** Note From The Author **Hello to everyone out there. This is my first attempt at an Ani Fic so I know it's not great, okay? It goes kinda fast but that's because I didn't want to turn it into a whole book, cos that would be like an insult to KA. Anyway, read and hopefully enjoy and please review.
Waiting For You
I know that a lot of people out there are trying to save the world. But they aren't anywhere near our league of saving the world. They pick up trash everyday, plant trees, you know, that sort of thing. Cassie would know about that.
But we don't have to do our job everyday. Yeah, we're always on call, but we don't have missions' everyday.
All of the missions can get pretty tiring after a while. We've had so many close calls...Now I'm always thinking, is today the day I'm going to die?
I understand that everyone has problems. All people my age.
But do they have problems like worrying which lies to tell your parents when you have to go somewhere, but you always know that there is a chance you won't ever be back? Or how about wondering what will ever happen with you and your boyfriend, who just happens to be a bird?
Not exactly your typical thirteen year old.
Sometimes I just need to get out. You know, be a normal teenager. And that was exactly what I was doing. I was at the movies.
With Tobias.
It's great that the Ellimist gave him his morphing power back. But now he's always faced with an important choice. He can only morph his human self for two hours at a time, or else he loses his morphing power. Again.
But for these two hours, he was human. And we were sitting there, like two normal teenagers, watching a movie.
I felt his hand let go of mine, then a second later I felt him lightly tapping on my shoulder.
"I think it's that time again," he whispered softly into my ear.
"Time for what?" I asked. But I knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Rachel, you know. I'll be right back."
"Tobias. Why don't you just stay like this? In your human body?" I asked him. Just another desperate attempt. "Think of it. We could go to the movies all of the time together. We could hold hands. And...."
"Rachel. You know that I can't do that. I don't want to be out of this fight. Not now, not yet. I want all of that too Rachel. I'm sorry, but I still have to fight...." his voice trailed off, "For my father."
"Well, you still have a good....half-hour left."
"I know," he whispered back, "but I don't want to miss the end of the movie. I'll be right back, don't worry."
"But you know I always do," I said. He smiled his soft smile, then walked away.
I let him go, again.
After the movie, we decided to walk around the mall for a while. It was still early afternoon.
"Hey Tobias, it's warm out,:" I finally said.
"Let's go."
It's great to be a human, but there are definitely some advantages to being an eagle. Flying with Tobias on a nice warm day with killer thermals is the best advantage.
***************************************************************************
Ring. Ring.
Stupid phone. Woke me up from my nap.
It was about two hours since I had left Tobias and gone home. It was pretty late.
I walked over to get the phone. My mom and my sisters still weren't home. I had fallen asleep working on a project due for science.
"Hello?" I answered the phone.
"Hi. Is Rachel there?"
"Yep. This is me."
"Hey, it's Cassie. Um...I'm having trouble with that math assignment. I called Jake and he said that he can't get past number twenty."
"I can't get past twenty either."
"Oh well. Thanks anyway. Bye."
Great. Another meeting in Cassie's barn. I had twenty minutes to get there. Something was up and I had to find out what it was.
I went to the room and opened the window. I quickly morphed and started my flight to a place I had gone so many times before.
***********************************************************************
As soon as I got to Cassie's barn and demorphed, I was greeted my Marco. After pushing him up against the wall for a comment he made the meeting started.
"Okay guys. Listen up. This may be our most important meeting." Jake. "Ax? Marco?"
Marco and I have come up with a way to maybe postpone the Yeerk invasion.
"Before you all start whining and complaining saying that we've been doing that all along, let us finish," Marco said. "We've been lying this whole time, making them think that we are Andalite warriors, right? Well, how about another lie? One that might scare them into giving us something we want."
"And how do you plan to do that?" I asked.
"A bomb."
"What!?!" Cassie almost screamed. "And where do you plan to get one of those?"
Marco and I can assemble one with the correct tools and the permission of Prince Jake. That was when I realized that Jake had been silent this whole time.
"And suppose we have a bomb. Then what?"
"Then we plan the greatest battle of all time," Marco answered. "We get our Hork Bajir friends to help us, the Chee, our Yeerk allies, the whole enchilada. Then we raid the place. We threaten them with a bomb, one that cannot go off, then they have to give us what we want."
