CHAPTER 14

My heart pounded faster than usual. My cousin was there. Someone who really wanted to take me in. Or I could be walking into a clever trap.

(Think this is Aria?)

(I don't know. Maybe?)

(She's gotta be. She asked for you. Does she look like anyone in your family?) Rachel asked.

Anyone? No. But the more I looked at the woman, the more I saw a splitting image of Rebecca. Without the tan. And the crazy curls. And the warm, wide grin.

She looked like Rebecca. So she had to be her daughter, Aria.

(I really don't know,) I managed to say. (I mean, according to DeGroot, I have some father I didn't even know about.)

(So should we follow her? See if she's the real deal.)

I didn't answer. The truth is, I hadn't really heard Rachel. I was off in my own mind, watching this woman as she waited at a taxi stand.

She said she wanted to take care of me. Why? She didn't know me. I didn't know her. We were two strangers so why? Because of some vague family loyalty thing? Maybe. I guess some families are like that, feeling connected to someone. Because they share a biological connection.

It wasn't like that with my family. Not the ones I'd met, anyway.

I barely remembered my parents. My mother disappeared and my father died when I was little. I did have pictures back when I was human. But now when I tried to remember, I couldn't recall anything about them.

It made me wonder if everything was an illusion. Whether those memories were even real or something I made up as a kid. That every child did have a father and a mother.

But I didn't. I was never really a human from the beginning.

I was a bird with the mind of a human boy. Or a boy with the body of a bird. A freak of nature. No, that wasn't right either. I couldn't be created by nature at its most contrary. I was a freak of technology. Alien technology.

She didn't know me. Not the old me or the real me.

So why would she care?

(Ahem! I said, should we follow her?) Rachel pressed.

(What? Oh, yeah. That's a good idea. Find out if she's a Controller. She'll need to go to the Yeerk pool within the next three days.)

(Ok, I wasn't suggesting we watch her continuously.)

(Maybe not. But we'll find out something today.)

(Well, I can tell you this much. She has really bad taste in clothing.)

Aria...if this was Aria...had a camera bag over her shoulder. She pulled out a compact mirror from a side pocket, adjusting her hair and checking her light makeup carefully.

(Your hair is fine. It's the dress that's the problem,) Rachel sniped.

I laughed. But at the same time, something was bothering me. Maybe I first thought that compact was like Elle's one. No, just blush powder inside.

But there was something I couldn't put my finger on…

(And there she goes.)

When Rachel said that, I snapped out to catch Aria entering a cab.

(I was hoping she wouldn't take a cab,) I said.

(Why?)

(Ever tried to keep up with a car in the air?)

(Fast or slow going? Traffic's pretty bad so maybe we can stay with her.)

(Neither by staying up in the air.)

(You have a plan?)

(I think so. And you'll think it's insane. See that van? Next to the cab. Is that a bike rack?)

Rachel laughed, seeing where I was going. (You're right. I do think that's insane. Let's do it!)

(Actually, my first choice was a cop car. But I don't see one.)

(Now that is a better choice. Well, gotta do what we have.)

We dove out of the sky. My idea wasn't exactly subtle. It was actually dangerous and heads would turn at seeing birds on a van's roof.

Yes, that's right. But it could possibly work.

The Ford van was the only vehicle I could see with an empty mount. The kid bikes were placed on top.

The cab headed into a busy avenue. So did the van. Both were going twenty miles an hour in traffic. And hawks and eagles can't tail after vehicles in a straight line, over long distances. We need to turn and ride the thermals upward.

So we dove, turning a height of over twenty-something floors into pure speed.

Down, down we went. Me taking the lead.

(Line up behind me,) I hollered. (But watch the turbulence from my wings!)

Rachel did just that. We swooped down to just above street level in one smooth glide path. An airline pilot would be proud of that.

(Keep up your speed!)

(We're going faster than them,) Rachel cried. (We'll overshoot.)

(Are you telling me how to fly?)

