Sorry it's been a while... been busy doing plenty of random things... ^^; well, here it is, chapter 7.
CHAPTER SEVEN- Jared Jordan Fuentes- a month later
For the first time in weeks, I was back.
I never thought I'd be back here in my entire life.
But I had nowhere else to be even if I wanted to.
My family- as in the teens, not the parents- were all off at the mall, Casjar and Lauren by choice, Anilie, Teague, and even Elfang by force.
The rest of my family, the parents, were having an important meeting at our house so I couldn't go there.
Dead-Lee was out of town, hiding it out until the cops were convinced that it wasn't him who stole that 9 mm two days ago, and it wasn't, because two days ago he was sick with a fever, but the cops didn't believe that.
Spikes was getting sick with the fever- probably caught it from Dead- and had told me to keep my distance so I wouldn't get sick. "Can't let our MVG get sick, now can we?" Spikes started calling me MVG- Most Valuable Gangster- every once in a while since the gang found out I could morph.
Icy was stuck in court today. Something about her parents finally coming up and wanting her back with them. None of us believed that, of course, especially Icy. "Why would they want me back after eighteen years of leaving me in this dump?" She had spat at the cop. "Besides, I'm eighteen, and I'm old enough to take care of myself!" But it still didn't get her out of going to court.
So here I was, outside of the three-story house, once again.
"Can I help you?" A voice asked.
I spun around and saw a guy stopping on his skateboard. He had messy black hair that kept getting in his bright green eyes. He was wearing a dark blue shirt with some strange logo that I've never seen before and torn jeans.
"Who are you?" I replied, before saying anything else.
He kicked his board and picked it up. "I'm Nico." He glanced at the house. "I live here."
"Oh..." You idiot, who knows if they had moved already? They could be on the other side of the world. "In that case," I started to leave. "I'm probably at the wrong address,"
"Wait a sec." Nico called after me and skated in front of me. Hadn't the board- wait, no, the board was still in his arm. He had wheels in his shoes too, I realized. "Are you looking for Nites?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm looking for Silver."
"She's here," Nico stated. "My mom made me move in with her. Said she could teach me some stuff." He shrugged. "Don't know what though. All I've learned is the many ways someone can keep me off of my wheels." He skated to the garage door. "Come on, she may be here." He opened up the door.
My eyes opened wide as it did.
'Cause inside was a brand new, jet black Harley with flame decals.
"This ain't yours, is it?" I asked as I study the Harley. I've always liked motorcycles and fast things since I was a kid. Always thought about getting one when I was able to- and technically, I was, but I just haven't taken the classes for them to let me drive one. "I mean..." I turned to Nico. "You don't look-"
"-Sixteen, I know." Nico finished. "I am, though, and yes, that is mine." He opened the door that separated the garage from the actual house. "Silv, some dude is here! Looks a little on the young side to be your date!" He shouted up the stairs as he dropped his board and gear on the floor.
I stared at Nico in shock. "What the heck are you talking about?" I said to him.
Nico smirked. "Silv's got a date tonight. I'm just playin' with her." He whispered to me.
"What do you mean? Smith's-" Silver began. She stopped talking and walking down the stairs when she saw me. "Fuentes?" She said, as if she didn't believe her eyes.
"Silver?" I replied, shocked. She was wearing her hair in curls, and wearing a knee-length black dress with matching black high heels and purse. I blinked then turned to Nico. "Who is this woman and what did she do with the Silver that kicked my ass like it was a hacky-sack a year ago?"
Nico laughed. I bet it was mostly because of the "kicked my ass like it was a hacky-sack" part.
Silver coughed then started walking down the stairs again. "What brings you back here? I haven't seen you in a while." She put on a long brown coat over her dress.
"My gang's all up in court or sick." I stated, sitting on the couch. Nico tried to take it from me, but with some effort, he gave up and sat on a chair. "And my fam's either at the mall- by force or by choice- or at my house having some important meeting like back when they were kids- which probably was hundreds of years ago."
"Still got your father's witty comments, I see." Silver muttered as she checked her purse for her phone. There was the sound of a motorcycle outside revving. "There's Smith." She said, getting all of her stuff together. "Listen, while I'm gone, you wouldn't mind practicing with Nico, would you? Thanks, bye." She left without even letting me answer.
My companion groaned. "You're not gonna make me practice with you, are you?"
I smirked but it was gone before Nico could notice it. "No," Nico sighed in relief. "I'm gonna have you fight me." Nico groaned again and sank into his chair. I just laughed at him.
