I'm thinking I'll be doing weekly updates. Review!

Chapter 4

"Dad, why are we here?" I struggled from his grasp and he let me go.

"Shut up!" he hissed and pulled out his phone.

My dad was a Controller. My dad. A Controller. MY DAD WAS A CONTROLLER! No! After all I'd done… But why else would he take me to the Gap? I was about to run away, but then I heard who he was talking to.

"Hi. Erek? Is your dad still home or did he already leave?" Immediately I relaxed. "Good. Could I speak to him for a moment?

"Hey, could you do me a favor? There was a situation. Tobias and I are stuck in the mall. I need a ride to work." There was a pause while "Mr. King" responded. "Okay. Thank you. We'll meet you at the back of the mall." He hung up and gave me a weird look. "What was all that about?"

"What was what about?" I asked innocently. Really, it was all I could do to stop myself from running over to him and hugging him in pure relief. He's not a Controller.

"You were freaking out." I shrugged. He looked me up and down with the same what's-gotten-into-you look. Eventually he resorted to a simple, "We'll talk about this later."

Two minutes later we ended up on the other side of the mall, and five minutes later "Mr. King" came to pick us up.

"So, could you please explain what happened?" "Mr. King" asked once we were headed to my dad's work. My dad shrugged.

"The car broke down. I already called a mechanic." Liar. "Mr. King" stared at me through the rearview mirror, and I shook my head no.

When we got there, I quickly headed to the restroom and washed my face. I needed to calm down and think straight. I breathed in. Okay. Someone was following us. No. That was wrong. Someone was following me. But that wasn't right either. The Yeerks didn't know who I was. If they did, they wouldn't bother following me. I was too important and dangerous. They would infest me on the spot. So… The Yeerks were after my dad? I felt a cold chill go through me. No. I would never allow that.

I jumped two feet in the air when the door opened and immediately relaxed when I saw the person there. "Oh. It's just you."

"Mr. King", a Chee, leaned against the wall and gave me a hard, long look.

"Are they after my dad now?" I blurted out. He knew who I meant by "they". He looked surprised. Or at least, he made his hologram looked surprised.

"No. At least, not that I know of." The reassurance helped. But not by much. "Why would you think that?"

"Because…" I seriously considered lying, but I couldn't find a good enough reason. Besides, I needed to know if the Yeerks suspected something. I sighed. "Because some taxi was following us. That's why my dad asked for the lift. He left the car at the mall to discourage anyone who would try to follow us again." That was the conclusion I'd reached after I stopped freaking out and started thinking. It made sense.

"You know, you can't blame them for every suspicious thing that happens."

"Yes I can." He laughed. "But say, if it was them-"

"That's a big if."

"-why would they be after him?"

"It was probably just a coincidence. I can't believe Al panicked, though. You I can understand, but him? He seriously believes aliens are out to get him, doesn't he?" I glared daggers in his direction.

"That's seriously not funny! Our lives are in danger here, you jerk!" I yelled. He shut up and looked serious.

"Calm down. You are so lucky I put a hologram over us. If not, everybody would have heard you." I shut up. I wasn't calm, though. "Look, I know you're stressed. I know you're worried, and honestly you have every right to be. But you're overanalyzing this. If there was anybody after you or your family we'd be the first to inform you."

I calmed down, but not too much. The Chee weren't Visser Three's best friends so he wouldn't tell them everything. But then again, Visser Three wasn't after my dad. He wasn't. He wasn't important enough. Man was I wrong.

Three hours later "Mr. King" took us to the mall. I noticed how there was a black limo parked outside my dad's work. A limo that looked exactly like the one Visser 3 had. My breath quickened, and I had to fight down the voice in my head that was screaming, "Morph!" No. No. I had to calm down. Calm down. I was being paranoid. It was just a coincidence. A coincidence. For all I knew it belonged to one of the employees. They did pay pretty well at my dad's job. I mean, didn't we own a Mustang and a huge house on the outskirts of town? I always got the best of the best for everything. Technology. Video games. Clothes. The kids at school were always labeling me as the "rich kid" and even my friends teased me about it. I was pretty sure one of my dad's coworkers could afford a limo. The Yeerks aren't after us. The Yeerks aren't after us.

Even when I convinced myself that nothing was wrong, I still didn't ask my dad if he knew who owned the limo. I didn't want to worry him. Or maybe I just didn't want to know the answer.

When we arrived at the mall, "Mr. King" offered to stay incase the mechanic hadn't finished. My dad made a big show about how thankful he was, but how much we didn't want to inconvenience him. I rolled my eyes. He really was a horrible liar. It must run in the blood.

"Mr. King" only left after I glared at him when my dad wasn't looking. My dad and I made our way to our car. My dad whipped out his keys, and we left. I glared at the rearview mirror the whole time making sure no one was following us.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I gave a half-hearted smile.

"Since when do you say that? Who invented that stupid saying anyways?" He didn't laugh.

"Is something bothering you, Tobias?"

"Not at all. I'm just trying to keep my family and humanity alive and free by battling parasitic alien slugs that would do anything to destroy me. I've never been better." Like if I'd ever say that.

"Not really." I smirked. "And anyway, even if there was, I wouldn't be allowed to tell you. It's teenage law." He laughed and stayed silent.

A few minutes later he broke the silence. "You know… If you ever need anything… You know you can trust me, right?" He sounded so sincere. I almost choked.

"Yeah," I replied softly. But I couldn't. And I wanted to. I wanted to trust him so bad. But see, there was always the risk he could be a Controller. And even if he was never captured, it was still safer if he didn't know anything. Besides, the pain it would bring him and my mom would be too great. They'd have to live with the fear that something could happen to me. And it could. It would be so simple. So easy for me to die in battle.

We arrived at my house. There was a kid a few years younger than me riding his bike in front of my house. There wasn't a parent in sight. I didn't give it too much thought. My mistake.

"Loren, I'm home!" my dad called out, and I laughed. All the lights in the house were off save for the TV. My mom was laying down on the couch with a bowl of popcorn on her lap. Chucky's face appeared on TV.

"To your room Tobias. No TV for you."

"Daaaad! Come on! Let this be a family thing." My mom rolled her eyes.

"Fine, fine." She sat up and patted the space next to her. I grinned. My parents could be so lenient. I took the spot next to her and reached for a handful of popcorn. My mom moved the bowl out of my reach. "My popcorn."

"Loren, Loren." My dad made a tsk tsk sound and sat down next to me sandwiching me between both of them. "Don't you know sharing is caring?"

"Exactly." My mom grinned. I laughed. And you know, moments like those when my family and I were together were what kept me going back then. That was what I was fighting for. Humanity yeah, but mainly, my family.

"I love you guys," I blurted out before I could stop myself. My parents both gave me weird stares.

"Umm... We love you, too?"

"Al, I think we shouldn't give him popcorn. It's making him unnaturally mushy," my mom stage whispered earning her an eye roll from both of us.

And that was it. My family and I were having a good time together. Everything was fine. I was feeling slightly optimistic and hopeful. For the first time in a long while, I was happy.

But then half a dozen hork-bajir followed by Visser Three barged in, and that was the last time my parents and I were ever together like that again.