AniVamps
*Colt*
I glanced right, glanced left. I glanced straight down. The rooftop was high, and it was difficult to forget my human instinct to increase my heart rate and breathing.
It still scared me, plain and simple. A thirty story building could do that to anyone. But what I was doing would scare the living daylights out of any human.
Backing up a measured ten paces, I tried to catch my breath. In my hand was the disk and files Lance had sent me after. I wondered briefly how Erika was faring. She didn't have to go as far as me on the rooftops, but she did have to twice cross a two-lane street, something that was scary enough once. Ten paces, I stopped, took a deep breath, and sprinted.
I took seven sprinting steps toward the edge, and hit it with both feet. I flew through the air, landing to a rolling halt on the next rooftop.
I picked myself up, brushed myself off, holding the papers and disk safely in on hand and feeling rather good about myself. Then I went back to my usual depressing self. The sirens were starting, and I hated the sirens. Actually, the sirens were just now turned on, and they squealed to a stop on the road I had just jumped over.
I said a string of... colorful and original names and descriptions for the siren and the people running that siren. Then I decided that I should hurry up with it.
With vision better than the average human, I could see a ali-fighter coming up fast, already in the air. I had been concentrating on the roofs too much, and now danger was coming.
^You done swearing now, Colt?^ Erika asked in my brain, much broken up by static and fuzz. I must have been mentally swearing as much as I was out loud. ^We gotta get going.^ The tenacious mental connection was broken, but I had a feel for where Erika was. She was safe, but I was a different story.
I sent out a yell of mental energy. ^Guys! Fal, Lan, Jak! I got some problems!^
I hoped that they were in closer distance that Er.
^Col, I was hoping you'd stay out of trouble.^ Jakal's voice sounded in my head.
Fainter, but not as bad as Erika's, came Falcon. ^This better be important, because I'm being chased by an innocent bystander through this building.^
^Break the rules! Sheesh, the rules were made to break.^
^Lost them.^ Fal reported. ^What's you're problem?^
^Looks like they're coming.^
^Ooooohhh. I hoped they wouldn't be here. Er's in my range. I'll call her.^ Jak reported.
^I'll get Lan.^ Fal said.
^Hurry up.^ I said.

*Rachel*
I glanced around, trying to see if anyone was around. I morphed. I morphed as quickly as possible. I stayed silent and hoped no one would hear the morphing. But I morphed.
I grabbed the Dracon beam in my eagle claws. I was in the newest Yeerk facility.
< You got it?> Tobias asked.
< Yeah. Jake's gonna like this.> I said, jumping from the open window. Even after all that time I've had the morphing power, and even with wings, it was scary, made scarier by the fact that I was holding something that was nearly half my size and weight in my claws.
< Tobias.> Marco said, swooping up in his golden eagle. < We got problems. Yeerk cars, without sirens, heading this way, heading fast. Get going.>
Then, through a broken series of mental static, I heard something. ^Hurry, up. I think... no, wait. There's three birds near the window of the building I got out of. They're getting out the guns and... I knew it, I knew it! They're shooting at the birds!^
I didn't have time to figure out what it was, but whoever said that had equally effective eyes as I had as a eagle, because a Dracon beam shot right past me.
< Ahh!> Tobias yelled in shock.
< Back in the building!> I screamed. < We need to get out of their range. MOVE!> To make a point, I dove back through the open window.
< Hey, Rachel, they might have guards in there.>
< Ahh!> I confirmed, flapping hard.
We flew around to the other side of the building.
< Up.> Tobias said, knowing the most about flying, still. < The building has a great updraft from the stuff they keep in it.>
I flapped. Marco flapped. Tobias flapped. Marco had the biggest wingspan, so he got up first, then me, then Tobias.
< Everyone... de-morph and we can see what happens when we use this Dracon.> I panted, already morphing out.
< Rachel! Guard on the roof!>
^Hey! What are you?^ asked a voice, different in tone than the last one but the same type of communication.
< Huh?> I asked, morphing out a ward speed, keeping a firm hold on the Dracon with my claws until they started melting into feet. Then I grabbed it with my feathered hands and pointed it at the boy while I morphed.
"Morph out." I muttered to Marco and Tobias.
"Hey!" the boy exclaimed. "Jak! There's lunatics with the--" He broke off, concentrating on something.
< Rachel! Behind you!>
I twisted around in time to see someone flying at me, feet first. I ducked.
The girl who had been doing the jumping landed lightly on her feet, although she was obviously surprised she had missed me. She turned around, each movement carefully plotted.
The boy glanced at her. She glanced at the boy, and nodded curtly. His eyes widened.
The girl was pretty, I guess. Blond hair, nice complexion, okay style of clothes if you're going to be running around on rooftops, which was what they had been doing. Her hair was windblown, but she hadn't put it any particular way. The two were dressed identically, black shirts reading United Terra Peace, jeans, and sneakers.
Good for the world we lived in now.
The boy, on the other hand, had blond-white hair covering his head, and the t-shirt was too big for him, jeans that were a big small and not in good shape. He was cute, sure, but he really needed a change of good clothes. They were both about fourteen, the age we got into this whole mess.
"Rachel, what do you think?" Tobias asked.
"Shoot 'em." Marco said. I glanced back at them, keeping the gun on the girl, who seemed more dangerous than the boy.
Marco was still brilliant, teasing Marco, but he had changed a lot since I had gotten to know him when this whole thing started. Well, in almost ten years anyone could change.
Tobias was younger than us by a year, but he was still cute as ever. Human, too.
"Are you going to shoot us or not?" the girl growled.
blinked. Then I saw how the boy wasn't staring at me or the others. He was frozen, looking at the Dracon. The girl, too, didn't seem like a controller.
"No." I said, lowering the gun but keeping it handy. "I just want to know who you are."

*Colt*
Er and I kept throwing each other looks. The, "You wanna tell her?" or the, "You go ahead." type looks. ^Er, come on.^ I pleaded. ^The girl will take it better from another girl.^
^No, she'll take it better from a cute boy.^
^You think I'm cute?^
^No! You're impossible! Call for backup while I babble us out of this.^ Then she started out loud. "Well, you see, we were, we, umm, we...." she kept stammering and giving me looks as part of our act while I called Erika, Falcon and Lance. ^Guys, they shot at he birds, but they came up here. The bird, I mean. They're the morph-capable-humans the files are about.^
^Which ones?^ Lan asked, efficiently adding,^I have some picture files here, describe them. Er and Fal are coming.^
^Good. Two boys and one girl.^
^The girl blond?^
^Yeah.^
^Rachel Phillipe. Dangerous, unpredictable. Who's the leader?^
^Rachel.^
^Then Jake isn't there. The two boys... describe them.^
"Well, we were on the roofs here and..." I trailed off, looking desperately at Er. My acting's as good as the rest of the group. ^One's Hispanic--^
^Half-Hispanic. Marco Robertson. Biological son of the leader of the aliens. The other?^
^Dirty blond hair, um...^
^Tobias Phillipe. First name not verified. Description has only things you could gather from this picture, which isn't all that good.^
^Any good news?^
^No. The compassionate of the group, Cassandra Phillipe, isn't there, and neither is the leader, Jacob Phillipe.^
^All of them related?^
^Jacob and Rachel are cousins, Cassandra is married to Jake. Rachel is married to Tobias, but she kept her name and he changed his.^
^Ah. Hurry up, now.^
^Jak and Fal should be getting there soon.^
He was right. I could see two people, coming in different directions, jumping roofs.
^There are subtler ways to get here.^
^I'm not traveling on the ground, Co.^
^I assumed as much. Hurry.^
"Well, we were, ah, we, we are..." I babbled.
"Well, you see, we were on the roofs to... um, we had to, we, um, we..."
"Get on with it." Marco said irritably.
"We were on the roofs to, uh, to do a...."
"To do a survey?"
"Yeah, a survey... of... of how many people were up here." Er finished lamely.
^Take out the blond and the Hispanic boy. The other one'll be stunned.^ I said, summoning up a mental profile of the three. They were bigger than us, but we were stronger and faster. All we had to do was sneak up on them.
"Rachel!" Tobias yelled.
Jak was already committed to the leap. Fal stopped dead, but the speed he had already reached pitched him forward and he landed in a rather uncomfortable position on the roof. Jak leapt, but re-judged, sending herself over the heads of the three humans and landing next to Erika. She fell into Er, but she caught her and spun her around to face the group. Fal didn't move, because from where he was, he was hidden from sight. He in no way wanted to be in Rach's line of fire.
"Shoot them now." Marco said. "No human could do that."
"No controller, either." Rachel said, her gun pointed at Er.
"Dammit." Jak hissed, smacking herself in the head, muttering under her breath.
Rachel's eyes narrowed. "Who are you? You're some type on non-human."
The girls glanced to see if I had objections. I was trying to blend into the ground. "She's the one with the gun." I pointed out.
Jak sighed. "We're not human." she admitted.
"What are you?" Rachel asked. Tobias looked accusingly at the sky. Marco just repeated some words I had mentioned earlier. Wonderful vocabulary, he had.
Jak started talking slowly. "We're--"

Back when Russia was intact and aliens were story tales, a secret military (or so we thought) project was going on to secure invincibility and immortality.
I was one of five, no, six selected humans to participate.
We were given a few rounds of testing, pronounced perfectly normal, and given the first dose of medication.
I was three years old at the time, and it hurt. It hurt so badly I was trying to kill myself. Hallucinations, mostly of sort of alien monkey-like creatures with sharp claws digging inside my brain. Painful, very painful. I make that quite clear to you. Pain was dominate over every other emotion.
When the dust and the pain cleared, I was alive and well. The rest, also, would pull through.
The next dose was a bit more... and a bit worse. In it, James died.
Oh, yeah. My name was Cory.
James died, and we lived. But they added another person to the process, Lance, to take James's place. Then, four more rounds of treatment, each one more severe than the last. Then the final treatment, seven years after the whole thing started. It was a preventive measurement, to prevent us from becoming what we now had become.
Too late.
The mastermind scientist died before he could make enough for all of us. It was impossible to finish, because many of the workers were shipped off to the war, where I hope they all were blown up and killed. So we didn't get the treatment in time. We were trapped in our rooms, able to talk only to each other, with no one daring to come near us. They hadn't told us what would happen if we didn't get the final treatment.
The short version is that we went crazy.
The slightly longer version is that we rampaged through the place, crashed everything into pieces, tore the rooms apart, and basically prevented anything like us happening ever again. We also killed the "mastermind" over the whole opperation. We happened, though, and we were in trouble. You see, we escaped, but we were being chased. By the government what had created us, which we later learned was alien slugs.
We were what we were.
We were vampires.

"Vampires," Jak finished.
"Vampires," Marco repeated slowly.
"Vampires," Rachel said.
"Vampires," I confirmed. "No, none of the traditional vampric traits. Sun's okay, although with our eyes it's kind of bright, stakes through our hearts and we'll just pull it right out, not much can stop us."
"Can anything?" Rachel asked.
"Umm..." I mumbled.
"It's a secret. I have to kill you if I tell you," Er said brightly.
"Oh. Nevermind then," Marco said.
^Co, is it safe to get up yet?^ Fal asked. He was peering over the edge of the roof.
^I don't think they're going to shoot soon, but be aware,^ I said.
^Will do,^ Falcon said.
^Lan, it's safe. Get over here.^
^Okay. I'm coming.^
I raised an eyebrow at Jak.
"Oh, two more boys are getting here. Nothing to worry about, they aren't going to attack you," Jak said hastily.
"Like our group," Tobias muttered in Rachel's ear. "The same number of boys and girls." Louder, in human hearing range, "So, who's your leader?"
"Lance. He's coming."
Fal landed gracefully on his feet, turning a flip in the air to get rid of extra forward force. He waved a casual hello and looked out for Lan. He didn't have to wait long.
Lance's treatment had been more advanced than ours. Not by much, but he is stronger, faster, and more fearless than we were. In other words, I could telepathically hear him well even though he was pretty far away, but he was running more than half-speed.
Which is pretty fast.
So a vampire, going faster than most humans could manage, was pretty much jumping from roof to roof like it was the sidewalk. He landed easily and smiled.
"Hi. I'm Lance."

*Rachel*
"Rachel, say hi," Tobias said, nudging me.
"Oh, hi," I said.
"Hi, Ray, To, Mar. There's guys coming this way, hurry up and morph small," the guy said, totally cool. I remember when Jake started to give orders that way. But I was insulted by being called Ray. Although Tobias called me that all the time. I started morphing, but was about to protest. The first boy started talking first.
"Er, Fal, and I can go with them. Lan, you and Jak can get away fast? Okay?"
"Yeah, that's good," Lance said, watching us but scanning the sky. Bug fighters were coming up fast. "Ali's. No Due's, so we should be safe. What are you morphing, anyway?"
"Fl--" I started, before my face erupted into the mouthparts of a fly.
"Yuck," Lance commented.
< I meant to say fly,> I said, shrinking finally kicking in.
The talking stopped and something sort of like thought-speech started. ^Let's get going. Once you finish morphing, land on Er, Fal or Co. Hurry.^
I landed on the nearest person. ^No, that's me.^ And hands picked me up and placed me on something else. ^Stay on Er.^
< Tobias, you all right?> I asked.
< Fine. Someone picked me up and put me one someone's shoulder.>
< Same for me,> I looked upward toward the person's face. < Are you Er?>
^Erika, Er, Er'k, Erik, Ka or Era. Yes, that's me.^
< Wow. A lot of nicknames.>
^We like giving nicknames, as you observed. I could see you didn't like Ray. Ra, Ray, Rach, Rel, Raych. That's all we could think give to you. I'm not a permanent nickname. Colt's usually Co, Falcon's usually Fal or sometimes F'con, Lance is usually Lan, Jakal is usually Jak.^
< Nice.>
^It is, really. We're a nice group. When we're not hungry, that is...^
< You really... suck people's blood?>
^Yeah. I know, I know, yuck, but it isn't too bad. It doesn't hurt the person much, and they don't usually remember it.^
< Still...>
^It did take some getting used to.^
I mentally shuddered, then paid attention. ^We're going to be moving fast, so just hang on with your little fly legs and we'll get you out of here.^ Then she started talking to others. ^They're going to shoot. Give them moving targets. Hurry, guys!^
So, there wasn't one leader. Whoever wanted leadership would get it, no questions asked, I thought. I wondered what Ax would think of that.
^Firing. Missed me,^ another person said.
^Missed me, too.^
I was moving at an insane rate, for being anchored to the human girl.
Not human. Vampire. There was a very big difference.
^They're missing like crazy.^
^Jak!^
< AAAAHHHH!!!!> Marco screamed
^I'm okay, it just glanced me.^
< We're falling!> Marco yelled at me. < Off the roof!>
^Catch her!^
^Got her!^
^I'm okay, really.^
^Give her to me, I'll get her to headquarters,^ Lance said.
^Thanks, Lan.^
^It's okay. To, get over here too. Ray, stay with Er.^
< It's okay, Rachel. We're going really fast toward.....> Tobias's voice faded out. It was too much distance for our thought-speech to handle.
^They're going to headquarters. Believe me,^ Erika said, jerking in a series of three zag-zaggy lines to most likely avoid a good Draconing, and we started moving fast.
^One Ali's following us, one Fal. Colt got away free.^
< Good.>
^Yeah. Hold up, this one following us how met by another Ali and... oh, great, hold on tight.^
I thought it would have been impossible to go this fast. We were moving faster than I think even a Bug Fighter could move, which was what I was assuming Ali's were. But through it, I was being thrown from side to side, even with my small mass. Erika was taking the least direct way to get to nowhere.
Jarring my insect body, I realized we must be off the roofs now and on the street. Erika didn't hesitate, but fled up the street, ducking into an abandoned building, and running through it, giving a running commentary on her actions. I only hoped that the building was uninhabited.
We ducked into another building while the building behind us exploded. Erika paused her frantic speed, told me to hang on once again, and we were flying, hitting the... whatever we landed on with a thump.
^We're on the roof. I used my strength combined with the lift of the blast to get us up here,^ Erika explained. ^We're running fast, but they already know my tricks. We're being closely followed.^
< Any injuries?> I asked
^Now? Only a broken arm. It's healing swiftly, thank you for asking.^
Wow, this girl was strong. Vampire, I reminded myself. Vampire.
^They're trying their dive maneuver. Give me a second.^
I no longer felt footfalls through my fly feet, but we were still moving. Fast. Jumping again?
^Yeah! I'm on top of the Ali. There's a hatch, I'll get in.^
< Standard crew, one Hork-Bajir, one Taxxon. And this is not standard procedure.>
^If Hork means Bade, I'm there. They're so fun to fight. Start de-morphing,^ she added as the wind stopped.
^The Blades and the Worm's dead. Come on, I can't fly this thing.^
I finished morphing. "Whoa, Ax taught me this. Hang on." Finally, I got to say that-- and not mean it literally.
I wasn't good at flying the fighter, but I was good enough. The shields were holding up fine. < Aximili!> yelled, wondering if he was in range.
No answer.
Great, I thought. Just great. Not that I expected it in the first place. Well, try to steer. "Where do you want me to land this thing?"
"Anywhere!" Erika yelled as she realized that the other Bug was trying to shoot at us even with shields. ^Get us out of^ "here!"
I noticed she didn't stay in one mode of speaking very long. Maybe it was because she was agitated, I guessed.
^Land it!^ she yelled as we were hit by another beam. They couldn't affect our ship, but they could knock us sideways rather hard.
I hit a few buttons, and to my shock, stabilizers came on. ^Land^ "It!" Er yelled, hitting buttons like crazy.
We landed smoothly. "I though you said you couldn't fly this thing."
^Weird.^ "I didn't know" ^That I could,^ she said.
"Well, we have to get out. What do you think of our situation?"
"They'll take the Blade's out and keep the Worm in to shoot at us," she said. ^Maybe they won't, though,^ "They like confusing us."
"Okay." I said, taking a deep breath. "I'll go Andalite. You just do what you can."
^Good^ "plan," she said, blinking rapidly. It seemed to be another nervous reaction, her eyes were going all around but her eyelashes were fluttering a mile a minute.
"Get ready." I hit the button to open the hatch. At least I knew that one. Er dove straight out, landing on her feet outside. I started morphing.
I heard a fight outside, but I was morphing double time. I got out myself, skittering on my hooves in the sand that had been blown in by the wind.
It was the mall parking lot.
Stop thinking like that, I ordered myself. It was a battlefield now, and it didn't matter what it used to be. I could see with me Andalite eyes the mall building, long forgotten and looted completely. I flashed with my tail, and dodged, and was thankful for Er's fast reflexes at telling me to dodge. We won that fight. But the war was already lost.

*Colt*
Er and Ray dropped through the roof of the abandoned building, Er dropping the whole way and landing easily, Ray taking it like the uneven bars in gymnastics. She landed on her feet, although she had to stagger a little because the lowest beam was a good fifteen feet off the ground.
To immediately ran up and hugged her. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Ray said.
Er had the Dracon beam the three had been carrying. We had all kept our papers and things we had gathered, and Lan was methodically going through those.
"Injuries?" I asked.
"No, Co, they morph out of injuries, remember?"
"Oh, yeah."
To and Mar had explained to us some of the technicalities of morphing, and had explained that the aliens were indeed slugs that control people's brains. They were called "Yeerks" and they had conquered whole worlds.
"Do you three need these?" Lance asked, picking up a bottle of pills. They were the pills that allowed humans to drink the water and breath the air with no adverse symptoms. Vampires were immune to such things, but we always kept a bottle of them around, in case.
"Yeah," Ray said. "Any water?"
Lance threw her a bottle of water. One small sip and she swallowed the pill. Then she threw it to To. To swallowed them, then threw then to Mar.
"You know, it would be better if it tasted like school lunch," Mar remarked, taking a sip and swallowing. I grinned. We used to take the pills, before we found we didn't need them, and they tasted terrible. They dissolved in the water that you took them with like sugar, and coated your mouth with the disgusting flavor.
Rachel nodded, sticking out her tongue.
Er grinned and threw her arm around me. She had been worried about Jak, who had been stunned by a low-power blast from the Ali's. Bug Fighters, Mar had called them.
I smiled too, and leaned on Er. We had this weird relationship, like most relationships in our group. We liked each other, but we refused to admit it to anyone else. Seriously, I thought everyone knew and just thought we were delaying telling them.
Rachel smiled. She probably understood. She had a species gap between herself and Tobias when they first met, or so Tobias said. An Elimist had reversed it when the human race learned about the aliens and had the mass hysteria. He had needed his human body then.
It was nice, just being able to lean on Er and trying to forget all our problems. But there was one problem. "I have to go hunting," Er said, looking at me.
"Yeah," I agreed. "We'll go. You three stay here, then Jak and Fal can go." Jak and Fal smiled at each other. They usually got to go together. "And the Lan gets to go last, leaving at least three people to protect the Animorphs at all times."
Rach glanced at Mar. He shrugged. She looked at him, strangely amused. He held up his hands like he was warding off her look. She smiled and shook her head at Mar's idioticness, and looked at To. He shrugged too.
"We need to get back," Ray said finally. "To get Jake and Cassie."
I looked at Lance. "Could you bring them here?" Lan asked.
Ray shrugged. "It's not exactly a hidden entrance. Just a difficult one." She grimaced. "Actually, it's the warehouse right behind the Gap and to the left of..."
We all stared as Rachel rambled off mall arcitecture, the quickest way to get to exits from the Gap, what's where, where to avoid, how to get to the main highway and across the construction site toward their houses.
Lan nodded, still confused. "As you will."
To grinned widely. "Looks like your shopping obsession's going to come in handy."

*Rachel*
I watched as Erika and Co jumped straight up and out of the hole in the ceiling we came down. Lance looked at me.
^You can get up if you climb up over there. You seem good at gymnastics-type stuff.^
"Yeah, I am pretty good," I said, climbing up a pile of crates to jump and catch the first beam. I hauled myself up and grabbed a bar above me, pulling myself up. I jumped for another bar, higher and closer to the hole in the ceiling.
"Careful, Xena," Marco cautioned me as I made a nice leap upward for a high beam. I caught it and swung my legs back and forth until I worked up enough monmentum to swing myself forward.
"Yeah, careful," Tobias said, seeing how my hand nearly slipped off.
I didn't respond. I simply scrambled around until I got on top of the beam and jumped up at the hole. I caught the edges and hauled myself up, panting.
"Be careful," Tobias's voice came up to me. "Make sure that you're not being followed."
I morphed, wondering why I hadn't done that before. To impress Lance that I wasn't a weak little human? I was once more a bird and winged toward Animorph headquarters, where a truly demoralized and pathetic army lived.

< Cassie! Where's Jake?> I yelled, landing on a branch.
"Raiding," Cassie said. She was busy planting a small garden. "You did take a pill today, didn't you?"
< Yeah, we all did, but I have something to tell you guys, but we'll wait until Jake and Ax are here.>
"Go get Ax. He should be around the meadow or something," Cassie said, waving her arm in the direction of the scraggly forest.
< I'll be back soon. Will Jake?>
"Yes, he left awhile ago."
< As a tiger?> I asked, starting to fly away.
"Yes," Cassie said, waving at me, worry on her face. She knew something serious was going on. Lia was playing in the dirt. As I flew away, I heard her saying, "No, no, Lia. Not for eating."
I smiled inwardly. Lia was a year and a half old now, and the cutest little thing. I looked for Ax.

*Colt*
I had found no prey and was getting angry. Er was above me, while I searched through the buildings, running around as fast as I could.
^Nothing, nothing, nothing. You know, I think we should head underground. At least there's prey there.^
^And no light,^ Er reminded me. Most humans began living in sewers and underground tunnels a long time ago, forming communities without light, although many remained on the surface. Just not in this area, where the Yeerk invasion had begun. I wondered if the Yeerks knew what we were.
Of course they did, because it was probably by their own meddling that we became this. The whole project might have been set up by Yeerks.
^Prey, Fourth avenue. Get down here.^
Er jumped down from the building she was on now. Not an uncommon thing. No one would take notice, even though it was the biggest building around. People jumping off buildings were very common. She reached me in seconds. She gave me her usual ^Let's do it!^ and rushed the boy.
I took this in very easily. The boy was about our age, maybe older, and had a very alert look on his face. He heard Er aproach him, she wasn't being very quiet in her running, and had a split second to see her before she tackled him to the ground, knocking his head on the pavement.
I ran up beside her. She was already looking him over. ^Heartbeat steady,^ she informed me. ^Breathing stable.^ She took one of his wrists and... well, how about all I say about that is that I followed her lead. I didn't like it, but I did anyway. One thing I will mention. Vampires do not have fangs. We're not actually much different than humans, physically.
Er finished first and stood up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. I backed off as well.
Er picked him up easily and put him in the building he had been outside of. ^He won't remember,^ she said, jumping onto the building she had just put him in and starting home on the roofs. I sighed and followed.
One day, I would find a way to break our curse. I would turn us back into humans.

*Rachel*
Ax was just standing, staring at the sky. He did that a lot.
< Hey Ax, something important's gone up,> I said.
< Hello, Rachel,> Ax said.
Jake was coming up the path toward the house, I noted. < Jake's coming back. Come on.>
< Are Marco and Tobias in trouble?>
< Not really. Just come.>
Ax galloped back to the house, myself sailing right along on a nice breeze.
"What's the problem, Rachel?" Jake asked as I started morphing back. Lia watched me with amusment. Morphing was something she saw a lot, and Ax said that she might have morphing power, although it wasn't passed along in Andalite families. We hadn't tested that theory yet, though.
"No real problem," I said, finishing my demorph. "We have vampires."
"Vampires?" Jake said, stopping dead.
"Vampires," I said. "They're nice, actually. Marco and Tobias explained the Yeerks to them. Before, they were "Fighting the aliens," not just the Yeerks."
"That's all very well and good, but ARE YOU INSANE?" Jake yelled.
"No. I mean it, Jake. Erika's really into fighting the Yeerks, and she says Co is too, and Lan, Fal and Jak."
"Are you sure?" Jake asked. He knows I have good feelings about if someone is good or bad, like Cassie an Marco. Although, for Cassie it's because she understands people, for Marco it's because he understands lying. I don't know why I do.
Jake didn't have to get his serious face, like he used to. His serious face was on, twenty four hours a day. "Take me there."

*Colt*
We jumped down the hole again. Jak and Fal nodded to each other and jumped back up.
"So, what were you guys talking about?" I asked.
"Not much," Mar said, shrugging.
"Mostly about the Yeerks," To said.
"Like what?" I asked, sitting down an a sort of bench made of crates and happy to see that Er sat down with me.
"The way they rule, that type of thing," To said, settling down. "The Yeerks have a sort of goverment where most of their names are weird something, three numbers and the name of a pool. Then, there's Sub-Vissers. A sub-visser is a lower Yeerk, but still is known only by Sub-Visser, then a number. Then, there's Vissers. A Visser is the only rank lower than a Council Member. Leader the Yeerk invasion is Visser Five. It was Visser Three but..." To broke off, grinning widely. "We got him demoted. Actually, all of planet Earth got him demoted. It was the biggest failure of the Yeerk empire since Leera." To grinned wider. "All of Earth is a source of real agitation for the Yeerks. They only don't destroy it only because they do manage a trickle of hosts from it. All Yeerks look forward to when every last human is inslaved and Earth is destroyed."
"Wow," I said, Er mumbling something just as meaningless next to me.
"Yeah. The Yeerks destroy whole worlds. They have, and they will again. And they've tried it again on us only..."
"Only it doesn't work," Mar said. "Not on us. We are by far the most difficult to conquer. Sure, we panicked big-time when we found out alien life was real, and we did nearly destroy our entire planet, but that was passing hysteria. Humans adapt. That's what our trait is. We're smart, and we advance." He had looked around the ruined warehouse. "See, this might not look to you like much, but it's a symbol of humans now. On the run, constantly hunted down, but look. We still maintain the power plants. We have electricity. There's the occasional radio broadcast. And we escape the Yeerks." And then, he looked Lance, Erika and me, straight in the eye. "Together, humans can win any war."
The part that mystified me most about Mar is that he insisted on considering us humans. We weren't human, not anymore. Not anymore.

*Rachel*
We had morphed and were spread out. Lia was left at the house, something that always worried Cassie, but she was okay with Erek and Ax, who were staying behind.
< In here,> I said.
Cassie's small ospray looked at me. < Rachel, wasn't this that warehouse for the Gap and-->
< Yeah, yeah, yeah, yadda, yadda, yadda,> I mumbled. < Remember, the leader is Lance, the two girls are Erika and Jak, and the two other boys are Fal and Co.>
< Nice names,> Jake said, gliding in after me. Cassie followed. We landed on crates that were being used as chairs and de-morphed quickly.
"Jake, Cassie," I said, seeing that Jak and Fal were missing. "This is Lance, leader of the vampires."
"Hello," Lance said, shaking Jake's hand firmly. "Nice to meet you." Then he looked at Cassie. "Nice to meet you as well. We need a lot of help if we want to let humans rule the planet again."
"We didn't do too well last time," Cassie said nervously.
"Anyone can do better than the Yeerks," Lance said, looking around. "This is Erika..." Erika nodded in introduction. "And Colt."
"Hello," Erika said, stepping forward and shaking Jake's hand. Colt followed, shaking Cassie's hand, then they both switching to shake the other person's hand.
"Nice to meet you," Jake said. "But there was two others..."
"Jakal and Falcon are hunting. They should be back."
Cassie nervously edged closer to Jake.
"Cheer up, Cas," I said, plopping down on the nearest crate. "It's fun."
"We have a have a habit of giving two or three letter nicknames." Lance said, almost apologetically. "So, would you object on being called Cas and Jay?"
"It wouldn't really bother me," Jake said.
"It's okay," Cassie said.
"As well as calling Rachel Ray, Tobias To, and Marco Mar."
"S'okay," Marco said, turning back to Colt. "For the Yeerks, the lower the number, the better the rank. Carith 286 would be higher than Carith 375..."
"So you're vampires," Jake said, looking at Lance.
Lance grinned, showing completely human teeth. "Yeah, but not the kind you're thinking of. I'll tell you about it..."
I sat down and listened to Lance's story...

*Colt*
Marco yawned and walked off. "Talk to you move later," he said. I didn't blame him. I was getting sleepy, and I had the sort of feeling that my arms and legs weren't exactly attatched to my body, that sort of tiredness. I stayed sitting, as Marco stood up, even though my tiredness would have been just as happy laying down. My thoughts were getting drifty, thinking about what Marco had said. The human boy had just made me feel small and insignificant in the war with the Yeerks...
"They took my mother, and she died. How many more deaths is it going to take? Why isn't this war personal?"
It was personal, all right. They kept me from being human. It wasn't as bad as taking my mother, though, because as far as I knew, I didn't have a mother...
"Those who resist are tortured inside their own skulls, but the people who fight get away." This was a strange human boy, smart but cynical. Seeing the world in a way you could reduce it to a nutshell, and then tell you all the problems with it.
u say you're less than human, but you say you never kill anyone. That makes me less than human, compared to you."
The war was war. You killed or were killed. It was the law. I managed to survive without killing anyone, but that was dumb luck.
Another voice, from farther away than Mar's disembodied voice talking to him now. Him? Him who, I thought vaguely, but all I got was a picture of grayness and a boy. A hand reached forward, my hand, and wiped away dust from the mirror.
"No, it wasn't me! Don't kill me! I didn't do anything!"
I had been hearing those words ring in my ears for years without understanding them, but at the time they deafened me. So much like what I had yelled.
^ No! No more hurt needles! No more! Out! Get out! ^
They were nothing alike, but they were the same. I hadn't killed him, but it had been my fault. Fault of every one of us. I refused to remember any more than that. I remembered more now, now that I was tired.
^ No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no... ^
And now I was back in the fight. A fight I had never wanted to be in.
^ No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no... ^
What had been the reason I'd stoped fighting in the first place?
^ No, no, no, no. No. No. No. No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no... ^
That was my curse. Not being a vampire.
^ No, no, no, no, no... ^
I'd stoped fighting... That was my problem. You always needed to fight.
^ NO! ^
I was scared stiff, but I would have to fight. No, I wasn't scared, but that little boy with the serious eyes in the dusty mirror.
^ No, Cory! It wasn't you! It was me! Cory, get up! Cory! They're coming! ^
It was my fault. The war was my fault, and the fault of that little boy.
^ Cory! Cory! Get up! They're coming, they'll kill us! ^
You should never abandon a fight. Especially your own fight.
^ Cory! It's me, Erika! We have to go now! ^
It was my fight because they made me who I am. I was sleepy, I might have been asleep, but I was remembering a lot. The little boy was looking up to see a beautiful girl, his age, blond hair framing her worried face.
^ No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no... ^
I was going to have to fight. That much was clear, not the boy who was crying in the gray dreamworld.
^ Cory, you didn't kill him! I did! It was my fault! Get up! ^
The fight was mine, and mine alone. No, not only mine, but mine and Erika's, and Falcon's, and Lance's and Jakal's.
^ Erika, it was my fault. I'm staying. ^
^ Cory! Get up! ^
^ DON'T CALL ME CORY! ^
No, Erika and the others shouldn't have to share it. These new alies shouldn't share it. I would get my revenge alone, without worrying about other people. Friends were troubles, things that you had to carry along that got heavier every step of the way.
^ Guys! ^
A scream that was almost a shriek.
^ Come! We have to go! ^
^ Cory, get up. ^
^ No, no, no, no, no, no, no... ^
^ Get Cory and leave! Pick him up and go! ^
^ I AM NOT CORY! ^
I would fight by myself. One kid, on my own, but a vampire, and I could do it myself. I was a vampire, after all.
^ Cory, you're just a kid, just... a colt. You have to realize that you can't do anything until you are strong enough. A colt can't carry passangers until it grows. ^
^ No more colts now... No horses... ^
^ No, no more. But you're here, colt. You're here. ^
^ I am Colt. ^
So Colt would fight. I would fight. The Yeerks would pay...

I sat bolt upright. There was a half-finished dream rattling around in my head, but I couldn't catch it. I was too tired. But something important had happened... something. I wasn't sure exactly what.

*Rachel*
Colt was still sitting on the crate an hour after Marco left him. He was still staring out at nothing. I wondered if he did that a lot. Erika had said nothing more that to not disturb him and not talk about it.
^Rach, staring at Colt isn't going to do him any good.^
I eyed her at the distance.
^No, don't go talk to him. When he's like this, he's usually just thinking. You shouldn't bother him. He might start yelling or something... It's like he's a sleepwalker.^
I nodded fractionally.
^So just leave him alone, okay? It'll be okay later.^
I nodded again, tearing my eyes away from the kid. I didn't know why I was to worried about some little kid.
Vampire kid. Vampire kid that appeared to have deep problems for someone only fourteen years old. I studied his face carefully from the distance. His eyes were a nice green, I desided. A bright green that I've never seen on a human face. It reminded me of Ax's eyes...
^Ray?^ Erika asked.
"Yeah?" I asked, looking at the vampire girl who was now only inches away.
^I need to talk to you. Outside.^
She had the serious look on her face Jake had. I knew better than to argue.

^Look, Ray, it's not that I don't really like you, but you're a problem to Colt. He's not usually like this, and when he is, it's for hours on end. Days of him moping around, not hunting, sometimes even weeks. Do you know what that can do to a vampire?^
I shook my head.
^He can't die quickly, of course, but he can suffer. He suffers through the worst pain imaginable.^
"Try me."
^Have you ever been smashed in the head with a boulder, had your stomach cut open and had someone stomp on your guts, zap you with a lightling bolt, alternetly speed you heart up as fast as a Ali-- Bug fighter and make it nearly stop, rub your throat with sandpaper, make your lungs compress so you can't breathe and then fill your lungs with liquid?^
"No."
^Believe me, after that, you want to die. But it would take about a month to die that way. So you feel like that and you know that you're not going to die. You see nothing but shining white, black and red dots. You're freezing cold or burning hot. You can't move. You hear anything but your own heart beating out of control, you can't taste a thing, you feel rather like you were thrown into the ocean, made to swallow salt water, stretched out flat in a desert and dried.^
I shuddered involuntarily, because with the mind conection, I could feel a fraction of what Erika was talking about. "What does this have to do with me?"
The look in Erika's eyes told me she wasn't kidding.
Erika's eyes were flashing, as much as in pain that her friend would go through as hatered... For me, for humans, for the people who made them? I didn't know. There was a farmiliar look: arrogance; Ax's look. Puny humans with no balance or spead, no natural weapons. They survived, true, and they could adapt, and so Ax was getting over the inferior human idea. But here was a race, or, not quite a race, with the brainpower of humans, predators only, who were faster and stronger that Ax ever was. She had outraced a Bug fighter. She was amazingly strong. She jumped around in rooftops for fun. But there was something subtly wrong with how she was acting.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
^Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine.^ She turned to me. ^All I want to do is convince you that you have to go.^
"Why?"
^You remind him too much of him.^
"I'm nothing like him. Tobias is more like him than I am."
^No, you're not like him at all,^ Erika agreed.
"So why'd you say I was?"
^I... Oh, nevermind why. I'll I'm saying, is that he's going to try and starve himself like he had so many times before.^
"What happened? The other times?"
^He got up, ran outside faster than we knew he could go, and attacked someone. We stopped him before he killed the people.^
"So, what do you want me to do?" I asked.
Erika blinked back tears I hadn't noticed before. Her eyes were more briliant green than Ax's, even. They were almost glowing in her otherwise pale face. ^You have to leave, Rachel.^
"No," I said, surprising myself. I tried again, stronger this time. "No. I won't leave until you tell me what it is."
"Rachel," ^Please!^ "You have to leave," ^And leave now.^
"Who do I remind him of?" I asked.
"^Me,"^ she answered, both out loud and in the way they talk. "^You remind him of me and it's going to kill him.^"
"Why?"
"^Because he knows what I'm capable of, and so he knows what you're capable of, and therefore he knows he is in a room with murderers, and he doesn't want to be one,"^ Erika said. ^Look, Rachel, this time, he's not going to wait until he's out on the street to start hunting. He'll go after the closest living human. And who would that be? Would it be you? Jake? Cassie? Tobias? Ray, I'm not trying to be mean, but this is important.^
"Okay. I will leave," I said, not believing it. I was going to watch from a distance, as a rat, as a cockroach, fly, mouse, any animal that was still in abundance in this planet. Not an eagle, but sneakier. A pigon or a sparrow wouldn't look too out of place.
"Okay," I repeated. I would have to be careful about thie time limit, unless I could pull Ax into this with me. Yeah, that would work best. Two of us.
"Okay," I said, for the third and final time. "I'll leave. I don't want to put my friends in danger. Tell Tobias what happened, and tell him to go to the safehouse to meet me if he must, but to try to stay there." Even as I was talking, I was morphing. "Don't tell Jake. Tell Tobias to tell Jake that I've gone off on a Yeerk pool observation. Jake will believe that, if it comes from. Tobias. Tell them Ax went with me, but Erek stayed with Lia. Tell them that, and I'll leave."
My beak appeared, right on time.
< If you don't tell them that, I'll know. Goodbye.>
I finished the morph and spread my wings. I flew.

*Colt*
I went to sleep, thinking about these new people. As a rule, vampires don't need much sleep, but I've chalked up six days without sleep and there is a limit. So I slept.
^*I was walking along a dark hallway in one of the original houses. The houses what people used to live in before the aliens. Yeerks, I knew, but I didn't know how I knew. Most houses were destroyed, I knew, but there were some that were still intact enough to live in. I hoped I wouldn't run into a Blade, but that was silly. Why was that silly? Oh, because I was a vampire and a match for any Blade. But in these cramped houses, I could be injured. Oh, that's it. I wasn't worried because Erika was with me. Erika was smiling her usual smile she had in danger, but there was something wrong. Wrong with how she looked, and the way she was moving. Not vampric type movements.
I figured it out. Her hair was a different length. That was all. She kept smiling, walking carefully. But her teeth... they were pointed fangs. Vampires didn't have fangs. I must have looked confused, because Er paused and grinned wider at me. I smiled back, but I was still puzzled. Er was talking, but I couldn't hear her. I kept walking, but we weren't getting anywhere, and the end of the hallway was nowhere in sight. I looked over my shoulder, and behind me were a hundred Blades. No, they were knifes, flying straight at me. I fell straight to the ground, but Er simply smiled wider and we were somewhere else.
We were in a grass plain, sitting around a fire. The fire was bright, and the stars were clear, too clear. It was like there was no atmosphere. Er nodded, and started telling a story I couldn't hear. In fact, I hadn't heard anything the whole time. Er was making hand movements, so I looked at them. And then I could understand what she was saying.
A dust storm was starting up, keeping me from seeing Er's hands. She was still talking, but I couldn't hear. And then, the first noise of the time, I heard a roaring in my ears. So long and loud that...^*
I clapped my hands over my ears. The roaring seemed to have followed me from my dream... What dream? I had a dream?
I had a momentary blank, which scared my badly. Vampires always know where they are, no matter how tired or hurt or blood-starved they are. Then it cleared, and I remembered everything.
The roaring was Jay, who was a tiger at the time.
My hearing was more sensitive than humans, and To and Mar were covering their ears as well. The roar went on longer than I knew it possible, when Jay finally stopped.
My head was a buzzing hive of angry insects, and something was hitting me in the head. It took me a moment to realize that it was Er.
"^Co, Colt, are you all right?^" she asked anxiously, tapping me in the head. I realized that I had dropped where I was when I heard Jay, and dropped right off my usual bed; which was a piece of cardboard tied to a high beam, where no one could see me. Not a real high beam, but I had rolled right off and landed in a heap of cardboard we had dragged to a corner.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, holding my head in my hands. I could nearly feel it vibrating.
Then it occured to me to ask. "What happened?"
"Well, you see, Ray went off to look for these things called Yeerk pools and when I told Jay he just went... crazy. He was patrolling the roof as a tiger, and he just... did that."
I nodded, although I had afterimages of dreams that were trying to match up to real life. I shook my head. It was getting better, and I could hear Mar, To, Jay and Cas arguing. Hearing them gave me more of a headache, so I jumped up to the roof.
^Colt, you wouldn't know anything about Rachel leaving, would you?^ Lan asked as soon as I got up there.
"No, I was hoping you knew something," I said.
Lan ran his fingers through dusty hair. His hair was the same color as the tan-ish sunset.
^You know, once, the atmosphere was clean enough to see so many stars,^ Lan said, changing the subject suddenly. ^Humans can't see any now, but they used to see thousands. And we could have seen millions and millions. Some of them were really bright. There was this one...^ He eyed the sky like he was asking it if it was ready to hear the story. ^There was this one constellation called the Dig Dipper. Actually, it's been called a lot of things. But somehow, everyone saw it as a bear. Now, I don't know why, because it looked like this...^ He begain arranging stones on the roof into a strange pattern and nodded at them ^Do you see a bear? I don't. But somehow, many different cultures managed to see a bear in it. There were many different tales about the bear, but none of them were the same. But there was still the bear.^ He smiled, because he liked confusing his friends. ^Do you understand the moral of this?^
"Yeah. People on this planet look at things the same way, but for different reasons. But if they saw it together, they were united." I just got the first thing that popping into my head and made it sound good.
"No, Colt, it's that they did see the same thing that they were united. But the reason they saw it as the same thing is that they were united."
"That's what I said," I said, my head spinning.
"That's what I said, but you wheren't listening," Lance said.
I gave up and went back inside. I could sleep it off. Stupid, non-functioning vampire brain...

*Rachel*
I landed as soon as I was out of eyeshot of the warehouse. Then I headed for the mall.
I don't know exactly why I headed for the mall. I just slipped in one of the broken glass doors and walked in, careful of shattered glass.
Shattered glass and messes were everywhere. The video arcade was silent. The food court was empty and the tables were knocked everywhere. The stores had almost nothing scavangable left in them. I just wandered through, looking at some of my old favorite places. I started wandering around empty aisles, up still escalators, and all through the mall.
Here and there, I picked up clothes and things that had been left. The mall had been packed when alien ships appeared above it... mass chaos had accounted for most of the missing things, and then people just came back to get more.
I came to a shirt I liked, a black t-shirt with a picture of a panther on it. I wondered how it had been left behind. I pulled it on over my morphing outfit. It was an extra large and came down nearly to my knees, but I liked it.
Jeans were easy to find. I checked a few stores and found the Gap still having jeans stuck on high shelves. I climbed up and retrived them. My size, again.
Then I searched around for accesories. I settled for a ponytail.
I looked at myself in a slightly cracked mirror.
I shook my head, wondering if I'd gone insane. It was quite possible. What sane person would be wandering an empty mall?
Me.
I looked around me in that way I'd perfected that meant "leave me alone," and started running. I ran right out the doors into a new day and a new chance to start in an insane world.

I was left alone. Anyone who saw me ignored me, not that many people were around. I looked angrily at everyone that I saw and they desided that I wasn't worth the trouble too beat up. I had a tendincy to look that way.
I stalked through the street, may I remind you I was barefoot and wearing a t-shirt, when the snow started.
"Great," I muttered, shivering. I reached the safe house cold, wet and lonely. It was an old house that was an old place, but it was sturdy. Not sturdy, however, to keep out wind and snow. I shivered, but there wasn't much I could to. Warm clothes and blankets were pretty rare, and we didn't leave them in places. So I just huddled in a corner, trying to stay warm. Then I gave up and started moving.
I could morph, but there wasn't much I could morph to. I had a good range of human morphs made of combined DNA of different people, but there was no point in that except to hide who I was.
Three out of the five human morphs would fit in these clothes, so I concentrated on a morph Cassie and I had named Jane. She had shoulder length brown hair, and a completely normal face. She didn't stand out. Then, I changed my mind and morphed Amy.
Amy was a combination to Cassie, Jake, and a stranger to had casually aquired while sitting next to them at a school assemby. She was already nodding off, and she didn't even notice, although I was a bit scared she would. I chose her because I thought that it would be cool to have a morph that combined her with Jake and Cassie, I'm not sure why, I was acting strangely at the time. It was during one of our morphing crazes, when we aquired anything in sight because we knew it might come in handy sometimes.
Amy was a strange morph. She had hair that was black, like Cassie, but longer, as long as mine. Her eyes were a wierd feature, the girl had eyes that changed color, so they changed from Cassie's brown to Jake's brown. I was a bit shorter than I was without a morph. But it was perfectly safe to morph it slowly, in the street. Cassie would be able to recognise me as in a morph, but no one else would. It was my favorite human morph simply because no one else knew about it.
So I continued stalking through the rooms of the safe house, waiting for Tobias. If Erika hadn't given him my message, God help me, I would--
< Rachel?>
"I'm here!" I called softly, de-morphing before Tobias saw my morph. I was finishing up as he flew in, de-morphing immediantly.
< Rachel, Jake wants you to know that you should do back to the house. We'll be in and out of there all week while we're getting ready. You can claim sick or something. Wandering around in abandoned buildings you can get sick,> he said, holding his ability to thought-speak until he finished the morph.
"Erek and Ax are staying there, with Lia. If you go, then Ax could come. Say you aren't feeling good, they'll understand."
"Okay," I said. "But it better work."
"It will," Tobias said, putting out his hand to shake. I looked surprised for a minute, then shook him hand. Then I kissed him. "Okay, Tobias. I'll trust you," I said.
Tobias looked at me with his best, "Gee, aren't I lucky to have Rachel," look. I smiled back.
"Good luck," Tobias said. "I know you have human morphs, so you can spy with those if you absolutely must. Just give me a sign that it's you. Lean on the nearest wall with your hand, then bounce back off." He demonstrated.
"Okay, I'll do that," I said.
I hugged him, which sort of surprised him. It was like we were fourteen again. Then he squeezed me tighter. "I'll always watch for you," he said quietly.

