The Ellimist looked at us. "I have taken great pains to help you," he said cautiously. I looked at him suspiciously, wondering what he'd done this time. "There are five other children. I have made them Animorphs, like you."
"Are you crazy?" Cassie shouted after a few minutes' silence. "We shouldn't be going through this. You can't make other people go through what we've gone through!"
"Relax, Cassie. These children are all special in their own respects." His voice seemed thoughtful. "They are like you in many ways. It is your choice from here on out."
I stopped him before he could send us away. "Who are they?" I asked. "Where are they?"
"They are in your own town. Three are a few blocks away. One is near where Marco used to live. The other will soon live near you, though she doesn't know it yet."
And before we could say another thing, he'd sent us away. The only thing left was a voice saying, "They are very like you in more ways than one."
Ax relaxed as soon as he recognized Cassie's barn. I hate it when he does that, he said.
"You aren't the only one," Marco said testily. "This is a severe violation of our rights."
"I can't believe he did this," Cassie said softly. "And to more kids. Why always kids?"
Because kids are capable of more than people think, Tobias said slowly. We looked up at him. What did he mean, they're like us in more ways than one? It sounded like he was trying to give us one of those hints of his.
"Mind games is more like it," Rachel said.
"We'll keep our eyes open," I said. "When something shows up, then we'll decide what to do."
"Should we get the Chee?" Marco asked. "I can ask Erek to keep his eyes and ears open."
"Sure."
"What about that one?" Cameron asked. He pointed to this girl about fifteen feet away.
I grimaced. "I don't know. She looks too much like Alexis." Alexis, by the way, is my younger sister. Alexis has this scraggly, dirty-brown hair and she definitely isn't skinny. I have never said straight out that she was ugly, but if she isn't, she's pretty close to it.
That was how it used to be. Cameron, one of my best friends, and I, hanging out at the mall, checking out girls, playing at the arcade, shopping for computer stuff. It seems like a long time ago. I mean, in reality, it was probably like yesterday. I could tell you for certain if my brain weren't so scrambled.
Just then this girl walked by our table in the food court. She had on a short miniskirt, and a tank top. And, man. Her legs. Cameron always finds it easier to describe girls in just one word. "Ouch," he said dreamily.
I told you so.
"You said it." I practically drooled after her. I caught myself in time and stuffed down two more nachos from Taco Bell.
If you're wondering who "I" am, I'm Chris. We've decided not to talk about any more than that. We can't tell who we are. I'm not even guaranteeing that Chris is really my name. I recently found out that I have enemies. Very, very powerful enemies. I'm just telling you this- we're just telling you this- hoping that you'll be careful.
Hoping.
That was the night everything started. It was a Monday. I guess that officially, it had started before that, but that was the night when we came into the picture. I'm not even sure when it started, or how. All I know is that now, we have to end it. I know that sounds cheesy, maybe even a bit macho, but it's the truth.
First, we had to group up. "Hey, Hardy!" I practically shouted. I had to shout, though. The mall was pretty loud that night. Hardy may look like a shrimp, but he can actually hold his own. You can almost see through his skin and see his bones. Sometimes kids tease him and affectionately call him "Toothpick". Hardy may be bony, but his fists are bonier, as the kids who call him "Toothpick" quickly learn when they find his fist in their face. Hardy has curly brown hair that's always practically matted down on his head. Matching brown eyes, and more freckles than Pippi Longstocking.
Hardy was walking behind his younger sister, Laurel, and my sister, Alexis. They were talking and giggling, Hardy was rolling his eyes.
Alexis and Laurel are the same age, even though Alexis is about three times bigger than Laurel. Hardy is two years older than Laurel, three years younger than me.
Somehow, that sounds like some weird, extreme algebra problem.
Laurel is the complete opposite of Hardy. She's small, true. But she has more meat on her bones. Instead of brown eyes, hers are hazel. Dirty-blond hair, long and flat. And this one little dimple on her cheek. Despite all of that, she's actually managed to become popular in school. But I'm in the first year of high school, and she's in elementary, so I really wouldn't know that much about her social life.
Hardy sat down across from me and left the girls to stand behind him. "Hey," he groaned and then let in head drop on the table.
"What's wrong?" Cameron asked.
Hardy's head popped up. "What's wrong? What's WRONG? My cousin Sam is coming in town tomorrow and she's here," he said, pointing at Laurel. "I mean, not only is she not dead, but she learned a new word!"
That's something about Laurel that drives people crazy sometimes. When she learns a new word, she uses over and over. And over. And over and over and over...
I looked at Laurel. She smiled sweetly.
"What's the word?" I asked Hardy.
