Chapter 6


"Wake up Chris, wake up", he heard as his shoulder was practically being shaken from its socket. Chris muttered a curse and put his pillow over his head. He just needed a couple more hours of sleep so he could feel human again. "Chris, get up. What happened? Did you find anything? You're freaking killing me here!"


Hesitantly Chris sat up in bed. He felt like crap and didn't look much better. He had a week's worth of stubble and his eyes were red. His usual handsome face looked haggard, as if he hadn't slept or eaten in days. Alex felt a pang of guilt when he took in Chris' appearance. He had already noticed that Chris had slept in his clothes but he needed to know whether the lead that Chris was following had resulted in any concrete data. So he ignored the guilt and persisted.


"Can't I get a little more rest here? I've been up for the last forty eight hours", Chris complained. One look at Alex' stubborn stance told him getting additional sleep was not an option. "Okay, okay, give me a sec here." Chris got up from the bed, walked around Alex' unmoving form and stumbled to the bathroom. After relieving himself, he washed his hands and splashed cold water on his face. It helped clear a little of the grogginess from his mind.


Chris walked back into his room and found that Alex had sat down on his bed. Chris took the ottoman from the corner of the room and pulled it up next to Alex. "Look Alex, I know we were hoping that my trip to Colorado would give us a clue as to where, well what happened to us. But it was a dead end. Another freaking dead end", he ended with what sounded like a sob. It was hard for Alex to sit there and see his brother like this. Through the years it had been Chris' optimism that had kept them going. Chris, who with his easy-going manner had always found the bright side of things and gave Alex hope. But now even Chris was breaking under the strain.


For some reason unknown to Alex and Chris, physical contact between them rarely had an effect on each other unless they consciously meant it to. Alex put his hand on Chris' shoulder and tried to comfort him, "Chris, we'll find the answers. As long as we work together and keep our heads. We'll be fine." Alex found that he was comforted by his own words. When Chris looked up at him and tried to smile, Alex realized that Chris felt the same way.


"Chris, let's go grab something to eat. You look like crap. Wasn't there any food in Colorado?" he joked with him.


Neither CJ nor Alex were at school the rest of the week. Steph and Rose were sure Alex was avoiding Steph. Rose was glad for the reprieve. Maybe Steph just needed distance to put her feelings and ramifications of them into perspective. Steph on the other hand missed him more by the passing hour. She needed to see him and talk about everything that was going on, everything that was happening between them.


Mary had planned to go shopping with some friends. She'd considered rescheduling her Saturday plans to stay with Stephanie. But when she mentioned the possibility to Steph, she was adamant that she was okay and was planning on having Rose over to work on some homework. They would just run to the deli two blocks away for some lunch. Mary was hesitant to leave but she didn't want Stephanie to feel like she was hovering or being over-protective.


The minute her mom got into the shower, Steph called Rose. "Hey it's me. I know it's short notice but you think your mom can drop you off at my place for the day? We need to talk about the, um, Alex situation."


"Oh no what happened, Steph? Is everything okay? Please tell me you didn't do anything stupid!" screamed Rose. "My mom's working today but I'll catch the bus. I'll be there in forty minutes. Don't do anything until I get there, I'm warning you." Steph found herself trying to speak but Rose had disconnected.


Mary gave Stephanie some money and told her to have a good time with Rose. She was relieved that Steph would have company. She knew that something was still troubling her little girl and she didn't want her to spend the day alone.


Shortly after Mary had left, Rose was calling to get buzzed into the complex. Stephanie let her friend in. As soon as Rose stepped through the door Steph led her straight to her room. Both girls sat on the bed, facing each other. The concern was evident on Rose's face. Before she could ask anything, Stephanie said, "I kissed him Rose."


The silence in the room became oppressive. Rose opened her mouth to say something, and then just closed it. She was speechless. Stephanie's eyes filled with tears, "I should have told you right away but I was scared. It happened on Tuesday night. I know I shouldn't have but I did and I don't regret it even though I should!"


Rose put her arms around Steph. "It's okay sweetie, I know how you feel about Chris. I'm sure you couldn't help it. I don't understand why you're crying. I take it that means he must be feeling better?"


Steph pulled back from the embrace, "What? CJ? No, not CJ – Alex. I kissed Alex", she stammered.


Rose stared at Steph in utter shock. She felt an immense sense of relief. But then realization set in. Steph had kissed Alex. She knew the pain and turmoil Steph had been in just from touching Alex' arm. What had happened to Steph when she'd kissed him? "Are you okay Stephie? Did he hurt you? Why were you even near him? Oh my god, wait, is he, you know like the report?" she finished in a hushed whisper.