*Colt*
Er shook her head. "Too bad. We could have used Ray while we're doing this."
"I sent Tobias for backup," Jay said. "An Andalite."
Lan nodded, but I hurried over to the computer display. Tapping a few buttons, I got to the files Lan had first used to identify the Animorphs.
"Aximili," I said. "Brother of Prince Elfangor. I've heard something about that once..." I skipped through the pages. Most of it was backround of the family tree with long, complicated names. I got bored and skipped back to the other pages, going first to Ray's.
Name: Rachel Phillipe
Age: 24
Then it described her, showing a series of shots as well. One of a girl my age looking at something near the picture-taker while closing or opening a car door. One of a girl a year older in a mall. Another few years older, the girl launching herself out an open five story window that must have taken some nerve for a human. A picture at around the same age, walking out of a house. A picture of herself another year later, around eighteen, with two girls around my age and a girl her age I desided was Cas. A picture of her wearing a wedding dress and grinning with To beside her. And the most recent picture, about a year ago, taken while she was running like the devil was after her in the woods. In the backround, I saw a Blade behind her.
It ended with a not-too-extensive family tree going back three generations, showing all the members of her family with a "(c)" or a "(d)" beside it.
Jay was next to me. "The c means that they were made into controllers." he said. "The d means that they died."
I flipped to his page. There was an equally astounding array of pictures. I didn't know that they had managed to have normal lives while fighting, but they must have, at least until the war was made public. But I skipped straight to the family tree. His grandparents... all dead. His father was dead, and his brother Tom and mother were both captured.
"Great power we have," Jay said bitterly. "Great power we have."
"It has saved you from becoming controllers," I said, using the word that somehow fit.
"Yeah," Jay said, staring at the screen. "Some power. Some leader. Some life."
He scrolled back up to the pictures and stopped at a picture of him, Mar and a boy a few years older than them. The older boy was dribbling a basketball.
Jay bit his lips and stared at the picture. I desided it was time to leave.

I woke up with a bit less excitement this time. I was bored and my heartbeat was accillerated from hunting still, and my ears could hear my own blood pounding around. It was more than slightly annoying, and I felt like smacking my ears. It was going to drive me crazy. But I notived that Jay was off the computer so I went back to finish my "research."
I was stunned by the extensive pictures, mostly. After the progressive pictures on the individual pages, there were pictures of them as a whole new file. The best, clearest ones had been chosen for the individual files. There was this whole section for the two weddings. I was sort of envious of them. If I ever got married, not that I seriously thought I would live to get old enough to do that, there would be no silly ceremony with cake and family. I would have my four friends, who were all the family I needed.
A picture of Cas and Ray sitting at a table at the mall.
Jay and Mar sitting at a different place at the mall.
To and another boy wandering around toward Jay and Mar.
All six of them sitting at a table, the strange boy eating a type of pastry. Mar looking paraniod.
Closeup of Mar looking paraniod.
Different angle shots of the strange boy.
Another boy talking to Mar and Jay.
To walking out of an official-looking building.
Aximili.
School pictures.
All six of them in the woods together.
A bird on Rays' shoulder.
Another strange boy looking scared in a demolished house.
The boy looking scared again, in the middle of a construction site across from the mall.
A bunch of girls and a few boys talking to Rach, looking quiet and serious.
A bunch of different pictures of those girls and boys together.
Separate pictures.
All the Animorphs talking to one of the girls.
Weddings, wedding, weddings...

*Rachel*
I woke up in the safe house. Tobias must have left a while ago, but he left a nice warm coat for me. Wearing it around the street would be tempting to get jumped, so I reluctantly crawled out of my warm cocoon.
I blinked a few times, then yawned. Struggling out of the warmth, I shivered and slid the coat on. Oh well. If I got jumped, I got jumped, and people would find that they had jumped a bear.
I pulled on the shoes and socks. Tobias must have hidden them somewhere in the house, because he couldn't have carried these things as a hawk. They were a size too big, so they must have been meant to be his.
I morphed Amy so no one would recognise me, and yawning again, I stepping outside. The snow that had been falling earlier was now a slushy mud on the ground. Mixed with dirt, sand, and trash, the snow looked terrible. For some reason, I hoped that Erek had a way the keep the house warm so Lia didn't freeze. Then I wondered how nice it would feel to go to a warm house. I kept walking toward the hopefully warm house.

"Rachel? You must be freezing," Erek said as I opened the door into a wave of warm air. My teeth were chattering and my shivering was out of control by now.
"No kidding," I said, hugging my coat around me.
Erek sympathetically handed me a warm blanket. I'm not sure how I knew it was sympathetically, because Erek is an android and he doesn't exactly have human features. But I think that was how he did it.
"So, what about the mission?" he asked, picking Lia up and rocking her.
It was a weird scene that I was used to: a white and silver android that looked like an upright dog holding a one year old baby. Erek had several pet dogs here also, but they were kept outside or downstairs most of the time. There was no rule that they had to stay downstairs, but they preferred it.
"So, what is the mission?" he asked patiently, seeing that I had stopped shivering.
"I'm not in it," I said, picking up one of the hot drinks Erek made when it was cold. He somehow knew how to make a good tasting drink that wasn't going to kill you from poisons.
"Why not?"
"I'm not feeling too good," I said.
Erek blinked into his human form, which he had aged until it was as old as us. "Really?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said, sitting down on the threadbare couch. "I'm not sure why."
"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll be fine," he said. But, I knew that he could easily keep a straight face and lie his head off, because it was only a holographic projection.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"No, I'm not," he said. "It could be anything from you having one of those nasty fevers that's going around, to you being pregnant. Don't ask me."
"Okay," I said, taking off my drenched coat. "I'm just going to stay here until I feel better, all right? Jake will want to make sure I'm with someone all the time in case I get really sick."
"I understand. Jake is pefectly within reason," Erek said
"Yeah, I know, he's always perfectly reasonable."
"You have to remember that he is the leader fo a defeated army," he said. "If it was not for him, the colony of Hork-Bajir would still be plentiful.
"You called?" someone asked, sticking their head in a window.
"Toby!" I said, delighted that the Hork-Bajir seer would visit us today.
"Hello, Rachel, Erek. Rachel, what has been the problem? Aximili and Tobias are not in the forest," Toby said, coming around to the door.
"I know," I said apologetically. "We're working on a mission, and we hope to gain new allies. But first, we have to see if these people mean it."
"Three days before we meet them?" Toby asked reluctantly,
"Three days," I said, nodding.
"All right," Toby said.
"Was there any problem?" I asked.
"Oh, no problems! But we have a new child today!" Toby said happily.
"Arka Hamee?" I asked, grinning.
"Yes. The child will be named Rach."
"After me?" I asked. Toby had been named after Tobias, but no other Hork-Bajir had used one of our names for their own. I felt honored. "Thank you, I mean... Thanks." I said, grinning like an idiot.
"Yes. We have desided that the children will be given Earth names, now that all who live in the colony were born on Earth."
"That's great," I said, smiling.
"The next female will be named Cassy, and the next male will be named Jayk, and the male following that to be named Marc."
"Wonderful," I said.
"There is even better news." Toby said, smiling her Hork-Bajir grin.
"What?" I asked eagerly.
"Rach is different."
"Like you?" I asked.
"Like me," she said proudly. "Seers. It is good luck for a colony like ourselves to have two seers."
"That's great," I said, thinking of what my little namesake would be like. I hoped she was like Toby.
"Yes. And there are two other Hork-Bajir to be born soon." Toby said. "The colony will be restored."
"Yes," I said. "In time."
"Yes, time," Toby said, nodding in a very human way. "Are you all right? You look worried."
"No, no, I'm fine," I said, flustered.
"Okay. But you have the look...." she studied me, and then walked away.
"What did she mean, I have the look?" I asked as soon as the door shut beind her.
Erek grinning. He was still using his human projection. "She means, you're going to have a baby," Erek said.
I gasped. Erek must have done one of those android things that could tell you if I was... a baby! A new baby! What could I name it? What would it look like?
Erek just grinned.
I looked at him, amazed.
He grinned more.
I stared at him some more.
He started laughing.
I finally shook free from my trance and started yelling. "Yeah! A baby! I'm gonna have a baby!" while picking up Lia and spinning around the room. I started to but her down but Erek, not quite too sure about my mental stabability at the moment, grabbed her before I put her down and placed her carefully in the play area.
As soon as Erek turned around I started morphing. "I gotta tell Tobias about this!" I said, morphing eagle. "How far along am I?"
"Almost a month," Erek said, looking from me to Lia.
< Okay, bye! I'll be back soon! >
"Um, okay," Erek said as I finished hurridly and flew out the window.

Colt*
< Tobias!> I heard someone yell in the way Mar said was thought-speech. < Tobias!>
A large bird that I recognised as Ray landed on the floor and started de-morphing.
"He's not back yet, Rachel," Jay said as she finished. Just then, a bird flew in the entrance.
< Rachel, what are you doing back?> Tobias asked. I scrolled back to a picture. Yes, this was his morph that had been sitting on Rachel's shoulder in that picture. He didn't do that now but started de-morphing. "I've got something to tell you," Rachel said to the creature that was half-To and half-bird.
"What?" To asked, his head fully morphed. He was now bird, except for bird wings and talon feet, which he quickly morphed away.
Rachel grabbed him by the shoulders and danced around. I was a bit stunned, I admit. Then she hugged him. "Tobias, we're going to have a baby."
"A... what? Rachel, is this a joke?" To demanded, staring at her.
"No, Erek said so," Ray said.
Something very close to my stunned expression was appearing on To's face. "But you... you... you're..." Ray giggled like a little kid and started bouncing up and down.
"You... I mean... it's... you're... baby?" he stuttered.
Ray grinned and started dancing aroud again, holding To by the hands. I was getting dizzy watching them.
To was still stuttering. "You're... you... huh?"
Ray smiled and started morphing. "Come on, let's go talk."
To started morphing too.
Mar was watching this all from behind me. "Someday," he said, "We're going to find out if it's possible to do into morphing shock and die, from Xena."
"That's possible?" I asked.
"No, it isn't," Mar said.
"Then... why did you say it?"
"Because it was funny! Jeez, don't you people have a sense of humor?"
I shrugged. "I'm not in a humorous mood," and turned back to the files.
"Hey, that's me!" Mar exclaimed, pointing to a picture of him attempting to stuff three pieces of cake in his mouth at the same time.
I looked at him strangely. "If that was me, I wouldn't go telling everyone that."
"I always wanted a picture of that. Hey, Jake, look at this!" he yelled.
I groaned. How was I going to look at all the picures with... wait. This could work for me....

"See, this is me trying to pass for a human-controller," Cas explained, pointing with the mouse. "Rachel and I were separated, and Marco was calling to us that the rest of them were captured except him."
"Uh-huh," I said, trying to followed her.
"This is more from that same camera: see, the same angle. This is Visser five, formerly Visser Three. This is Rachel shooting the Taxxon."
I winced at the picture of exploding Worm guts.
"Yeah," Cas said, seeing my expression. "It is pretty disgusting. We retreated and morphed, and brought the ceiling of the pool down on top of us."
"Why?"
Cas shrugged. "Rachel did it. Rachel can make that kind of desision. We all morphed into moles and dug our way back up. Visser Five escaped, too, but most in the pool were probably crushed or suffocated."
She blinked and looked at me, and I nodded.
"They don't have pictured of our next 'problem', because we were a few lightyears from Earth. It was this weird problem with small morphs. Ax could explain it, but I don't think you want to get him started."
Ax looked at me, thinking, most likely to make it simple. "The insect morphs we because had a very small mass, and mass from your original body that is not used in the morph is relocated into zero-space, the non-dimentional space that ships also use to travel faster than light. We were pulled my the gravity of a ship, which was a very near miss. If we had been closer, we would have been killed, and if we had been farther we would have not been pulled. As it was, we were lucky that it was an Andalite ship and we were soon retrieved from zero-space."
"Okay," I said, nodding. I actually understood that. It took the principal of hyperspace, which I had figured out, sort of, and sort of messed it around.
Cas nodded and went on with the pictures. "This is us at the mall... mall again... Ax going nuts with the cinnamon buns." She gave Ax a look.
"They were so full of flavor and taste..." Ax protested feebly.
Cas shook her head. "This is Marco being an idiot."
Mar was sitting there trying to impersonate Ax: half a cinnamon bun in his mouth, eyes wide, hands near his face in a sort of "I'm a lunatic" way. He was rolling his eyes. All that, frozen into a picture.
"Neat," I said softly. What amazed me was that this picture had some mall activity in it. People walking, carrying bags, lots of people, more than I had ever seen in one place before. And more then that in the whole mall. "Neat," I repeated.
"The mall?" Cas asked. "Yeah, you were still little when the war started. Sorry about that."
"Why are you sorry?" I asked.
"Just... because I got to see the world and you didn't," Cassie said, turning away. I nodded thoughtfully as she left.
Mar had been watching. "She gets touchy about the war," he said, looking wise.
"Why?" I asked.
"There's a whole story behind it, but she just doesn't like a mention of it," Marco said.
"Tell me the story," I insisted.
"It's pretty long," Mar warned.
"I don't care," I said.
Mar relented. "All right. I'll get into my files from this computer. Joey saved her diary on my computer." He moved to take possesion of the computer.
"Later," I said, blocking him. "I want to see the rest of this first."
"Well, more of Ax making a fool of himself..."

*Rachel*
Tobias flapped on wing like a human wave. < See ya soon,> he said, jumping off the edge of the building.
"See ya," I echoed. I morphed and flew off in the opposite direction.

"So.. you're sure, Erek?" I asked.
"Positive," he said for the hundredth time. "I couldn't be more sure if I cut you open."
I shivered. "No, don't to that," I said, twirling around in my chair. "This is fun," I said, grinning.
"I thought you said you felt sick." Erek said.
"Nah, that was just a ploy to get me out of work," I said, stopping my spin and tapping on the keyboard. I was obligated to write in my diary at least once a month. We weren't doing those stories anymore, the ones we used to do before the war and stuff, but now we just have diaries. It started with Joey's diary, which was a pretty accurate account of everything that happened, in story form. It was nice to have to find out what had happened, and she wrote in it only things that were interesting, leaving out boring, dull things. I envied her for having such an easy time with the stories. I was having a rough time with my own diary. I never could think of what to write.
"So Tobias and I morphed and flew off." I typed. "We talked for a while and then Tobias left and I flew back to the house."
"There," I said out loud to Erek. "I'm done."
"Nice job," Erek said, scanning the page it had taken me to write it. "You could be a little more exact, but nice job anyway."
"Praise from a perfect andriod," I said sarcastically.
Erek's human hologram paled. Erek once told me that some things were reactions and he couldn't help them. He fixed them quickly, just like his face returned to its normal shade, but I could tell that he was surprised that I would bring it up, to say the least.
"Sorry," I said, picking up Lia.
"It's okay," he said quickly.
"No, I mean it," I said. "And I wont bring it up again. I know it's not okay."
"I said it was fine," Erek said stiffly.
"And I know you didn't mean it," I said, bouncing Lia up and down.
"Fair enough," Erek said. I wished there some way we could erase his memory, but Erek refused to tell us if it was possible or not. Ax said that it was highly possible.
"Yeah," I mumbled, just for the sake of saying something.
Erek didn't answer, not that I expected him to.
The silence was annoying. I needed a distraction. So I flipped through electronic pages of the computer. Not much new to do.
Boredom, I desided, would wrap me up with a bow and toss me out sanity's window. So I went to Joey's diary. It was something I did from time to time. Even though I had read it before, I read it again. I knew the ending. It was just sort of fun. Passed time. That sort of thing. So, I opened the file and prepared to go back in time, far back to a year before open war...

*Joey*
I had finished reading Matilda when it happened. It was a childish book for me to read; I'm thirteen, but I liked it. I looked at the cover carefully. Feeling silly, I looked at a book on my floor and concentrated on it carefully, trying to imagine it going up. No such luck.
I giggled. It was a pretty silly idea, but I had the feeling I should try. I looked at a few other books on my floor. The book I had tried to pick up-- sci-fi, about a mindreader. I concentrated again. No, my sister's thoughts were still as silent to me as they had always been. A fantasy, the Hobbit. The ability was... um, disappearing, I guess. I concentrated, then looked in the mirror. Still there--
I looked at the mirror, mouth hanging open. I could see through myself. I was disappearing.
Cool. I thought, concentrating harder. It wasn't very easy. I took a deep breath and tried harder. I flickered out but re-appeared.
Way cool. I thought, concentrating harder and harder. I flickered out, at least as far as I could see in the mirror.
I started hyperventilating. What was going on? I shouldn't be able to disappear! I wasn't flickering back into being, either. I looked down at my hands. They weren't there. I reached for the mirror, trying to see if it was a trick. I couldn't see my own hands reaching toward the mirror. I didn't touch the mirror, either. I must have gone right through it.
Calm... calm... there is a logical explanation, I said to myself.
"Joey! Joey!"
Damn, I thought. I had to be visible when my mom got in here, I had to be visible...
I tried hard, and I flickered back into reality.
"Joey, go feed the rabbits!" mom said, banging into my room. My door was slightly too big for the frame, and it took a lot of effort to open it. Weird how I remember things like that.
"Okay, okay, mom," I said, shoving my books around into a resemblance of order.
"And feed the cat while you're at it."
"Okay, okay," I said.
"And wear your jacket!"
"Fine, mom," I said, grabbing my jacket and slipping out between her and the door.

"So, you're saying that you disappeared," Max said, tapping her fingers on the seat in front of us.
"Yeah."
"Joey, you know you sound crazy, right?"
"I know," I hissed. "But keep it down. Just... just come over my house today. Meet me behind the band room."
"'Kay," Max said.
Matt nodded, but looked at me strangely.
Okay, by now you are thinking: "Who the heck is this babbling wacko writing this diary?" I'll start in the begining, because, frankly, if I start in the middle you're going to get pretty confused.
I'm Joey. No, I am not a boy. I am Josephine, but people call me Joey. It's easier.
And you know how it started. Max, or Maxine, is also a girl. We get kinda mad when people think we're boys, which they always do if they see us from the front and don't see our hair. Matt is a boy, not a girl. When people learn that we're girls, they for some reason think that Matt has to be one too, which makes him annoyed. He is a boy. Two girls and one boy. Okay? Good. Now that we've got that cleared up...
That's the simple part. Max is related to me... somehow... I think she's my half brother's second cousin, or something like that. Considering I really don't know my half-brother, and defiantly not his cousins, I'm not too sure about that. But we were best friends before we were related, so if it makes no sense, I only found out during my dad's wedding.
Matt is our friend, who we love to bother, pester and torture. He doesn't find, in fact, he likes hanging out with the prettiest girls in the school. Or, so he says. When Max gets her hair in something other than a ponytail, she looks pretty, I guess. Me, I'm definitely not a candidate for pretty. Interesting, maybe, with my eyes that are always different colors from each other, and not always the same two colors, and I have one of those terminally bored faces. It takes a lot to make me smile or laugh, but if I want to trick my mom, I can but on the most innocent, confused face that she goes looking for one of my brothers, because I never could have done it. I'm a great actor, but I'm really bad at actually acting. That's what I think, anyway. I can memorize lines, recite them, and have a convincing expression, but somehow I think I'm really bad. Or, I think that I'm really bad because the acting teacher thinks I'm really bad. So I quit acting, but it's still good to know I can lie my face off without showing that I was lying. I'm also pretty fast at thinking up the lies. I stick to the truth, mainly, and just lie about the part that would get me in trouble and...
That's another habit. It's the habit of babbling. I do that a lot, inside my head. And out loud. But, altogether, what was hapening was slightly more important than my ability to babble.
I finished a nervous round of the halls. I skipped band, as usual. Actually, I went to band, told Mr. Suanders that I didn't have an instrument. He told me to go in the practice room. I went there for three minutes, looked at Milissa--who was also in the practice rooms on account of having no instrument, got Milissa's math homework, copied down the answers, and stuffed it in my backpack. Then, I walked out of the practice room and out of the band room. Mr. Saunders let us do that, because he didn't want us to interrupt with his lesson if we wanted to go to the bathroom or get a drink. So I walked out and spent a nervous half an hour walking in circles and going up and down the stairs.
Then the intercom came on, telling us that we could leave. I was currently on the ramp. I flipped over the wall and landed, six feet lower, at the bottom. I walked quickly to the band room. Everyone left their instruments there, so plenty of people were walking in the door. I went into the practice room, where Milissa was putting all her homework back into her bookbag, grabbed my own bookbag, got my clarinet that I had pretended to lose, and headed out the band room door.
The minute I was out, I spun around and headed away from the buses. Matt and Max came out of the door under the stairs near the chorus room.
"Hey," I said, dropping my bookbag.
"Hi," Matt said, Max nodding.
So, do it, I thought. But what if I couldn't?
"So, what are you waiting for? Try and turn invisible," Max said, lowering her voice. Even if we were out of sight of anyone coming out of either door, it didn't mean that they couldn't hear us and come around.
I nodded. "Okay. And, ah, don't freak or anything, okay?"
I still didn't know what I did yesterday, but I tried hard, squeezing my eyes shut.
"Whoa," Matt said.
I looked down at my hands. They were transparent, flickering, like I was a bad hologram.
I tried harder.
"Jo? You still there?"
*Yeah,* I said. I sounded different. I guess it was a side effect of the invisibility.
"Joey? Are you okay?"
*Yeah, I'm fine,* I said.
"Matt, where is she? Where is Joey? Why isn't she answering?"
*I am!* I yelled in frusteration. *You just can't hear me!* Yeah, that was it. Max and Matt couldn't hear me. I tried flickering back. By now, Max was sort of hysterical.
"*I'm okay, I'm okay!"* I said as I started to see my hands.
"Oh, thank you," Max said, trying to hug me. She missed, not exactly missed, though, and fell through me.
Matt clapped a hand over her mouth when she started to scream. I tried it. Yeah, in the half visible state, I could see my hand going through my arm. In the places where I overlapped, I was more visible. It was sort of like sticking my hand through a cloud or something. I could barely feel it.
I started turning back into complete visibility, as fast as I could.
"She's okay, see, she's okay," Matt said, trying to keep Max from hitting him. He had his back against the wall and Max was swinging at him. I jumped at Max.
"Stop it!" I yelled as I tackled her and dragged her away from Matt.
And, with me hanging on to Max, Matt's face beaten up, and Max kicking and scratching, that was how the first teacher found us.

Josephine, you have never been very social, I started in my mind, as my vice-principal started his standard lecture. Maybe you should join the Sharing. It's very good for kids like yourself.
"No, thanks," I said. I wasn't the type to join the girl scouts.
"But Josephine, you can't get in fights like that. The teachers said that those were your two best friends." "They are my best friends. We were playing around."
"Matthew's injuries are not what happens from friends playing around, Josephine."
Matt got carried off in a ambulance. I think he just hurt his arm, I'm not sure. Max had the ability to the knowledge to enable her to break Matt's wrist or arm from where she was. Max was pretty upset.
"So?"
"So, you can't get into fights like that. The behavior is inexcusable."
So sue me, I thought. Matt would say that one of us were mad at him and already in a bad mood, and he agonized us... Yeah, we usually do that for each other. I was covering for Max, who already had a few fights on her record, and I only had one. Of course, in that one the person had broken their jaw, which was why it was easy to take the blame for this one.
"Yeah," I said, pretending like I was listening. I started braiding a piece of my hair.
He went through his speech, which I memorized the first time I was in his office. Like I said, I memorize things quickly. I finished braiding that tiny piece of hair, and had moved on to a third one. I was still sort of listening, but I was really bored with the whole thing. I wanted to call Matt and see what was wrong with him.
"So, do you understand?"
"Yeah," I said, slowly chewing my gum, finishing the third tiny braid.
"Okay. You can go home now.
"Okay," I said offhandedly, hopping up and grabbing my bookbag.
"What?"
"Okay," I said, shrugging into my bookbag.
"All right," he said measurably.

"Stupid Chapman," I muttered as I walked home. I walked into the door.
"Joey, could you watch your brothers while I'm gone?"
"Yeah, sure, mom," I said.
"Okay," Mom walked out the door.
My brothers didn't look up from the TV.
"Don't kill each other," I instructed them. "I'm going to Max's house, okay?"
"'Kay, Joey," the littler one mumbled.

"Okay, Joey, come back."
I did. "It's been a lot easier. And did you hear anything?"
"No. Was I supposed to?"
"Well, considering I yelled, "Matt's an idiot!" I think you might have heard something."
"Okay. Try it again."
I flickered out, as I could see in Max's mirror, which took up her whole closet door. *MATT, CAN YOU TELL WHAT I'M SAYING?!!* I shrieked, and then I flickered back in, without passing through that half-and-half stage.
"I heard something. It wasn't actually I sound, though."
"Did it sound like, 'Matt, can you tell what I'm saying?'"
"Kind of, but not really."
"This is getting nowhere."
"Tell me about it."
I flickered back out. Technically, I shouldn't be here, and if Max's mom came in, we only wanted her to see Max and Matt playing a board game. The game was Risk, actually, although when I play, I usually take over the world. Max's mother thinks Matt and Max like each other, but it's not really true. We're all friends, really good friends.
"So, we can't hear you when you're invisible, can't feel you, and you don't affect anything. This could work for us," Matt said.
"Yeah, you could by a really good spy," Max said. She had a few bruises, but I didn't feel like mentioning that I was hurt worse than she was, my ribs had hit first when we fell over. Matt's arm, from elbow to wrist, was in a cast.
*Oh, and sorry about the fight thing,* I said, forgetting that Matt couldn't hear me.
Matt looked up from the board. "It's ok-- Hey! I heard you!"
*You did?* I asked, then flickered back.
"Joey, I really heard you!"
"Did you hear me the second time?"
"The second time? No."
"Then what's the secret? Why did you hear it that time?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe it was because I was busy with something else."
"That it! You're a genius! Go focus on something else!" I flickered out. I was getting pretty good at it. "Ooookay," Matt said. He went back to the board game.
I waited awhile. Then, *Matt, can you hear me? Keep concentrating on the board game." I saw him jerk up and then look at the game like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
*Now, can you hear me?*
"Yeah," Matt mumbled.
*Good, okay. Max, can you hear this?*
No answer.
*I'll take that as a no. Okay. I'm coming back now,* I said, just as I flickered back. I don't know why I used "flickered" instead of "re-appeared" or something. It sounded better, and it was a more accurate description.
"Maxie!"
I flickered out, just as Max's mother appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Maxie, Joey's mother is on the phone. She wants to know if you've seen her."
"Oh," Max said, thinking up a story as fast as she could.
*I left five minutes ago,* I told her, hoping she would hear it.
"She just left, a few minutes ago. She shouldn't be home soon," Max said. She wasn't exactly a good liar, but her mom didn't seem very concerned, somehow, just sort of distant. She nodded and started talking into the phone again.
I walked down the stairs following Max's mom. She hung up the phone, then muttered, "Damn humans."
My heart skipped several beats. I slipped out the door that for some reason was open and started running toward my house.

I went through the standard 'don't leave your brothers alone and you're grounded for a week' speech. Then I called a few of my other friends. They didn't ride my bus, or be in any of my classes, but I wanted them to know. And the 'humans' thing with Max's mom really creeped my out.
The phone rung. Then, "Hello?"
"Hi, Sam?"
"Yeah."
"This is Joey. I wanted to know if you could come over? Go to the fort."
"Okay, why?"
"Just, do, okay? And call Aaron, Chris, Alex and Erik, okay?"
"All four?"
"Yeah. I'm calling Max and Matt. All you, just meet me there. I'm grounded."
"Too bad. I'll come." She hung up.
I hung up too, breathing hard. Was it actually that hard to tell my friends that something weird was going on? I called Max. Matt was still at her house.
"Mom, can I go outside?"
"Yes, Joey, but don't leave the yard."
"I won't," I promised. I walked outside, past the rabbit hutch, and into the woods. Strictly speaking, it was my yard. I wandered about fifty feet before reaching the clubhouse we had made when we were kids. I limbed up onto the roof, waiting for the others.
The clubhouse was a collection of wooden planks and boards that actually we had managed to get together in a half-way sturdy sort of house. The ceiling was the only part we really worried about, because that's the place we usually sat. There was a tire swing and ropes hanging down everywhere. It actually was a pretty decent place.
"Joey?" Matt asked, running up.
"Just getting all you in one place so I can kill you," I said lightly.
"Oh, in that case, who else are you killing?"
"The rest. Sam, Chris, Aaron, Alex and Erik."
The other four came running up. Now, we had two boys and four girls, five counting me.
Fun name time! Sam, or Samantha; Chris, or Christina; Alex, or Alexandra; Erik, or Erika. Aaron and Matt are the only boys.
So, it was me; Joey, Max, Matt, Aaron, Sam, Chris, Alex and Erik. If someone handed you those names and asked you if you thought we were boys or girls, what would you say?
Yeah, I know, but we sort of formed a society of girls with boy-type names in first grade. Since then, we've lost a few people, gained a few more members, and allowed two boys to be in our little group. Actually, I think it's kinda nice to have a group like this to be part of. If it wasn't for this group, my only friends would be Matt and Max. But now I have six friends.
As soon as all seven of us we on the roof or in swings that made us as high as the roof and somewhere near it, I started. It was a usual sight, because we were actually a club. We had duties, chances to earn ranks, that sort of thing. We were all wearing the only thing that showed we were part of the club: small colored strings on our sneakers and showed what we had done. Like, brown was for tracking, blue for swimming, orange for climbing trees.... mostly physical things like that, although there was four more mental things: Green, blue and purple braided together meant you had memorized the language we used for secret notes and could write it in decent handwriting, green, red and black braided mean you had read the book of the month, this month it was Dragon Wing, and could talk about the book, looking like you had an idea what we were talking about, purple, blue and white meant you had written a story that was judged to be good by all of us without us knowing who wrote it, and orange, yellow and red meant that you were not failing school.
But, anyway, Matt, Alex, Max, Erik and me were sitting actually on the roof on logs that were sort of like chairs, I was leaning against the tree that was right next to the fort. Sam, Chris and Aaron were in swings hanging from the branches around the fort, about as high as the rest of us and at least three feet from the fort. Stringing up those swings was one way you could earn a climbing string. There were other ways, too, but we usually didn't do them.
I pulled the club book out of its protective plastic cover. It was an ordinary notebook, although I had scribbled all over it with markers, making a sort of outline of a dragon. I flipped it open and paged through.
"Okay, business first. Chris and Matt, you two still need to cough up dues. Got any money on you?"
Chris sighed and dug into her pocket while trying not to fall; no small feat while sitting in one of those swings. She handed me the remanded of the money she needed to pay: two fifty, bringing her total for the month to five dollars, the monthly dues. We're not difficult to please. Matt just shrugged.
"Five more days until the end of the month, Matt," I said, putting Chris's money into another plastic bag that was attached to the notebook. Every month, we emptied it into an envelope Sam was in charge of. She took it home. It was her because she had no nosy brothers or sisters to go poking around in her room. According to the totals, Sam had at least two hundred dollars in that envelope.
I marked down Chris's money and added another check to Matt's box. He knew the rules, ten checks and he had to earn back a string. He was at three checks now.
"Three checks," I warned him. "Has anyone finished Dragon Wing?"
"I have," Aaron and Erik chorused.
I marked that down, too. "That's everyone, then. Good. Who has the book?"
Erik produced a worn copy of Dragon Wing, the first book of the Death Gate Cycle. "Who didn't understand the book at all?" she asked.
"Me," Aaron said sheepishly. "The whole Sartan-Patryn thing was confusing. And the black monks." "The magic thing was confusing, too," Sam said. "But I liked it more than Moreta. Hugh was the best character, I think."
"No, it was Bane," Chris argued.
I grinned as we all started taking sides on the best character, until I finally said, "I liked the dog the best."
There were immediant chaos of everyone talking at once, the three on the swings swinging as hard as they could to emphasize their points, and I just grinned as they kept arguing. Only Max was quiet. "Go ahead," she said finally.
"Go ahead what?" Aaron asked, picking up Max's words with his quick ear.
"Nothing," I said. "Well, something. I'll tell you... all of you, but we need a midnight fire. All meet at midnight."
They nodded seriously. They didn't have to ask to know that it was serious. We disbanded and faded back into the growing twilight.

"So, what's up?" Chris asked as I stepped into the clearing. A small fire was already started. Chris was usually here before all of us, because she lives on a farm that you can step onto a hundred yards from my yard. She fixed up a telescope on the roof of a barn somehow, making a platform, and was usually up there, so it was easy for her to go out around ten o'clock and tell her parents she was going to look at the stars, like usual. I usually avoided going up there with her. She would spot off a million things about the stars and make me look at a million different things that all looked the same to me.
"I had a hard time sneaking out today," Chris said, grinning. "I'm supposed to wake up nice and early for the trip tomorrow."
"The trip!" I gasped. "I forgot about that completely."
"Well, you know now," Chris said, grinning. I knew that grin.
"Chris, you're not thinking of bringing that telescope with you... are you?" I asked.
"Well, now that you mentioned it..." Chris said, grinning. "Don't worry, I'll carry it myself. It's going to be completely my job."
"Good, because I wasn't planning on volunteering," I said, just as I heard another person. "Hey, who's that?" I called.
"Matt!" he yelled, stepping into view. The firelight flickered off his face like a flashlight held under his chin. He grinned. "Did you tell her?"
"Tell her what?" I asked, playing dumb.
He glared at me. "You know what I mean."
"Tense," I said, looking at Chris. "I think he needs to relax a little."
"I don't see how you can relax," he countered.

*Rachel*
"Rach, hey, Rachel. Rachel!" someone shouted into my ear.
I jumped about a hundred miles. "What?" I asked, spinning around to see Erek. He wasn't in his hologram any more, and I could see his robot body.
"Oh, sorry. It's just that the sun's coming up and I wanted to make sure you knew what time it was."
"What! The sun's coming up already!" I asked, more surprised than anything else.
"Yeah," Erek said. You've been reading a long time."
"That's sure right!" I said.
"I can get some food if you want to keep reading," Erek said, hinting that he wanted me to stay and read. "Pill, too."
"Stupid pills," I muttered. I still hated the pills, even though I was used to taking them.
"I know," Erek said, nodding.
"Oh yeah, I forgot that you fixed up a little "tasting" program to taste one."
"I'll never forget," Erek said, putting up his hologram and grinning, walking off to find some food. I kept reading, like he suggested. Where was I? oh, there...

*Joey*
"I don't see how you can relax," he countered.
"I can relax because I have less than half a brain," I said, smiling. I heard more people coming. Soon, everyone got there.
"Okay, everyone shut up," I said conversationally, to get started.
There was complete silence. Nice to have silence.
"Now, I know that Matt and Max already know about this. Did you tell anyone else?"
The shook their heads.
"Good. Now, this is important, so all of you have to be quiet and watch carefully," I said, preparing to flicker. Not all the way, first partway and get them used to it.
So as soon as I was half-way gone, I had a reaction.
Chris's mouth dropped open. Aaron went pale. Sam forgot she was on a swing and fell off. Everyone was still staring, so I stayed. I noticed Erik wasn't breathing. A minute or so later, she slumped, passing out from not breathing.
I quickly flickered back in and shook her. She came to rather quickly. Matt was helping Sam up.
"Are you okay?" I asked, feeling stupid. It was a dumb thing to do, not tell them before I did it.
"Fine," Sam breathed, like it hurt to talk.
Which reminded me of my hurting ribs. On second thought, they didn't hurt anymore. But they hurt really bad before I went over Max's house, and while I was there and flickering for them...
I rubbed my thumb down my ribs through my t-shirt. My own ribs, yes, but completely unharmed. The disappearing must do something about that.
Chris whistled softly. "Jeez, whatever drugs you're taking, I want some."
I shook my head. "I can just do it. I can go completely, if I want to."
"Hmm," Chris said, studying me. "You can go half-and-half. Can you touch anything while you're half-and-half?"
I nodded. "Sort of. If I try. Max ran through me, but she said it was like running through water or dense air."
"M-hmm," Chris said, nodding. "So can you go completely invisible and yet still affect things? Or not affect things and be visible?"
Trust Chris to be scientific. Matt picked it up from her, but she's still weird about things like this.
"I'm not sure," I said. "Let's test it later."
"Later's fine," Chris said, making an offhand motion. "Let's all get some sleep for the trip tomorrow."
I nodded, looking at Chris, and officially closed the midnight fire, stirring it with a stick used for that purpose. If we wanted it to go out quick, we would carry water from the stream, but Chris was usually out for another hour or so after meetings.
"Don't put it out now," she said in a low voice as she brushed past me. "And meet me at the barn."
I was too stunned to do anything but nod.

I started toward the house, then cut across to the meadow around Chris's barn. She was waiting. "You have a lot of explaining to do," she hissed as she grabbed my arm and hauled me toward the barn.
"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, letting myself be carried along.
Chris sat me down on a bench in the barn. The barn was mostly empty, but it had electric lights, even though I don't understand how or why. She flicked the switch on the lights now, but there was a pause before they started.
I looked around with my flashlight. Dust and cobwebs, mostly, the ladder to the hayloft and a hole there to climb onto the roof. I didn't come in here a lot, but Chris spent most of her time alone here.
"Look, we need to test this," she said as the lights came on with a humming noise. "Do that half thing again."
Right down to business. I liked that about Chris.

*Rachel*
"Here you go," Erek said, handing me the food. I blinked, coming back into the real world, then accepted the food gratefully. I swallowed the pills first, to get it over with. The taste made my eyes water and I quickly gulped down some water: the water that was polluted and made us take the pills in the first place. To me, that's twisted reasoning when you think about it. But I gulped them down so Erek wouldn't make me take them and kept reading, eating my food without taking my eyes off the screen.

*Joey*
I liked that about Chris.
"So, what's the hurry?" I asked. "I really need sleep."
Chris sighed. "This is only the most exciting thing that's ever happened here. Now: close your eyes."
"Closed," I assured her, shutting them tightly.
"Now, go into half-and-half," she instructed. I did so, very easily, I might add. Every time, it was getting easier. Soon it would be so simple just to flicker out whenever I wanted to.
I felt something sort of touch my arm, although it didn't make contact. My eyes flew open and I went right back. "What was that!?"
"I was seeing if I could go through you," Chris explained. "Now, go all the way."
I did.
"Now, I want you to reach out and try to touch me," she instructed.
I did. My hand went through her skin, not that I could see my hand.
"Come on, Joey," she said.
I set myself and tried again.
"Did you try?"
*Yes.*
"Good. Now, this time, pretend that you know you can touch me. You're invisible, but you can touch me. Remember that," she said, closing her eyes, not even noticing that my voice wasn't exactly a voice.
*I can touch her, I can touch her.. yeah sure I can,* I muttered to myself. *I can touch, I can... Wow!*
I did touch her. Her eyes flew open. "Yeah, I felt that," she said.

*Rachel*
The computer screen flickered, then went out. Power out.
"Great," I said. "I might as well go after Tobias and the rest now," I said to Erek.
He shrugged and nodded, it was fine with him. He didn't know the whole story of what was going on with us, but it was fine with him, at least right now.
"Go ahead," he said.
I started morphing golden eagle. Best bird morph I had. I could morph something else later. I was outside, when a bug fighter zoomed overhead.
Erek was looking out the window them. < Erek! The Dracon beam!>
Erek understood and threw me the Dracon. Non-violence, but at least he could handle weapons without getting short-circuited or something, as long as he didn't use them. Catching it in my talons, I shot at the fighter.
It was a comparitively a low-power blast, sufficient to kill any human but just enough to stun the electric, or whatever Yeerks used, power of the ship. In short, it crashed.
Ax galloped out of the forest, just as the ship hit. It was amazing. I mean, movie type thing, where a fast moving object hits the ground and dust and dirt flies everywhere. What movie did it remind me of? Oh yeah, MIB.
< Rachel! Are you hurt?> Ax asked.
< No, I'm fine,> I said, dropping the Dracon beam. Ax trotted up to the ship. Toby was beside him. I guess they had been discussing whatever details I hadn't listened for Toby to give me about the Hork-Bajir colony.
Toby approached the fallen ship with caution, Ax three feet away from her, a safe enough distance if a fight did break out. The Taxxon was out first, but Ax took it out easily before it shot the Dracon beam it was carrying. Toby managed to restrain the Hork-Bajir, with help from the host, sufficiently to get Erek time to get out and put up a force field. Erek couldn't kill the Yeerk, or even keep it there long enough to starve, but he could easily hold it there long enough from Toby to tie him up, which she did quickly. Then, she marched him back to the woods, where I assume her people would lock him up for a few days. Ax stayed behind.
"Hey, Ax, I don't suppose you could maybe... fly this Bug fighter, do you?" I asked, having finished de-morphing while that was happening.
< Yes, Rachel. It would be simple.>
"Good," I said. "Because we're following the rest of those Bug and we're going to wipe them out."

*Colt*
"And that's the most recent picture," Mar finished. "Me, of course. Did you notice that eventually there got to be more and more pictures of me?"
Actually, I had noticed, but more of ten years ago, because he had been with a girl most of the time who he called Joey. He didn't explain those pictures much. I was silently laughing at him. He obviously liked Joey and wouldn't tell me.
"Er, look at this," I said to Erika, jerking my head toward the computer.
Er walked over. "Yeah," she said, snickering at the picture, then turning to Mar, who showed no hint of the haircut any more.
Mar grinned in his typical "I'm an idiot" way. Er rolled her eyes and then looked at me.
"He's usually like this," To said, smiling from behind Er. "It's not a disease or anything, he's really like that."
I nodded. "I've seen that."
To studied me, then grabbed my arm to pull me. Seriously, he was strong for a human but to me it was like something annoying pestering me. I got the idea, and moved out of hearing range of the rest of the humans. I hoped To would be quiet, because the vampires could here anything from any side of the building, so it was worthless even trying to get out of their earshot.
"What?" I asked.
To looked troubled. At least, I hoped human expressions were the same as vampire expressions, and so far they had been, so I think he looked troubled. For all I know, he could have been happy.
"Did you... you know, tell Er to send Rachel away?" he asked.
I was shocked. "No. I mean... I like Ray, she's nice. When did Er tell her to leave?"
"When she left, obviously," To said, wincing. "It was a good thing she did, but I don't like people threatening my friends."
"Look, if there's anything that can help..." I said, glancing at Er.
To brightened. "There is something that you can do." He put his hand on my shoulder, and I felt sort of calmer and not as awake.
"There," To said in satisfation. I'm not sure what he's satisfied about.. the morphing, could he really have....
"Do you have my DNA?" I asked quietly.
"Yeah," To said. Then, seeeing dismay on my face, he amended. "I'm only doing it because Erika could kick my butt if punch comes to punch comes to fight. I need equal footing, and to do that I need vampire DNA."
"Are you sure?"
"Sure," To said, bitting him bottom lip and nodding. He was about to walk away, and then he looked straight at me. "Are you ever afraid?"
That had me surprised, so I just blurted out the real answer. "Sometimes, but I learn to deal with it," I said in a rush. I blinked. "That is, to say..."
"Don't worry," he said, putting his hand back on my shoulder, but more friendly this time. "It's the same way for us."
I shivered.
To looked at me with immediant concern. "What's wrong? Can vampires get sick?"
I crouched into a fighting stance. "Something's coming."
To went pale, but he started changing into a form I recognised as myself. He was quick about it, and around the room, I saw my friends stiffen and go into fighting mode.
To was completely me by the time I looked back at him. He was just finishing, his hair going to my exact shade. He jerked in surprise at sudden danger, too. But, I realized too late, he was untrained.
Shooting towards the entrance hole as fast as a very fast vampire can go, he fired his legs and soared up and out of the place.
I started cursing, as I ran after him. Luckily, he was me and I was trained, as well as used to vampire instincts, but that meant that To wasn't ready for the power he had, and was over-working himself. From the tops of the buildings, I saw four ali... bug fighters closing in.
^Ali's, coming fast,^ I said in my usual disregard for everything. ^Try in5, and we have an escaped Ani in vamp morph,^ I said in a rush, getting farther out of distance as I moved after To at amazing speed. I was used to jumping around on rooftops just as much as the next vampire, but I still hesitated unintentionally. To hadn't been trained as a vampire, but he had learned, over the years, to put complete trust in his morphs. He couldn't fly as a bird or swim as a fish without trusting the morph to know what it did, and he was panicky, vampire instincts telling him to fight to flee. To must have a distrust of us, I thought as I raced after him, because a vampire will fight or flee depending if the people around him are friendly or not. Using the split-second vampire reasoning, To the vampire decided that it would be safer to run than trust one of us to watch his back. And once the flee order was given, a vampire was as difficult to catch as a smart but panicking rabbit. And a lot faster, too.
I heard orders being given by Lance, he was the only one who could reach me at this range by now. Even as I heard the fighting, it was fading, but not before I heard Lan yell that an Ali was after us.
Now I had to trap To before the Ali got here. Aren't vampire brains fun? I figured out the split second timing and put myself in automatic, knowing that once To saw me or recognized that he wanted to get away from me, I would have another vampire brain to contend with.
^He's To, and you're not going to let him get hurt,^ I thought as I started running on automatic. Eyes measuring angles, getting greater speed, faster, faster, faster. That's what a vampire is built for: speed. Mostly speed, and fighting, too. But we were a lot faster than the Ali, which I suspected was bad in atmosphere. These were all calculations my second brain was making, the semi-automatic one that I had switched on. In fact, theories and measurements and calculations were coming in too fast for me to keep track. I let go and kept gaining on To.
He was hitting the waterfront, and my brain knew that a vampire brain would have two choices: turn and run the other way or dive right in. To, however, did both, which I accounted for seconds before he put it into action. Considering how fast we were moving, I managed to gain a mile on him while I switched to the right before he did, anticipating his move.
He managed to get to the top of a particularly high building before jumping down and landing on a cable on the bridge, flipping off that and landing in the water. He wasn't sure of the exact limitations of vampires, and he knew that such a move, if a human could manage to land on the cable and flip off with injured feet they would get from it, the human would be killed when he hit the water. I calculated an even easier way, by jumping from a closer building into the water, thus giving me more advantage. Vampire smarts against vampire instinct... who would win out?
< Huh? What? What's going on?> a blurry voice asked.
To's furious kicking, which looked like he was speeding across the top of the water by now, slowed and stopped.
Fine, so it wasn't vampire anything. Human brains won in the end. But the Ali-- Bug fighter-- was still behind us. Right behind us now, after we'd slowed and they caught up.
I could see the Blade and the Worm flying in on us.
^"MOVE!!!"^ I shouted at the top of my voice and mind. To, startled, didn't respond, but in that time vampire brain had switched on and it was no stopping it.
I snatched up To, using the running-on-water trick that came in handy in calm water if you were as fast as possible in an all-out panic run. Once we had reached dry land, I let do of To, and grabbing his forearm I run down the street, faster than any human but feeling an extreme disadvantage at being so far down. Shaking out of complete-vampire mode and into semi-human, I turned on abstract things, things that had nothing to do what was happening, and making them have something to do with it. Ah! The underground.
Running for the nearest building, I hurled myself through the window, To right after me, making my dodge him so I had to land on my feet. It was an old movie theater, my brain told me, reading the weathered signs from out front.
From when the first Ali showed up, this had been one point fifty six minutes. Not a single shot had hit anywhere within one mile of To or myself.
I found an old back door, jumping at it. Hitting it feetfirst, I slammed into it, then dropped and rolled. To flew right over me. I sprang to my feet and found To had already lifted the nearest opening to the sewer systems with two fingers and was diving in. I followed, just as the building we had been blew up.
I slid the cover back over the opening. It was pitch black, but I could see perfectly. It was just a fact that it was pitch black, no more than that. To and I ran as fast as we could, down the tunnel.
The tunnel behind us blew up as well.
Vampires have this survival-reaction mind-reading thing. Any vampire, recognized as a friend, is given a play-by-play of what the other vampire is doing, but most vampires don't do this without thinking about it first. Total of all vampires, though, was the fact that the automatic part of vampire brains share information. As soon as I reached the conclusion that we had to go underground, To did too. When we new the area we were in was going to blow up, we knew it at the same time. So the fact that we were moving together without problems wasn't unusual.
We ran through the sewers, and area that I recognized and therefore To could recognize. I knew the exact way home from here, and To, right ahead of me, was picking that way up from my brain.
He jumped upward, head first, but his arms over his head. His arms hit the cover and he burst out into the headquarters. I was right after him, dirty and damp, but quite alive.
^Nice of you to join us,^ Jak said sarcastically. From her and the other's emotional states, I picked up that the two bug fighters left behind had been hard enough. One was down, the other was going for backup. I grinned with my eyes. ^Get ready for the time of your life,^ I said, looking at Jay, Cas and Mar. Cas understood, touching Er's arm. Jay acquired Lan, and Mar acquired Fal.
^Morph, morph, morph,^ I said in a rush. They hurried up.
"Why are--" Cas asked, before she went silent. In a vampire's sixth sense, she felt that danger was approaching. Cas, Jay and Mar bounded out the ceiling, with To seconds behind them.
^Don't stop and don't do anything stupid,^ I told all of them, Animorphs and the vampires, who had followed me after them.
^Bug figher, on evasion maneuver, take care, take cover, and let's get out of here,^ Lan said in his tense fighting voice.
< Don't worry, I'll hold them off you,> a thought-speach voice said. Rach?
I focused at the Bug doing evasions. Yes, manning the weapons was Rachel, and she did look like she was enjoying herself as she sent three quick shots at the other fighters.
^You'll need us to hold them off you,^ Lan said, picking up a small rock from the groud and hurling it with all possible force at the Bug shooting at Rachel. It made a dent in the shield but didn't crack it. ^Er, follow the other Ani's and get them back here as fast as possible. Jak, Fal, Co, get ready to kick some Ali. To, you're still with us? Take to defense, second Ali.^ He then gave each of us a string of numbers which I consciously didn't understand. But my vampire brain knew tham as cautions against the Ali's, and it left me feeling more careful, although plenty ready to kick them so hard they wouldn't be getting up.
I zeroed in on the second Ali, with To. Er and Jak were working together on the first one, and Lan got to take one on all by himself. A glance at to gave him the plan: I would jump and shatter the front window-type thing in the front of the Ali, and he would follow to help with the inside crew. It was a move that Er and I did many times before. Although, truthfully, I wished I was doing this with Er now, even though I was the only one who would be able to work well with To, considering we had worked together once before. Swallowing hard, I turned and jumped at the Ali.
What I did was a hard trick that a vampire had to work hard to perfect. I stopped by jumping backward, throwing me off balance, and before I skidded off the roof, I turned on my toes and pushed off hard. I landed on the Ali, which wasn't comfortable. Smooth metal, and they tried bucking and shaking moves.
^Rachel!^ I shouted, and the ship Ray and Ax were in turned, and I let the last buck throw me off, but used momentum to land on Ray's ship.
Ray shot at the Ali... Bug fighter. It was a bit distracted and she hit. It disinigrated into a bunch of tiny atoms. Er and Jak were having better luck with their plan, both launching themselves at the Bug at the same time, shattering the window and managing to kill the Blade and Worm before Er found some control that landed the ship.
< Nice flying,> Rachel said, demorphing into her usual human shape, still in the fighter. She had used a different human morph to use thought-speach. We had to get her a vampire morph. The Animorphs and Fal were getting back. I saw that Lan, however he had done it, had taken down his Bug as well, and the charred wreckage blew smoke into my eyes.
Aximili was already inspecting the computer Lan had brought with him, a simple laptop that we had managed to keep in functioning condition. He opened the Yeerk files, then switched back to the main menu and went to a vampire file.
^You need a password,^ Lan commented.
Ax stared at the screen for a few seconds, then started typing in something furiously. I couldn't make any sense of it, but Ax apparently was happy with it a pressed Enter.
A simple screen showed up, stating "Please enter your password." and some boxes. Ax, once again, started tying. He hit enter, and the screen went to another place, with three links to new places.