(No, sir!) she yelled in that giddy way she gets within an inch away from utter disaster. (Hah Hah HAH!)

Then she suddenly stopped laughing.

(Tobias! The van!)

In a split second, I panicked. Because the two vehicles had to slow down at a turn.

We were gonna overshoot them. Or literally, smash ourselves on the tar!

(Flare!) I swept my wings forward to kill a bit of my airspeed and opened my wings. That was enough for me gracefully flow down to the van's roof. We opened our talons and snagged the rack. That was too close-

Then the van sped off.

(WHOA!) we both hollered.

Rachel had lunged one talon on the crossbar. But the momentum took her off by surprise that she was forced off. Quick instinct thankfully helped her spread out her wings and let the wind current carry her back up.

(Rachel! Keep your profile! Surf, don't ride.)

Somehow she made sense of my gibbering and hooked her talon back on the bar. Rachel muscled her body forward into a flying profile, with her massive wings spread out.

And we were off! A red-tailed hawk and a bald eagle surfing on the roof of a van. Wings open, beaks forward and talons straining to take the pressure.

(Hah HAH! This is in nowhere strange!) Rachel laughed, high from the rush of danger.

Drivers behind and beside us stared, mouths ajar. Some quickly swerved from crashing into each other. One or two drivers even hollered at the van, jabbing their finger at us. But the Ford driver inside remained oblivious. Because he had loud rock music.

(Maybe this was a bad idea,) I worried.

(Nah. We're in traffic. Who's gonna go out of their way to get someone's attention while driving?)

(Until we stop at a red light.)

(Ah. That's a good point. We'll just quickly pick another vehicle. Preferable a cop car,) she joked. (...Tobias?)

I didn't hear Rachel again. I was too caught up with the biggest question again.

Why. I still couldn't understand Aria.

Then I thought about what Elle's Yeerk said. That DeGroot was trying to scam me.

Again. Couldn't believe I was agreeing with a Yeerk.

(What if Aria's after my 'real' father's estate?)

(Tobias-)

(Wait, hear me out. DeGroot claimed to be looking for estate plans from my 'father'. Something Aria couldn't find. Maybe they're working together to steal a kid's inheritance. Like those soaps Ax watches.)

(That's fictional. Does this Aria look like she's trying to exploit you?)

(Well, I dunno.)

(She's supposed to be a great photographer, right? They make a living taking photos for the National Geographic. Elle told me befor-)

She stopped herself. It began like any normal conversation. For a short moment, Rachel nearly forgot Elle was a Controller.

I changed the topic. Get her off the whole Elle deal. (Sure, that's one thing. But she could be broke or in debt.)

Rachel said nothing. I wasn't sure if she wanted to oppose that notion or was still hung over Elle. (Maybe… But she's your family. Maybe she really wants you.)

Maybe. All maybes.

(Sure. "Hey, Cousin Aria. You adopted a red-tailed hawk. Congratulations.")

I didn't joke lightly. I just couldn't accept that some normal human being wanted me. Me, in the entire world.

(...Sorry, Rachel. I didn't mean to-)

(Well, we're gonna have to find out one way or another. We are professional stalkers.)

If we were humans right now, I'm pretty sure she'd be throwing a grin at me. And I'd smile back. In a way, I was smiling inside.

The cab pulled into a dirt field. And up ahead was a shabby-looking building. Sure, most buildings look pretty bad from the air. All you could see were rooftops and air conditioners. But this one told an obvious story.

To any person approaching from ground level, they'd think the building's theme was about "pirates". A plaster pirate ship served as a centrepiece. It wasn't. It was nothing but a false facade that made it look like that.

At its front was a dirt parking lot with a few cars. And the cab headed there.

(I think this is our pitstop,) I said. We unhooked ourselves off the ongoing van.

Watching Rachel float up beautifully with her wings above me was...actually cool. Breathtaking. Like we were two synchronized dancers on stage. Sounds so corny but it was to me.

Now that was a photo worth more than any of National Geographic' pictures. And only I saw it.