Chapter 11
MARCO
I heard a knock on the door. I got up from Jake's floor and answered it. Rachel and Tobias stood there.
"Hey guys!" I greeted and held the door open for them. Rachel walked in first, followed by Tobias.
"Hey Cassie," Rachel said, and gave her a little hug. "Hey Jake."
"Gee, I feel loved," I said sarcastically. Rachel came over to me and gave me a big hug.
"You know we all love you Marco." Tobias was standing in the doorway, acting kind of tentative about coming in. "Come on Tobias!" Rachel called.
He walked slowly in and dropped the bags he was carrying near the door.
"Hey Tobias!" Jake called.
"Hey Jake, Cassie, Marco." He greeted.
Rachel sat down on a reclining chair and Tobias stood near her.
"Have you had breakfast yet? We could go out," Cassie said cheerfully.
"That's a good idea." Rachel said. No one seemed very comfortable.
So we all got up and headed out to the cars. "We can go in my car," Jake said as he headed over to his hunter green Blazer.
"Are you sure you want to drive?" Cassie asked.
"Sure, it's no problem," Jake answered.
So we all piled in to the big SUV and headed to IHOP. Halfway there, there was a big traffic jam because of a wreck. Jake drove slowly through the traffic, when a little Porsche sped up beside us a cut in front of us.
Jake slammed on his brakes. "Damn it!" He held the horn button down for a few seconds. "You idiot!"
"Jake, it's ok. Chill," I said.
"Shut up Marco," he said tersely. Then he shook his head and seemed to clear his head.
"Whoa, it happened again. I get this feeling, like a really big temper."
For the first time since they arrived, Tobias seemed interested. "What do you mean?"
"It's just like I feel this hammer blow of anger."
"I just remembered something from the phone call last night! He… the person on the phone said that he did something to you! He said you would have a really bad temper."
Everyone thought about that until we got to IHOP.
Finally Cassie said what I had been thinking the whole time.
"Jake, and Tobias, I think that there is a yeerk on Earth. A high-tech one."
"Maybe you're right. I mean, what else could do this to us?" Tobias asked. "Or WHO else."
"You two need to try to remember ANYTHING you can about those phone calls. It would be very helpful," Rachel said.
"Illimis 2-2-something," Jake said.
"What?" I asked.
"That's his name. Illimis 2-2-something. The yeerk. I remember!"
"Yeah, and he had your voice when he called me. Then I heard a high pitched beep," Tobias reflected.
"Me too. Then I collapsed," Jake finished.
"Tobias, at the hospital you said you had an awful dream. What was it?" Rachel asked.
"Um, I was falling into water and I couldn't swim. Then I saw all of my…all of my predators. When I was a hawk. Then Rachel came. She was pointing a dracon beam at me! When I think about it, it's all the stuff that scares, has scared, or WOULD scare me."
"And then this morning, you said you were scared of flying! You were really scared, you were trembling," Rachel said.
"What about you, Jake, do you remember a dream?" We all paused when a waitress came to take our order. Then Jake said,
"Yeah, I do. First a huge yeerk came and swallowed me or something. I fell and landed in front of my parents. They were fighting, like always. It made me really mad."
"And you have had 2 'mad spells' today," Cassie finished.
"Two?" I raised my eyebrow.
Jake looked down, embarrassed. Cassie looked at him expectantly.
"Two. This morning, I… I slapped Cassie."
"You slapped her? Why?" Rachel asked.
He shrugged. "I just got this feeling of…rage I guess."
"Well, isn't this freaky. Some high tech yeerk made a weapon…"I started.
"A toy," Tobias said.
"A toy?" I asked.
"That's what the yeerk called it. A toy."
"Ooook. So the yeerk has made a TOY that messes with your brains. So now what?" The waitress brought our drinks, and we smiled at her.
"I dunno. I guess we wait and see what happens." Jake said.
Chapter 12
JAKE
We came back to my dorm later that afternoon and just kinda hung out, talking. With nothing else to do, we actually started a game of Monopoly.
"Heehee," Marco laughed as I became bankrupt in the game. "You suck at playing this game! I'd never trust you with my money." Suddenly I felt the still unfamiliar feeling of rage build up inside me. I lunged at Marco and knocked him to the floor, grasping his neck with my hand.
