Chapter 10 (Cassie)

Hi, my name is Cassie. I think Rachel already told you her part of the story, so I'll cut right to the chase. That is, me hauling my osprey tail back home.

Tobias had told me to fly back before I reached Jake and Marco, so no backup would be coming. He didn't tell me why, but I could only assume it was trouble. Maybe he overheard the Controllers saying that they'd go looking for Rachel and Jordan at my place? It'd make sense. In hindsight, it was pretty stupid to try to hide them in my hayloft. But where else could we?

I was out of range of Tobias again when I tried asking what the new plan was. So I could only hope he and Rachel knew what they were doing.

While flying, I noticed that there were a lot more police sirens than usual down in the streets below. Especially this far away from the city center. Controllers looking for Rachel and Jordan, I guess. I just hoped they'd find a safe place to hide somewhere, some alley or something.

As I got closer to home, I started to realize that a lot of the flashing police lights were heading in the direction of my home. So that's definitely what had happened. There would be Controllers all over my house in no time.

Did you know ospreys can pull eighty miles per hour if they want to? Okay, that's when they're diving. But still, they don't have to slow down for corners or traffic. I'd be back before the police would arrive. Although I'd be lying if I told you it wasn't close.

As long as I'd be back in bed by the time they arrive, they wouldn't find anything suspicious, I told myself, trying not to panic at the thought of Yeerks in my home. I've been careful. I've even been getting rid of footprints after our meetings in the barn. That wasn't particularly difficult with all the usual animal footprints intermixed, but still. And Rachel had just run out of her stockpile of emergency clothing, too.

Wait, no, the hayloft! What if they'd find the two old travelling mattresses and blankets that I'd left for Rachel and Jordan? Would I have time to get rid of those in time? I flew like my life depended on it.

But I was too late. I hadn't factored in that the police would be able to drive faster as they got further out of the city, and I was getting seriously exhausted. I just went straight for my open bedroom window. They'd be here in minutes!

Demorph!

Two minutes later, I was back in my pajamas lying in bed like nothing happened. Well, aside from the expression on my face.

I heard the cars pull up our driveway. I'd seen at least two normal police cars and a police van a little further out. The sirens were already off for some reason. Were they trying to catch us by surprise?

Suddenly, WHAM!

It came from the front door. Were they just ramming right through it without even trying the doorbell?!

"Police! You are surrounded, come out with your hands above your heads!"

WHAM!

I heard my parents scramble out of bed two rooms over.

"Police?" I heard Mom exclaim. "What's going on?!"

WHAM!

"I don't know, honey, but just do what they say," Dad responded. "Cassie!" he yelled to me.

"Yeah, I'm up, coming!"

WHAM! CRUNCH

I saw our battered front door lying on the hallway floor as I went downstairs after my parents. Two policemen armed with automatic weapons and another with a battering ram were standing on top of it.

Oh man! This was a lot worse than I'd thought. The Yeerks were really serious about this! I put my hands up as instructed.

"Walter, Michelle, and Cassie," one of the officers called, adding our family name. "You are under arrest on suspicion of involvement in drug trafficking! Come out with your hands behind your backs, one by one. Walter, you first."

They cuffed and searched us one by one as they read us our rights. Then we were shoved into the back of one of the police cars.

There wasn't any drug trafficking, of course. That was ridiculous. They just wanted us out of there so they could roam freely through our house. The thought physically sickened me. I felt completely helpless. I could only hope they'd leave the animals alone.

It took me a moment to realize what this really meant. They could just take us right down to the Yeerk pool! There wasn't a thing I could do to stop them if they did!

It was happening. It was actually happening. My friends and I were now the number one targets for infestation. They wouldn't take any chances.

Heck, maybe they got to Rachel already, and already know everything. It would all be over soon.

We had lost.

"It'll be okay, honey," Mom said, seeing how distraught I was. "We don't have anything to hide." Then she added, almost accusingly, "Do we?"

I didn't respond. What was I to tell them? "No, I don't sell drugs?" I wished that was all I did. So I just stared, tears in my eyes.

I could morph, I guess. Go out fighting, like Rachel would. But it wouldn't matter. They'd stun me with the Dracon beams that I'm sure they were carrying, before I'd even have a chance to finish morphing, and they'd radio it in to the precinct immediately.

Besides, I didn't know how much they knew yet. If they didn't know I was an "Andalite bandit" and all this was just to find Rachel, morphing now would ruin what little chance we had left to come out of all this alive and free.

No, all I could do was sit here and pretend to be a normal human.

"Cassie, is there something you'd like to tell us? You know, before the police do?" Dad asked. He sounded more disappointed than angry.

"No," I lied. I wanted to tell them everything.

He shook his head. I've had to come up with so many stupid excuses for being home late ever since I'd become an Animorph – something that I never did before then – that they often suspected that something was going on.

"Where did we go wrong?" he mumbled to himself.

I felt absolutely awful. I'm not the kind of teen who rebels against her parents, at least not yet I guess. I couldn't imagine it. This was the first time ever where they were this disappointed in me. Where they flat out did not believe that I hadn't done anything wrong.

I couldn't even bring myself to look outside. I knew where they'd be taking us. The nearest functional Yeerk pool entrance. All I could do was stare at the floor. At least my parents would know why I've been lying to them after being infested.

But at least one eternity later, when we were finally told to get out of the car, we weren't at a Yeerk pool entrance. They'd taken us to the police station, at least a mile away from the pool.

Did they not suspect me? Could it be?

The police took me to an interrogation room, much like the ones you always see on TV. With one of those mirror walls that isn't really a mirror but a one-way window. They sat me down, and then left me there alone for a long time.

It gave me time to think. If they knew I was one of their infamous "Andalite" bandits, but human, they wouldn't have just left me there. But maybe they considered the possibility of me being an Andalite in morph, in which case they might just leave me here for over two hours to see if I'd demorph back to Andalite.

What I truly didn't understand though, is why they didn't just stick a Yeerk between my ears and got it over with. Had they run out of Yeerks to assign to new hosts, maybe? In that case, them having had to infest all those people at the mall today might have just saved us.

In any case, I was getting more and more confident that they didn't have anything on me. Except for the fact that my parents suspected me of something bad, and that they'd probably find the two mattresses in the hayloft. I'd have to come up with an excuse for that, and it'd have to be good.

Suddenly it was obvious.

This was going to be painful.