Rated PG-13 for Language and Violence
Don't read this is you haven't read Pt.1. This is the second installment in the trilogy. Read and enjoy!
~ Chapter 17 ~
Damn him!! I thought. I was kissing Elfangor! I had actually kissed him! And the Visser had to ruin everything! I could've cried.
There was a long silence. Everyone was frozen in place. Elfangor, still holding me close, the Visser still poised holding open the door. No one knew what to do. No one knew what to say. What could anyone say? I decided if anyone, I should say something.
"Um. Hello."
The Visser just stood there for a moment. It was almost funny. For once he had nothing to say. He just stared. Then a slow rage seemed to creep across his face.
"I should have guessed. Guessed you would stoop so low, Andalite."
I probably shouldn't have said anything back. It wasn't my argument. But that made me mad. Pulling away from Elfangor, I turned to him.
"Who do you think you are? You'd stoop so low as to take someone over, and that still isn't enough, is it?! You still have to torment us! There's nothing wrong with a -a kiss! I wish I could crush you under my foot, you filthy slug,"
I yelled at him. I had said it louder than I meant to, but rage was bubbling up inside me. The air reverberated with the Visser's anger. He narrowed his eyes.
"You're nothing better than a slut."
I stepped slowly closer to him. I brought my face close to his.
"Excuse me?"
"What, humans just weren't good enough for you?" The Visser sneered to Elfangor. Bringing my hand back, I slapped him, hard. The Visser staggered back, obviously not expecting it. Elfangor moved forward. Right as the Visser attacked! He tackled Elfangor, bringing him down. I could barely discern what was happening, Who was hitting who. Then I noticed a noise in the bushes. Saw a flash of red. Taxxons! The Visser had not come alone.
"Elfangor! Stop fighting! There's Taxxons and...."
Blades!
"..Hork-bajir! We can't win!"
But Elfangor didn't hear me. Careful to stay out of the light, the Taxxons and Hork-Bajir began surrounding us. Then the Visser began demorphing.
"Are you crazy Yeerk?" I cried desperately. "Someone's gonna see you!" But then he put his hands around Elfangor's neck. If he was mad enough to demorph in front of a school of people, he would be mad enough to kill Elfangor.
"No!" I cried. Turning around, I picked up the punch bowl, and swinging with all my strength, smashed it over the Visser's head. The impact knocked him down in mid morph and pink juice and ice splashed over the ground. I grabbed Elfangor's hand as he staggered to get up and breathe, holding his head in his hands.
"Run Elfangor! You have to run!"
I pushed past a slithering taxxon, and then..A Hork-Bajir! Right in front of us! It was hopeless. I couldn't hope to protect the Elfangor and fight the Hork-Bajir at the same time!
Then, suddenly-- the Hork-Bajir fell over. He just fell over. And then I saw the reason why. Standing behind the Hork-Bajir was Lisa, smiling ferociously, holding a broken chair. Then I noticed something else happening in all the confusion. The Hork-Bajir and taxxons were disappearing. Like they were being transported or something. They just faded. The Visser was beamed away too, leaving the courtyard empty. People attracted by the noise began to gather outside.
"What was that noise?"
"Look, somebody broke the punch bowl!"
"It probably just fell over. Let's go back inside. The dance contest is starting."
Hidden by the shadows, Lisa helped me pull the now unconscious Elfangor back to where my car was parked.
"Thanks Lis. You saved my life."
"Hey! What are best friends for?"
I tried as carefully as I could to lay Elfangor in the back seat. I waved to Lisa and drove home. As soon as I had pulled into the apartment's garage, I put Elfangor's limp arm around my shoulder and dragged him inside, where I laid him down on the couch. He was alive and breathing, but had an awful lump from a cut on his head. He had blood in his hair. I got a washcloth and put ice in it. I put it on the bump. Elfangor groaned and stirred.
"Shh.shhhh. Sorry. I know it hurts."
He was quiet again. I looked down at his face. His eyes were closed. I kissed him gently.
"I'm so sorry this had to happen."
His eyes fluttered open. They slowly focused.
"..Loren?"
I smiled.
"No one other than."
He looked up at me, eyes not really focused. I hoped he didn't have a concussion. I didn't know what they might find if I had to take him to a hospital. He spoke.
"Will you...stay with me? Please?"
He moved his hand to hold mine.
"I'll stay with you as long as you want me to."
I crawled up on the other side of the couch, and curling up next to him, fell asleep.
~ Chapter 18 ~
"AAH! Oh! Ouch!" I sat straight up, ready for danger.
" What's wrong? Elfangor?"
"My head. Hed."
Oh. That. I winced as I saw the cut.
"You were hurt. Don't move around too much."
Elfangor settled back down.
"You saved me Loren. Thank you."
"Actually, thank Lisa. She's the one that beaned that Hork-Bajir."
Elfangor looked confused for a moment. He gingerly touched the bump on his forehead.
"What happened?"
I was concerned for a moment.
"Don't you remember?"
"No. I-- no."
"What's the last thing you remembered?"
"I remember--something about-- hold on."
He turned his head, and to my total surprise, kissed me.
"Yes. That was it. That. I remember that."
I laughed.
"Did you like 'that'?"
"Yes. Very much. It was quite pleasurable. In fact,--mmmmph!"
I kissed him back, laughing.
"Elfangor, you describe everything. You know, you really don't have to do that. With a kiss, all you have to do is feel it."
"Do not worry, Loren. I feel it."
I laughed for a minute or two, while Elfangor looked confused, then laughed with me, although I'm sure he had no idea what I was laughing about. Finally, I got up and stretched. I felt better now that the whole thing was over with. So much for relaxation.
"Elfangor, I'm gonna go shower, OK? I'll be out in about a half hour."
"What is a shower? Wer?"
I rolled my eyes.
"I'll explain later. Believe me, you'll need to know soon."
Closing the door to the bathroom, I took off my dress, which had turned from a nice white to a brown-with-dirt, pink-with-punch, and stained with disgusting Taxxon gorp style. I took all my clothes off and stuffed them in the trash can. I seriously needed a shower. Possibly more than anyone in America had ever needed a shower before. Even I smelled bad to me. I turned on the water and unbraided my hair. That's when I heard a scratching sound.
"Elfangor? Hello?"
The bathroom had clouded up with steam from the shower. There was no answer.
"Hello?"
I said again. Then I heard the scratching sound. It was coming from the window. I crept up to the window. It was fogged over. I used my hand to clear it. Nothing. I opened the window.