Tobias said, You're kidding, right? They'd never believe us. And if they did, what exactly is it that we want?
Their Kandrona Ray, their device that is similar to one of your radios, and a ship that will be personally escorted off Earth.
Marco said, "We would send someone on that ship who would use the Yeerk radio to send a signal in all directions. Then maybe the Andalite's will get that signal. Jake, say something. You're freaking me out man."
Jake let out a long sigh. We were all silent as he spoke. "Who exactly would we send?"
Everyone sat silent.
I will. Tobias said softly. The rest of you guys have families. Ax is too important to you guys so he can't go either.
I stood up. "No Tobias. You have to stay. You're important to us. To me..."
"Actually, Xena, you can calm down. You're bird-boy wont go. Uh, we kind of told Erik about our plan and he already has a Chee who would put up the hologram of an Andalite and is willing to be the pilot of the ship."
Cassie shook her head softly. "This isn't right. We're kids. We shouldn't even try to mess with explosives. Jake?"
Jake gave Cassie a sad gaze, then said, "How long would it take you guys to make the bomb?"
"Hahaha! Ax-man and I only need to connect a few wires and it's ready on your command. Sorry, but we kind of got excited with our whole idea."
After some more debate, we decided to put our mission in motion in one week. We needed time to inform our allies.
Cassie wasn't thrilled with the idea, but we convinced her that it was right. After all, we weren't even going to set off the bomb. Marco wasn't even going to connect everything. He would simply turn it off once we got what we needed.
As for me, well, quite frankly I was scared. I mean, this could be our last battle. Ever. And if we destroyed Visser Three when we raided the pool....What then? If we lived. The word "If" echoed in my mind all night long.
***************************************************************************
The next Saturday came far too slowly. Everything was planned. Everything was perfect. We would raid the pool, show them the bomb, demand what we wanted, hopefully take down Visser Three...
And maybe lose our lives.
No, Rachel, I told myself. Don't even start to think like that.
We went in through the Gap entrance, with help from the Chee. We were all in battle morphs and we just straight out attacked. The battle went raging on for about ten minutes, with us losing badly.
I looked over to my right. A wolf with a bloody muzzle and a missing leg. Cassie.
I could hear cries of pain from animals. From Hork Bajir.
Finally I heard the sound that I'd been waiting to hear.
Don't move, Visser. If you pull your trigger, I will pull mine. No one move or I will pull the trigger. Ax was in all of our heads. No more private thought speak. This was for everyone to hear.
A room that was filled with screams, yelling, and dracons firing, was now completely silent.
You are a fool Andalite. Visser Three said coldly. I could see now that he had his dracon beam pointing at one of our Hork Bajir. He slowly put it down. Ax was right behind him with his own dracon beam.
Ax laughed an arrogant Andalite laugh. Then tell me why I am the one with the trigger pointed at your head, Visser.
Marco, Ax then said in private thought speak.
Another Andalite stepped foward, right next to Ax. The Chee must of set up a hologram for him to morph. The Andalite was carrying a silver case. Almost like a briefcase.
Marco opened it up slowly. Inside was a canister with enough C4 to take out the whole pool. We had to make it as real as possible so that Visser Three wouldn't know he had been cheated. But there was one wire inside that wasn't connected. If someone messed with that one wire...
Hahaha. Foolish aristh. You would never endager the lives of your friends. Your fellow Andalites. And of course all of these innocent people here. These humans.
Ax smiled his Andalite smile. Marco turned the switch. I could hear through the silence a soft ticking sound. Marco had set it for seven minutes.
Well, Visser, I guess I have just proven you wrong, Ax said. These humans mean nothing if it means taking you down. By destroying you, we would save many more humans. So many more.
I could see the Visser tense up as he knew he was trapped. You expect me to believe that thing is real? Marco opened it up to show him all the wires and everything. Everyone put down your weapons, he commanded. NOW! I heard a bunch of clatter as weapons were put down and hands were put up.What is it that you want? he coldly asked Ax.
I was listening to Ax make his demands when I heard a voice behind me. "Rachel. Oh, Rachel." What frightened me was that I realized that no one else could hear this voice. The voice kept going on, "Rachel. Come on Rachel. The brave one. The warrior."
I spun around. Drode.
"Well, did you expect anything less?"