Before giving a chance for Hardy to answer, Laurel explained first. "Preposterous. And the idea that I use the word preposterous too much is preposterous."
Laurel started giggling. Hardy groaned. Alexis smiled pitifully at Laurel. I sat there, trying to think of why that was funny. Cameron caught on and didn't laugh.
"Your cousin is coming tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Hardy said. "Didn't I tell you?"
We shook our heads. Hardy explained further. "My cousin Sam is coming to town tomorrow. We've been trying to come up with stuff to do. So far we have the mall, the movies, and the zoo. She's kind of animal-crazy."
"Well, why don't we all go to the mall together tomorrow? When does she get in?" I asked.
"Her plane gets in around two."
Laurel cut in. "And you boys can't make any plans. Alexis and I are taking her to the mall."
I smiled. Time to play big brother. "Lucky us. We were, uh, planning to come to the mall tomorrow."
Hardy looked confused for a few seconds and then tried not to show it. Cameron looked away so the girls couldn't see that he was trying not to laugh.
Alexis, being the my-way-or-no-way person she is, started flaring up. "No way. No way, Chris. We call tomorrow. We had first dibs."
"Well, you can't stop us from seeing her. And talking to her. And besides, we could hang out with the two of you the entire time tomorrow."
Alexis's face started turning red. Her head is kind of round, so she began to look like some sort of sick beet with eyes and a mouth. A big sick beet. "Come on, Laurel. We're leaving." Hardy got up to go with them. I guess it's his job to look after them. I could tell he really didn't want to. Alexis solved that. When she saw Hardy starting to get up, she snapped, "And don't you dare follow us, Charles."
Hardy shrugged and sat down, trying not to groan. He doesn't like his real name. Charles is what people call him when he's in trouble.
The girls got up and left, already discussing ideas to ditch us.
Cameron burst out laughing as soon as they were out of sight. "Playing big brother, Chris and, uh, Charles?" he commented. Hardy blushed. Then Cameron started laughing again.
"That wasn't playing big brother," I said. It truly wasn't. Being a big brother is where you're nice to your younger siblings and set a good example. Being a big brother is where you're responsible, and you don't get in trouble.
I've already messed up.
Hardy, however, had finally caught on. "Of course that isn't being big brother. That comes along with the job. One of the perks."
I smiled. I had a goal now, but I needed to find a way to achieve that goal. And since it probably was possible, tick off the girls even more. "I have an idea."
Hardy leaned in closer to me. "What?"
Cameron leaned in, too. That's one reason the three of us get along so well. We love playing pranks. We'll pretend that we can be good-natured when pranks are played on us, but we will plan revenge very carefully. If we wanted to, we could probably kidnap the principal at school and release him with no evidence pointing to us. We get lots of practice.
We torment Alexis and Laurel.
And this time, I was going to have the honor of planning the prank.
Every prank is a challenge. You have to make sure that everything goes according to plan. You have to have some idea of what you want to do. The timing has to be precise. And lately, the three of us had been playing pranks on our own. Only when we have to achieve something big do we work together. That way, we can say that it wasn't us. And technically, it wasn't us. Not fully. Just a third our fault.
I already felt united with them.
A plan was already forming. And it was a very, very, good plan. "I have a great idea," I told them again.
Operation Torture 32 was about to begin.
I named it Operation Torture 32 because that was what it was. The thirty-second time we were going to torture Alexis and Laurel at the same time.
So all day, I was on edge. We had to be fast. We would have to run home, and not let the girls see us.
Cameron, Hardy, and I live about two blocks from the school in different directions. Our school is kind of messed up. The elementary kids are in one building, junior high in another, and then the high school building.
I turned around to see the clock. 2:55. Man! Couldn't the teachers let you out of school five minutes early?
I looked over at Cameron. He was staring at the clock. The teacher was staring at him. He called Cameron by his full name. "Do you have something important after school today?"
Cameron didn't turn around. Cameron and I are kind of like troublemakers in school. And we are great liars. "No, sir. I'm just wondering why your clock is five minutes slow."
"The clock isn't five minutes slow." Our teacher was Mr. Cud. I know it's a weird name, but he was supposed to be a great teacher. He taught science, I think. I wasn't awake enough to tell.
Cameron was making a small adjustment with his watch. I did the same. Cameron held up his wrist so Mr. Cud could see the face of his watch. "Yes, it is. See?"
The teacher looked. "I'm afraid, Cameron, that you are mistaken. The clock is right."
"No it isn't. I have that your clock is slow, too." I held out my wrist so he could see my watch, too. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a few other kids mess around with their watches. Cameron and I weren't the only ones who wanted to get out of school early.
More and more kids joined in, and after two minutes, the teacher had let us all out, promising that he would check his clock. Sucker. Cameron and I took off as soon as we were out of the door.