"SSSRRRRRWWWEEEAARRRR!!!!" A Taxxon head shot through, it's red mouth drooling.
"AAAAAAHH!!!" I screamed, and shut the window as hard as I could. It's head exploded, splattering me with Taxxon gore. I practically threw up.
TTTSSSSEEEEEWWWWWW
The dracon beam in the taxxon's hand went off as it twitched! It narrowly missed me, and instead hit the wall. To be precise, a water main in the wall. I barely had time to react when--
FUH-WHOOOOOOSH!!
I was hit by a torrent of water that knocked me off my feet. At least I was clean now.
"Loren! Loren!" I could hear Elfangor's muffled voice out side the bathroom door. Slipping in the current of water, I made it to the door. I tried to open it. Stuck! The dracon beam, after hitting the wall, must've swept and hit the door. The doorknob was fused to the lock! There was a long burned scar across the wallpaper.
"Elfangor! I can't open the door! It's stuck!"
"What??"
"I said IT'S STUCK! It's stuck!"
There was a crash as Elfangor ran against the door. Then, with a splintering BOOM. It came down. Water and steam washed out. I made out the outline of Elfangor.
"Loren! Are you all right? Where are you?"
"ELFANGOR! DON'T LOOK!"
"What?"
"I don't have any clothes on! Don't look!"
I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me.
"Okay, you can look. Come in and help me with this Taxxon."
Elfangor rolled his eyes.
"Humans and their clothing."
Then he saw the mess.
"Loren! What happened?!"
"He happened," I said, pointing to the Taxxon, instinctively wrinkling my nose..
Even Elfangor looked disgusted.
"What is in its hand?"
"A dracon beam."
"No, I mean, the other hand."
"What?"
I hadn't noticed it before, but Elfangor was right. It was holding something in the other hand. I took it. I saw Lisa's smiling face-- a school picture. It was torn in two.
"No," I whispered.
"Elfangor, they have Lisa!"
~ Chapter 19 ~
"What?"
"Look!"
I handed him the photo.
"What can we do?"
"We have to find her!"
"The first place they would take her to infest her is the Yeerk pool."
I felt the knife-edge of panic.
"Infest her? How do we get down there?"
"I don't know, Loren. They must've sealed off the bathroom and elevator entrances by now."
"Wait! Elfangor, I think I know someone who can tell us."
After taking the dracon beam, we threw the taxxon in a nearby dumpster, and then went down to tell the manager we had blown a water main (and believe me he raised hell over it.) We finally got into the car and I drove as fast as the speed limit would allow back to school. Even though it was summer, the teachers should still be there. My car screeched to a halt, and Elfangor and I ran up to the second floor. I opened room 211 and was glad to find Mr.Grunceccili alone.
"Ah, Ms.Paige. What brings you here? Not your grade I hope. You have to admit you earned it."
I went straight up to him, and grabbing him by the collar and pushing him back against the desk.
"Where's the entrance to the pool?"
He looked at me and made a scared, forced laugh.
"I don't know what your talking about. You must be mistaken."
I looked at him with hatred.
"I know what you are, Yeerk. I want the entrance to the pool." I pulled out the dracon beam.
"I have this. Do you really want me to use it?"
Mr.Grunceccili's face turned suddenly white with fear, and he dropped the act.
"No! No, please don't kill me! I'll tell."
"I'm waiting."
"You go to the Motel6 on Main St., and request room 107. Then, under the bed, there's a ladder of a sort. That'll take you there."
I let him go, and he slumped in relief.
"Oh, and if you tell anyone about this?.." I let the question hang, as I fingered the dracon beam. He nodded, sweaty and pale. Despite the obvious fear I still didn't trust him. I was guessing we had ten minutes or more before the Visser was alerted.
Elfangor and I drove to Motel6 and requested the room. The guy at the desk winked at us. As soon as we were inside, I took a deep breath and looked under the bed. At least Grunceccili had been telling the truth. I could feel a gap in the carpeting, about two feet in circumference carefully wormed my way under and felt for the ladder rungs. Elfangor followed me. I descended into complete darkness. The only sound was my and Elfangor's breathing. I finally hit a solid surface. I felt my way along a stone wall until I saw a crack of light. I pushed it open and a red, artificial light spread all around. This was definitely something, but it wasn't the pool . I squinted, trying to make out just where we were if not the Yeerk pool. The inside looked like a good-sized cave. The floor was made of sand. In the middle, there was a large metallic object. It emitted a humming sound.
"Kandrona!" Elfangor whispered in awe.
Then someone stepped from behind.
"Lisa! You're alive!" Lisa smiled back, but it was a cold, evil smile.
"No! You're ..."
"A controller? Yes, Loren, I am."
I held back tears. I wanted to go over and rip that slug out of her head.
"You set this up, didn't you? You knew I would ask Gruceccili."
"Yes. And it was quite a fun game. The Visser set this whole thing up quite a while ago. You played right into our hands. I must commend you for being to true to character. So...predictable."
"What are you planning to do, Yeerk?"
"The Visser has prepared quite a unique death for you, I must say. Quite slow and painful. This is our brand new Kandrona, did I tell you that? Wonderful, isn't it. Once I leave, I'll turn it on. You can really see how well it works."
Her face was dark. "You'll burn."
"No!"
"You're sealed in. There's no way you can escape."
Then, my hands in my pockets, it felt the cold smoothness of...
"Oh, I'm not so sure."
"Really?"
I pulled out the dracon beam. In a minute, all the cockiness disappeared.
"Where did you get that?" The Yeerk growled, distorting Lisa's face with rage.
"So the tables have turned."
"You won't shoot me." She edged closer a switch on the wall. I guessed it turned on the Kandrona. I didn't really want to find out if I was right.
"Lisa, don't!"
She edged closer still.
"Stop! I'll shoot!"
She stopped. She seemed to be considering. Then...
"Noooo!!!!"
Everything happened at once. Lisa lunged, I shot.
TTTTTTSSSEEEEWWWW!!!
Lisa simply disappeared. With a sizzle, her horrified face evaporated. Slowly. She let out a loud scream as she disintegrated. But then I realized it was too late, in her final moments she had pushed the switch. The air was suddenly hot, static. But my mind was numb. I killed her! I killed my best friend! Oh, dear God, I killed her!! The dracon beam clattered from my hands.
"Loren! Snap out of it!"