Jake, something's wrong, I calmly said.
What is it Rachel? Everything is going perfect. We- he stopped as soon as he saw the Drode. It seemed as though no one else even knew the Drode was there, much less that we were talking.
"Is your cousin's life worth it now, Rachel? Of course, I would save you. Just say 'Crayak' and it's done."
What is he talking about, Rachel? Jake demanded.
What have you done? I demanded.
He just smiled.
Marco, disarm the bomb.
WHAT!?!?!
Now, Marco! Jake said.
Marco turned the switch the other way. What the- Jake, I can't! Something's wrong! We didn't connect that wire! It won't disarm! Holy Crap! Jake, what do we do? This thing is going to go off!
The Drode laughed. Just one word. That's all it takes. I'll even save your pitiful friends if you'd like. Crayak just wants Jake. That's all. One word.
Go to hell, I said calmly.
"After you." The Drode then disappeared quickly. The Ellimist took his spot.
"What the-" Jake gasped.
I CAN'T TURN THE BOMB OFF. CRAYAK HAS CHEATED, ONCE AGAIN, AT HIS OWN GAME. I'M SORRY. WHAT I HAVE DONE FOR YOU IS BRING SOME ANDALITES. I CAN ALSO CHEAT.
"Where are they?" Jake asked.
THEY WILL BE HERE WITHIN FIFTEEN MINUTES. THIS IS THE LAST BATTLE HERE ON EARTH. CRAYAK HAS MOVED ON TO A NEW PLANET TO MESS UP. ONCE THE ANDALITES GET HERE EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE.
Then he disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.
We've got to get out of here!Jake yelled.
Marco, throw the bomb aside! Cassie yelled, just as demanding.
All of a sudden, everything was chaos. Everyone was yelling and screaming.
Everyone was also trying to get up the stairs, all at the same time.
Demorph! Morph to human! Everyone! We'll blend in! I saw Jake already demorphing.
Visser Three had the same idea. He was morphing to a human that was about eleven years old. I guess he just wanted to make sure that he would fit in all the small places so that he could get out faster.
I was in my human morph now, running for the exit. How much time was left? I didn't even know. But then all of a sudden I ran into a kid.
An eleven year old kid.
I right away started stepping back. Visser Three shot near my feet and I automatically fell, about fifteen feet away from him.
"A human?" he said shocked.
I didn't even know what to say. I knew he was going to shoot me. I didn't know what to do. Almost everyone had escaped by now. There were a few castaways, and my friends at the top of the stairs. But where was-
Visser Three pulled his trigger. I closed my eyes.
"Rachel!!!!" Cassie screamed.
But then nothing happened. I didn't feel anything. I saw a horrified look on Visser Three's face, then he dropped his weapon and started running to the stairs. I heard Cassie screaming. Jake was holding her. As if holding her back.
I looked right ahead of me.
Tobias.
He dove in front of me and had taken the shot.
"Tobias!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed. I ran to him and just fell there next to him. "No. No. No. No. No." My tears were dropping all over his bloody body. I hugged him tightly. "No. No. Please Tobias. Please don't leave me."
He took a sharp breath. "I'm sorry, Rachel. There's something that I have to tell you." I could barely hear him. He was barely whispering. "I love you Rachel. More than anything." He gasped for another breath. "I'm sorry that I have to leave you. But I'll be waiting for you." He bit his lip and his face went pale. "I love you...." His body went limp.
"I love you too," I said softly, through tears.
"Rachel come on!" I heard Jake yell. He was choking back tears.
I started running as fast as I could to the stairs. But I wasn't running for Jake. I was covered in blood. But it wasn't my blood.
I went in a flying tackle and took the Visser down the stairs, who had tripped a couple of times already. He wasn't as smart as he thought.
"Rachel, leave him!"
"Get out of there, Rachel! That's an order!"
Now, at the bottom of the stairs, I looked into the eyes of my enemy.
"You killed him," I said simply. "And for that, you die."
"Human. If you stay here longer, you will also die."
"You killed him..." I was crying, I could barely see anything.
I was sitting on top of the Visser, my knees pinning down his arms.
In a rage I started throwing punches. My friends were still yelling at me to get out.
