Chapter Twelve
~Ax~
We went to the Chee, alone, Prince Berit said that if they needed us, they would find us.
We walked as humans, to our friends and allies, the Chee.
We bumped into Erek on his front steps, these lead into a house, a house is where humans refer to as their home, it's not like a scoop and it is something I would not like living in. It is too confining.
"What a surprise seeing you here," Erek said, "And look! So close to my home!"
He turned around opened the door and we followed him in.
"We beat you at it," Prince Jake grinned. "We actually beat you at it, wow."
"Let me guess, it's about the Japan verses America thing, right?" Erek said.
"You got it," Jake said.
"Whatch-ya got?" Marco asked.
"I know that it would be held in the Marriott, the one here. It's pretty big, and I know that the local police, the FBI, the CIA, the Secret service and a few others are coming as security," Erek said, "And you'd have to keep count of exactly how many are controllers, all I know is that at least sixty percent of the police force are controllers, what about the people working there? I don't know."
"You do not know of their plan?" I asked.
"Yes, I know part of it." He answered, "I know that the Yeerks are planning to infest the president of the United States, directly. That's their aim, and they are going to do it today since the conference meeting is tomorrow, the president decided to come slightly early."
"Today!" Marco shrieked, "What does this world expect from us? Miracles?"
I felt the same way, lately, there had been a great demand on us, a demand to win this war, a demand to fight the Yeerks…and a demand to avenge my brother's death…
I had been thinking of it, avenging my brother's death. Now with my people here, there was no excuse for me to hide, the excuse of trying to win the war was no longer available, after all, I was not the only Andalite around, my friends wouldn't need me as much as they use to.
But I was afraid, I admit it. I was afraid of confronting Visser three, every time I saw him, I felt…sick.
"Ax? Did you listen to a word I said?" Rachel said, annoyed.
"Please repeat what you said, I did not hear it." I said.
She sighed and said, "The Yeerks would probably want to snatch the helicopter out of the air, like the way they did when they wanted to acquire that Tony. What do you think we should do about it?"
I was surprised, generally. Usually I was the last to comment, they never asked me directly what I thought up as a plan.
Then I realized what they were suggesting, they wanted me to tell my people to knock the Yeerks out of doing this, they where right, of course, exactly how would a handful of cadets like us are ever going to defeat a blade ship in nothing but Earth morphs?
"You want me to talk to Prince Berit?" I asked.
Prince Jake nodded, "Yes, we can't do anything about it."
"But when and where are they going to do it?"
"At four, it'll be above the mountains. It remote over there." Erek said.
"What are we waiting for?" Rachel said, "Let's go tell them."
We morphed to birds and flew to Tobias's meadow, as we expected, we saw three warriors there. Prince Berit was not with them.
We landed and demorphed, They looked at us.
"Where's that Andalite guy with the annoying attitude?" Marco asked, from the looks of it he didn't like Prince Berit, that was okay, my first impression of him was not that much comforting.
< The name is Prince Berit, > One of the warriors snapped, the other two laughed at Marco's description.
The one that snapped turned around and went to call him. He arrived with Berit by his side.
< Prince Berit, > I said, < We found out that the Yeerks are planning to infest this president's state. We would need your help at stopping this. >
< When? > He said.
I told him, he seemed surprised at that it was so early, he said that he would arrange it and he left.
The Animorphs feeling that they would be in their way, left. I went with them. Tobias morphed to human and I did so as well.
We went to the mall, my favorite place; the food court; the shrine of delightfully tasty Cinnamon Buns, hot and sticky. Just thinking about them made my human stomach growl.
When we were at the food court and after Tobias and Rachel obtained the delicious buns, Prince Jake started talking to us.
"Today, I went in my brother's room and discovered something. I don't know how it would concern us but I don't think Tom would have bothered closing his room if it wasn't that important."
"Tom doesn't close his room? Why?" Tobias wondered.
"So that mom sees what a mess he's made and she cleans up for him," Prince Jake said impatiently. "Anyway, I found this lying on his bed."
