Chapter Two: Mixed Emotions

Kimberly

Dreams are strange things in your head that comes when you shut your eyes. Some people say they can be visions or channels to your subconscious mind. They can be pleasant or downright scary.

Then why am I so afraid of? Why would I result to running from home because of dreams? They were only dreams, you would say. Why did I even think they could come true?

Should I tell you what happened three weeks ago? Maybe, you'll understand better.

I had a dream before. It was a person being devoured by something so black and spreading like a virus. It was too late when that friend was submerged in the blackness, screaming and crying. I couldn't bare the terrible cries, tried to cover my ears. Then I woke up, sweating. I didn't go back to sleep. I was too scared and concerned.

I didn't know what that darkness was or why. But I knew that friend. I knew her.

She was a very close friend. Her name was Lauren, lived next door to my house. We did things together like any girls. She tried to get me in her swim team, too.

She sat beside me every Maths and Science and always said one guy in Science class was cute. I teased her that she didn't have the guts to ask him out. She'd laugh and say, "Perhaps I should do that. But you know me, I'm just yellow." She'd admit it without feeling shameful.

Lauren's that type of girl. Proud and energetic.

One day I told her about the dream in the girls' bathroom. She laughed, saying I was being silly and had such a good imagination. We left for the next class and as usual, I forgot about the dream. I have always ignored the dreams before. I thought they were nothing.

I should have known they meant something...


Cassie

I was wrapping clean bandages on the near burnt tail of a squirrel in the barn when Ax came in. It was late and my parents were in the house so it was safe for him to come by.

But that night, he looked a little worried. And tired, he looked as if he galloped all the way here in high speed.

"Hey, Ax," I greeted.

(Ax, where were you the whole afternoon? I was looking for you,) Tobias asked from above. He had arrived earlier, wondering if Ax was here or not. He was a bit anxious that Ax didn't show up where he normally perched. At least, Tobias didn't go too soon to look for him.

(Cassie... There is something wrong with me,) he started then stopped, like he was catching his breath.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

(I think I am sick,) he suddenly said.

"What?" I was hoping we wouldn't have to worry about any more Andalite sickness for a while. Ax just recently recovered from an illness and a successful brain surgery. Don't ask, it's a long story.

(I'd better get the others,) Tobias said and quickly took off. I turned my attention away from the squirrel, putting it back to its cage. Ax gave a troubled look.

(I had this rotating feeling in my abdomen. I thought I was feeling ill again,) said Ax.

"When was this?" I asked.

(I only experienced this unusual feeling when I was in human morph today. It happened whenever this female human smiled at me.)

There was a very long silence.

(Cassie, why are you smiling like that? This could be serious again.)

I couldn't help but beam so widely. I tried not to laugh.

I never thought this day could come.

"Ax, you're not ill," I told him. "You're lovesick."

(Is that something I should worry about?)

"No, of course not. It means you really like someone."

(Like...someone...?)

I could tell this was slowly registering into his mind. His eyes finally grew big. He freaked out right there on that spot.

(What!? I cannot like a human, a semi-sentient species!)

"Ax, calm down. It's natural to like someone."

(It is not when I am an Andalite and she is a human! This is absurd, so...wrong! I cannot like her!)

I wasn't sure if I could agree with him there. I don't think love between two different people, uh, I mean species sounds ridiculous. It sounded romantic in a way.

"Alright, Ax. If it's wrong, then you don't have to see that girl again. After that, I'm sure you'll get well."

He slugged his shoulders down. (But...I cannot stop thinking about her...the way her unusual eyes looked at me... It was wonderful.)

This is a classic sign of a crush. I couldn't believe this was happening in my own barn. An alien was having a crush on a human. If Marco was here to joke about this, I think Ax would have literally killed himself.

Ax became shocked, quickly realizing he was acting absentminded with what he was thought-speaking. He shook his head.

(No! This can't go on...! What should I do?)

"Ax, calm down. It's okay. We'll figure something out," I told him.

His eyes were meaningful, then slowly calm. (Thank you, Cassie.)

An hour later, the others came sprinting as fast as they could. That was awfully quick. They looked like they had panicked when they first heard the news from Tobias.

"Is it true he's sick again!?" Jake yelled.

"He'd better not because baby aspirin are the one thing I don't want to come haunting me anytime soon!" Marco shouted.

"It was a false alarm. He's not sick," I told them, still smiling.