All of a sudden, I heard a big explosion. The bomb went off. I looked up. Fire was headed toward us. I could hear the screams of my friends at the top of the stairs as they were forced to close the door.
"I'm coming, Tobias........"
Waiting For You
I know that a lot of people out there are trying to save the world. But they aren't anywhere near our league of saving the world. They pick up trash everyday, plant trees, you know, that sort of thing. Cassie would know about that.
But we don't have to do our job everyday. Yeah, we're always on call, but we don't have missions' everyday.
All of the missions can get pretty tiring after a while. We've had so many close calls...Now I'm always thinking, is today the day I'm going to die?
I understand that everyone has problems. All people my age.
But do they have problems like worrying which lies to tell your parents when you have to go somewhere, but you always know that there is a chance you won't ever be back? Or how about wondering what will ever happen with you and your boyfriend, who just happens to be a bird?
Not exactly your typical thirteen year old.
Sometimes I just need to get out. You know, be a normal teenager. And that was exactly what I was doing. I was at the movies.
With Tobias.
It's great that the Ellimist gave him his morphing power back. But now he's always faced with an important choice. He can only morph his human self for two hours at a time, or else he loses his morphing power. Again.
But for these two hours, he was human. And we were sitting there, like two normal teenagers, watching a movie.
I felt his hand let go of mine, then a second later I felt him lightly tapping on my shoulder.
"I think it's that time again," he whispered softly into my ear.
"Time for what?" I asked. But I knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Rachel, you know. I'll be right back."
"Tobias. Why don't you just stay like this? In your human body?" I asked him. Just another desperate attempt. "Think of it. We could go to the movies all of the time together. We could hold hands. And...."
"Rachel. You know that I can't do that. I don't want to be out of this fight. Not now, not yet. I want all of that too Rachel. I'm sorry, but I still have to fight...." his voice trailed off, "For my father."
"Well, you still have a good....half-hour left."
"I know," he whispered back, "but I don't want to miss the end of the movie. I'll be right back, don't worry."
"But you know I always do," I said. He smiled his soft smile, then walked away.
I let him go, again.
After the movie, we decided to walk around the mall for a while. It was still early afternoon.
"Hey Tobias, it's warm out,:" I finally said.
"Let's go."
It's great to be a human, but there are definitely some advantages to being an eagle. Flying with Tobias on a nice warm day with killer thermals is the best advantage.
***************************************************************************
Ring. Ring.
Stupid phone. Woke me up from my nap.
It was about two hours since I had left Tobias and gone home. It was pretty late.
I walked over to get the phone. My mom and my sisters still weren't home. I had fallen asleep working on a project due for science.
"Hello?" I answered the phone.
"Hi. Is Rachel there?"
"Yep. This is me."
"Hey, it's Cassie. Um...I'm having trouble with that math assignment. I called Jake and he said that he can't get past number twenty."
"I can't get past twenty either."
"Oh well. Thanks anyway. Bye."
Great. Another meeting in Cassie's barn. I had twenty minutes to get there. Something was up and I had to find out what it was.
I went to the room and opened the window. I quickly morphed and started my flight to a place I had gone so many times before.
***********************************************************************
As soon as I got to Cassie's barn and demorphed, I was greeted my Marco. After pushing him up against the wall for a comment he made the meeting started.
"Okay guys. Listen up. This may be our most important meeting." Jake. "Ax? Marco?"
Marco and I have come up with a way to maybe postpone the Yeerk invasion.
"Before you all start whining and complaining saying that we've been doing that all along, let us finish," Marco said. "We've been lying this whole time, making them think that we are Andalite warriors, right? Well, how about another lie? One that might scare them into giving us something we want."
"And how do you plan to do that?" I asked.
"A bomb."
"What!?!" Cassie almost screamed. "And where do you plan to get one of those?"
Marco and I can assemble one with the correct tools and the permission of Prince Jake. That was when I realized that Jake had been silent this whole time.
"And suppose we have a bomb. Then what?"
"Then we plan the greatest battle of all time," Marco answered. "We get our Hork Bajir friends to help us, the Chee, our Yeerk allies, the whole enchilada. Then we raid the place. We threaten them with a bomb, one that cannot go off, then they have to give us what we want."
Tobias said, You're kidding, right? They'd never believe us. And if they did, what exactly is it that we want?
