Chapter 3 Restless Night

The house was quiet. No sound rang out except for the normal creaks and groans of the building. However in the chipmunks room, Theodore was tossing and turning, little whimpers escaping his mouth.

His tiny paws were reaching up, gently swatting through the air.

His eyes suddenly opened with a look of terror as he suddenly took in his surroundings. He sat up breathing heavily, like he just ran a marathon. He looked over towards his brothers beds and saw them still sound asleep.

Theodore sat there for a moment, trying to calm his nerves before he got up and jumped off his bed.

He slowly walked out into the hallway and paused. From the chipettes room, he could hear a gentle snore coming from the their room. Most likely from Eleanor. He smiled a little thinking of her, and how cute he thought she was.

He peered in and looked at Eleanor's bed and looked up at her. She seemed so gentle and calm.

He then turned to the guest room and walked up to the door. Theodore looked in, and could see Tyler laying on his side, his eyes closed with his breaths escaping his nose.

Theodore jumped up onto the bed, in front of Tyler's face, and lightly taped his nose. "Tyler, Tyler."

Suddenly his eyes shot open, shining a bright blue that almost lit up the room. Theodore fell backward, almost falling off the edge of the bed. But before he could even scream, Tyler blinked and his eyes returned to normal.

Theodore sat there shaking as Tyler quickly sat up, looking down at Theodore with a apologetic look as he picked him up in his hands with a look of concern on his face.

"Theodore, I am so sorry if I scared you" he said trying to lessen the chipmunks fears.

Theodore quickly perked up and looked at Tyler with a small nervous smile.

"That's okay. I'm sorry that I interrupted your sleep."

Tyler gave a warm smile, that helped calm Theodore a little more. "It is no problem, I was only in a deep, deep, sleep, but who needs that?" he said with a laugh. "What can I do for you?"

"I had a nightmare" he said quietly. "Normaly when I have a nightmare, I come and talk to Dave. But since he is gone, I'd thought I'd talked to you. I dreamed that Jordan was going to hurt my family, and Alvin couldn't save us because he had no control over his powers."

Tyler's smile remained on his face, it made Theodore feel like he was safe and secure. "Don't worry Theodore. Jordan won't risk coming near you guys. As far as he knows, he thinks Alvin has total control. And even if he does try and come, I'll be here to stop him. He won't risk fighting me."

Theodore looked at Tyler, still feeling a little scared to go back to bed. "Still" he said timidly, "It was scary."

Tyler brought Theodore a little closer to his face. "What do you like to dream about?" he asked.

Theodore's ears perked up, with a bright smile growing on his face. "Meerkats" he jumped. Tyler pulled out his right hand and his index finger began to glow.

"Then hold on, I have a surprise for you" he said calmly.

He brought his finger up to Theodore and lightly taped his head. Theodore suddenly felt himself get sleepy as he curled up in Tyler's hand. His eyes became heavier and heavier until they finally closed, as he fell asleep in Tyler's hand.

Still holding onto him, Tyler pulled the covers off his body and stood up.

He walked out his bedroom door, moving down the hall and into the chipmunks room. His feet didn't even make a noise as he silently walked over to Theodore's bed and gently set him down.

Once he was out of Tyler's hand, he grabbed the covers and tucked Theodore in.

Tyler gave a smile as he looked to the rest of the chipmunks to see how they were sleeping. When he saw they were all sound asleep, he moved to the door.

Rubbing his eyes, Tyler made his way out of the room and went for the kitchen to grab a glass of water. The whole house dark, the only source of light was coming from the windows as gentle rays of moon light seeped in.

He walked into the kitchen without a sound, but before he turned on the lights, he saw a chipmunk sized figure sitting on the window sill, looking into the night sky.

Tyler concentrated on what he could see from the lack of light. But on thing he could see was pink pyjamas, and the outline of a small ponytail. He already knew who it was.

He took a step in without turning on the lights and as spoke as gently as he could to not scare her. "Lovely sight out there, uh?"

The chipmunk quickly turned around, startled, focusing into the dark room to see who it was. Once her eyes adjusted, she saw the dark figure of Tyler standing there.

"Mr Pauwel!" Brittany gasped, "you scared me."

Tyler walked over to the sink, grabbing a glass from the cupboard, and filled it with water.

"There is no need to be formal with me Brittany, you can call me Tyler" he said with a smirk growing on his face as he took a drink.