-Outside-
"All right, one five minute battle, then we stop and do something else- video games, hack into some places, TV, race on boards or something, etc," I said the hacking part as quickly as I could, so I was surprised when Nico heard it.
"You hack into other computers?" Nico repeated. He saw the shock on my face and shook his head. "Forget it. Come on, let's see if you're as good as Silv says." He turned the digital timer on then we both entered our fighting stances.
I wasn't expecting Nico to be fast without any wheels with him. I also knew that we both decided to go barefoot for this battle. So, imagine the surprise I had when Nico was several yards away to having his fist colliding with my left cheek when I blinked.
Fighting for my balance, I frowned and wiped the bit of blood away with the back of my hand. How did this kid get so damn fast? I did a quick, but hard jab to Nico's stomach with my right elbow.
Nico stumbled back, surprised at how fast I'd recovered. He shrugged it off and ran again towards me with his right fist held back, ready to strike.
I barely managed to block it with my arms. I instantly wished that I hadn't practiced with Icy yesterday- Nico had punched directly into one of the bruises Icy ended up giving me.
But I ignored the pain, and kicked him in the shins with one of my feet. Nico lost his balance and fell on his butt. He winced and stood up again, sweeping the floor as he did. I barely managed to jump over his leg. He did another kick-sweep as I landed, forcing me down again. I kicked him again as I did a back flip to get up. Nico only lost his balance for a second.
The kid tried to tackle me down, a move that I barely managed to equal by putting up my own hands. We stayed like that, pushing the other, trying to knock the other down, for maybe half a minute or so. I suddenly let go and quickly stepped to my left, letting Nico fall down on his face.
Groaning, Nico got up. He had a bit of mud on his face, but it didn't seem to bother him. He just stood there for a moment. I had almost thought he had given up when he grabbed my shoulders and did a back flip off of my chest- it oddly reminded me of something Mom said one of her teachers often said he would do if the class made him "go crazy."
I could feel a cut open up again. I cursed myself for not morphing so it would be gone.
Getting back to my feet, I noticed we only had two minutes left. I blocked a move that I knew Nico was going to do- the same move I had done to finish of Icy- but yet didn't know at the same time.
Was I getting some sort of new power to see the future? Was my power from the Hidden the power of controlling Time, like Mom?
The Hidden. I hadn't thought about it in a long time.
I frowned as I blocked another blow. It was the Hidden's fault that Mom died. If the Hidden didn't exist, Mom would have never died.
F---ing Hidden.
I briefly remember flipping over Nico and flipping him over me, leaving him breathless, making me the winner.
I snapped back to earth when I heard the timer buzz. Nico was struggling to sit up. I gave him a hand and he took it. "Sorry, dude, I was thinking about something."
Nico winced as he stood. "Must of been hell of a something if it got you that mad that you almost broke my back." He muttered. "I think Ethan's in his room, he's the one that helps me with my injuries after fights. Maybe he could stitch up that cut of yours or something,"
I glanced down and saw some blood seeping through my shirt. "Ah it's OK, I'll probably only need another shirt that's all. Come on," I helped Nico enter the house.
"Hey Ethan! Dead man walking!" Nico yelled when he managed to sit down on the couch- he was in obvious pain.
"Listen, I'm really sorry." I repeated.
Nico gave a faint smile. "It's ok." Nico winced again. "Silv beat you up this badly too?"
I thought back about that time a year ago. "Yeah, I heard some bones crack." I thought a bit longer. "Come to think of it, she defeated me basically the same way I did to you."
A guy in his twenties suddenly appeared at the doorway leading from the stairs to the living room. His brown hair covered up his left side of his face, covering most of a long scar. His eyes were almost pitch black, but not like Silver's were. Silver's would have looked dead if not for the mysterious gleam in them. But this guy's looked practically dead. Like no one was home.
He glanced at me then at Nico. "What's it this time?" He sighed. He was Ethan I guess.
"Erm, Silv told me to practice with snake-boy there and I pretty much busted my back now..." Nico replied. "Sorry to bother you, Ethan."
Ethan shook his head. "I wasn't doin' anything anyway." He turned to me. "Thanks for bringing Nico in- I don't think he would have managed to get an inch further than where he fell, with his injury and his laziness, uh..."
"Jared Fuentes." I answered, trying not to laugh at what Ethan had said.
A spark of recognition lit up in Ethan's dead eyes. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared. "Well, thanks Jared. I'm going to go get the supplies, Nico." He left back up the stairs.
I turned to Nico for an explanation.