Prince Jake brought out a photograph; this is the relevance of a Hologram to humans.
We all studied it, Prince Jake turned it around and he read out what was written on the back.
"From the memories of L and A."
Tobias fell of his chair.
BANG!
CLATER
My friends jumped up startled.
A round metal object that had been in Tobias's hand fell out of his grasp. It made a sonorous sound, as all metal do. I think the object is called an ashtray. Then again, I am not so sure.
Some people turned and laughed others shook their heads but most ignored him.
Tobias got back on his chair, his face slightly red. I must remind myself to ask him why is it at times does a human's face change color that dramatically?
"Jake, what did it say?" He gasped.
"From the memories of L and A." Prince Jake repeated, looking worried, "What's wrong?"
Tobias snatched the photograph from Prince Jake's hand and stared at the picture.
Chapter Thirteen
~Tobias~
I stared at the picture, a women about eighteen dressed in jeans and a sleeveless shirt was standing against a man who was just as old as her.
Blonde hair, like me, blue eyes, like me. This was her. But I was not exactly sure, unconsciously I got up and started to walk away, my friends ran to catch up, they were talking to me but I paid no attention to what they were saying.
I reached my home, or at least what it used to be –luckily, my uncle wasn't home- I ran up the flight of stairs and entered my room.
"Tobias?!" Marco panted, "What's up with you?"
I grabbed the album I kept at the side of my bed stand. I leaned against the wall and opened the first page.
The truth was, I was positive that it was her. I spent years looking at the album memorizing her looks, just incase I bumped into her once.
"Jake?" I asked, my voice trembling, "Where'd you get that?"
"I told you, from Tom."
I sagged against the wall. I closed my eyes and prayed that she was alive…that she was free.
I prayed that Visser three had not got hold of her.
I took the picture out and turned it around, the handwriting was strange, flowing. Not like my mothers. I frowned. It took me a while to recognize what it meant.
I almost fainted.
"L," I said "Loren, my mother, and A, Alan" I said sadly.
"Who is that?" Rachel asked.
"Alan," I said in a strangled voice, he wrote it! This was his handwriting! That was him in the picture! "Alan Fangor."
"Who?" Rachel repeated. They didn't understand because I never told them what he called himself when he came to Earth.
A tear ran down my face, "Alan Fangor, say it too fast and you'll get Elfangor, my father."
Jake's mouth dropped open, I think if Ax knew how to do it he'd have done it himself. It wasn't news that Elfangor was my father, what surprised them was why the Yeerks had the picture of my mother and father.
"What would the Yeerks want to know?" Jake wondered.
Merrow!
Dude came over and rubbed himself against my ankle, he had always been a friend to me, when I was alone, afraid, sad or upset. He was always there for me. And since the war, I forgot about him. I picked him up in my hands.
Rachel came and knelt beside me, "Are you okay."
I didn't answer her, I was looking at the words written, what they represented, what they resembled.
They represented my parents, they resembled a brighter happier life. A life that was destroyed by war. Dude purred.
"Hey," Marco said softly, "We'll find her."
He understood, he went through that before. "What makes you sure that she's alive?" I mumbled.
"You'll know." Marco said.
"I think we should go," Cassie said, she grabbed Marco and Jake and headed out. Ax hesitantly followed them, Rachel stayed.
"I think we should go…" I mumbled, tears filling my eyes, I started to leave the room when she grabbed me arm. Dude leapt off me.
She tried to say something but I shoved her hand away and collapsed against the wall, I put my hands over my face and mouth so that she couldn't see that I was crying.
"Tobias," She said, "I know you're upset."
Upset? Upset? Dude came near me and started to purr again.
Who was upset? That was just part of my freaky life. That's normal for me.
But Dude was a big factor that showed that it wasn't. Dude reminded me of reality, reality was what I considered as the times before the war, before I got trapped in Hawk form.
"Tobias?"
