My name is Jake. That's all I will tell you, I can't tell you anymore. You see if I did the yeerks would get me. What are yeerks? Yeerks are aliens, parasites. They are evil power-hungry aliens, with their mind on a great prize, Earth. Or more importantly, the people of earth, us humans. What would they want with us? Yeerks in their natural state are helpless, just slugs. They become dangerous when they are controlling another being. They slide in though the ear canal, sinking into all the indentations, and valleys of the brain. They interface with you. Access your mind, invade your thoughts, your dreams, your goals, your most secret thoughts, absolutely nothing is sacred to them they spare you nothing. They play your thought back to you, like a movie. Any little insignificant dream you've had any little fantasy, they access they show it to you and mock you. I know I've been a controller, almost nothing can compare to that horror. My friends and I fight them. Five human teenagers, and one Andalite youth against an endless army of evil. We have only one weapon, the power to morph, to change our form. Manipulate our DNA to that of any animal we can touch. Sometimes it seems like such a small weapon, so meaningless, but I guess sometimes the smallest weapons can be the most powerful. The power was given to us by a dying Andalite prince, he knew he had no time left, knew he was going to die, so he made one last act of defiance against the yeerks, us. We were walking home from the mall, cutting through an abandoned construction site. When I look back on that now, on how we were then, how innocent, and unaware. So safe in what we thought was our world, we had no idea what real fear was. Then fear to us was a bad dream, watching a scary movie in the dark. We were so young then. Sometimes it seems like forever since this all began, it hasn't though what a year and a half two? We are considered young by society standards but there are days when I feel so old, so old and tired I just want to go to sleep and never wake up. This was one of those days, but I was going to learn something that was going to make my day even worse and I didn't think anything could be right again. I was sitting at the table with my family eating breakfast, it was Saturday morning and I was eating quickly, my friends and I had a meeting planned. Then my mother said something that stopped my heart. "You know Jake, me and your father have been going to the Sharing every once in a while, we have just recently become full members, I was thinking that maybe you should join, it would be something that we could all do together as a family." My heart stopped, I couldn't breathe. I couldn't believe this was happening. I had to control myself; one wrong move at this moment could be my downfall. I tried my best to take on a light tone. "Maybe sometime, I've been kinda busy with school and everything. Not that I'm against all the uh, family, stuff." I tried to make it sound like I just didn't want to spend time with my parents, teenage stuff. "I understand honey. You don't wanna spend time with your parents, it's all right." My mom said. She sounded just like her, but I couldn't let that deceive me, yeerks are the masters of deception. It felt like my chest was caving in, my vision was going dim, my breathing getting erratic. I had to leave before they noticed anything. "Hey I'm going to go take a shower and head out, meeting some friends, I'll see you tonight, k?" I put my cereal bowl in the sink and ran up stairs. I went into my room, shut the door and slid down the wall next to it. My head dropped into my hands. I thought I was going to be sick. Why couldn't anything ever go right for me. My brother had already been a controller, why did they have to take my parents too? I don't think I had ever felt so alone. I had never been able to tell my parents about my secret life, but at least I had been able to know that they were themselves. I evened out my breathing, trying to hold myself together; I went into the bathroom. I turned on the shower, then I concentrated on the fly DNA inside me and felt the changes begin. I started to shrink, then I felt six legs shoot out from my chest as my normal limbs shriveled away, I fell back as my legs disappeared, luckily I was already very small so there wasn't a large sound. POP POP! My fly eyes burst out tiny little TV screens, compound eyes. The wings grew out of my back, and I felt the rest of the changes finish, I was fully fly. I buzzed my wings and flew out of the tiny crack at the bottom of the bathroom door. I headed down into the kitchen where my parents and brothers were. I had to be sure beyond a doubt before telling the others. I flew into the kitchen and landed on the refrigerator. I listened carefully not wanting to miss a thing. "The shower is on," Tom, my brother, announced. "Do you think we should make him one of us?" My mother asked. "I don't see a need to, he's young, his body would be of no use to us, no importance." My Dad replied. "You're right." Tom said. "This host fights hard." My dad replied suddenly. "Is that your first human host?" Tom asked. "Yes." "They do tend to fight harder, than any of the other species." Tom said. "I have had other human hosts, this one is a little stronger, but she will soon give up, they always do." My mother said. "Yes, my host has long since been broken, he's quite pathetic at this point." I couldn't listen to this any longer. I had discovered what I needed to know. My parents were involuntary and I was not being considered for infestation. I flew up to the bathroom, entered again through the crack, demorphed, quickly showered, and walked numbly form my house, headed towards our meeting place Cassie's