"Ethan's been a bit weird lately- at least that's what Silv told me. Said a few weeks before your mom died he got all silent and cut his teaching lesson times shorter with her so they could just talk- like he knew she was gonna die or something." Nico said. He shrugged, trying not to hurt himself. "That's pretty much all I know."
"Wait, Ethan's younger than my mom." Nico gave me a look that said so? "How could he be Mom's teacher if Mom's older than him?"
Nico shrugged again. "I dunno. Don't even know what his lessons were about."
I thought for a moment. "I'm going to go- I have something to do. Tell Ethan bye for me, OK?" Nico gave a slight nod and I left, wondering what was really going on here.
-Back at the house-
I had morphed so I could get into the garage without the original Animorphs hearing me enter the house. When I demorphed, I ended up tripping and falling over something.
"Several injuries gone, some more gained." I muttered as I sat up and turned to see what I tripped over. "We still haven't gotten rid of that old thing?" I wondered out loud when I saw the old "swimming pool".
((It means a lot to your father, Jared.)) A voice said in my head.
((Kala? I didn't know you were still in there...)) I replied, standing and dusting myself off.
((Guess you got used to it, Jared.)) Kala moved my eyes to look at the old piece of junk. ((When you were six, Anilie got Yamphut. Anilie and you were looking forward to playing in that pool that day. She insisted you go ahead with Lyz while Marco and Cassie took care of her.))
The memory started playing around me- but in Mom's eyes, not mine.
It was dangerous for me to be in the pool with Jared. Any amount of water more than enough just to let me take a shower would lower my core temperature and start making me ill.
But as I write this down in my journal, sick in bed, I know that it was worth it.
Anilie had gotten Yamphut and yesterday was the day that her and Jared were planning on having a water day in the back yard. Jared wanted to stay by Anilie's side and help Marco and Cassie make her feel better- I couldn't be involved because I hadn't gotten Yamphut yet, unlike Marco and Cassie. Even Jared had it- when he was four, some sort of reaction to the Blue Box I guess. But eventually Anilie made Jared go on without her.
Yesterday, I was just sitting there in the water, knowing my temperature was dropping slowly. But Jared was having so much fun, and I didn't want to miss out on this memory.
He was trying to swim in the shallow water when I had removed my hair tie and threw it in the water.
"Mommy you dropped this." Jared told me as he handed it to me. I took it and threw it back in the water. He looked at me, confused.
I shook my head. "You can't make me wear it."
I immediately regretted saying it.
I had stood up, getting ready to remove some water from my clothes, when all of the sudden Jared tackled me.
Coughing out water, I managed to keep my head up above the water- that would have increased my core temperature's dropping rate- before Jared sat on my back. He started tugging at my hair- he was obviously trying to put my hair tie back on. We struggled like that for a while, before I managed to get Jared back into the water and off of me. He wrestled with me for a while before I gave up and just lied down on my stomach.
I was completely surprised when I sat up and Jared hugged me suddenly. "I love you, Mommy." He said softly, and smiling, I hugged him back as well.
"I love you too, Jar-head. Never forget that, OK?" I whispered back in his ear.
Jared smiled and nodded. "I won't forget Mommy!"
"Are we too late?" Marco asked.
Smiling at my husband and my daughter who was holding his hand tightly, I shook my head. "No..." I said. "But you did miss a lot of fun,"
The smiles on my kids' faces when we sat in the pool were enough to keep me strong enough until they were almost asleep in the pool.
And Jared...
This morning when he and Anilie had found out I had gotten sick, Jared cried. He ran up to my side and hugged me tight, tears falling down his face.
"I'm so sorry Mommy..." Jared sobbed.
"What... what for?" I asked, confused.
Jared let go and wiped away a few tears. "I got you sick. It's my fault. If I didn't make you come in the pool with me, you wouldn't be sick."
I gave a faint smile and wiped away the rest of his tears and kissed him on the forehead. "It's not your fault, sweetie..." I looked into his eyes, the brown pupils narrowed with sadness. "If you didn't make me come in with you..." I began, placing a hand under his chin and making him look into my eyes. "I wouldn't have had one of the best times of my life."
My son sniffled and smiled. "Really, Mommy?"
I nodded. "Really."
My family is the main reason why I fight Death everyday.
Without them...
I'd be nothing.
I looked at the old pool again. I closed my eyes and turned away, concentrating on my morph. I couldn't interrupt the old folks, after all. I wasn't supposed to be here.
My mind floated back to the last part of the memory Kala had showed me. "Without them, I'd be nothing," Mom had said.
I looked at the "rising" ground.
Was it possible... that because we were growing up and becoming independent...
That Mom died?