Stephanie pulled herself together, stood up, and started pacing around her room. "Rose, we need to talk to him. I need to understand what's going on with him, with me. I love him, Rose. I don't know anything about him except that somehow all my life I've been waiting for him. It has all been leading to this moment and I can't turn away from it."


"Ugh Steph, that's some heavy crap to dump on me. I thought you had a thing for CJ? I mean, if you don't that's fine but", she noticed Steph's look and continued, "Never mind, just tell me how I can help."


After some deliberation, they decided to go speak with Alex. Steph was very nervous about seeing him again after what had happened the previous night. Rose was scared, and that was a feeling she was not accustomed to. Steph tucked her hair behind her ear and knocked on the door. They waited for a minute but there was no answer. The girls exchanged a quick glance and Steph decided to knock again, louder. They waited for what seemed an interminable amount of time and were about to leave when they heard someone opening the door.


Alex stood there in the pair of jeans he had hastily thrown on and nothing else. Rose had a vague idea of why her friend was unable to keep her distance. "Can we come in Alex?" asked Steph. "Rose and I would like to speak with you for a minute."


"Um, are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked Steph. Then he noticed the determination in her eyes. Shrugging, he stepped aside to let them in. "Okay, have a seat; you ladies want something to drink?"


Rose and Stephanie walked across the room to take a seat on the couch. They looked at each other as if not believing that he was offering them a drink. Rose was sure that he must know why they were there and yet he was carrying on as if this were a social call. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Stephanie on the other hand started getting more nervous. It was evident by the way she kept moistening her lips and fidgeting with her hair. "No, we're fine", replied Rose.


Alex took a seat on the chair across from the couch. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, CJ walked in. He had taken a shower and was freshly shaved. Although his appearance had improved over the last couple of days, he still looked very tired. He seemed pale and his eyes were weary. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a white tee shirt. His hair was still wet from the shower. He looked at the two girls sitting in his living room, threw his hands up in the air and said, "This is exactly what I needed", in exasperation.


Alex had filled Chris in on the incidents that had occurred with Stephanie while he was out of town. They had both read through the printout which Steph had left behind. It was one more piece of the puzzle. Chris desperately wanted to know how Steph had come across the information. But he was not looking forward to the ensuing confrontation; especially not on an empty stomach.


"Fine", he said as he sat on the recliner near Alex. "Before you begin, I have some questions for you. Where did you get that information you gave Alex?"


Stephanie blushed and looked at her hands. 'Gave' was not the appropriate term. She had actually hurled the papers at him. "CJ, I need to apologize to you. I know I've been flirting with you since we first met and when you asked me out. Damn, can we talk in private for a minute?" she implored him. Stephanie had no problem apologizing when she made a mistake. But doing so in front of Rose and Alex, especially Alex, was too much even for her.


Chris caught on immediately where Steph was going with the apology. He couldn't help but smile. She was indeed something special, his brother was toast. "Steph, I don't think we need to go there. You're a great girl and the fact that you'd even bring it up just raises my level of respect for you. There were no commitments or promises made. A little flirting never hurt anyone. I'd like to be able to remain friends, if that's what you want, especially after today. So can you please let me know where you got that info?"


Stephanie was so surprised by the easy manner in which CJ had just let her off the hook that it rendered her speechless.


"I got it. Steph told me what had happened with Alex and I did some research. There was nothing on any of the public sites so I had to use a backdoor to a database which seemed more, ah, promising", replied Rose when she noticed Steph kept silent.


"Shit! You accessed a government site. Do you know what that means? I can't imagine why they haven't showed up on your doorstep yet. Or have they?" bellowed Chris as he jumped out of his seat. He stood in front of Rose and looked daggers down at her.


Stephanie could not sit there while CJ, who had always seemed so even-tempered, shouted at her best friend. "Stop right there. How dare you throw accusations at us, especially at Rose, when you've been lying to us, to everyone for a year! Plus Rose is very good with computers. She disguised the PI address so it can't be traced."


CJ turned incredulous eyes towards Rose. She was giggling, "Sorry it's just that what Steph meant to say is that I disguised my IP address. My hack wasn't traceable so relax", she waved him away as she tossed her hair back. Rose was determined to keep her cool around CJ, even if it was just to avoid adding more tension to the already stressful situation they were in. "Okay, so now you know how we got the info. Now we want to know what the hell is going on here. Is he a 'being' like the one described on the report?" she asked pointing towards Alex.