barn. I stopped outside of the barn and looked at it. How was I going to tell my friends? I didn't want their pity, I had had enough when we found out Tom was one of h them. I would wait 'til the end, I decided. Taking a deep breath I entered the barn. They were all there Marco, Rachel, Cassie, Ax, and Tobias. Marco was sitting on a bale of hay. Marco is my best friend, has been since we were very young. He's the kind of person that tries to find the humor in everything, and usually succeeds. His mother is Visser One, it was thought that she had died, but the yeerks had faked her death, having more important things to do. Marco is funny, but he can also be serious, not often, but when he is it's usually something important, not only can he be serious but he can be ruthless. Rachel was sitting on a bale across form Marco, glaring at him. I assumed that Marco had said something that Rachel didn't like, which was often. Rachel's my cousin. She's tall, and blond. She looks like one of those models from the fashion magazines, but that is completely untrue, well not completely. Rachel loves to shop; she loves clothes and make-up, and is really into fashion. Rachel is probably one of the bravest people I have ever met. Sitting next to Rachel or rather, perched next to her was Tobias. Tobias is living the downside of morphing. You see you can only stay in morphs for two hours at a time, any linger and you are trapped in that form. Tobias is now a red-tailed hawk, though he did regain his morphing power thanks to a being known as the Ellimist, and can return to his human body for two hours at a time. Ax, Ax is an Andalite, the younger brother of Prince Elfangor. The Andalite who gave us our morphing power. His full name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, but that is a little hard to pronounce so we call him Ax. Cassie was handling some bird with a broken wing. It's her barn that we use as a meeting place, actually it's not really a regular barn. It's the animal rehabilitation center. Wild animals that have been injured are brought there for treatment. Her father runs it and she helps out. Cassie is the most understanding person in the group. She basically accepts you no matter what, faults and all. If you need someone to talk to Cassie is the person to go to, she listens without judging. When you just need someone to listen and not give advice, she seems to know what to and what not to say. I like Cassie; I like her a lot. Not in just a normal friend way though. To me Cassie is beautiful, most people would probably say that Rachel is prettier, but Rachel is my cousin, and I disagree anyway. Cassie is beautiful inside and out. She has her faults just like anyone else, but who doesn't? I of course could never tell her exactly how I feel about her, I'm not that good with words and I don't think I could get it out, and would just end up embarrassing us both beyond redemption. I walked into the barn, and sat on a hay bale near Marco. I listened dimly as the others chattered about this and that, but I didn't really hear them. I reached up and combed my hand through my hair, I barely noticed that it was shaking. "Hey buddy, are you all right?" That was Marco. "Yeah, I'm fine," I croaked. I guess he accepted that because he went back to arguing with Rachel. I noticed that my shoulders had started shaking, in fact I seemed to just be shaking in general. I saw Cassie looking at me with a worried expression on her face. "Jake?" She asked. "Are you OK?" I nodded slightly. "You look pale, do you feel all right?" "I'm fine," I managed to say. "You do-" she stared to say. Marco cut her off. "Jeez Cass, he said he was all right." "He doesn't look all right. Look at him. Jake you're really pale, and you're shaking, sweating too." Marco looked over at me. "Man, you do look sick. Maybe you should go home and like sleep or something." He said. I shook my head vigorously. "No, I don't want to go home." I whispered. Cassie came up and put her hand on my shoulder. "Jake?" "My parents." I said almost inaudibly. "What about them," She asked I could see the dawning realization in her eyes. "Oh, Jake, don't tell me they're…" She said. "They have them, they had my brother and now they had to take my parents too. I don't know if I can take it." I said so quietly I don't think anyone else but Cassie could hear our conversation. "Hey what's going on?" Rachel asked. Cassie was looking at me; there was something in her eyes. I couldn't tell what it was, pity, disappointment that I had allowed this to happen. Because it was my fault, I should have suspected. I had failed them, failed my parents, my family, and someday I would fail my friends. I couldn't take it, seeing the condemnation in their eyes. I heard Cassie whisper to them. "His parents, are, are controllers." Rachel gasped. Marco blew out a big breath of air, and then he inhaled getting ready to say something. I couldn't take it, hearing their words. I got up and ran out of the barn, I had no idea where I was going, I just headed toward the forest and ran, and ran, and ran…
Chapter Two (Cassie)