Menu

What is MCHP4, Project Vampire
MCHP4
Status of project

I paled as Ax went to the first link, "What is MCHP4," and saw the first paragraph.

The Morph Capable Humans Project 4 is the fourth in a line of attacks aimed at any morph capable humans, or even foolish Andalites, which use any means possible to find the morph capable beings (MCB).
The project was founded....

Yadda, yadda, yadda, get on with the vampire stuff, I thought, scanning it.

...and is a biological attack on any morph capable being which aquires and morphs a DNA changed human, vampire for simple purposes, making a virus as a natural part of vampire's biological structure. An attempt to morph the vampire, however, would result in incomplete de-morphing and the virus remaining the system of the MCB. A second morphing of the vampire would leave the MCB with double the virus, and so on. It is potentially fatal in humans or Andalites, however, the vampires are well-engineered as to allow a maximum amount of the virus, HJAP1, without affecting the vampire, and keeping any affects at bay with the treatment of drinking their former species, in this case human, blood, although this is a remedy only for vampires and not for humans. Project must be kept under watch at all times to avoid fellow Yeerks who are morph-capable, from contacting HJAP1.

It went on with a lot of babblings that I expected made sense to Ax, because he read it carefully and silently.
"How are we on time?" Jake asked Mar.
< No! Prince Jake, do not demorph,> Ax said.
"Why?" Jake asked, blinking.
< To do so would be to eject a deadly virus in your bloodstream causing a slow, agonizing death,> Ax said matter-of-factly.
"What? Ax, explain that."
< I did.>
"Damn, I thought that's what you meant. Please let that not be what you meant."
< It's what I meant.>
"Shit."
There was silence.
"Um, could someone explain this to me?" I asked, feeling foolish.
Ax turned to me. < Vampires are a biological weapon aimed at any morph-capable being,> he said.
"Translated...." I said.
Jay looked at me. I saw Lance's face and Jake's serious eyes, only now they were blue. "It means that demorphing could possibly kill us. Even demorphing and re-morphing could kill us. Vampires are a morphing poison."
I started understanding. "Vampire naturally have a poison in their systems," I said slowly, "one that you can't morph out of. Vampires can handle it, but humans can't and if you demorphed and morphed again the amount of it would be doubled."
"Exactly," Jay said, looking down at his hands. "We're going to either become vampires or commit suicide."
Mar nodded. "So, I'm a vampire." He laughed. "You know, this is the weirdest dream. Jake, you can laugh at me all you want when we wake up, if we wake up right now."
"It's not a dream." I said. "It's a nightmare that I've managed to live through for years. So what do you say? According to the reports, we stop aging when we're eighteen, and unless we somehow get ourselves killed by, oh those red lasers the aliens shoot, or maybe losing all our blood, we're immortal. Sound like fun?" I glared inwardly at my unflattering description of myself.
"No," Jay said honestly. "But if it's what we have to do... Well, it's what we have to do."

*Rachel*
I was stunned. I walked out of the bug figher and was met with the news about the vampire DNA project. I imediantly sat down next to Ax and helped him pull the computer files to pieces.
"Check there." I said, pointing a finger at a link Ax had missed. The Yeerks, for some reason, put a link like on a webpage, which they had adopted the format of. Ax clicked it. It was a personal information. It started with a paragraph of history of the "project".

The five original subjects were clones of five separate hosts, and were, for the test, named with human names, Erika, Janet, Cory, Josh, and James. James, dying from results of the first set of testing, was replaced with a human, not a clone, named David.

Let's see. Erika would be Erika, so Janet would be Jak. Cory, Josh and David aren't clear. I should ask later.

David had been abandoned by his human parents and was used quickly for lack on any clones of appropriate age. The project continued until 2007, earth year, when the five subjects disappeared, along with the death of the head of the project. Pictures had been taken up until then of the project's progress.

Then, it showed an array of pictures, starting with Erika. A tiny baby, then gradually growing older through a dozen pictures. Next was Jak. Then Cory. I studied a few later pictures, and desided that it was Colt. There was one picture that got to me. The backround, like all the other pictures, were white, but he was looking straight at the camera. Most of the pictures so far on him and the girls were taken sort of off to one side or while their eyes were wandering. Colt's eyes were fixed directly on the camera and glaring. His face was straight and void of any expression, but his eyes were glaring in a special kind of hatered I thought only we had... I quickly scrolled down.
Josh looked like he could have been Cory's brother when they were younger, although the effect had worn off now that they were older. I desided that it had to be Fal, and I thought that it was apparent that he was happier than Cory, one or two pictures showed him grinning the way little kids did when they were answering a question right or doing something right.
David was unusual, and I caught that right away. The photos of him as a baby were the usual, but I saw a lot of pain on his face as he got older. He didn't survive the first testings, so maybe that was it. His pictures disappeared when he was about six, and then another boy appeared, who, by process of elimination, had to be Lan. In all of the pictures, he was facing the camera, eyes staring straight ahead. I was a bit unnerved by that, but dismissed it. Lan, or David, looked authoritative, even when he was little. He reminded me of Jake, who, I reminded myself, was never going to be human again if I didn't find anything in here about a cure. I scrolled down farther, aware that Ax had gotten up and was at another computer that had somehow been brought here. I scrolled down farther, and clicked a file marked, "Pictures during testing."
The pictures loaded almost instantly, like all the other pictures so far, and I saw that I probably didn't want to look at this. One look of Jak curled up on a bed bleeding from her eyes and nose and mouth and Colt fighting imaginary demons and I decided that I would feel safer and a lot better not having seen them. I clicked back a few times and went to a different area.
I waded through pages and pages of technical jargon before yelling at Ax that I couldn't comprehend those parts and that he should get on them. Then, I headed for pages concerning what I decided would be most important to have two people read and started.

...In the event that a morpher aquires but does not morph the altered human, the virus will remain...

Yadda, yadda, yadda. It's telling us more of the same, and if I relied on this then the situation was hopeless. I thought about where any hopeful measures could be, and headed back for the personal info page.
This time, I ignored the pictures and clicked on Erika. Maybe it would tell me exactly how successful Erika's tests had been.
I was actually right on that theory. Jake, or maybe Lan, I couldn't tell, came over and looked at the screen as I scanned. Most of it seemed to be babble, but I was trying to catch a word or two that would tell me exactly how lethal the virus was. Finding nothing I could understand, I went to Jak's file. I pushed the computer away.
"Take it," I said to Jake or Lance. "I'm going to talk to Ax."
Without a word, Jake or Lance took the computer and started reading. I headed for Ax.
"So, what'd you get so far?" I asked, crouching next to the crate where he was perched, laptop on his human knees.
"This is a begining project, and success was not tested," he said, never taking his eyes off the screen. "It is foolish to think that it would be completely accurate, but just so to think that it was completely unsuccessful. HJAP1 is lethal, but any mistake could cause HJAP2 or possibly AJAP4, which are equally so. They made sure of that."
"So we're sunk?" I asked.
Ax opened his mouth to speak some more, something he still enjoyed doing, but Jake or Lance cut him off.
"Hey, guys, I found something!" he crowed, and we all rushed over.
He jabbed a finger at the screen. "Colt was messed up, his testing, I mean. The medicine he was given wasn't in the exact order as the rest of them."
"So?" I asked eagerly.
Lance, who I decided had to be Lance because Jake wouldn't understand this or maybe not even catch it, highlighted a bunch of numbers and letters, you know, like the ones in science, atomic symbols. Ax seemes to understand. I think that translated into normal English, the conversation went something like this.
Ax: "So that whatchamacallit here would do something to the thingamadoddle here?"
Lance: "Right."
Ax: "Which means that it reacted with that thing, and Colt doesn't have the exact same virus as the rest of them?"
Lance: "Right, and it's a completely different virus than the back-ups."
Ax: "Which one?"
Lance: "I don't know. Maybe--" And then there's no English translation for the sets of letters and numbers he gave Ax.
Ax nodded. "I think that it would be HJGN3."
"Good chance," Lance said, "But the chances against it are too risky. About a seventy percent chance that it's that."
"And a ninety percent chance that it's non-lethal." Ax added.
Lance glared at him for that. "Andalites have better immune systems than humans. I'd say eighty five percent that he'd live if he morphed back."
"Who?" I asked, looking around. I remembered that Jake had morphed Lance, because he had greeted me with the news, but had Colt been morphed by Marco or Tobias. I hope it's Tobias, I hope it's Tobias, it has to be Tobias, rang in my head.
"Tobias," Lance said with a short glance my direction.
I closed my eyes with relief. Thank you, I said to the same person I'd said the last thing to. I didn't get an answer, obviously.
Colt, or maybe Tobias, but I think it was Tobias, smiled grimly at me. "It's going to be okay," he said. "I'll morph out. It won't kill me," Tobias said. "I hope," he added, wincing.
I nodded. "That's the best thing to do. Try. At least you can say you tried."
"At least. At least we tried," Tobias said dreamily, than snapped back. "Colt, is this body always so tired?" he said jokingly.
Colt looked at him, concerned. "I never noticed it."
Lance thought a minute, running through a list in his head. "Tobias, by that remark you might have saved your life. You can morph out."
I nearly protested, then asked Lance why.
"Because," Lance explained, "the virus will only make him tired. It isn't very lethal, in fact, it isn't at all. He morphs away from at least half of it, and the remaining part he gets used to in a few days or weeks. It gradually multiplies, and he compensated for it. In some cases, the person over-compensates and they actually sleep less. It's just an increase of the internal clock and a bit of sleeping thrown in, pretty much. I wondered why Colt sleeps more than us sometimes." He grinned. "Tobias, morph out before you run out of time."
Tobias hastily complied, and I hugged him. "This is great," I whispered. "I really thought you were gone." "Not me," he said with an ear-to-ear grin. "I'm just fine."
I guiltily turned to Jake, Cassie and Marco. Cassie was crying a little, but she waved at us. "No, go ahead, celebrate," she said, and I backed off from Tobias.
"I'm really sorry..." I started.
Cassie didn't answer, but she turned away and walked over to the edge of the roof, and for one terrifying moment, she thought Cassie might jump off.
She wouldn't jump off, she reminded herself. She's still got Lia and Jake and the rest of us, and besides, I realized suddenly, it wouldn't hurt her to fall. She's a vampire now.
Jake winced and hurried after Cassie.
Marco sighed. "Well, at least I'm still cute. Maybe not quiet as cute, but I'm still cute," He sighed. "You know? I'm am going to sue the Yeerks big-time on this one. Oh, yeah," and then sat back to imagine how he was going to sue the Yeerks.

*Colt*
So, there we were. Our little vampric-freak-of-nature group no longer numbered five. Three new people. Three people who had to lose their lives in order to not die. If you thought of it that way, it didn't make any sense, but what did? Nothing. All I knew was that I was going to kill the Yeerks.
It was the Yeerk's fault. I stared at the screen that I was supposed to be reading. The time limit was up, they were permanently vampires now, but I felt like I had to keep looking.
Mar walked up and shoved the other computer in my face. "Hey, you said you wanted this," he said. I looked at it. It was titled, Joey. Mar had said something about Joey's diary.
"Thanks," I said, pushing away the other computer. "I was getting a little bored with the technical stuff. You can look through that if you want."
"Sure!" Mar said, and started reading slowly. Slowly for a vampire, anyway, but he was getting used to the vampire thing. I scanned slowly until something caught my eye. Big Dipper. That was what Lance had been talking about before. I slowed down to read it completely.

*Joey*
".... Big Dipper," Chris said.
I was shivering, but Chris was insisting on an astronomy lesson. Now. In the freezing cold. The night before our big trip. Astronomy. I guess some people never change.
"Orion's there, see, and the summer triangle, Androm--"
"I'm not here for re-learning the constellations," I said. "We can learn those during the trip. What do you think about the disappearing?"
Her "scientific" look came on. "Well, it's a matter of molecular--"
I groaned. "No, a purely kid point of view."
"It's cool," she said. "A little practice, and you could... hey!"
"What?" I asked.
"I got an idea," she said. "See my telescope?"
"Duh?" I asked thoughtfully.
"Right, I know, but anyway, try to make it disappear."
I blinked. It never occurred to me that I could extend the trick past myself and my clothes. But, my clothes did disappear, so I consentrated on the telescope.
"No," I said after a few seconds.
"Touch it," Chris suggested.
I reached out and touched the cold metal telescope. Disappear, I ordered it.
"Joey? You're gone... but it is, too."
I flickered back in. "You're right. It's possible."
Chris started getting excited. "Great, that's great." She put her hand out. I stared blankly.
"Try to disappear me!" she said, exasperated.
"Oh," I said. Our hands touched, I consentrated, and then I was holding onto nothing but cool air...
*Chris?* I yelled.
*Right here,* she said. I could still see her... in a weird way. If the moonlight hit her correctly, she sort of shimmered, like a reflective pond.
*You're shimmering,* she muttered. *But I couldn't see that before.*
*Maybe it only works when you're invisible,* I suggested.
*I think you're right,* Chris said, and through the shimmery ghost-like thing I knew was her, I could tell she was doing her hard thinking. *Hm. Maybe I need to amend that theory. If we can see each other, maybe...* I tuned her out. She had a scientific mind, but I didn't understand it. All I knew was that it worked.
*So, what do you think?* I asked.
There was a pause, and then, *Turn me back. I don't think I can handle this long-term.*
I reached out for her, about touching her, and I concentrated us back into existance. I opened my eyes to see Chris completely re-appeared.
"Good," Chris said. "I could hear you talking much clearer when I was invisible as well. This is all very confusing."
"Right," I said. "Anyway, could I go home and start packing for the trip? I was supposed to pack a few days ago."
"Fine, go, but remember that we test this again when we get back," Chris said, waving at me. I climbed back down and hurried home.

I threw a change of clothes, my toothbrush, and a flashlight in my backpack, after emptying my school supplies on the floor. Our whole group was going on an overnight mountain climbing trip. We were lucky that the boys' parents agreed to it, but they decided that Chris and Sam where responsible to keep us all together and alive. We got to climb the mountain, eat dinner up there, and camp out for a night, hike back down. No actual rock climbing or anything for the most part, easy, safe hiking. There was a place or two where you had to climb five or six feet up rocks, but that wasn't too dangerous, and we weren't using equipment. Easy. Simple. I threw my stuffed elephant into my bookbag.
Hm, seems light enough, compared to carrying twenty pounds of textbooks around at school. I guessed that it would seem plenty heavy after we divided up the food and added sleeping bags, but I was feeling confidant. This would be easy. I kicked off my shoes to go to sleep.
I was very tired, but as soon as I was almost asleep, my body decided to use "the jerk method" of keeping me awake. You know, how you're nodding off in class, you're just about asleep, and you suddenly bolt upright? Sort of like that. I'm nearly asleep, I feel like I'm floating, and all of a sudden my heart rate flies off the scale and I'm convinced, for a tenth of a second, that I'm falling. And obviously, I jerk awake. It took four tried before I managed to fall asleep.

*Colt*
This girl, Joey, was interesting, I thought. Very interesting. Her writing style was part of it, most diaries weren't written with nearly as much detail. But the way that she put it wasn't the most important, it was what was going on. But what did this have to do with Marco and the other Animorphs? I continued reading, hoping for clues.

*Joey*
You know that you're tired when you reach out to shut of the alarm ten minutes after it first started buzzing as loudly as possible. I rolled off of my bed and hit the floor with a bang.
"Joey? You up?"
Good old mom.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I croaked. I was not a morning person.
"I got your sleeping bag out of the attic."
"Thanks, mom."
"And got all the food that you planned for."
"Thanks, mom," I yelled, walking around my room. Hairbrush. Where was it? I didn't lose it again, I did lose it, oh, great.
"Max's here."
"Thanks mom."
"And I packed your hairbrush."
"Thanks, mom," I yelled, unzipping my bookbag. There is was. I started brushing my hair.
"Gooood morning," Max said, breezing in.
"Hi," I muttered, yanking the brush through my hair. What the heck. I was going to be hiking, just stick on a baseball cap and forget about it.
Max threw me my baseball cap, like she was reading my mind. "Here ya go."
Max is a morning person, which drives me crazy. My brain doesn't function at all until noon or so, and it doesn't work well until midnight or well after. Asking to hold a conversation with me at seven am is like having a conversation with a snail. It just doesn't work.
"Come on, come on!" she said, looking wide awake and making my just want to scream. "I threw your sleeping bag into the car, Sam and Chris are already in there."
"Yes, your highness," I muttered, thinking about the last time I had gone on a hiking trip. Let's just say that my ankles sprain easily and that I couldn't walk for three days afterward. Why hadn't I thought of that before?
Max was practically bouncing off the walls, so I hurried out, head down, before our walls became covered with footprints. I yanked open the door to Max's family minivan and greeted the zombie-like people in there.
"Hi," I muttered, finding a seat. Max got to sit in the front. Her dad was driving.
"Who's house next?" her dad asked.
"Matt's, then Aaron's, Alex's and Erik's," Max said.
"Right," he said.
"We're fitting all of us in here?" I asked. It was a pretty good question for someone who was half asleep. The minivan was built to hold seven people, including the driver. Nine wasn't going to be working. "Yep," Max said. "Time to squish together."
"Oh, man, I want out of this deal," I said, but we were already stopping at Matt's house. Max bounded out, and two seconds later Matt came in, looked for a seat, and sat down next to me.
"Mm," he mumbled.
"Um," I agreed, rubbing my eyes.
Aaron fit in the car as well. When we got to Alex's, then we were getting some trouble.
"No way," Alex said.
"Way," Aaron said. He was also a morning person, and he just pulled Alex inside and made her sit on the floor. But for Erik, we couldn't only not fit her in, we didn't have any more room for our things, either. "This isn't fun." Erik said from Matt's lap. Matt mumbled something about Erik being pretty light.
Somehow, we managed to get to the mountain without too much bumping around. By then, I was a little more awake. Enough to see that Chris had agreed and not brought her telescope, that Erik was sitting on the floor squeezed into the same stop as Alex. That we actually were at the mountain when we stopped. "Everyone out," Max's father said. We got out, got all our gear divided up. As soon as Max's dad could see that we were handling it, he left. I couldn't say I blamed him.
We started trudging uphill. Max was in the front, then Matt, Alex, Erik, Sam, me, Chris, and Aaron in the back. I was talking to Chris, at least as intelligently as I could talk.
"So..." I said, yawning. "How long till we get to the first rest point?"
"Five miles."
Half an hour later:
"How long until the rest stop?"
"Four miles."
Half an hour later... I could go on, but you'd get really bored. After ten minutes we were too hot and tired to talk to each other, so there was almost no sound, just birds and wind and trees. It was nice, if you like what sort of thing. I didn't, particularly, and I didn't really get any happier until we got above the treeline. Instant energy. I had just eaten a granola bar, and either that worked or I was just happen to get out of the trees, I wasn't sure. But I was the first to scramble over any rocky trail. I just liked rocks. I don't understand why. They're more interesting than the forest.
But even interesting rocks get boring after a few hours. We had just finished climbing the steepest, hardest part of the trail and the sun was beating down on us hard. I had gotten a bandanna from my bookbag and I was using it as a headband to keep my hair out of my eyes, even with my baseball cap my bangs were constantly bothering me. It was tiring and hot, and there were some mountain goats on the trail.
"Stupid goats," I muttered, yawning. To me, yawning is reflexive, if I'm cold, tired or hot, I yawn. I was really hot, so I yawned.
I touched my skin. Actually, it didn't feel so hot. It felt cool at the most, cold at the least. I drank more water. I was tired and we had gone almost twenty miles. The top was five more miles. Oh course, this was because the trail zigzagged through the forest and boulders, it wasn't twenty five miles tall or anything. Just long.
"Who's ready for a break?" I asked, and I felt my legs give out from under me. Everyone thought I had sat down on purpose, so they sat down as well. Matt and Aaron had taken off their shirts. I wished that I could do that. I yawned again.
"So, how're you doing?" Chris asked.
I shrugged. "I'm tired, but that isn't a surprise. Isn't it lunchtime yet?" I never carried a watch.
"Actually, an hour past."
I stared at her.
"We were going so fast, I didn't want to stop us...." she started.
"Too bad," I said. "Time to eat, guys."
I chewed my own sandwich in silence. I gulped down some more water, and everyone else was done eating, too.
"Let's go, troops," I said, leading the way. I was really tired and my legs were protesting loudly, but I kept going.
"Hey! This is it! We're at the top!" Max yelled.
"Yeah!" I yelled, too. "We made it!"
Actually, I had spent the rest of the time floating in and out of odd dreams and nightmares. I wasn't sure what I had passed in the last five miles, but we had reached our goal.
"And I'm starving." Sam said. We pulled out the canned ravioli we were eating for dinner, and a small camping stove. Max and Matt cooked dinner while the rest of us pitched the tent. Then we all ate up. "Good," I mumbled.
"Yeah," Max said. "I think what we're doing is having an early dinner, and then a late dinner in an hour or two. How's that?"
"Great," Erik said.
"Thought so," Matt said, speaking through a huge bite of ravioli.
"I'm taking a nap," I announced as soon as we finished eating. Chris, Sam and Aaron agreed. A nap was in order. I gave everyone strict instructions not to wake me up.
I woke up in the dark. I could see that all the other girls were asleep in the tent with me. Aaron and Matt had told our parents that they would sleep outside, so that was where they had to be. I was hungry again. I went outside with my flashlight, hoping what someone had saved some food for me.
"Sam?" someone whispered.
"Joey," I corrected.
"Oh, hi, Joey. You're finally awake."
"Yeah."
"Max thought that you got dehydrated, but the rest of us thought we should just let you sleep. How do you feel?"
"Fine. Little thirsty, but not bad. Where's the water?"
"Right there," Chris said. "Do you want to practice that trick again?"
"No," I said. "Today's been great, I don't want to mess it up with that trick."
"Fine."
"I would be perfectly happy," I said, grinning, "To have an astronomy lesson."
Chris brightened, and she gave me the pair of binoculars she had been using. I slipped them over my neck. "I was looking up there."
"Okay," I said, looking straight up where she pointed.
"It's a star cluster," she explained.
"Oh," I said, trying to see it.
"Anyway, we have to talk about that invisible thing, Joey. It's important."
"Fine," I resigned.
"Let's try this," Chris said. "Try to not have any effect on stuff, you know, so nothing could touch you, but still be visible."
I was skeptical, but I went ahead. *"What do you think?"* I asked, still fully visible.
Chris reached for my arm and passed right through it. "I think this has a lot of possibilities."
Then, Max's mother and the humans thing flashed into my brain. "Spying possibilities?" I asked.
"Yeah." Chris said. "You could go anywhere, do anything! Hey, go invisible."
I flickered out.
"I can't touch or see you, right?" Chris verified.
*Right.*
"Now, take off the binoculars."
It was hard to do that, to something you couldn't feel, but after a few minutes I announced, *It's off.*
"Now, make it be visible again."
I imagined the binoculars actually there in my hand. And then...
"You did it! Great! Now, make them invisible again."
That was easy, after I had done the first one. "Simple," I said, flickering back in with the binoculars.
"Man, you could do anything with that."
"Right," I said. "And you can help me. I want to spy on Max's mother."
"Robin? Why her?"
"Because last time I was at their house, she said something about "stupid humans."
"You're joking."
"I'm not."
"Then we have to do it! Soon as we get home!"
"Right. You think you could handle invisible for an hour or so?"
"I think it's something you have to get used to. I just have to practice. Let's go for half an hour right now."
I reached out, touched her arm, and flickered us both out.
*Half an hour,* the shimmery person I knew was Chris said.
*Half an hour. So what do we talk about in the meantime?*
*I don't know.*
*I do. Why did you think Bane was the best character in "Dragon Wing?"*
*It has to be Bane! I mean, he's the...*
We argued like that for about forty-five minutes.
*Hey, hasn't it been half an hour?*
*Give me your watch.* I said.
She handed it over and I made it visible.
*Forty eight minutes! Yeah!*
*Really?*
*Yeah!*
*Great, make me visible again and let's go to sleep,* Chris said.
We flickered in and went back into the tents silently. Before entering the tent, I winked at Chris and disappeared. I walked through the door and right to my sleeping bag, silently, where I re-appeared and got into it. Chris sighed and went to sleep.

I don't even want to tell you about the way down the mountian. Actually, why am I telling you this at all? Who are you? You would have to by my friend if you know all the passwords, but please, don't take these words lightly. This is important. You have to believe everything I'm telling you. Thanks.
We went down the mountian. Downhill, so it was easier, but I managed to trip and hurt my ankle. Typical. My ankles twist or sprain all the time. This was a mild sprain. I couldn't walk on it.
"Joey, are you okay?"
"Get me a crutch," I growled.
"Oh, what'd you do?" Sam asked, worried.
"Sprained it. Get me a walking stick, something," I said, taking off my bookbag and rumaging through until I found an Ace bandage. I pulled off my shoe and sock and wrapped up my ankle, wincing. I pulled my sock back over it and my shoe over that. It wasn't a particularly bad sprain, I would just be limping a day and then it would feel a little better, although I wouldn't be able to put all my weight on it for a week or so. I hate sprains. I had already twisted my ankle dozens of times getting up, so why sprain it on the way down? Like I said, I hate sprains.
Sam, Chris and Erik manage to convince me to divide up my things so I didn't have to carry as much and then I got going with an empty bookbag on my back. Not too bad. I limped down the mountian, slowing us down, but we had planned to play at the bottom of the mountian for a while, there was a waterfall where you could play on the rocks and climb up it, so our parents weren't picking us up until an hour after we ate lunch, so we had all the time in the world. We got down with two hours to spare.
I dropped my bookbag and sat down on a rock on the edge of the waterfall. It was a nice place, that Sam had found a long time ago when she was hiking this mountian alone. Actually, it was right before she joined our group, because she had tried to run away, and her mom was a friend of my mom, and my mom mentioned that she should join "Joey and her friends little club" when she was forced to come back. We agreed, for no other reason than that one of our other friends had just moved away, not that we had much of a choice. It was a secret kind of place, and we had fun playing on the rocks. I just sat.
Then it occured to me. I had bruised, if not broken, a few of my ribs earilier. Then, I disappeared, came back, and it felt all better. I flickered out, hoping no one freaked.
I flickered back in quickly, and I hit my ankle. Fine. No sign of a sprain. Wonderful. This was, so far, the best part of being invisible.
I hopped up on my rock and lept to the next rock. I climbed up, and all over the small waterfall. It was only ten feet tall or so, and with the rocks built up like they were, it was easy to get to the top.
"I thought you hurt your ankle," Chris hissed at me.
"Invisibility has an added benifit," I whispered back.
"Neat. I have to check that out," Chris said back.
"Later," I said, just as everyone decided that lunch was in order. I hopped back and happily ate my two sandwiches.

*Colt*
"Hey, Colt," Mar said. "That's not important. Skip ahead."
I became aware that Mar had been watching me for the past minute. "Skip ahead to where?" I asked.
"Ah, lemme see." Mar said, pulling the computer to him. "Here we go. All you have to know is that they're spying on Max's mom now.
"Thank you," I said, starting to read.

*Joey*
*Hurry up,* Chris said eagerly.
I followed Max's mother, who I'm going to call Robin because I don't feel like saying Max's mother all the time.
*I'm coming,* I said.
She was going into McDonalds, and I decided that we were crazy. This wasn't anything at all!
"A happy meal," Robin told the boy.
He narrowed his eyes.
"With extra happy."
He smiled. "Go right ahead."
I dodged people, following Robin, before I remembered that they would go right through me. It was creepy, going right through other people.
She walked into the kitchen.
*Hm,* I directed at Chris.
*I know,* she said.
Robin walked into the freezer.
*This is suspicious,* Chris said.
*Tell me about it,* I added, walking through the freezer door.
There was a path downward. Yells and screams were coming from there. Robin walked forward.
*This is crazy,* I said, hesitating.
*Come ON!* Chris insisted, pulling me along.
We went down a long, long ramp. Then, we emerged into a cavern.
*Wow,* Chris said. *This is amazing*
*I know,* I sent back.
*Split up,* she said.
I walked toward this giant cage of alien monsters. It was amazing! They were seven feet tall, bladed, creatures. It was completely amazing.
I walked toward this huge pool of brownish water. I could see something under the surface. Chris, I could see, was on the other side of the pier, inspecting the same pool.
There wasn't much activity, and Robin was the only human I could see. A few bladed aliens were monitering most of the activity, but there wasn't much activity. Just a bunch of aliens, and Robin. Then, I caught a glimpse of a few humans in cages. Maybe ten humans. But why put humans in cages?
Robin leaned over, politely helped by the bladed aliens. I wondered what was going on for a minute, when there was a "plink!" like when you drop a rock in a puddle. Robin instantly started screaming.
No little screams, either. She was shrieking at the top of her lungs, and the bladed aliens were shoving her into the human cages, along with the other humans. They looked at her, but I had the feeling that they didn't really notice her, because all they were doing was begging to be let out.
I ran over to Chris, right through the bladed aliens and the pier. I got to Chris, and we started crying. Because something was going on, and we didn't understand it. Invisible tears shone on Chris's invisible face.
And I knew I had to do something. I strided into the cage, and I was astonished to recognise one of the people. Jonny Miller, one of my old friends. He was screaming about "Yeerks" and "Hork-Bajir" and "Visser" and "Andalites." I just knew I had to get him out.
I touched his arm, and directed at him, *Jonny, calm down. I'll get you out of here.*
He fell silent, and started looking around.
*I'm right here, only you can't see me. I'm right here. Now, I'm going to make you turn invisible like me. Okay? Nod your head.*
He nodded.
*Okay, Jonny. Get ready....* I concentrated. *There. You're invisible. Can you see me?*
I could see a shimmering ghostly figure where Jonny had been. Not surprisingly, no one had noticed. They were all too hysterical.
*Don't talk. You don't know how, and someone might hear. Now, you can just walk through the bars. Don't worry about them.*
I reached out and grabbed his hand, but it went right through. So I shoved him through, making him slightly able to feel things and then pushing him through. He fell through the bars.
*There we go. Come on, Chris, let's get moving. Jonny, just follow us and don't say a thing. We're heading back up.*
Jonny followed us, and I kept up a stream of babble.
*I'm Joey, remember me?* I gave him my last name. *We were in sixth grade together.*
He nodded.
*We're going up to the McDonalds and... oh. You're going to wait outside the girls room, and I'll come out visible. Then, you follow us outside. If you don't follow us, you'll never be visible again, so you have to follow us. Follow me into the woods, and I'll make you visible again. Remember, the bladed monsters can't see you. You're just fine...*
I followed the plan and got Chris and I into the restroom, which was fortoneatly empty, and looked around for Jonny. I laughed silently at myself. Of course, we couldn't see Jonny. I made a "Come on." motion with my hand. I hoped he followed us. Then, I looked around. The McDonalds was mostly empty.
"Come on, Jonny," I said. "No, wait. Reach out for my hand."
From the angle we were at, no one could see us. I touched Jonny, and he became visible. "Come in here," I said, and he followed us into the girls bathroom.
"Look here," I said, locking the door behind us. "I don't understand a thing of that, and you're going to cough up any info you have, okay?"
"Right," Jonny said. "Anything you want to know, I'll tell you. Anything."
"What were those alien monsters?" Chris asked.
"Hork-Bajir," Jonny answered. "The first planet that the Yeerk conquered was the Hork-Bajir homeworld."
"Explain 'Yeerk,'" I demanded.
"A Yeerk is a parasitic alien, sort of like a slug, that goes into people's ear canal and take over their brain." he answered. "They have conquered worlds by inslaving them. They are currently working on enslaving the human race."
"Humans!" I yelled, before I remembered where we were.
Jonny looked around, paraniod. "Let's move. Someone might have heard that. And besides, they're bound to notice that I'm missing after awhile."
"Go to my house." Chris said.
"No, no one's house," I said. "The woods. No parents to come in and bother us. Jonny, you get to explain this whole thing. Later. We're going invisible again. I'm not explaining invisible yet, but that's because we don't understand it yet. Just follow us and don't say anything."
"Okay," Jonny agreed solemnly, holding out his hand. I flickered all three of us out.
We walked through the wall and into the sunlight. We started running as fast as we could, and we finally stopped at the edge of the woods.
*Back to visibility,* I said, and we flickered back. "Now," I said, "we need to know every scrap of information you have on these Yeerks, because, like you said, they'll be looking for you."
"Right," he said. "Yeerks go to the Yeerk Pool every three days. The Yeerk Pool holds special things the Yeerks need to live. Sort of like food for humans."
"What happens if they don't get to the Yeerk Pool?"
"They die."
I smiled. "Good. Do you think we can keep up the method we have now, of stealing someone away and getting them back up?"
"I don't think that most people would trust you."
"Right. What would you suggest?"
"You could find the Andalites," Jonny said promptly.
"Andalites."
"Andalites are the aliens that fight the Yeerks. They have the power to turn into animals, the morphing power, that they use to fight the Yeerks. There is a small group of Andalites with the morphing power that are stuck on earth, and they fight the Yeerks."
"Does anyone know where they live?"
"Yes. They live in this woods, but no one has ever been able to find one."
"Then we have to try, don't we?"
"Right. I think one of the easiest ways to do so would be to attract attention. Wanna try that?"
"How?"
"Oh, I think that it would attract attention if we ran through the woods yelling 'Andalites, Andalites'."
"Any way a bit more subtle?"
"Do you want to try one?"
"Ah, no. Wait. I'll go invisible, just in case you run into trouble," I said. I flickered out.
"Does she always do that?" Jonny asked Chris, looking at where I had been standing with concern.
"Not all the time," Chris assured him. "Only when she's around me, because I know the secret. Otherwise, she doesn't want anyone to know what she can do."
*I'm still here, you know,* I said. *Let's start moving. I want to find those Andalites soon, before they start looking for Jonny.*
"They might already be looking for me," Jonny said, looking around for me.
*Okay, but let's start moving. Just yell, 'Andalites.' They'll come running?*
"Right, to see if we're Yeerks. They'll think it was a trap."
A large hawk with reddish tail feathers rose from a nearby tree.
*Look!* I said. *Isn't that a hawk?*
"Red-tailed hawk," Chris agreed. "Nice birds."
*I didn't know you liked birds, Chris.*
"Stars, moon, birds, sun, anything in the sky. I think it has something to do with an old dream I had when I was little. I dreamed I could fly."
The hawk settled back down on a branch.
"It's staying," Chris sighed. "I wish I could fly."
"What was that dream of yours about?" Jonny asked. "The Yeerk always bothered me about a dream I had about flying, but that was because I was afraid of planes."
Chris blushed. "It was a silly dream. I was standing on a cliff, and I jumped off, and I could fly. I soared around and then I woke up."
*Nice. I wish I could do that,* I said.
"I know." Chris said. "If that was real, I could just... fly. It would be so cool."
"Um, I hate to interupt this amazing psychological discussion about flying and the meaning of dreams, girls, but aren't we looking for Andalites?"
*Right,* I said. *Let's get going.*
"Andalites!" Chris yelled. The hawk flew off.
"You scared away the hawk." Jonny said, watching it fly off.
"Who cares, now? We have to find those Andalites. Andalites! Andalites!"
We yelled for a while. Maybe ten minutes. I heard a crunch of footsteps that weren't one of ours. Before I could move, a blue fur-covered tail with a sharp end whipped through me. It stopped right in front of Chris's neck, and still halfway through me. I screamed.
I couldn't help it. And I had a feeling that everyone could hear me.
*AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!* I screamed.
< What was that?> someone asked.
*AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!* I continued.
< I don't know!> someone else said.
< Prince Jake, who is that?>
< I don't know, it's not one of us.>
< Damn right. Now, who is it?>
< It might be the girl. You scared her half to death, Ax. Maybe human have some sort of telepathy we can pick up.>
< Or maybe Marco's playing a trick on us. MARCO!>
< It wasn't me!> someone else yelled.
"Andalites! You're here!" Jonny yelled.
< Yeerks!>
< I don't think so, Ax.>
< Maybe not, but they're trouble.>
"Andalites! You have to help us! Please!" Jonny continued.
< Uh, I don't think so. They actually sounded real, although they did mention Yeerks.>
< Three days. The usual.>
< Right-o, Captain Jake! We'll be getting right to it.>
*Do you hear that?* I yelled.
"Hear what?" Chris mumbled.
< Surrender or die.> the blue alien, who's tail was at Chris's throat, ordered.
*Surrender?* I said.
"Sure," Chris mumbled.
"Surrender," Jonny seconded.
*All in favor say aye,* I said, directing it to everyone around me so that the Andalites heard it, too.
"Aye," Chris and Jonny chorused.
*Motion passed!* I said. *We surrender happily!*
< Who is that?>
*Um, me. I'm named Joey.*
< Hello. Where are you?>
*Right here. I'm a little bit invisible, though.*
< Ah. Are you going to be un-invisible any time soon?>
*You mean, like, now?*
< Yeah.>
*No. I'd rather stay invisible, if it's all the same with you.*
< It's not. Become visible or we attack.>
"Sorry," I said, flickering back in.
< It's okay.>
"Are you actually aliens?" I asked.
< Actually? Actually, we're sticking you in this house for three days until we're sure you're not Yeerks.> "Oh, thanks." Chris said. "You know, standing so stiffly is hurting my neck. Could I relax a little?"
< Yes,> and the tail relaxed.
"We found the Andalites." Jonny babbled. "We actually found them. This is incredible. The Andalites--"
< Shut up,> someone said. < And get moving. And we want to know about that disappearing trick.>
"I'll tell you, but--"
< Hurry. There's a search party coming this way.>
"Careful." Chris said. "I can't run like this."
< Obviously.>
"Come on." I said, yanking Jonny from his frozen place. "Let's move."
We started running. "Where are... you guys... anyway?" I panted.
< In the sky,> one said.
"The bird? Oh."
< Yeah, me,> another one said.
"Only two?" I asked.
< No. Six. >
"Okay," I said, and saved my breath for running.
Ten minutes later, I started slowing. "Can't run." I managed to say before I started coughing.
"You okay?" Chris asked.
"Just fine." I gasped before doubling up, hacking my lungs out.
< Are you all right, Joey?> one of them asked. It sounded like a boy, I'm not sure why.
"Not really," I admitted before another round of let's-get-rid-of-our-lungs.
"She's usually like this," Chris said, and she started hussling me forward. "Are we still being chased?"
< Lost them a while ago,> the same boy said.
"Okay. Could you guys... ah, un-morph? Turn back? Whatever it's called? I don't like it when I can't see who I'm talking to," Chris said. "Even though I've gotten used to it."
< One of us,> a guy said.
"Good," Chris sighed.
A bird landed on the forest floor, and started growing rapidly.
"Yuck," Chris said, facinated.
I blinked a few times, because it didn't look like the alien that was running with us. It looked a little more human...
I heard something from behind me. Jonny was squeezing his eyes shut. I turned back, and standing where the bird had been...
...was a human. A boy. Cute. Barefoot and in a ridiculous outfit. Cute.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Marco," he said.
"Hi," I said. I think I was staring at him a bit much, but I wasn't used to people turning from birds to human. Disapearing into thin air, yes, but not turning from bird to human.
"You're Joey, and you are..."
"Chris."
"Jonny," Jonny said, staring at him. "You're human?"
"Yeah. Why's that funny?"
"The Yeerk said that you were Andalite bandits."
"He was controlled by a Yeerk." I explained.
"He was?"
"He was," Chris said. "We got him out of that place, the Yeerk pool?"
"Right. Yeerk pool, or otherwise known as living hell."
"We noticed."
"So you came looking for us?"
"Right."
"You found us. Did you know that we have to kill you now?"
"What?!" I asked.
"Joke, joke, sorry." he said.
"What are you doing with us?" I asked.
"Are your parents going to miss you?"
I looked at Chris, and she nodded. I could tell him. "Actually, we were planning on being gone for two days. We're 'hiking in the woods.' Again."
"Only two days? Do you think you could make it three?"
"Maybe," I said. "Not likely. And he's not with us."
"If he was a controller, like you said, the Yeerks will be after him. He isn't able to go home now." "Right. The only problem is that we were supposed to meet our friends tomarrow. And if we don't..."
"They'll come looking for you?"
"That's the plan."
"Damn," Marco said.
"Right," I said.
"Now, about disappearing..."
"It's simple," I said. I reached out for his arm, slowly so it didn't look like a threat. "You're going to disappear. Watch."
I flickered us both out.
< Wow,> someone said.
< I know. Makes you think.>
< Prince Jake, I do not understand how that is possible.>
< I don't either, but she just did it.>
I flickered us back in. "Who's Prince Jake?"
Marco looked up. After a pause, he said, "That's someone. Can't tell you now."
"Okay," I said.
"Right," Marco said. "Anyway, do you object to being tied up, or are you going to sit nicely?"
"Sit nicely," I said, nodding.
"Sit nicely," Chris agreed.
"Right," Jonny said.
"Good," Marco said. "Let's start moving."
I continued watching Marco the whole time we were watching, even though the blue alien asked me a few questions. Okay, I thought he was cute. Fine, really cute. I think I saw him at school before, but I'm not sure. Hm.
I kept thinking about him the whole way there. I know, I'm hopeless.

*Colt*
I was begining to see why Mar got this saved on his computer. I was snickering at it already. Mar glared at me, but I could see he was blushing a little. I flashed him a wide grin.

*Joey*
Okay, I'm not mentioning Marco anymore, even though that's all I was really paying attention to. The other three de-morphed, that's what they called it, and I demonstrated, my disapearing act. They all acted surprise, although I'm not sure if it was real. The leader, Jake, looked a bit panaroid, but I think Jonny convinced him, because we were all taken away to have our stories taken seperately.
Marco got to ask me.
Jonny and Jake, with a girl named Cassie, were talking quietly, and Chris was talking to Rachel. I got Marco.
"Hi," I said nervously.
"Hi," Marco said. "Joey what?"
I told him my last name.
"Okay, how old are you?"
"Thirteen."
"Give me the whole story, begining to end," he said, looking serious.
I gave it to him.
"Okaaay, good. That sounds... not reasonable, but... you know."
I nodded.

*Colt*
Marco looked to where I was. He looked back at me. "Fine, so she was cute, too."
I snickered.
"I mean it!" Mar insisted. "She hasn't described herself yet, but she had black hair, and dark blue eyes, and... I don't know exactly what it was, but she was very pretty!"
"Black eyes." Ray corrected him, leaning over to see what we were doing. "What you noticed were her black irises and dark blue pupils. It make a weird effect."
"Right," Mar said. "And she was pretty, right?"
"Her eyes kept changing though, and yes, Marco, she was pretty," Ray said, sighing. "She would have been more so if she had actual clothes--"
"She had clothes."
"T-shirt, jeans. Always. No exceptions."
"Could I just read this?" I asked.
"Sorry, Colt," Ray said, moving away
. "Yeah, sorry," Mar said, clearly not meaning it.