"What?" I whispered, looking at the picture, looking at Elfangor. He had been dead, but now, seeing him in a picture, smiling …he was alive, in my imagination.
But what imagination? When had I spent time with him? By imagination I mean dreams.
Somehow a creature that I had spent a period of less than ten minutes looked like I had spent all my years with.
I wanted to know Elfangor, wanted to know how would it feel to be his son, live with him, with my mother, my family.
"I know how it is." She whispered in my ear.
"I know how it is to wish that your family was back to what it should be Tobias, Marco understands as well, you aren't alone. We'll be there with you, Me, Marco, Jake Cassie and Ax, we care about you. I care about you." The last part was said softly, like it was a prized treasure.
I appreciated what Rachel was trying to do with me; she was trying to support me, as all ways.
"No," I whispered, I don't think she heard me, I could barely hear my own voice, "This is my problem, my family. It is going to come back."
I cried at the last part, knowing how impossible it would be, but there was my mother, and her, I will save.
I stroked Dude's fur and looked at his cat eyes.
No matter what happened, even though she had not been there for me, I would be there for her. I would. I will.
Chapter Fourteen
~Rachel~
I was scared for Tobias, he was angry, mad and he was upset. It had scared him, I guess. It was hard to tell, it was rare for boys to show their true emotions.
But just the same, we girls have no trouble finding it.
I knew that he was confused, scared and he felt all alone on this. Tobias never really lead a confident life, unlike me, I used to have this clear, bright predictable life. That made me confident.
What happened to my parents shattered me, from the inside mostly. To my friends I was confident, reliable and dependable. I guess I felt that if my parents were going to act like kids, there should be some adult around to keep things in order.
After reluctantly leaving Tobias-he insisted on me going- I returned home expecting my mother standing in front of the door.
I didn't find her, and, it was pretty late.
I got worried in a hurry.
"Keep calm girl," I muttered to myself.
I entered the living room and found Sarah and Jordan at the table. Sarah was looking confused and Jordan was frowning.
"Where's mom?" I asked.
"Asleep."
I relaxed, but then tensed up again.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Daddy came in again and mummy started screaming at him, daddy was a bad boy and he hit her." Sarah said.
My mouth dropped open. Jordan looked scared, unsure.
"Where were you?" She said, she was on the verge of crying.
I don't think I heard her correctly. I sat down on the ground, hard.
"No silly!" Sarah laughed, "You're suppose to sit on the chair!"
"Dad did what?" I said slowly taking a chair.
"He hit mum, I…I don't know why." Jordan's lower lip wavered.
I was shocked, "How's mum?"
"She's okay, slightly shaky."
Then a terrible though occurred to me, "Where's dad?"
Jordan looked up looking confused, "What?"
"Jordan," I said, a little too loudly, "Where's dad?"
"I don't know…he left." She said.
"My mom. Did she…did she pick up the phone after he left?" I asked,
"What? No." She said.
I felt relived, she didn't phone the police. Okay, that meant that them were going to solve this by themselves, that meant that no police or-
"Rachel? What does custody mean?" Jordan asked.
I half fell off my chair, like the way Tobias had. I didn't, I managed to look as calm as I could.
"Where'd you hear that!" I said sharply, like she said the harshest word you could come up with.
She shrank back in her chair and she started to say "Look I swear I didn't hear it in school, dad said it! I-"
I walked away from the living room and dragged myself up to my room, I closed the door, and as if in a private shrine where no one could hear or see me, I cried.
Only I forgot that I always leave my window open and it took me a while to realize what I was looking at.
A Red-Tailed Hawk.
I quickly whipped away my tears and muttered something, talk about perfect timing.
< Uh. Sorry for dropping in like this. > Tobias said, he sounded startled. < But I'll leave. >
"No stay." I said. "What did you want?"
< It was something stupid really I'll go. > He said.
"Nothing you think of it stupid." I said.
There was this awkward silence, "Come on, what is it?"
< Rachel? I…I want someone to take care of Dude for me. Ever since the war I forgot about him. I'd really appreciate it. >
"You don't need someone," I said, "You have me."