Jake looked at me, there was something in his eyes that I couldn't read, and I saw the emotions flicker across his usually unreadable face. It hurt, I could tell that he was in pain, and it felt like it was my own, I looked over and whispered to the others. "His parents are-are controllers." Rachel gasped, and Marco blew out a deep breath and got ready to say something. Then Jake got up and ran out of the barn. "Hey, where's he going?" Marco asked. "I don't know, but I don't think he should be alone right now." I said. "I'll go after him." "I'll come too," Marco and Rachel said at the same time. I shook my head forcefully, "No, I should do this, you guys stay here." I looked to Tobias. "Will you go see if the coast is clear?" He nodded his feathery head and lifted off, headed for the rafters in the top of my barn where he could see if it was safe for me to morph. {Coast is clear, I can't see Jake though} he sounded worried, I was too. I focused in the wolf inside me and felt the changes begin. Gray fur sprouted at my feet and worked its way up to my head, once it reached my neck it spread down my arms and onto my face. A tail sprouted, and my knee joints began to reverse, I fell to all fours. My face bulged out into a wolf's head. My ears lengthened, folded and moved up my head. The changes completed and I sniffed the ground looking for Jake's trail. I caught it and followed it out of the barn. {I'll talk to you guys later, okay?} I said to them in though-speak as I left the building. Once outside I kept Jake's trail, and ran to the woods. I followed the erratic trail through the forest until I found him. He was sitting on a log with his head in his hands. I walked toward him, he lifted his head when he heard my paws in the forest floor, and for a second he looked surprised. Then his face lost emotion. "Cassie? Marco? Rachel? Who was sent to see if old Jake rocked right off his chair or what?" He said bitterly. I morphed to human. As soon as the changes were complete I walked over, and sat down on the log next to him. I just sat there, not saying anything, waiting for something. I didn't know what. "Why did you come, why couldn't you just let me go?" He asked. I could hear the raw pain in his voice, as much as he tried to hide it, I could still tell. "Because, I don't think you should be alone right now. This is a big blow, you should have someone here who-, you should have a friend here." I finished. "A friend? How much longer are you guys going to want to be my friends, after what I allowed to happen." He whispered. "Allowed? Jake what are you talking about? I asked, confused. I didn't understand what he was saying. "I let them be taken, I should have done something. It's what I do, I mean that's my job. Fighting the yeerks, and I couldn't even save my own family. It's my fault. You all think so, I could tell." "Jake? How could you think that we, any of us would blame you?" I asked, completely aghast at his statement. "I could see it in your eyes Cassie. You were disappointed, pitying. You knew it was my fault too, the others will think the same thing, because it's true." He looked at me for a second, then turned his head, and made to stand up. I grabbed his hand and pulled him back down. "Jake, whatever emotion you saw. It certainly wasn't disappointment. I don't blame you for what happened. None of us do, there was nothing you could have done." I said forcefully. "I don't think I believe you, how can it not be my fault?" He asked. It hurt; I could feel the pain cutting deep. I could see the pain in his eyes. He truly believed that this was his fault, that we would blame him, hate him for it. I took his head in his hands and looked him straight in the eye. "Jake. There was absolutely nothing you could have done. You did your job. And I don't blame you at all; I was not disappointed in you at all, I wasn't angry or anything like that. I hurt Jake, I knew that you were in pain, and it hurt me. I don't know what to say; I don't know how to make it better. But it was. Not. Your. Fault." I said with as much force and passion I could manage. He looked back at me, I think he started to believe what I was saying. Then he did something that I didn't expect. He hugged me. Tight so tight I almost couldn't breathe, but I didn't tell him that I just hugged him back as hard as I could. I could feel him shaking. "You know, Jake. It's okay, I'm the only one here." I whispered in his ear. "I haven't cried in a long time Cassie, I think I've forgotten how." He replied. I think it was then that I realized how much Jake has had to grow up. I could tell a little before. I could see it in his eyes in the way he stood, held himself. How he spoke, the way he would try to mask his emotions, his fear. How he always put himself last in battles, Ignored his own fears, and pain to try to ease ours. We expect too much of him, always expect him to make the decisions, not thinking about the way he would feel afterward, if things went wrong. He pulled back and looked at me. Wiped the wetness from my face, I hadn't realized I'd been crying. "I don't know if I can take it, being in the same house as them, knowing, what they are." He whispered. Our toned were hushed as we talked though I don't know why. We must have talked for hours, discussing our fears, our joys. I think I learned more about him in that time than I had in the entire time I'd known him before, and revealed more of myself in the process. I learned about his self-doubt his fear of failing us all. He learned of my fear of losing myself, becoming someone, someone without conscience, simply stop caring. He tried to ease my fears and I tried to ease his. I don't know how much it helped. As we left, I felt tired, emotionally drained, but something else that I couldn't quite define. When I went into the barn I saw a note the others had written. It said to meet them at the cinnabon in the mall, at 3:30. I looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost 3:15. "Do you want to meet the others, or just stay here?" I asked him. "We should probably meet them." He said. I know that he no longer feared that I blamed him, but I think he still feared what the others would think. They were waiting at a table when we got there. We slid into the empty seats. For about ten seconds no one spoke. "Are there any left or did Ax eat them