I didn't hear him. I barely remember what happened next. I had horrible memories...it was hot, so hot. I smelled burnt rubber and realized it was my shoes. Elfangor took the dracon beam and pointing it straight at the Kandrona, fired.
TTSSSSSSEEEEEEEWW-- BOOOOOOM!
He shoved both of us into a alcove of the cave as the blast rocked the world, shielding me with his body.
The Kandrona exploded like a giant fireworks display, emitting red and white-hot sparks. The shock wave of heat from the explosion sent me sprawling. The Kandrona had blasted a large hole in the wall. Through it, I could see something. Ocean. Sand. I felt a horrible burning. I was barely conscious as Elfangor picked me up in his arms and ran.
~ Chapter 20 ~
I guess I was unconscious, because when I woke up I was on a beach.
"Loren. You're awake."
I was, but slightly dazed.
"...Whe...Where are we?"
"I don't know."
"Lisa, she--I"
"She's gone, Loren. But it's not your fault."
"Not my fault?? I killed her!!!" I turned to him. He was standing, stoic as always. I felt horrible, why wasn't he unhappy? Why wasn't he sad!
"This is all your fault!" I yelled. "None of this would have happened if you had just taken me back to Earth! But, no! You had to go off and fight that stupid war, and use the Time Matrix- and -- and.."
I broke down crying. I don't think Elfangor knew what to do. He just sat there, looking lost and confused.
"I--I don't know what to say, Loren. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
I cried for a while. I don't know how long. I finally fell asleep, exhausted and worn out. I didn't have any dreams, or nightmares, for that matter. I slept like a rock. I doubt I would've noticed If they had dragged me down to the Yeerk Pool. Luckily, they didn't.
I rubbed my eyes and sat up, brushing the sand off me. I could see Elfangor blinking sleepily beside me. I looked around, actually noticing where I was for the first time. It was Hudson's Beach. I had been here hundreds of times before. The reason I hadn't recognized it was because I had never been this far out before. Most of the crowds were miles off. I stood up and stretched.
"I think I know where we are, Elfangor. We can walk to the Motel6 from here."
Elfangor was looking up at the sky.
"Isn't it beautiful? Ti. Ful."
"Wha?"
"The sunrise, Loren."
I looked up to. It was beautiful. There were streaks of gold and orange and white strokes of cloud.
"It looks almost like this on my world sometimes."
There was a sadness in Elfangor's voice. I thought how homesick I would be. Felt worse knowing that I had blown up at him earlier. He could be sad, yet not show it. Andalites in general were not an emotional people. Or...at least they didn't covered it well.
"Do you ever dream about that? I mean, your world. Your parents?"
"Yes."
I came over and put my arms around him. This time he hugged me back. We stood in the embrace for several minutes. Elfangor spoke.
"Loren, sometimes I think you're the only thing I have left. Have to hold on to. I feel guilty for not feeling guilty."
"About what?"
"I don't wish I could've returned you back to Earth before all- this - happened."
"Elfangor, don't be guilty. I didn't mean it when I said that. I would rather be here, with you now, then back when I was before. Besides, I've always wanted to drive, you know."
I saw a small smile on Elfangor's face. We stood for a few more minutes in much needed silence, then headed for the Motel6. I checked out at the front desk and headed with Elfangor towards the car. I unlocked my side, and reaching over, unlocked his. I put the key in the ignition and turned. Nothing. I tried again. Still nothing. It was almost funny, in a way. Here the Yeerks were after us, we had been shot at, sliced at and threatened with death, and gotten away from it all. And now my car refused to start. I knew I should've recharged the battery last week. I slammed the heel of my hand down on the dashboard out of frustration.
"Do you hear something, Loren?"
"What?" I was really too distracted wondering how we were going to get home to worry about Elfangor.
"That high pitched sound."
I stopped for a minute.
"I don't know what you're- wait- you mean that?"
"Yes." Elfangor sounded worried. And by now I had learned that by the time Elfangor starts sounding worried, you should've been running away ten minutes ago.
"No..I don't know what it is. - Is it my imagination, or is it getting louder?"
"Yes, I believe- it is hard to tell, with this humans weak hearing- but I think it is coming from this compartment."
"The glove compartment?"
I reached over with one hand and opened it. And then all my blood ran cold.
~Chapter 21~
Yeerks and Andalites and Humans may all have very different technology, but a bomb still looked like a bomb.
"We have to get out of here!" I yelled. I tried to open the car door. Locked! I tried to unlock it. I couldn't get out!
"They've jammed the doors or something!"
"It must be part of the bomb's programming." I looked around in panic. I pushed at the door and turned the key again. The car started, but when I hit the gas petal, it wouldn't move.
"Elfangor, how is this possible?" I struggled with the lock.
"If I am correct- and I warn you, I am not an expert or anything- this is a remote controlled explosive device, controlled by radio signal. An X-12, I believe. It usually has a set amount of time before it goes off, releasing-"
"I don't care what it releases, can you stop it??" I practically screamed at him.
He looked nervous.
"I do not know. But I can try. It really depends on what it is. Do you have a pair of pliers, Loren?"
Pliers, pliers. I rummaged around.
"No- I - I can't find any!"
"Try to remain calm. Do you have any device that can be used for cutting?"
I reached in my purse and touched something sharp.
"Yes! I have.." I held up, "Nail scissors. Sorry, but better than nothing- I hope. Elfangor, tell me the truth, can you disarm this thing or not??"
"I know I'm supposed to either cut the green wire or the red one. If I cut the wrong one, it will decrease the time setting by a factor of ten. It appears as if we have five minutes now."
"Five minutes??" Decreased by a factor of ten...
"Five seconds?" I managed to squeak.
"4:36. Loren, this may not be the time to tell you, but I failed this portion of military training in school."
"What?????" I stared at him wide eyed. This had gone from improbable to impossible.
"I believe it is...the....green. No, wait, the red. I believe cutting the red wire should cut off the signal. That is, if the bomb doesn't jam, which is a major problem in X-12s."
I heard a snipping sound. Held my breath. Then, suddenly,
"DECREASE FACTOR OF TEN YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO CLEAR THE PERIMETER 5-4..."
"I thought you said it was the red!!" I yelled at him.
"I was wrong! I'm sorry Loren!"
I was trapped! Trapped! This was the end. Suddenly what Elfangor said came floating back to me. "If the bomb doesn't jam....remote controlled device....if the bomb doesn't jam..." That was it! My one last hope! It was unlikely, but...
