A/N: Guh, RL is really being quite a pain in the ass at the moment :( I promise the next chapter will be up in less than a week! But the intervals for subsequent chapters can't be guaranteed :( anyway, I hope you all still enjoy this one!
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
::Cassie::
It's been a long time ago. It's almost like a dream, except that I wake up every morning knowing that somewhere out there, a rat lives a life not of its own.
But for the last month or so, I have woken up knowing – or at least, thinking – that the rat lives no more.
That's something that none of the rest know.
Except Rachel.
I didn't see her do it. She didn't tell me that she did it. But deep down inside, I knew she had done it. Even if Rachel and I are no longer as close as we used to be, I knew from the kind of psychological torture David had put Rachel through, that there was no way she was going to live it down watching him live.
I understand. I really do. I wanted to confront her back then, but now, I just think there's no point.
But regardless of all that ridiculously confusing history between us and David, the main point is that he's now back. And it's impossible that he should be back unless some mega-super-power brought him here. Or that he turned into that mega-super-power himself, which is really highly unlikely.
Crayak. The only thing Rachel mentioned from her last encounter with David was that Crayak was an asshole. Crayak had brought David to Rachel – it wouldn't be a surprise that he brought that little rat here and transformed him into a human.
Well, David, I thought, your Cinder-fella story is not going to last for long.
Big words for someone who wasn't able to come up with a plan to find out where he had possibly taken Tobias.
I had flown over the neighbourhood to fetch the airborne duo of Marco and Ax, alerting them to what Jake and I had found in the woods. Now the four of us stood at the clearing, where the lion paw prints had already faded.
I wasn't coming up with a plan – Jake was. Good old Jake.
"It's getting late," said Jake, grimly. "But we're not stopping here until we find Tobias and Rachel. The cover's completely blown now if that David guy has gotten Tobias."
"Aye, aye, captain," said Marco, and we exchanged looks. Marco's Jake's best bud, and even though I'm not too close to him, we always kinda bond over what we know is best for Jake. And seeing that Jake was showing some of his old self – I could see in Marco's small smirk that he was glad, just like I was.
"I'm thinking..." Jake eyed Marco. "Since it's the only place we know so far that has all these crazy shit going on – we should really check out The Sharing. It's got a lab where Cassie was nearly operated on, all these suspicious-looking meeting rooms..."
"And that lab was in the basement with many other rooms there," finished Marco. "I'll handle it. Can't wait to knock that creep down a few pegs."
"You can't go alone," I protested. "As much as I would love to write him off, David's pretty smart, and I'm pretty sure he's got a big creature like Crayak watching his back."
"Crayak? For sure?" Ax wondered. Then he furrowed his eyebrows and remained deep in thought.
"I'll set off first," said Marco. "No time to lose. You guys can catch up later."
With that, Marco ran out of the barn.
Loren stared after him, then looked back at the rest of us. "You lot are extraordinary," she said, her eyes shining. "You're just – sixteen, and all of you – the way you are – seems to me like you've lived half your life already."
"Or most of it," I replied, grimly. "Seeing that the end might be near."
"Cassie!" Jake chastised.
"Sorry," I muttered. "Always find it useful to douse myself in reality every now and then."
I could feel Ax staring at me, but I refused to meet his gaze.
"As for Rachel..." Jake looked a bit helpless.
"If I know Rachel, if she's not caught yet, she'll be after Tobias," I said. "No way she's gonna give up by just going home. I'm gonna give her home a call and tell them she's sleeping over at my place. Even if she does go home, I'm sure she'll be able to crap up something."
I made my way back into the house and headed straight for my bedroom. I picked up the phone and dialled Rachel's house number. Jordan picked up.
"Hey, Jordan!" I said, brightly. "Cassie here!"
"Oh, Cassie?" Jordan sounded almost relieved. "Good, do you know where Rachel is?"
My eyes widened. "Oh – about that – I, err, just wanted to tell you that she's sleeping over at my place tonight!"
Jordan sighed. "Can you tell my big princess sister to at least write a damned note about where she's heading to for the night next time? I'd think she's kidnapped one day and never bother to ransom her and that's all because it's her own damn fault..."
I chuckled nervously.
"...but that's not the point. The point is, Melissa's here looking for her. Shall I send her over?"
I froze. Wait, Melissa? Melissa Chapman? What – was she – should I...
"She says she has something... wait, hang on, I'll let her speak to you."
There was some shuffling over the phone before Melissa's soft voice floated through the phone.
"Hey, Cassie?"
Are you a Controller?
I snapped out of my reverie in time to reply, "Hey! Melissa! Been a while, huh."
"Mm, yeah..." Melissa sounded like she was frowning. "Haven't really seen you around for a really long time."
"Uh-huh. Yeah."
"Anyway, I have something for Rachel. Maybe you could check with her if she wants it?"
"What is it?"
"It's a package from David."
I froze again.
"David?" I squeaked.
"Yeah, David Jennings. You know, the one with the tufty hair. He, Rachel and I hang out quite a bit – something you missed out on since you've been hanging around Jake, Cass." And I swear Melissa's voice had a tinge of amusement in it.
But I was more concerned about the fact that Rachel in this reality had actually hung out with David. "R-right. Yeah, I know him. What does he want to give to her?"
"Not sure what it is, but he wanted me to hand it over to her."
"You mean, David asked you to pass it to her?"
"Yeah! I was at his house yesterday and he wasn't feeling too well, so I offered to help him deliver it."
Not feeling too well, my foot! Going around morphing into lions and kidnapping people, more like it. "Oh – erm, sure, I could – err – go and collect it..."
"Oh, no, I was told to give it to her directly," said Melissa. "Not sure what's so big about this, but he was pretty adamant about it, so – well."
There was no way Melissa was giving anything from David directly to Rachel. Not that Rachel was present to receive it anyway. I had to make a hasty decision.
"In that case... come over then."
"Great, thanks and see you!"
After Melissa hung up, I raced back to the barn.
"What is it?" Jake asked, alarmed.
"I'm not sure if this is good news or bad news," I said. "But I've found someone who knows David in this reality, and might lead us to him."
"That's good news, of course!" said Jake.
Ax didn't seem too certain. Loren raised her eyebrows.
"Bad news is," I took a deep breath, "her father's also a Controller and she's heading over right now with a package from him addressed to Rachel."
Jake looked completely lost, but Ax had seemingly mastered the art of thoughtful human expression.
I took another deep breath. "Okay. What now?"
