ROSWELL on PLANET-SF

CHAPTER EIGHT

Maria and Michael did what they could to calm down Morgan who was near hysteria. Kyle sat on one side of her on the couch, Maria on the other. Michael paced a lot, running his hands through his hair.

"I really don't want to be here," Morgan shook her head vehemently against Kyle's chest. "Please."

"It's going to be okay, Morgan. Everything's okay." Kyle rubbed the back of her head.

"It's not," she peeked a look at Michael. "He's some kind of freak."

"He is a freak, but he's a good freak," Maria said softly.

Michael walked from the room and called Max waking him up. "I have a situation."

"What?" Max was on alert.

"Morgan saw me fix a lamp."

"Power fix?"

"No Max, with a freakin' screwdriver. She's scared of tools," Michael sighed. "What do you think?"

"I'm sorry, you woke me up. Should I come over, is she freaking out?"

"Yeah, she wants to go home."

"Don't let her. I'll get Iz and be there in twenty minutes."

Michael hung up and walked back in the living room. He sat on the coffee table in front of the couch away from Morgan. "Morgan?"

She shook her head, wetness spreading over Kyle's shirt. He kissed the side of her face and tightened his grip on her. "Morgan, no one is going to hurt you, I promise."

"I don't understand," she sniffled.

"We'll explain, sweetie." Maria rubbed her back. "I promise." She looked to Michael. "Did you call Max?"

"He's on his way," Michael answered looking back at Morgan. "I promise I won't hurt you, is that what you think?"

"I don't know." Morgan wiped tears off her cheeks and finally looked at Michael. "I don't even know what I saw. I woke up and Kyle and Leia were gone." She nodded. "I was worried and now I just want to go home."

"We have to talk about a few things first," Michael leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees.

"Why? So you can explain what happened? Are you going to tell me you're a magician? Because I won't buy it." She looked from Michael to Kyle. "You know, I really fell for you and I trust you. If you tell me no one is going to hurt me, I believe you. Do I trust anyone else in this room? No."

"You can trust us, Morgan," Maria said softly. "We're going to trust you so you're going to have to trust us."

"I need something to drink, some water or something." Morgan looked to Maria who stood up and went to the kitchen. She returned with a bottled water and handed it to her. "Thank you." Morgan drank her water in silence. She was totally aware of the three sets of eyes on her. A knock at the door made her jump nearly off the couch.

Michael stood as the door opened and Max, Liz and Isabel walked in. Each looked like they had been asleep. Max yawned and took Michael's place on the coffee table. "So, what's going on?"

"Max Evans and his way with words," Isabel laughed harshly. "Spill it my brother, let's get this over with and let me get back to sleep."

"Chill out Iz," Michael shot her a warning glare.

"Why are all of you here?" Morgan looked around at the faces of people she considered good friends. "Is this like some kind of intervention?"

"No," Liz smiled and sat on the other side of Maria. "Not an intervention, I promise."

"Okay," Max took a deep breath. "I have to know that we can trust you implicitly. What I'm going to tell you is going to be hard to comprehend, but first, I have to have your promise that it stays with you. Only you."

"Are you in a cult? Is this a Satan thing? I don't do Satan." Morgan shook her head.

"Nothing like that. Can we trust you?" Max looked to Kyle. "Do you trust her Kyle? You know what I mean."

"I trust her with my life," he smiled in his girlfriend's red-rimmed eyes. "I love you Morgan."

"Ohh!" She threw her arms around him. "I love you, Kyle! I hope you didn't just tell me that because you're getting ready to sacrifice me to some god." He smiled and shook his head.

"Okay. This is it. I'll give you the condensed version." Max took a deep breath. "Michael, Isabel and I aren't from around here. We're not exactly of this ... world."

"Not of this world?" Morgan looked to each of them. "I don't understand. Maria said Michael was Czechoslovakian, which is in this world. Or do you mean like a third world country?"

"He means a different world altogether," Isabel leaned against the wall. "We're aliens. We crashed here in '47 and now we just blend in."

Morgan stared at her friend is disbelief. This is not happening, she thought, this is so not real. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, as Isabel put it so bluntly, we are aliens. We're not here to hurt anyone or anything. We just want to live our lives." Max clasped his hands together. "Outside of this room there is only one other person who knows the truth, Kyle's dad. We'd like to keep it that way."

"You're aliens?" Morgan smiled. "This is a joke, right? Roswell? Aliens?" She looked at Kyle who was shaking his head. "This is for real?"

"Yeah. But they're good aliens," Kyle squeezed her hand. "I promise."

"I can't...I don't..." she looked to Maria and Liz. "You?"

"Nope, we're as human as you," Liz answered.

"And you're okay with this?"

"Sure," Maria laughed as she thought about when Liz told her and her initial freak out. "They're harmless. They just each have a little power that can change or fix things."

"I can't deal." Morgan stood. "Kyle, would you drive me home?" She turned to Max. "I won't say anything to anyone. You have my word." She gripped Kyle's hand and led him to the door.

"I'll call you tomorrow," Isabel said quietly to her as she passed. Morgan barely acknowledged her with a slight nod. Morgan and Kyle left. "Well, that went well."

"It could have been worse," Liz offered also thinking about when she told Maria and she freaked out.

"Will she say anything?" Michael asked Isabel. "You know her pretty well, is she trustworthy?"

"She won't say anything," Isabel shook her head. "She just got a boat load of information so of course, she's going to act a little strange. But she won't say anything. She trusts me and she trusts Kyle."

"Sure?"

"Didn't I just say so, Michael?" she snapped. "I'm going to wait in the car. Can you hurry a little?" With that she was gone.

"What is her problem?" Michael asked after her.

"I don't know," Max said.

"This sucks!" Michael ran his hands through his hair. "I knew better, I just wasn't thinking."