all?" Jake asked with mock seriousness. The others looked at him for a moment then started laughing. Rachel pulled two from behind the potted plant next to her. "Here we managed to save these two." She said. We took them. I saw Ax looking at them longingly. I ripped mine in half, and handed on part to him. "Here ya go Ax," I said, smiling. "Hey man, you okay?" Marco asked, voicing the question the others were probably thinking but not asking. Jake glanced at me quickly. "I think I will be." He said. I squeezed his hand underneath the table. We finished our cinnamon buns, and left the area. "Hey, wait before we go, I need to check out this store. There's a major sale going on. Besides, I saw this dress that would be great for you Cassie." Rachel said grabbing my hand, dragging me toward the right. The others followed behind. We entered one of Rachel's favorite clothing stores. She immediately headed for the back, where the sale signs were. She sifted through the racks for about five minutes, while the rest of us talked. "Aha! Here I found it. This dress is made for you Cass." She held out a dress. I didn't notice much about it except for the fact that it was short and black. "No way." I said. She shoved the dress at me and pushed me towards the dressing rooms. I knew there was no stopping her. I went into the dressing room and tried on the dress. "How is it?" Rachel called in. I frowned at my reflection in the mirror. "It's too short, and too tight." I replied. "Good, come out I wanna see it." She said back to me. "No way, Only if they leave." I said . "They?" Rachel asked pretending not to know whom I was talking about. "Rachel?" I said warningly. "I'm not coming out until each and every one of them leave, well I guess Ax could stay, but the rest of them. Uh uh." I said. About ten seconds later she called back. "Okay, they're gone." I stepped out of the dressing room. She smiled. "Perfect, that looks great!" She said. "Don't you think it's a little low?" I asked pulling at the neckline. "No way, it's perfect, you have to get it, come on it's on sale." She pleaded. "Rachel, where would I wear it?" I asked. I mean I didn't go anywhere where I would need a dress like this. "Please, you never know? Come on, for me?" She asked. I sighed. "Fine, but I'll have to pay you back, I don't have any money with me." "Okay fine, go change. I think the guys are getting bored." "They're not the only ones," I mumbled under my breath. I don't think Rachel heard. I went back into the dressing room, and changed into my regular clothes. When I went back out I said to Rachel. "I can't believe I am doing this, I mean. When am I ever going to wear this dress." "No way Cassie. That dress was made for you." With that she grabbed the dress from me and made her way toward the cash register. "So, Rachel talked you into getting clothes?" Jake asked, coming up to me. "Yeah," I sighed. He laughed. "That bad?" "I'm never going to wear it. I mean where would I go in it?" I asked. He frowned. "I don't know. You made us leave before you came out." "Oh, yeah. Well anyway it's a dress, and it's black. We'll leave it at that." I headed towards Rachel, at the cashier paying for the dress. Jake opened his mouth to say something, changed his mind, shrugged his shoulders, and followed me. After Rachel finished paying we left. She handed me the bag on the way out. "You owe me." I told her. "Me? Owe you? You should owe me, that is the perfect outfit for you. Next time we'll have to get matching shoes." She exclaimed, I groaned. Shoes? As we left the mall, we separated and headed our own ways. I grabbed Jake's hand and told him to wait a minute. When the others were gone I turned to him and said. "If you ever need to talk just call, or if it's too late come over. You know if it gets overwhelming or anything. I'll leave some blankets in the hayloft in case you just need to get away for a night, okay?" "Thanks Cass." He said. He squeezed my hand for a minute, Then turned around and headed home. "Cassie? Is everything all right?" My mom asked. She looked worried. "Yeah mom everything's fine," I lied. "You look a little preoccupied." She pressed. "Really mom, I'm okay." I told her. "Well your father and I. Lately well for the past year and a half you're grades have been steadily declining. Your teachers say you don't pay attention in class, and aren't prepared for any tests or lab work. We thought it was just a teenager phase, but this has gone on long enough. We're getting worried." She said. "Mom, you're right it's probably just a teenager thing, and I'll try harder okay?" I said convincingly. She nodded on agreement. "We'll see how everything works out." Her way of telling me our 'talk' wasn't over yet. I finished the rest of my meal quickly and put my dished in the sink. "I'm going to the barn for a little but okay?" I asked. "Yep, sure," My dad called back from the dining room. I quickly grabbed the pillow and blankets I had stashed away and hurried to the barn. I gave some of the animals their meds, and put the stuff in the hidden alcove I told Jake about. Nothing happened for the next few days, I checked the place every morning, but there was no sign Jake had ver been there. On Wed night however I happened to see something fly into the barn. I probably wasn't anything I told myself, just some bat or owl, but as I tossed and turned that night my curiosity got the better of me and I crept down to the barn. I climbed into the loft, and made my to the back. I saw Jake lying there, asleep. Quietly I went and sat next to him. I just watched him sleep for a while. He looked so peaceful, at ease unlike the waking hours. Just then his face tightened, and he flung his head to the side. I could hear