Reaching over, I turned on the radio, and turned it up. All the way up.
"YOU AIN'T NOTHIN' BUT A- HOUND DAWG-"
The radio blared. I instinctively covered my ears.
"1- ACTIVA-" Suddenly the voice became staticy and fizzled out. All the locks popped up simultaneously. And we both sat there, just trying to breath, happy to be alive, while the voice on the radio screamed on.
"That was very intelligent, Loren. You used the signal of your human radio to jam the transmission of th-"
"What? I can't hear you. It's too loud"
"What? Loren? What did you say?"
"I said,-" I started to repeat myself, then stopped.
"I said, LET'S GET OUT OF HERE."
Elfangor nodded in agreement. By the time the car battery ran down and the bomb went off, we were too far away to be in any danger- not too far away too see, though. There was a flash, then nothing. No sparks, no metal. The car simply sizzled and disappeared. Like Lisa. Oh, Lisa.
We caught a bus back home. By the time we got there it was early evening. Elfangor hit the couch and we both watched TV for a couple of hours. Then, once Elfangor was asleep, I walked to what used to be Lisa's house. I had the most tiring day of my life. I let myself in, then curling up on her couch, cried myself to sleep.
~Chapter 22~
The next day was not fun, as you can imagine. I woke up sore, but with no more tears. The grief had been replaced by a hard hatred, a bitterness. I would kill the Yeerks, no matter what it took.
I walked back home and found I had mail. Three letters. Opening the door, I peeled one open and read it. It was a from Everdson University. I'd been accepted. Great! At least one good thing had happened. It's about time, I thought to myself. Opened the second. It read:
Hi Loren.
It's me. I know we- well, haven't talked for a while,
but I heard you were accepted into Everdson, and
since I was too, I thought I'd write. Um, I really should
apologize about- you know, that thing that happened
in high school, I was really immature then, so sorry.
Maybe we could get together sometime?
-Jeren
Jeren. I thought I'd never hear from him again. Great, so I'd have to go to college with him now. So much for good luck. The "thing" that happened was in a movie theater- he'd tried something he shouldn't, and got a black eye for it. We really hadn't talked after that. Putting the other two letters aside, I opened the third. It had no name, just my address. It was written from cut-out magazine letters, like a ransom note:
I know who you are. I know who he is. I know who they are.
You better watch out.
A chill ran up my spine as I read it. I know who you are. I know who he is. He? Elfangor? I know who *they* are. That could only mean Yeerks. I tried to calm myself down. It probably meant nothing. Just a mash note. A stupid prank. Something rattled inside the envelope. I reached in and felt something hard. Bringing them to my face, I saw it was costume jewelry. You know, like fake diamonds that were really made out of glass and all. I felt a hand on my shoulder! I spun around prepared to see a Hork-Bajir or taxxon or--
"Elfangor! You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"Sorry, Loren, I did not mean to frighten you."
I took a deep breath, trying not to hyperventilate.
"That's ok, it's ok, it's ok."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing is wrong." I lied. I hated lying so much.
The summer months went by fast. For once everything had started going normally. I took a part time job at Nordstroms, although I had a kind of tendency to stare at the elevator now and then. They had replaced the blown-up one with a shiny new one, but the memory of the Yeerk pool would always come up when I looked that direction. I took Elfangor to the Fair, where he went crazy over cotton candy, and then threw up on the roller coaster. I dealt with life. And for a while it was like there were no Taxxons, no Yeerks, no Visser Three. Every day I would get up, eat breakfast, go to work, chat with friends come home, take a shower, kiss Elfangor goodnight and go to sleep. I really wished it had stayed that way forever. But this time it wasn't the Yeerks that suddenly changed my life.
It was college.
~Chapter 23~
The leaves had turned red and gold, and had begun to fall from the trees. The hot summer air had turned to a cool 70 degrees. Everything was cool and calm and quiet. Not me. I was a nervous wreck.
"Elfangor, do you have the tickets?" I yelled down the hallway.
"Yes, Loren. I said yes already! You've asked me five times you know."
It wasn't like him to be so cranky, but I didn't blame him. We'd both stayed up 'till two that morning checking and rechecking flight reservations, and making last minute plans.
I crammed the rest of my clothes into the suitcase, then turned and banged my shin on an unclosed dresser drawer.
"Ouch!
Dammit!" I kicked the drawer shut, cursing. Elfangor came running in."Are you all right?"
I pushed back my hair, which kept falling in my face and nodded.
"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry, I'm not exactly organized here." I said through gritted teeth. If you've never hit your shin on the corner of a drawer before, let me tell you, it hurts. It HURTS.
I picked up my suitcase, realizing too late that it was unzipped. Half of the clothes fell out onto my bed. Yelling some not-too-polite things, I crammed them back in.
"Loren, I don't mean to rush you, but hurry. It's 4:35. We were supposed to leave five minutes ago."
"You don't think I'm trying to hurry?? Look at me! I'm a wreck!! Shut up and help!!"
Giving me this kind of wide-eyed look, he did just that.
By 5:00 we were at the airport entrance. Running to catch a flight that was supposed to leave at five o'clock. I was running down the halls, pushing other travelers aside. Elfangor was behind me yelling sorry to everyone in that damned polite Andalite fashion. We made it in a slim second, just as the flight attendant was preparing to detach the boarding ramp. I sat in my seat, gasping, trying to catch my breath.
"Loren....I'm thinking that maybe next we have to travel we plan ahead of time."
"That sounds like the best idea I've heard all day. Sorry I yelled at you."
"It is fine. I know you were trying to hurry."
Then I realized something. Before leaving home, I had forgotten to brush my teeth. I know it sounds petty, but It just annoyed me. And I hated morning breath of any kind, even mine. Excusing myself, I got up and, trying not to fall over from the turbulence of the plane, made my way to the plane lavatory. As I approached the door, a flight attendant suddenly grabbed me by the arm.
"You can't go in there!"
"Excuse me?" I looked at her face. It had gone almost white. She took a breath and calmed down a little, but didn't release her grip on my arm.
"I'm sorry, but this stall is out of order. It - um- was- was- removed last week."
She pointed to an OUT OF ORDER sign posted hastily on.
"What?" I said, giving her a confused smile. I pushed the door open. "No it's not. It's fine."
"Wait!" She cried.
"I'm not using the bathroom. I just have to brush my teeth."
