brother had survived and was living in Roswell under the name Michael Guerin. Members of the Kindred were able to get me that information," Trevor explained.

  "You just got here yesterday?" Liz asked. She plopped down across from Max and Alex and gestured for the others to join them.

  "Just off the boat," Trevor joked. He positioned himself on Alex's other side. It took all Alex's self-control not to flinch.

  "How do you know English and everything?" Adam asked, plopping down next to Isabel.

  "The Kindred also got me the materials I needed to teach myself English and the local behavioral norms," Trevor explained. "I always dreamed about coming here, but I never thought I'd be able to until-"

  "Until the collective consciousness opened another wormhole to send Alex back," Michael jumped in. "Trevor basically hitched a ride here."

  "Yeah, thanks," Trevor told Alex, giving him another long look.

  Alex's stomach cramped until it felt about the size of a postage stamp. It was Trevor behind him in the wormhole. It was Trevor who had wanted something from Alex, something he would have killed Alex to get.

  "That's one thing we don't have to worry about, then," Isabel said. "Alex felt something following him home, and we were afraid it might be dangerous."

  Everyone laughed. Alex forced himself to laugh, too. But he knew what he felt from the being who followed him, from Trevor. A cold-blooded willingness to murder whatever stood in its-in his-way.

  "I wish I could have been there to see you two meet. It must have been like a total soap opera moment," Max said. His tone was casual, but his blue eyes were cool and serious. He turned to Michael. "I'm surprised Trevor even managed to convince you of who he really was."

  Max isn't sure Trevor is who he's pretending to be, either, Alex thought hopefully.

  "What I don't get is how the consciousness managed to open the hole," Max continued. "I asked if they could open one to get Alex home, and what I got back was that they weren't strong enough and wouldn't be for a long time."

  Trevor shrugged. "I just took advantage of it. I don't know how they did it. I'm not connected to the consciousness." He shot a probing glance at Alex.

  Alex forced himself to look straight back. But he was the first one to glance away again.

  "No idea," Alex said. "I think that my memory got wiped. I remember being sucked up the wormhole instead of DuPris. And I remember flying back through it. But not much in between-just kind of shapes and muffled sounds."

  Alex hoped no one could tell he was lying. He did have a pretty good idea how the consciousness had gotten the strength to send him home.

  Trying to look casual, he slipped his hand into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the Stone of Midnight.

  When he'd arrived back home, he'd had the Stone-one of the three-with him. He was sure it was the power of the Stone that had opened the hole.

  He had intended to give the stone to Max, but he'd passed out last night before he'd had the chance. There was no way he was going to hand it over right now. Not until he was a lot more sure what, exactly, Trevor's deal was.

  "Uh, now that I know the boogeyman in the hole with me was only Michael's brother, I guess it's safe to go home and tell my parents I'm still alive," Alex said.

  "I'll drive you," Max volunteered.

  "I'll go, too," Liz offered. She smiled at Trevor. "I want to hear everything about you later."

  Me too, Alex silently added. But first he was going to put the Stone somewhere safe until he could figure out what to do next.

  "Alex, there's something you need to know before you go home," Liz said as soon as they were on the road. She turned around so she could look at him, and the worried expression on her face had his stomach going from postage stamp to pea.

  "Your dad…" Liz hesitated, and Alex's brain went nuts. His dad what? Had disowned him? Had had a heart attack? Had finally shouted one too many times and spontaneously combusted?

  "Tell me," he demanded.

  "Your dad is with Project Clean
Slate," she blurted out.

  Alex felt like he was crashing through another wormhole.

  "We found out because he was trying to get you back, too," Max explained, shooting a fast glance over his shoulder.

  "Wait. My dad was looking for me?" Alex asked. He found that sort of hard to believe. Maybe the garage needed cleaning or something.

  "Yeah," Max answered. "Your dad had tracked down DuPris to try to suck up some power from the Stone with a Clean Slate device, and we'd tracked down DuPris to try to steal the Stone. We sort of ran into each other."

  "But he didn't find out the truth, obviously," Alex said. He leaned forward, bracing his hands on the roll bar, and turned to Max. "I mean you, Isabel, Michael, and Adam are all still walking around free."

  He couldn't imagine anything worse than his own father holding his friends captive, the way Sheriff Valenti had imprisoned Adam.

  "Actually, he does know," Liz replied. "It was pretty much unavoidable. But he helped us escape from DuPris."

  "Yeah, you missed out on DuPris's latest attempt to kill us all," Max said as he swung the Jeep onto Alex's street.

  "And your dad said we were wrong about what Clean Slate's agenda was," Liz explained.

  The shreds of Alex's brain that remained were screaming from information overload. "So, then, what is its agenda?"

  Max pulled into Alex's driveway and parked. "We don't know," he admitted.

  Great, Alex thought. One more thing to worry about. What a homecoming.

  ***

  "Doesn't Doug Highsinger realize that he has a better chance of getting his precious Mustang dinged when he takes up two parking places?" Max muttered as he maneuvered the Jeep into a tight space in the school parking lot.

  Liz muffled a sigh. Max wasn't in one of his deep connections with the consciousness, but he wasn't exactly focused on her, either. It's not that she expected him to worship her and never think of anything except her. She didn't expect him to be Adam or anything, but-

  Whoa. Where did that thought come from?

  It comes from the fact that when you're in a room with Adam, you're his whole world, answered the obnoxious little voice that seemed to have taken up residence inside Liz's head.