*Joey*
"So, what sorts of things do you like?" Marco asked.
"Not much." I said. "I like dragons and unicorns and such, I read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi stuff. Like most of my friends."
"Tell me about your friends."
"Well, we made a club when we were little. It was girls who had boy's names. We sort of all agreed that we like dragons and stuff. We also added two boys to the group. Now it's more like an actual club."
"Who's the leader?"
"Ah..." I struggled with the question. The correct answer would be me, but I wasn't always in charge. "I guess I am, but we don't really act like that."
"Right. What's Chris like?"
I started talking about Chris. Marco nodded, staring at me.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked. Just curious.
"No."
"Why not?"
"I don't know," I said. "Because a lot of the boys I know are stupid idiots, some I've known since I was three, and some my parents know and therefore would think it was 'cute'."
Marco smiled. "Okay. I think that that's all."
Chris had just been released from Rachel, and I walked up to her. "He's cute, isn't he?"
"Who?" she asked.
"Marco," I said. "Isn't he cute?"
She looked at me like I was crazy. "Here we are, in the middle of the woods with people what can turn into animals, and you, the one who's never interested in clothes or boys, is telling me that some guy is cute," she stated.
"Right."
"I'm never going to understand you."
"I never thought you would," I said. "But isn't he cute?"
"Sure, I guess. If you like that kind of guy. He seems like he would be a joker, if this wasn't so serious."
"Think so?"
"Yeah."
"Great."
Marco, Cassie, Rachel and Jake all started talking and Jonny came over and sat down near us. Then, Jake walked up and announced what we already knew.
"We decided that you're telling the truth, but that Jonny is staying here, and if possible, one of the two girls. Two days, at least, and then one more."
I looked at Chris. "I think I could pull it off better than you."
Chris shrugged. "Okay. I cover for you."
"Usual plan?" I asked.
"Right," Chris agreed. "You're spending the night at my house. Every time the phone rings, you're busy watching a movie."
"Right," I said, smiling.
"Now that you've got that straightened out, we have to figure out where you're going." Jake said. "I think Marco can keep Jonny at his house for a while, but Rachel? Cassie? Joey and Chris...."
Cassie shook her head. "My parents would not go for it."
Rachel shrugged. "I can take maybe one of them for one day, other than that, we have a problem."
"How come Jonny can stay at Marco's?" I asked.
"Marco's dad doesn't ask too many questions," Jake said.
"Oh," I said. "Then how about a girl cleverly disguised as a boy?"
Chris have me the look. "You know, that did work well last time..."
"And plus, I could go invisible and sleep anywhere. I just need a supply of food."
Marco looked at Jake. "It might work, except for her hair."
I pulled off my baseball hat, put all my hair in top of my head, and put the baseball cap back on. "Good," Chris said critically.
Marco looked at Jake. "We can pull it off, if we try."
"Go ahead and try," Jake said. "This isn't going to be easy, though. What are we going to do with Jonny after the weekend? And how are we going to explain us out of Monday at school?"
I smiled. "You're forgeting my trick. Joey and Jonny are leaving early Monday morning, and Marco is going to be sick and will have to stay home from school."
"Good," Jake said. "Nice plan, I guess. You'll have to explain why there's a lot of food missing fron the refrigorator when Marco's sick, but other than that it sounds great."
"We'll just not eat," I said.
Jake smiled. "This is an okay plan. I'll stop by to see why Marco wasn't in school that morning and to give him his homework, and I'll bring some sandwiches or something for you guys, right?"
"I'll starve, but all for the Animorph cause," Marco said.
"Sounds good." Rachel said grudgingly. "As long as Joey's face stays in the shadow, she'll be all right." Cassie nodded her agreedment, and even the alien admitted that it might work, and then added a few questions about what a refrigorator was and why Marco would get sick if he could pretend. Jake answered all the questions, then looked at Rachel.
"You can handle her for two days, right?"
"Right," Rachel said. "She'll have to make herself scarce the second day, but we'll manage."
"Marco, your dad can handle two boys for two days and a day home from school sick, right?"
"Right."
"Chris, you can cover for Joey one day, right?"
"Right."
"Joey, you can keep you and Jonny invisible the whole day, right."
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"It's hard for people to stay invisible for more than an hour or so without much practice."
"Well, invisible most of the time, right?"
"Right."
"The rest of us can cope. Tobias, can you fly daytime?"
< Yeah.>
"Ax, you can fly night, and Cassie or me might help out."
< Yes, Prince Jake.>
"Don't call me Prince."
< Yes, Prince Jake.>

So it was settled. I got to stay at Marco's house for three days. With Jonny. And someone flying around. I suppose that they meant as a bird.
Jonny trailed after us, and Marco and I ran through the idea again.
"So, we get there. We're named Jonny and Joey, as usual. We're working on a science project together."
"My dad won't really care."
"Well, we'll eat something."
"Dinner. It'll be up to me. How about pizza?"
"No, get pizza the next day. Tonight, we just scrounge around for something. Then, we do something where your dad can watch us."
"Carefully keeping you out of the way."
"Maybe watch a movie or something."
"Right. Movie and popcorn. My dad will be happy that we're getting along quietly and nicely."
"Then, when it's time to sleep, we'll go up to your room."
"Which I hope we can all fit in."
"You get your bed, Jonny on one side of the room, me on the other."
"It'll work."
"Right. Now, the next day, we'll wake up, get breakfast, and go play with Jake."
"And get back..."
"Around four PM. We'd eaten lunch at Jake's house. The, we go back to your house, watch another movie and order pizza."
"Pay for the pizza...."
"Out of my money and eat it. Go back to sleep, same arrangement as before. Then, the tricky part."
"Tell me how you're managing it."
"Simple. I'm going to read a book, any book you have laying around. Jonny gets to do... well, whatever he wants. You get to explain that we ate a lot of candy the night before and stayed up a long time, you're stomach hurts, you're tired, and you already missed the bus. Something like that. It usually works with my parents."
"And I...."
"Just lay in bed. Don't even do anything. Maybe read a book, or maybe play on your computer. Don't do much. It's safer to just sit in bed if you're pretending."
"And you could be doing anything while you're invisible."
"Hm. I guess you're right. Well, I'll be visible under your bed. Any time you want to see me, just look under your bed. If I'm not visible, that's because I hear your dad coming, or I might just not be there."
"Okay."
"Will it work?"
"We'll see, won't we?"

"Hi, dad."
"Hi, Marco, who are your friends?"
"Dad, this is Jonny and Joey. They wanted to know if they can stay over here for a day or so. We're working on this science project, see, and we have to grow this mold. And--"
"Marco, I don't want to hear about mold. Your friends can stay.
"Thanks, dad."
"Yeah, thanks," Jonny said.
I stared at him, my eyes shadowed by my cap. He looked at me, than at Jonny and them shrugged. "Fine. I have dinner ready."
"But it's my turn," Marco said.
"Marco, I have never known you to argue when I take your chores. Are you sick?"
"No," Marco said. "So what are we having?"
"Pizza."
Marco smiled. "Okay! Come on, guys. We can get an extra piece to watch mold grow on."
To help the story, I grabbed a piece of mold and Marco dircted me to put it under the sink. I did, and then we sat down to eat.
It was a quiet dinner, and we finished fast.
"Gotta go make some notes," Marco said as Jonny put a second piece of pizza in the refrigorator and I put the last piece under the heater.
Marco's dad groaned. "Please, if the house startes smelling too bad, let me leave."
"Sure," I agreed, running up the stairs after Marco.
I sat down on Marco's bed. "So, what does he think of us?"
"He thinks that I have wierd friends," Marco said with a shrug.
"Good," I said. "Now, Jonny, what do you want to do?"
"I want to talk about Yeerks," Jonny growled. "Marco, I'll fill you in on anything you don't know, you fill me in."
"Oookay. Marco, can I use your computer?" I asked.
"Sure," he said.
"Thanks," I said, sitting down on the computer. I started typing, putting down things I had never actually put down on paper because of fear of discovery."

"Joey, my dad says we have to go to sleep now."
"Ten more minutes," I said, typing faster.
"Sure. Make sure you shut it down when you're done," he yawned, laying down. Jonny was half-asleep on the floor. I continued typing.

"Joey?" Marco asked. "I thought you said you were going to go to sleep."
"Sorry, did I wake you up?"
"No. Why are you still awake?"
"I never had a diary," I said, putting down our conversation. "I thought it would be nice to have one."
"You mean you've taken this long to type down everything that happened today?"
"No, I'm writing down everything since this started," I said. "Starting when I found the invisiblity trick. You can read it if you want to."
"Is it a diary, or just the facts?"
"Actually, it's a story. Once I start writing more regularly, I'll put down more than the facts. But I think I managed to get it all down without any fictionalization. You can read it later," I said, typing faster than I was talking.
"Okay, I'll do that," Marco said.
"You know, you're cute," I said. I had already written the cute part down, and I didn't want to go back and change it, because it was true. Might as well not have to get over that later when I could tell him this now and not surprise him too much.
"You mean it?" Marco asked.
"Yeah," I said. Didn't I?
"You're pretty cute, too," Marco said, looking at me. I blinked, then turned back to the computer.
"Thanks," I mumbled.
"I mean it," Marco insisted.
I looked him straigh in the eye and stopped typing. "Do you mean it?"
"I mean it," Marco said.
I doubted that I looked pretty. Some of my friends said that if I just wore these clothes or I put on some makeup, I would look prettier, but I never bothered with it.
"Hm," I said, stopping my typing. I sized Marco up. He was telling the truth, but was amazingly reluctant to do so. "Why aren't you making a stupid joke?" I asked abruptly.
"What? You never heard me make any of my stupid jokes," Marco protested.
"Yeah, but you seem like the type to make them."
"I do," Marco said, but I stared him in the eye and he didn't make any jokes.
"Can you sleep?" I asked.
"No," Marco said, shaking his head.
"I bet I could bore you to sleep reading you this," I said, scrolling back up to the top.
"Can we just talk for a while?" Marco asked.
"Sure," I said, sitting down next to him. "I need to understand more about Yeerks."
Marco nodded slowly.
"And you guys, and any aliens," I said. "I don't understand any of this."
Marco smiled. "Right. I'll start with what's happened to us. Well, it all started with this Andalite named Elfangor..."

*Joey*
"Marco? Are you and your friends up yet?"
"My dad!" Marco said. The sun had risen, but I had no idea it was this late. I grabbed my hat and pulled my hair up, just as the door opened.
"Hi, Marco."
"Hi, dad," Marco said casually. "Jonny's still asleep, we'll be down in a minute."
"Okay, then. Good morning, Joey."
"Morning," I mumbled.
The door closed. "Are you tired?" Marco asked.
"Pretty tired," I admitted. "I usually go to sleep around three of four, but I always get some sleep." I stretched my arms and yawned.
"Oh, well. We're going over Jake's house, you can get some sleep there if you want."
"A nap," I agreed. I nudged Jonny with my foot. "Hey, wake up."
Marco's dad breezed back in, and Marco and I exchanged looks at how close I had been to being caught. I put my boy act back on.
"Come on, man, get up," I said, kicking him a bit harder.
"Mmm," Jonny mumbled.
"Marco, I'm leaving. Leave a note if you and your friends go anywhere," he said. "Breakfast is free-for-all."
"Okay, dad," Marco said.
"Right. Be good, no big parties, no girls, you know."
"Right, dad," Marco said.
"Good. Don't break anything, either. And if the house catches on fire, please put it out."
"Got it dad, don't worry."
"Right. Bye," He left.
I knelt down and shook Jonny. "Get up."
Jonny's eyes suddenly popped wide open. "Yeerk?" he asked, sounding confused.
"No, Joey," I said. "Marco's here too. Breakfast and then we go to Jake's house. Marco, why don't you call to make sure he's awake. Call Rachel about Chris, too, while you're at it. Let me talk to Chris. And if your dad isn't going to be here, maybe they should come here."
"You got it, boss," Marco said.
Jonny staggered to his feet. "Bathroom's third door on the right," I instructed him. "Kitchen's downstairs."
"'Kay," Jonny said.
I made my way to the kitchen. Marco was already in there, dialing the phone.
"Hi, Tom, is Jake there? No, awake. Okay, wake him up." He paused. "Jake, you awake? Jonny and Joey want to see you guys." Pause. "Yeah, my dad's gone. So, what do you think? Okay, I'm calling Rachel. Call Cassie and make her tell Tobias and Ax. All right. Bye."
"What did he say?" I asked, eyeing the refrigorator.
"He said it was fine with him," Marco said, looking at the piece of pizza under the heater. "You know, we should actually enter this in the science fair. It's going okay."
"Yuck," I said. "Well, call Rachel, and I need to talk to Chris."
"Right," Marco said, punching in another number my memory. "Hi, is Rachel awake yet? Oh, how about her friend, Chris? I need to talk to one of them. From school. Right. Okay."
He handed the phone to me. I put it to my ear. "Hi?"
"Joey?" Chris asked. Marco put his head near mine to listen to our talk.
"Hi, Chris. Look, what are we going to do about the club?" I asked, a little concerned about Marco being so close.
"Forget the club. I'll call Max, see what I can do, but frankly, the club isn't going to go without you, and you're not going to be able to run it."
"The club couldn't last without you, either."
"Maybe, but we're putting a pause on all club activity."
"Chris, no--" I protested. I might be the leader, but an order from Chris and they would shut it down without giving me a second thought.
"It's the only thing we can do. We've done it before. A month? Not even a month. Three weeks, all right? I'll tell Max."
"No, call Sam. She'll be more likely to sound happy about it."
"Sam, then. And don't you think a few of them should be in one this?"
Marco started shaking his head and mouthing the word "no."
"No, no one tells them. And if Sam says anything about my act, don't say anything more than you need to. Actually, I suggest a lot of lying."
"You're the boss."
"No, not exactly lying, but no truth-telling. And if she mentions my act, make it sound like you think she hallucinating. Hopefully, we can stop them from thinking about it. I'm starting to wish I didn't get in that fight. Oh, man, my parents are going to kill me," I said, remembering suddenly one small flaw in our current plan. "I'm going to be killed."
"Have Matt talk to them."
"No, they'll ask me why I'm not hurt. I can't well say that I broke a rib or two, but I'm fine now because I disappeared."
"No, you can't," Chris sighed.
"Right. We'll figure that out later, when they get the referral."
"Okay."
"And as soon as Rachel's up, tell her to get to Marco's house."
"Right. I'll wake her up after I call Sam."
"Okay, bye."
"See ya."
I hung up. "So, Marco, how'd you like eavesdropping on our conversation?" I asked, as Jonny walked in the room.
"Hm, it might have been better if you started talking about me..." He trailed off as I pretended to smack him.
"Guys, could you calm down?" Jonny asked, pouring a bowl of cereal.
"Sorry," I said quickly.
"Sorry," Marco echoed.

Okay, at this point, this is now a diary, because I'm going to tell you what's going in and why I'm thinking the way I am.
I've had serious problems. I think that it's just because I was born weird. I went through a very strange phase where I was sort of maniac-depressive. Bored, dreary, impulsive, alert, tired, angry and just plain stupid. It was a few months ago. I'm over it now, with no help from anyone else. Actually, I made sure that no one else know, hiding my moods. I think that that was why the club was so important to me. It had saved my life once and now I didn't want it to stop, for anything, because I might go back that way I used to be.
I don't think of that time much. My only reminder is one suicide note.
I kept it, only God knows why. It wasn't the usual note. I had a sleeping ritual, I would read and recite the note out loud, look at my dreamcatcher, and close my eyes. If I opened my eyes and wanted to do back to sleep, I had to do it over again.
The note said:
Who am I
Who lights the flame
Who sees the sky
Who cries in vain
I am one
But who am I
I'll never know
And so I'll die.
Yes, that was my complete thought when I was getting ready to kill myself. A poem, not a very well-written poem at that. I never was good at poetry.
Now, you know who you're dealing with. This is in no way the strangest thing that's happened to me. I've had many stranger things that have happened to me. Mostly delirious dreams, but those had gotten me ready for handling everything. Brain controlling aliens were included in that. I think that I was happy that something finally was real, no inside my head.
But, what if it is inside my head? It wouldn't have been the first time.

But I was sitting in the kitchen, with Marco and Jonny. I poured a little bit of cereal, the littlest bit I could get away with, and the tiniest bit of milk. I ate it in three spoonfuls. I considered eating more, but I didn't want to.
"Hey!" Jake yelled. I recognised his voice, but spun around, instinctively.
"Oh, hi," Marco said.
"Hi!" I said cheerfully.
"So, you guys seem happy," Jake said. "I didn't think you acted like controllers."
"Thanks," I said. "I don't feel like a controller, either." I stood up. "Is anyone else here?"
"Is this the house? Ouse? H-ooussss?" someone said from the living room.
"Hi, Ax," Marco said, continuing to eat his cereal.
"Hello, Marco. Mar-co. Maa--"
"Ax, don't do that," Cassie said. "Hi, Jake." Cassie was keeping a firm hold on Ax's wrist, and next to her was another cute boy.
"That's Ax's human morph, right?" I asked Marco.
"Ax's human morph." he confirmed. "Dangerous around anything you can eat, and some things you can't. Also anything involving a mouth. Or two feet."
"Sounds like a disaster," I said.
"We handle it," the boy next to Cassie said.
"Guessing game," I said. "I'm guessing that you're Tobias."
"Right on all counts," Marco said. "This is our resident bird-boy, Tobias."
"Hi," Tobias said.
"Hi," I said back. "Nice to meet you. Are Rachel and Chris--" The doorbell rang.
"That should be them," Marco said. "Come in!"
Two girls came in, talking.
"And you're saying that you went down in the Yeerk pool, invisible. Weren't you scared?"
"Plenty," Chris said. "Hi, Joey." Then she went back to talking with Rachel.
Her ability to make friends was paying off. Her and Rachel looked like normal best friends, except for the occasional mention of a Yeerk pool.

*Colt*
"How far are you?" Marco asked. "What do you think about Joey so far?"
I looked at the screen. "Well. She seems like she's mostly unsure, but not in a bad way. Just in a different way. She seems attached to you..." and Marco looked uncertain. "and a great friend if you get to know her the right way. Responsible, but not bossy." I said, thinking of good things that could be true.
"She was," Marco said. I caught the 'was' and looked at him.
"What happened to her?" I asked. It was a stupid question. She wasn't around any more, obviously, she was dead.
A shadow went over Marco's face. "Read on." he said darkly.
I was just getting interested, and went on with the story.

*Joey*
"What is the plan? Pl-a-yn. Pla-yn. P-lan."
"Ax, please don't do that." Jake said.
"Yes, Prince Jake." Ax said. "Jay-ke. Ja-k-k-k-k."
"I give up." Jake said. "It's hopeless. Ax, play with all the sounds you want."
"Yes, Prince Jake."
Jake didn't even bother telling him not to call him Prince. He just sighed and looked at Chris, Jonny, and me.
"So," he said.
"So," I echoed. "Hi."
Jake studied me. "So, do you think you can do that invisiblity thing again?"
"Yes," I said, considering what would happen if I said yes, sir.
"Try it," he said.
I flickered out, then flickered back in. "Most people can't hear me when I'm invisible," I said appoligetically. "Chris can here almost anything I say, and Jonny can hear it if I direct it at him. Can I test you guys?"
"Sure, why not?" Marco asked. They all shrugged.
I flickered out, and said, *So, who can hear me?* and flickered back in.
"I heard that," Marco said.
"I didn't," Rachel admitted.
"Neither did I," Jake said.
"I did," Tobias said.
"So did I," Cassie said.
"I heard nothing, Prince Jake. Is there something wrong with my ears? Ee-rs? Ey-ar-es?" Ax asked.
"No, nothing's wrong with your ears," I sighed. "I'll try you all on personal," I said, using my term for directing it at one person, and flickered out.
*Jake can you hear me?* I asked.
"Yeah," Jake said.
*Rachel, you hear me?*
"Hey, I hear something!"
*Ax, can you hear me now?*
No answer.
I flickered back in. "Well, five out of six. That isn't too bad." I looked at Ax. "I think it might have something to do with not being from Earth."
"Could be," Marco agreed.
I got an idea in my head. *Hey, Marco, can you hear me?*
"What?" Marco asked. "Hey, cool!"
"What?" Jake asked.
"She can talk like that while she's not invisible," Marco said. "Do it again, Joey!"
*Jake, can you hear me?* I asked. I waited for a response.
"He can't hear me," I told Marco.
"I can't?" Jake asked.
"Nope. Too bad, it might have been helpful," I said. I startd to say something else, but I shut up quickly, transfering the question from my tongue to my head.
*Marco: can you talk back to me?*
There was a pause, and I thought that maybe Marco didn't hear me, when I got an answer.
*If you hear this, sure can.*
It hit me then that what I was using was a kind of telepathy. Hearing... feeling.... seeing yourself use it isn't the same as having someone use it back at you. Or maybe this was different, because for Chris it had been straight-forward talking. Or maybe Chris actually thought that way.
The simple, short, one sentance message carried a sense of strain. That had to be from effort to send it. It carried a sense of fun, laughter, fear... I wan't even sure how I knew this. But I was certain that I felt it. *Thanks, Marco. I can hear it.*
*Neat. Do you know why?*
*No. It might be because we like each other.* I paused. I was still a little uncertain about how Marco thought about me. *I mean, we know each other a lot better than the other guys know me.*
*Maybe that's it.* Marco said, and I could feel that he liked me. Through our fragil connection, there was a sixth sense that felt sort of like... I could compare it to the feeling of happiness while in a lot of pain. Just sort of... weird. I think I was thinking of that because a sort of flavor, the taste of blood. Salty but it tastes more like iron. No, copper. Something like that. Like dizziness and blurry repetition and bright lights, flashing lights, and firelight.
*Yeah,* I whispered. *Could you keep talking?*
*Sure,* Marco said. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples, what I usually do when I get dizzy or in pain.
"Joey, are you all right?" Chris asked. "Are you feeling dizzy again?"
I realized then that I was getting dizzy. Very dizzy. "I'm fine." I managed to whisper, and fell to my knees. Automatically, I put my head down on my knees and took slow, deep breaths.
"Are you going to faint?" Chris asked.
"Maybe," I said evenly, realizing that I had a headache as well. Something was pounding at my head, and I decided that it was my heartbeat.
*Joey?* Marco asked. In that one word, there were a lot of things, fear, hope, and some panic.
*I'm fine. But I'm going to faint.* I said.
"She's going to faint." Marco reported. "Get her to a bed."
I felt someone lifting me up and putting me on the sofa in the living room. Chris was near me, and I could feel Marco next to me. I lost consciousness.

*Colt*
Next to me, I could hear Marco sigh. I looked over. "That's amazing," I said.
Marco shook his head. "It's just getting started."
"What's getting started?"
Marco didn't answer.

*Joey*
I came to on the sofa. My hair was fallen over my face and it felt itchy on the back of my neck. I reased my head a few inches, then dropped it back down. I faint for some reason, sometimes, and usually when my parents aren't around. I've had a few terrifying moments where I've been talking to them and the world starts to spin, but I usually manage to stay upright.
"Are you all right?" a girl asked.
"Who're you?" I mumbled.
"Cassie," the girl said.
"So this isn't a weird dream?" I asked.
"This is real. Do you know why you fainted?"
"No, but it's happened before," I said, using all my willpower to get me sitting up. "What time is it?"
"How long are you usually out for?" Cassie countered.
"Depends. If I'm alone, for as long as six hours. If I have friends nearby, they usually can wake me up easily."
"You were out for three hours," Cassie said. "Chris said for us not to bother you."
"She assumed that I needed sleep," I said. "It's true enough, I didn't sleep at all last night." I put one hand up to make sure that my head was still attached to my neck. It was, all right, and starting to throb again. "Oh, man."
"What?" Cassie asked, instantly alert.
"Headache," I said, putting my head back down.
"Marco, is your friend awake yet?" someone yelled.
"Oh, no," I groaned.
"Yeah," Marco said. He looked at me from across the room.
Marco's dad walked in. "Marco, I have to say this. You're grounded. This is the same girl who was the boy who came over, right?"
"Yeah," Marco admitted.
"And you had her over here, all night."
"Yeah."
"You're grounded."
"I know."
"How about that other one, Jonny?"
"He's a boy. Jeez."
"Making sure. Are you all right... What is her name?"
"It's Joey."
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
"It's better than No. Are you all right, Joey?"
"Fine. I'm thirsty, though."
Someone handed me some water, I still had a visual and mental fog enough to not know who it was. I sipped it and handed the cup back. "Thanks," I said. I forced myself to sit up. "I can sit, okay?"
"Can you stand?" Marco asked.
"Um..." I pushed myself up and stood on teetering feet. "Yeah," I sat back down hard.
"Joey, do your parents know where you are?" Marco's father asked.
"Uh, where am I?" I asked. Faking nearly-asleep is one thing I'm really good at.
"You're at Marco's house," his father said.
"Marco, yeah, I know him," I said.
"Are you all right?" Cassie asked. "A concussion, or anything? You just dropped down in the kitchen, I didn't see you get hit, and there isn't anything wrong with your head."
"I didn't hit myself. It happens sometimes," I said. "Didn't think it would happen now..."
"When does it usually happen?"
"Nightime, in the early morning. Mainly. It's when my internal clock says "Time to sleep" sometimes and I'm still wide awake. Sometimes in the afternoon. Almost never before two PM."
"Hm," Cassie said. "What were you doing that was so unusual?"
"Nothing," I winced, feeling my headache swell and seem to cover my head with a pulsing dull pain. "It just happened."
"Why did you faint now?" Cassie persisted.
"I didn't get any sleep last night?" I suggested. Bad thing to say. Marco's dad looked at Marco with that look.
"We were on the computer." Marco insisted. "I was teaching her some things."
Marco's dad still gave him the look. Marco looked at me for help.
"I was typing all night," I ammended.
"Typing what?" Marco's dad asked.
"Stuff," I said.
Marco's dad still glared at Marco, but turned and looked at Jonny. I saw that the people in here were Cassie, Marco, Marco's father, Jonny, and Jake.
"What happened last night?" Marco's dad demanded.
"I was asleep," Jonny shrugged. "I woke up once, and they were talking and typing something. I went right back to sleep, though.
Marco's dad dropped the look, at least for now. He looked at Jake. "Did you know what was going on?"
"Yes, sir," Jake said quietly. "Joey and Jonny had to stay somewhere for a few days, and Marco volenteered."
"Did you know anything about Marco and Joey?" Marco's father demanded.
"They're not going out," Jake said with a shrug. "Anyone at school could tell you that. They're friends."
Marco's dad paused for a minute. "So, Joey, what made you do along with this plan?"
"I thought it up," I said.
"That so?"
"Yes, sir. I needed to stay somewhere, and Rachel and Cassie couldn't have anyone over. So I had to come here."
"Why hasn't Marco mentioned you before?"
"I met him a few weeks ago," I said.
*Because I never talk to him,* Marco whispered to me.
"And plus, he doesn't talk to you a lot," I said.
Marco's dad looked a little sad. "That's true. Marco, if you ever need tp have one of your friends spend then night, tell me who they are, all right?"
"Okay, dad."
"They can be here as long as they stay in the guest room."
"Okay."
"You're still grounded."
"I know."
"Your friends have to leave."
"Right. Bye, guys."
"Let's go to Rachel's house," Jake said. "Joey, do you think you can walk?"
I considered. I could, but I wanted to stay here. If I did stay here, Marco's father might try to call my parents. "I don't think so." I said.
"Stay here," Marco's father said quickly. "I'm not going to kick you out if you can't walk."
"Thanks," I said. "I'll just go back to sleep, if you don't mind."
"Right," his father said, and everyone left the room.
"Marco, to your room," he father yelled.
"I know!" Marco yelled back, and I heard the door close.
*Joey?*
*Right here.*
*You scared me.*
*Scared you? What do you think I felt like?*
*Well...*
*Your father nearly gave me a heart attack. At the very least, I was about to disappear.*
*Sorry, I should had warned you like this when I saw you first coming 'round.*
*Okay. Just talk to me, Marco. I need someone to talk to me. Read something to me.*
*How about Lord of the Rings? I still have it here.*
*I'd love to listen to it,* I said. *It's one of my favorite books.*
So, for a hour, I listened to Marco talking about hobbits and wizards and listening to his funny jokes and I started drifting off and tolf Marco that, and I fell asleep listening to Marco's mental voice talking about his mother.

I woke up again. This time, it was quieter and less crowded.
*I'm awake,* I told Marco.
From the kitchen, I heard, "Dad, I'm going to check on Joey."
"Joey, are you all right?"
"Yeah. My headache's gone."
"Can you stand?"
"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine," I said, standing up and taking a few sleepy steps.
Marco put his arm around my shoulders to help me. "Are you going to leave now?"
"I better," I said. *I don't want to leave. I'll be in your room, invisible, on the floor.*
*All right,* "Okay," he said out loud.
I walked out the door. "Thanks," I said.
"You're welcome," Marco replied, and smiled fractionally as I disappeared.
I climbed up to Marco's window easily, and went to sleep on the floor. I was tired, very tired. I hoped that staying invisible for that long didn't hurt me or anything, but I could just hope that it didn't. I substituted the dreamcatcher song for looking at the dreamcatcher, and was asleep in minutes.

*Joey?* Marco asked. I knew it had to be Marco, because no one else would be using our special telepathy to talk to me.
*I'm here,* I said, rising from the floor.
*Good,* Marco said. *Hey, could you help me with my homework?*
*I'm so bored I'll do it for you,* I said. *Can I re-appear?*
*Sure,* Marco said.
I flickered in and sighed. *Well what do you have to do?*
*Math,* he sighed.
*My favorite,* I said. *Algebra. I'll be done in twenty minutes.*
"Thanks," Marco said. "And... thanks."
*For what?*
*For everything. Joey, I like you, I do.*
*I can tell.*
*How?*
*Through the web.*
*Web?*
*This comunication. I'll call it web until I have a better name for it.*
*Okay. I do like you.*
*I like you, too.*
There was silence for a few minutes.
*I like you, a lot,* I finally said. *I want to take your dad's offer up.*
"Huh?"
*If you want a friend to stay over. I want to stay here.*
*Joey....*
*I mean it. I want to stay here. And my parents won't care. I've stayed at my friend's houses for weeks at a time. I once stayed in the woods by myself for a month. They expect me to leave once in a while. I've been doing it since I was old enough to walk. Well, overnight only since I was ten, but you know.*
*So they won't ask question?*
*I call them once every two or three days, they don't care.*
*Will they ask about the fight you and Chris were talking about earlier?*
*I'll tell Matt to tell them. I got into it with Matt and Max, my two best friends.*
*Matt?*
*Not my boyfriend,* I said, correcting what I knew he thought. *A friend, an old friend. More like my cousin.* Then I got an idea. *Marco, you're joining my club.*
*I'm what?*
*You'd be great, and if I just start going out with you I'm going to alienate me from the guys.*
*Can I join the group? Is it possible?*
*Sure. A few mild tests, and you're in. I'll pick good ones for you. And I'll call Sam.*
*Great. Tell me what the tests are.*
*I'll explain later. I'm going to Sam's house now.*
*Okay.*

"Hey, Sammy!" I called, throwing a handfull of rocks at her window.
Sam pulled her window up and looked down at me. "Come in," she called down. "Door's open."
"Parents home?" I asked, walking around.
"Nada," she yelled back.
I ran up the steps and barged into her house. "Hi, gotta talk to you," I said.
"Is it about Davey?" Sam asked, jumping down the stairs. "She said that she would join," I flopped down on the couch and sighed.
"No, not Davey, but it's sort of about her, too," I said. "I want another boy to join."
"Another boy?" Sam asked, surprised. I expected the reaction. Sam was in charge of the member researching, so she usually scoped people out, and we had said that we weren't going to try two members at a time, and even thinking about adding a boy was rare.
"Marco," I said. "He's really nice, smart, and he seems like good material to me."
Sam nodded slowly. "I'll get Matt to scope him out."
"No, I'm doing it," I said, surprising her further. I was in charge with the members, but I usually didn't bother with prospective members until they were being tested. "Actually, I've already done it. He said that he can get out an night whenever he wanted. The only problem is that sometimes he's going to be busy in the middle of the night, but we can work around that."
"I think I know who you're talking about," Sam said slowly. "Hispanic guy, sarcastic? He hangs around with that guy, Jake?"
"Right," I said.
"He's in my math class. I'll talk to him tomarrow," Sam said confidantly. "Matt can spend the day with him to check out anything else. Or do you think we should get Chris to tail him?"
"That's what I wanted to mention," I said. "I've been staying at his house, for lack of a better place to go."
Sam stared at me. "Exactly how well do you know this guy?"
I shook my head. "He was around, and I spent the night at his house, and another guy named Jonny."
Sam shook her head mock-sadly. "You know, we just have to get you a boyfriend," She was happy to see that I colored noticably, and then I glared at her.
"Kidding, kidding," she said, putting up her hands as if to ward me off. "I was just kidding. Did you go over the group with him?"
"I gave him the preview," I nodded. The preview is an overview that you give prospective members. "He said that it sounded great. But he's going to try half-membership, as usual."
Sam nodded wisely. "If he's friends with Jonny, and Jake for that matter, you probably have him the isolation speach."
"No need." I said. "Jake's a nice guy, but he's busy, too, he'll stay friends with him even if he does have another group of friends. Jonny was just another kid."
"Any other significant friends?" Sam asked.
"Well, he knows just about everyone, but he's also on terms with a boy named Tobias and tolerates Tobias's friend Phillip."
"Did you pick a test for him?"
"I was thinking the playground test."
"Good. Davey wanted that one, too. We can test them both, but let's set the date back a little farther now. A week."
"No, go Tuesday, as planned," I said. "He's going to fake sick on Monday, I'm going to go into detail over the internet." Better to say that than tell her I'm going to be invisible in his room. "I'm going to skip, too." "Your parents called. I said that you were going to be missing for a while and I didn't know how long."
"Good job," I said.
Sam looked at my eyes. "Joey." she said. "Was staying at his house strictly club business?"
"Ah, yeah," I said, trying to look convincing. But in front of Sam, I might as well have been the worst liar in the world.
"Joey?" Sam asked. Then she examined my eyes and sighed. "I should have known. What have you been doing and why did you do it?"
"What?" I asking innocently, trying to regain a convincing look.
"I want you to tell me what you did to burn up so much energy so quickly you made yourself faint," Sam said. Oh, good. Nothing more about Marco.
"How can you tell?" I countered.
She looked at me with her look that means, 'you mean you're so stupid you don't know?' "Your eyes," she said. "They turn blue if you're going to faint or have fainted that day, green if you're going to cry, and reddish if you're really angry."
"They do?" I asked, looking around to see if there was a mirror in the room. "I never knew that."
"You're not the most talkitive person in the world, and you're colorblind, so how are you going to know what color things are?" Sam countered.
"True," I said. "What else do you know about color?"
"I know you rely on shapes and shadows to see, and it works pretty well." Sam said, thinking. "Actually, you see in the dark better than anyone else I know. You can also stand complete darkness better than a lot of people."
"Because I can see black better than everyone else and I like it," I whispered, finishing her thought.
"Right," Sam said, and frowned. "How did you know what I was going to say?"
"How did you know what I was thinking?" I asked with a dreamy sureness, like in a dream where everything was desperately wrong but you somehow think it's right.
*Marco!* I shouted.
*Joey?* Marco asked in a strained voice.
*I'm sorry. I was scared... I don't know why. I just wanted to hear you.*
*That's okay, Joey, that's okay.*
*Thanks.*
*It's fine,* Marco said. *See you later?*
*Yeah.*
Sam's eyes went wide, and I saw her move toward me, but I was also aware that the ground was swirling, and I knew with certainty that I was going to faint.

I was soaking wet. "Joey, you better quit that," Sam said angerly. "I don't know what it is, but you better quit it."
"Oh," I mumbled, wiping water off my face. "I will."
"Do you know what it is?" Sam asked.
"I don't know.... I think Chris might be able to help me figure it out," I mumbled, wringing out my clothes. "Can I borrow some clothes?"
"Sure," Sam said, and I hopped up the stairs to her bedroom. I changed into clothes she had borrowed from me, so I knew she would have no problem with me taking them. "I'll see you later."
I guess that I knew what was making me faint, but I hurried over to Marco's house.
*Marco?*
*Where are you?*
*Your room. I found out why I've been fainting.*
*Why?*
*It was something to do with this comunication. It might be the energy it takes to keep it.*
*Hm. Did you faint after you talked to me?*
*Yeah.*
*Then you might be right. Go talk to Chris, see what she thinks.*
*Okay, Marco.*
The line of communication didn't close, and I walked through the wall and out to Rachel's house, Marco giving me instructions.
*I'm going visible,* I said finally. *Don't want to faint, so bye.*
*Bye.* Marco said.
I knocked on the door.
"Hi!" said the girl who answered the door.
"Ah, hi. Is Rachel here?"
"Uh-huh."
"Can I talk to her?"
"Yeah, she's in her room. There's another girl named Chris here, too."
"Yeah, okay," I said.
"Rachel!" the girl shrieked. "There's someone here to see you!"
Rachel ran down the steps and paused. "Oh, hi, Joey. Come on up."
I walked towards the stairs, and as soon as I reached her, I whispered, "I have problems. Chris is here, isn't she?"
"Yeah," Rachel whispered back. "Come on."
I walked up to her room. Chris was happily doing Rachel's math homework. I looked at Rachel, then back at Chris. "Are we here just to do you guy's math?" I asked. "I already did Marco's for him."
Chris shrugged. "I like math."
"So do I," I said. "Anyways, Chris, I figured out why I've been fainting. I can talk to Marco in that way I do when I'm invisible, only when I'm visible. But it takes a lot more energy. Actually, Sam figured it out."
"You went to Sam's?" Chris asked.
"Yeah. She said that Marco could join with Davey. It'll get them used to the Animorphs," I said.
"Two days? Hm, I feel sorry for him. You're going to have to drill him."
"I know, but anyway, what do you think? Do you agree that talking like that when I'm visible drains my energy?"
"Yeah. Sam figured out you were losing energy, didn't she? She always knew when you were going to faint sometimes."
"Yeah, she explained it. My eyes change color."
"They do? They do," Chris said. "Well, that explains it. What color?"
"Blue."
"They are blue."
"That means that I've already fainted. I don't know, maybe it's a different shade if I'm going to faint." I guessed.
"Well, okay. Too bad we didn't notice that earlier. But I'll keep an eye on it from now on, okay?" Chris asked.
"Okay," I agreed. "Do you want me to call Marco and see if my eyes change to a different shade?" "Uh, no, that's fine. I'll just talk to Sam," Chris said hastily. "You go back to Marco's and start drilling him. Actually, how are you staying at his house now? Is Jonny still there?"
"Jonny is," I said. "I'm kicked out for now, but I'm going back and asking politely this time."
"He'll buy it?" Chris asked skeptically.
I actually smiled. "He said himself, if Marco wants any more friends over, all he has to do as ask." I gave her that sideways look was share a lot.
Chris actually started laughing. "That's how you're playing it," she giggled.
"What?" I asked, even though I knew what she meant.
"He can't go back on that with Marco and Jonny to back you up, so he's stuck letting you stay over," Chris said, finding it all very amusing.
"Right," I said with a grin.
"Devious," Chris said. "But smart. Go ahead, Marco's going to have to get a run-through of everything for the test, on two days. Davey got three weeks."
"Right, boss!" I said, saluting her.
Chris did a sort of half-wave goodbye and I walked out. Rachel was waiting right outside the door. I nearly ran into her.
"Sorry," I mumbled.
"What was that about Marco and a club?" she asked.
"Can I do anything without someone listening?" I asked in exaggerated exasperation. "Marco's joining our club to keep an eye on us. He's going to have the honor of being the third boy to get into it."
Rachel eyed me, but let me go. "Hurry up and get back," she said, nodding. "If you aren't back at Marco's in reasonable time, we're going to go looking for you."
Sheesh. Can you say, 'overly suspicious?' "I will. I'll hurry. Jeez," I said, hopping down the stairs.
I ran out the front door without seeing Rachel's sister and looked around. No one was around, and a running teen was always suspisious to people. Plus, my parents might see me because I had to pass my house. I disappeared.
I always liked running, even if I was terrible at it. I arrived at Marco's house pale and breathing roughly while my throat felt like it was burning. Swallowing what would be a major coughing fit, I flickered in and knocked on the door.
Marco's father answered the door.
"Hello, Joey," he said evenly. I think that for an adult, he was taking this rather well. "Marco!"
Marco appeared quickly. "What? Oh, hi, Joey."
"I'd like to take up your offer," I said, looking at his father.
"What? My what?" he asked, confused.
"You said that Marco's friends could stay as long as they asked permission. I'm asking."
His father hesitated, but Marco looked at him seriously. He sighed. "Sure. Why not? One more kid to take care of."
I walked in. "I assure you, I don't need anyone to take care of me."
"I'm sure," he said with a frown.
"Come on, Joey," Marco said after I prompted him with our mental comunication. "I'll teach you something else on the computer. It's really easy, actually...." We ran up the stairs before his father could say anything else.
"That was close," Marco said, falling down on the bed. "Hey, Jonny, what are you doing?"
Jonny was playing Tetris, as far as I could see. He didn't say anything, but the pieces were moving far to fast for him to be able to say anything.
As we watched, the pieced stacked up and the game ended. "Playing Tetris," Jonny said, pushing away from the computer. "I was bored." He went back to sitting in a corner, pretending to read. But he was only staring at the pages at ramdom. He wasn't reading.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing," he said, frowning at me. "Why would you care?"
"We care," Marco said, surprising me.
"We all care," I added, sitting down next to him. "What's the problem?"
Jonny shook slightly. "It's just... the... Yeerk, you know?" He looked at me. Not Marco. Me. I had to answer the question.
"No, I don't," I said.
Jonny stopped looking at me in that hopeful way and deflated. His shoulders sagged, and he slumped. I looked at Marco. *I'm telling him about Jake.*
Marco didn't protest. He nodded. He agreed.
I remembered what Marco had told me about Jake last night. "Jonny, you're with the only people that can even try to understand you," I said gently. "Jake was a controller. He can talk to you about it."
Jonny looked at me with the tiniest spark of hope in his eyes.
"And there's a whole valley of free Hork-Bajir. They would like to talk to you, maybe."
Jonny looked apprehensive about the Hork-Bajir idea.
"They're very nice, kind creatures" I said. "Not very smart, but nice."
"Thanks," Jonny said, looking at me. "How about you?"
I shook my head. "I'm new to this whole alien buisness. I started the day I met you."
"Good first day, huh?" he asked, trying to joke.
I smiled a little. "Yes."
"Can I go talk to Jake?" he asked.
Marco looked at me, then at Jonny. "I'll get him over here right now," he promised, picking up the phone.

*Rachel*
"So," I said. "What do we do now?"
Tobias put his arm around me as we stared out at the sunset. "I don't know," he said.
I sighed. "Jake, Cassie and Marco are vampires now. This isn't good."
"It isn't," Tobias agreed. "But we can't do a thing about it."
"I feel so.. alone," I said, leaning against Tobias. "And like I'm a teenager again. It's strange. I sort of wish that we hadn't lived through the war if this is what it's come down to."
"Come down to?" Tobias asked, looking at me. "This isn't the worst thing that ever happened to us. It certianly hasn't damaged our group."
"Hasn't... what?" I sputtered. "What are you talking about?"
"We're all still together," he reminded me.
I closed my eyes briefly. "Together," I said.
"Right," he said. "Rach, it's not a hopeless cause! We can still defeat the Yeerks. It's still possible!"
I looked at him, and I saw an echo of some old pain. When we lost battles, he got that look...
When we lost the war, he looked like that, too, some part of my brain reminded me. And so did you. You all did. But you can't lose this war.
What war? There is no more war.
There is. There is still your war. And Tobias's war. And Jake's war. And Cassie's war. And Marco's war. And Ax's.
"Tobias, we're going to win this war," I said, determined. "We're going to fight it, and we're going to win!" I shouted the last word. "We're going to win," I repeated, softer. "The Yeerks... the Yeerks will pay."

*Colt*
"Colt," Erika said.
I spun around. "Oh, hi. I was reading this."
"Joey?" Erika asked, reading the title. "Hm," she said, scanning the screen in a few seconds. "What's it about?"
"It's a story Marco gave me," I said, sounding a little reluctant to tell her. "It's a diary, it explains something he isn't telling me about."
"It does?" Erika asked. "Oh. Could you tell me when your done?"
"I will," I promised.
"Thanks," Erika said, looking around our darkening building. It was going to be dark in here until it was completely dark outside, when we could make fires and not worry about smoke.
"Erika?" I asked, feeling a twisting feeling inside my stomach. "Do you sense that?"
Erika nodded swiftly, suddenly alert, as all us vampires, Jay, Cas and Mar all looked up.
^They're coming back!^ Lance shouted. ^The Bug fighters!^
Erika spun around the where Ray and To were talking from the only unboarded window in the building. "Guys, trouble!"
Rachel was on her feet. "What kind?"
Ax was also on his unstable human feet, but quickly de-morphing. < Can we escape to the sewers from here?>
He understood that only the vampires could fight this one. "Yes," I said, grateful. "Down there. Meet us a few streets down."
"Right," Rachel said, looking at To and starting to morph. I shuddered, dispite the fact that the rest of us were already getting onto the roof to fight. ^What's the morph?^ I asked as I jumped onto the roof.
< Wolf,> Ray answered. < It's small enough to run in there, fast, and a fighter.>
^Good choice,^ I replied, taking in the scene. Ten Ali's. Ten. We had never fought more than four at a time. I looked at Lance for directions.
^Run,^ Lance said, seeing that we were all looking at him. ^We can't do anything else.^
I agreed, and so did the rest because they started running. Vampire top-speed. But....
^Ten more Ali's this way!^ Jak yelled.
< They're closing in on us!> Jake added. < From all directions! Ten more Bug fighters!>
^RUN!^ Lance commanded, not giving a second thought to the logic of the order. ^Stay together, but not in a group. At least half a mile next to each other. Run!^
I ran. We all seemed agreed on running south-east. Lan and Fal were last, making sure Mar, Jay and Cas were in front of them, encouraging them.
^Faster!^ Erika exclaimed, seeing that they were gaining on us. ^And evade! Don't worry about limits!^
A minute later, the fighters were shooting at us. They were in range.
^Change in tactics!^ Jak said in a mental scream. ^Split up!^
^No!^ Lan shouted, but we were already getting ready to scatter. Jak's one command put us into hyperdrive, motering off in all directions, on the rooftops. Buildings in our wakes exploded, throwing broken glass and superheated metal everywhere. I heard Fal shouting something. Jak was on the ground, trying to escape that way. Erika, fastest next to Lan, was far ahead and on her way to freedom. Lan was with the three Animorphs. Fal was down....
Fal was down. I recived all the info he was shooting out, giving all the facts, and the pain. He was in a lot of pain. He would be fine if he could...
....pull the burning metal out of his skull?
I didn't know the exact limits of vampire perseverance, not until that moment. Fal was still stumbling along, but not at all fast enough. The Ali was taking aim at him.
^NO!^ I shouted at the crew of the small ship, hitting them at the basic level of instinct. The beam jerked away, missed.
By inches.
They were taking another shot, and I was so far in front of Fal, I couldn't do anything more than turn around and wish desperately that I could get there in time, but.
TSEEW!
^Fal!^ I screamed, and I know that Erika and Lan was shouting with me. We were all stunned.
^Fal! Fal! Fal!^ I screamed, over and over, until I felt Erika pick me up. We were moving again, away from where Fal had...
No. I wouldn't say it. Fal was fine. He was still with Lan, helping along the Animorphs.
And where had Jak been? My eyes were still squeezed closed, but I ran the mental tape of our frantic run. As soon as the dracon had shot, missing Fal, Lan, Er and I had shouted. Jak hadn't. Where had Jak been?
^Colt. Find Jak,^ Erika ordered as she continued carrying my away.
So she didn't know where Jak was either. She probably had teamed up with Fal and headed of the underground. Or maybe not.
^Jak?^ I asked weakly, directing the thought at Jak, then, more commanding, I tried again. ^Jak. Where are you?^
^Oh, Colt. Hi. Where are you heading?^ Jak asked. She sounded shaken, scared, unsure.
^Far away. They aren't chasing us anymore,^ I said. The contact was diffucult to keep up, and it was staticy and broken up.
^Right. I'll come,^ Jak said. ^No, I'll check on Ray and To.^
There was definately something wrong with Jak. Maybe she thought that Fal had actually been killed. I had to tell her that she was wrong. But I wasn't sure exactly how to phase it. Fal was alive. She would figure it out soon enough if that was the problem.
^No, come to us,^ I said. ^Please.^
^Well, I... I'll come, I guess.^
^Thank you,^ I said, breaking the connection.
Erika continued carrying me, but I wasn't thinking about it. In fact, I wasn't thinking at all. I heard Lan, distantly, telling them to head back to the building and the Jak was with us again. But I didn't think of it. I just slept, and left it all up to chance.