"No! You're not allowed-- I mean--"
Shaking my head, I closed the door on her and rummaged through my carry on for my toothbrush. Some people. Then I noticed the smell. It smelled horrible...and different, not horrible like a bathroom should. I had smelled this once before. Steeling myself, I looked down into the stainless steel toilet. Yeerks! I almost threw up then and there. Swallowing hard, and not caring about my teeth anymore, I calmly stepped out and sat back next to Elfangor.
"Yeerks!" I hissed. "I saw them! There must've been at least twenty!"
Elfangor's eyes went wide.
"Where were they?"
"In the bathroom. In the toilet. What is it with Yeerks and bathrooms anyway?"
He gave a sneer.
"At least they're where they belong. They must be transporting them somewhere. There must've been some kind of emergency for them to be moved in this fashion."
I smiled, at least for a moment.
"Hey, Elfangor. You made a joke."
He didn't say anything, but I think he might have smiled a little.
Then I got back to business. "Why would they be coming here? On this plane? With us?"
Elfangor shook his head.
"I really don't know Loren. And I'm not sure I want to."
~Chapter 24~
The rest of the flight went without incidence. We landed and waited at the baggage center for about an eternity. We took at Taxi to Greens Haven Terrace, the block of apartments we'd be staying at. We'd considered getting separate apartments, but to tell the truth, even with the money from my job, I was close to broke. And, besides, it had two bedrooms. And there was the fact that I didn't quite trust Elfangor to be all right on his own just yet. And...well, the fact that I enjoyed his company. We had gotten used to living together. Like brother and sister or something. Okay, not exactly.
We unpacked and settled in, and I bought some orange juice and pizza, and we had fun pigging out. But even while I was eating pizza and watching Close Encounter of the Third Kind, which we had rented, I kept worrying. I was worried about my first day of college, of course, but that wasn't what really kept nagging at the back of my mind. It was the Yeerk convoy. I kept trying to convince myself that it was just a coincidence, but It continued to bug me.
I didn't have a good night. I kept tossing around, and Elfangor kept talking in is sleep in the other room, until I finally had to get up and walk down the hall and tell him to shut up. When morning finally came, I got ready, skipped breakfast, and prepared for my first day at college. I had given some long, complicated story about "Alan Fangor," and they had agreed to take him in on a temporary basis. I was only a few blocks away, so Elfangor and I decided to walk. And then there was the fact that the only transportation we had was walking. I turned the corner and saw the University. It was a brownish brick building, not intimidating, really,.. but the truth was, it scared me to death.
"Hold my hand, Elfangor," I said. He took my hand and we headed inside.
I registered in, and, once I was holding my schedule, I felt a little better. Everything was going fine. That is, until I had a huge shock. I was walking down the hall between classes with Elfangor when I saw no other than Chapman. How could this be? Shouldn't he have been sucked into the black hole, like the Jahar had been? He hadn't even come with us when we activated the time matrix. I would have to ask Elfangor later. Right now I decided to test him. So I walked right up and said, "So, Chapman, heard from your friend Visser 32 lately?"
I expected there to be at least some reaction, even if it was a sneer. But he just looked at me like I was confused. He remembered nothing. I watched him leave, turning the corner and going down the stairs. I stared after him for a minute, then, shaking it off, returned to class.
At the end of the first day I was exhausted, but not disappointed. I figured I could make it through college. I mean, I'd endured the Yeerks and all so far, this should be a snap.
I walked back home with Elfangor. I walked down the sidewalk and up the walk to our apartment. Then I noticed something odd. The door was open. I was sure I had locked it when I left.
"Loren, wasn't that door shut when we left?" Elfangor asked.
"Yes. I think so." I guess he caught the worried tone in my voice, because he moved closer to me and looked around nervously.
I looked at the fence that led into the little portion of backyard each apartment got. The fence was about 6ft. tall. Too high for me...maybe...
"Elfangor, can you give me a boost?"
"What?"
"Hold your hands out. No, together. Yes, like that."
I stepped onto his hands and lifted myself to look over into the backyard. And gave a little gasp. Crowded onto my back porch was what looked like a small army. It was an odd mix of five taxxons, three Hork-Bajir, and about two dozen human-controllers.
"Elfangor, I think those Yeerks on the plane have gotten hosts," I whispered down to him. His expression grew serious.
"Then we must leave now."
"Yes, I was kind of-" I stopped because I noticed a Hork-Bajir looking up. Looking up at me. His snake eyes widened.
"Graffurh, get the girl!" He bellowed. There was an uproar among the crowd. I jumped down from Elfangor's hand and grabbed him by the arm.
"Elfangor run!" I yelled. He didn't have to have me tell him twice.
~Chapter 25~
We were outta there! Behind us I saw a group of human controllers. I saw a blade flash in the middle of the crowd. They were crowded around the Hork-Bajir to make sure no one saw them.
"Follow me!" I yelled to Elfangor. I had to think of a plan, fast. I turned a corner and slipped. I fell forward, scraping my forearm bloody. Elfangor stopped and tried to help me up, but I shook my head. He ran on, as I scrambled up, just seconds ahead of an angry mob of Hork-Bajir and human controllers. Then I turned around and-
SCCRREEEEEEEEEEE
The squeal of tires was deafening, and I threw up my hands instinctively to shield my face. The car stopped, and I came within about an inch of being run over. Then I noticed who was in the car.
"Jeren?" I said out of complete surprise. Elfangor saw me stop and came running back towards me.
"Hi Loren. Sorr- Whoa!! Who are these guys?!"
I guess he had just then noticed the group of charging humans and horks.
"Why don't you hop in?" He asked in a surprisingly calm voice. I wasn't about to argue. Taking Elfangor's hand, I jumped into the car. Jeren started the engine and hit the gas pedal. We shot forward. I was literally knocked back in my seat. We wheeled around in the ally, turning to face the group.
"Jeren, what are you doing? Are you crazy?" I yelled at him. But as soon as the controllers saw the car coming at them, they abruptly changed directions. We turned again and headed out of the ally.
"So....Loren....I guess we really do need to catch up, huh? Who were those guys? Why were they after you? Who is -" He jerked his thumb at Elfangor. "Who's he?"
"This is Elf-uh- Alan."
"Elfalan? What?"
"No, no, just Alan. Alan Fangor. We're friends. Well- I mean- yeah."
"Oookay." Jeren gave me a weird look. I didn't blame him.