Alex held his breath as he took in Stephanie's expression. He knew the question was coming but it still caught him unprepared. He would have given anything to know what Stephanie was thinking. But she just sat there, looking at her feet.


Chris went back to the recliner and sat down. He looked at Alex who gave him a slight nod. Leaning forward he began, "It's too late for us to go back to the way things were. We're going to have to trust that you'll keep our secret. If you don't, well, that's no longer important because we no longer have a choice. Yes, after reading the report, we believe that Alex has a lot of similar characteristics as the being described and so do I", he put up his hand to silence the questions he knew the girls were about to ask.


"Just hear us out first. Then we'll answer your questions, the ones we can. So, as I was saying, the only thing that makes us different from you and any other person is that we can communicate our emotions via touch. We have no ESP, we can't fly or have special weapons or any other crap. But are we human? We don't know. Our earliest memory is of hiding in an abandoned house. There was just Alex and I, no one and nothing else. We don't know how we got there, or who we were hiding from. When we finally got too hungry to stay there, we came out of hiding; the first person we encountered was a young lady walking her dog. Alex reached for her hand to ask for help. She started screaming. We knew, don't ask how, but we knew it was due to the contact", his eyes took on a faraway look. It was obvious he was reliving those painful days.


Alex took over where Chris had left off, "We knew we were different. By chance we found a clue that led us to a safe location. But those are just unimportant details. We've been trying to find out why we're different ever since. But it seems that the only information is heavily guarded by the government. About a year ago Chris was able to access a database that spoke of a special task force. We think it had something to do with us. That night, we barely had time to pack a couple of bags, grab some cash and split town. Had we been even a few minutes slower, well you read the report", he trailed off.


Steph and Rose stared at them with a growing sense of disbelief. Stephanie shut her eyes tightly. Rose could sense her friend's despair. She held her hand tightly as a sign of support. "You mean to tell us that you are from 'origins unknown' like that piece of paper said? You expect us to believe that crap! What the hell kind of game are you playing with Stephanie here? With me? This is bullshit and we're not staying around to be made fools of. Come on Steph, let's go."


When Rose stood up, Stephanie tugged her hand free. "No Rose, they're not lying. I've seen it, felt it. They're telling the truth."


Rose looked from her friend to Alex who just sat there looking at Steph. Then she turned towards Chris, CJ whom she had grown to care for. She sat down on the edge of the couch. "Are you sure you believe all this nonsense, Steph? You know I trust your judgment. It's just that this seems so farfetched, like I expect to be on some hidden camera show or something."


Steph just nodded. She was looking at Alex and in that instant Rose knew that everything that had been said was the truth. The ramifications of what Chris had said hit her like a ton of bricks. Government agents showing up at her door, hiding from something, escaping in the middle of the night, CJ and Alex had placed them all in danger. She turned towards Stephanie but it was obvious that Steph was dealing with her own emotions. Slowly she looked back at CJ. "You in the kitchen, now", without waiting for a response, she got up and started walking, her hair streaming down her back.


Chris had seen the murderous gleam in her eyes. Instead of being worried, he felt anticipation for the upcoming confrontation. He'd always enjoyed his verbal spars with the beautiful blonde. Walking towards the living room, he asked Alex, "You alright for a minute?" Alex nodded.


He found Rose leaning against the kitchen counter by the sink. "Why don't you grab a chair Rose", he offered.


The minute she saw him she stood up straight and let him have it, "How could you? You've lied to all of us Chris. What were you thinking? Do you realize what you've done? You and that brother of yours just showed up and messed up Stephanie's life. First she thinks she's falling for you, now him. What were you thinking? Is this some kind of game to you? She has feelings, damn it. She's a good person. She doesn't deserve this crap. Do you know that she loves him? Do you? Then you say you're some kind of alien or something. Oh no, wait, you never actually used the word did you? Oh no, too civilized for that!" she took a breath and was about to keep right on going.


"Don't I get a chance to defend myself, Rose? Do you think we took the decision to tell you lightly? We've just put our safety, shit, our very existence, and our lives in your hands. Does that not count for anything? Of course I know she loves him. Just as I know that he loves her and its tearing him up inside. Sometimes when I'm not careful I can see what he feels, as if I were inside of him sharing the feelings. Loving her is the best feeling he's ever had, and it's the worst. It's ripping my heart out to know what he's feeling right now. Yes, right now while you rain insults on me, he's out there dying because he doesn't know if there's still room for him in her life. So don't you dare stand there and accuse us of being insensitive. You of all people", he trailed off. It was unusual for Chris to lose control. But for reasons he couldn't explain, he found that Rose had a natural ability to push the right buttons with him. He threw his hands up in frustration.


