Part 22

Max paced back and forth in front of his bedroom window, taking a deep breath as he tried desperately to muster up the courage to explain everything to the people congregated in the room.

Michael stood in the corner, leaning back against the wall, as he put an air of boredom around him, even if inside he may have actually cared what Max had to say. Isabel sat in Max’s desk chair, leaning back, as she twirled the bottom few strands of her hair around her fingers. Alex sat on the floor, leaning back against the bed, his eyes glued to Isabel, while Maria and Liz sat cross legged on Max’s bed, waiting for him to start speaking.

Nervously, Max met Liz’s eyes, and she immediately smiled encouragingly at him, giving him the strength to begin.

"Okay…there’s a lot going on that you all need to know about. A lot happened this afternoon. First of all…Tess is dead."

"What?" Maria gasped. "How? What happened?"

"She followed Liz and I out to Buckley Point this afternoon and attacked us…she threatened to kill Liz."

"So you killed her?" Isabel asked uncertainly. "I thought you said we wouldn’t do that."

"No…actually. I didn’t." Max sighed.

Four sets of eyes whirled around to stare in shock at Liz…she was the most unlikely killer, probably in the whole group.

"No! It wasn’t Liz either!" Max shot out quickly, unable to stand the shock and accusation in their eyes, directed at his innocent love.

"Well who was it then?" Michael growled.

"It was that new kid at school…you know, Matt? Liz has been showing him around. It turns out that he and his sister, Alyssa, are from home. They were sent here to replace Nasedo as our protectors. It turns out that since they showed up at the beginning of the week they’ve been watching us…and Tess…very closely. And when she made her move this afternoon, they were ready."

"That’s unbelievable." Maria commented, shaking her head is disbelief.

"I know." Liz consoled, placing a comforting hand on her best friend’s shoulder. "I wouldn’t believe it either if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Not only did the resistance back home have them sent here, but Alyssa and Matt volunteered. They’re here because they want to help us…and I think that I’ve known since the first time I saw them. I’ve been drawn to them…I didn’t fully understand it until this afternoon, but that’s probably why. Because they’re different…like us."

"I feel it too." Max agreed softly.

"I don’t though." Isabel commented. "This is a complete shock to me. I would have never guessed."

"Neither do I." Michael argued, suddenly moving from his spot in the corner to pace around the room. "How do you know that they’re not pulling you both in with some mind warp or something. I mean, we know nothing about these two…they could be any kind of aliens."

"It doesn’t feel like a mind warp." Max explained calmly. "It feels natural…like something coming from deep inside me."

"Almost like an instinct." Liz murmured in agreement.

"Whoa…." Alex muttered. "I just got the chills. So why would Max and Liz feel all of this so powerfully, but Michael and Isabel sense nothing at all?"

"Maybe Max and Liz knew them in their past lives?" Maria suggested.

Max and Liz shot each other reluctant looks before continuing.

"No…we didn’t." Max sighed.

Isabel turned a sharp look on them. "What? How do you know for sure?"

"We…we went through the memory retrieval process together." Liz explained softly.

"We both remember everything about our past lives." Max added in.

"Your mother told us about it when we spoke to her in the cave that night." Liz continued. "If we knew them in our past lives, we would have been able to recognize them…even with shape shifting aside."

"You remember everything?" Isabel asked, her voice trembling.

"Absolutely everything." Liz affirmed. "Our births through our deaths. That’s what we were doing in the cave the day you found us unconscious."

Isabel’s face was pale, and she stared at Max with an overwhelming fear in her eyes that blew his mind away.

"Oh God…I need to process all of this." Isabel stammered, as she stood and quickly moved towards the door. Turning and eyeing Max fearfully one last time as she flung the door open, she gasped out. "I’m sorry…" Before rushing out of the room.

Max didn’t even hesitate. He was after her in an instant, following her to her own room. The horror and self loathing in her eyes had torn at his heart, and he needed to help…he didn’t know what was wrong, what was bothering her, but whatever it was, he needed to ease her suffering.