"So then who were the guys after you? They didn't look too friendly, to say the least."
I almost laughed.
"No, no they didn't." He turned his head and gave me a strange look.
"You're not, like, In trouble with the feds, are you?"
"No! I mean, no. Not the police. I don't....don't..I have no idea who those guys were. Maybe- I guess a gang or something."
Like I said, I was a horrible liar. And obviously experience hadn't helped me any.
"Yeah, I know what you mean about gangs. I mean, you say the wrong thing and they're out to kill you."
"Umm. You're not in a gang or anything are you?" I asked nervously.
"Me? Nah. I just watch too much T.V."
I laughed and breathed a sigh of relief. We were safe. For now.
"Loren! You're hurt." It was Elfangor. He startled me, he had been silent until now.
"Oh, it's nothing. It's just a scrape," I said, carefully examining my arm.
"No, your leg!"
"What?"
I looked down at my legs. Near my right ankle, blood had seeped out and spread on my jeans. I gingerly rolled up the cuff. There was about a six inch gash there. I winced. I hadn't noticed it because my leg had gone numb. Not to mention my whole system was probably drowning in adrenaline. But when I touched it, It might as well have been scraping raw nerve.
"Ahh! Ow! Ouch!"
"What's wrong?" Jeren asked, turning around. He made a face when he saw the cut.
"I'd better take you to a hospital."
I was about to argue, but Elfangor shook his head.
"You should go, Loren. That doesn't look good."
"Ok. I'll go. That's a good idea." I said a little shakily.
Jeren pulled up to the hospital, and I thanked him as Elfangor helped me out. I decided that maybe It was a good idea I was going after all. My ankle had started to swell, and the numbness was wearing off. We had to wait about a half an hour in the emergency room, In which time Elfangor read all of the magazines and found at least fours things wrong with each of them. Especially the science magazines.
"But Atoms don't work that way! The assumption that this human has made is false, and he obviously ha-"
"That's great Elfangor," I said, my teeth gritted in pain, despite the Tylenol I had taken.
"Is that sarcasm?"
"Yes, you could say that."
"Oh. So you see, the real structure would allow a potential number of negatively charged electrons to.."
You get the picture. Finally, they called Loren Paige, and I hobbled my way to the front desk with Elfangor's help. At least he stopped talking, which relieved some of the pain.
~Chapter 26~
According to the doctor, it was a good thing I had come in here, especially so soon, too. He showed me a couple pictures of gangrene, and I began to think it was a good thing too. Basically, they cleaned the cut, bandaged my ankle up, and told me to stay in a day for "observation." Elfangor was very sweet and stayed by my bed almost constantly until I finally had to give him some money and tell him to go get a hotel room for the night. As soon as he left, a wave of loneliness crept over me. I was alone in the room. The lights were out, giving everything a slightly bluish tint. It was silent except for a few echoing voices I could still hear down the hall.
"Loren." A raspy whisper.
I jumped about a foot.
"Don't scream."
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
I couldn't see any definite face, but I could see the vague outline of a form in the shadows. How long had he...it, been here?
" I know all about you."
The voice was weird, distorted somehow. I instantly stiffened.
"I know about him. Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul."
My heart stopped beating. All I could stammer was,
"What? Y-You wrote that note! Who are you?"
I tried to get up and get a better look at him, but pain shot through my ankle as I moved to get up.
"I won't tell you who I am. I don't want you to know. Not yet, anyway. And I did not write the letter. But I know who did."
"Who?" I asked, sounding much more calm then I really was.
Just then, the doors burst open. I let out a yelp. There was a scuffle, and the figure was gone.
"Loren? Hey, are you all right. You look like you'd seen a ghost."
"Jeren!" I let out a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, who else would it be? Oh, Alan I guess. Nope, it's me."
"What did you come here for?"
"I wanted to see if you were doing ok. You know. Oh, and to ask if you needed a place to stay."
"You're offering me a place to stay?" I asked dubiously. Then I became suspicious.
"With you?"
He laughed.
"No, not with. I can barely fit my stuff in my own place. No, I was talking about, like another apartment. Where those gang people can't find you."
"You can find me an apartment?" I still wasn't convinced. He smiled and rolled his eyes.
"No, not me. Yeah, right, like I could buy another house. I mean my dad. He's an officer that runs the Witness Relocation program. That's why I asked if you were in trouble with the law in the first place."
"Oh." It was all I could think to say.
"Well, I'll let you think about it. I'd better get back. Visiting hours stop at 9:30, and It's 9:15 right now."
He began to walk away.
"Hey, Jeren," I called after him. He turned around.
"Yeah?"
"If you could do that- I mean, the relocation thing- that would be really nice. Thanks." He smiled.
"Bye."
"Bye."
~Chapter 27~
Things actually worked out well for a while, which is rare for me. Jeren actually came through, which surprised me the most.
Elfangor and I both got in Jeren's car, and he drove for a while talking about how nice the place would be. He said he was sorry his father couldn't be there, but he was busy with a couple other cases, and asked Jeren to bring us instead. We drove down a quiet, tree shaded avenue and stopped.
"Which one is it?" Elfangor asked.
"That one, the one with the apricot tree in front," Jeren replied, pointing. It was a small but decent looking white house with a terrace and a small patch of lawn in front.
We got out of the car and Jeren gave us a walk through tour. It had a living room, bathroom, kitchen, and three other small-but comfy rooms I figured we could turn into bedrooms. All in all, it was a lovely house.
"Thank you Jeren...I mean, thank you very much! This is great- I mean, almost too good to be true-" I said in a halting way, "But- why? Why are you doing this for us. Me."
Jeren was cool. "Like I said, my father runs the program...you looked like you could use some help, oops-" He looked at his watch. I noticed it looked very expensive. A Rolex, probably.
"Sorry, guys, but I've got to rush or I'll be late for my meeting."
"Meeting?" It caught me off guard. Meeting? What kind of meeting?
"The Card Club meeting. It's a kind of- fraternity, I guess you could call it."
"Card Club. Interesting name. What do you guys do, play cards all day?"
He laughed.
"Here."
He handed me a card. On it was a logo, in fancy writing, "The Card Club" below it was a little blurb that said, "Meet the leaders!" And under that a heart, spade, diamonds, and a club sign. Meet the leaders. That was odd. I shrugged it off and stuffed the card in my pocket, waving Jeren goodbye. He had given me the keys to the place, and Elfangor and I both had our luggage.
