A/N: BETA SQEAKY CLEANESS ONCE AGAIN! Another thanks to Tsaupaetra for beta reading for me once again. I didn't pick up any errors ;D Great job! Like always, thank you to all my wonderful reviewers. You inspire me to keep on writing! This chapter is the beginning of a dramatic stage in the story. I was wondering if I should rate this chapter T, but decided a K plus plus would do. Things are going to get really, really interesting. In this chapter, we find out something about Tedahko's subconscious. Wondering what I'm talking about? Read and find out!

Disclaimer:

I own Animorphs like I won the lottery.

Playstation is copyright of Sony.

Credit:

Thanks to Tsaupaetra for beta reading this chapter.

Chapter 20

Tedahko's P.O.V

I ran from her. I ran away from everything. Who cares if I missed out on the rest of the school day. Who cares if I got in trouble? I just couldn't take it. My head felt like it was about to explode and I had no idea why. Everything, every thought, was so painful.

I ran out of the school grounds, and get kept going until I reached the park. I saw bushes at the far side of the park. An opportunity to fly away. The opportunity I had taken so many times before.

Sometimes running away from your fears isn't always the best option, said my subconscious.

I began sprinting towards the bushes.

And what exactly are my fears? I demanded, what exactly am I running away from?

I don't need to answer that question for you, you already know.


I hate you. It was a weak, thoughtless comeback. To be honest, I was having trouble of coming up with anything better at the moment. My head hurt, and I all I wanted to do was to get away from everything.

I ran into the bushes and looked around quickly. Nobody around. Nobody was following me. I held out my arms and tilted my head upwards, looking at the blue, endless sky above me: my escape.

Energy engulfed my body as I turned into a crow and headed for the skies.

Once I was up in the air, flying to - Okay, so I didn't really know where I was going yet - I said to my subconscious in the harshest way possible;

You did all this, didn't you?

I couldn't have even if I wanted to.

What's that suppose to mean?!

I can't interfere directly.

"Well, too bad," I spat out loud, "you already did." My subconscious didn't reply. Hah, I got the better of it. Of course, none of this was my fault, I hadn't done anything wrong. Oh heck, who am I kidding?! Of course this was my fault! If I had never... If I had never...

Hmm, if I had never what?

I have a whole list of words you could use, said my subconscious, "If I had never been so stubborn," or, "If I had never been so denying..." or...

"You come with sarcasm. That's new."'

I'm not being sarcastic, replied my subconscious smugly.

It was my turn to ignore it.

I kept on flying until I came to the same meadow which I had been at only a few days before. I swooped down and turned back into human. I didn't bother looking around, the meadow was pretty deep in the words and probably not many hikers ventured out this far.

I sat in the long grass and watched the yellow flowers sway back and forth in the wind. I don't know how long I was just sitting there, watching the flowers. But it must have been at least half an hour. The thing was: I didn't feel bored. It seemed when I focused on the bright yellow color, it took my mind of everything else. It was kind of like an antiseptic, come to think about it.

(Hi Tedahko. Back here again huh?)

I swear I jumped ten feet into the air. I get sneaked up on a lot, yet every time it happens it scares the living daylights out me.

A bird, or a red tailed hawk if you want to be specific, swooped across the field to sit on a branch in a nearby by tree.

"Hello Tobias," I replied.

Believe it or not, Tobias and I are related. Yes, I know he is a hawk. And yes, I know I am the last user of magic on earth.

(Why aren't you in school?)

"Because I don't want to be," I muttered.

(That doesn't sound like you.)

"Tobias, you have only known me for, what, a week or so?"

(Is everything alright?)

"Uh, well, no! If everything was alright, why would I be staring at yellow flowers for half an hour straight?!"

(I wondered the same question,) Tobias said, (so either you have gone "insane," as Marco would put it, or something is wrong.)

"Do you really want to know?" I asked.

(Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I'll never know until you tell me.)

For some reason, I felt like I could trust Tobias. Sure, he was a hawk. Sure, he hung out with a blue centaur, and sure, we were only related distantly. But I still felt as if I could tell him, and maybe, just maybe, he might be able to understand.