Rose couldn't believe he was raising his voice at her. "Just what is that supposed to mean, me of all people? What the hell? After you put Steph and me in danger, you still have the nerve to insult me? Why I ever thought you were nice is beyond me. I can't stand you and I will not be subjected to your insults any longer", she hurled back at him indignantly as she tried to walk by him.


Chris moved to block her exit, "Yeah, just run out of here. Go back to your servers and your computers. That you can relate to, you're both wired the same way, just a processor without any human qualities", the minute he said the words he regretted them. He shook his head as if to clear if from the anger that had overcome him.


In that instant of fury, Rose reached out to slap him. With lightening-like reflexes, he stopped her hand in mid-motion. Instantly he felt her body go tense and he zeroed in on her feelings. "Guess you're not the ice princess you pretend to be after all, honey", he drawled in her ear.


Rose knew her feelings for him were laid open. Somehow he was able to read her and she felt vulnerably exposed, "Please", she whispered.


He looked in her eyes; there was a momentary flicker of triumph in his, "What the hell, you only live once", CJ crushed his mouth to hers.


Stephanie just sat there staring across the room at Alex. She had known, before the words had been uttered to confirm it, she had known and it hadn't mattered. So why was it that all she could do was sit there and look at him? He looked so serious, as if he were carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. She desperately wanted to go to him, to comfort him. But she couldn't bring herself to move.


He wanted to give her time to come to terms with the knowledge of what he was. They hadn't even discussed the two instances in which he had somehow wound up in her room. He wasn't sure if she knew what had happened on those occasions. Truthfully, he wasn't sure how it happened either. This was not the time to bring it up. He waited in silence while they heard Rose and Chris fling accusations and insults at each other. Suddenly everything was quiet. Alex sprang to his feet, "Don't", he said as he ran to the kitchen.


He was too late; he was just in time to see Rose push Chris away. "I hate you. Don't you ever touch me again, you hear me? I am not your plaything", she screamed at him as she stormed out of the kitchen. They heard the front door slam shut and knew that their visitors had departed.


"What were you thinking Chris? You're fighting with her and you think that's the best time to make a move on her? I thought you were supposed to be the one who could control yourself. You sounded like you were about to strangle her, then you kissed her? Do you know what she felt? The pain you caused her?" Alex looked as hurt as Rose had.


"I wasn't thinking, but once I touched her, there was no anger Alex. I could see myself through her eyes, the way she sees me. Alex, I've never seen someone the way she sees me. It was indescribable. In that moment my only aspiration was to be the person she saw. I had to kiss her, I wanted to hurt her and punish her for talking about you as if you're not worthy of Steph. But I couldn't, don't you see. All I felt was peace when I kissed her, it soothed me. Man, it scared the shit out of me", he ended and walked out of the kitchen. Alex was left standing there, speechless.


The minute the girls walked back into Steph's place, Rose locked the door. She leaned back against it. Stephanie asked, "Rose what happened, you look paler than usual. Are you okay? Did CJ do something?" Steph steered Rose toward her couch. After they sat down, Steph tried again, "What's wrong Rose, are you okay?"


"Steph, he kissed me and I felt, I felt like he was taking something from me. It was as if he were drawing out and examining all my feelings", her voice trembled. She leaned back and let out a sigh. "He didn't hurt me but it felt as if he was sharing my feelings and storing some of them for himself. That makes no sense. But it was just scary. But I'm okay. How are you feeling Stephanie? Oh god, what are we going to do now?"


The girls went over the meager amount of information they had so far. They knew they would keep Chris and Alex's secret. There was just no other choice. They didn't seem dangerous and they didn't fit the typical gray little men in flying saucer alien description. Rose decided that if she was very careful she might be able to gather additional information from a couple of sources but she refused to discuss the possibility of getting together with Alex and CJ. Stephanie would pass any information Rose found on to the guys. Rose couldn't risk being around CJ. It was bound to end with her being hurt. The last thing she needed was to find herself in the same situation as Stephanie. It was hard enough seeing her friend caught up in the turmoil.


That evening, Alex told Chris about accidentally winding up in Stephanie's room. Chris was shocked. This was something new. They hadn't ever encountered any information on anything like it. Chris' theory was that Alex was able to move from one place to another by relaxing and concentrating on where he wanted to go. Alex tested Chris' theory by trying to transport from one room in the condo to another. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't. Neither of them was sure why he had been able to move to Stephanie's room so effortlessly. But since it had been a long day and they were both tired, they decided to leave it to the next day.


c71

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