"Teachers are so easy," Cameron said.
We left and ran over to the elementary school with about a minute left. I stuck a note in Hardy's locker telling him we had already left. It doesn't take long to run over to the elementary school.
Then we were off again. Just to make sure we would go very fast, we had brought our bikes. There was no way the girls were going to beat us. Hardy had given us directions to his grandparents house, where Samantha was staying. This was the second time she had come to stay without her parents. We hadn't seen her for a long time.
When we were about half a block away, the girls came out of their classroom, not suspecting a thing. They were just talking like they were already teenagers, which they aren't. Alexis was the first to see us. Laurel looked to see what she was gaping at. Hardy came out of his classroom at the same instant.
"Quick, Cameron! Speed up!"
Hardy held his foot out to trip the girls. I looked at him, and he looked at me. I guess he was asking for permission for some reason. I shook my head. He reluctantly withdrew his foot, but luckily before the girls could have tripped. If he had managed to trip the girls, they would have known it had been us setting up the thing. I guess that with girls playing premeditated pranks falls under the category of premeditated murder.
And so the race was on. Cameron and I were on our bikes. The girls running as fast as they could after us. What I mean by as fast as they could go, I mean they were running SLOW. Hardy, however, skin and bones though he was, was the fastest runner on the track team. He didn't have much of a problem keeping up. He shouted directions and struggled to balance his back pack at the same time.
Within a few minutes, we were outside Hardy's grandparents' house. We ran through the backyard, and Hardy shouted hi to his grandparents.
All they said was: "What took you so long to get here?"
Hardy led us through the kitchen, through the front hall, and then through the hall before he stopped at a door.
He was slightly out of breath, but that didn't stop him from swinging the door open in a hurry. "Hey, Sam! You here?"
"Geez, Hardy. I'm glad you're so polite. Thank you for knocking before storming in."
Samantha came through the door. We had met once before. In which time we had split into teams at McDonald's and had waged a bit of a war. Samantha was the only girl on Laurel and Alexis's team who had guts enough to come right into our base. Which was actually in the play area in one of the pipes where we could store our ammunition. By ammunition I mean the little balls they have there. Cameron had kind of called her a pervert, and she had gotten a bit ticked off. If I recalled correctly, she spilled his soft drink in his hat and then placed it on his head, holding his arms until the drink had gone under/through his shirt.
But now she was completely different. I mean, man. As Cameron would say, "Ouch." Her blond hair was cut two inches past the shoulders. And it kind of curled right at the ends. Green eyes, milky skin. Long legs, perfect arms. And what she was wearing. It was a plain white tank top. Not with spaghetti straps or anything, just a plain white tank top. And really, really short blue denim shorts with sneakers that didn't have any socks.
"Hey, Chris. Hey, Cameron."
"Hey," Cameron said dreamily.
I'm different, though. I wasn't going to act sweet or anything around her, so I just said "Hey." I said it a bit louder than I had actually meant to, but I think she pretended not to notice.
"Want to go to the mall?" Hardy asked- way too eagerly.
"Why not? It's not like Grandmommy and Granddaddy will want to take me shopping." The only kid who was my age and called her grandparents Grandmommy and Granddaddy, and she was still great. She grabbed a ponytail holder and put her hair back in a ponytail. It obediently fell into place.
Cameron and I walked our bikes while Hardy and Samantha walked between us. That's when the girls came running up to us.
The first thing Alexis did was shout at me, "Chris! You are in SO much trouble!"
All I did was smile. Saying something like "Ooooh, I'm so scared." would get me into even more trouble when Alexis ran and told Mom.
Laurel just calmly came to a stop and said, "Hey, Sam." She didn't look at me, Cameron, or Hardy. Her way of revenge.
Ouch. (?)
"And where do you think you're going?" Alexis asked me.
"To the mall."
"No way! We're going to the mall."
"Fine. Go. We'll go with you."
Alexis threw her hands into the air in frustration and emitted this sound between a bull snorting and somebody clearing their throat. Then I could see this look come over her face. "Actually, we're going to the Falls. And we're going to take the bus."
"Okay."
"You can't take your bikes on the bus."
I smiled again. We had already discussed this in case we needed a back-up plan. "No problem. Hardy? Your grandparents wouldn't mind if we kept our bikes here for a little while, would they?"
I was concentrating hard on looking straight at Alexis, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hardy shake his head. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind."
"Great." I wheeled my bike around and parked it next to the backyard gate. Cameron followed.
We walked back to the girls and as a group started waking towards the bus stop. The Falls was too far to walk.