"A lot of things are wrong."

(Start from the beginning.)

"I guess I just hate myself."

(For what?)

Was I really going to answer him? Was I really going to tell him?

"That's the thing," I said, "I really don't know."

(You know,) Tobias said, (You shouldn't hate yourself for what you feel towards someone.)

How... did he say that? He expressed everything, every word in my mind accurately? How did he know?

I was silent.

(You like Erek, don't you?)

"WHAT?!" I demanded automatically, "Uh-uh. No way! After all, Erek and I could never be... you know... even if we wanted too!"

(In other words, you hate yourself for feeling that way about him, because you think that you could never be together.)

"WHAT!?" I shouted automatically again, "No!"

Let it go, Tedahko, said my subconscious, Let him see through you. Listen to what he has to say.

(You shouldn't hate yourself, Tedahko,) Tobias said, (You can't just change the way you feel about someone.)

"Shut up!" I shouted, "Stop telling me the way I feel about him! Don't you think I already know? You have no idea how it feels like, Tobias!"

I felt my subconscious smirk in the back of my mind. I knew I had said exactly what it had wanted to hear. How I hated it.

(Like you said yourself, we know nothing about each other,) Tobias said.

"So, what?" I demanded, "It's not like you could ever be in the same situation as me."

(You're just too blind and stubborn,) Tobias said bluntly.

Told you, mocked my subconscious.

There was an awkward silence.

"Sorry," I muttered.

(Forget it. I have to go. I hope everything turns out okay for you.) I watched as Tobias floated effortlessly out into the wide, blue sky, and out of sight.

"Since when does anything ever turn out as okay?" I asked myself.

&&&

Marco's P.O.V

My name is Marco. You know the drill. I'm charming, awesome, and everybody loves me.

However, blenders do not. That was why for our Home Ec lesson, I was determined to get partnered with Erek. Face it, when it comes to cooking chocolate soufflés, androids don't tend to make many mistakes. I was sure to get an A plus. Which would probably be the best mark I had got ever since I had been dragged unwillingly into this stupid war. My grades were suffering. Besides that, my dad said if I got one more D, he would take away my Playstation for a month.

"Sure," Erek agreed, "I can't see why not."

I grinned. Sorry dad, but looks like my Playstation is going to live - for now.

"Okay class, listen up!" Mr. Graham said, "This class period is going to make up 30 percent of your grade, so to do well. I shall be choosing the partners."

"Crap," I muttered to myself. Goodbye Playstation, I was going to miss you.

But surprisingly, this had a better outcome than you'd think, for I was placed with the beautiful and popular Britney. And instead of Erek being my partner, he was partnered with Tedahko's new "boyfriend," Spencer.

Since the Home Ec room wasn't overly large, we shared a bench with another pair of partners. In this case, Erek, Spencer, Britney and I were at the same table in the Home Ec room. Erek looked really ticked for some reason I was unsure of.

"Eww, eww, eww," repeated Britney over and over again.

"Oh, don't worry Britney," I said, "I think eggs are 'eww' too."

"I was eww-ing at your face, loser," replied Britney.

I tried my best not to look hurt. "She digs me."

"Isn't this gonna be cool, Erek?" Spencer asked, "We're actually partners. Let's try to get an A, huh?"

"Yeah... A..." muttered Erek, not seeming overly interested.

"Okay class," Mr. Graham announced, "would one partner from each group please come up to collect ingredients please."

"I'll go!" offered Spencer. I watched as he hobbled off on his crutches.

"Like, me too," said Britney, "I like, totally don't want Marco to infect the ingredients. Cos' he's like, so gross."

Yep. That girl digs me.

All of a sudden, Erek frowned.

"What?" I demanded.

"Lourdes spotted Tedahko dumpster diving."

My face went blank. "Let's never speak of this again."

"Agreed."

But I couldn't help but asking,

"Dude, do you keep tabs on her or something?"

"What? No!" Erek said angrily, "I certainly do not!"

"Can't stand the fact of our friend Teh having a boyfriend, eh?" I meant it as a joke. But Erek shot me, well, the dirtiest look an android could shoot. Maybe I had gone a little bit too far.