his mumbled words. "No, no please-, don't hurt-, I'll. No! Stop, Please!" he was saying. I shook his shoulder in an attempt to wake him up. "Jake, wake-up, Jake it's me Cassie, wake-up." Still nothing. He cried out, and outraged sound. "No! Leave her alone! Stop, I'll kil-" he was practically yelling. I shook him. Hard. "Jake!" He slowly awakened. "Cassie?" He asked. "You were having a nightmare, pretty unpleasant from the sound of it." I told him. "Yeah I know." He said shortly. "How did you know I was here?" He asked. " I saw something fly into the barb." I answered. "Oh, I don't fly though I walked." He said. "Huh. Lucky guess then." I replied. There was enough light in the barn so I could make out his features, but it was still pretty dim. His hair was tousled, and he looked tired. I could see the last remnants of the nightmarish emotions leaving his face. "So how have things been?" I asked. I hadn't talked to him since that day, but he obviously wasn't having an okay time if he was here. "I just couldn't sleep, with them there, you know." He told me. "Well I said you could come here anytime you needed to, and I meant it." I said softly. He nodded. "Thank you." He said gently and I knew he meant it. Then he straightened up. "Could you not tell the others about this?" He asked. "Of course I won't. It'll be our secret." I replied. He didn't give me his reasons for not wanting to share this, and I didn't ask. "You're parents won't come back here will they? I don't want them to think, well to get the wrong idea." He said. "No, they won't." I said, blushing a little. I knew what my parents would think if they caught Jake sleeping here. "You look tired," I said. Breaking the embarrassed silence that had followed that statement. "Yeah, I haven't slept well since, well you know." He said, and lay back down. He closed his eyes, and surprisingly fell asleep quickly. "Thanks," I thought I heard him whisper right before he drifted off. "Sweet dreams," I whispered back after a while. I felt very protective of him at that moment, he looked so vulnerable, and I think that I alone knew exactly how vulnerable he was, maybe even he didn't know. I pulled up the covers over him, and smoothed back his hair, and in a gutsy move I leaned forward and kissed his forehead. I then quietly slipped back to the house.
Chapter Three
(Jake)
Cassie woke me up the next morning at six. "Jake, you need to get up remember school." She whispered as she shook my shoulder. I yawned. "Okay, I'm up, I'm up." I said. "You sleep okay?" She asked. "Yeah, better than I have for awhile." I replied. "Good, I'll see you at school okay?" She said. "Yeah, see you." I said. She climbed down form the loft and went to her house. I sat there for a few minutes then headed home. No one was there; I showered and dressed, then headed for school. The day was pretty uneventful; I blew a math test that I had completely forgotten about. That night my parents and Tom tried to recruit me again, I just told them that I had other stuff going on right now. "Okay you don't have to join, but will you consider just coming with us this weekend?" My mom asked. "This weekend?" I asked. "Oh, I'm sorry we must have forgot to tell you, the sharing is having a weekend camping trip, We leave tonight and will be back on Monday." My dad said. Already it was starting I thought. Slowly their personalities would change to suit the yeerk. Not too quickly or someone would take notice though. "That's okay, hey a weekend all to myself, great." I said. "No parties, midget." Tom said. "Sure I promise no parties." I said. "Jake, no parties." My mom warned. I tried to smile at her. "Well it's getting late, we should probably go. There's plenty of food in the fridge, and here's some money for a movie or anything you want." My mom said, handing me an envelope, I peeked inside. The yeerks were getting generous, seventy-five dollars. "Okay I'll see you on Monday." I said. They waved and were gone. I sighed and leaned back in my chair. Then I went up to my room. I pulled the money out. A folded piece of paper fell out; I leaned down and picked it up. It was from my mom. Jake, I'm sorry you decided not to join us, we would have had fun. Here's some spending money, use it wisely. Think some more about joining the sharing, it opens up all kinds of new opportunities. Mom. I stared at it, and calmly set it and the money down on the desk. Then I grabbed a clay paperweight and threw it on the floor; it broke apart with a satisfying crash. I looked at the mess, then turned around and left. I was shaking, I went down and called Marco this weekend camping thing could be someone. I calmly called him and explained what my mom had said. "Ok, I'll call Rachel, you call Cassie, and we'll head over to her barn, okay man?" He had said. I agreed and called Cassie up to explain. "Ok, sure. Jake are you okay?" She asked. "I'm fine," I lied. Then I hung up and left for her house. Rachel was already there when I arrived. Marco came in about a minute later. "So?" Rachel asked. "My parents and Tom left for this all weekend sharing thing, they said it was a camping trip, but I'm betting that it was just a front." I said. "Prince Jake," Ax said coming into the barn. I looked up; Tobias was perched in the rafters. "Don't call me Prince." I said. "Yes, Prince Jake," Ax replied. "So what should we do?" Cassie asked. "I don't know, I have no idea where it even is," I said. "They didn't mention anything about where they would be?" Marco asked. "No, just said they would be back on Monday." I said. "Well if it's anything big, Chapman would be going, maybe he hasn't left yet." Rachel said. "Okay, We follow Chapman." I said. "We should probably call our parents tell them we're sleeping over at someone's house." Marco said. I nodded, they called using the phone in the barn, and Cassie called up to her house. We morphed into our birds of prey, and set off for Chapman's. Perfect timing he was just pulling out of the driveway, with a duffel in the back seat. {Okay, we follow him} I said. He drove for about forty-five minutes then pulled off onto a back road. {Hey what's that?