< Thanks a lot. > He sounded relieved.
I sighed and raked my hair absent-mindedly.
< Are you all right? > He asked.
"I think I should have been the one to ask." I laughed bitterly.
< Rachel? > He asked, < What's wrong? >
"Nothing, absolutely nothing." I said, and then I laughed.
My dad wanted to take custody of my sisters and me, he hit mum and she was in her room sleeping. I should really check on her.
The Yeerks were looking for Tobias mother.
Visser three was plotting to infest the most powerful man on earth.
And I could change to animals.
Yep, nothing was happening. Usual routine.
"Really," I insisted, "I'm fine, it was…my mother. Look, I should really check on her."
< Whatever you say. > He sighed; I knew he didn't buy it.
He flew out of the window.
"Bye." I whispered.
< Bye. >
I went out of my room and entered my mothers, without bothering to knock she was crying.
Her left eye was bruised.
"Mom?" I said.
"Rachel?" She cried.
She ran over and hugged me, then she sat down and started crying again.
"It's okay," I said, stroking her hair, something I learnt from Cassie. I wasn't the huggy type. Cassie was.
I stayed with her until she fell asleep, she was mad and scared. My father was going to try and take custody of us and my mother wanted to keep us.
She kept saying that he was a man and didn't need any girls.
I didn't try to argue. My mom needed someone to be at her side, for now.
I crept out of her room and closed the door behind me.
I went to bed and after about ten minutes, I was interrupted by Sarah,
"Rachel." She whispered, her big dark eyes huge, "I can't sleep,"
I sighed, "What's wrong?"
"Can I go sleep with mommy? In her bed? With her?" She whispered, looking on the verge of crying.
I bit my lip, "Uhuh, no Sarah, mommy is kind of tired."
Her dark eyes threatened to let lose the moisture in her eyes.
"But. Mommy… Daddy hit her, she was crying. He didn't come back to say sorry. I hate this game. I want it to stop. I want mommy and daddy."
Her lowered lip trembled, "I'm afraid to sleep alone in the dark I…" She looked at me, hope filling her eyes, "Can I sleep with you? In your bed? Like mommy?"
I sighed inwardly, I moved my blanket, "Hop in."
She climbed in my bed and nuzzled against me, I noticed that she was trembling. The bed was slightly uncomfortable but I could bear that for a night.
I stroked her head absent-mindedly until she fell asleep, but I do think that I fell asleep before her. It had been a very long day.
That was one of the reasons to why I forgot to close the window.
Chapter Fourteen
~Jake~
Next day, I was sitting in my room, minding my own business trying to finish, or actually start my English assignment. When I heard this little commotion down stairs.
I popped my head out of the corridor and looked at Tom, he was standing near the banisters trying to eaves drop, and Tom must have been deaf, because I could clearly hear what was being said.
I could hear Aunt Naomi talk to my mother, she was enraged, scared, upset. I got out in a hurry, something bad must have happened to Rachel!
"I can't believe he did that! Even after hitting me, I didn't think that he would try to…" Aunt Naomi broke down into tears. My brother shook his head and went into his room.
"Naomi? Didn't you phone the police?" My mother asked her.
"No, no I didn't I don't want the police to get involved. I don't…" She sobbed.
"Naomi! I can't believe you didn't! You of all people! You are a lawyer you know that if the police heard of anything like that you would immediately get-" I could no longer hear anything, their voices turned down to a muted, muffled version. My dad had walked in –I think they were in the kitchen or dinning room- and he closed the door after them.
I saw my cousin walk up the stairs; I could clearly see that she had been crying.
"Jordan?!" I said, "What happened?"
"Jake?" She sobbing, "I don't know, all right? I don't know anymore."
"Come here," I said, getting a little bit uncomfortable. I hated seeing girls cry, first of all I don't know what to do, and secondly I act like a dweeb and thirdly, it upsets me.