"It's okay," Maria nodded.

"I'm sorry, I'm not usually that stupid." He looked at Max. "Don't even say anything."

"We're going to go," Max stood up and held out his hand for Liz. "I think that went okay. Morgan's smart and I think we can trust her."

* * *

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Morgan finally asked when they pulled up in front of her house.

"I don't know what to say."

"Are they lying to me?"

"No. Every word is true." He turned the headlights off. "Will you keep their secret?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "You better not be lying to me."

"I'm not and I meant what I said, I do love you Morgan." Kyle kissed her lips. "I know it's a lot to take in and there is more, but that was the big part. You won't say anything, will you?"

"I gave you my word," she smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, I need to sleep on this."

"Is that it?" He raised his eyebrows.

"And I love you too, Kyle Valenti." She kissed the side of his mouth. "Can we talk about this more in the morning?"

"For as long as you want."

* * *

As Michael was pulling into the parking lot at the Sheriff's department the following morning, fifteen miles away Tally Ruiz was walking her dog.

Tally loved walking her dog in the mornings; she did so every morning even when it was raining. Sometimes she stayed on shabby paths in the desert and others she veered off and made her own way. Her dog, Wonder, was a rescued Greyhound and she needed her daily walks. Although she hadn't raced for more than two years, she still had a colossal amount of pent up energy. Without the daily walks, she'd drive Tally insane.

This morning seemed like any other, nothing extraordinary about it. Tally never thought that this would be the day she found a dead body.

Wonder, being held tight on her lead, pulled Tally into a gully on the other side of the highway from her house.

"Damn it Wonder, if you're dragging me across here for another stupid rabbit!" Tally Ruiz chastised her dog. Wonder turned and looked at her owner briefly before pulling on her lead again, forcing Tally to walk a little faster. Wonder stopped and the fur at the nape of her neck stood on end. She uttered a low growl and looked back to her owner. Tally wiped sweat beads from her brow and stood next to the dog. She looked down and gasped. A man was lying facedown in the shallow ravine, his arms and legs were twisted in abnormal directions, and his neck was angled so his blank stare gazed at Tally and Wonder.

"Oh shit," Tally backed up, tugging on Wonder's lead until she followed. Tally jogged across the highway and the two short blocks to her house. She let the dog in and took a few deep breaths before picking up the phone and calling the Sheriff's department.

* * *

Jim Valenti hung up the phone and looked to Michael. "That was Tally Ruiz and she said she found a dead body off Highway seventeen, let's go check it out."

Michael nodded and followed him out of the building and into his four-wheel drive. "A dead body."

"Yup. Do you know Tally?" Jim asked and Michael shook his head. "She's in her mid-twenties. She grew up here then went away to school on the West Coast. She moved back about three years ago. She had an abusive mother, who died last year, and an unknown father. She used to get into trouble all the time when she was younger," he smiled. "Now she's a writer, a novelist."

"Sounds interesting."

"You'll like her, her and her dog, Wonder."

"Wonder what?" Michael looked confused.

"Her dog's name is Wonder. She used to be a racing dog, a greyhound. I think her full name is Chilton's Wonder Mutt. Anyway, let's go see what Wonder dug up."

As they pulled up in front of Tally Ruiz's modest one-storey stucco house they heard howling from inside. They walked up on the porch and the door opened.

"Buenos Dias, Señor Valenti," the black-haired woman smiled and hugged him. "Long time, no see."

"How are you Tally?"

"Been better, not used to finding dead bodies; only writing about them." She looked to Michael. "New Deputy?"

"Michael Guerin, Tally Ruiz." They shook hands. "Michael is the father of Amy's granddaughter."

"Ah," she smiled. "Congratulations. I hear your baby is beautiful."

Michael nodded and smiled.

"Okay, Tally. So where's this body?"

Tally gave them directions, but refused to go back there. Jim and Michael got back in the truck and drove the short distance to the alleged body. After a few minutes of looking around, Jim whistled and Michael nearly ran to him, his heart was pounding.

"Found him." Jim looked down in the gully. "Not too pretty. Can you take it?"

"I've probably seen worse." Michael looked at the contorted body. "Should I check for ID?" Jim nodded and watched his protégé slip on latex gloves and search for a wallet. He found a driver's licence in his back pocket. "Name's Miles Lefton. Address listed in Santa Fe." He read from the licence. "Thirty-one. Do you think he could have been hit by a car?" He leaned in closer to the body. "I smell alcohol."

"Could be." Jim walked back to the truck and got out his camera. He returned and took a few pictures. When he walked to the other side of him, something caught the reflection of the sun on the back of his neck. "Michael, pull his collar down a little bit, I see something shiny."

Michael did as he was told and pulled the collar back. What he saw made him dizzy, he tripped backwards landing on his ass in the sand. A faded silver handprint, nearly exposed was on the base of Miles Lefton's neck.

* * *

Isabel Evans wasn't wearing make-up for the sixth day in a row. Her hair was pulled back in a lazy ponytail. She was leaning against the outside wall of the bookstore, one foot in back of her on the wall. She looked around and shrugged. She took a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and shook one out. She lit it and inhaled deeply. She blew the smoke out in a steam above her head.

She didn't notice anyone watching her from down the block. Why would she? She didn't know anyone who drove a black Sebring. But she did.

Rath smiled as he lit up his own cigarette watching Isabel. She was hot, he mused. Although she was the duplicate of Lonnie, he thought Isabel was hotter. Maybe it was because she wasn't a mega bitch! He watched her smoke and wondered if she'd be anything like Lonnie in the sack.

BACK TO THE TOP / CHAPTER NINE

STORY OF LINES:
4 - DOORWAYS

CHAPTER EIGHT

WRITTEN BY BECKY W

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