He set the glass down on the counter and turned towards her. "There is something troubling you isn't there?" he said leaning back against the cupboard.

"How could you tell?" she said quietly looking down, knowing that it was no secret.

Tyler's smile grew. "Usually when someone stares into the sky in the middle of the night, it usually means their troubled, or a vampire getting ready to suck blood. And I don't think you are the undead. You don't look like it at least" he said with another chuckle at the end.

Brittany remained quiet, giving only a small smile. She had to many thoughts swirling around her head to make her laugh.

"I was just thinking" she said as she looked back out the window.

"About Alvin" Tyler added.

Brittany felt her face turn red under her fur. "No, no. Not at all" she said as she turned back to him, hoping to change the subject.

"Brittany" said Tyler as straightened up and walked towards the window. "There is no sense in lying to me. I can sense when someone is lying. Plus, even without my powers, I usually can tell when someone is lying."

Brittany sunk her head down in defeat. "Yes" she said quietly. "I was" as she looked back up at him with concern in her face. "I'm worried about him. Ever since he got these powers, he hasn't been the same. He just looks like he's in pain."

She sat down on the edge of the sill, letting her feet dangle.

"You care for him very much, don't you?" said Tyler moving in front of the window.

"What? No, no" she said nervously.

"Brittany" said Tyler, tapping the side of his head.

She looked back down in defeat. "Is it that obvious?" she said, knowing that it was useless to try and hide it.

Tyler's smile didn't disappear as he jumped up to sit on the counter so he was right next to the window, and next to her.

"Yes and no" he replied. She looked back at Tyler, confused. He could tell she was puzzled by his answer and decided to give her the technical answer.

"Yes because I know what physical signs to look for. Every time your near him, or hear his name, I see your pupils dilate, your fur ruffle, and your breathing accelerate. No, because the other signs I see in aid with my powers. Your heart rate increases, your cheeks turn red, and your body temperature increases."

Brittany gave Tyler a small smile. "There is nothing that can hide from you, is there?"

Tyler gave another small chuckle. "I know all. I actually used to be very gifted in telling if people were lying or hiding something" he said giving a small chuckle. He turned himself so that he was facing towards Brittany.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, with a caring and considerate voice.

She gave a small nod and continued to look down at her feet. "When did you realize you first had feelings for him?" he asked.

Brittany took a deep breath still looking down at her feet, "Ever since he was almost killed. It took me a few weeks to try and figure out though what I was feeling."

Tyler quietly nodded as Brittany explained everything to Tyler.

"I worry about what he may do once he will be able to control his powers. Will he leave us because he sees us as weak, useless, and with his powers? Will he change so much that he won't be the same chipmunk I know?" She paused for a moment, trying to gather herself. "I have no idea if he shares the same feelings I have for him."

Tears escaped Brittany's eyes as she tried to get a hold of herself. Tyler sat there, reaching towards Brittany's face, using his finger to gently wipe the tears away.

"Alvin won't leave you guys. He cares too much about you guys to leave. And I think you will find once he has control of his powers, he will be back to his old, yet abnormal self" he said laughing.

Brittany could help but laugh as well at what she just heard, but then she fell silent again. "How can you know?" she said with worry in her voice.

Tyler smiled as he looked at his now gently glowing right hand. "Because none of that happen to me. When I learned how to control my powers, I could have changed myself. I could have left those I cared about. But I didn't, because for one, I'd be destroying who I was, my identity, and myself. The man you see in front of you, is the same person he was before he got these powers, he's just wiser. Second, they were my family, I loved them and couldn't leave them."

Brittany tilted her head to the side. What did he mean by "were and loved?" But she shrugged it off and continued to listen to Tyler.

"I think you will find that once Alvin gains control of his powers, he will be back to his old self. Goofing off, getting Dave mad, and annoying all of you. Which I don't know if you'd consider it a good thing, or a bad thing" he said as his smile on his face grew.

Brittany though had one more question. "How long did it take you to learn to control your powers?"

Tyler jumped off the cabinet and turned back to her. "Almost eight months. I didn't have exactly the same problems as Alvin, but close to it. That is why I understand what is going on with him. You have to understand that this is a very stressful point for him right now. Every second that goes by, he is basically evolving, and changing. You have to give him time to adjust the changes that are happening to him. I remember when I was at this point, I was so afraid I might hurt somebody, that I kept my distance. I gave everyone a cold shoulder so that they'd stay away from me."

There was silence between the two, before Tyler opened his mouth again.