} Marco asked. {An old Ranger tower.} Tobias replied. I looked; He was pulling up into a parking lot. It didn't look like an old ranger tower anymore There were new windows, walls, and guarded. There were smaller buildings all around it, and cars parked in the lot. We landed on a tree close to the tower. {Can you hear what they're saying?} Tobias asked. Chapman was talking to a guard. {Yeah} I said. I was the closest. "Is the new Kandrona ready yet?" Chapman was asking. "There were some complication, a small accident." The guard said nervously. "What kind of accident?" Chapman snapped. "One of the hosts, it gained control for a moment and shot the main computer with a dracon beam." The guard replied. Chapman snarled at him, and went in. {He was talking about a new Kandrona.} I said. {I'm betting it's in there.} {So let's smash it.} Rachel said. {There she goes again, I would like to live a little while longer.} Marco said. {We should plan this first.} I said. {Okay, maybe we should talk to Erek.} Cassie suggested. {Ok, let's go.} I said. We flew a few miles about landed, demorphed and remorphed. Then we went to my house. "Hey what was that number that Erek said we could call, the one that couldn't be bugged?" I asked. Ax told me, and I dialed it up. "Yes?" A voice answered. "Uh, is Erek there?" I asked. "Just a minute." A few seconds later, Erek answered. "Jake?" "Yeah Erek it's me." I said. "Have you heard anything about a new Kandrona?" I asked. "No, I haven't why? Have you found something?" He asked. "Yeah, we think so. Thanks I was just wondering if you knew anything." I said. I hung up and turned to the others. "He doesn't know anything." I said. "So what do we do?" Marco asked. Great, I had to decide. "I don't know, try to destroy it," I said. "I agree with that. When?" Rachel asked. "I don't know, soon though, before it's operational." I replied. I sighed, another decision. What if it was a bad one? One of these days it wasn't going to turn out, one day I was going to go on a mission with six and come back with only five. "Okay, well I have to go," Marco said, Rachel had gymnastics practice which she'd been missing a lot of lately, so she went also. "Jake?" Cassie asked when they had left. "Yeah?" I replied. "What's wrong?" "Nothing's wrong, I'm fine." I said as convincingly as I could. She shook her head. "That may work on the others, but I know you Jake, something's wrong." She said. I sighed, was I that transparent? She had enough to deal with without having to deal with my problems too. "Really Cassie, everything's fine. I'm just a little stressed." I said, hoping she would believe me. She didn't. "Jake. Drop the act okay, don't try to hide from me." She replied. "Listen you probably already know. It's my parents and Tom, they've been after me to join the sharing, it's just tough." I said. "Okay, remember my barn is always open." She said. "I should go, I have chores." I said goodbye and she left. I sat alone in the silence, until the sky darkened, and the room became pitch black. It was strange, they weren't even here, and yet I could still feel their eyes on me, cold and calculating when my back was turned, warm and deceivingly open when I was looking. I shivered, maybe I was going nuts, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I stood up, my back screaming from lack of use while I sat still in the same position for so long. I went up the stairs to my room; I flipped on the light switch and looked at the mess of broken clay on the floor. I should probably clean it up, but I didn't want to. It was strange looking at it. I felt like that broken paperweight, once strong now just lying there, in pieces. I crouched down and slowly picked up the pieces. I got some glue from my mom's things and carefully fixed it. There, I thought looking at it. Again it was me, broken, yet no one would know. That's what I did. When I lost control, can't let anyone know. Just patch me up, the breaks will still be there, but no one can see. I have to be strong. I'm the leader. I have to be strong for them, but I wasn't that strong sooner or later there would be too many pieces and not enough glue. I put it back on my shelf, and changed into my sleepwear. I lay in bed for a while, not thinking about anything, just staring at the ceiling, and wondering why out of all the people in the world, it had to be me. I fell asleep on that bitter note. I dreamed that night, one of my regular dreams. I was in a cage, Marco, Rachel, Ax and Tobias all standing there, controllers. It was just me and Cassie left. They came in and grabbed her. They slammed the door after her. I reached out through he bars she reached back and caught her hand. She reached out and grabbed my hands, I held on as tight as I could, I could feel her hanging on desperately. "Jake!" She cried. "No! God, leave her alone!" I called. They ripped our hands apart. "Cassie!" I yelled. My heart was being ripped from my chest. "I'll kill you yeerk, all of you. Leave her alone. I'll destroy you for this! Cassie!" I cried. I could hear her frantically calling my name, I yelled out every obscenity and threat I knew to no avail, They dragged her to the end of the pier. "Cassie!" I sobbed one final time. Then I jerked awake. I was sweating, but my skin was cold to the touch. My hand was shaking