"Iz?" Max murmured in a calm, comforting voice as he let himself into her room. "What’s wrong? Talk to me…please?"

His pleadings made her heart clench in agony, and Isabel turned her tear stained eyes from where she stood, staring blankly out the window, to meet Max’s concern filled orbs.

Isabel gasped aloud as she met her brother’s eyes. It had been a few days since she had the opportunity to be alone with him, and somehow in that time she had missed how the changes he had experienced over the past few days had effected him.

She knew that he had been happy…at peace…two things that she knew were entirely thanks to Liz’s renewed presence in his life…but there was something else new too…a confidence, a depth, that hadn’t been there a few days earlier. And Isabel now knew just where it came from…the memories of a lifetime worth of experiences that were now not only stored in his brain, but a part of his whole existence.

Regardless of what Max appeared, he wasn’t just Max Evans, a seventeen-year-old boy, anymore. Max had grown, matured, with the experiences he had gained this week.

"Max…" Isabel sighed, knowing she needed to talk to him about it at some point. "What do you remember about me…from that other life?"

"About you?" Max asked with a chuckle, a faraway gaze entering his eyes, as the memories came sweeping over his mind. "What do you want to know? About you and Michael? It was an arranged marriage. You loved each other, but not romantically. You were happy with him, but not entirely fulfilled. You had to come here, and find Alex, to find that kind of love."

Isabel smiled softly, unsurprised at what she was hearing. Her heart already knew the answer to that question…but it wasn’t what she wanted to know.

"What about you and me, Max?"

"Us…we were close, Isabel…just like we are in this life. We picked on each other on occasion. You always made fun of me for being so hopelessly in love with Liz…but I know you didn’t mean it…maybe you were a little jealous of what we had, but you loved us both so much…you would do anything for us, Iz." Max focused on her once again, noticing the way she clung to every word falling from his lips. "Iz…what’s this about?"

Her gaze faltering, Isabel sighed, knowing she could tell Max. "The other night…when everything happened with Senator Whittaker…she told me that I betrayed you…that everything that happened, our deaths, was all my fault. I couldn’t remember anything from my past, Max…I didn’t know whether she was telling the truth or not."

Anger flickered into Max’s eyes. "She was lying to you, Isabel. She was probably trying to cause a rift in the group…anything to make us weak. Don’t believe anything the skins say." Crossing the room, Max pulled his sister into a tight hug. "Trust me, Isabel. I remember it all. We were close, happy. You would never do anything like that. My sister was by my side straight through until the day we both died."

"Thank you, Max…I believe you." Isabel gasped, as tears streamed openly down her cheeks."

"You know…Isabel…your memories are locked in the cave too. Anytime you want you can go down there, and remember everything."

Isabel paused, as she pulled back and wiped her eyes clean with her powers.

"I don’t know if I want to know." Isabel finally burst out. "I think your word is enough for me for now…if I ever change my mind, I can…but for now, I think I’m happy just being me."

Max nodded in understanding.

"Was the decision that easy for you, Max?" She asked him cautiously. "Did you really want to know that badly?"

"It wasn’t a matter of wanting to know." Max explained softly. "It was a matter of needing to know. Liz and I needed those answers…and we did it all together. I think I would have been scared without her there…but she experienced it all with me."

Isabel nodded. "I guess I can understand that. So should we go back?"

"Actually…there’s one more thing…before we go back…"

Isabel turned and faced her brother curiously. "What’s up?"

"There’s something else that you need to know…that no one else really needs to deal with other than you…Iz…Mom knows everything."

Isabel’s eyes widened in surprise at Max’s words, and her heart pounded.

"You told mom?" She asked him in shock.

Max chuckled under his breath. "Not exactly…Mom kind of told me, actually. She followed Liz and I to the cave on your birthday…the night that all of this started. We didn’t even know she was there, until she sat us down and talked to us the next morning."

"Oh my God…" Isabel cried with a huge smile. "I can’t believe this…this is incredible! I’ve always wanted her to know…now I can finally talk to her about it! Thank you, Max!"

Max grinned. "Happy Birthday, Isabel."