Their Kandrona Ray, their device that is similar to one of your radios, and a ship that will be personally escorted off Earth.
Marco said, "We would send someone on that ship who would use the Yeerk radio to send a signal in all directions. Then maybe the Andalite's will get that signal. Jake, say something. You're freaking me out man."
Jake let out a long sigh. We were all silent as he spoke. "Who exactly would we send?"
Everyone sat silent.
I will. Tobias said softly. The rest of you guys have families. Ax is too important to you guys so he can't go either.
I stood up. "No Tobias. You have to stay. You're important to us. To me..."
"Actually, Xena, you can calm down. You're bird-boy wont go. Uh, we kind of told Erik about our plan and he already has a Chee who would put up the hologram of an Andalite and is willing to be the pilot of the ship."
Cassie shook her head softly. "This isn't right. We're kids. We shouldn't even try to mess with explosives. Jake?"
Jake gave Cassie a sad gaze, then said, "How long would it take you guys to make the bomb?"
"Hahaha! Ax-man and I only need to connect a few wires and it's ready on your command. Sorry, but we kind of got excited with our whole idea."
After some more debate, we decided to put our mission in motion in one week. We needed time to inform our allies.
Cassie wasn't thrilled with the idea, but we convinced her that it was right. After all, we weren't even going to set off the bomb. Marco wasn't even going to connect everything. He would simply turn it off once we got what we needed.
As for me, well, quite frankly I was scared. I mean, this could be our last battle. Ever. And if we destroyed Visser Three when we raided the pool....What then? If we lived. The word "If" echoed in my mind all night long.
***************************************************************************
The next Saturday came far too slowly. Everything was planned. Everything was perfect. We would raid the pool, show them the bomb, demand what we wanted, hopefully take down Visser Three...
And maybe lose our lives.
No, Rachel, I told myself. Don't even start to think like that.
We went in through the Gap entrance, with help from the Chee. We were all in battle morphs and we just straight out attacked. The battle went raging on for about ten minutes, with us losing badly.
I looked over to my right. A wolf with a bloody muzzle and a missing leg. Cassie.
I could hear cries of pain from animals. From Hork Bajir.
Finally I heard the sound that I'd been waiting to hear.
Don't move, Visser. If you pull your trigger, I will pull mine. No one move or I will pull the trigger. Ax was in all of our heads. No more private thought speak. This was for everyone to hear.
A room that was filled with screams, yelling, and dracons firing, was now completely silent.
You are a fool Andalite. Visser Three said coldly. I could see now that he had his dracon beam pointing at one of our Hork Bajir. He slowly put it down. Ax was right behind him with his own dracon beam.
Ax laughed an arrogant Andalite laugh. Then tell me why I am the one with the trigger pointed at your head, Visser.
Marco, Ax then said in private thought speak.
Another Andalite stepped foward, right next to Ax. The Chee must of set up a hologram for him to morph. The Andalite was carrying a silver case. Almost like a briefcase.
Marco opened it up slowly. Inside was a canister with enough C4 to take out the whole pool. We had to make it as real as possible so that Visser Three wouldn't know he had been cheated. But there was one wire inside that wasn't connected. If someone messed with that one wire...
Hahaha. Foolish aristh. You would never endager the lives of your friends. Your fellow Andalites. And of course all of these innocent people here. These humans.
Ax smiled his Andalite smile. Marco turned the switch. I could hear through the silence a soft ticking sound. Marco had set it for seven minutes.
Well, Visser, I guess I have just proven you wrong, Ax said. These humans mean nothing if it means taking you down. By destroying you, we would save many more humans. So many more.
I could see the Visser tense up as he knew he was trapped. You expect me to believe that thing is real? Marco opened it up to show him all the wires and everything. Everyone put down your weapons, he commanded. NOW! I heard a bunch of clatter as weapons were put down and hands were put up.What is it that you want? he coldly asked Ax.
I was listening to Ax make his demands when I heard a voice behind me. "Rachel. Oh, Rachel." What frightened me was that I realized that no one else could hear this voice. The voice kept going on, "Rachel. Come on Rachel. The brave one. The warrior."
I spun around. Drode.
"Well, did you expect anything less?"
Jake, something's wrong, I calmly said.