violently, as was the rest of me, I noticed. I stumbled into the bathroom, and splashed water on my face. I looked into the mirror into my own eyes, and for a minute I didn't recognize who was staring back. I took a drink from the sink then went back to bed, the dream didn't appear again that night. I woke up the next morning; the nightmarish dream that had wakened me still fresh in my mind, as it always was the day after I had it. Marco called while I was eating breakfast. "Hey, Erek called me, he got this new CD and was wondering if we wanted to go listen to it. Cassie wanted to also so we're going to her house, okay?" He said. I knew the drill, which meant to get to Cassie's as soon as possible. "Sure," I said and hung up. My parents weren't there but we didn't want to take any chances about being overheard. I scrambled into my clothes and headed towards Cassie's. "So, what's up?" I asked as I walked into the barn. Erek looked over at me. "I've gotten some information. It appears that the new Kandrona is not yet fully functional, because of this, the guard is not a strong. If you are planning an attack, now would Be the best time." He said. I groaned inwardly, another battle, possible death of my friends. "Okay, we go in tomorrow." I said. We talked about our strategy for a while. There wasn't an easy way in; we would simply have to do our battle morphs and charge the building, hoping our combined strength was enough. "Ok, then tonight, well technically tomorrow. Meet here at 3:30 am." I said. We split up and headed our separate ways to deal with the upcoming events alone. I walked for awhile. Not going anywhere, I just walked, up and down the neighborhoods until I came to my own house. I made myself a frozen pizza. I hung out by myself all day, going over different scenarios. I went to sleep early, knowing that I would need all the rest I could get. My alarm beeped at 3:00, I slipped out of bed and took a shower to wake myself up, then headed for Cassie's. "Ready?" I asked them when I went in. "No." Marco said bluntly. We morphed birds, and flew away. There was no conversation, just a tense silence, except of course from Marco. We arrived at the correct spot, landed and demorphed. "Okay, five minutes rest then we go." I said. Morphing takes a lot of energy, and we would need it later. "Okay, battle morphs." I said after a few minutes. I concentrated on the tiger and felt the changes begin. Orange and black fur spread over my body and a tail slid out. Large sharp teeth grew in my mouth. I fell to all fours as my legs changed. Huge claws grew out of my weak human hands. My vision, hearing and smell sharpened. {Okay, everyone ready?} I asked. {No.} Marco said again. {Let's go.} I added, ignoring him. We got to the edge of the forest and slid up to the door. {Ax?} I said. He stepped up and punched in the code Erek had given us. The door opened and we walked through. The room was huge. Vast ceiling, and in the middle stood a huge object, the Kandrona. All of a sudden and alarm went off. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! red lights were flashing. "Andalites!" Someone yelled. Hork-Bajir poured out of the doorways. Now the real test would begin I thought. I lunged toward the nearest Hork-Bajir, he slashed at me with his blades, I evaded them and went for the throat. I kept fighting, against it seemed an endless supply of enemies. I was tiring, my sleek coat soaked in blood some of it mine some of it not. {Go for the controls!} I yelled. I saw Ax running towards a computer panel, frantically typing in something. {Prince Jake! I am finished; the Kandrona will explode in five minutes. They will not be able to crack the code I have used.} He said. {Retreat!} I yelled. We fell back. Rachel out first, followed by Marco and Tobias, Ax was soon after. Wait a minute. {Where's Cassie?} I yelled. {I don't know. I saw her fall man, she's gone.} Marco said. {No!} I cried. {Wait I have to make sure!} {Jake! This place is gonna blow you have to get outta there!} Tobias yelled. {Not without Cassie! You guys go!} I ordered. {I'm coming with you.} Rachel said. {No. You go.} I said. {Jake! Cassie's my best friend you're my cousin I am not letting you go alone.} She cried. {Rachel! GO!} I yelled. {Ax, take her.} I ordered. The last words I heard as I disappeared back into the building were. {Yes, my Prince.} I raced back in, my sharp cat eyes searching for any sign of Cassie. There! I saw her, surrounded by human controllers. She was hurt badly, barely able to stand. Dracon beams were pointed at her head. I hesitated only a second. We didn't attack humans in our battles, but Cassie was more important. I leapt onto the nearest controller. He screamed as I slashed into his chest. Dracon beams fired wildly. {Cassie! Run!} I called. She didn't listen to me, using the last of her strength she latched onto the arm of a controller who was pointing a dracon at me. Taking care of the human-controllers was easy work compared to the Hork-Bajir, but I was badly injured. When most were down I called frantically to Cassie. {Come one, the building will blow; we have to get out Now!} I headed for the back way, Cassie on hot pursuit. We had almost gotten to the exit before the Hork-Bajir came. They charged at us. I was weak from my injuries and so was Cassie but we fought. I fought until I though I would pass out from exhaustion and pain, which was probably only a few minutes because the building hadn't exploded yet. {Cassie, we have to leave now!} I said. I saw an open spot. {Look there, run for it!} I said. I ran to the back door her right behind me. We ran into the woods, a few seconds after we had cleared it a blinding explosion threw us further into the trees. {Demorph.