"Then what?" said Rachel. "Come on! Be serious! I do not want to starve to death for a whole week!"

"Ax has a crush on a girl."

A lot of eyes went wide with extreme shock.

"WHAT!?" everyone yelled. Ax nearly jumped.

"No way!" Marco shouted. "Excuse me but Ax-man likes a human being? A normal person that's way prettier than Xena here? A normal average looking individual that's WAY more-"

A stomp on his foot silenced him quickly.

(Ax, is that true?) Tobias asked, perched on a bale of hay.

Ax looked a little embarrassed. He immediately nodded his head.

"Unbelievable! I thought you said humans weren't attractive," Jake nearly shouted with a laugh.

"So who's this lucky girl you've fallen in love with?" Rachel asked, grinning widely.

(...She calls herself Kimberly,) Ax replied, still humiliated.

"Kimberly!? The Kimberly? THE Oddball Kim!?" Marco shouted.

"You know her?" said Rachel, lifting an eyebrow.

"Of course I know her! She's in Science with me! Ax, don't go near her! She's devious! What's worse, she could be a Controller!"

"Marco, are you still angry at her?" Jake asked, furrowing an eyebrow.

"Angry? Exactly what did she do to you?" said Rachel.

"Don't you remember? Three weeks ago," said Jake.

"Oooh," Rachel sang wickedly. "She was the one who turned you down, wasn't she? You weren't even her type after all."

"She did not do that because of me! I never even got a chance to show my charming side!" Marco snapped.

"So what did happen?" I asked.

"Can we not have a flashback? I'm still recovering from that."

Rachel was the first to start. "Marco wanted to ask her out for the dance before we all got sick. When he finally got the guts to ask, guess what her answer was? She said no and left. The idiot just stood there frozen with his mouth gapping wide open."

"My mouth wasn't open!"

(So how did you two meet, Ax?) Tobias asked.

(We didn't exactly meet at first. She came unexpectedly and I did not morph into human then,) Ax replied.

"Ax! What were you thinking? She could have seen you!" Jake shouted.

(No, no! She did not see me. I hid and she seemed more engrossed with her surroundings. She was a strange human. She deliberately fell back on the ground but did not seem to mind the pain. That was when I noticed some triangular-shaped provisions from her carrier and-)

"Wait, there was food involved?" Rachel asked.

(Yes. Very delicious food. Why?)

Rachel nearly burst out with laughter. Jake slapped his face. I softly laughed too. What was to be expected? Ax would do anything to get a taste of something edible. He even tried to eat popcorn off the floor last time. Now it was a little obvious how Ax met Kimberly.

"Nothing. Go on," Jake said.

(I morphed in my human form and sneaked around without her seeing me. When I took what was hers, her pet found me and...I got scared. I jumped. She also jumped-)

"Wait. You stole her snack?" I cried out.

"Didn't know you had it in you, Ax-man," said Marco, snickering.

(I only took one. I did not mean to do it but the smell was appealing. Besides, she was not angry at me for taking one. Rather, she laughed hysterically,) Ax said embarrassingly. (But her laugh was a nice one. I have never met anyone like her...)

"What happened next?" Rachel asked impatiently.

(We...just talked. After that, I left.)

"That's it? No fireworks?"

(No. There were no fireworks in the sky. It was not night yet.)

"She means did anything special happen?" said Marco.

(No. But it was special talking to her.)

Rachel looked a little disappointed. I guess she thought there would be more to that. I think she wanted to hear kissing or something.

"Oh, sure! The oddball goes friendly for the alien but not me! What am I, chopped liver?" Marco yelled and crossed his arms.

(I am sure you are not chopped liver,) said Ax.

"Geez, thanks. That makes me feel so much better."

(By the way, what is an oddball?) he then asked.

"It means someone with an odd personality," Jake replied.

(Ah, that suits her. She is a very odd human. She kept being contented for a very long time.)

"She was happy?"

(Yes and for what reason, I do not know.)

"Huh. Guess she's not sad anymore."

"Why do you say that?" Rachel asked.

"Well, I had noticed she's been looking depressed lately at school," said Jake.

"Come to think of it, she was down in the dumps when I asked her to the dance," Marco pointed out.

"You sure it wasn't you?" Rachel intoned.

They were right. I, too, noticed a slight difference in Kimberly.