"Well?.."
"Shall we began unpacking, Loren?"
"I guess we should."
The place was already furnished, there was an overstuffed armchair and sofa in the living room, and a bed in two of the empty rooms. They looked clean enough. Elfangor and I chose rooms next to each other, and began to unpack. That night we picked up food at McDonalds, and Elfangor ate all the large french fries and half of my Big Mac. There was no kitchen table, so we ate on the floor, and played monopoly, which went fine until Elfangor tried to eat one of the pieces, choked, and I almost called 911. Other than that, perfectly normal night. At about 8:30 I realized I had forgotten to check the mail, so I went outside into the cold damp air and retrieved three pieces of mail. I opened the first piece of mail. It was a letter from my mom, and enclose was a $150 check. Good old mom. The letter read,:
Dear Loren,
How's college? I'm doing fine here, although it is
lonely without you. I'm sending you some spending
money, that you can use on whatever you want.
Just no drugs Loren, don't get into them, they'll
ruin your life before you can blink. Hope the check
Gets through, knowing those people at the post
office though, I'm not sure. Love you, sweetie.
-Mom
I smiled and opened the second one. My smile instantly evaporated. It was in the same magazine-letter writing as the last. This time it read.
The time is coming soon, you won't have to wait long. And always remember
We'll be watching you.
I shook out the envelope. The same costume-jewelry diamonds. I wanted to scream. Who was doing this to me? What sick twisted person was leading me on like this? I angrily tore open the next letter. It was written in messy, sprawling handwriting.
This is becoming urgent, you need to understand that. I know almost for certain now who is writing these letters. He is one of our own. A traitor. You see, there is supposed to be one Evil one Good, one Surprise, and one Unchangeable. I am Surprise. And I suspect that Good is turning to Evil. I know this must confuse you now...you'll learn soon enough.
No Signature
~Chapter 28~
I threw the letter on the floor in exasperation. Something fell out. I picked it up and examined it. A small plastic heart. Right then something clicked. I quickly snatched the card Jeren had given me out of my pocket. The Card Club. Under that, "Meet the Leader." Then under that, heart, spade, diamond, club. Heart, diamond, heart, diamond...meet the leaders! I snapped my fingers. I was now wide awake! Heart and Diamonds! They had sent me heart and diamonds! The letter may have been right- maybe I didn't understand, but I knew something was wrong. "You'll learn soon enough." I had to warn Jeren! I quickly jotted down a note to Elfangor and grabbed a sweater. Then, remembering I had no car, I hailed a Taxi. He took me to Maple Street, where Jeren had told me he lived. I climbed out of the Taxi, gave the driver a crumpled five dollar bill, and got out. I knocked at Jeren's door. First there was no answer. I knocked again, and Jeren came to the door.
"Hello Loren."
"Jeren, there's something I need to tell you. About that club you're in. The Card Club."
"Sure. Let's not talk here, though."
He opened the car door.
"Climb in."
"Where are we going?"
"It's just a little favorite Bistro of mine. They're open late."
I got in, and we drove a couple blocks. He parked in front of a small, vine shrouded restaurant. A waiter showed us to one of the outside tables. The night wind was cold, and I was glad I had remembered to bring a sweater. Jeren sat down on the opposite side of the table.
"Jeren, I know this is strange and all, but I had to-"
I stopped in mid-sentence. Jeren had casually reached in his pocket and pulled out a handful of costume jewelry. Diamonds. Fake diamonds.
"W- What?" Oh, great, Loren, that's about the most intelligent thing you could've said. But my mind was spinning. What did this all mean? Was Jeren--
"Are you confused?" Jeren asked. He asked it in a totally normal tone of voice. What could I do? I nodded.
"Hmmm..How should I put this? I am one of the leaders. Diamonds. I am the Good."
"The Good?" Suddenly I remembered the letter. Good turning to Evil. Oh, great. I was in deep deep-
"Now tell me the truth, Loren, or I'll kill you. Has one of our own been- well, spreading nasty little lies about me?"
I kept surprisingly calm. After all, I didn't understand half of what he was saying, and of the half I did understand, It didn't sound good. I had heard, "Kill you," didn't I?
"You wrote the letter." I said so calmly, it didn't even sound like me at all.
"Yes I did."
Then I noticed something strange happening...was it my imagination? No! His skin was growing shiny and hard, like someone had painted varnish all over him. His eyes grew wide and yellowish, the pupils just slits.
I backed away from my chair so hard I knocked it over.
"What are you?" I yelled. He swung his head towards me. Wicked teeth had started to grow.
"I am a Dejrik. I am supposed to be good. Who told on me, Loren, who told thessse terrible ssecrets?"
He was advancing towards me. What could I do? I had no weapons, and certainly couldn't outfight him one to one.
"You don't look too good to me." I said without meaning to, then cursed myself. When I'm in bad situations, I say stupid, stupid things. He continued to advance on me.
"Oh, I didn't say I ever was good, no. There was a good. His name was Jeren. I killed good. Little Jeren...oh, he's dead."
I moved back, careful not to trip on my fallen chair. Keep him talking Loren. That's what they always do with crazy people on TV. Just keep him talking.
"Um- I - Uhhh...What was your- umm- childhood like? I mean, your race, your family." Another fairly stupid thing to say. Who cared as long as it worked?
He cocked his strange, elongated head to one side. It would've been almost funny, that is if he wasn't actively trying to kill me right now.
"Troubled childhood, really. Have you ever heard of my race?"
"No."
"Funny!" He sneered. "I'm sso ssurprised your Andalite friend didn't tell you."
"What? You're crazy!"
"Oh, no I'm not! The Andalites." He spat. "We made space travel ourselves- didn't steal it like the Yeerks. The Andalites forced us back to our own home world. They shot down my ship. It landed on Earth...I found this club, you know, I survived. The rest of my ship did not..."
His lizard eyes flickered. I didn't believe what he said. Elfangor's people would never force a species down unless they had a good reason to.
"Then If it's Andalites you hate, why are you after me?" I yelled at him. Someone had to come! Some waiter! Anyone! But the night was silent, except for a hissing sound the weird creature made. Shssssssssss...
"Elfangor's father....Noorlin, he destroyed my ship. He was in charge of the mission. I hate the whole family. I've seen...the connection between you and the Andalite. And what better way to hurt Elfangor than.."
"Than to hurt me." I said, realizing what he meant. And my eyes went wide in fear.