"As for how he feels, I can't answer that. There is one one who can. And right now, he's in his room sleeping. But if you have doubts, look into your heart and think of all the things he's done for you. He warned you about Ian Hawke. He saved you and your sisters from him, he convinced Dave to let you three live with them, and just tonight, he tried to use his powers to save you from the falling vase, even though he doesn't seem to like using his powers."

Brittany looked at Tyler in surprise, "How do you know all that?"

Tyler crossed his arms. "I've been watching over Alvin for years. I know of many things he did, especially for you."

Brittany felt as if her heart melted into a pile of relief. Just hearing what Tyler said filled her with joy and happiness. She suddenly felt a yawn escape her mouth as Tyler approached.

"Well, I think it is time to go back to bed" he said, extending his hand towards Brittany. She jumped onto his hand as he turned to take her back to her room. Tyler silently walked into the chipettes room and went for Brittany's bed. As soon as his hand was low enough, Brittany jumped off and leaned back on her pink pillow as Tyler grabbed the covers and brought them up to her.

He gave Brittany a smile and a nod as he turned and went for the door. "Tyler?"

Stopping at the door, he turned around and looked back at her. Brittany was silent for a moment, and then quietly spoke. "Thank you, for listening and helping me feel better."

Through the faint light in the hall, she could see Tyler was still smiling. "It's no problem, it is why I'm here."

With that, Tyler turned and left the room. Brittany laid in her bed, the worries and fears she had that day were gone. She never met someone like Tyler. Every problem someone had, he fix it, being sensitive to them, and always had a smile on his face as if nothing bothered him.

She closed her eyes as she drifted to sleep with her thoughts now about Alvin.

Tyler sat on his bed. He wanted badly to tell them what was going to happen in a week, of the terror they will go through, but he knew couldn't. He wanted to do his duty and protect them, but this time he would have to stand to the side.

It was the only way Alvin could gain control of his powers. It was one of the greatest tests someone would ever have to do.

Tyler ran his hand through his short hair and looked at the counter next to his bed, staring at a photo of him and his family taken a few years ago. In the photo, there was him, a 16 year old grade 10 student at the time. To his left was his brother about three years younger, with short dirty blond hair as well with a freckled face and puffy cheeks.

To Tyler's right was his father and mother. His dad looking like an older version of Tyler with the same hight above 6 feet, with longer dirty blond hair. And his mom, shorter than Tyler around 5 feet, with shoulder length brown hair with glasses on her face and a similar face as his brother.

He stared at the photo for a while. The anger starting to build inside of him. Then in a fit of rage, slammed the photo down on it's face.

He sat there, wanting to forget about his family. It was now in the past. It happened, and it was now time to put it all behind him. A new life was beginning for him, and he wasn't going to ruin it.

He wondered what he should do to take his mind off of everything. Maybe go for a relaxing bike ride. It always seemed to calm him down. He looked back at the clock, and saw it was only 4:30.

"What the hey"he said to himself as he walked over to his suit case, and unpacked his biking gear.

He pulled out the blue biking shirt with red maple leafs on the shoulder and tight black shorts. He then he pulled out his empty water pack and snapped is fingers. The pack filled with water instantly, as he put it in a long pouch that sat on his back like a backpack.

Along the strap was a small blue tube that ran into the pouch to get the water. Tyler then put on his silver helmet and clipped it onto his head. Next, he put on special biking cleats with a metal piece on the bottom designed lock onto the peddles while biking.

Slowly and quietly, and walked out into the hall, heading for the front door, the mettle cleats on the bottom of his shoes creating small gentle taps as they hit the floor. It took a little time, but he soon reached the front door, walking out onto the porch.

Just as he was about to walk down the steps, he paused when he realized he forgot something, He looked into the house and snapped his fingers, with a quick flash, a note appeared on the living room table and a breakfast in the kitchen.

With a smile, Tyler walked off the porch and snapped his fingers again. This time, a 10 speed bike appeared on the walkway. The bike was a tannish colour with yellow handle bars that curved down and pointed to the rear of the bike. On top of the handle bar was a special type of bar with two pads on either side, connected to a padded bar that made a u shape, which allowed the biker to lean far forward in a comfortable manner.

Below the back seat was a pouch with small tools in it and on the front of the bike, a bright running light, and below the pouch, a flashing red light since it was still dark. Tyler jumped on and locked on of his feet onto the pedal. As soon as he was moving, he locked the other foot in and sped off down the road.