I don't know her that well. Just that she's in the same English class as I am. I had always seen her talking wildly with a friend or two about any subject that came to mind. She'd always smile so happily as if there had never been anything bad happen to her.

It was only three weeks ago I noticed her expression had changed. I could still remember. She came in the classroom very gloomy and sat down without saying a word. Her friends approached her and asked what was wrong. Kimberly didn't reply.

She looked almost like a lifeless doll. I thought she was going to drop dead anytime soon.

I wondered what happened before she suddenly became glum. She didn't even come to school for two days.

Tobias's head perked up suddenly, turning to the barn doors. He took off fast and before we knew it, I heard the sound of an engine coming near.

(A car's heading this way!) he shouted.

I looked at Jake. He nodded and I hurried to the barn doors. Quickly, I walked out and closed the doors behind me. The car just pulled over just outside on the stretch of road. Eventually, the window at the driver seat rolled down.

"Excuse me," a woman in the driver seat called, waving her arm violently. I went close to her window.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"Yes. Do you know Kimberly? We're her parents," a man, sitting in the passenger seat asked with a light but troubled smile.

"Uh, sort of."

"Have you seen Kimberly at school? Please tell me you have," Kimberly's mother asked worriedly, her hands in a begging prayer on the wheel.

"No, I haven't," I told them.

Kimberly's mother was let down and heaved a heavy sigh. Her father took her hand and comforted her.

"Don't worry, honey. I'm sure she's alright."

"How can I NOT worry?! My little Kimmy hasn't come home since yesterday!"

"Did something happen to Kimberly?" I casually asked, acting as normal as I could.

"We're not very sure," her father said.

"Oh no! Don't tell me it was something we did to upset her!? OH GOD! I MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING THAT MADE HER RUN AWAY!" Kimberly's mom yelled.

She looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown any minute. It scared me out of my wits! Her loudness could have brought my parents out quickly! Luckily, the animals' noises drowned her shout.

"Honey, dear, calm down. You didn't do anything," said Kimberly's dad, then looked at me. "I'm sorry, she overreacts a little."

A little? I thought to myself.

"Did anything bad happen to her at school lately?" he asked.

"Not that I can think of. No," I replied.

"Oh...okay. I guess we should keep looking."

Kimberly's mom began to whimper. Her lips were trembling. "My little Kimmy..."

Kimberly's dad sighed deeply. He was greatly worried about Kimberly too.

"If you see her, could you call us?" her dad asked, passing a small note to me. Their number was on it.

"Sure. I'll see what I can do," I said.

"Thank you. It really means so much to us," he said. With that, Kimberly's mom started the car and they went off. Their car disappeared down the road. It was kind of sad to see her parents really concerned, desperate to search for their daughter. I could imagine how my parents would feel if I went missing.

I went back to the barn. The others inside had overheard our conversation.

"So she's been missing since yesterday," said Jake

"No wonder I haven't seen her for two days," I said. "But why would she run off like that?"

"Maybe she found out her parents are Controllers and she's now on the run," said Marco. "Her pops was looking very suspicious."

"I don't think they are even Controllers. If I remember correctly, Kimberly's dad is on a wheelchair. And her mom is somewhat...a little crazy," Jake pointed out.

"Jake, how could you say that about Kimberly's mom? She's very worried about where her daughter is," I scolded lightly.

"But that's what some people say about her," Jake admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "What I mean is if she was a Controller, the Yeerk wouldn't take the time to act exactly how she would, right?"

"Yeah. I agree with you there. Yesterday, she literally went through all the garbage cans screaming "Kimmy, are you there?"," Rachel said. "I know. I saw her taking the lid off of mine."

"Did she find a dead body in yours?" Marco intoned. Rachel threw an elbow at him.

(She did not run away because of her parents. She had another reason,) Ax explained.

"Ax, do you know where Kimberly is?" I asked.

Ax nodded. (She is in the woods. That was where I met her today. She seems to be staying there for the night.)

"And what reason would she have for running away and camping in the middle of the outdoors?" Marco coughed.

(She said it was her dreams.)

"Dreams?" Jake uttered.

"What's to be afraid of? Dreams are a natural thing. We all dream," Rachel said.

"Like you who dreams to be a gorgeous model," Marco droned, twitching his eyebrows up and down.

(But she told me they were frightening her. She said her kind of dreams is much different than other dreams.)