She went into my room and I closed the door behind her. "Where's Rachel?"
She opened her mouth to say something, instead of answering me, she covered her mouth and started to cry harder.
"I don't know." She said,
What? What was happening here? Every day and we face the ultimate weirdness.
"Rachel and Sarah," She said, when she quieted down, "We woke up in the middle of the night and we heard screams, it was mainly coming from Rachel, but Sarah was screaming as well."
My heart froze, it completely stopped beating. My brain ground to a halt.
She continued in this weirdly calm voice, "Dad was dragging them out of the house, he threw them in his car. Mom was screaming and yelling her lungs out, she tried to stop him but he threw her back her head hit the ground and she, she blacked out. I don't know where they are, I… Dad took them. Jake, why? Why did he take them? Why do my parents act this way? Why can't they act like yours?"
I sat with my mouth hanging open and I kept on thinking, no way, no way, this is trouble, no way.
What if her dad was a controller? What of Rachel did something stupid? By telling him the truth about the invasion she may think that her parents would see another reason to why they should go back together.
"Jordan please." She had started crying again.
"Why do my parents want to argue over us in court? Jake it makes no sense."
"Jeez, Jake." Tom said, I hadn't noticed him come in, "I never knew you were that terrible with girls. Jordan come on, I'll take you to the park, we can walk Homer."
She got up silently and Tom fetch Homer. After waiting for a few minutes I got up called Marco and told him to arrange an Animorphs only meeting (of course that was not what I actually said.) I told him not to bother himself with Rachel, I got that taken care of. Yeah, right.
I waited for ten minutes, morphed to falcon and flew to the barn, they were all there. Waiting for me.
< Where's Rachel? > Tobias asked.
"That's what the meeting's all about." I said.
Marco frowned, Cassie looked at me, Ax's impression was unreadable, and Tobias repeated what he said, < Where's Rachel? >
"I don't know, no one does." I tried not to look as worried as I really was.
"What happened?" Cassie said, she knew me, "Jake?"
"Last night? Who was the last to see Rachel?" It could have been more direct if I wanted to; all I should have done was look at Tobias as I asked the question. I didn't.
< I did, > He said, Marco raised an eyebrow. < It was, about ten. Why? What happened? > So it was after Tobias, Middle of the night did not qualify as ten, it was more like one or two in the morning. That's what Jordan means as 'the middle of the night'
Marco turned at Tobias, looking like he was on the verge of cracking a wise remark, I didn't give him time to, "What was she like?"
< What? > He asked,
"I meant was there anything unusually happening at her house?"
He hesitated, < Yeah, um, when I came in she was crying. She said that something was wrong with her mother. She didn't tell me what. >
"Warrior Princess was crying? I got to have seen that!" Marco exclaimed.
"Marco," I snapped, I was not in my bests of moods, "Stop it."
"Hey! What did I say!"
"Jake? What's wrong with Rachel?" Cassie cried out.
"She'd been kidnapped," I said.
< What? > Tobias said.
< Kidnapped by whom? > Ax asked, < The Yeerks? >
"No," I said, "I mean I don't know, it was her father."
Ax frowned, < Why would her father want to kidnap her? >
Ax didn't even know that her parents were divorced.
"What!" Cassie said.
"Look, I don't think it's a controller because he took Sarah with him too, Jordan said that he grabbed them in the middle of the night and their screams woke her up and her mother."
< Prince Jake, > Ax said, < I am still puzzled, why would her father want to kidnap her? >
I rubbed the bridge of my nose, "Her parents are divorced."
< What does that mean? > He wondered.
No one bothered to answer him.
"You think the Andalites should know of this?" Cassie said, "They could help us find her."
I shook my head, "No, this has nothing to do with them, this is our problem, we take care of it."
"So what should we do?" Marco asked.
< I could go sky high and find her. > Tobias suggested.
"No, that would be like trying to find a needle in a hay stack, we should go to her house, you know, sniff around. Maybe we'd find something."
"Maybe." Marco said, "I just love wasting my time on a maybe."