"But, it's obvious you don't like this Spencer guy, huh?" I said in a whisper.

Erek said a variety of words I didn't understand.

"Huh?"

"I just expressed my opinion about him in Mesopotamian, which is known for its variety of curse words."

"Oh."

Spencer and Britney walked back to the table with the ingredients. Come to think of it, Spencer was a bit too perfect. I mean, Erek was perfect. But of course, he was an android. Spencer on the other hand seemed to be pretty smart. I had heard teachers talking about him earlier in the hall today. All were commenting how well behaved he was and about his good grades. No wonder I couldn't get a date, Mr. Perfect was getting all the girls. Not that I wasn't Mr. Perfect, because you know, I totally am.

Suddenly....

"What was that for?!" demanded Erek.

"Huh?" Spencer asked clueless.

"You just zapped me with something!"

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize."

Erek looked really angry at Spencer, but didn't say anything more. I saw Spencer quickly bend down and place something in the front pocket of his bag, (which was sitting under the table,) then sit back up again.

Mr. Graham then approached our table.

"Spencer, there was a phone call from the office. Apparently your Aunt is here and you're going home early."

"Oh okay, cool," Spencer replied and picked up his bag, "Bye guys!"

As he walked of, something fell out of the front pocket of his bag. I was about to call out to him, but Erek stopped me. Erek quickly ran for it, picked it up, and then ran back to our table. Britney was too occupied to notice, as she was filing her nails.

"It's a scanner," Erek explained.

"Huh, it is?"

"The question is: why would Spencer have a scanner in his bag?" Erek looked at the text displayed on the screen on the scanner, and narrowed his eyes, "Uh oh."

"Uh oh what?" I demanded. I gazed at the text displayed on the scanner screen.

"Oh. That 'Uh oh,'"

Because on the screen was the words;

"No life forms detected. Results sent."

&&&

Tedahko's P.O.V

You have officially come to an all time low, said my subconscious.

"Have not! It wasn't my fault if I dropped my watch into a dumpster!"

It's one thing to dumpster dive, said my subconscious, but another to actually get caught doing it.

"Well if I'm going to live by myself from now on, I have to find some way to survive. Besides, how was I to know that Lourdes was snoozing in that dumpster?"

You're being way over dramatic.

"Oh yeah, well what do you suggest I do then?"

I don't know.

"Fine, be unhelpful. In fact, the cool looking flashlight I found in the dumpster would be even more help than you."

My subconscious sighed.

It was about 4:00pm now, and I was walking through an alleyway, flicking pieces of ravioli and other stuff I didn't want to identify off my T-shirt.

"Miss (Insert my last name here)?"

"AHHH!" I yelped, and spun around as fast as I could. I took a deep breath as I realized it was just a girl. She was African-American with her hair in a short bob and looked about nineteen or twenty. The clothes she was wearing looked rather formal, as she was wearing long black trousers, a white shirt and a black, nicely ironed jacket over the top of it. She certainly didn't look like one of the psychos you find hiding in the alleyways.

Once she saw that I had gotten over my shot of being snuck up on, she began to speak.

"Agent June, NSA. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions." She flashed her badge and waited patiently for me to reply.

Uh oh, my subconscious and I thought in unison.

"Uh, well I would... but as you can see, agent, I'm a bit busy right now."

"Dumpster diving?"

I frowned, "No, what would make you think that?"

"You missed some on your jeans."

"Oh." I quickly flicked of the remainder of - okay, so I didn't know what it was - and tried to look as dignified as possible.

"So are you going to cooperate or not, Miss?" she asked politely. She didn't seem hostile, but I was still a bit nervous.

"Depends, have I done something wrong?"

"No, not at all Miss."

"Uh... I guess so then."

Agent June lead me to a van, which was parked only a few blocks away. Instantly I had a bad feeling about this. Was if it was a Yeerk trap? But then again, why would they bother to infest me? As if I was that important. The only reason they would want to infest me was that I was the last user of magic on earth, but they wouldn't know that.

I have a bad feeling about this also, Tedahko. But the whole situation doesn't scream "Yeerk" to me.