(How different?) Tobias asked.

(She said people can get hurt from them.)

"Hurt? How can you get hurt from something that's in your head?" said Rachel.

"Okay, it's officially. She's crazy like her mom. Ax, I suggest you stay away from those woods. We'll scare her away in wolf morphs and we can go back to having a normal life," Marco said.

(Since when were our lives ever normal?) Tobias muttered.

(She is not crazy,) said Ax, sounding defensive. (She may be a strange human but I could tell she was afraid.)

"Sounds boogers to me," Rachel mumbled.

"Still, we'd better keep watch over her. Who knows what she'll do. If she sees Ax, that's it," Jake explained.

"We'll be having another member in this group," Marco intoned. Rachel punched him.

"Let's not think about that," Jake groaned. "For now, we'll watch her. Tobias, you keep an eye on her tonight."

(Sure thing,) Tobias said.

"Ax, from now on, stay away from Kimberly. Don't go near her camp until we know more."

(But-) Ax started but Jake cut him short.

"I mean it, Ax. That girl could mean trouble."

(...I understand, Prince Jake,) Ax said.

After that, everyone left for the night and I went back to take care of the squirrel. As I was about to close the barn doors, I swear I thought I saw a person wearing black. The person looked like a motorcycle rider. Or I think it was a rider.

That person wasn't on a motorbike. The person was standing in a tree far away, looking straight at me.

I flung the door open and looked about. But there was no person outside. Just the tree and its leaves shaking.

I really hoped it was my imagination.


Two days later, Lauren's mom called me. I was making popcorn that day. It was movie night for me and Bax while our parents went out for a nice dinner together. Bax always rented one for every Friday night since it was weekends after that. It's what you call a sibling tradition.

I never expected anything bad from that call. It began good at first. Her mom asked how I was fine and all. Gradually, she started to sob in between her sentences.

But she soon went to the point.

Lauren died from a tumor the night before.

It came unexpected...like a train just hit me. But it felt much worse. All my life, I thought nothing bad could come and hurt me. I was wrong. I was in my own world until reality struck. It was too late to realize that.

I just lost a friend.

I dropped the phone and fell down on my knees. I cried uncontrollably. Then the following week, I attended to my best friend's funeral.

It was a very gloomy and rainy day. Looking down at my best friend in a coffin didn't make things better.

I wanted the nightmare to end.

That is why I am scared. Even if these dreams were true, I have no idea who would believe me. I could warn someone if they were in my dreams but they would think I was saying nonsense. I could ignore the dreams but something bad could happen to somebody.

Either way, I knew my dreams were going to hurt someone.


Author's Notes: Woo-hoo! I got chapter two down! Oh yeah! Oh Yeah!

Marco: What's to celebrate about? You've only written 8 pages! AND HOW THE HELL DID I GET A NO FOR AN ANSWER?! I'm supposed to be the loveable one!

Vickie: ...I can hurt you just as much as I can hurt my book character, Ivan (Not in any fanfic).

Ivan: She's right, man! Run for your life! -Screams as he's being chased by a fictional vampire, following a disgusting big blob made entirely of bugs-

Vickie: -Grins as evil as the devil-

Marco: ... -Backs away very slowly-

Vickie: Yes, people, I do have a crazy side when it comes to tormenting my original characters.

Kimberly: j^j –trembles in fear-

Vickie: Mind you guys, this story probably takes place after book 30 - 35. Somewhere round there. Kimberly's foster family is also an odd family and not Controllers. Mostly her foster mother is the odd one while her brother thinks he's totally normal (he hates it when his mother overreacts. Embarrassing for him). Her foster father is disabled from an accident in college so unlikely he's a Controller but he's a kind guy. And yes, you're seeing bits of the black suited stranger and more bits until the stranger come into combat with someone very familiar in ch. 7 but I'm not gonna tell ya more of the stranger...yet. But hear, hear! The stranger is gonna be an interesting character with an unexpected twist of his/her identity!

Black-suited stranger: Why am I here in the first place is what I want to ask but your insanity is already the answer...

Vickie: My insanity will answer you alright once I make sure you have to go through excruciating pain (eg. Having the neck broken and three vertebrates smash into many little pieces!).

Black-suited stranger: ...Have you not torture enough people?

Vickie: No. As a matter of fact, I still got some more to afflict terror in.

Vickie's book characters: AHHHHHH!!!