I woke up in the warehouse. Er was waking me up. I shoved her away and told her I was fine. I looked around. Everyone was there, even Ray, To and Ax. But Fal was missing. Hm. Maybe he was out hunting. He might have gotten hurt, and that would make him hungrier. Yes, that was it. I didn't ask about him. "What are we going to do?" Jake asked Lance. It was strange, seeing Lance talking to himself. Strange and a bit creepy. I had mistaken Mar for Fal at first, but I was sure it was Matco, because of the way he was standing. Fal always stood a different way.
"Colt, you're all right, right?" Cassie asked.
"Fine," I said flatly.
Lance looked at Jake. "Jake, I request permission to hold a council together, alone." He stressed that last word, looking at me, then Cas, then Er and Jak.
Jake nodded tiredly. "That would be best."
They moved off to a corner and started talking in low whispers, ones that even I couldn't hear.
I turned to Fal... I mean, Marco. He was staring at Lance and Jake.
"Marco," I said. "Tell me the end of the story."
Marco almost smiled, but saddly. "You know, I thought you would say that." He closed his eyes and looked down, then looked up slowly. "I... I..."
"Transfer directly," I said. "You're Fal, right? Fal could do this. Give me the memories."
Marco looked ar me, then at Er, who was still standing next to me. "I'll do that. For the begining of the end. I'm not going to..." He trailed off, and I saw that he was going to start crying if I didn't do something.
"That's fine," I said hastily.
Marco angerly swiped at his eyes. "I guess anything can come true, can't it?" he said bitterly, looking at Rachel for confirmation.
Rachel agreed silently, with only her eyes.
Marco, who I could tell was holding back tears, reached for my arm without a sound and transfered his memories to me. I had only had this done to me once before, and the sudden flood of information and emotion was more than I could expect. Holding back Marco's tears in my eyes, I organised the information, taking it all in.

*Marco*
I got into Joey's club. I didn't care. It didn't matter. Joey was all that mattered.
Joet had been staying at my house for a week. Jonny switched off, usually at Jake's, though. They always talked, about being controllers. Cassie was there too, sometimes.
None of the other mentioned how I had changed, but they were all caught up in their own problems. Then, Jake announced that we were attacking the Yeerks pool.
We had become officially boyfriend/girlfriend three days ago. Rachel didn't like it, but Jake, Cassie and Tobias thought it was fine.
The mission was up to Joey. I talked to her the whole time she was down there, starting early in the morning, waiting for a long period of time when no one was there, when we would morph and attack. Chris couldn't come, but she said that she didn't mind. I think she was happy she couldn't come.
The whole day, my stomach churned as Joey described what was going on in the Yeerk pool. I knew she was invisible, but it didn't matter. It was still scary for her, and I was scared for her. What if she suddenly because visible?
All day, Joey didn't see a break in the routine. We desided today was a busy day, and we would try again tomarrow. Joey, though, insisted on staying down there, invisible, in case anything happened.
I had nightmares all night.

*Colt*
I got all of what Marco had thought, said, seen, heard, everything and anything that had happened. But I didn't see why I was so sad. Wat was so sad about this? Sure, the Yeerk pool sounded pretty terrifying, but that wasn't too bad.
Marco gritted his teeth. A fresh wave of pain from the memory coming back, sharp and clear. But I still couldn't tell what the memory was.
"Please," Marco moaned. But he sent me more.

*Marco*
I was a gorilla, and I was ripping apart humans. I picked up one, ripped it in half, and threw the pieces aside. There was nothing inside them except blood! Joey was next in line, fearfully waiting. I ripped her in half. Blood flew everywhere. Yeerks climbed out the the Yeerk pool and started eating her alive. And I started laughing, because I had finally found the one. But the one was dead. I panicked. I was stuck underwater and Joey was putting out her hand. I touched it, but she disappeared. And Visser Three came and smiled, showing rows of sharp, hungry teeth. And Joey started screaming and struggling, but Visser three ate her alive, with me tied down to keep me from moving, and then he started to cut me. He laughed, and it was Ax, and he was killing me, with his tail blade. I screamed, but the rest of the Animorphs laughed. Laughed and laughed....
I woke up, sweating and panicking. Automatically, I called to Joey. *Joey!*
*I'm here, Marco,* Joey said, with a sort of mental hug. *I'm always going to be here.*
I forced myself to relax, and Joey talked to me through the night.
The sun came up, and I got out of bed, tired and not at all ready for a battle. But we had to. Joey told me that the pool was under complete guard, we would get caught as soon as we got in there.
I spent another day as a walking zombie, listening only to the sound of Joey's voice. Then, when night came, Joey told me that the Hork-Bajir guards were taking a break. Twenty minutes.
I called Jake and said he had twenty minutes. No more, but Jake understood. He morphed and flew with only ten minutes to spare.
Joey, still invisible, met us at the entrance to the pool, and turned us all invisible while we morphed our battle morphs, and we calmly walked through the door and into the pool.
Five more minutes.
We positioned ourselves in the middle of the pool. No one would be able to miss us. On Jake's signal, we appeared.
Joey, invisibly freed the hosts, turning them invisible and leading them out to where Chris and Sam were waiting. They were turned visible, explained a bit, and hurried off. Over and over, while we provided a distraction.
So, as soon as she was done, she turned us invisible again and we left the Yeerk pool. We had done good that time, getting away with all the former hosts. They were taken to live with Toby and the Hork-Bajir in the valley.
Joey, on the other hand, was so tired that she never even turned herself visible before collapsing onto my bed. I slept on the floor.
Joey was still asleep when I woke up, and I didn't bother waking her up. She was exhausted.
I woke her up a while after noon, and told her to--

*Colt*
Marco stopped thinking now. I mean, stopped. All brain function ended, completely, with one last burst of energy before stopping.
Jak smiled nastily at me before turning to me. It all fit together. Jak was a controller. I didn't know how long, but it was definate. And she was going to kill me next...
From the ground, Marco moaned and rolled over. Not dead, then. Maybe I only could hear the conscious thought. And he was knocked unconscious. That would make sense.
Jak had a board. Wooden. She had hit Marco with it rather gently for a vampire. She wasn't going to easily with me. Marco had memories that the Yeerks needed. I was just a failed, missing experiment. I wasn't nessisary.
I blocked. It was too easy. Jak was telegraphing so much it would have been impossible for me to get hit. She was used to fighting humans or Yeerks, never another vampire.
The board splintered on my forearm. Millions of splinters dug into my skin. I was hurt. It hurt. I was bleeding. Why did it hurt to badly? I was a vampire!
Jak snarled as she shoved the splintered board harder into my skin. Pain. It hurt. It shouldn't hurt. It did. I gasped and tried not to scream. Why wasn't anyone else helping me?
They were stunned that Jak was attacking us. Just as I realized that, I saw a blond and black blur flying at Jak. Jak twisted around, but Erika hit her hard. She knocked Jak on the head. Jak wouldn't wake up for another few hours.
Looking at me sympatheticly, Erika pulled the board out of my arm. I nearly choked. "Hurt." I managed.
"I know," Erika said with a look of disgust. "They're trying to kill us. They had neutralized some powers."
"Jak's..." I trailed off.
"Three days, and she'll be fine," Erika said. "As long as we get out of here. They're going to test more viruses on us."
Jake and Lance took that in, and gave the orders. "We have to get out of here. Colt, carry Marco. Erika, carry Jak. Rachel, Tobias, Ax, go to the house. Now. We have to get out of the area."
We followed out the orders without a word. I carried Marco over my shoulder, the easiest way to carry him.
Jake watched as Rachel, Tobias and Ax flew away in bird morphs. We looked around.
"Time to go," Lance said, picking up the computer and putting it into the bag with everything we were taking in it. We took the order and jumped up through the ceiling. Time to leave.

*Rachel*
I got to the house tired, confused and not quite believing what was going on.
We explained everything to Erek, and he sort of got mad that we hadn't explained everything earlier. But it was all fine. He understood all of it, and we desided that if we were hallusinating, it was together, because we all had the same story. We finally calmed down and tried to figure out what happened.
< Jakal must have been a controller,> Ax said calmly. < Why else would she attack Colt?>
"Right, but that's not the only thing that it could have been. She was upset. How about Fal dying?"
"Rachel, that has nothing to do with Jak being a controller." Tobias said to me.
"No, wait!" I said. "Jak and Falcon were friends, right?"
"Yeah," Tobias said, watching me skeptically.
"So, she just watched Fal die. Wouldn't you go a little crazy if you saw... say, Jake die?" I asked.
Tobias and Ax exchanged looks. "Right, but why attack Marco and Colt? Colt was her friend, too."
I thought. "She attacked Marco. But I think that she sensed a threat from Colt as soon as she did it and she fought back."
Tobias nodded. "It could work."
Ax nodded reluctantly. "It is possible."
"Right," I said. "But the controller theory, like you said, is more possible."
Tobias nodded, and Ax gave a sort of superior look. I hated that look. Because he was an Andalite, he was better. I fought the impulse to smack him.
Tobias gave me a look an I could see that he knew what I was thinking. I sighed.Now that I thought about it, Joey as an addition to the team hadn't been too bad. No matter how short it had been, the results from adding her had been positive, and she wasn't too bad. Turning invisible, in my opinion, was a hundred times better than having to drink blood and being fast, freeing twenty or so former controllers was a hundred times better than getting three of us trapped in morph. And why was everyone dwelling on Joey so much? Was it so important? Why Joey? She had left a mark in our group, but so had Chris, Sam, Jonny, and later Randy. It wasn't like we had known her for more than two weeks or so. So why was it so important?
Marco, I'm sure, still thought about her a lot. and why not? It was him that she could always talk to. But at the end, when she desided that she was going to have to die, she said that it would have ended up that way soon anyway. What was the problem?
The problem, I think, is that we like to see and know what's happening. With Joey, we don't know. We aren't sure. We wonder if she's still alive...
But that could never happen....
Marco said that she wouldn't... wouldn't....
I wasn't going to finish the thought. Marco couldn't think about it, I just refused. now Colt wanted to know.
Why Colt? Why him? From what I could tell, he was the most unstable one in the group, although they all liked him. He was just different. Not in any way you could measure, just different.
"Rachel?" Erek asked. "It's time for dinner."
I walked to the kitchen to eat.

*Colt*
Marco was regaining consciounsness. Jak, or the Yeerk, or whatever, was still asleep. And Erika hadn't hit her that hard for a vampire. Strange.
I remembered then that anything strange usually meant something bad lately. Then, I had the feeling of an attack-- Jak, even as a controller, still couldn't break the habbit of years of transfering with the rest of us-- and Erika lost her footing.
She nearly fell, but was thrown violently forwards, and I knew that she was going to pitch off the rooftop. Dropping Marco as carefully as possible, I jumped down ahead of her.
Erika couldn't stop her fall, but she did manage to slow herself down while I hit the ground and tried to get in a place to aviod having her land headfirst. She was too surprised to flip her feet under her.
I broke my ankle hitting the ground wrong, and using a trick Erika had, tuned it out and kept running. I caught Erika, and doing so caught Jak. Erika, knowing I was hurt, growled at Jak and punched her in the head. Unconscious again.
"Thanks," I said, picking up my foot. It hurt. Vampire healing powers gone, it was going to take a long time before I could walk on it again. I could, however, use powers to ignore it.
"You're going to ignore it?" Erika demanded as I put it back down and shifted my weight so it was even on both feet. "You're going to get yourself killed that way."
Cassie hit the ground correctly, took one look at my ankle and narrowed her eyes. "What's wrong?"
I walked over to her, not flinching as my ankle touched the ground. Actually, I couldn't feel it touch the ground, but I knew it did because I didn't fall.
When I stopped, Cassie looked at Er. I didn't hear her say anything, but Er replied ^ Broken ankle. ^
< And he's walking on it?> Cassie asked.
^He's ignoring the pain,^ Erika explained. ^We can do that.^
Cas knelt down and enspected my ankle. "If you don't set it, it won't ever heal right," she said. "I can set it. Do you have a splint or anything?"
^Right here,^ Lance answered, taking out some medical supplies we had on hand.
"Oh, good," Cas said. "You can't feel it?"
"Right," I answered.
"So, this doesn't hurt?" she asked, poking my ankle.
I shook my head.
"Well, at least it'll be easy," Cassie said. She took the things Lan gave her and carefully set my ankle, then wrapped it up. "Don't walk on it," she said when she was done.
"But I have to keep up..." I started protesting.
Cassie looked me in the eye. "You're going to hop the whole way, or you're going to stay somewhere. I think you're going to stay somewhere. In fact, I think we're far enough away already, so why don't we just rest?"
^Good enough idea,^ Lan said. ^But it's too easy. They'll find all of us at once if they find any of us.^
Jake, who had just landed down here as well, holding into Marco who was still half-asleep, said, "Then we'll split up. Cassie, Colt and Marco here, and we'll take Jak somewhere else. Plus, if she gets into contact with the Yeerks, Colt won't be able to run so it'll be safer."
Lance considered. ^Right. We'll do it. Any objections?^
Cassie and Marco looked at each other and shrugged. I shrugged, too. I wanted to stay with Marco so I'd hear the rest of this story. Lance seemed to understand that, and he handed over the computer. "You take this, we take the rest. Okay?"
Cassie agreed and the rest of us followed.
Lance handed the bag to Jay while picking up Jak carefully. ^Go somewhere else, but don't tell us where.^ Lan instructed. ^We'll find you in three days. Be careful.^ And with that, he jumped back up at the roofs. Jay hugged and kissed Cassie, then walked a few feet away, waved, and followed Lan up the roofs. < Bye.> was the last thing we heard before the were both gone.
Cassie smiled off at where Jake had disappeared, then looked back at me. "Well, let's start moving. Be careful, though. Marco, help him. We'll walk." she said, stressing walk. As in we weren't expected to do any roof-hopping. I was fine with that. Marco made sure that I was supported enough so that I wasn't even tempted to put my hurt foot on the ground. We went slowly, and I noticed that this area had more people in it. That also meant more controller spies. Undoubtedly, they would have pictures of all of us. We kept our heads down.
Expectedly, everyone was suspicious of new people. However, we kept our distance, they kept theirs. Everyone avoided us. I knew why. Usually, anyone trying to help ended up being killed on suspicion of being a controller, or captured the people they greeted because they werecontrollers. No one offered assistance. It was better that way, because no one saw our faces clearly.
Cas let the way directly to an empty building, competely boarded up and locked. Mar flashed me a grin. "This isn't a lot like your old place," he said, as Cas knocked on the boarded door.
"Who is it?" someone demanded.
"It's us," Cassie answered.
"Who?" they asked.
"Friends of Nimoph," she answered. I grined. Animorph, only missing the A and R.
The door opened, the boards opening with it. Cassie rushed us in as the door closed behind us.
"This is something we didn't mention," Marco whispered in my ear as we stepped into a small, gloomy room with closet-like proportions.
The door directly in front of us opened, and the boy behind the Dracon beam frowned. "Haven't seen you before."
"Haven't been here before," Marco answer smoothly. "Nimoph sent us here. He's hurt." he added, jerking his head toward me.
"Hurt his ankle?" he asked, looked less suspisious.
"Yeah," I said. I was still ignoring the pain, but I made it look like it hurt. He hesitated longer.
"Kasey taught me how to set it," Cassie added.
He sighed and waved us through. "Don't try anything," he said as we walked through.
"Stolen Dracon beams'll shoot you from above if you look at him funny," Marco translated. The room had lights which were running on a generator. The noise was muffled to people outside because it was underground. There were twenty people or so in there. It was an abandoned warehouse, like ours, but they had nailed together different levels where people were sitting or standing now. They all turned to look at us.
"Hi," Cassie said. "I'm Cadie, this is Mark and Colt. Colt's hurt," she said in a different tone as Marco helped me sit down gingerly.
"Let yourself feel some pain," Marco whispered. "It's not looking convincing."
I let in a trickle of pain. Now, I looked very convincing as my eyes watered, I gritted my teeth, and pain flooded through the dam I had built up in my leg.
Everyone looked very concerned, but, with Marco's advice, I simply went to sleep.

*Rachel*
"I can't stand this," I said to Tobias, pacing the length of our room. "I have to do something."
"We can't do anything," Tobias said. Ax had left to go to the Hork-Bajir colony, tell Toby what was going on, find what else was going on there.
"We can try," I muttered. "We don't even know what happened to them. What if Cassie or Jake or Marco is hurt?"
Tobias shook his head. "They'll be fine."
"But you don't know that."
"I do know," he said, sounding angry, "That Jake is capable of getting us through anything. I'm going to sleep now. I'll find out in the morning."
I looked at him, then stalked out of the room. He stared after me, but didn't move to follow.
I glared at Lia when she asked where her mother was. I walked right out the door without anyone stopping me. And I morphed.
Bald eagle. My usual bird morph. Feathers sprouted, while my anger at Tobias grew.
I spread my wings and took off. But I was still mad. Illogically, I suppose, but I wanted to find them now. It was almost dark, though, and as soon as I reached the vampire home I demorphed, then checked to see if there was anyone around, then morphed owl.
It was faster at night and it could see better. I flew as fast as I could, even though the morphing and demorphing had made me pretty tired. I knew that they had run in this direction: the way towards the hideout. It was made by humans and was a secret place where we could stay for a while if we wanted. None of us gave our real names, but they were all pretty close to our real names, except Jake, who got to be Nimoph. I didn't get his logic on that, but they trusted us and thought that we were normal humans. Jake might have made them stop when it got dark, and they would be around there when that happened. They only had five minutes of good daylight left, and after another five minutes they wouldn't have been able to see where they were going. It was still fifty miles to the place, so I wasn't sure if they managed to get that far. At first, though, I just followed the path of destruction.
Buildings blown up here and there, some just shot at and some demolished. They stopped abruptly, but I was right, they did head toward the hideout. If that last completely demolished building, they had died... I dismissed the thought. They had gotten away here.
I headed straight to the hideout from here. I demorphed in an alley my owl senses told me was deserted other than the occasional rat, and walked to the hideout.
"Who is it?" James demanded.
"It's me," I answered.
"Who?" he asked.
"Rashel," I clarified.
The door opened, and I stepped it. James opened the door and smiled at me, although he kept his Dracon in full view. "Three of your friends are here," he said.
"Three?" I asked.
"Yes, Cadie, Mark and Colt."
I looked at him. Cassie, Marco and Colt. What about Jake, Lance, Jak and Fal?
"Oh." I said. "Yeah, I know them. Where are they?"
"Inside," he said as I walked it. "Colt broke his ankle."
It was obvious that Colt was asleep and Cassie and Marco were talking. "Hi, guys."
Cassie looked up. "Hi Rashel," she said. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you," I whispered. "Now, can we leave?"
Cassie shook her head. "Colt can't walk. Unless you have an idea about flying him there, then--"
"That's it!" I shouted, making everyone in the room look at me.
"Oops," I said. "I mean, we captured a Bug fighter and we can fly him there."
Jacob stared at me, then said, "A Bug fighter?"
I nodded.
"That's great!" he exclaimed. "We can learn how to use it and kill the Yeerks!"
I shook my head. "First, we're getting Colt home. That's priority for us. Then, we'll teach you anything we know about working it and hand it over to you guys. Deal?"
"Deal," James said.
"Deal," Allison chimed in.
"Deal," Jacob said, giving us a long look.
Marco looked at me. "Now, all we have to do is go back there, get it here, fly him back, and bring it back here."
I thought. "Erika can fly it,"
Marco and Cassie stared at me. "Erika can?"
"Erika," I said, nodding. "That's why we didn't crash. Erika figured out the controls before we hit the ground."
Colt, who must sleep very lightly, look startled. Then dismayed. "Erika couldn't have done that." he said, trying to get up but wincing and sitting back down.
"Erika did," I said. "Come on. Cadie, why don't you go get it? Find Andrew or Erika. They know the basics, at least," I said, refering to Ax.
Cassie got up. "Okay. I'll be back in a few hours."
I got the hint. It was going to be a few hours, because it would take a long time to get there. Cassie would probably play with Lia for a while before she came back.
"Bye," Colt said, looking at her. Then, he switched on the computer and started reading.

*Colt*
I needed to finish Joey's story. I didn't know why. It was important, somehow, to read this story. This one. Marco looked sad when he realized what I was doing, but he didn't protest. I started up where Marco had left off.

*Joey*
But I didn't tell him the whole truth.
I didn't tell him the ability I discovered in the Yeerk pool. The one that allowed me to talk to any Yeerk. I didn't tell him that I made friends with a Yeerk, Calin 189, a Yeerk who had never had a host. One who didn't understand why they had to war on planets to get hosts.
I didn't show him sight, although it would have been easy to do. I didn't want to make a mistake Marco had told me about. But I did talk to Calin, and we became friends, sort of. What can I say? I made friends easily.
But I still felt awful about lying to Marco. But I knew that he wouldn't understand. To him, Calin would be another Yeerk. To me, Calin is one of the best friends I have ever had. One of the most unusual, but certianly the one I made friends with the fastest. And Calin agreed to help me, at least if it was possible. But without a host, Calin could do little more than sit in the pool and wait.
I promised Calin that I would find a way, if possible, to give him a host. I doubted it was possible, but I had also said that I would come back, tomarrow or maybe the next day.
Marco had to go to school today, but I didn't, because I was "missing." Actually, I was seriously considering never going home again. It wasn't actually a home, you know? Just a place where I ate and slept and sometimes spent my time while I was grounded. This was a lot more like a home.
Jonny and I played video games most of the time, and I was glad to see that he looked better. The rest of the time I spent typing this up and re-reading some of the old things I had written. I must have been crazy when I wrote some of it, but I know I was just being honest. Sometimes, honesty is crazy. I'll admit to that. Honesty is crazy. But it doesn't really matter, you know? Because you're allowed to be crazy, and Marco didn't care. Marco was sort of crazy himself, and he was usually honest. I think honesty and insanity go together. If you always remember and tell the truth, you're going to go crazy somewhere along the line.
Marco came back, I hugged him and told him I had to go. He didn't ask where, and I wasn't surprised. I had been leaving now and again to see Sam or Chris a lot, and he just figured that I was going to see one of them. I still felt bad about lying, but I didn't know any other way.
*Calin?*
*Joey!* Calin said. *I didn't know if you would come! Hi!*
*Hello, Calin. You sound excited today.*
*Oh, I am! I'm getting a host!*
The news hit me like a ton of bricks. A host. My friend, Calin, was getting a host. Calin was going to take over a human body...
Or a Hork-Bajir or a Taxxon or anything.
*What kind of host?* I asked carefully.
Calin was too happy to hear my apprehension. *A Hork-Bajir! Can you believe it? I'm going to have a Hork-Bajir host!*
*I'm very happy for you.* I said.
*Oh, Joey, I wish you could know what I was feeling right now. It's amazing! Soon, I'll have a host.*
*How soon?* I asked, dreading the answer.
*Just a few minutes.* Calin answered. *They're behind schedual, you know.*
*Will I still be able to talk to you?*
There was a pause. *I'm not sure.* Calin said finally. *I've never heard of this happening to anyone else.*
*Not suprisingly, I didn't know that it ever had happened to anyone else.* I said.
*It's my turn!* Calin announce a minute later. *I'm going in!*
*Good luck.* I said miserably.
Then, I realized some of what I was feeling. It wasn't just saddness at Calin getting a host and seeing what the war was for. It was something else... like someone had dumped glue onto my invisible body. Something came to me, I was sure of it.
There's a time limit to it, see...
Marco had said there was a time limit to morphing. What about invisiblility? I couldn't take a chance. Without even checking where in the Yeerk pool I was, I flickered it.
It required hard concentration. And then, I was all there, human and visible, standing directly in the middle of the Yeerk pool.
*I can see! Joey, I can see! It's amaz-- what?*
I could tell how confused Calin was. I was equally confused.
*Marco! I'm here... In the Yeerk pool! Visible! What should I do?!*
*Go invisible! Quickly!* Marco screamed inside my head. *I'll come down there!*
Before I could protest, he severed the connection and I flickered back out, just in time to avoid being killing by Visser Three's tail.
< Where did it go? Find it! Look everywhere! The Andalite bandit must not escape! > he shouted in thought-speach.
*Marco? I'm fine.*
*Stupid, stupid, Joey! Why did you go back down there? I'm nearly there.*
*My friend, Calin! And you shouldn't come! I'll come--*
A roar filled the Yeerk pool and I turned around slowly.
It was the lion that Marco had aquired a few days ago. I rushed at him. *Marco, you're going to get killed!* I shouted as I ran through him, making him disappear at the same time.
*Sorry.* he said. *It was a good idea before...*
*And a bad idea now.* I said. *Demorph, and we'll get out of here.*
The Visser was furious that two Andalites had appeared, then disappeared, right in front of his eyes. He had killed a Hork-Bajir and was screaming at his troops.
Marco finished de-morphing when I started getting the sticky, gluey feeling again.
*No! This isn't happening!* I shouted in disbelief. But I had to turn back now, or never do so again. *Calin!* I shouted. *I'm going to appear! Can you hold them off?*
Calin hesitated. *I will be killed,* was all that was said.
*I know...* I said, and trailed off. I was asking Calin, who I had known three days, to die for me. That wasn't going to happen. Calin wouldn't do it.
*I'm.. I'm sorry...* Calin tried to say.
*I understand,* I said before flickering back in. *I'm sorry, Marco, but I'm going to be trapped invisible if I don't do this.* I said.
< Capture them!> the Visser shouted.
One thing I realized, is that a Dracon beam was tossed at me. A dracon beam... why? Calin? But...
*I would die for you, Joey, because you are my friend and you come before me,* Calin said. *But they did not see me. It is on stun.*
It took me a second to realize what Calin meant, before I promptly pulled the trigger.
Hork-Bajir and humans fell where they were. Calin--

*Colt*
"Come on, Colt, let's get moving." Marxo said roughly. I realized I had been reading for a few hours, but how? How what it taken that long?
"You've been staring into space for three hours." Marco said in answer to my unasked question. "Cadie's outside with the fighter."
I hopped out the door and into the figher, holding onto Marco with one hand and the computer with the other. My ankle hurt, which was both weird and painful. I had never felt pain for more than about three seconds, at least since I was six or seven. It wasn't something I'd like to do again, either. It was like I could feel the bones crunching around in my ankle. It wasn't a pleasant sensation. I would have felt better if my ankle was on fire, I thought, although I had no fire to try and compare it with. That wouldn't have been a good idea, anyway.
The fighter was cramped and there wasn't any room to read, so I spent the ten minutes it took to get back thinking about what could have happened. Obviously, Joey's going to die. But what's the huge problem everyone has with it? Marco, I know, should have a problem, but Rachel and Jake and Tobias and Ax and Cassie... Cassie's sensitive enough to be affected by anyone dying, but why the rest of them? It's been years, and they still don't like it. Somehow, I don't get it.
But why wouldn't they be sad when Joey died? She was nice, and they had gotten to know her. She had saved people from the Yeerks. But I didn't know.. something unexpected was going on. How had she died, anyway?
Marco could tell I was thinking about Joey, I guess, because he was staring at me the whole time like he expected me to ask a question. But I didn't. I didn't want to. I wanted to hear it from Joey's point of view.
And how was I going to get it from her view if she died? You can't exactly type once you're dead. Maybe Marco finishes the story. Maybe there isn't really an ending.
I limped out of the fighter and into a yard. It had a small garden and dying grass. The four Animorphs seemed to know the place well. Ax staying in the fighter, and as soon as we were out he morphed back to human and powered it up to fly back to the hideout.
Cassie, Rachel and Marco went inside. There was another boy there, as well as a little toddler.
"Hi, Lia. I told you I would be back." Cas said.
"Want mommy!" Lia yelled.
Cas picked her up and sat down, even though Lia was yelling that she wanted her mother. I realized that Lia didn't recognise Cas now that she looked like Erika. It was terrible for Cas, I knew, because she kept talking to Lia and Lia kept yelling. Finally, she handed Lia to Rachel, when she finally calmed down. Then Cassie started crying.
I desided that I would feel a lot better if I stayed away from the girls for a while. I followed Marco inot the kitchen, then up the stairs to a hallway.
"These're the bedrooms." Marco said before disappearing into a door. "You can sleep in the last one. It's Erek's, but he doesn't use it a lot."
I took his advice and went into the last room. It was a sort of makeshift bed, two blankets spred out on the floor. I didn't want to sit there in case Erek, whoever he was, got mad at me, so I sat in the corner, switched on the computer, and started reading the end of the story.

*Joey*
Calin grabbed a Dracon gun from a Taxxon and started stunning those around her.
< Stop!> Visser Three commanded, putting his tail to Calin's neck.
I froze. Marco looked at me, then stopped, too.
< Get into that,> the Visser said, pointing a hand toward a ship.
*The Blade ship.* Marco said with dread. *But why is that Hork helping us?*
*He's my friend,* I said, heart thumping wildly. *I can't let Calin die.*
*Him or us, Joey. We can disappear and never be seen again.*
*That's it. I'm going to get stuck if I do it again. Maybe there's a limit to how much time you can be invisible or something. I'll get stuck if I do it again, even for a minute.*
Marco considered. *I guess we have to do it.*
I took a deep breath, tried to still my heart, and walked as calmly as possible into the Blade ship. Marco followed me.
He would follow me anywhere, I realized, feeling sick to my stomach. He'll do anything I do, he'll go what I say. He really loves me.
< There!> Visser Three said. I felt dread, the first time I was scared of the unknown. Usually, if I don't know what's happening I put it as a good thing and a bad thing deep inside my head so I won't be disapointed. This time, I knew nothing good could happen. We were in big, big trouble. And I was pretty sure, we were going to die.
I never really cared if I died. I was alway careless and nearly died at least a dozen times. I mean, someone who gets on sleds and goes down a hill of snow to go through the middle of a highway is sort of crazy. But this was terrifying. Nothing good could happen.
One thing I was sure of was that Marco had to get out. I didn't care what happened to me. The whole world could fall into ruins, and I would only be happy if Marco was alive, I didn't care what happened to me.
I'm so stupid.
Marco was exactly the same. He didn't care what happened to him as long as I was alive. It wasn't going to work. We were both going to die.
I started giggling as the door closed behind us. It was sort of funny. We would both rather die than have the other one of us die. And we were both going to die. It was very, very funny.
Marco slammed me into a wall as I started sounding more hysterical. I giggled more, even though my head slammed into the wall. I recalled a few times I had purposely fallen over and smacked my head into things, and then giggled about it. I was laughing harder now. Let's see, I also started laughing when they said my mother and older brother was dead, and during the funeral. I laughed through--
"*JOEY! Get! A! Grip!*" Marco screamed, banging me into the wall a few more times.
I fell silent. The cute boy I had know all my life-- or was it only ten minutes-- was enraged. It wasn't funny anymore. Nothing was funny...
I started sobbing into Marco's shoulder. Marco just stood there, staring at the wall, as I went through everything stupid I had ever done. Everything I could remember, and I had a much better memory for things I had done wrong than things I had done right.
I got up to the last few days, and I started crying about how I should have never taken up Jonny's suggestion to go into the woods, that I never should have learned the invisiblity trick, that I shouldn't have followed Max's mom into the Yeerk pool, and I shouldn't have gone back down again. I never should have gone to Marco's house. I never should have talked to Marco. I shouldn't have told anyone about the invisiblity thing. And Marco couldn't say anything, just stand there as I cried.
I finally stopped, running short on air. I took three long, deep breaths, wiped my face with my sleeve, and looked around.
The ship had taken off. We were in the air. We were trapped.
"Joey," Marco said, looking at my face, searching for something.
"What?" I asked.
"How are we going to get out of this?"
I laughed, even though this wasn't very funny. My voice echoed off the plain walls. I stopped quickly before Marco could bang my head into the wall again.
*It isn't really funny,* I admitted. *But, Marco, you're going to get out of this. All right?*
One of the walls shimmered and opened. No, just sort of turned into glass. Visser Three was standing there.
My stomach twisted. One of my hands was still on Marco's shoulder, and I tightened it without thinking. Marco didn't seem to notice, although after some time I realized that my hand was nearly gone numb.
< Demorph,> the Visser sneered.
Marco looked at me. "We aren't getting out of this alive," he said flatly.
I fumbled through my pockets. I knew I had it in there...
My fingers touched metal. Ah-ha, there we go. And other than that, I had a pencil. I had to trick Visser Three to thinking I didn't have what I thought I had.
I pulled out the pencil, looked at it and sighed. "I don't have anything," while at the same time, I added, *I have a knife. What do you think? Should I try it when we get out?*
*He might not let us out,* Marco said.
< Demorph, you fools.>
Marco glared at Visser Three with a look of complete hatred. It surprised even me. The Hork-Bajir at the Visser's sides touched their Dracon beams.
My brain still wasn't working. I looked to Marco.
Marco tensed, but he knew that there was still, technically, a wall between us. He tightened his hands into fists and slowly let anger run through him.
< Fine, then. How did you achive such a trick as to disappear from our eyes?>
I knew that I was going to have to answer. "A trick, Visser, that no longer works," I growled.
< Very well, if you will not tell me, I will have to find it. Infest them,> he added to the Hork-Bajir.
An actual opening came through the wall and Hork-Bajir walked in. I looked at Marco, and he gave me a look of terror.
Knife, I reminded myself. A butterfly knife I used mostly just to play around with. I was a terrible at throwing it, but when I needed to I could hit the target.
But never was it this important.
I grabbed it out of my pocket and flipped it open with one movement, and without hesitating I threw it, carefully aimed at the first Hork-Bajir.
There were five of them, although I had hit the first on in the head and I was pretty sure I killed him. I killed him. I felt sick. But Marco was in trouble. He didn't have a single defence, and I didn't have anything else to throw.
Laughing, the second Hork-Bajir tried to throw the knife at me. He couldn't aim, but I could. I knew that not catching it would probably mean I would die. I put out my arm to stop the knife from going any farther.
I kept the knife sharp, but I didn't realize quite how sharp until that second. It was badly thrown, but it went through my arm until it hit bone.
It was in my forearm, luckily of my left arm, so I could still use the right. I grabbed the knife out of my arm, wincing in pain. But there was a strange sort of feeling that came with it. I understood what it was. I was remembering that time I cut my wrists. Same feeling.
The Hork-Bajir, obviously thinking from the amount of blood staining my jacket that I would be paralized in shock, move toward me. Unluckily for him, I've lost this much blood before, twice, and knew how to deal with it.
I stopped making any unnecessary moves and slowed my pulse as much as possible, not that I could to that very well considering I was scared out of my mind. The knife, I kept in my right hand while dodging the first charge of the Hork-Bajir. I shoved it back in my pocket as soon as I realized it was trying only to catch us.
Marco, seeing what I was doing, stopped struggling and allowed them to herd us out.
I needed some way to cut off my circulation to my arm. Looking down, I saw that my shoelaces were untied. Without pausing my walking, I pulled on them until they came out, then tied it around my arm. The blood didn't stop, but it wasn't as bad.
I was terrified. I wasn't even sure if my heart was beating. I knew I was barely breathing. And I was pretty sure that blood loss alone would kill me. I didn't need a heart attack to add to it.
Visser Three saw that I was bleeding, and he killed the second Hork-Bajir. I guess he wanted me unharmed. How nice of him, I thought sarcastically.
Marco was holding onto my hand so tightly I thought he would crush it. I was squeezing his hand back. We were just two little kids, this couldn't happen. We weren't going to die, the world isn't that unfair, Marco isn't going to die, he wouldn't die, he wouldn't die! I screamed inside my head.
Marco, who was looking around alertly, suddenly interrupted my thoughts. *Joey. That's an escape pod.*
*It is?* I asked. *Right. Okay. We're stopping now.*
Right next to the escape pods. I could shove Marco in and escape...
The Hork-Bajir backed off as Visser Three started morphing.
< Do you like this morph?> he asked as his skin and bones melted into a new body. < It's called a Yentak. It also happens to prevent morphing.>
That finished it. Marco would be defenseless.
*I'm going to charge him! You escape!* Marco said.
I couldn't let that happen. Marco would be killed. Whatever it was, it could tear him apart and not break a sweat. He would be killed in second! It couldn't happen!
Besides, Marco wouldn't be able to do it. Well, maybe, but that was because of pure rage. I had a not-too-deeply-buried death wish. I would do it without hesitation.
But I would die.
I didn't have much in the way of survival instincts, mostly because I tried to get rid of them. But something, deep inside of me, was wailing and telling me not to do it, to run away. To escape. To bring Marco with me.
But Marco needed a distraction. I knew that if he didn't get one, he would be killed instant. They did have Dracon beams.
I shoved Marco towards the pods. Marco wasn't sure what to do, and that was a good hint that I wanted him to start moving. He slammed into the pod hard and was nearly thrown inside. He scrambled in, with me yelling at him to get going. It blasted off.
*I love you Marco,* I said as I charged Visser Three. I knew that Marco might be out of range of my thought already, but I had my knife and fought through one Hork-Bajir. I was bleeding, scraped, and altogether beaten up. I shouldn't even have been conscious with the blood I had lost. I should have been in shock. I should be so hurt I wasn't able to move. But I had the strangest death wish, and I wouldn't stop until I had at least tried to kill the Visser.
I cut him. I didn't kill him, but I hurt him. He was morphing out when I was nearly sure that my heart wasn't beating anymore. I had tried. Didn't I? At least I tried.
*You tried, Joey,* Marco said, with the saddest voice I could have imagined. *You did try.*
Maybe it was that I had that death wish, or maybe it was because I loved Marco, or maybe it was because I hated the Yeerks. But I knew I had to do what I did. I did it and that's what's important. That's why I was alive. So I could die. Ever since I was a kid, I knew what my purpose in life was: to die. And that is why I always thought about dying, liked pain, even tried to kill myself. But why me? Why give me a hopeless life, where I'd hate myself, fall in love, and die? Who was I anyway? Was I Joey? Yes, I was Joey, and I was almost dead. My brain called up one last memory: a dreamcatcher I had made out of willow branches and purple and blue string. And the last line of a poem I had written, a long, long time ago.
And so I'll die.
That's it. I'll never know why, and so I'll die.
But at least Marco was safe. At least.

*Colt*
I looked up. Marco had been reading over my shoulder for the last ten minutes. I hadn't even heard him walk in.
"Now you know." he said. "That's not all, but now you know."
"What else is there?" I asked.
Marco brought up a new file. It was called "End." Marco didn't even look at it. "I wrote some of it." he said, looking away. "And the rest, Joey did."
"Do you want me to read it?" I asked.
"No." he said. "But you have to."
So I did.

*Joey and Marco*
I knew that I was dead. But at the same time, I wasn't. I'm not sure, maybe this isn't really happening, but I floated along, until I got to Marco's house.
He was already asleep, and staring out the window.
(Marco?) I asked. But I knew, somehow, that he couldn't hear me. (Marco, please, if you can hear me, answer.)
"Joey?" Marco asked, looking around.
(It's me, Marco. I'm here. I'm fine, even though I'm dead. It's not terrible. It's just sort of lonely. Like I was invisible forever. But I can't change back. Like I got caught.)
"Joey?" he asked again.
He couldn't hear me. I started crying, still floating a foot or so off of Marco's bedroom floor. (Marco... go to sleep now. You can sleep, please.)
Time passed, I suppose, but I didn't feel it. All I know is that I was sitting at the computer, somehow able to type. And my story was nearly finished.
Marco was having a nightmare. I wanted to wake him up, tell him I was fine. But was I fine? I was dead! Really, truly dead.
I will type you my good-byes.
Marco, I just wanted to say, I love you. I know that I'm dead. I know that you don't know what's happening. You might think you're crazy. But Marco, I love you. I just want to say I always will. Someday, I'm going to see you again, somewhere and sometime. But for now, I'm just as confused as you. I don't know what to so. But Marco, I'll promise you this: If I get back, because I know I'm going somewhere, I'll try to talk to you. I'll try as hard as I can. But I can't now, because you have to understand. I'm dead. This is all. Until something drastic happens, we're separated by something I can't touch, can't see, but it keeps us away. If I reached out to wake you, my hand would go through you. So I'm saying goodbye. And that we might never see each other again. Goodbye, Marco, and I'll promise you this as well: I will never forget you.

I woke up was awake, and found what Joey had written on my computer. I was crying hard, and I hoped Joey was still there, because I had one last thing to say. "Joey, I don't know if you're still here, but if you are, I love you too," I said.
(I knew. I knew that from the first time I saw you. Marco, I mean those promises. I will always, always remember you and love you. You have my life and death on that.)
Did I really hear it, or was it only a dream? I think it was real, because Joey was right. Death separated us, but I knew that love could wear down that boundary until there was barely any left. I reached out towards where I had heard the voice from...
And a shining form, the way Joey appeared when we were both invisible, waved and seemed to disappear. I couldn't cry, I didn't have any more tears left. But Joey would remember me for always, she said. "I'll remember you, too," I managed to say. "I'll never forget. I'll always love you, even though I don't understand. I don't understand why you did that. But I'm not going to forget it. You saved me, Joey. More than once."
I couldn't talk out loud anymore. If I said another word, I felt like I was going to start sobbing.
*Always, Joey. I will always remember you, forever and ever.*
But Joey wasn't there... or at least I couldn't see her.
But I know it was true. Joey was someone I could never forget, someone who will always be on the edge of my mind even when I wasn't thinking about her. Someone who I loved. Who loved me. Who I had left to die when it was possible to save her.
But she was right. I wouldn't have been able to go through with it. She could. All her life, she had been on the edge of leaving. And she did. She left. Joey was gone. Dead. Disappeared forever.

*Colt*
I felt like Marco was trying, mentally, to burn holes in my head. He was just staring at me. It was creepy, with Marco staring at me through Fal's eyes. Oh, yeah, Fal. Where was he? Had he joined up with the other three yet?
"That," I said, without moving, "is something I'm going to remember for the rest of my life."
Marco didn't move, either. Not for a minute or two. But then, he nodded, and I could tell that he was remembering. "I promised her," he said in a whisper. "I promised her I'd never forget and I'm trying to. I'm trying to break my promise."
I leaned toward him, trying to hear the ragged whispers better. "Marco, I'm sure she understands."
"But--" Marco started to protest.
"But you went through a lot when you were a kid." I said in a low voice. "It's easier for you to forget it. That's fine. But she is dead."
Marco started crying quietly. "It isn't enough that I remember her sometimes. She wanted me to remember her all the time."
"Marco," I said, trying to calm him down. "Did she mention anything about you remembering her? In her note, did she mention that once?"
"It didn't matter. She expected it. I promised--"
"Marco," I said. "As far as I could tell, Joey didn't except a single thing a day of her life. She was happy with what happened. Couldn't you tell that?"
"Joey..." Marco mumbled.
"Marco?" someone asked from the doorway. It was the boy from downstairs. "Hello, Colt. I was wondering why Marco wasn't downstairs."
"I'm fine," Marco mumbled.
The boy, I think it was Erek, motioned for me to come out into the hallway. "What's wrong with him?" he asked quietly. "Cassie's not taking the vampire thing well. Is that it?"
"No," I said. "I was reading a story, about Joey?" I said, asking if he recognized it.
"Oh" was all he said.
"Is he all right?"
"He's fine," Erek said, looking over my shoulder to see Marco staring into space, tears slowly trickling down his face. "I'm Erek," he added, holding out his hand when he suddenly disappeared. In his place there was a metal and white robot.
He was a robot, I realized. "I'm Colt," I said, shaking his hand.
"I was going to ask if you were all right," Erek said through a metal mouth that resembled a dog's muzzle. "Rachel mentioned that one of your friends were killed--"
"No he wasn't!" I shouted at Erek, startling him.
"Okay..." he said. "Why don't you come downstairs?"
I knew Falcon wasn't dead, because it wouldn't have been possible for Fal to die. Fal would live forever. Vampires could, you know. He was missing, or maybe he had left for a while to think things over. That was it. This all way very confusing. I followed Erek down the stair and into the kitchen.
Cassie was sitting at the kitchen, looking in much the same condition as Marco was now. Rachel was sitting next to her, holding the baby, Lia.
Erek moved quickly to Rachel and Cassie and whispered something to them. Rachel glanced over at me and I realized that they were talking about me.
"Colt, sit down," Rachel said a few seconds later. I sat next to Rachel, so she was between Cassie and me. Erek sat on the other side next to Cassie. Cassie barely looked around. It was so easy to think that she was Erika. Except that Erika would never be so lethargic to allow someone to get less than twenty feet away with her without her glancing over to see who it was.
"Colt, could you please name all the living members of your... ah, vampire group?" Rachel asked.
I blinked. "Lance, Falcon, Jakal and Erika," I said. "And me, of course."
"There you go." Rachel said, looking at Cassie, who seemed to be interested by that.
"Colt, tell me that last time you saw Falcon," she said.
"He was... he was running with us," I said.
"And?" Rachel asked.
"And he fell back. I don't know, maybe he got hurt. Or wanted to split up," I said, getting bored with the whole thing.
"Colt, the last time you saw Fal he was getting shot by a Dracon beam," Erika said quietly. "He died. Don't you remember?"
I blinked. Fal was gone. Falcon was gone. That wasn't possible. He and Jak had to talk once Jak got away from the Yeerk. He had to help us get rid of the Yeerks. But Erika never lied to me...
"He's dead," I said flatly.
"Colt..." Erika started.
"It's fine, Erika! Just fine! I don't want to talk about it!" I yelled at Erika. Then I went silent. I had never yelled at Erika before. I looked back as her. She was slightly stunned and not moving from her seat. I trudged up the stairs.

*Rachel*
Cassie turned to me. "He called me Erika, didn't he?"
"Yeah," I agreed. "Up until now, I thought he could tell you two apart."
"Apparently not," Cassie said. "Or maybe it's just because he was upset. I don't think he expected that Erika would have come without her saying hi to him. He was just angry."
I shrugged. Cassie understood these things better than I did. I didn't understand how Colt didn't realize that Fal had died. To me, Fal was dead. It wasn't hard to understand. Colt had known him for a long time, but it was just kind of obvious that he was dead. Colt had seem him get shot.
"I think that... well, if after Joey... died, Marco repeatedly told you she was alive, what would you do?" Cassie asked.
I blinked. I couldn't even think of Marco doing something like that.
"Well, I think that for now it's best if we all give him some time to realize that Fal is dead. He's going to take it hard. So's the rest of the group," Cassie said.
"That's if they're still alive," I murmured.
"They're not in any trouble," Cassie said, like she was sure of it. "Jake and Lance should be able to keep Jak for three days by themselves."