Again June opened the door of the van and I hopped in. In the back of a van, there was a table and two chairs. I wasn't really surprised, the van was pretty big.

"Please Miss (insert my last name here,) take a seat."

I took a seat like I was told, but still felt incredibly nervous. To be honest, I was waiting for an army of those demon thingies to calm storming in at any second. They never did.

"So... what's this about?" I asked nervously.

"Its involving a person named Erek King. I believe you know him."

I froze. Uh oh.

"Uh... yeah... I do. Why?"

"One of our agents performed a life form scan on him. It came up negative."

I froze. My mind went into panic. Oh no. Oh no. They knew... they knew...

Tedahko! Stop panicking before you pass out! Scolded my subconscious, remain calm.

I let out a laugh, trying to do my best to make it sound like a laugh of disbelief. I had to hope she'd fall for it.

"Erek? Not a life form?!" I continued my creepy laugh of disbelief, "Are you feeling okay, June? And even so, what would this situation have to do with me?!

"One of our agents informed me that you were currently living with Erek King. Therefore, we have decided to ask you if you are willing to sit a liar detector test, just in case you happen to know something but aren't telling us."

I panicked again. Oh no. I couldn't sit for a liar detector test! I'd fail for sure! And if I disagreed, it would seem suspicious.

You're afraid of a lie detector test? My subconscious asked with a laugh, Puh-leaze. I've sat for dozens of lie detector tests over the years and lived through each one.

You're creepy.

All you have to do is keep a clear mind. Answer the questions absent mindedly. It worked for me. And think about it, it would help clear Erek's name, wouldn't it?

If I fail...

You won't, my subconscious reassured, trust me.

Trust a weird voice in my head? Why not!

"Miss?"

"Huh? What?!"

"Would you sit for the liar detector test?"

"Uh... Sure!"

I watched as Agent June got out a funny looking machine thing and attached straps to my fingers.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Sure!" I said, perhaps a bit too nervously.

Just relax, my subconscious said, clear your mind.

I took a deep breath and emptied my mind. No thoughts.

"First question," began Agent June, "Is there anything, anything at all about Erek King which doesn't seem human?"

"No."

I'll spare giving you the details about the next ten minutes, as it was extremely boring and most of the questions Agent June asked my resembled the first one. June looked at the screen of the machine thingy, as if she was carefully analyzing what was on it.

"No lies detected," she said. She seemed somewhat disappointed by this. I, however, couldn't be happier and had to stop myself from breathing a big sigh of relief. In your face lie detector test! Ha!

"Maybe the test he did was incorrect after all," Agent June muttered to herself, "Okay Miss (insert my last name here,) you are free to go."

I walked out of the van and punched the air. I had aced a liar detector test! Woooooo!

"Uh, Miss?" I was interrupted with my fist still in the air. I quickly pulled it down and spun around.

"What?"

"You left your flashlight on the table."

"Oh."

&&&

It was 6:00pm now, and getting darker. I wondered around the suburban streets, wondering where on earth I was going to sleep tonight. Obviously, I couldn't go back to Erek's house. Not after what happened today. I shivered, it not only was it getting darker, but it was getting colder too.

You need to tell Erek, said my subconscious.

... about what?

That he's in danger of being exposed by a bunch of feds.

I can tell him tomorrow.

No you can't, Tedahko. He could be in serious danger here.

I frowned, "Stop telling me what to do," I said aloud.

So you're willing to risk the life of you friend, just because you're scared of approaching him.

I sighed with exasperation, "I don't have time to argue with you."

Serious Tedahko, you - Hey! Where are you going?!

I had turned and started walking towards a tree on someone's front lawn, surrounded by bushes and flowers. Obviously whoever lived here didn't get around to doing much gardening. The grass kinda needed a trim.

"Up."

And before I knew it, I was soaring in the sky.

Okay, fine. I give up, said my subconscious with a sigh, where are you going to sleep?

"Somewhere with lots of hay."

Cassies barn?! You're joking, right?

"Hey, you're just my subconscious. Why would you care anyway?"

My subconscious didn't answer.