} I said. I focused on my human self and changed, my wounds left along with my tiger form. The same with Cassie. She looked at me when we were human again. Then she threw herself into my arms and held tight. "You came back for me." She whispered. I hugged her to me. "That was stupid!" She exclaimed. "What?" I asked. "You could have gotten yourself killed!" She said. "I couldn't leave you there." I said softly into her ear. "You should have, you almost died Jake." She replied. "Yeah right, I would never have been able to live with myself, knowing I had left you in there." I said. She was shaking, this was the closest we had come to dying in a long time, we had barely had enough strength to morph, and even now I couldn't stand. "Don't do that again. Don't scare me like that Cassie." I said brokenly. The adrenaline and battle high had left and I was shaking remembering how close I had come to losing her. She buried her head in my neck, and we rocked back and forth. Both exhausted. I heard car engines as vehicles pulled up, finding out about the explosion. "We need to get out of here." I said, pulling her to her feet. I was so tired I didn't think that I could walk, but I pushed myself, as did she and we headed further into the woods. Phseew! Phseww! Dracon beams cut the tree to our right. "I see someone!" I heard a voice yell. I grabbed Cassie's arm and pulled her into a run, I felt like I was going to fall over. More shots were fired. Cassie cried out in pain and stumbled. "Cassie!" She was holding her side. I searched around wildly, there was a hill nearby through the trees I could see a cave. I thought briefly of bears but the though vanished as I heard the footsteps getting closer. I grabbed Cassie and pulled her into the cave. I helped her to the ground. "Cassie, are you okay?" I asked. "I think they, got me me with one of those shots." She groaned. I put my hand on her side, it came away sticky with blood. "Cassie? Do you have enough energy to morph?" I asked. "No," she whispered in pain. Through the faint moonlight peeking into the cave I could see her face crumpled with pain, I could also see her side, which was covered in blood. I lifted her morphing suit away from the wound. I felt the blood drain from my face. There was a groove cut out of her side, burnt skin around it, and it was bleeding heavily. "How bad is it?" She asked. "Not that bad." I said. "Liar." She whispered. I pulled off my tight morphing suit bunched it up and held it to her side. She hissed in pain. "Oh jeez, that hurts," she said. "You need to, to go. They're going to find us sooner or later, maybe you can get help." I knew she was fading because her voice was growing soft and she was slurring her words. God, we had gotten out of the worst of it, and now this was how it was going to end. "Cassie, you need to wake up." I said desperately. "I'm getting warmer," she whispered. I didn't know what that meant but it didn't sound good. "No you're not, Cassie." I said. "I can't see you, I, its getting kind of dark in here. I'm really tired." She whispered. "No you're not, Cassie. Come on don't fall asleep. Focus on the sound of my voice." I pleaded. There was no answer. "Cassie, some on Cassie. You can't leave me here. I can't do this without you. I need you Cassie, come on. I love you Cassie; you can't leave me here alone Cassie. I love you, god please don't leave me." I said brokenly. I heard a squishing noise then, her face protruded outward, and she slowly morphed into wolf, when it was complete she morphed back to human. She seemed to be unconscious while doing it. When she was completely human she pulled my face close and whispered. "I love you too." Then she fell asleep. I laid her back, and lay down next to her and slept. I woke up the next morning before she did. I nudged her awake. "Cassie, we should leave." I said. She blinked slowly and sat up. I remembered my words the night before and felt like a complete idiot. I cleared my throat and went to stand up. She grabbed my hand and pulled my back down. "Jake, about last night. I meant it." She said. I looked at her. "When I said I loved you, I meant it. I do, so much. I know what you're going to say. You'll say that we're too young to be in love for real, but we're too young for a lot of things, and I know that this is real. I love you, for who you are, who you really are. You put up such a strong pretense, a mask. I know what's behind the mask Jake. I love you for all your faults, and all your strengths. For who you are, who you've been and who you can be." She said passionately. I felt the emotion well up in me. I took a deep breath. "We probably are too young, but I don't think so. I love you too. I'm not that good at flowery words, but I do love you. You're the most selfless person I know. You give so much of yourself and ask for nothing in return. You care so much about life, any and every life." I broke off I had no idea what to say. "For someone who's not good at words that sounded pretty good to me," she whispered. I leaned over and kissed her. I tried to put all the emotion that I felt into that kiss. She must have known it because she kissed me back with the same love, tenderness, passion and desperation. "We should probably go and let the others know we're alive," she said smiling. I nodded, and helped her to her feet. I focused on my falcon morph, when we're finished we waddled out of the cave and made the difficult climb to the sky. I looked over at Cassie, I never knew I could love someone like that, without reservation. Sure I loved my parents and my brother but that was different. Cassie was, she was everything to me. Things wouldn't be easy, but suddenly they didn't look quite so lonely.
The End???