*Colt*
I went to sleep. I couldn't think of anything else to do. Falcon, dead. It didn't fit. He couldn't. It wasn't possible. But Erika didn't lie.
I was almost asleep before I remembered that dreams could drive me crazy before I even woke up....
Falcon was running toward us and we weren't even trying to help. He was being chased by Ali-fighters, the fastest ones I had ever seen. But we weren't doing anything as they took shot after shot at him. It was like a glass wall separated us. He ran right into the wall-- and the Ali's moved in, shooting bright red lights at Fal--
"Colt! Are you all right?" Marco asked.
"Fine," I mumbled, yawning. "Thanks."
"Bad dream?"
"Bad dream," I agreed. "Sorry I'm in your room but you were in Erek's."
"Doesn't matter. But Cassie wanted to know where you were."
"Oh. I'll go find her, then," I said, yawning again. I stood up, shook my head to wake up more and started down the stairs.
"What?" I asked Cassie. "Marco said you wanted me, Cas?"
Cas looked up at me. "Oh, hello, Colt. Are you okay now?"
"Fine," I said. I wondered why people always say fine after being asked that question. I wasn't sure, but it was an automatic response.
"You sure?" Cassie asked.
"Yeah," I said. "I know Fal's dead. I know." I said that angrily, as if she wanted to bother me by bringing it up.
"Okay, Colt," Cassie said, putting her hands palm up. "I'm not going to mention it."
"Good," I muttered, looking around for something to do. There wasn't much, now that I had finished the story. I doubted that anything could seem interesting after all of this. It was amazing how so much had happened in two days. Was it ever two days? So much had been doing on.
I stared out the window. It was still dark. Maybe Lance and Jake would be coming back son. Jak and Fal-- no, Falcon isn't' t coming back. He isn't coming back. Get it through your head. He's not coming.
But I want him to, he thought crazily. Falcon has to come back, the group won't be the same without Fal. We couldn't live without Fal along, too.
Lia walked up to me on her tiny little legs and looked at me, then giggled. She sat in my lap and stared at nothing with me, then turned back to look at me again.
"Hi, Lia," I said, rocking her. "You know, I don't think that anything here is going to work. This all has a sense of being doomed. Like we're all eventually going to die." I sighed. "You're the lucky one. You don't have any special powers so you can stay here with Erek. I'd like to trade places with you."
Lia smiled.
"And I hope I see you again, kid. You're nice, and I hope I live long enough to talk to you again."
Rachel glanced over me and looked at me very strangely. "Colt, are you having a conversation with Lia?"

I got bored, eventually, and went back upstairs to see what else there was to do. I found that the phone and power lines were working again, so I tried going onto the internet, which I didn't get a chance to do often. There was a central page, which gave you all the information you needed to know about how the people were getting together to fight the aliens, that a hundred or so people had been taken for here or there. I wasn't the most optimistic thing to do, but I wasn't feeling particularly optimistic. To me, Fal and Joey had just died. Optimistic, I wasn't in the least.
I just read. The aliens, the Yeerks as I know knew, weren't attacking as much the last few days. Was that because of us? No, probably it was one of those breaks they gave us to tally up who was still on earth and alive. I think they liked doing that to us. It made us more pessimistic, which gave them a better chance to catch us. That's also probably why they let us keep the 'net up. To make us more depressed.
It was working pretty well. I was depressed. I wondered how the people who ran this managed to actually write all this stuff up. I would eventually go crazy.
I scanned the news. A large underground organization in Japan sent a distress message, and now wouldn't answer to anything. That was about it, though, so I understood what they meant about being quiet for a few days. In a day or two, they would put something up about 'the smaller alien ships' blowing up empty buildings 'for no explained reason.' No one knew a reason, so they weren't going to be getting any. Ha. Wouldn't they be surprised if they really knew.
I thought a minute, then constructed a letter to them putting the basic information that bug fighters had been blowing up buildings in our area. I didn't mention much else, but I felt better that someone knew about it.
After a while, I thought about writing down about what was going on. It seemed to help Joey for a while, at any rate. But I wasn't any good at that stuff. So I decided that I may as well just think about it. I sat down and started thinking.
Okay, so Fal is dead. It's official. He's dead. There's nothing you can change. Dead. Completely dead. He was shot by a Dracon bean, remember? You saw him die. He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. Nothing you can do. Nothing anyone can do. Nothing.
I don't know what it was, but I stood up and erased Falcon from my memory. He never existed. I didn't know who Fal was. What am I thinking about, anyway?
Nothing. I'm thinking about nothing, I thought answering my own question.
Well, then, start thinking!
Thinking. Okay, I think that I should go find... where is Erika?
Erika is... Erika is... Weird. Where is Erika? I hadn't seen her since I broke my ankle. Lan, Jay and Jak had kept going. Cas, Mar and I had gone to the hideout. Er had gone... She had...
I ran downstairs as fast as possible with my broken ankle. "Cassie. Where is Erika?" I asked.
Cas looked at me, then at Rachel. "Didn't she go with Jake and Lance and Jak?"
"No," I said, shaking my head. "She wasn't there when they left. And I didn't see her since Cas set my ankle."
Cas and Ray exchanged looks. "She just disappeared?"
I nodded.
"This isn't good," Rachel said.
"No kidding," Erek added.
"Do you think she's a controller, too?" I asked hesitantly.
They shrugged. "She's missing, at any rate," Rachel said. "But she was still with you after the Yeerks let you go, so she should be fine, right?"
"Right," Erek said, frowning. "But how did Jak get caught in the first place?"
I shook my head. "It wasn't like she told us. We aren't even sure if she was caught. We're just assuming."
Cassie shrugged. "Okay, then let's assume that Erika's alive, wherever she is. Where would she go, if she isn't a controller?"
"Back to the warehouse?" I asked. "I'm not sure."
Cassie nodded. "Rachel, check the warehouse. Anywhere else?"
"No, not really. Maybe somewhere around there, but there is that virus or whatever that keeps us from healing in there. I don't think she would head right there."
"Okay, then. Rachel, check everywhere around the warehouse as well."
"Owl morph?" Rachel asked, already starting.
"What else?" Cassie asked, shrugging. She seemed to be happier now that there was something to do. It took her mind off Lia, I suppose. It must really be bad for her that Lia didn't even know who she was. And then have Lia sometimes yelling for her. I would be upset about it, too.
Rachel flew out of the window Erek helpfully opened for her, and I hoped that she could find Erika. Or maybe Erika had teamed up with Lance and Jake.
"Cassie, do you think I could go and look for Lance? He might have seen her."
Cassie gave me a look. "Your ankle's broken. No, I'll go."
I sighed. "Fine, but if you find her, both of you head back this way really fast, okay?"
"Okay," Cassie agreed, walking towards the door. "And make sure Lia stays out of trouble. And make sure Marco's okay, and..."
"That's enough," Erek said, pushing her out the door. "We'll make sure the house doesn't fall over, too. Just start looking."
Cassie took one look back at Lia, who was walk/falling up the stairs. "Okay, but--"
"Bye!" Erek said, closing the door behind her. "Sometimes she worries about everyone too much," he explained. "It's not like it isn't more dangerous than when she was your age, but it isn't too dangerous we stay in here the whole time."
"I know what you mean," I agreed.
"So, what do you want to do?" he asked. "Do you want to go talk to Marco?" He picked up Lia and put her back on the floor, blocking her from the stairs but leaving a place for me to get up. I went upstairs, thinking about what I was going to say to Marco.
"Marco?" I asked as I stepping into his room.
"Hi, Colt," he said.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Not much," he said.
"Fal's dead," I said abruptly.
"Yeah, he is," Marco said. "Joey is, too."
"I know," I said.
"It's not fair," he added, whirling and punching the wall. His fist cracked the wall. I winced as he dropped his hand. That must have hurt.

*Rachel*
I went to the place the vampires lived first. It would be easier to start there. No one was there.
I decided to spiral around farther and farther until I saw her, if I did see her. So I started flying around in circles, listening carefully to hear if there was any humans, or vampires, around or in the old buildings. Then, I remembered something. I hadn't seen Tobias in a long time. Actually, where had he been when Colt had started yelling? He would have come out when that happened. And he would have come to see what happened when we got back. Had he fallen asleep?
I was suddenly sure something bad had happened to him. I took off as fast as I could.

*Colt*
Something was going on. A prickling feeling at the back of my neck was a strange feeling of the air that always warned vampires of danger make me spin around, trying to see where it was. I saw nothing. Marco didn't either, even though he was looking around just as much as me. But danger was somewhere. I just couldn't see where.
Marco looked just as surprised and creeped as me. Something was happening. Something, but what was it?
"What's going on?" Marco whispered.
^I don't know,^ I answered silently.
And someone stepped out of the air in front of us, near the door.
"Ellimist," Marco whispered in alarm.
"Ellimist?" I asked.
"Correct," said the man. "I am an Ellimist."
The Ellimist looked like any other person. Okay, he would look like any other person if people had blue skin and sort of glowed. I don't understand how he was glowing, but he was.
"What do you want?" Marco demanded. He was angry. Like the Ellimist had done something bad the last time they had met. Or like he was afraid and trying to cover it up.
"I want nothing," the Ellimist said. "Only a decision."
"Why us?" Marco yelled at him. "Why not someone else?"
The Ellimist stared at him until he took a step back. "I have picked you two because you are the ones to make the choice."
"What choice?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. I didn't trust him. According to every screaming, protesting sense I had, he was a threat. Which didn't mean a single thing, unless you had the total trust in those senses that I had. To me, having a person who was a danger but didn't act like it was the most trying thing I had to in my life. I couldn't attack him, obviously, because he was very powerful. And I couldn't run... I don't know why I couldn't run, but I was sure that it wouldn't work. And he wasn't doing anything for me to try and dodge. It was unnerving.
"Just one choice," he said casually. "You two only have to make one choice. I'll find others to make the second choice."
I looked at Marco. He shrugged. This guy was driving me crazy. I was sure that if he staying in this room any longer I would snap.
The Ellimist acted like he had heard this, and tossed Marco an envelope. "It's in here," he said, fading away slowly. "Make a choice, humans..." and then he was gone.
"What is this, Colt? Do you know?" Marco asked. I didn't even listen to him. I was too busy trying to figure out what that last message the Ellimist gave me meant.
Human. He had been hinting around something, and that was it. He has called me human. Why human? I looked a lot like a human, but I definitely wasn't human. He couldn't have made a mistake, so what was he trying to make me understand?
At any rate, I snapped out of it and helped Marco open the envelope. He pulled out two things: a metallic panel, sort of like a television screen or something, and a folded sheet of paper.
On the panel, there were three buttons. The one in the middle was round, and then the two on the sides looked like arrows. I looked at him. He hit the middle button, which was logical. The screen came to life. Marco dropped the screen. It hit the ground, but didn't break. I picked it up.
A girl's face. Marco stared at me. "That's Joey." he whispered.

*Rachel*
< Where's Tobias?> I yelled, flying into the house.
Erek turned and stared. "I don't know," he said quickly.
< Tobias!> I shouted.
"Cassie's looking for Jake and then, thinking Erika might be with then. Tobias's missing, too?" he asked, running upstairs.
I de-morphed as fast as possible. I was low on time. Then I followed him up.
"Marco? Colt? Where's Tobias?" I yelled as I pounded up the stairs. I stopped dead as I saw Erek staring at the wall. Empty wall. Wait. Something should be in that wall.
"Where's the door to Marco's room?" he asked, panicking.

*Colt*
"Wow," Marco said. "One hell of a wakeup call."
I touched the last button on the right side. It switched to another picture.
"This is crazy," Marco muttered, smacking himself in the head. "That's my mom."
"Is she dead?" I asked, trying to see a connection.
Marco hesitated, then nodded. "What's this about?" he muttered, opening the folded paper.
I looked over his shoulder to see the note the Ellimist had written for us.

Marco and Colt, by now you have been
given a hint of what I want from you. It is
simply the answer to a question only you
two can answer. This is, Marco, a twist on
the one question you have asked yourself
many times before. This time it is for real: if
you could bring one of them back to life,
who is it going to be? I'm sure you'll have
fun answering this question. Take as much
time as you want.

Marco looked at me. "Joey."
I shook my head. "From how you're acting, he isn't going to be letting us off that easily. Aren't there more pictures?"
To answer my question, Marco hit the button again.
It switched to a picture of a boy my age.
"Fal," Marco said, turning to me. "So this is his trick."
I looked at him. "Who's Fal?"

*Rachel*
"This is nuts!" I sputtered, looking around. "This is some trick. The door's still right here where it's always been. I'll open my eyes and find out it's all a dream and the door is right ther--"
"No, it's not," Erek said with some concern. "This isn't right."
"Isn't right? That's understatement! Where is everyone disappearing to? We're the only ones left in the house!"
"Calm down," Erek instructed. "Think of this calmly and rationally. Who has the power to make doors disappear? Not the Yeerks."
"Then what?" I asked, going very pale.
"I'm not sure," Erek said.
"We are in so much trouble," I groaned.

*Colt*
"Who's Fal?" Marco repeated, like he was missing something. "Who's Fal?"
"Do I know him?" I asked, looking at the face again. No. I didn't recognize it.
"Fal is your best friend," Marco said, looking at me like I was a complete idiot. "You don't remember who he is?"
"I've never heard of him in my life," I answered.
Marco laughed. "Okay, we have moved into the zone of the terminally bizarre. You're saying you don't remember who Falcon is."
"Right," I said.
"That's it!" Marco said, throwing up his hands. "Forget it! Everything's gone wrong."
"What's gone wrong?" I asked.
Marco looked at me, then groaned. "You mean you really don't know."
"No, I don't," I answered.
"Falcon! You have to remember him!" he shouted. "He died, remember? Falcon!"
Danger! Marco and I whirled.
"You've made your choice?" the Ellimist asked.
"No," Marco said quickly. "We're still talking."
"Make your decision," he said with a smile. "You have all the time in the world."
He disappeared and we calmed down again.
"You don't remember Fal?" Marco asked me in a low voice.
"No," I said.
Marco flipped through the rest of them. "Hey, who's this?"
I went white. "Not him," I said quickly. "Not him."
"What's the problem?" Marco asked, flipping to the next picture. "Who is he?"
I shuddered. "He's someone we killed once... the one in charge of the whole vampire project. Actually, Erika killed him. I changed my name then," I added. "I used to be called Cory."
"Hm," Marco said. "I wonder why he put him in." Then he looked at the next picture. "That's Chris." He went to the next. "That's Sam." He punched the button again. "Jonny," he said. Touching the button again, it went back to Joey and he quickly handed it to me.
"What do you think?" he asked.
I frowned. "Who is Falcon?" I asked, turning to his picture.
Marco sighed. "He's one of you vampires. Your best friend. He got killed today. I'm a morph of him." I looked at Marco, only realizing then that he looked just like the picture now. "Oh. So... Why don't I remember him?"
Marco shrugged. "You got hit in the head?"
I shook my head. "No, that's not it."
Marco took the screen from me. "That's it. Do you want your friend back?"
I stopped. "Don't you want Joey or your mother?"
He winced. "Just tell me."
Carefully I answered. "I would rather have Joey because you're never going to be happy unless she's back."
Marco smiled slowly. "Really? You would let me do that?"
I nodded. I was losing a friend I couldn't remember. No great loss.
"Ellimist?" he asked.
"Yes?" the blue-skinned man asked.
"We want you to bring back Joey."

*Rachel*
Something was going on. The door was coming back. But something else was there, too. But it was like I couldn't see who or what it was. My eyes couldn't focus on it. But I stared, anyway.
The door, I could see, was appearing again. Slowly becoming real. It was closed, but the thing I couldn't concentrate on opened the door.
I could see Marco and Colt staring at the door as whoever it was walked in. The blurring lessened as we watched.
"Joey?" Marco asked.
Joey smiled.
"Joey!?" I gasped. I knew something had to be going on, but... Joey was back?

*Colt*
Marco took one step towards Joey. Joey gave a huge grin and ran towards him.
"Joey!" Marco said, hugging her as hard as he could.
"Can you guys say anything else?" Joey asked, laughing. "I'm alive. I don't believe it."
"I don't believe it, either," Marco said, shaking his head.
"You're alive?" Rachel asked from the doorway.
"That's Joey?" Erek asked.
"That's me," Joey said, letting go of Marco. "And this place had changed. I mean, weird." And then she looked at Marco. "And you don't exactly look the same, either, but I've been watching you, so I knew."
"But you were dead!" I protested.
Joey shook her head, but agreed. "Something that had never kept me from doing anything except communicating with the living," she said. "I was watching you guys the whole time."
"You were?" Marco asked.
Joey nodded. "And thanks for worrying about me. But I'm fine. But must you show my diary to everyone?" Then, more guarded, "Hello, Rachel. And nice to meet you, Colt, Erek."

*Rachel*
We finally got everything straight. Marco and Colt had a choice of a few different people to bring back from the dead, to put it simply. And they had chosen Joey, mainly because Colt had somehow managed to block off every memory if Falcon. Other that that, his memory was fine.
So, everything was fine, now. Except...
"Where's Tobias?" I asked in a voice bordering on complete panic. "And Cassie. And Erika."
We looked around. Although we all knew that none of them were actually in the room at the time.
"I'm going to have to say that they're still missing." Marco said, one arm still over Joey's shoulders. It was like he was scared that she was going to disappear again, he would always be holding onto her.
"Has anyone seen them?" I asked.
Erek and Marco shook their heads. Joey eyed me carefully.
"Oh, wonderful..." I said, sitting down.
"I'll go look..." Colt started.
"No," I said. "I don't think we should split up again. At least staying in groups of two. Colt, we'll go together. You three stay here, and keep an eye on Lia. If we don't come back by the time the sun's up..." And I cast a doubtful look out the window, estimating it to be about two AM, "Then you're going to go out all together and search for any of us. Okay?"
"Right." Erek said, glancing at Lia. Colt nodded, moving to my side.
"Let's go," I told Colt. "I'll fly above you." I started morphing. Colt tested his broken ankle and decided that it didn't matter if he walked on it as long as he could feel it.
I was exhausted. I hadn't slept, I had morphed and demorphed what felt like a million times already, and I had flown over a hundred miles. But I had to morph, once again, because everyone was missing.
Where had they all gone? Were Jake, Lance and Jak still together? Did Cassie find Erika? Or Tobias? Were any of those three still alive?
And where did Ax go, I thought suddenly. I usually didn't think about it, but we never saw Ax during the night. He could have disappeared as well. Or did he go to the Hork-Bajir colony? Is that what he said? When I finished the morph, Colt walked to the door and I fluttered out after him. Once outside, I flapped harder, getting some altitude.
^We'll find them, won't we?^ Colt asked.
I didn't have an answer for him.

*Joey*
Back to real life. I could laugh. I could cry. I'm not doing either, actually. I'm updating my diary. And this has been a long time. It's been years. I've died, followed Marco around the world, watched a few space battles and the near-destruction of my planet.
It's not the best thing to think about.
But now, I was back in the real world where people could hear you when you talked and you could reach out and actually touch something, as in making contact between your fingers and something solid. Do you know how long it's been since I've been able to do this? I'm alive!
I was dead for quite a long time, but my body somehow aged and I was the same age as Marco. It figures. I've been following him around, why not?
Some strange joke of the Ellimist's. I guess I'm one of those jokes, but what's going on now was one of his little jokes as well. His idea of a joke. He's separating us. I'm not sure if he's killing us, or infesting us, but he's breaking us up into smaller and smaller groups until we're going to be completely confused, disoriented and pretty much beaten.
At least, that's what I'm guessing. Just because I've died doesn't mean I understand what the Ellimist is doing. In fact, it means that he's just as confusing as ever. But it's obvious to anyone watching that he's dividing us on purpose. Is this some game of his?
If it is, I'm not enjoying it.
And anyway, this diary has a password I'm not giving to Marco. I'll tell him some other time, but for now I'm not trusting him with it. Would you trust him with a password? I sure aren't anymore. Marco's going to convince me to give him the password, though. He's good at weaseling information. It's something he's always been good at.
Marco, stop hitting me.
Thank you. Anyway, I'm not going to talk much about most of the stuff that's happened while I was 'dead.' Besides not being good conversation, it wasn't too interesting to me at the time and I barely paid attention to it unless Marco was actively involved. And one thing I do know is that people get very bored hearing about Marco all the time. Rachel, especially.
So I'm back alive. Isn't that great? I'm alive. I think that I didn't even realize it until I started typing. Typing is one thing that can remind me of living, because it was the last thing I did as a slightly-living being. And it certainly gives you a feel for using your fingers and touching things again.
Although I'm typing so slowly I doubt I'll ever re-learn how to do this, I feel pretty good. Yeah, Marco, it's because you're next to me. It is, really. I'm sitting next to you and you realize it. It's been years since this happened. I stayed with you a lot but you never realized it since that last night, when I died.

Okay, let's put that conversation into print:
"Marco, I shoved you into an escape pod because I knew that, all things aside, I would actually like to die. Ignoring the fact that I had met you, I would have done it with even less hesitation. I probably would have managed to get myself killed by the Hork-Bajir when I first started fighting. You know it, don't you?"
"But Joey, I should have--"
"If you have pushed me into the escape pod, exactly how much of a distraction would you have made? And if you weren't alive from when on, where would your friends be? In fact, where would the world be?"
"That isn't the point!"
"Yes, Marco, it is the point. I have told you my point the day I died and the day I came back. What more do you need?"
"I needed you then, Joey."
"You wanted me to be there. But you didn't need me to be there. You're still here. You didn't need me."
"I did."
"Crazy idiot! Haven't you been listening to a word I said? If you died, I would have died anyway."
"That's not true! You would have put up a distraction, you know I could have gotten away."
"No, that's not what I'm talking about. If I hadn't met you, I'm pretty sure I would have been dead, at most, before another year was up. Know why? I would have killed myself."
"Joey!"
"It's true, isn't it? I was a seriously depressed person. And if I was the one in the escape pod, after losing you I would have cut my throat instead of my wrists that time."
"You wouldn't do that for me!"
"I wouldn't do that for you?"
Long silence.
"No, you wouldn't."
"I would. I know what I would have done."

Isn't this a joyous, fun-filled reunion? All we're talking about is death. I've had enough with death. I'm going to go crazy if anyone mentions death, dead, or dying again.

*Colt*
I kept running at about even pace with Rachel's flying. Alone, I could have gone a lot faster, but I understood the importance of staying together. Already, Tobias, and Erika were missing and Lance, Jake and Jak were possibly missing. We weren't risking another person just because I could search faster. I hoped that they all had the sense to try and find Lance, because that was the first place we were going and the most obvious place, although we didn't know where it was. We knew it was south, although how far was a guess. We were trying to cover as much ground as possible without splitting up.
It was going pretty badly.
I kept forgetting Ray was above me and going a little too fast, and so then she had to shout at me to slow down. I'm sure she was getting annoyed with me, but I couldn't help it. I was panicked.
I didn't see anyone around. No humans, no nothing. Which wasn't too unusual during nights, but there's always a person or two walking around if you look hard enough. And I was looking for anything, anything at all, that could mean a vampire around.
But no luck. I still wasn't finding anyone and I didn't think I was in danger of doing so.

*Joey*
Cassie finally said that we should go to sleep. I agreed. I was completely exhausted, both by coming back to life and realizing that I was alive. I know, that's confusing, but I can't go through walls, or walk around with no one seeing me or anything like that. I had become alive so I could talk to people, but I had lost all spying abilities.
Then Erek looked at us, and said, "So, where's Joey sleeping?"
I glared at him. "I'm going to be in Rachel's room," I told him. "No one else's in there."
Cassie glared at Erek, too, and he pretended to ward us away by crossing his arms in front of his face and leaning away. I shoved him into the table, harder than I had meant to. I had to get the hang of this ability to actually touch things... and also control my temper, of course.
Erek apologized quickly, even though that hadn't hurt him at all.
Cassie, Marco and I headed upstairs while Erek put Lia to bed. Marco came with me to make sure I knew where everything was.
"I know," I said as he threw me a blanket. It was slightly muffled because the blanket was over my face. I dropped it and shook my head to get my hair out of my face.
"Okay," Marco said. "That it?"
"Yeah," I said, kicking off my shoes. I usually slept in all my clothes, it wasn't like I had another pair of them while I was dead, but shoes had a tendency to get in the way when you were trying to sleep. I sat down on the old matters and just sat. Marco sat down next to me.
"Remember when we first met?"
"We sat talking for hours," I said. "That was so long ago."
Marco smiled. "So, let's talk. What have you been doing? How are you, what do you think of our 'missing person' situation now, that kind of thing."
I smiled, and launched into a rapid one-way conversation about the tactics the Yeerks were using, as Marco stared in shock. After twenty minutes, I ended with, "Brilliant strategy, really, but most of it was probably based on luck, mostly that they never meant for us to meet so quickly, but they were prepared, which shows that they're more prepared than ever."
Marco frowned. "You're saying that they're doing this?"
"Most likely, like I said," I corrected him. "Divide and conquer. It's always worked."
Marco shook his head in disbelief. "It's making perfect sense, but I don't believe how well the Yeerks must have gone over that... and most of it was luck for them!"
"Right, like Colt breaking his ankle. And the virus working only to stop healing while it was meant to kill them. It's not fair how they're so lucky," I scowled at the wall and clenched my fists, even though my voice hadn't risen at all.
Marco must have seen anger in my eyes, because he froze. I sighed, letting my anger out. I imagined it flowing out into the air harmlessly and disappearing slowly. Then I opened my eyes.
I blinked a few times. I wasn't sure if I was going to faint or not, but Marco didn't say a thing so my eyes must not be changing colors.
I sighed again. "Okay, something better to talk about."
Marco shrugged. "I guess that's enough. You must be really tired."
"I'm fine," I insisted. "Just stay here and talk."
Marco thought for a minute, then said, "You know, your diary? What's the password?"
I started laughing, I really couldn't help it. "I knew it! You're going to try to get the password! No way!"
"No, no, I just want to see what you're going to write about all this strategy stuff," Marco insisted. I could see something wrong. What was Marco was worried about?
I started laughing again. Marco looked confused. I wondered randomly about if he was going to smack my head into a wall like he had done in the ship. Oh, yeah, the ship. When I died. I never remembered to thank the Yeerks for that... I kept laughing, barely able to stay up.
My head collided with the mattress. Marco couldn't slam it into the wall, so he did the next best thing. I shoved him away from me, twisting my head to look up at him.
"Sorry," I said, not moving to get up. "But I thought that you were thinking I was a controller. It was just funny... and you know that once I start laughing it's hard to get me to stop."
"I know," Marco said, smiling ironically. "I sort of figured out that part about laughing."
"I bet," I said, sitting up.
"So, what else to talk about?" Marco asked.
I grinned a silly grin I had after going hysterical. "Let's update my diary." Marco grabbed the computer, and I added, "The password's Marco, if you wanted to know."
"I should have guessed," Marco said, going to my diary and typing in the password. "So, what are you doing to write?"
"What I've been doing," I answered promptly, starting already.
Marco just watched me typing. I was getting better at it already, and the words appeared jerkily on the screen.
"Now what?" Marco asked.
"I don't know," I admitted.
I don't even remember what we started talking about, but we kept talking until very early in the morning, when we sort of collapsed asleep.

Yawn. I'm awake. Waitaminute, I'm alive--
"Joey?" Someone touched my shoulder.
Something's wrong. I rolled over, still half asleep but scared to death. Some half-formed memory made me jerk up terrified of something. Something that had come from the dark...
Marco jerked out of the way of a backfist I had aimed at his head.
"Sorry," I mumbled.
"Seems like you're saying that a lot," Marco said, also sounding half asleep. "Are you awake?"
"No," I said, rolling back over.
"Me neither," he agreed, moving away from me and falling back asleep.
There was a chuckle from the door, and I looked up. It was Erek.
"Good morning," he said. "Or should I say afternoon?"
I blinked. "What time is it?" Marco was getting back up again, too.
"About one in the afternoon," he said. "No, Rachel and Colt aren't back yet. What do you think we're going to do about that?"
I stood up, shaking my head to wake myself up, but I was waking up quickly after that announcement. "Where's Cassie?"
"She's--"
"She didn't leave, did she?" Marco asked, and there was something near fear in what he was saying.
"No, she's downstairs," Erek said. "She said to let you two sleep."
Marco nodded, and I managed to stumble down the stairs. "Cassie?!" I said loudly.
"Right here," Cassie said, smiling a little. She was feeding Lia. But other than that smile, she looked perfectly miserable.
"Thanks. Erek said it was your idea to not wake us up. We were up past sunrise," I said, sitting down next to her.
"You two looked pretty tired," Cassie said, looking at me. I caught her drift, she was thinking something about equal to: And yesterday you made it pretty clear that you were sleeping in different rooms.
"You guys have dirty minds," I said.
"Who, me?" Marco asked innocently.
Cassie looked sorry for saying that. "I didn't mean--"
"M-hm." I mumbled. I had no tolerance for any of the remarks that they might be aiming at me and Marco all day, and when I just woke up I had a violent temper. I never did know why, it had something to do with the same memory that made me nearly hit Marco when he woke me up.
I held my breath, telling myself I wasn't going to hit anyone. I had the illogical idea that I should be beating Cassie up. I stood up, still holding my breath, and then I let my breath out, simultaneously punching and kicking into the air.
Marco stopped on the stairs. "Joey, what are you doing?"
I dropped my fists as I ran out of air. "Nothing," I said, panting a little.
"Joey, that's something," Marco said, hopping down the rest of the stairs.
"Shadowboxing." I said, shrugging it off and sitting back down. I felt better now, as well as more awake.
"Okay," Marco said, sounding like he didn't understand what I meant. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
"That's not fighting," I said, leaning backwards. I had momentarily been awake but I was tired again. "That was just some anger."
"At what?" Marco asked, raising his eyebrows.
I shrugged, twirling hair around my finger.
"Show me that again," he said.
I frowned, but stood back up, walked back to the empty space in the kitchen and launched into something that was a mix between a very fast, violent dance and putting as many moves as possible into every second.
It felt good. My energy level was rising, and I kept moving. I was getting tired, but that was nothing compared to the fact that I was fighting nothing, and I kept moving.
After nearly ten minutes, I collapsed back into my seat. I was lightheaded and blood was pounding in my ears. I could barely sit down without falling over, I was so used to moving.
"Joey?" Marco asked me through the dim of drums in my ears. I had to strain to hear him. I was gasping for air, my arms and legs hurt. My knees hurt. My ankles, wrists, hands, legs, feet and especially my pounding head hurt. I wasn't sure if I could move anymore...
"I'm fine," I panted, feeling for my pulse on my left wrist. "I needed to get that out."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just confused," I mumbled, trying to control my breath. I paused breathing for all of one second before my lungs yelled to be filled again. I really had done too much. Not that I was going to admit that. And I had the worst headache from all that blood rushing through my head. I still felt dizzy and fuzzy.
"You sure?" Marco asked.
"Completely," I said, willing my heartbeat to drop back down to normal. My headache was growing every time my heart beat.
Marco frowned, but he let me sit there uninterrupted until I let my wrist fall as my pulse dropped to the normal range.
"What are we doing now?" Cassie asked, looking out the window. "If they could get here, Colt and Rachel should have been back here by the time the sun came up. It's been hours!"
Marco looked at us. "If I'm right, and I bet I am, then we're not going to be able to get to them."
Erek, who had just walked in, said, "Maybe they got the timing wrong. Maybe they thought you meant when the sun goes up tomorrow."
"I don't think so--" Cassie started, but Marco agreed with Erek.
"Rachel's always messing up on things when she wants to get on with a battle," Marco said. "She probably just thought you said tomorrow. Wait at least that long."
"Tomorrow, we're going to go looking for her. And if you guys don't come, I'll do it myself."
I tried to hide my relief that she wasn't going to leave now. I was reasonably sure that the Yeerks had found some of us by now, that it was all their fault.
But was it, really?

*Colt*
I woke up.
Ouch. My head.
What was my situation? Okay, so my legs were trapped. And nearly crushed, too, and I had the worst headache.
I tried to pull myself up. I stopped as soon as pain threatened to make me black out again.
I groaned inaudibly. Here was a lesson to me. Never get near and buildings with bug fighters around them. And if those bug fighters were firing at the building... well, I should get a respectable distance away before looking to see what they were doing.
My legs were still pinned. I didn't think that there was much wrong, other than my broken ankle. Then I remembered that I was blocking out the pain. And I'm still getting this much through? Something's wrong...
My arms, somehow, where still free. My head wasn't crushed. This was a blessing all by itself. And I wasn't burried by anything other than the slab of cement was holding my legs down.
Where was Rachel?
Rachel. She had been flying above me, but where had she been when the building exploded?
^Rachel?^ I shouted, but I didn't hear any response.
I ran through the options quickly. She was unconscious, she was dead, she had escaped unharmed, or she was captured.
I struggled out from under the cement. ^Rachel?^
I finally got out. I didn't move for a minute, just lay there and desided that if I was in any more pain I would be dead.
Finally, I sat up and found out what was causing so much pain.
Compared to a broken ankle, this was nothing. I saw my bone sticking out of my leg, blood smeared across it, and I desided that I was in no condition to be going anywhere fast.
Other than that, I was mostly in one piece. Luckily. But I wasn't going to be able to go anywhere. Not for a long, long time.
I stared at my leg, trying to block out the pain. It was just getting more intense. I knew that I would never be able to set it. And so it wasn't going to heal right.
Pain, pain, pain, pain. That's all I could think of.
I needed someway to block it out. But I couldn't. I was too weak, too--
Wait. Weak. That was it.
I'm a vampire, obviously. And vampires drink blood.
I'm in serious trouble.

*Rachel*
Awake. Okay, where was I?
I was an owl. Oh, right. I was flying, and the blast threw me into the wall.
No problem. Demorph, remorph, find Colt and scram. The Yeerks would be all over this place, if I knew anything about them.
I couldn't hear anyone around me. I demorphed.
Or, tried to, at any rate.
^Rachel?^
< Colt!> I shouted. < Get over here!>
^I wish I could, Rachel, but my leg's broken. I'm not going to be moving around for a while.>
< I can't demorph! Colt, I'm trapped!>
^You're WHAT?!!^ Colt was shocked. Very shocked, from the sound of it. But he got himself together and added, ^Can you fly?^
< Can I fly?> I asked myself. A second later, I got my answer. < Yes. I can fly.>
Colt sighed in relief. ^Good. Because you're going to have to make it all the way back to the house.^
< That far?> I asked doubtfully. < I'm not too sure.>
^Rachel, at the very least get over here. Tell them I need Cassie here. My leg's broken really bad. And... um, I need someone human here, too.^
< Why?> I said, confused.
^Exactly, but I don't think Cassie's up for what I have planned. Just get everyone at the house here, and I'll explain it to you. And don't split up.^
< Right,> I said. He sounded like he was calm, but I knew I was going to have to hurry. He sounded like he was calm only to cover up the pain.
My wings worked. That much, at least. But a hurt owl, flying in the daylight is at a disadvantage to any other bird in the air. The sun hurt my eyes. But I knew I better hurry.

*Colt*
I saw a bird flying off toward the Animorph's house. At least, that was the direction I hoped it was. I was in too much pain to concentrate, but I hoped that Rachel had better judgment than me right now.
I was not having a good day. Not in the slightest.

*Joey*
< Cassie! Joey! Marco! Erek! Hurry!> Rachel shouted.
"What?" I said out loud.
< Cassie! You have to hurry! Colt broke his leg this time!> Rachel shouted.
We looked up and ran to the door.
"Rachel?" Cassie asked.
High above us, there was a bird circling the house. < Yeah, that's me. Just hurry! Cassie, start moving, that direction, now! Erek, you stay here, and be alert! Marco, you get to run, and Joey...> she obviously didn't know what to do with me.
"I'll carry her," Marco volunteered.
I gave him a warning look, but Rachel gave the go-ahead. < Okay, just hurry!> she shouted.
I glared at Marco. "If I die, you're going to regret this," I said.
"No problem," Marco said, grinning. "This is actually funny."
"For you," I growled.

*Colt*
< Colt! How are you doing?> Rachel yelled down at me.
^Fine... I think. Is Cassie here?^
< Just got here,> Rachel reported. < Marco and Joey are here, too. Erek's with Lia. We couldn't bring them.>
I winced. I had realized that Joey, Lia and Erek wouldn't be able to keep up with the others, but I didn't expect them to split up. I was panicked, but Cassie started walking over.
"What did you do this time, Colt?" she asked, approaching from behind me. "Rachel's really worried." she lowered her voice. "She's trapped in a morph."
^I know,^ I said.
"So, what's-- oh!"
Cassie had just gotten a good look at my leg.
"Oh. Now I understand wat you mean." Cassie said. "I'm not really sure..."
"Not sure?" I asked, getting scared at this point.
"But I think I can set it. But look. Some of the bone got chipped off here, and it cracked again here. What'd you do that?"
^Trapped under concrete, you do get a little hurt,^ I said. ^Is this going to hurt?^
"Talk out loud," Cassie said. "And can't you filter out pain?"
"No," I said, although my voice wasn't much more than a hiss of pain. I took a steadying breath and continued, "This is a lot more than I expected."
Cassie frowned. She was obviously not sure how to set the bone, especially if I could still feel it.
"I don't care how much it hurts," I added. "It's just painful."
Cassie nodded. "So you can sit still if I tried to do... this?"
She touched my leg, dangerously close to the bone. I closed my eyes against pain that threatened to drown me.
"I can," I said.
"Then let's start," she said.

*Joey*
It was obvious what Colt was in a lot of pain, and as soon as I saw him I forgot about embarrassment that Marco had just carried me the whole way here. "Is he all right?" I asked Cassie as she started to do something. I could nearly feel the pain Colt was going through. Overactive imagination. My leg started throbbing. I backed off.
"Is he going to be all right?" I asked, once safely out of sight of Colt. Even thinking about him made me shift my weight, like my leg hurt.
"Could be," Marco said. "I'm not sure. But he's sure not going to be walking for a long time."
I expected as much. Marco didn't seem to understand how to do anything with broken legs, or know how they healed, so he didn't bother Cassie.
After what seemed like forever, Cassie finished. Colt still couldn't move around, but now that his leg was no longer covered in blood and so very apparent, I felt better around him. At least my leg didn't start aching again.
"Joey, hi," Colt said. "Um, I have to ask you something."
"What?" I asked, looking at him.
Colt winced, more nervous than painful. "Well, you know how I'm a vampire, right?"
I didn't like the way this conversation was going. "Um, yeah..."
"And you're the only human here."
I looked around. He was right, Marco and Cassie were a vampire nothlits, Rachel an owl nothlit, so I was the only human.
"And... Um, vampires need to, um." Colt continued. "Can I, um..."
"Suck my blood?" I asked, half confused and half amused.
"Ah, yeah," he finished.
"Sure," I said.
He blinked. "That's it? Sure?"
"Yeah, sure," I said.
"Okay," he said. "Let me see your wrist."
He squinted at the ground, and picked up a shard of glass. I couldn't help smiling. Marco was looking at me, but I couldn't read the expression on his face.
Colt cut my wrist and started drinking the blood. It didn't fell bad. In fact, by the time he finished and tied a bandage on my wrist to stop the bleeding, I actually felt better. It was like the fighting this morning: Nothing more than a little lightheadedness to get you feeling better.
"Joey? Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said brightly. "This vampire stuff isn't too bad."
Marco nodded. "Okay. You're sure you're fine?"
I thought. "I could lose a little more blood no problem, he doesn't need that much. I could do this daily for a few weeks without any problems."
Marco nodded. "Good. It doesn't hurt?"
"No, it doesn't hurt!" I said. I looked at my wrist. The blood had stopped. No problem.
I yawned, and then Cassie walked over. "Okay, guys, we're going to have to split up."
"No way!" I yelled.
"We already did," Cassie said. "Erek and Lia are still at the house. But no, we can't move Colt very far because we can't make him an actual cast."
"We're staying here, then?"
"No, you have a choice. You can stay here, go back, or go looking for everyone else."
"Hey!" someone yelled from the other end of the destruction caused by the falling building. "Why didn't anyone tell me that falling buildings are the sign that you should get over here?"
"Erika?" Colt shouted.

*Colt*
"Yeah!" Erika shouted, running top vampire speed towards me.
Marco blocked her from hugging me. "Sorry," he said. "Broken leg. He can't move."
Erika immediately started apologizing for not being here while that happened.
Marco looked over at Cassie. She said something to Rachel, the owl. A few seconds later, he turned and looked back at us. They must have been talking silently. "Okay, Erika, you guys can talk, but you're doing it under three days of observation."
"What?" I yelled.
"Colt, you know that this is practically the worst situation we could have dreamed up out of this whole mess. The last thing we want is to have is a controller around. Everyone's going to be going through this. Jake and Lance included. And if necessary, we're going to do the same for them." Marco said.
"Whaa?" Joey asked, looking confused.
"They have the same reasons to distrust us." Marco said, as though it was obvious. "We'll all stay together for three days."
"Oh," I said, and Joey nodded. "It makes sense."
"Good," he said, looking at Erika. "So you don't object?"
"No," Erika said cautiously. "You're not going to tie me up or anything?"
"No, we don't have to do that," Marco said, glancing back at Cassie and Rachel. After another pause, he added, "We're not going to split up again, unless Erika desides to trust someone to help her look for everyone else."
Erika shrugged. "Three days first, like you said. But I want to know where anyone is, all the time."
"Right," Marco said, confirming it with Rachel.
"Hey, aren't you going to get me to someplace under cover?" I asked. "I mean, what if the Yeerks come back?"
Marco jerked his head for Cassie to come over here. She ran up. "What?"
"Can we move him?"
"Yeah," Cassie said, "If we can find something to carry him on, like a stretcher."
Joey kicked at the bits and pieces that used to be a building that were strewn all around the area. "We can find something here." she said. Everyone followed her lead and started looking.

*Joey*
"Would this work?" I asked Marco.
Marco picked up the board. "Yeah, it would," he said. He picked it up and carried it back to Colt. "This good?"
"Yeah," Colt said, as Cassie came up. She nodded to Marco and carefully helped Colt onto it, and then they each grabbed an end and started moving towards the nearest building. Erika was standing, watching, the whole time.
"Rachel scoped it out," Cassie said. "This building is the least likely to fall down on top of us."
I looked at Marco. He smiled, indicating that it was a joke.
They set Colt down carefully. "Okay, Marco, Joey, Erika, stay here with him." Cassie said. "If we're staying here for a while, I'll need to get some things."
I frowned. "Make sure Rachel goes with you. And don't split up. And stay alert."
Cassie nodded. "I was planning to. Let's hope that this all works out."
She left on that note, and I desided that she was getting depressed with this whole buisness. I didn't blame her. This whole thing had gotten out of hand. The Yeerks were watching everything and finding us one by one and getting rid of us fast.
"Hey! Anyone here? Is anyone stuck in here?" someone shouted.
"Huh?" Marco said, spinning around.
I was at the doorway in a second. I peered out.
"The Yeerks wouldn't announce themselves." Marco whispered.
"Sane people wouldn't volunteer to help." I murmered back, scanning the area. I found who it was. Two people. I couldn't see them clearly.
"No way," Marco said, spotting them too, only with vampire eyes.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"Jake and Lance!" he said. Then shouted, "Guys! We're over here!"
"Marco?" one of them shouted. And then they ran up.
I almost laughed. They looked completely identical, and the weird thing was that they acted identically, too. Like they were in charge and expected us to tell them something.
"Marco, who's that?" one of them said. The other stared in shock.
"Joey?" he asked.
Well, that cleared up who was who.
"Joey?" Lance asked. "Who's that? Where do you know her from?"
Jake gave Marco a look. "We're going to know the story. What's going on here?"
Marco looked over at Colt, and they looked over at Colt as well. Colt looked up. "Oh, hi Lance. Nothing serious, really."
Lance was already over there. "What happened?" he asked Marco, examining Colt's leg. "This has something to do with my teammates, you should tell me."
"It's nothing," Colt insisted.
"First, where's Jak?" Marco asked.
Lance winced. "She got away. We're in trouble. We're going to have to move fast."
Marco looked at Colt and me, worried. "Colt can't move."
Lance nodded. "However, even if Jak got away, the Yeerk did admit to a few things..." He seemed to pluck something out of the air, a small glass container. "She had the cure for the virus. It didn't affect me, so I saved it for one of you."
"Didn't affect you?" I echoed.
Lance looked at me, annoyed. "It didn't affect me. I could give you the technical details, but I have no reason to trust you."
"She's not a controller," Marco interupted. "And here's the idea of that's been happening: The Ellimist brought Joey back, that building got destroyed by bug fighter with Rachel and Colt near it, Rachel got trapped in owl morph, Colt broke his leg, and Cassie and Rachel are back at the house looking for things we'll need if we're staying here, and Erek and Lia are still at the house. This is what I'm hoping, anyway."
Jake was shocked, but he nodded. "Are you sure..."
"About Rachel being trapped? Yes, she was knocked out for hours. She's stuck good."
Jake didn't say another thing, just looked thoughtful. "So Cassie and Lia are fine?"
"Yeah," I said quickly, nodding.
Jake looked a bit suspisious. "Is that really you?"
I looked up at the sky. "It's me! How many times am I going to have to say this?"
"Why's that so hard for you to believe?" Lance asked, looking at me. "Why shouldn't she really be here? What's the problem?"
"I died before the major war started." I stated calmly. "He knows that and finds it difficult to realize that Marco isn't playing a joke on him."
Lance looked at me with a confused expression. "Oh."
Marco grinned at me, and then looked at Lance. "It's the truth. We're going to have to do something, too, because if the Yeerks find us, and..." He trailed off. "Oh, right. Guys, we're all staying together. Three days. No one's going to leave."
Jake stared at him. "You mean to see if we're controllers."
Marco shrugged. "Yeah."
Jake nodded. "Okay, that makes sense. How're we doing it?"

*Rachel*
< Erek, it's Rachel. Get up and get moving. We need to find enough stuff to stay somewhere for a few days. Bring Lia.>
"What?" he asked, surprised.
"Lia, blankets and some food, moving fast and going now," Cassie said, slightly rushed. "I got her. Just find the stuff I said and head that way." She pointed in that direction.
< If you get lost, just look for the building that fell down,> I added sarcastically. Erek looked confused, but moved to do what we said.
< Lia? Don't do anything,> I ordered Lia in private thought-speech. < You're going for a fun ride.>
"Do what?" Lia asked brightly.
"We're going to go see Marco," Cassie said, looking at Erek. "Don't get lost, and get there as soon as possible. Bye." She walked out the door, looked up at me, and went into hyper-mode.
I flapped hard. The sun was not my favorite thing. And it was shinning right on me. And I was an owl. Do you get the picture? I was not a happy owl. I was, in fact, getting very short on temper. And I disliked the feeling of being trapped no matter how free I was. Trapped in morph and by the Yeerks. It was not a good feeling to have. I was getting edgy. And angry. And I didn't have something to fight, the Yeerks were out of reach and nothing could be done about being trapped.
I didn't even want to be thinking about it right now. But Cassie wasn't talking, and there was nothing to do but fly and think. I would go crazy just flying along, thinking.
We got back to the area before I went crazy. We headed straight for the building.
< Hey, Marco, Joey, we have Lia and Erek's bringing the other stuff,> I announced as I glided in. < And then we're going to look for Tobias, Jake and Ax.>
Marco sticks his head out the door. "Oh, get in here," he shouted. "Jake and Lance are here, and Jak's gotten away."
< What?> I asked, fluttering over his head and into the building.
"Rachel?" one of the boys asked.
"Rachel?" the other says, but without the same infliction. That one is Lance, and the other was Jake.
< I'm fine,> I said.
"Right." Jake said, with skepticalism. "Did I hear Marco inform you what's going on?"
"Yes," Cassie said, putting Lia down.
"Daddy!" Lia exclaimed, running to Jake.
The look on Cassie's face was complete shock. Jake picked up Lia and looked back at Cassie. "What's wrong?" he asked, boucing Lia up and down until she giggled.
"She recognised you," Cassie said, sounding very tired and confused. "But not me."
Jake looked at Lia. "You're right. How did you know who I was, Lia?"
"Daddy," Lia repeated, smiling.
He shrugged in Cassie's direction and put Lia back on the ground. She started walking in my direction, fell over and crawled over to me and cooed, "Birdie!"
I very quickly backed up. I wasn't sure exactly what Lia would try to do if she managed to catch me, but I had a feeling that I might lose some feathers.
"Birdie!" Lia said again, and walked back to Jake.