~Chapter 29~
He lunged at me, snapping his now sharp, curved teeth! I leaped back into a table and screamed. Suddenly there was a scuffle to my right! Both me and the weird creature Jeren had become, the Dejrik, turned. There stood the waiter. On seeing what used to be Jeren, he turned pale and dropped his tray. Glass smashed on the floor. Then Dejrik swiveled and faced him. I squeezed my eyes shut, and there was a scream. I kept them closed, shaking in terror. When I opened them, it was over with. There was blood spattered and...and I didn't want to see any more. Jeren turned his attention back to me.
It leapt! I jumped, but this time lost my balance, and fell to the floor. The Dejrik put its face close to mine. I could smell its foul breath. I could see stains of blood on it's wicked, yellowed teeth. And suddenly..
"Loren!"
I caught a glimpse of Elfangor behind me! Jeren turned! And it was just enough...
With all my might, I swung my fist and punched the monster as hard as I could. It's head snapped back!
"Aaaah!" My hand hurt badly. Like I had just punched a tree.
Before it could regain it's balance, I had leaped up and was running, Elfangor close behind. I heard sirens! The police! The Dejrik turned, hatred in its eyes, and bound away into the night. Yet it whispered something in my ear.
"We will meet again, Loren girl."
The police car pulled up, and two officers got out. Elfangor and I crept away into the shadows. I nearly collapsed.
"Elfangor! How did you find me?" I gasped. He looked a little guilty.
"I followed you. Are you all right, Loren?"
"I am fine." I said stiffly, trying to keep myself under control. Elfangor carefully put his arms around me. Then I turned around and hugged him, letting out a sob.
"It almost got me! Elfangor, I cant live like this! I've lost all my friends and now there are only enemies. I have enough of those already."
I cried out of anger and frustration and tiredness for a little while, and Elfangor didn't let go until I stopped. I wiped away the tears with the back of my hand and we headed home in silence. We got there and Elfangor took a shower (I had explained what it was before then) and went to bed. I waited until I was sure Elfangor had gone to sleep, then got up, and lighting a match, burned Jeren's letters over the sink, one by one. But I kept the one that had been written. I don't know why I did, but I kept it. I walked back down the hallway and heard Elfangor talking in his sleep again. I tiptoed inside his room. He stopped talking and slept silently. I crawled into bed beside him, curled up and fell asleep.
I woke up fresh and optimistic. That's how mornings always make me feel. It doesn't matter what kind of day I've had or have had, each day is a new day, and the morning always makes me feel better. And plus, it was a weekend, so I could sleep in late. I turned and saw Elfangor, who was already awake and reading, beside me. I rubbed my eyes, looking at him.
"What are you doing here?"
He looked up from the book and looked at me closely.
"Loren, this is my room."
"Oh." Oh, you go girl, that was really smart. But I didn't care. I was happy. Alive. I laughed to myself and got up, walking into the kitchen.
"Hey, Elfangor, what do you want for breakfast?" I yelled down the hall.
"There's eggs, and..." I examined the contents of the fridge. "And there's eggs. That's the only breakfast food..Never mind. You want yours scrambled or- forget it. Scrambled's all I know how to make." Elfangor walked into the kitchen.
"May I cook Loren?"
"What? Oh, um, sure." Elfangor could cook? Human food? I wasn't really sure it was the right thing to do, but I let him have the kitchen. I mean, the worst he could do is burn the house down, and I was about ready to do that myself. It reminded me of "Jeren" way too much.
Within half an hour, he had whipped up a great smelling, great looking omelet. I took a bite. It was good. No, great! And the house was still standing.
"Elfangor, I didn't know you could cook an omelet."
"Omelet Grandmere."
"How?..."
Elfangor looked at me closely again, then held up the book he was reading in bed.
"Loren, I was reading a cookbook."
~Chapter 30~
Yes, so I felt mildly stupid, but It was morning and I had eaten, so I didn't come down too hard on myself.
"That was a great omelet. Whoever would've thought you could cook and I couldn't?"
"Thank you." Elfangor smiled. "It is all a matter of ingredients, the right recipe, and intuition. I find it very therapeutic."
"Well, I'm glad one of us does," I said. "Maybe you'll find that doing the dishes is "therapeutic" too." I said as I rinsed off the dishes and put them all in the dishwasher. Then I went over to Elfangor and put my hands on his shoulders, keeping him at arms length.
"You know what we need, Elfangor?"
"No, what Loren?"
"A vacation."
"We do?"
"Yes. To Yosemite."
"Really?" Elfangor's eyes lit up. All of a sudden he looked like a little kid.
"Yes, really," I laughed. He hugged me. Momentarily, at least, unmasking his emotions. Then he looked worried..
"And the Yeerks?...."
"The whole definition of "Vacation" is "forget about evil slugs and all-powerful beings and giant worms and walking lawn mowers and weird snake people. Come to Yosemite!"
He laughed. Then he leaned down and kissed me.
"Loren, did I ever tell you you're perfect to me?"
"Some match," I laughed. "Earth-Girl and Space-Boy."
"As I said, perfect."
And for more than once, I wondered If Elfangor was developing a sense of humor. I spent that afternoon calling in for reservations- I took Elfangor's advice and planned ahead this time. I wasn't about to pull the whole 5 minutes to get ready thing again. The date was set for three weekends later, a lucky spot opened, they said, and I spent the rest of the time getting all my projects done. What a life. Trying to fight evil and finish reports at the same time. Let me tell you: not fun. The two kind of conflict with each other, if you know what I mean. I was up until about 1 O'clock Sunday night, and ended up heading back to college tired and disheveled. I made it through the day all right, and came home. Elfangor wasn't there. He was in Advanced Physics and computer courses, and he had met these two guys, Bill and Steve, I think, who he constantly hung out with. All they ever talked about was computers, and half of what they said I couldn't understand. Steve was kind of nerdy, and had acne, and Bill always talked about how he was going to be rich and famous when he grew up.
I came home and spread all my work on the table. Then I checked the mail. Sure enough, a letter with no return address or name. I was getting so sick of this! I considered just throwing the letter away, but curiosity got the better of me. I opened it.
Very soon now. I am watching you.
"That's it! What are you, too chicken to show yourself? You send these oh so mysterious letters and then you don't show! Well this is it! Because I am not reading one more of you're-"
"All right then."
I slowly turned around, eyes wide. And then I sat. I promptly sat.
"You??"