"You better shut up before I kill you." What scared me was I really felt like I could kill him, and I could have.
"Jake, get off him!" Cassie yelled. Marco gagged as I tightened the grip. I knew deep down inside that I was hurting my best friend, but it was like I was possessed! I couldn't stop!
"When does it wear off?" Rachel asked desperately. Quickly, the anger melted away and I let go of Marco's neck.
"Damnit, man! You could have killed me!"
I leaned back against my bed. "That's the scary thing. I know I could have."
"Tobias, what's wrong?" I heard Rachel ask. Tobias was leaning against Rachel, trembling with fear.
"Keep him away from me," he whispered. "He's scaring me."
"Keep your cool, Jake," Marco said.
"I scare you? What's so scary about me?" I asked, starting to get mad again.
Tobias shot me a look. "You're dangerous."
"I'll show you dangerous," I narrowed my eyes and lunged at Tobias. I pulled his head down and slammed it against the floor. Meanwhile, Tobias was crying his eyes out. And then, I was in a very dark room.
Chapter 13
TOBIAS
I wiped the tears out of my eyes. "Where…where are we?" I stuttered. Then I felt the fear drift away slowly and I relaxed. A little. A very little.
"I dunno," Jake let go of me. "Sorry man. It's hard to control that…that ruthless feeling.
"I don't think that's our problem right now."
The room suddenly burst into bright light. And I saw a figure walk towards us. I shielded my eyes and saw a man about 40 years old laughing dangerously.
"How did you like my toys? I hope they put on a good show. Don't worry, I have turned them off now."
"Yeerk," Jake spat.
"Right you are Jake. And now that have both off you, we can bein the infestation."
"I don't think so," I said and jumped up towards him. I ran into some kind of invisible force that gave me a shock of electricity.
"I think so, little Tobias. Because I have 2 waiting yeerks right here," he held up a container of some sort, "and you are trapped. Now, which one of you would like to go first?" He looked at Jake. "How about you, fearless Jake? Let's see how fearless you really are when you can no longer control your own body."
Jake gave the yeerk a piercing look but said nothing.
"Locks on J-1," the yeerk yelled into the air.
"What?" Jake asked, confused. Suddenly, hobbles appeared around Jake's arms and legs, and he could not move.
"Let go of me!" Jake yelled. What can I do? I have to help him, and me. Then I spied the yeerk's weapon. It was a small control pad of some sort that the man held. Jake saw it at the same time as me and nodded ever so slightly. Illimist 2-2-whatever took a yeerk out of the container with a pair of tweezers and held it near Jake's ear. Jake let out a moan of fear as the man let go of the yeerk and it slithered into his brain.
At that moment I leapt at the yeerk. I knocked him over and grabbed his control thingy. I need a weapon, I thought, and suddenly a dracon beam appeared. I tried to figure out how to shoot it, when it let out a streak of light.
"Cool." It disappeared from my hand and the yeerk and his host disintegrated. I looked down at the control panel and studied it. Suddenly, I was flying through the air as Jake tackled me to the ground. I dropped the control panel.
Chapter 14
JAKE
Noooo! I cried as my body was forced upon Tobias.
Yes! With the control panel, I can be the most powerful yeerk on Earth! In the most powerful body on Earth.
Tobias won't let you get the control panel. He's much smarter than you.
Maybe so, but with two minds, we should be able to beat him, right?
Tobias hit the ground and the control pad skidded across the floor of the bright room. He got up quickly, but I, or the yeerk, was already running towards it. The yeerk grabbed the control panel and turned to face Tobias.
"Stay right there, Tobias. I could blow you into tomorrow with this device." Tobias stood still and pleaded,
"Come on Jake. Fight it! You can get through. I know you can. You're strong."
I fought the yeerk. Hard. I tried so hard to get my body back, and I managed to drop the control panel. Tobias leapt for it.
"Yes!" he cried as he caught it in the air. The yeerk quickly took control again and punched Tobias in the nose. "Aaah!" Tobias yelled, but didn't drop the panel. Then he aimed it at me.
You'll die! The yeerk yelled at me right before Tobias pressed a button and he slid out of my head and onto the floor, then shriveled up and disappeared. I collapsed to the ground.
Tobias knelt beside me. "You did good, man. Let's go home."