< Marco shut up. > Tobias said, in this un-Tobias way.
Chapter Fourteen
~Sarah~
I was lying beside my big sister, she was sound asleep. My eyes got heavy as I listened to the beating rhythm of her heart, and by watching her chest fall and rise with her breathing.
I think I fell asleep, but not for long. I woke up by the felling of someone carrying me out of bed. Rachel was going to take back to my bed; I turned and nuzzled against…Daddy?
My eyes opened sleepily and I looked at my dad, he smiled at me, stroked my head and whispered in my ears, "Daddy is going to take you home."
That's when Rachel woke up.
"Dad? What are you doing?" She woke up quickly and stared at him.
"Come along Rachel." He said.
"Where?" She asked.
"Just come," He whispered impatiently.
"No!" She said loudly, "What are you-"
He grabbed her arm and began to walk outside the room and down the stairs.
"Hey! Let me go! You're hurting me!" Rachel yelled.
Daddy didn't let go; mommy and Jordan woke up. They ran outside and followed daddy, mom was yelling at Daddy and told Jordan to go in the house. She didn't.
Daddy was yanking Rachel along. He held my hand in his other. I don't know what the fuss was all about, why didn't Rachel want to come along with daddy? Why does she ruin a good time?
Mommy and Jordan were just as bad, they screamed and cried and daddy shoved my mom, I asked him why he was doing this. He didn't hear me.
He pushed Rachel in the backseat and put me in the back with her. He went in and locked the doors from the front.
My Daddy's car was like that; if you locked it at front you couldn't open it from the back seat. Rachel seemed to forget this. She was trying to open the door, or more accurately, yanking the handle of the door out.
"Darn the safety lock," She mumbled under her breath. She leaned back and looked stonily ahead, she was still crying.
"Rachel," Daddy said in his deep friendly voice, "Don't cry."
He was driving kind of fast. He never drove that fast, it was usually mommy who did that. Then the good policeman with the panda car would stop her and give her a piece of paper, mommy has a whole collection of them.
Sometimes, I would sit in her car and open the little box in front of the passengers seat and count them one by one. It drives my mommy mad, in a nice way.
"Why are you doing this?" Rachel cried, she looked scared and confused.
"Honey, I want you to come with me, just for a while." He answered.
"Yeah!" I cried, "Were going to have fun with Daddy!!!"
"That's right little Sarah," He said to me.
"Don't call me that!" I shrieked.
He smiled. I don't know why he smiles when he calls me little Sarah, I don't like it and it makes me angry, but he smiles like he said a joke.
I always smile back and cock my head at him.
This makes him laugh.
"Let me out." Rachel said.
I held her hand, "Well have fun." I told her.
"Listen to Sarah, Rachel. We're gong to have fun with daddy." He said it in a strange way. His eyes gleamed and he smiled in this strange way at Rachel.
Rachel looked down at the carpet of the car. My dad was at the car seat in front of her.
Suddenly she lurched forward and flung herself at the passengers seat.
Daddy slammed on the brakes just like the way mom does when anther car stops in front of her.
It made me jump into the back of the passenger's seat; I hit my head at its back ad bounced back.
"This is fun!" I yelled, "Daddy do it again!"
But daddy wasn't interested, he and Rachel were wrestling over something in the front part of the car, Rachel was yelling and I saw her pick something that gleamed. Daddy held both her hands and squeezed hard, so that she dropped it.
When it dropped I saw what it was, it was a gun! Like in the movies. I didn't like guns, they always make a loud noise and they make people bleed, sometimes, when they use it, it makes them go to heaven. Or as Rachel would say, hell. I don't know what you do in hell, but I like heaven a lot better.
"What are you doing with that!" Rachel screamed, "What do you want with a gun?"
He turned around and looked at her, with sad eyes, "In case your mom calls the police." He said.
The way he said it made me shiver. I huddled near Rachel and she held me. As if to protect me from Daddy's eyes.
I wanted to go home.
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