What is it Rachel? Everything is going perfect. We- he stopped as soon as he saw the Drode. It seemed as though no one else even knew the Drode was there, much less that we were talking.
"Is your cousin's life worth it now, Rachel? Of course, I would save you. Just say 'Crayak' and it's done."
What is he talking about, Rachel? Jake demanded.
What have you done? I demanded.
He just smiled.
Marco, disarm the bomb.
WHAT!?!?!
Now, Marco! Jake said.
Marco turned the switch the other way. What the- Jake, I can't! Something's wrong! We didn't connect that wire! It won't disarm! Holy Crap! Jake, what do we do? This thing is going to go off!
The Drode laughed. Just one word. That's all it takes. I'll even save your pitiful friends if you'd like. Crayak just wants Jake. That's all. One word.
Go to hell, I said calmly.
"After you." The Drode then disappeared quickly. The Ellimist took his spot.
"What the-" Jake gasped.
I CAN'T TURN THE BOMB OFF. CRAYAK HAS CHEATED, ONCE AGAIN, AT HIS OWN GAME. I'M SORRY. WHAT I HAVE DONE FOR YOU IS BRING SOME ANDALITES. I CAN ALSO CHEAT.
"Where are they?" Jake asked.
THEY WILL BE HERE WITHIN FIFTEEN MINUTES. THIS IS THE LAST BATTLE HERE ON EARTH. CRAYAK HAS MOVED ON TO A NEW PLANET TO MESS UP. ONCE THE ANDALITES GET HERE EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE.
Then he disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.
We've got to get out of here!Jake yelled.
Marco, throw the bomb aside! Cassie yelled, just as demanding.
All of a sudden, everything was chaos. Everyone was yelling and screaming.
Everyone was also trying to get up the stairs, all at the same time.
Demorph! Morph to human! Everyone! We'll blend in! I saw Jake already demorphing.
Visser Three had the same idea. He was morphing to a human that was about eleven years old. I guess he just wanted to make sure that he would fit in all the small places so that he could get out faster.
I was in my human morph now, running for the exit. How much time was left? I didn't even know. But then all of a sudden I ran into a kid.
An eleven year old kid.
I right away started stepping back. Visser Three shot near my feet and I automatically fell, about fifteen feet away from him.
"A human?" he said shocked.
I didn't even know what to say. I knew he was going to shoot me. I didn't know what to do. Almost everyone had escaped by now. There were a few castaways, and my friends at the top of the stairs. But where was-
Visser Three pulled his trigger. I closed my eyes.
"Rachel!!!!" Cassie screamed.
But then nothing happened. I didn't feel anything. I saw a horrified look on Visser Three's face, then he dropped his weapon and started running to the stairs. I heard Cassie screaming. Jake was holding her. As if holding her back.
I looked right ahead of me.
Tobias.
He dove in front of me and had taken the shot.
"Tobias!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed. I ran to him and just fell there next to him. "No. No. No. No. No." My tears were dropping all over his bloody body. I hugged him tightly. "No. No. Please Tobias. Please don't leave me."
He took a sharp breath. "I'm sorry, Rachel. There's something that I have to tell you." I could barely hear him. He was barely whispering. "I love you Rachel. More than anything." He gasped for another breath. "I'm sorry that I have to leave you. But I'll be waiting for you." He bit his lip and his face went pale. "I love you...." His body went limp.
"I love you too," I said softly, through tears.
"Rachel come on!" I heard Jake yell. He was choking back tears.
I started running as fast as I could to the stairs. But I wasn't running for Jake. I was covered in blood. But it wasn't my blood.
I went in a flying tackle and took the Visser down the stairs, who had tripped a couple of times already. He wasn't as smart as he thought.
"Rachel, leave him!"
"Get out of there, Rachel! That's an order!"
Now, at the bottom of the stairs, I looked into the eyes of my enemy.
"You killed him," I said simply. "And for that, you die."
"Human. If you stay here longer, you will also die."
"You killed him..." I was crying, I could barely see anything.
I was sitting on top of the Visser, my knees pinning down his arms.
In a rage I started throwing punches. My friends were still yelling at me to get out.
All of a sudden, I heard a big explosion. The bomb went off. I looked up. Fire was headed toward us. I could hear the screams of my friends at the top of the stairs as they were forced to close the door.
"I'm coming, Tobias........"