*Joey*
Marco and I and to figure out a way to keep us all together for three days. Finally, we put together a plan.
Not a good plan, but a plan.
"We pair up," Marco said. "Jake, Lance and Erika are all seperate from each other. What do you think the groups should be?"
I frowned. "There's an odd number of people, so Lia will go with Cassie and... Rachel? Sure, Rachel. Erika and Colt together, and that leaves Jake, Lance and us--"
"They need to be separated, so that splits us up," Marco concluded. "Right. I'll take Jake."
"So I'm partnered with Lance?" I asked.
"Right," Marco said. "And don't let him out of your sight."
"Right," I said. "What about Erek?"
"Erek can't be infected. When he gets here, we can trust him."
"If he gets here," I said mildly, chewing in my hair. "You're right."
"If," Marco agreed with a wince. "So, what's our losses as of now?"
I shook my head, not to say I didn't know but as helplessness. "Tobias, Ax, Jak, and Fal. The only one we know is dead is Fal."
Marco nodded. "And we're suspisious about controllers. So let's tell them what we thought up."

*Colt*
I glanced at Erika. She grinned at me, but I didn't feel too good about having to stay with her for three days. I didn't really like her as much anymore, she was getting to be annoying.
She smiled again, and then Jake and Lance started laying down some ground rules. I half-listened, going over the usefulness in my mind. Besides that I knew Erika wasn't a controller, she had more reason to be suspisious of me than I had of her, I was ignoring her almost completely.
Finally, they let us start talking again. I was also getting sick of Lance. Usually, he left everything up to us and just kept us from killing each other or getting on each other's nerves too much, but now he was bossing us around.
Very annoying, even though we all knew he was in charge.
Jake was even worse, but he seemed to expect us to whine and complain like he did, so it wasn't too bad. But right before we started talking again, Lance walked over to me and handed me something. "Swallow," he commanded.
I picked up whatever it was and swallowed it.
Lance looked at me. "You should be better in ten minutes or so. Be ready for your leg to heal, slowly."
I winced at the thought, and he nodded symathetically. Healing broken bones this bad usually took twenty seconds. During the time that the bone healed, it itched terribly but otherwise felt slightly numb. I lay still, and I could feel it starting to itch. Very badly. I dug my fingernails into my own forearms to wait.

*Rachel*
Cassie and I had to take Lia. I held Lia most of the time, and Cassie talked to Jake. Jake's partner was Marco, and Marco was talking to Lance and Joey and Erika was talking to Colt, her partner.
This seems quiet and controlled, until you realize that Lia is trying to run around, Colt is still sitting, shaking from something, while Erika talked, Joey and Lance were shouting, and so were Jake and Cassie. Joey and Lance were having a friendly argument to get to know each other, but Cassie and Jake were getting mad. Marco was listening to Joey and Lance, but glanced over at Cassie and Jake every few seconds.
Jake and Cassie were grinding into my nerves, and I hated having them argue. So I listened to Lance and Joey.
They weren't exactly arguement, but talking loudly about things that happened to them and interrupting each other. After a while, I got bored with that and flapped over to Colt.
< What's the problem?> I asked him, glancing at Erika.
"Hurts," Colt said, then reverted to his own kind of telepathy. ^Healing slow,^ he said in a voice laced with pain. ^Itches bad. Very bad. The bones are fusing together so slowly.^
I believed him. That would be painful.
"He's healing very slowly," Erika said. "On the bright side, in ten minutes his leg will be fine. On the bad side, for the next ten minutes he's going to be trying not to scratch his broken leg."
^Itches,^ Colt agreed.
I flew off. That wasn't making me feel any better. I settled back down and listened to Joey and Lance argue.

*Joey?*
Okay, this is getting stupid. I have changed the password and I'm not typing down any of the human things I'm expected to type. It was getting on my nerves. And I happen to like the poetic justice the Elimist employs while dealing with "lesser beings." It means I get a host.
My name is Calin 189.

*Calin 189*
I know, I am Joey's friend, the one who saved her life.
Right.
Joey exaggerated her diary, I think. I might have talked that way, I was so young and stupid, but I did not risk my life to give her a Dracon beam. I had ingeniously made a plan to trick the eyes of anyone watching.
I was never in any danger.
Joey wants to say something other than "let me out," for once.
Okay, I just wanted to say that THIS IS NOT ME, GUYS! THIS IS NOT ME! How can you be tricked?
That's nice, Joey. It's very easy to be tricked.
Insults don't work. I am still in control.
At least my "partner," Lance, is infested by Sub Visser 68 and "Jake" is Kase 76. Erika, also, is Medin 34. We are working together, although I do not have the same interests as they do. They tolorate me because I made a perfectly sensible plan for getting out of here, tonight. And getting to a ground base for the Yeerks.
So they're tolerating me, and I them. None of us are pleased with it, but was must work together. And our plan is going into action now. Sub Visser 68, using his host's powers, has been influencing 'Colt', a vampire.
"Stop it, Erika! You're driving me crazy! Could you just stop?!" Colt screamed, then fell back. In pain. His leg was red and bloody. He had scratched it himself.
"Colt! Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine!" Colt yelled. "Leave me alone! Stop it!"
"What's wrong?" Sub Visser 68 asked, acting the part of the concerned leader.
"I'm fine!" Colt screamed. I kept a grin from appearing on my host's face as I hurried over, the humans and vampires around me running over as well.
"Colt!" Sub Visser said, playing the part expertly and grabbing onto Colt's shoulders. "Get a grip! Get a grip!"
Colt continued screaming, but the words were so garbled it made no sense. The Sub Visser continued shaking him and Colt continued ripping skin off his leg.
This was shocking to my host, but I was enjoying it. Colt was hysterical, and he was injuring himself, on purpose. Well, not quite on purpose. But close.
After another five minutes, Colt finally stopped screaming, and his leg healed. Very quickly. I just realized how hard Colt must have been scratching, because the cuts would heal nearly instantaniously, and he still had blood all over his leg. The cuts were healing, though. Looking at the blood running his leg, he looked at it with a strange expression and wiping a finger along it, and licked it.
I didn't make a comment, but stood quietly and serenely until there was no more blood on his leg, than asked him if her was all right.
"I'm fine," he said shakily. "Now, at least."
"Do you want to trade partners or something?" I asked.
"That would be a good idea," he said, nodding.
"Okay, Marco, why doesn't he switch with you?"
Marco nodded. "Sure, go tell Jake he's partnered with Erika."
I smiled and quickly headed over to Kase, and told him that the plan had worked. We would sneak out as soon as everyone was asleep.
It was going to work. And they'd never know what happened, stupid humans.

*Colt*
We had all had a long day, and we finally got to go to sleep.
Finally.
My leg was fine, completely. I was healed, completely. That didn't mean I was any happier. I was still mad at Erika, and at the rest of the whole world.
Marco dropped off to sleep in seconds, so I had plenty of time to think. Marco had told me, before falling asleep, to keep an eye on everything and wake him up if anything happened. So I was going to stay up for a while. We both trusted that we weren't controllers, we we worked well together. I would wake Marco up when I couldn't stay up any more, and we both would know that we weren't going to be stabbed in the back while sleeping, not that we really believed that anything like that would happen.
But I had my suspisions. So, instead of just sitting up, I lay down. I had a better chance of falling asleep like that, but no one would do anything if I was just standing around.
Like I said, I didn't expect anything, but I did put myself into almost painful hyper-awarness. I could hear every sound from outside, I could see everything, anything. If the Yeerks were going to sneak up on us, they were going to have a surprise in for them when we attacked.
So, imagine my surprise when I woke to a thudding sort of noise.
And another. Another. I tuned everything down, and recognised the sound.
Footsteps. It had seemed so loud earlier, but they were quiet and sneaky. Four of them.
I could see perfectly fine, and I slowly opened my eyes and looked for who it was, verifying the sight of two people whos footsteps I had already memorised, the exact way they walked.
Erika and Lance.
There were two other people with them, Joey and Jake, but my main focus was Erika and Lance. That was why all that had happened. Lance did have the ability to make anyone happy, or sad, or scared or nervous, with his little subliminal messages. He must have done the same thing to me, that's why I had done all that. It was all a Yeerk act, a plan, a stupid Yeerk game they were playing with us. I felt like I was radiating anger, but I was silent, at least until the door closed begind them.
Then I was up. The vampires... Yeerks with vampire bodies wouldn't be expecting anyone to follow them without first challenging them. But I needed some help.
^Marco,^ I said quietly, knowing that any sudden awakenings would alert them, but if I didn't hurry, they would get away without me tracking them. ^Marco!^
Marco stirred, and I clapped one hand over his mouth and ordered him to freeze.
^Don't talk,^ I said. ^We're going to have to get going.^
< Hold off, boy,> someone said. I glanced up. Rachel.
^Good, Rachel. Track them. We'll follow as soon as everyone's awake.^
< How do I know you're not one of them? You might turn everyone into controllers while I do that.> Rachel challenged.
^Rachel. Trust me on this one. Please.^
< And don't attack anyone, Xena,> Marco added.
< I'm not stupid,> Rachel responded.
^Get Cassie,^ I said to Marco. ^Leave Lia here with Erek.^
Marco woke Cassie quickly, and with a few silent words with Rachel she agreed. We were outnumbered, but we would have to hope. The Yeerk is Joey's head couldn't do very much, because Joey was only a normal human.
I let the vampire part of my brain take over as I navigated the rooftops where they had gone. I could still strain and hear their footsteps, but they were far away. We were gaining, though, and quickly.
With a silencing look at Cassie and Marco and another look at Rachel, Rachel flapped off silently in response to my tense order to look for what they were doing.
She reported and I squeezed my eyes closed to asess the situation. It was pretty desperate, but--
I was slammed sideways off my feet. < They're coming!> Rachel shouted, a tenth of a second too late.
I landed on my knees, but Lance was back at me before I had a chance to move up again. My arm was twisted up at a position impossible for humans, and one that even hurt a vampire. It hurt me.
^Call them off,^ said a voice that wasn't Lance's, but close enough.
^No way,^ I answered, gritting my teeth and trying to force my arm back down by myself.
The Yeerk grinned and pulled my arm to the limit. ^Call. Them. Off.^ he said.
^I'm not going to!^ I yelled at him.
He snapped my arm like a toothpick. Pain flashed through my shoulder until my arm re-set itself and healed, which took five seconds, five seconds in which I was too occupied being in pain than anything else. Five seconds, a lot of time for a vampire. Not for healing a broken arm, because for one as badly boken as the Yeerk just had, I would have thought double. Whatever he gave me must have done some good. But five seconds is more than enough time for a vampire to pick up someone up, haul him over to a wall, and painfully pin him to it while ordering the fighting to stop.
Cassie and Marco dropped off to the side. They didn't look in the best of conditions, but they were at least alive. Considering their very limited experiance of fighting as vampires, that alone was enough good news for me.
I was, as I mentioned before, pinned to the wall. With my arms stuck behind me and Lance standing too close for me to kick him. He was keeping me there with one hand, which was probably supposed to be an insult, and it was.
The Yeerk gave me Lance's smile. The one that meant, cool it, everything's fine. I hated the Yeerk for that, right then. But as I continued struggling, I realized that something was wrong with this.
< Joey,> Marco said, the one word holding more hate than I knew he could put into the name of that girl.
I kept struggling. "Yeerk, you will let me go," I said forcefully.
At the same time, I added, ^You're right.^
Joey was standing there silently and thoughtfully. She acted like this was all a game to be put on for her fun, and she wasn't having fun. She was blinking every few seconds and didn't even bother to look me straight in the eye, although she didn't avoid it.
But she was vampire. Completely vampire.
How could I have missed it?
Lance smiled again and for a terrifying instant, I thought he could read minds. Even before he was a controller it wouldn't have surprised me. He was always saying things you didn't expect him. But coming from Lance, what he said was most unexpected of all.
"I am going to find out what it is, and then I am going to kill you." he hissed in my face. He slammed me back into the wall, and my head slammed into it with sufficiant force to crack both the wall and my head. When I healed from the blow that I'm nearly certian would have ordinarilly killed me, they were gone.
< Cassie, give me a hand, here!> Marco yelled. I blinked again. No, they weren't all gone. Joey was still there, trying to fight Marco away from her. He was holding onto her arms as she struggled.
Cassie grabbed her around the waist, and kept fighting to get out. Blinking again, I stood up slowly, and when I was sure I was completely healed I grabbed Joey away from Cassie.
I learned something from those few seconds of fighting Lance. Pinning people kept them quiet and still. I shoved her into the wall, nearly choking her.
"What's going on?" I asked out loud.

*Calin 189*
I choked in a lungful of air.
^What's going on?^ Colt demanded again. ^Why are you a vampire?^
He knows, he knows, he knows, he knows, he knows.... It ran through my brain, as well as Joey's. But I couldn't say anything.
^Tell me,^ Colt said, and he drilled his eyes into me. I remembered something the sub visser had said about the same subtle sort of mind reading he had used to scare Colt. Colt was now obviously using this against me.
"I... I... I..." I stammered.
"Tell me!" Colt yelled, obviously frusterated. Then he ordered the other two over his shoulder. ^Get to Erek and Lia, and get them out of there. Don't tell me where you're going.^
They started moving, but not before Marco gave one last look at me. Joey... no, my host. It was much easier to think of her as that. My host yelled at him, but he finally turned.
"They obey you like they obeyed Lance." I growled at Colt.
Colt pushed me backwards. "Don't try it, Yeerk."
"Try what?" I asked, putting an appropretely angelic look on my face.
"You know what I mean," Colt said.
"I suppose I do," I said.
I whipped Colt's arm away from me faster than he could see. Sub Visser 68 had to give him a quickened healing potion, he was no use injured, but there were a few things in it to make him slower, because he had been the most likely to be suspisious.
Suspisious enough.
"I don't think you should be asking me anything," I said, but I wasn't sure about who was watching me. Someone was, I knew, but I didn't know who. "But I will answer. I was the first test of the new, improved, faster method of turning humans into vampires." I smiled maliciously. "Right now, scientists are working on the same thing for Hork-Bajir."
Colt raised his arm, not to punch me, but probably to rip my host's heart out. He hesitated, then frowned. "Why did you tell me?"
I shrugged, still smiling.
Colt took a breath to control his anger, and I knew that I had gotten to him. He saw a girl who happened to have the appearance of a vampire but still did not seem to pose a threat. He was unsure. Not if I was a Yeerk, but he wasn't going to kill me. I was, however, prepared to be hurt badly. From his point of view, I would deserve it.
Something sharp slashed towards me. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, but I was unprepared for danger from any direction except Colt's, and I had no time to move.

*Colt*
^Thank you,^ I said with relief.
< You are welcome,> Ax answered. < You were having problems?>
< Ax!> someone else yelled. < Is it just me, or does that look like Joey?!>
^It's Joey,^ I answered. When they both stared at me, I said quickly, ^Long story. But Lance, Jake and Erika are still getting away. They're controllers.^
A hawk landed on the roof and started de-morphing. < Wonderful,> Tobias said, getting his mouth and vocal cords back. "Just wonderful. Colt, do you think you can carry her?"
^I'm not sure where to, but I'll do it,^ I answered.
< What am I to do?> Ax asked.
"Morph bird," To said, started to morph back. < We follow him.>
< Good idea,> Ax answered as his fur started melting into feathers.
^I'll explain it all on the way,^ I said bitterly. ^You two probably aren't going to take this well.^

*Rachel*
< I don't know what to do!> Cassie yelled at Marco.
< We could have--> Marco started, but I cut him off.
< Marco, Marco, I know you really like Joey but you are not the person to get information out of the Yeerk controlling her.>
Marco mumbled something incomprehensible, and Cassie shot me a grateful look for getting her point across to him. < Let's hurry,> she suggested, and I landed back on her shoulder. As she went faster and faster, Marco keeping up, I wondered what the Yeerks were planning now.
Probably nothing that would make us any happy.

*Colt*
< Rachel is what!?!> Tobias yelled when I told him the news.
^Owl nothlit,^ I repeated.
< This isn't happening! > Tobias yelled. < No, it's not! This just isn't happening! None of this is happening!>
^Sorry, To. I said you weren't going to take it well,^ I answered. ^But I'll just sumarize it up for you: Jak is still missing, Erika, Jake and Lance are controllers and missing, Rachel is a nothlit, Joey's back, and three Animorphs are vampires. Plus, someone named Fal is dead. No one but I know where you are, and I have every right to think you both are controllers. In all, this is a truely pathetic group.^
< At least you got that right,> Tobias muttered.

*Rachel*
"Right." Marco said bitterly after Erek summed up what he had understood from our frantic babblings to get him out of the building.
"Oh." Erek said. "Somehow I was hoping that that was a joke."
< No, sorry,> I said, sitting on Cassie's shoulder.
We had to go normal walking pace because of Erek, but I was sure that Colt wasn't going to be turned into a controller fast enough to track us.
^Hey, guys!^
Or maybe not.
Colt, holding onto Joey, jumped down onto the street next to us. "We'll keep her three days, okay Marco?"
"Right," Marco said. "You, too."
"Me too? Oh, okay," Colt said. Then, "Hey, guess who else is here?"
Two birds flew in and started rapidly de-morphing.
< Tobias!> I shrieked.
"And Ax," Marco added.
< Hello, Marco, Cassie, Erek, Lia,> Ax said.
< Rachel, hi!> Tobias said.
Colt grinned, a little sideways. "We're not splitting up again, are we?"
< "NO!"> Cassie, Marco, Erek, Tobias and I yelled at the same time.
"Okay, okay," Colt said covering his ears. "Bad idea?"
"Very bad idea," Cassie answered quickly.
"Thought so," Colt said with a nod. "So why did you guys listen to me? If I was you, I'd think I was a Yeerk when I ordered you up."
They all exchanged glances. "I'm not sure," Marco said.
Colt nodded. "Yeah. I didn't think so."
"You sounded like you expected us to listen," Cassie added. "Not like a Yeerk would be worrying if it worked."
Colt seemed to wince at the words "expect us to listen." I didn't blame him.
< Not to mean it personally,> I added. < You just didn't act like a Yeerk.>
Colt nodded. "I just wanted to make sure, you know, that you weren't trusting me just because I said to."
Erek shook his head. "They've been fighting for years, they're not that gullible."
Colt smiled. "I know. It's weird, because you look my age now."
Cassie frowned, and I winced.
"Mommy?" Lia asked, reaching for Cassie.
I looked back at Lia. "Birdie!" Lia added, delighted.
< No, Lia, you're not playing with the bird,> I said definitely, hopping off Cassie's shoulder as she picked up Lia.
"Why did she remember me now?" Cassie asked, turning to Erek, who had been holding Lia.
Erek shrugged.
"And she recognized Jake earlier," Cassie remembered. "How?"
Erek shrugged helplessly again. Ax, who was in a human morph again, shrugged as well. "I do not know, Cassie."
Cassie looked annoyed, but no further.
Tobias, it looked, had just worked up enough courage to talk to me. "Rachel?"
< Yes?>
"You're really a owl?"
< Yeah, Tobias.>
"Situation reversed, isn't it?"
< Yeah, it is.>
"What are we going to do?"
< I don't know.>
Tobias went silent and fell back to a pace to be at the end of our group, looking very depressed.
And it didn't look like he was the only one. Myself, for one, but Ax was looking edgy, as far as I could tell in his human morph. Marco looked angry, and Cassie looked partly happy because of Lia, but we were so depressing to be around she was looking a little depressed as well. Colt was the only one who looked even slightly normal, and he was subdued now that we were all here.
We walked in silence, even though we weren't really heading anywhere.

*Calin 189*
I woke up to realize that I had been caught. I was being carried. And in no pain. The vampire transformation must have worked very well.
"She's awake," Marco announced, putting me down.
I didn't move, or speak. I opened my eyes and glared at Marco. He glared back. "Yeerk, you could make this a while lot easier on yourself it you just gave up."
"Don't I appear to have?" I asked, smiling sweetly. "I haven't attacked you yet."
Colt stopped next to Marco. "You know, she's right. According to her, no matter how unreliable, she got treatments better than Lance's. Even if we don't believe her, which wouldn't be a good idea, then she was at least given treatments that matched Lance's, which were better than ours." He ran over a few things in his mind as quickly as possible. After frowning for a few minutes, he started again. "And Lance was only a few years after us, and they've had almost ten years to make a better version. Besides, it took us two years of widely spaced test to turn into vampires, and stay alive at the same time. So if anything, they made it faster."
"A lot faster," Cassie agreed.
Then Colt started frowning with concentration again, and started talking to Ax mentally and in thought-speach, so that I couldn't hear them. They glanced at me every few seconds. Finally, Colt came up with a verdict.
"She's going to be a problem for us, a big one. No sleep. No feeding. Nothing. All of us are going to stay here at all times, and once the Yeerk dies, if we go anywhere it's together."
"What about Jake?" Cassie asked.
With a glance at Ax, Colt answered, "We'll handle that when it comes up," he said slowly. "But if those three show up, we're going to have to drop Joey and scram, got it? No hanging around and seeing what they want, we're running as soon as possible. Got it?"
"Yes," they all said.
Ax said something silent to Colt, and Colt turned around to answer him just as silently, and they started getting into an arguement of some kind. Rachel and Marco joined in, and Cassie and Erek just stared, obviously able to hear every word they said.

*Colt*
^She had to have been a controller when this whole thing started! How could she have gotten captured with all us around?^ I said, as calmly and rationally as possible.
< The Elimist wouldn't have given us a deal like that!> Marco screamed. < Something's going on here, and the Yeerks are doing whatever they want!>
< I disagree, Marco, because there have been few times when she was out of your sight,> Ax said. I nodded seriously. ^Don't you get it? She's been tricking us the whole time!^
< Is this arguement really neccessary?> Rachel asked.
We all stared at the small owl perched on Ax's shoulder. < What?> we all said.
< I mean, the Yeerk's going to die sonner or later, if it dies sonner, Colt's right, if not, Marco's right. What's the point in arguing now?>
^Because we need to!^ I said. ^We need to figure out if the Yeerks found us and are picking us off one by one, of this is just some sick, twisted Elimist trick!^ My heart started beating out of control, and I took two slow, steadying breaths. Then I realized what the problem was, while Rachel was in the middle of responding to me.
< We can just-->
^Rachel, please be quiet, I'm not in the mood. Whatever Lance gave me is doing something.^
< WHAT?> Rachel shrieked in outrage.
< What are you talking about?> Marco asked.
^What I'm talking about.^ I answered as evenly as possible, ^Is that that had... something... in it. I'm not sure what, but it's some sort of...^
< Drug?> Cassie asked.
^Maybe,^ I answered. ^But it has one effect I wasn't particularly expecting.^
< What's that?> Rachel asked as patiently as possible.
^Set back my blood,^ I answered.
< Set back your... what?> Rachel demanded.
^Well, of highest importance, my motabolism speeded up for however long, using up all oxygenated human blood in my system.^
There was a pause. < Okaaaay,> Rachel said. < What does that translate to?>
Ax looked at me strangely, guessing what I was talking about.
^Human blood.^ I explained. ^I need to feed again.^
Everyone gave me a look of complete disgust, which I ignored. I was expecting that. But then Marco looked uncertain. < Colt... who do you know that you have to... um...>
^Feed?^ I supplied helpfully, using the best word we had come up with. ^You start feeling sick and faint and pretty much... the symptoms of the flu, I suppose, in the begining.^
< Oh,> Marco said, and he and Cassie glanced at each other.
I bit down on laughter. ^You have to admit, this is slightly a disaster.^
Marco nodded. < So, what are we going to do?>
I shrugged. ^We can't split up, you two are vampires, Erek's an andriod, Lia's a baby, Joey can't give her consent and she's a vampire... Tobias? Ax?^
Tobias went pale, but he couldn't answer in thought-speach, as the only one not in a morph. He shook his head definately.
Ax looked worried. < It would work,> he admitted.
^I know that.^ I said. ^But you can de-morph back to Andalite, we're starving, and we can't leave to go pick off a human unless we want you to be suspisious. And I need permission.^
< When you put it that way...> Cassie said, shuddering.
< We're going to have to?> Marco whined.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my heart down. ^It's up to Ax. How about it?^
< It is fine with me, Colt.>
^Okay then,^ I said, picking up his human hand. He looked startled as I made Marco hold it, opened some veins, and Marco instincively started feeding.
Cassie shuddered again. < It would be okay if I didn't know him... and if I didn't know I was next...>

*Calin*
I shuddered involentarily as Marco started sucking on the blood coming out of Ax's wrist. Joey's screams were getting hysterical. She wasn't very happy about this, so I forced her to watch it, just to get to to stay quiet. It didn't work very well, and even after I shut her off from seeing it, she was still screaming, mainly at me, but some at Marco, Colt and Cassie. The problem was that she wasn't entirely aware when or where she was, and all the remarks were giving me a headache.
< Nooo! I don't want to die, stop them! Stop Marco, the idiot! I hate it! Make him stop! Make him stop, make him stop! Ax, stop him! Colt!>
< Shut UP!> I yelled at her. She started whimpering about Marco, and I started wishing that she would disappear. It would make everything so much easier.
< No, I can't, Calin. And I thought we were friends,> said a small thought in the back of her mind. < I guess I was wrong, but we were at least allies.>

*Colt*
As objectively as possible, I watched Cassie feed, although she did not look at all pleased. Joey, still cowering in a corner, shivered violently.
"Joey?" Marco asked.
Joey hissed, almost like a snake, and turned away from him. Marco looked stunned.
Cassie stopped as soon as possible, wiping her mouth on the back of her sleeve. She handed his wrist to me. I fed quickly and neatly, stopped the bleeding and told him to de-morph. He did as I asked.
Marco was trying to talk to Joey, and she wasn't responding. Finally, I glanced at him, then gave a quick, sharp order.
^Name.^
^Calin 189,^ the controller answered, then stopped in shock.
I grinned at Marco. "She didn't even know how to use mental com, I'd bet. And she didn't know about automatics."
"Automatics?" Marco asked.
^Name?^ I ordered him.
^Marco,^ said a surprised mental voice, and I grinned at him.
"The name thing works almost all the time." I told him. "Name, age, that kind of thing, if a vampire gets asked that by someone talking like we do, they answer, unless they hold off automatic. Automatic is anything you do without thinking, so for us it's things like that. Anything we do without thinking."
^Oh,^ he said, trying out his newly discovered way of communication.
^You keep practicing, if you want,^ I said.
^Weird. It's like thought-speach, sort of.^
^But different,^ I informed him. ^You need to know English to understand it, for one.^
^Why?^ Marco asked.
I reeled off a few phases in Spanish, and Marco stared at me. ^What was that? It sounded like some Spanish, but..."
"Spanish." I informed him. "Repeat that to Ax in thought-speach."
Marco frowned, then did what I asked.
"What?" Ax asked, staring at Marco.
"You said he would understand," Marco said to me.
"I understood..." Ax said, sounding confused. "I was simply wondering why you would call me a 'pineapple head.'"
Marco looked at me, confused. I started laughing.

*Rachel*
After all the interesting things were done with the vampires, we really had nothing to do but sit around and talk. Joey, or Calin, depending on how you look at it, still had nothing to say, and wasn't talking. We were getting bored, and Marco was getting irritated. Colt looked ready to go crazy. I guess we had made him our unofficial leader. Like Jake knew, that isn't always something you want to happen to you.
"So, what are we doing?" Colt asked after Lia finished babbling about "pretty birdie." "I mean, here we are, perfect targets, and we're just sitting here."
We all looked at one another. No one had anything to say. "We could start moving," Cassie suggested. "I don't know where we'd go."
"Besides, it would have been stupid of the Yeerks not to put tracking devices on Joey. They would be able to track us down very quickly," Ax added.
Marco glared at everyone. He really was in a bad mood. "I think that we should get away from this place. At least to keep them confused."
"That would not confuse them," Ax said.
"That's too bad," Marco snapped. "We should start moving because we're going to just feel helpless until we do."
He fell silent and we all looked around at each other. < So?> I asked Colt.
Colt sighed. He didn't want to make this decision. "He's right, but we don't know what's out there."
"We're vampires," Marco said, looking like he want to punch something. "We can handle it. Let's get going."
Colt nodded. He wasn't going to tell him what to do. "We're going to have to move slow," he cautioned. "Erek and Lia are not going to be able to keep up with vamp pace, and Tobias, Rachel and Ax can't fly as fast as us, either. Morph birds," he added offhand to Tobias and Ax.
Ax immediantly begain demorphing to Andalite, and Tobias had already started to red-tailed hawk, which was still his favorite bird.
"Good." Marco said. "Calin, get up. You're coming with us if you like it or not."

*Calin*
I growled at Marco but got up. I would rather get up myself than have him help me up. I glared around the dark room at everyone else.
< Well, the Yeerk is in as good a mood as any trapped Yeerk has ever been,> Tobias said lightly.
I narrowed my eyes at him. He was almost completely bird, and if I could get to him it would hae been easy to kill him. But Marco and Colt were between him and me. It would be suicidal to even try.
But, I was a vampire. A trapped one, but no one would expect me to attack. I tensed as litle as possible to attack Marco. Joey yelled at me something, probably to stop. I launched myself at Marco, plainly trying to kill him.
I slamed backwards onto hard concrete. My head collided with the floor.
Someone was above me. I flipped to me feet, only to wince at the pain in my head.
Marco was staring at me in shock, but Colt was between us. He was the one who had realized I was going to go after Marco. I dropped back to show that I wasn't going to attack again, and put a hand to my head where it had smashed into the floor.
Now I knew why Marco was staring. Bone fragments and blood were on my hand. I wiped it off on my pants at put my hand back up. It had stopped bleeding and had healed perfectly, even if there was still blood left. I grinned at Marco.
He took a wincing step backwards.
Colt probably said something to him, because there was some silence. They were having another of their conversations.

*Colt*
^Got it?^ I asked.
< Yes,> everyone else chorused.
I gave a mental nod. They knew what to do if Joey so much as moved the wrong way. They knew now that we couldn't hurt her. It would be near impossible. In fact, if I had knocked one of the others to the ground with the same force they would be dead. Of course, her own momentum was what made her fall back so hard.
^Okay, good,^ I said. Joey was still glaring. Calin, not Joey. Calin was glaring at us. I hated to think of what Joey must be going through. It must be terrible to be a controller.
"So?" she demanded. "What are you doing with me?"
I flinched. "We're not going to do anything," I said. "First, we're going to figure out a few things. First, when did you first infest your host?"
Calin grinned. "I can't tell you something I don't know."
"When?!" Marco yelled at her.
Calin shrugged and answered carelessly. "I know that I first took control sometime after her first diary entry. Up until then I had been unconscious."
Marco narrowed his eyes and I shrugged. "I guess it could happen. It beats the 'they-picked-her-off-the-street' theory when she never left your side."
< True,> Rachel said. < Now, Yeerk, what's the password to this?>
"You think she actually wrote down anything incriminating?" Marco asked without turning towards Rachel. Rachel had landed on the computer, where Erek had accessed Joey's diray files. "Her password's 'Marco.'"
Erek tapped a few keys and came up with an 'incorrect password' message. "Apparently not," Erek said.
"Hmm." Marco said, taking a quick glance behind him. "Not so simple after all. What's the password?"
Calin flinched this time. "No."
Marco leaned forward, looking her right in the eye. "What. Is. The. Password?"
Calin edged backwards. "I said I'm not--"
"Marco, look out!" Cassie screamed. I hadn't even picked it up, but Cassie was right. Marco jerked to the side and Calin's punch barely connected with his head. Balancing herself back, it looked like she hadn't even moved. She glared at Cassie.
"Good call," I said to Cassie without take my own eyes off Calin, relieved. Marco didn't look like he was hurt, but plenty mad.
"The password," he said with a good amount of self control. But I knew he could go off any minute. Calin must have know, too.
"Sam," Calin whispered. "It was her best friend. She asked me to put it."
"That's it exactly," Erek said, accessing the files without a problem.

*Rachel*
Marco and Colt traded off the part of interrogator five more times before they finally gave up trying to get more information out of Calin. Colt finally fell over out of exhaustion.
"Colt?" Cassie asked. I pumped my wings a few times and glided over.
< What's wrong?>
Colt smiled sleepily. ^I haven't slept in two days.^ he said. ^Cassie, take over for me. And keep him under control.^
By "he," Colt meant Marco. Marco was practically shaking with anger at the Yeerk. Cassie pushed him away from where he was yelling at her to tell him whatever he was asking.
Marco shoved Cassie back. "I'm just getting some stuff out of her!" he insisted, keeping his eyes glued to where she was. He wasn't going to let her make another move towards him.
"It's time to go to sleep," Cassie said. "I'll take over watching her."
< How much longer?> I asked Cassie privately.
Cassie sighed. < I don't know, Rachel. Maybe a day. Maybe less. Or more. We can't be sure with the kind of answers she's giving us.>
I nodded my owl head. < Okay. But keep a very close eye on her. I'll talk to the guys.>
Cassie nodded and I flew over to where the boys were. I automatically ordered myself to de-morph, then realized that I couldn't.
< Hi,> I said.
"Oh, hi, Rachel," Erek said
< Hello,> Ax said. He was keeping Lia on her feet as she tried to walk by holding onto her arms. He was in his Andalite body.
"Hi," Tobias said softly, trying to fade into the background. I didn't miss how he flinched when I said hi.
< So, what have you found out?> I asked.
Erek scrolled down. "Not much. We've," and he jerked his head at Ax, "read it a few times, and it isn't telling us anything Marco hasn't gotten out of Calin already."
< That's pretty much what I expected,> I said. < But I could hope.>
Erek nodded. "I know what you mean. But it looks like we're the only ones with problems on our side. The Yeerks have their half of this war under control."
< I know,> I said. < I don't know why I was hoping,> I turned and got ready of just off the box I had landed on.
"Rachel?" Tobias asked impulsively.
< What?> I responded.
"Don't... don't give up hope," he said, looking embarrassed. "You shouldn't stop hoping."
< Thanks, Tobias,> I said. I spread my wings and flapped back over to Cassie, who was staring at Calin. "So?" she asked.
< Nothing,> I said. < And Lia's fine. I'm going to sleep, too.>
Cassie nodded, then added, < Good. By the way, Colt's wide awake and ready for Joey to attack me. Talk to him and make sure he stays awake.>
< Worth a shot,> I said. < I wouldn't put it past her.> And I flew over to where Colt was sleeping, and pretended to get ready to sleep. Then I said, < Colt?>
^Right here, Rach,^ Colt said. ^Don't mention Joey or Lance or anything, just babble on about some battle you've had.^
I knew what he meant. He didn't want to hear about how messed up life was now. How it was long ago was fine when compared to this. At least for him.

*Colt*
Rachel started talking about some sort of rip in the fabric of time. I has barely listening, but wanted to make sure I was awake while doing my boring job. Half my mind was watching the muscles in Calin's leg. The other half was watching her arms and eyes. But she looked pretty resigned. I didn't trust her, but she did.
Cassie was saying something every once in a while, but Calin didn't move. She was thinking something over, it looked like. Or else she was having an arguement with Joey. Or something I couldn't tell. But I did manage to stay alert, which was good. I hadn't been exaggerating earlier when I was practically asleep on my feet.
I noticed something weird. At first I thought she was going to attack again.
^Cassie-- no, wait, what's she doing?^
< Don't know,> Cassie answered shortly. < What's wrong?>
^She's clenching her fists. And her arm is twitching.^
< Hm. Keep watching her, and-->
^Cassie!^
I hadn't even noticed that Calin's legs were moving until Cassie was abruptly cut off and Calin had moved. I jumped up and circled towards her. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rachel flap up, and stay near me but a few feet behind. Tobias and Ax were coming from behind me. Erek was staying with Lia. Cassie was unconscious but alive. The look in Calin's eyes was angry and desperate. She knew she was dead either way.
I could practically hear her thinking. Who was the fastest, who would attack, who could stop her first? It was me, obviously, but that was too stupid. Most vulnerable. Marco.
Just when I realized that, she was trapping Marco. Simply being next to him, I knew she could kill him in a second.
^Hold off!^ I shouted to Tobias and Ax. Ax lowered his tail, and Tobias stopped. Rachel came to land on a crate.
"Tobias," I said in a slightly calmer voice. "Get Cassie out of there."
Keeping his eyes on Calin and Marco, Tobias lifted Cassie up and carried her over to where Erek and Lia were. And started morphing.
Calin shook her head. "Stop."
Tobias, who was half-way into a morph, I think it was called a wolf, stopped instantly.
Calin nodded, still scared, and jerked her head at Marco. "Don't do anything, or he'll die."
I backed off a few paces, and waited.
The complete tension in the room was ridiculous. It was even hard to breathe.
This must be what it's like to know someone is going to die and you can't do anything to stop it, I thought randomly. Or that if you don't do anything it's going to destroy you and everything else...
Calin narrowed her eyes. She knew that I knew she was scared. And she didn't want that. But she also needed a way to get out of the room.
"Rachel," she said finally, her voice shaking. "Get over here."
Rachel glanced at me. I nodded hesitantly, and she flapped her wings, shrieked at Calin, and landed on Marco's shoulder.
"Good," Calin said, taking a deep breath. "No one move." She picked up Rachel. Her owl morph was a big bird, and she held it as nicely as possible, but owl instincts made Rachel nearly bite her. Rachel stopped and froze.
Calin glared around the room. "Don't. Move." she said, and then everything went to chaos.
I think that, as the only vampire on their own feet, I was the only one that saw anything happen. Marco was shoved forward and into me, knocking me all the way into the wall. Marco took a few seconds to recover, but I was already back on my feet in case she tried anything like that again, but, still holding Rachel, she had sprinted out the door. She closed the door behind her, and it slammed hard.
Panting, Marco stood up next to me. "Where'd she go?"
I shook my head. "I don't know."
"Rachel?" Cassie asked, standing up gingerly.
< I'm here,> Rachel said clearly. < She let me go as soon as she was out the door.>
I sighed in relief. I had not given an order that resulted in one of us dying. At least that much. Rachel flew in a window and perched back on the crate she had been on earlier. < What now?>
"We have to get moving," I said, grabbing the computer, throwing it at Erek, and handing Lia to Cassie. "Any injuries?"
"I'm fine now," Cassie said.
"Me too," Marco added.
< Nothing wrong with any of us, I guess,> Rachel said.
"Just hunted," Erek said. "By the Yeerks who are controlling our friends."
I winced. "Everyone, start moving." When Cassie started to speak, I silenced her with a hand. "No, don't tell me where. Keep your secrets."
"Where are you going?" Marco asked.
I was already walking towards the door. "To find Joey." I answered, opening the door and stepping out. ^I'll see you guys later, I hope.^

*Calin*
I was going as fast as possible. Colt was going to chase me, I knew it, maybe Marco and Cassie too. He wasn't going to give up that easily. I ran and ran. For a few hours, at least. I was far, far out of the city and away from everything. Toxic clouds were making everything dark, and every once in a while it would start raining. Acid rain. No wonder there weren't any plants or animals around.
I finally stopped. I looked around. I couldn't hear a single animal. Not even any bugs. It was completely deserted.
The acid rain started up again.
I shivered and sat down next to a boulder, one of the only things above the ground for miles. There were a few more rocks sitting here and here, but mostly empty land. This must have been one of those towns that we bulldozed down. There were some remains of buildings covered by a thin layer of dirt.
I had how long, a day at the best? Maybe a little more, to get back to Yeerk civilization and go to the pool. A day. I got out here in a few hours, it wouldn't take any longer to get back. Now, where was I?
I blinked as Joey screamed and fought for control. I scanned the area.
Nothing. I had come from the east, but I had been turning and twisting off in different directions to lose Colt.
I blinked again, and sat back down and sighed. I was going to have to wait until I had a better idea of where I was. Mentally, I constructed a rough map and begain to back-track.
"Calin?" Colt asked. He slid down off the top of the boulder and landed in front of me.
I was on my feet and ready to fight. I could beat him, I did it once, I could do it again. I glared furiously, and he stepped backwards.
But his face wasn't one that looked like he was going in fight. In fact, he looked like he wasn't even going to defend himself. His arms were hanging down at his sides, his face was blank of emotion, and he was scanning the sky. Barely looking at me.
I dropped my guard slightly. ^What are you here for?^ I asked without speaking.
^I don't know,^ he answered the same way. ^What am I doing here?^
I shrugged and dropped my fists. ^So what are you planning to do?^
Colt breathed in the toxic air. ^What does it look like?^ he asked.
Then, changing the subject, he added ^This air is worst in the middle of nowhere. Not in the cities, like humans always worried. Just out here.^
I nodded, irritated. "Yeah, we destroyed the larger cities by putting up spaceports and then knocking the whole thing down when the humans started banding together and attacking us. So, what are you going to do?" I asked out loud. The silence was getting to me. The only noise was the rain hitting the ground. Colt raised his eyebrows. ^I don't know. But I'm not planning on killing you like you think.^
"How do you know what I think?" I demanded quickly.
Colt came very close to rolling his eyes. ^I just know what I would think under the conditions. But I'm not.^
"Why?" I asked.
"Friend?" he asked out loud, putting out his hand.
I hesitated. He appeared sincere, but... Oh, yes, this would work nicely.
"Friend." I said, shaking his hand. And then I pulled on the hand and held him still, head next to mine. I crawled out if Joey's head, leaving behind the screaming girl and going into Colt. I read his thoughts, dreams, hopes, and the plans that he had been making. Until now, when he's frozen in panic.
Joey was no longer in my control, but it didn't matter. She wasn't able to do anything, she simply fell down where she stood and didn't move. She was't going to attack.
This was the kind of thing Colt monitered. Who was moving, was it an attack, exactly how fast was it moving, was it living, could it cause a threat. Endless strings of information went through my head at fantastic speed, and I could see how more complex this brain was than Joey's.
< Oh, great, you like my brain?> Colt asked, sounding annoyed and defeated. < You what? This is crazy. I'm sorry, but I have gotten to the point of complete insanity.>
I didn't mind the overlaying thoughts he was aiming at me. The rest of them were far more interesting. I could see and hear everything, and they were carefully recorded. I was analyzing the motives that I had, but now that I was in charge it was switching over to taking information from Colt and trying to figure out where the rest of them had gone. There was, in fact, enough ways to analyze as I scarely used most of them. Colt used some, instead. He was thinking hard, but I didn't have time to worry about that. It was easy enough to take over at the smae level I usually did, not going as deep as I knew I could. His every thought and memory was open to me.
I opened the eyes. They were already open, but not taking in information, simply recording it and storing it for later use.
With a scathing look at Joey, I took off in the direction that Colt's brain knew was the city.

*Rachel*
We regrouped in the valley.
I sighed with relief as Tobias, Ax, and Erek trudged up the path. "Guys! Over here!"
They were dead tired, but they waved and continued walking towards us. "That," Tobias said, sitting on the ground, "Was the craziest idea anyone has ever thought of."
I shrugged, but then remembered I was an owl. < Calin wouldn't expect us to split up and morph strange humans. It was a risk we had to take.>
Erek's hologram, which looked vaguely like a boy I had known in school once, shimmered and disappeared. Ax had already started morphing back to his Andalite body.
Toby nodded. "Rachel's idea was a good one."
Tobias leaned back and stared at the sky. "Right. Okay, so at least we're all here."
"Correct. Cassie has explained the situation," Toby said with a Hork-Bajir smile. "You have the most amazing ability to get youselves into trouble."
"You're telling me?" Marco asked. He had been standing off to the side staring at the sunset.
"I wonder where Colt is," Cassie said.
"I wonder where Joey is," Marco countered, jerking his eyes away from the sky and giving Cassie a good, long stare.
Cassie finally looked away, and Marco aimed his eyes back up at the sky.
< So,> I said, trying to break the cheerful mood that had settled around our group. < What are we going to do next?>
"Calin'll figure it out," Marco said flatly, with his back still turned. "And if not, she'll just make contact with the Yeerks and send them here anyway, to get the Hork-Bajir."
Toby nodded, agreeing.
< What are we going to do about it?>
I looked around. No one answered.
< We need a prince,> said Ax, not very surprisingly. < We need someone to lead us. Who will this be?> Tobias looked at me. "Rachel's been doing an okay job with that."
I protested quickly, but Cassie joined in with Tobias. "Come on, just until Colt or Jake gets back." she said.
After everyone but Marco, including Toby, joinded in the chorus, I agreed. < Just for a day. No more,> I said.
"Right." Cassie said in a way I wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not. Lia giggled and ran around Toby's legs. Toby smiled tolerantly.
< Then I'll do it,> I said.

*Joey*
I got a hold on myself. Finally. I sat up and looked around.
Dark. Damp. Warm. A bad smell. A sickly glow coming from above. No noise except a sort of far-off humming.
I was outside. A spaceport was within twenty miles or so. It wasn't raining anymore. Some combination of the smell, warmth, and pollution made me want to choke.
I coughed once and looked around. Narrowing my eyes, I saw that my eyes were rapidly adjusting to the lack of light.
It's those shots they gave you, I thought. They had hurt, but not for long. And they had done what, turned me into a vampire? I still had a hard time believing that.
I looked around. My eyes were sharp and focused, nothing like they had been when I first opened them. I could see good, actually a lot better than before. Maybe I was more than human. But not a vampire.
Calin had said so, but it didn't make any sense. I couldn't be.
The humming got louder, and I realized than a ship was heading this way. I ducked behind the boulder and hoped that whoever was in the ship couldn't see as well as I could.
"Calin 189, are you there? Calin 189."
I blinked, standing up and looking at the ship. Small. Bug fighters, Marco called them.
"Calin 189."
They were yelling for Calin. Would they know the different between me and her?
I doubted it.
My head was clearer now, I didn't think that the idea was too crazy. Why would they be suspisious? At least for a while. And it could buy me time.
And wasn't I a lot faster now? I could outrun them if I wanted.
I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing I knew an easy answer. I could find some things out. Or I could be careful. Since when was I careful? I was never careful!
I blinked my eyes open and stared across the dead sky. So what did I do?
What?
What would I do?
"Calin 189." It was getting farther away now. Last chance.
I took a deep breath. What to do. What to do. What would I do?
"Calin 189!"
Take it or leave it.
I stepped out into clear view. Even chance, if they saw me, I would go. If they didn't, I would leave and pretend it didn't happen.
"Calin 189! State your location!"
Did they see me?
"Calin?"
It was getting farther away. They hadn't heard me.
Now, where would Marco and the other be? I had to get to them... explain about Colt, appoligise to the ones I attacked, all that. But I had no idea where they were. Would Calin go towards them? The thought made sense. Calin would put herself in charge of the team. Then she would control it. And she could tell them that I got away. I couldn't very well just walk up and say hi. But did Calin know where they had gone? They would have moved to somewhere else, they weren't that stupid. Where?
I would have to go somewhere. The usual places they hung out. Was I still that fast?
Shrugging off the bad feeling I was getting from this, I ran as fast as I could the way Calin/Colt had left. I was right, I was a lot faster. Much, much faster. Maybe vampires weren't so difficult to believe in after all.