"I mean, come on people. We're going to take her to the mall by bus? Isn't that kind of cruel? I mean, 'Hi, welcome. We hope you enjoy that lovely smell. It's called homeless guy-'"
"Okay, Alexis. I think I get the idea," Samantha said. I think none of us wanted to hear what Alexis had been about to say.
We only walked a block to the bus stop. Where we live, they're all over the place. You can't miss them.
Right as we reach the bus stop, my mom drives up. I hide my face and grimace. Cameron just kind of gets this mocking smile on his face. Alexis is so busy talking she doesn't even notice.
"Alexis. Alexis!"
Alexis finished her sentence. I don't know what it was. Something about how I always have to wreck her life. Finally she turned around and realized who was calling to her. "MOM!"
"You bet your bottom dollar, 'Mom'."
"What are you doing here?"
"I went to your school to talk to your teachers-"
"My teachers? Why?"
"It's called a parent-teacher conference. They told me that you haven't been turning in your homework assignments. I also got a list of your assignments and brought all of your books home. And you are coming right home this instant and sit at the breakfast room table until you finish everything. Lucky I saw you on the way home so you can get an early start!"
"But mom-"
"No, buts, young lady. Come on." Mom dragged Alexis to the car. Laurel just kind of looked at her. I got the feeling that maybe Laurel wouldn't miss her. But when Alexis turned her evil eye on me, I smiled my sweetest, vilest smile and waved.
Alexis shook her fists at me as she and my mom drove off.
Samantha sat on the bench with Hardy and Laurel on either side. Cameron and I sat on Hardy's side. We didn't say much. I guess we were all kind of shy or something.
Finally, Samantha spoke up. I guess she couldn't stand the silence. I knew how she felt. The silence seemed kind of eerie. "Remember Brian?"
I knew she had asked Hardy and Laurel, but I was desperate for a conversation. "Who?"
"Brian. He's Hardy and Laurel's cousin, my second cousin. Maybe it's second cousin once removed. Oh, well. He's kind of into all of the X-Files stuff. I mean, I personally believe in life on other planets and all, but I don't exactly think that the computer chip came from aliens."
"Well, you never know. I mean, who invented the computer chip? Do you know?"
Everybody was silent for a while. After an even longer while, Cameron said, "Whoever it was, he's rich."
"Or she," Laurel said.
Cameron shrugged. "Whatever."
More silence. "I don't know," Samantha said. Once again, she was the Breaker of Silence. "But just because someone doesn't know who invented something, doesn't mean that it's some alien type thing. I mean, the Vikings discovered America, but no one knew that for years."
"That doesn't mean that it isn't alien." That was the first thing Hardy had said so far. I wondered if something was wrong with him.
Right then the bus drove up and Cameron and I paid for everyone, including Laurel. It wasn't as much fun playing pranks on Laurel when Alexis wasn't around.
When we got to the mall, Cameron, Hardy, and I led everyone to the arcade. I played Samantha at Mortal Kombat. Somehow she managed to beat me. Then she beat Hardy. Cameron tried to beat her next, and won. He's played every single game in the arcade about twenty-five times, so it's no wonder he won every game. Cameron isn't home a lot. He usually hangs out at the mall.
Laurel didn't play at all. She said it was because she wasn't feeling very well, but we all knew she stunk at video games.
That's how it was. Our last day as normal kids. Hanging out at the mall, playing stupid video games for twenty-five cents. If we had known our lives were about to change entirely, we probably would have spent it with our families or something. But as it was, we didn't. Oh, well.
I wondered if any of us had the sense that the ship was going to crash that night. Sometimes I wonder if anyone else could have wandered along and taken our place, and then we would live our lives not knowing about the Yeerks. But as it was, we got stuck with the only power that could hold the Yeerks off.
Lucky us.
Copyright 2001. There's a reason why everything is so familiar. It comes up in the next chapter. Well, one example does, at least.
Coming up: The Animorphs do some investigating to find the new Animorphs. Meanwhile, the newbies are trying to figure out what to do, slowly grasping the situation. When they realize how much trouble their family is in, they decide they need to take action, but are all of them willing to fight? Cameron leaves the group. Can they get him back? The Yeerks strike to close to home for Chris to ignore, and a secret is revealed about the new Animorphs, the Ellimist, and Crayak.
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please. Even if it sucked, please review this and tell me what you honestly think. Trust me. I've learned enough that I can take it, and it's not as if I can reach through the computer and strangle you. I'm no danger, and I appreciate criticism. So either give me honest criticism or a good review. You'll have my respect if you do. If you don't... well. I've got a 66/1 hits/review ratio. Take pity. Oh! And also lemme know if you think I should continue with this story or just stuff it in some dark hole for the rest of eternity, okay?
Thanks!