&&&

I snuck into the barn. By snuck I meant creeping really, really quietly, hoping not to be heard by anyone. I didn't really want to tell Cassie that I was going to be sleeping in the hayloft that night, especially after what happened earlier. But you can't blame me for not wanting to face her, right?

Exhausted, I climbed up into the hayloft and laid down. It occurred to me then why the hell I was going to spend the night in a barn surrounded my hay, stinky animals and dung. But then I remembered. And then I drifted off to sleep.

&&&

I sat on the edge of a cliff, looking down at the endless, green forest below. Normally, if I was sitting on the edge of a cliff, I would be panicking. But I was un-phased. I knew it was all just another dream. And by the looks of it, it wasn't going to be a nightmare like most of my recent dreams.

It was dreams like this that I enjoyed. Where I could just sit and watch the nonexistent world go by. It was better than watching people you loved get killed. It was weird actually. The landscape looked so real, so convincing. The colors I saw weren't distorted, like they usually where. I froze. That had happened one time before... when I dreamt about...

"It's still a dream," said a voice from my right, "just a bit different than other dreams."

If I wasn't already frozen before, I certainly was now. I slowly turned my head the right. There, sitting next to me, was a girl. She had white-blond, long hair and piercing blue eyes and looking only a bit older than be. I recognized her straight away. It was the same girl I had seen after the mission.

She must have realized that I was really, really scared and looked as if I wanted to pass out (unfortunately, you can't pass out in dreams,) because she said;

"Don't worry, I don't bite."

"Wh- who are you?" I asked slowly. I was literally shaking.

She smiled a warm smile. Not at all scary. "You haven't figured out?"

"No..." There was a long moment of silence then I gasped, "My subconscious!"

She grinned, "Yes and no."

"So you're not really my subconscious?"

"Believe me Tedahko, you probably even don't have a subconscious," and then under her breath she added, "or common sense, for that matter."

"What did you say?!" I demanded angrily.

She waved her hand dismissively, "Nothing. Nothing."

"So who the hell are you!?" I asked impatiently.

"My name is Anne," she explained.

"Oh great," I said, rolling my eyes, "I am officially insane. My subconscious has made up a name for itself."

"You're not insane," she replied, "I really do exist. Well, sort of..."

"You where explaining?" I interrupted rudely.

"Yeah," she said, "Like I said, my name is Anne. I am -"

"Erek's looked everywhere, Cassie. There's no sign of Tedahko."

That snapped me back to reality. Or woke me up at least. I woke up to a dim light shining from the floor of the barn. Wearily, I got up, rubbed sleep out of my eyes and saw Cassie and Jake talking. I tried to get on my knees in order to get a better look, but all this did was make the floorboards creak noisily. Cassie and Jake paused.

Both of them looked cautiously around the barn.

"Hello?"

I didn't answer.

"Anyone there?"

"Only the rats," I replied.

There was a long silence.

"Oh my god..." Cassie whispered, "David?"

"Uh, no. Tedahko. Hang on, I'm coming down."

I crawled over from the edge of the hayloft and jumped down onto the ground, with my flashlight in my hand. Luckily, I didn't fall over, despite being extremely tired.

The light in the room was very dim, so it was hard for me to make out anything around me.

"Tedahko, where have you -"

"Hang on, just let me turn on my flashlight..."

Cassie and Jake looked at my flashlight and both screamed;

"NOOOOOOO!"

Tseeeeeeeeew!

A giant hole sizzled through the wall of the barn where the beam of light should have shown.

"Oh," I said.

"So it wasn't a flashlight."

A/N: CLIFFHANGER! Okay, so maybe it isn't. I just wanted to say that word because it sounds cool. CLIFFIE is a cool word too. Tedahko probably isn't going to keep random flashlights she finds in dumpsters from now on XD Hehe. Everyone, PLEASE, PLEASE review! It makes me so happy and overwhelmed with joy. And you know, criticism is good too – especially constructive criticism. I've decided that from now on after the end of each author's note, I shall leave you with an unanswered question to ponder. Why? Because I have nothing better to do. Heh, ponder. It reminds me of fishponds.

Who is Anne?