*Rachel*
"So? What do we do now?" Marco asked.
< Look, I don't. Know.> I said, scanning the area. Not many small prey animals, but Tobias had said, as nicely as possible, what pretty much could be compressed into, "Get used to it." He was right. I should live with it. I was an owl. Yay for that. The Ellimist had interfered once, his policy was to shake things up and leave them alone for a few years. I had to face it, I was a bird. A nocturnal bird, at that. I couldn't sleep. So I stared out at an empty field with only Marco around to talk to. And Marco hadn't been the most talkative person recently. Not that I blamed him. But he couldn't sleep, either.
< Marco?> I asked.
"Yeah?"
< Who do you think will win this war?> I didn't know why I asked it. How was he supposed to answer that? It was a stupid question.
Marco shrugged. "How am I supposed to answer that?" he asked, almost reading my mind. "The Yeerks have the advantages. We have nothing. We're beat before we start. We lost our leader. And do you know what? It doesn't really matter in the end."
I didn't bother trying to make sense of it. I had the feeling he wasn't going to be patient trying to explain his logic. < Right,> I said, not very convinsingly.
He looked at me. "What do you think?"
< Seriously?> I considered, and answered truthfully. < I think we're going to lose in the end.>
"And isn't the end all that matters?" Marco asked.
I stared at him. < You sound like you're plotting something.>
"I'm not." he said shortly, breaking eye contact and staring at a tree with some slash marks where bark had been carved away.
< What are you thinking about?> I asked after a few seconds.
"Things." Marco answered quietly.
< What kind of things?>
"Everything." he said, switching his gaze to the roots of the tree.
< What part of everything?>
"None of it."
Well, he had me stuck there. I wondered what he was really thinking, but I guess it didn't matter. He was probably thinking about Joey or Colt or Jake.
Three bangs made me jerk in surprise. Marco looked over towards the source of the noise.
He looked back at me and laughed, embaressed at being so startled by the warning drums. Probably a Hork-Bajir bark-gathering group had just gotten back from a trip.
It had been a long time since we had been here before, that was why we didn't remember it. Then I remembered that no one had left the valley today.
"Hello!" a human voice called from the end of the valley.

*Medin 34*
< Did you find Calin 189?>
"No." I answered to Visser Five.
< Then find her!> he shouted.
"Yes, Visser, we are working on it," I said hastily. "But we have not been able to locate her."
Erika shouted something at me and fought for control. My arm twitched. Erika was trying to regain control, however pathetic her attempts may be.
< Control your host!> the Visser snapped as Erika slid one foot around on the floor.
< Stupid vampire, stop it,> I ordered her.
< Make me!> she shouted back.
I summoned up the memory if the painful testing she went through, and threw the pain at her for a few minutes while Visser Five told me what to do.
I joined up with Kase 76 and Sub Visser 68 a few minutes later.
"What orders did he give you?" 68 asked me.
"I have to find Calin and Shadu," I said. "I assume you two will work together to find the various bandits?"
Kase nodded. "I wish you luck."
"You don't need to," I said, starting to walk down the wallway in the building. "You know that I can do it."
Kase nodded. We had been in assignments together for a long time, but this was the most important one. Sub Visser 68 was new to us, and he wasn't comfortable with the way we got along, but he souldn't do anything about it. We were overdue for promotions anyway, and 68 was the last one who would want to complain and risk losing the chance of promotion. Promotions were scarce now, but with new hosts we should get some type of promotion. It was only logical.
Strong-willed hosts, too. Kase struggled with Jake for a few minutes, I saw, before he stepped into the bug fighter.
"I'll see you when we get back to report." I said, waving at the two in the usual human way. Kase waved back before the door closed.
I stepped into my own small ship. It was a specialized bug fighter, one made for a crew of one human. They were making more and more of these as more human hosts were gotten out of Terra.
I started toward the city we had been in earlier. There was no better place to start. Maybe Calin had escaped there. And Shadu should still be shadowing them.

*Calin*
I stopped when the city was in eyeshot. Something was going around, Colt's vampire sixth sense confirmed it.
Not an attack. Something else, dangerous, but not at you.
< Trust me, Calin, that's all you're going to figure out. You've got to find out what it is on your own,> Colt answered when I questioned him.
So I looked around. Not much. Everything was quiet and still.
Two bug fighers zoomed low towards the city, coming from the same direction as one of our bases. Yeerks were coming. That made sense.
< But there's still danger!> Colt reminded me cheerfully. He made a point of sounding cheerful. It grinded on my nerves.
< It does? How wonderful?> Colt said.
He knew that, and it had been his plan, but I ignored it. He wasn't worth listening to.
< Really? I think I am, but that's just my opinion.>
I glared at him and continued moving towards the city, slower this time, but still plenty fast. I made careful note of where the bug fighers landed and crept up silently.
< Oh, no...> Colt moaned, dropping the fake happiness.
Sub Visser 68, Medin 34, and Kase 76. Lance, Erika, and Jake. Just the people I wanted to talk to. "Right. Head that way," Sub Visser 68 ordered Medin 34. "We'll go this way."
Medin nodded swiftly and gripped her dracon beam tighter. "I'll locate Shadu, find Calin, and you two find the rest. It's that easy."
She walked away down the street. I noted the direction the other two were taking and dashed up to surprise Medin.
After getting a good distance in front of her, I climbed up a brick building, which was even easier than I thought. Colt insisted that I could jump to the top but I didn't want to try that trick quite yet, And it would attrace unwanted attention from anyone who happened to watch. Not that what I was going to do was any different.
When Medin was right under me I dropped down in front of her. "Hey," I said in greeting.
In response, she jumped backwards and shot at me with the dracon. It hurt for a second, not much, but annoying.
"Medin! It's me! Calin!" I said.
Medin looked skeptical, kept the dracon raised, and turned up the power from two, to five. "Prove it."
I paused for a few seconds. "You're Medin 34. I'm Calin 189. You're with Kase 76 and Sub Visser 68, who, in your opinion, is the biggest jerk in the military."
Medin lowered the dracon slightly. "Right on target."
"Thanks." I said. "Why are you looking for me?"
"First things first." she said. "Where's Joey?"
"Joey," I said, "Is somewhere, probably hopelessly lost, and if we have the least amount of luck in the universe, will die within days."
Medin stared at me. "Are you forgetting that Joey is the first of the third round of human experiments and that we can't lose her?" she asked incredously.
That had not occured to me until now. "Oh," I said.
Medin looked like she was trying not to smack me. "Oh, great."
"Don't worry," I said. "I remember where I left her, she couldn't have done far."
Medin sighed. "Okay, we'll take the bug, it'll be easier to carry her when we find her."
"Oh, and what was that part about someone else... Shadu?"
"You were listening to us?" she asked.
"Well, yes. But who is it?" I asked.
"Me, of course," someone said, landing on the ground the same way I had. I turned, but Colt already knew who it was, by the way they had landed, the voice, the footsteps, and the complete obvious answer, why had Jakal disappeared earlier, anyway...
"Jak," I said, surprised.
"Shadu 29," she corrected me. "Nice to meet you."
Colt was defeated. He didn't even try to take contol. He sat back in a corner of the mind and watched everything from a distance.
Medin twitched, and Colt smiled to himself. I glared at him, but I had to admit, Erika had nerve. She was fighting hard after most hosts would have given up long before. Colt aimed a few nice thoughts in my direction; he had heard what I had thought. I hadn't let him listen in on purpose, but I couldn't do anything about it. He didn't have any actual motive for being nice to me, he wasn't manipulating me. It was impossible for a host to manipulate a Yeerk. He was just... nice.
Somehow I wished he wasn't nice.
"What have you been doing?" I asked Shadu.
"I've been shadowing your host and his friends since my host separated from them," Shadu answered. "It was remarkably easy. You were marked as a possible traitor..."
I nodded, not taking offence. It was true.
"And so we needed to make sure of your... good behavior, we should say. So Medin and Kase could not tell you about me."
< So you're telling me that she's been following us this whole time, and we didn't notice?> Colt asked with barely restrained anger.
< That's it exactly,> I answered crisply.
He shook his head. < That's amazing... I thought I kept such close watch...>
I searched him memories. He protested, but I came up with the way he had been watching for anyone following... he was right, no one could have been following him for most of the time.
"My host's memories say differently," I said. "He was listening and watching for something like that." Shadu nodded. "I was tracking them from some distance." She plucked something metalic off of Colt's shirt.
< She bugged me!> Colt exclaimed.
< She certainly did,> I agreed. "Why did you put that on me?" I added out loud.
Shadu laughed. "At the time I was simply putting it on a stupid vampire."
< Stupid!> Colt exclaimed.
"I think he resents that," I laughed. "But I agree. Okay, then, we better get started tracking them down."
This is so stupid! Colt raved silently to himself. I can't move, can't do anything, and she's controlling my every move and hunting down my friends!

*Rachel*
Marco jerked around. "Who was that?"
I half-shrugged but was off, flying after the voice as fast as possible. Not that I expected the Yeerks to announce themselves, but...
An alien mind hit mine, showering sparks. ^Rachel?^
< Joey?> I asked.
"Calin!" Marco yelled.
Joey cringed. "Not her. Please, not her."
Marco looked at me, puzzled. I dropped onto a branch and fluffed my feathers. < I don't know,> I said in private thought-speach. < You know her a lot better than me.>
< Well, that's the truth,> Marco said, defeated. He kept his eyes on Joey.
Joey didn't seem to notice. In fact, Joey didn't seem to care. She was looking around, like she expected someone to be following her.
< Great actress or it's real. Get everyone awake but make sure they don't do anything until we're sure,> Marco said. I flew off on his orders. It was his girlfriend, his rules.
< Everyone get alert! Joey's back!> I screamed as I flew into the cave the rest were sleeping in, guarded by a pair of Hork-Bajir. Cassie blinked awake. "Wha?"
< Joey's back, we're not sure if she's still controller.>
"She's definately a vampire, though," Erek said. He hadn't actually been asleep, androids don't need sleep, but he had thinking and staring into space with that vacant-at-least-for-an-android look on his face. "So we have to be careful."
< Right. Get up there, but don't surprise her. Marco's doing the talking.>
I said this as motivation for Cassie to hurry up. She did, jumping up and slipping past the guards.
< Don't scare her!> I yelled in warning.
Cassie slowed dramatically and I overshot landing on her shoulder, where I had aimed. I sailed past, turned right, and swooped down on her extended arm. I remembered the way I did the same thing for Tobias, and I realized how lucky I was that I had taken frequent joy-flying trips with him. I had mastered most of the basics, at least.
"Marco?" Cassie shouted. "Are you out there? Joey?"
I could see them through the trees. Joey stiffened at the sound of Cassie's voice. They had never exactly gotten along, I hadn't figured out why. Joey tensed but not for an attack, more like someone about to get hit. Wincing backwards. I never thought of Joey as defenceless, especially now that I've seen her hold all of us off, but she didn't look like someone who had done that. She looked like a beaten puppy.
Cassie inhaled slowly. "Joey?"
Joey had that look on her face for only a second. It was a pretty long time for a vampire to be frozen in shock, but as soon as she heard Cassie's voice again, she hissed at her.
Like a kitten. Like a tiny kitten backed into a corner. Cassie could pick it up just as well as I could, Joey was not even considering attack. She didn't even appear to be thinking at the level of a five year old. Cassie took a few steps forward.
Joey glanced at Marco. Marco nodded back with his eyes, encouragingly. Joey watched everything Cassie and I did with extreme interest, but not dangerously. Just interest. It was unsettling, though.
Disarming, too, I realized. We thought she had no negative intentions against us, maybe that wasn't it. Maybe she was playing at part. She was a good actor, I remembered the ease she had lied her way out of leaving her house at night when we ran in once to tell her about a mission.
It was easy to misinterpret what she was saying, too. Joey had a habbit of complicating everything, not that this needed any complicating.
The question was, is this Joey?
Marco seemed convinced. But around Joey, Marco was sometimes not as aware, not suspisious enough. But he knew her the best.
< Hard reality check, Marco. Is it her?> I didn't ask it, more of reminded him.
Marco looked at the girl who was cringing back from us and into him, and I had the sudden picture of a much younger girl and a much younger Marco. I blinked again, and it went back to normal.
Marco was quietly sure. < It is her.>
Cassie trusted Marco's instinct. She walked up to Joey. Joey flinched, but greeted her with a slight nod, and a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"You're you?" Cassie asked.
Joey was unable to keep from flinching a few more times, and her voice wasn't quite steady, but she answered. "I'm me."
I wanted to believe her, I really did. But something inside her eyes didn't agree with what she said. Something... darker. And I couldn't believe anything.
But I believed her to a point. And I did think she was herself. So I didn't protest when Marco and Cassie brought her back up to the cave. She collapsed into sleep as soon as she sat down next to Marco.

*Colt*
I sat there for a while. Thinking. Then I surfaced again to Calin calling me.
< Colt! You do realize that you're confusing and your memories are worse, right?> she demanded.
I was foggy, sort of half-asleep. < Um, you've gotten into the flashbacks...>
< Darn right I got into the flashbacks! These are crazy! How can you stand them?>
I laughed without humor. < Welcome to my world. Get used to it. They're wired into my brain, you can't do anything about them. What, did you just have one?>
< Yes!>
< Stop panicking. Jeez. If you read into my memories enough, you should have figured it out.>
< I did now,> Calin sounded rather guilty. < I'm... sorry, I suppose.>
< Hm,> I muttered. < Well, just be happy it wasn't-->
Calin shuddered and I realized she got the picture. She was reading more of my memories.
< Good. I'm tired. G'night.>
< 'Night,> Calin said in a meek tone.
Although I knew she knew everything I thought as soon as I thought of it, I couldn't help thinking that she was acting more like I was in charge rather than her. Or like we were friends. And in a way, we had to be.
I still wasn't up to feeling sorry for her.
I spent my time for the next few hours doing strange geometry problems in my head. Calin desided that it wasn't worth the headache to try and figure out what I was doing. Underlying all my thoughts, though, was a general feeling of being trapped, which was enough for anyone not to want to listen to what I was thinking. It was giving me a headache, even.
After a few more hours of that, I looked out of my eyes and tuned into the ears, and I determined that Calin, Medin, and Shadu were hunting around for Kase and the Sub Visser 68. I silently laughed at the easy way Medin had found us two.
< You find this funny?> Calin asked.
< Not at all,> I answered. < Just slightly strange.> With that thought, I impulsively tried to take over control.
I plotted without thinking. Wrestling control of one foot, I managed to make me stumble. While she fought to keep me upright, I grabbed control of my hand and grabbed the dracon bean in my belt. After not being able to feel anything for so long, the beam felt slightly heavier than I expected, but Calin was trying to take back control. Our minds hit, and I realized that was why I was trying to distract her with the tripping: we wouldn't have direct contact.
Sparks flew. I couldn't keep concentration. But obviously, Calin couldn't either. All I actually could think of was a single-minded goal of winning control over that one hand. So could she. And she wasn't afraid to threaten Erika to do so.
Will you pull the trigger, Colt? Will you? The only thing I could take control of was the one finger... and all to do was pull the trigger. Have control over the hand. Which was pointed at Erika. Level six. Control your hand. Erika.
I jerked the hand to the right while pulling the trigger.
I figured out the angle before it even happened, but not in enough time to stop myself. It was off from hitting Erika and Medin. By a few feet.
However, it was not so far off in missing Jak. Shadu. Whatever.
Blown backwards across the street into another building, not very solid, and it was shocking enough to make me stop.
"Shadu!" Medin shouted, and Calin, smoothly regaining control, ran for Jak.
She got a nice look of the condition Jak was in. I did, too. But I shut off communication with the eyes before I understood most of it...
Jak was still alive. I was surprised at that. She was burned beyond recognition, her skull had been crushed by flying into the building, but her legs were mainly intact and she was trying to walk.
I didn't blame Calin or Medin for being sick. They had gotten a much better look than I had.
I tried to tune it out, but I couldn't. Jak was... trying, anyway... to talk, and I didn't want to hear. Calin was tuning in.
"Are you going to be okay?" I didn't even realize that I had regained control until I said that.
Jak... it was Jak, not Shadu, because Shadu was obviously dead as I could see through Jak's skull... tried to talk, then sent in a fuzzy way, ^I don't think so.^
"You've gotta be," I said.
^Colt, be reasonable. Do I look like I'm going to live?^
"You're talking. You're using sentences and you're making sense. Doesn't that mean..."
^It's shock. When it wears off I'm going to be screaming in pain. Don't you get it?^
I was probably in shock, too. I slumped backwards into the wall. "You're not going to die," I said flatly.
^I'm sure not going to live.^
"You can't die!" I yelled. I wasn't sure if she understood. Desperate, I kept ranting. "You can't die! You say that someone in our group already died! That he was my best friend! I don't remember him! I don't even know what he looked like! What is going to happen if you die?"
I know, it was selfish. I was thinking to myself, damage to my brain... well, that was rather funny. Jak didn't see it that way, and she fell silent.
^I'm not going to live,^ she said after a pause. ^As soon as I can feel it, it'll drive me out of my mind. I think I'll...^ She didn't bother finishing. I knew. She thinks that she'll probably lose her mind from the pain before anything else happens.
"I know," I said. "We'll... I don't know. We'll do something. Something."
^I don't think so, Colt.^
"We can! You're not going to--" I broke off and looked for Medin. She was gone. "Erika's gone."
^Useless. Worry about that later. Colt, kill me and get moving.^
I was in a state of shock. I didn't even understand. "What?" I asked numbly.
^You heard me. Kill me and get a head start on the reinforcements that are coming.^
I blinked stupidly.
^Hurry up, Colt!^
"I'm... what?" I still couldn't understand.
^Kill me! Before I do! And considering I can barely walk, my way will probably just cause more pain!^
"I can't! Jakal... I can't kill you!"
She stumbled backwards, like she was tired or maybe like she had been hit. ^Fine,^ she said softly. ^Go.^
"But--"
^Colt, you didn't listen to me the first time, you're going to listen to me this time or I'll kill you! Go! Right! Now!^
I scrambled backwards a few paces, took one last look at the girl I had known forever, and left.
Fast. On the rooftops. Before her silent yell of pain could reach me.

*Medin*
I was in a dark alley. I managed to stand up.
"Kase?" I mumbled. I guess I was still a little dizzy.
< Yeah right, you slimy slug. I hope you die for this. I hope you-->
I cut off Erika right when she was getting to the interesting part, where she used some of those words humans and vampires use when upset. We Yeerks don't do such things... well, usually.
Erika scoffed at me, and I snapped at her. Would it never end? The usual host annoyance...
I shuffled forward a little, then tested my arms and legs a little. I was fine. More confidently, I continued out of the alley.
"Kase?" I shouted. I was sure I had seen him recently... My thoughts were too fuzzy to realize if it had been while I was yelling. The street were nearly deserted, but I could hear that there were at least three people within a three block radius by listening.
One of them would be Calin. One Shadu, if she was alive. And the other could be a human, Kase, or maybe the Sub Visser. I didn't know.
Someone above me. Erika knew it without thinking and I twisted around into a fighting stance and looked for the danger.
A grinning vampire landed on the ground next to me, with enough force to crack the pavement. "Hey Med!" Kase said.
"Kase!" I said, rushing up to him.
< Gimme a break,> Erika groaned, wondering if there was a way to mentally kick someone. I cheerfully told her to shut up.
< I like him. You like Colt. We're even. If you want to say anything about him, be reminded I know everything about you and Colt...> I left it hanging. Erika, murderously enraged, shut up.
< Good,> I said, and I continued talking to Kase. "Shadu, she showed up, but I think she's dead now."
He was shocked, and I quietly continued. "Calin came here, too, but with Colt as a host. She dropped Joey, and we don't know where she is."
Before he could say anything else, I cautiously added, "And Colt took control of the body."
Not able to speak, Kase stared at me. "We're... we've gotta go something..." he said.
I shook my head. "No. It's over. The whole plan is disintegrating were we stand. The only thing we can do is maybe catch Colt. Calin's loss of control might only be temporary."
Kase thought it over. "No, we have to get to Joey."
I shook my head after considering. "I don't think it'll work."
Kase laughed, and I stared at him. What did he think was so funny?
"Obviously!" he said finally. "None of it'll work! So who cares what we do? A valiant attempt for a hopeless cause is the best that we can get!"
I shook my head, but I was smiling. "Sometimes, Kase, you just get right down to the problem. Okay. We're going after Joey. Hey, maybe Calin'll show up anyway."

*Calin*
< You 'wake?>
< Hm,> I muttered.
< I could tell a few of your memories, while you were sleeping, kind of,> Colt said. < Interesting. I suppose. You're dying from no Krandona, right?>
< Um,> I muttered again.
< Too bad. You aren't too bad, you know.>
< Ya right,> I managed to say.
< You're right, I'm lying,> Colt said somberly. I got the direct image of Jak: Jak burnt from the Dracon and head crushed begging to be killed... I moaned and wished that I would never remember that.
< You don't have very long,> Colt said calmly, rationally. < Not long at all.> It wasn't malicious, I don't think that with all the was happening Colt could hate anyone. I couldn't. I couldn't hate Joey, or Jak or the Animorphs, or even this young vampire boy, my host, who was telling me with devastating directness that I was going to die...
Colt was silent. He understood what I meant. < I'm sorry,> he said.
< Sorry,> I echoed. Then it was fuzzily painful and dark for a while. I came back to consciousness a while later.
< How much longer?> I demanded, although weakly. Very weakly.
< I don't know. Minutes. An hour, maybe,> Colt said. He was doing something, moving around somewhere. < I'm at my old headquarters.> He sighed. < It's empty. Deserted. No one came back.>
I couldn't think in actual words, but I thought and hoped Colt heard me.
Sorry, Colt. The Yeerk might have killed this planet out of thousands, but for it's worth you're the best fighters the universe knows. Humans will survive, somehow. It's impossible that beings like them won't. You're human, too. Believe them the next time they say that.
< Calin?>
I didn't respond. Colt knew why. I couldn't say anything. My brain function was slowing. The last thing I really heard was Colt replying something...

*Joey*
"Joey? Jo, wake up."
"Marco?" I asked, sitting up. I had a headache, and something bad was in my memory.
"You were having a dream," Marco said, staring at how calm I look now. "You were screaming about... I don't know."
I blinked. "Umm... cliffs? High up... Falling?"
"Ancient Egyptians, I think," Marco said.
I snickered. "Don't worry. I have dreams like that sometimes."
"What were you dreaming about?"
I shook my head. "It's all fuzzy, now... something about being on top of a cliff and hanging on and falling off... and hugging a teady bear?"
Marco laughed a little. "Okay, you have to admit, that's a little strange."
"You're telling me?" I asked, trying to recall the rest of the dream.
After a few minutes, I came up with a story. "Okay, I was on top of a cliff, and I was hanging on but something was batting me off... and then I slipped, but caught myself, then I fell," I looked puzzled, then I continued, "Then I went to that place, and then I woke up."
"What place?" Marco asked.
I shook my head. "No place. No, wait... some kind of cave."
Marco blinked. "Cave?"
"Just forget it." I puzzled over that for a while, though. I had seen that cave in some of my other dreams, and it was dark... dry in some places, but really wet in others, and made out of square rooms connected by tunnels. A huge network of caves, actually. I frowned at my confused mental image, then fell back asleep.

*Colt*
I guess I cried. Okay, so I'd be shocked if I didn't cry a little.
Fine, I was crying like a baby. But don't hold it against me.
Jak was gone. And Calin was gone. Somehow Calin was more personal. I had watched her die, seen it through her eyes. She knew me as well as I knew her. And she was gone.
Jak said dead because I refused to kill her. It shows deliberate malice in the universe to do that to me. I choked, remembering the way Jak had looked...
I started running again. I had slowed because I had been moving at an all-out, fast-as-I-could-go sprint for the last forty five minutes. Again I was running like all the demons in hell were behind me.
That's what it felt like. Only it felt like someone had opened a hole in the sky and dumped lava onto my head. Mess up my brain, confuse my thoughts, send me into a full frenzy of thought and movement which was like a train running off a cliff.
I realized this later. At the time I knew only that they were dead. And that something was chasing me. That's still confused, I'm not sure if it was Medin and the other controllers, or I thought, in some strange way, what Jak and Calin would come after me. Probably the second one. At the time I was confused.
I stumbled to a stop, and imediantly fell where I stood. I had been moving fast... much too fast.
Where am I?
I got onto my knees, but they, much less my arms, refused to support me.
That's when I started crying. I was exhausted and wanted nothing better than to fall asleep, oblivious to the rest of the world. I wanted to simply not exist. I couldn't even move, but I wasn't relaxed. I was tense beyond belief.
I fell asleep into darkness without dreams.

*Rachel*
I woke up with the sun. Sleeping in a dark cave and then having the sun shine on you is a nice way to wake up. That is, if you're human in a comfortable sleeping place.
"Ow!" Marco protested as Cassie accidently kicked him while she was sitting up.
"Sorry... uh, that hurt..." Cassie said, learning why it was not a good idea to sleep on a cave floor. Maybe not. I stretched my wings and wondered why I had fallen asleep in the cave rather than outside. Joey opened her eyes halfway, mumbled something about the Aztecs and the Mayans, who she had been babbling about in her sleep all night, and fell asleep again.
< What was that Joey said?> I asked.
Marco shrugged. "Sounds like something about the Egytians, I said to her last night."
"Aztecs," Cassie corrected him. "Right Rach?"
< Yeah. I was just wondering. What was she talking about, though, feathers and snakes?>
Marco shrugged again and stood up.
Lia was waking up, too. Tobias smiled sleepily at her and yawned.
"Daddy 'wake?" Lia asked, running around to Cassie. "Daddy 'wake?"
Cassie looked around at us. I sighed. < Marco, Tobias, somebody explain. Please.>
Surprisingly, Toby, who had just walked in, desided to break the news. "Lia, come here, kwarni." she said, using the Hork-Bajir word for young friend.
Lia loved Toby and ran straight for her. "Toby?" she asked. "Wha' now?
"Lia, I'm afraid that daddy isn't going to be able to some for a long time." Toby said.
Lia suddenly looked ready to cry. "Want daddy!" she yelled.
"Tomorrow." Marco suddenly promised. Anything to keep Lia happy. "Jake will be here tomorrow."
"'kay uncle Marco." Lia said. "'morrow? See daddy?"
< Tomorrow,> I said, backing up Marco's obvious lie. We would lie our way out of it tomorrow. Lia did not exactly have a wonderful memory yet.
"Daddy's going to be back tomorrow." Tobias summed up. just as Ax walked in.
"Ax'ili! Uncle Tobyas says that daddy be back t'morrow!" Lia said, running to him.
< Oh really?> Ax turned his stalk eyes to Tobias while carrying on a conversation with Lia about what she had done yesterday. Tobias shrugged and we all started wandering out of the cave and into the day.
I kept an eye of Joey, who was still refusing to get up. The Hork-Bajir valley was going about the usual morning activities, and the rest of us were hungry, except for Ax, who had already eaten as well as peeled some bark to help the Hork-Bajir out. Not that they needed it but it was a friendly gesture.
"Toby, what is there for humans to eat?" Cassie asked.
"Well, we go have that small garden. We could send some Hork-Bajir back to your house to dig up your garden, maybe transport it..." Toby frowned. "This is a problem. We do have enough vegetables for a few meals, though."
Cassie relayed that to the rest of the group, Marco made a lame joke about Mercora, broccoli and aliens, Ax left to discuss something with Toby, and Joey kept sleeping.
Tobias ate some of the vegetables, which, by the way, did not contain broccoli, and I kept an eye on him, too. I was worried about him, he seemed to be avoiding me.
I didn't really want to talk about it... me being an owl... but I had to talk to him sometime. Before I broke, like he did as a hawk.
Maybe tomorrow.

*Joey*
I woke up and yawned. Early afternoon. I was lucky to be awake that early, considering my strange dreams. An owl, outside the cave, was staring at me. "Hi, Rach," I said, standing up.
For a minute I was terribly dizzy and wondered if I was going to fall over. I recovered and looked around.
"What's up?" I asked cheerfully, pretending that I hadn't just had dreams of at least twenty different terrible ways to die.
"Nothing," Rachel said shortly. Didn't want to talk, I assumed. If I was her, an owl rather than a vampire, I'd be like that too. But I was, somehow, in a very good mood.
Grinning, I walked up to Marco. "'Morning!" I said happily, giving him a quick kiss.
He raised an eyebrow. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."
I grinned again. "Whatcha doing?"
Marco rolled his eyes. "I'm learning about causes of the Civil War."
Tobias looked over at me. "Translated, that means he's eating carrots while joking about broccoli."
"Want some?" Marco asked, handing over some food he had obviously saved for me.
"Sure, thanks," I said, nibbling on some of it. "Actually, it's okay," I said with some surprise.
Marco was about to respond when a Hork-Bajir came running in, yelling something in Hork-Bajir, and getting the rest of the Hork-Bajirs into a panic.
"What's going on?" I yelled to Marco over the noise of the Hork-Bajir.
Marco shook his head. "Something about Jake and the house. Wait for Toby to explain. But I have a feeling that it's bad news."
I had the same feeling, because the Hork-Bajir did not exactly look or sound overjoyed. Even before Toby got to us, I was finishing my food and getting ready to go.
"What's wrong?" Marco asked her.
"Jake and a strange girl are at your house." she said. "He is a controller, isn't he?"
"Yes," Marco said flatly. "Jake. And a girl, that would have to be..."
< Erika,> Rachel said. < I think. Maybe Jak. What color was her hair, Toby?>
"He did not say," Toby said. "Tel Nisul, do you remember the color of the girl's hair?"
The Hork-Bajir considered, then shook his head.
"Doesn't matter, anyway." Marco said. "Rachel, what do you think we should do?"
Rachel froze in the middle of lifting her wings. I think she forgot she was supposed to be in charge. < Me?>
"Yes, you. We can trust you to make a choice. Jake's your cousin, you got to know Jak and Erika better than me. You can deside what to do."
< Capture or kill them, you mean,> Rachel said, understanding. < Capture. We're not killing anyone.>
"If our troups are in fatal danger from them?" Toby asked. She didn't want the Hork-Bajir to get hurt. I could understand that. They were, after all, her responsibility. She was the seer and they would follow her without protest, but that was because she always chose in their best interests.
Rachel didn't have a ready answer. She wasn't prepared. Killing her cousin and a friend along with two Yeerks was the last thing she had been thinking of.
< If we're lucky that won't happen,> she said finally.
Toby persisted. "What if they will win if we do not kill them? And get away to bring more troups next time?"
Rachel didn't know the answer. She looked around at the rest of us. We exchanged looks around. And our faces answered Toby's question.

*Colt*
Get up. Okay. Great. Exactly how long were you sitting there just crying? You've lost a lot of time! Where are the Animorphs?
Surprisingly, no matter how insulting the majority of the things I directed at myself were, they didn't make me that mad. I still didn't feel like getting up, but it beat staying there in the dirt.
You're always like that! A senseless, weak vampire! Wake up! You've got to go help your friends. Wherever they are.
That last part made me mad. I still had no clue where they were. And I pushed myself up and looked around.
I was... somewhere. A few trees here and there. I had no clue where I was except that the city was back to the north.
I punched a tree, splintering the bark. I shook my hand hard, dislodging the splinters that had been stick in my knuckles.
"Ouch," I said mildly about the already-healed splinters, looking around again. No matter. Just head north. I instinctively knew the way home, all the time.
I ran for a minute before realizing that I was following a trail. Something, or maybe someone, used this regularly. The thought cheered me, and I began making better time.
After ten more minutes I smiled. Considering that I had ran through the streets for twenty minutes or more, I would get to the rural area formarly used as farmland in no time. But then I heard something strange.
I slowed to a human's fast jog and tuned my ears in. It sounded like humans. And people moving. Maybe a mile off.
I turned directly towards them and sped up, wondering who it would be. Not the Animorphs, obviously, because there were too many people for it to be them.

*Lance*
< This is almost too easy,> I said to Sub-Visser 68.
He muttered darkly, but I smiled. I had been easily using his thoughts and memories to trick the others for the last day. And I had been trailing them once we split up.
I had considered chasing after Colt but I desided that it would leave Medin and Kase free to do anything they wanted. So I followed them.
I tracked them from farther away then they would have thought possible, but I had been a different project from the rest of them altogether. Sometimes, it's an advantage to be an experiment from the part of the project when all the stops are pulled out. That was probably why I could easily read Sub-Visser 68's mind, too.
I muttered darkly to myself as Medin and Kase went into the house. Probably to find more clues. I could tell from listening that it was empty.
After a few minutes I was tapping my foot impatiantly. They must be going over everything really well.
Then I heard something else, behind me. A mile and a half back in the forest, an army was marching towards us.
Even closer, a boy I knew very well came out of the trees.
^Over here!^ I greeted him.

*Rachel*
"This is insane." Marco muttered. "Insane."
Joey agreed. I agreed. Even Cassie, holding Lia, agreed.
Again, I asked Cassie, < Why are you bringing her? You could leave her behind with the younger Hork-Bajir.>
"I want to keep her with me. Who knows what the Yeerks are planning?" Cassie asked.
< True,> I said. < I just think it would be easier.>
"Well, quit hassling me about it." she snapped.
This must be grinding on her nerves. I didn't blame her. It was grinding my nerves, too.
Cassie, Marco, and Joey, along with Toby and the Hork-Bajir raider parties, were running along under me. Tobias was flying ahead of me, and Ax, as an Andalite, was at the back, watching for danger. With four eyes, he was the best suited for the job.
< How are they going to attack?> I asked Toby.
"We will surround the house and you will negotiate. We will only attack if needed. Do not worry, Rachel."
< I can't help it,> I said. Then I asked in private thought-speach, < Toby, how's Tobias doing?>
I swooped down and landed on her horns, allowing her to talk quietly only to me.
"My namesake is... fine, Rachel. A bit scared by all of this. But I think that he is all going to be fine when it is all over."
< Thanks,> I said, genuinely relieved to get someone else's opinion.
Toby looked like she was going to ask, "For what?," but she didn't.
< We're almost there,> Tobias said from ahead. < You should be in position and ready to go in five minutes. Let's hope they don't leave before then.>
< They won't,> I said, taking off from Toby's wings. < If they do, I'll distract them.>
< Rachel...>
< Don't argue with me, Tobias, I'm going to do it. Not you. They'll definately notice me. I'll act lost.>
"Well, that'll be hard." Marco muttered. "We're all lost."
"No we're not." Joey said. Then she hesitated. "Are we?"
Marco shook his head, which I didn't know he could do while running. "I just mean that we're..."
By then I had started powering forward. Owls are designed for night flight, and not long ones, but the rest on Toby's horns had given me a little extra energy.

*Medin*
After searching for five hours, we were thoroughly frusterated. "Where is she?" I yelled finally, once we had methodically searched the former headquarters of the vampires and the house that, according to Jake, through Kase, was where the Animorphs lived. I had to search every room, and I still came up with no hints. Nothing. It was like they had just disappeared.
Kase grinned wickedly. "There's one more place he remembers."
I sighed. "Forget it. Just, forget it. We're not going to find anyone. They disappeared without a trace."
"I'm sure you'll love this one." Kase said. "A valley."
I was about to protest at any further movement, and any valley would have to be somewhere out in the forest. Erika might be a better host that a normal human, but tired is tired.
"A valley which is the site of a Hork-Bajir colony." Kase added, with that grin back on his face.
That made even me smile. "The colony of free Hork-Bajir? Oh, that would be worth seeing." I said, getting to my feet.
"Let's get going, um... that way." Kase said, pointing into the woods.
Something stepped out of the trees to my left. I spun, but danger signals were starting to fly. Something else from the right.
"Are you looking for us?" asked a boy.
"Falcon," I said, confused, just as Kase echoed, "Marco."
Marco. That was it. Cassie to the other side. And Hork-Bajir all around.
Hopless situation.
Then he appeared. "Sub-Visser!" I yelled, before I realized that was not exactly a good idea. Colt had managed to overpower Calin, and--
"Sub-Visser? No," the boy said. "I am Lance."
Colt stood next to him. "Calin no longer." he said, shaking his head. But in a way he seemed to be sad. "Calin no longer." What? Was he actually sad about Calin dying?
"You're outnumbered," Cassie said. "So you can give up now."
"We won't give up," Kase said, tensing for an attack. But he knew, from Jake's memories, that such an order would not come from Cassie. But who? I suspected Marco.
< You'll give up or we'll attack,> someone from the sky warned.
Rachel. She was in charge.
The owl. This was all too funny. Calin had told us about it, but Calin had also said that she allowed Rachel to live when she could easily have killed her.
Calin wasn't alice to kill her, but I would be happy to finish the job. For some reason, the surrounding army didn't notice we had Dracon beams, which confused me, until I remembered that Erika wore clothes loose enough to cover it.
I grabbed the Dracon and shot at Rachel.
< Whoa!> Rachel yelled, diving to one side. I kept shooting, while Kase held off a few of the Hork-Bajir.
< They're killing us! Somebody take him out!> Tobias screamed.
< Hey!>
"What's going on?!"
"Galthash Yeerks!"
"Mommmy!"
That last one was Lia. Jake spun around and aimed at Cassie and Lia. No, Kase spun around to aim at them.
"Everyone freeze!"
They froze, even the Hork-Bajir.
"No one move!" Jake yelled. "Rachel: land on the roof or I'll shoot."
Rachel landed.
"All right, no one move." Kase said.
I looked at him, then scanned the ranks. Cassie and Lia were frozen in front of Kase. Rachel, obviously, was on the roof, as well as Tobias, who took the order to include him as well. Ax was to my left, Marco and Joey to my right, and the leader of the Hork-Bajir was a bit left from Ax. Lance and Colt were about ten feet to the right of Cassie. The Hork-Bajir were behind us.
This might just be hopeless.

*Colt*
I froze.
< Cassie, I told you not to bring her... I told you, I told you!> Rachel sounded hysterical.
< Who's going to make the first move?> Marco asked without moving.
< I don't know, okay, I don't know!> Rachel said.
^I think that it would be best to get the gun off Cassie and Lia, then attack,^ Lance said. ^But mainly we want Lia to get away. Cassie can heal a lot better than she can.^
< Okay,> Cassie said.
^What do we do?^ I asked Lance.
^I don't know. I really don't know,^ Lance said. ^I never had anything like this happen. I don't know what they're going to do.^
< Lance, what do you think?> Rachel asked.
^I think we should all die for not seeing the obvious guns. Seriously, though, I think we have little chance of all getting out alive.^
< Uhh,> Rachel mumbled. < Not good. Umm...>
^Distraction? Would it be possible for one of us to distract them?^
< No, that would be suicide!> Cassie said. Considering that Medin and Kase could easily kill her, she was calm. Of course, that was considering.
^You're right, I'm sorry,^ Lance appologized immediantly.
< I'll go,> Rachel said at the same time.
< Rachel!> Tobias yelled. < You can't do that!>
< Rachel, that's crazy!>
^No, Rachel. You can't do it.^
Medin and Kase were getting impatient. "Well, what are you going to do?"
^Give us a minute,^ Lance said back.
Kase shook the gun. Evidently, he wasn't used to waiting. "Hurry it up and we'll not hurt any of you. Keep us waiting..." He let it hang. An obvious threat. And not a very nice one, either.
< We can attack!> Rachel protested. < They won't expect the Hork-Bajir to get them from behind.>
< Lia and I are still here,> Cassie warned.
^Uh...^ I said. ^I do know a way we just might get out alive. But, it might not work, too.^
Lance sighed. ^Give it to us, Colt, because we're running out of ideas.^
^I will. First, Rachel, were you serious about agreeing to being distraction?...^

*Medin*
"I don't like this," I muttered under my breath to Kase.
"I don't, either. But we're not exactly in charge here," he mumbled back.
"We should be, though," I added as Colt and Lance, who had been having a silent and intense argument, equally silently turned and faced us. A glance at Rachel from Colt, and then nothing.
"So?" Kase asked.
Colt looked resigned. "We agree to allow you to--"
< No!> Tobias shouted from the roof. < You can't do that, Colt!>
Colt shot him a scathing look. ^No matter, what, it's what we have to do, and--^
< No!> Tobias shouted again, and launched himself off the roof toward Colt.
I drew Kase backwards by the sleeve. "They're up to something--"
I was cut off by Rachel, who had been sitting, as ordered, on the roof near Tobias. She was flying towards our faces. I hadn't even seen her move, and I couldn't get off a clear shot. I instead lashed out with my hands.
"Ah!" I shouted. "Get your gun, Kase!" I reminded him as my slashed arms dripped blood and then starting to heal.
Kase aimed at Rachel, but he suddenly went into spasms. Host attack.
Willing Erika back, I shoved the setting of the Dracon down to three and shot at Rachel.
< Colt! > she screamed. I almost laughed, then spun around to realize that Colt had Kase.
"Land!" I screamed at Rachel. "Land or I'll shoot!"
Colt silently shook his head, No, but I wasn't sure if it was no, don't land, or no, don't attack. Rachel didn't, either, and I used that to take another shot at her.
< Tobia-- > she yelled, and I realized my mistake in the settings. Her feathers burst into flame.
Tobias has been de-morphing. On his own human feet, he ran towards Rachel.
I let him. I had different things to worry about. Lance was approaching with vampire speed. I centered on Cassie again.
"You can't keep that up." Lance taunted.
"Try me," I mumbled without thinking about it. I walked slowly towards Cassie and Lia, who didn't move. "Colt, let Kase go."
I didn't even bother to look at Colt and Kase, but Kase was suddenly at my side. "I think Rachel's dead."
"Good," I mumbled again.
Kase didn't respond. His jaw tightened and he twitched a few times. Jake was trying to take over control again. Stupid humans. Didn't they ever know when it was over?
"Don't you ever know when it's over?" I repeated.
"We know," Joey said. She was three feet to my right and standing quietly. "We know when it's over." Her eyes held me for a second, and in that second I realized exactly how fast vampires were.
Kase gasped for air before Lance covered his mouth and nose, just to get him to stay quiet. I swore. "Kase!"
Lance let go of him, and he said something before swaying on his feet and nearly losing consciousness. Lance stayed right behind him, though.
Marco was behind me. I was getting confused. Where were they all coming from? Joey was still staring solemnly into my eyes.
I twisted away from Marco before realizing the force I could use as a vampire. Bones cracked: my bones. Near my arm.
I kicked Marco in the chest and whirled back to Cassie and Lia. It looked like I was going to have to use this threat after all, I thought as I pushed the setting even higher and took aim.
Just when I hit the trigger, someone flew past me and into Cassie.

*Colt*
I was standing right behind Marco, prepared for Medin to try anything. I was willing to knock her out, injure her badly, anything it took, except kill her. I knew I would not be able to kill Erika. And that thought had distracted me just enough to let her go when she shook out of Marco's reach.
Doing so made her break her own left shoulder and render her whole left arm nearly useless, but Erika was right-handed.
Kase was moving to position right behind her, and I nearly managed to stop him. Just before I tackled him, though, I dodged to the side, slamming heavily into Lance.
^What the--^ Lance broke off his thought and didn't bother adding anything.
Kase, or rather, Jake, knocked Cassie and Lia into the ground.
Tsew! For such a small noise, the sudden flash of light surprised me.
Tobias, who was sobbing over the tiny, burnt body in his hands, looked up. I swear, the look in his eyes was crazy. He carefully placed... Rachel... on the ground, then grabbed the Dracon beam Jake had dropped.
Lance was already hanging onto Medin, and no matter how hard she squirmed, he won't going to let go. "You win," Erika snarled. Medin, Medin snarled. Not Erika.
^Take control,^ Lance was requesting. ^Erika, take control.^
We won.
Medin, our only remaining enemy, said so.
Cassie got up, brushed herself off, and hugged Lia and Jake.
Toby told her troups that they should go back to the valley, that it was safe. The Hork-Bajir slowly filtered back into the forest.
Marco and Joey stood gravely next to Rachel's body.
Tobias stared at the gun in his hand.
Ax quietly congratulated Jake.
Tobias slowly let the gun drop from his hand onto the ground.
We won. It was over.
Everything was over.

Epilogue

*Colt*
The funeral was going to be the next day.
Tobias was silent the whole night. Finally, I grabbed his arm and pulled him off to the side to talk.
"Tobias, you're going to have to accept that she's dead."
Tobias didn't respond. I made him face me. "Tobias, do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I understand." he mumbled, trying to slip away.
I blocked him. "No, you don't." I said. "Where's Rachel?"
"She's dead," he said, trying to get past me.
"Do you believe that?" I persisted.
"She's dead, alright?" he asked, shaking a hand off his shoulder that I wasn't even aware that I had placed there. I was about to speak, but he kept talking.
"She's dead... oh, God, she's dead..."
"It's okay," I said. "It's okay." Stupid thing to say. It obviously wasn't okay, but I said so anyway. I felt rather foolish until I realized that Tobias probably wasn't even aware that I had spoken.
"Dead..." he murmered, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. "How can she be dead?"
I couldn't answer, but Lance had seen the problem. He was keeping his distance, but he was listening carefully from across the room.
^Everyone dies, Colt. Everyone dies,^ he said.
"Everyone one dies, Tobias--" I echoed, not out of consious decision.
He shoved past me, and I knew better than to stop him.

The funeral, with some agreement in the general mood of the Hork-Bajir camp, was in the rain. Drizzling stuff, just enough to get everything dismissal and wet. Lance called it a coincidence, I call it typical. It was just a sad gathering of Hork-Bajir, vampires and Animorphs. But before the funeral, Erika and Jake had to face something else.
Kase and Medin were going to die. I understood what they were going through. Cassie took Jake to stay in the cave until it was over, but I knew that Medin would be much happier outside.
We sat outside watching the sunrise in the rain. Erika, knowing that Medin wouldn't try anything, allowed Medin to take control. Medin understood that this was the last while of her life. And she thanked me.
"I'm sorry Colt, it's just... you understand. You kow what I'm talking about. Look. Color..."
I smiled. "That's the only thing I remember from breaking out of the science faculty I lived in a long time ago. Color... I had never seen it before."
"You understand." Medin said, nodding.
"Calin understood." I said, suddenly wanting to cry. "Calin explained it. Not in words, but... she explained it. And she appologized. Forgave me in her own way. I understand that."
"You understand her like I understand Erika."
"As Calin understood me," I said.
Medin bit her lips to keep from saying anything, maybe some pain. She was dying, after all. And she knew it.
"Watch the sunset together," she said, meaning me and Erika. "Remember this, and watch the sunset tonight..." She went back into silence, and instead of the feeling that she was in pain, she looked... happy. Finished. Like she had accomplished what she wanted.
She died half an hour later. Erika and I didn't move for another half an hour after that. Erika was crying. I was remembering what Calin had said right before she died. I was crying, too.
Cassie came to get us and quietly said that it was time for the funeral.

The funeral was shorter than I thought it would be. I don't remember it exactly... I was pretty wracked up, but I noticed Tobias was silent the whole time. Lance, I noticed too, look disturbed. Sub-Visser 68 must be dead as well. I wondered how he had handled it. Must have been a lot better than either me or Erika.
As soon as it was over and the Hork-Bajir, who had solemnly gathered, began to disperse, I caught up with Tobias. I wanted to finish the conversation I had tied to have yesterday.
"We're all going to die eventually." I said out without thinking. "She died now rather than later."
"I'm never going to see her again..." he said, rain dripping down his face. Or were those tears? I wasn't sure. I knew I was crying again. He was never going to see Rachel again for the rest of his life...
I suddenly put myself in his place. What if Erika, no matter how unsure I was about her, died suddenly in an accident I told myself would never happen, in a plan that I helped make. It didn't happen, but it very well might have. What would I do?
Would I forget, like I had forgotten Fal?
Would I remember her forever, like Marco had remembered Joey?
Would I protect her risking my life and mind, like Jake had done to save Cassie and Lia?
Or would I just do what I was doing now?
Lean against someone who felt like an old friend, and cry.

The End


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