Chapter 3
Okay, so this is going to be me a lot for a bit. I'm going to speed through the first few stops on the Journey because most of them were menial and don't matter that much.
However, there ARE some you should know about, I guess.
When I was five, we had some next door neighbors. My best friends at the time. This was when I was growing up in the hood, by the way. Anyway, my neighbors were black. I didn't even notice until- well, I'm getting to that. So anway, the oldest sister got really PO-ed at me because she was used to being the boss and her younger sisters were beginning to listen to me more than they listened to her. So one day, I go outside, and they're all standing along the edge of our yards, on the border. The oldest girl called me something, well, really, REALLY bad and then picked up a baseball bat while I was trying to figure out what the word meant. My dad came out and brought me inside.
From that point on, I had sworn to myself that I wouldn't be that stupid anymore. I would know everything I could. My stupidity had nearly gotten me killed.
I wasn't allowed in the front or back yard after that.
There were a lot of smaller slide shows. None of them were that great. Basically they showed me all of my friendships that had gone down the tube. Each time, a little question would present itself- seemingly deep inside me somewhere. The question was always "Would you have done the same thing knowing what you know now?" I always answered yes, and, low and behold, the next slide would be my so-called friend admitting that they were using me for something, or playing a cruel trick on me, or saying that they thought I was weird. Some even said they never wanted to talk to me again.
Each time one of my friends ditched me, I felt the pain I had felt then, only I felt each pain on top of the other ones. It got a bit harder to say yes to the Question, but I managed it. I knew I'd built a wall around myself. The door to get through the wall was harder to move for even me, but if someone was truly a friend, they'd be able to get through.
If they cared enough to truly try.
When I came out of that door, Jenny was standing there with the fox and a man I hadn't seen before.
"Good job," the man told me.
I looked at him. "You must be Cliff."
He nodded and started walking. Jenny and I followed. "Good job, kiddo," Jenny said to me. I grinned at her.
I can't think of many others you really have to know about.
At one point, I asked Jenny why she looked so young- and acted so young.
She laughed and said, "I died young, kiddo."
"How did you die?"
She had paused for a moment. "People long ago didn't like witches."
"Is that what I am? A witch? The others were right?"
She had laughed again. "Humans, kiddo. Anything they can't recognize, or at least back then, they blamed it all on witchcraft. And face it, kiddo. We're liked, and we're hated at the same time. Humans don't like confusion. They would usually prefer to run away from complicated things rather than confront their fears." She had sighed. "I was someone they couldn't explain. SomeTHING they couldn't explain. They burned me because they didn't see that I could actually help them."
"I'm sorry."
She had looked at me oddly.
"I know you are, kiddo. But trust me on this one, I don't blame them. You can't hate someone for not knowing any better. Remember that one."
"I will."
I hate to say it, but the Ellimist had been right. Jenny, Cliff, and the fox- no matter how confusing he was- were all great cheerleaders. I didn't tell them about what happened to me on my Journey, though. I appreciated the fact that they didn't ask.
Finally, we reached the end of the trail.
Cliff pointed to the huge door. It was iron. "Iron," Cliff explained, "means that this is the hardest part of your Journey. That is why it is last."
"Don't I know you from somewhere?" I asked. We had talked a lot on the Road, about everything from ball games to wars of all sorts. Through it all, I hadn't been able to shake the feeling that I knew him from somewhere.
He smiled sadly at me. "We've met before. We'll meet again."
"We're meeting now."
"Not for the first time, though. You'll understand. Soon."
"Better later than now," Jenny cut in. "Listen, kiddo. You've gotta get back there and teach that Leslie girl a thing or two. And those friends of yours? It's okay."
"What?"
She hugged me. "I know how it feels. You trust them. You might not want to, but you do. And don't worry. They won't betray your trust if they know what they're doing. Now, remember. You can come back and visit us anytime you want. Leslie might have been here longer, but in the long run, you can beat her at her own games."
"Thanks." I hugged back quickly before letting go.
~Will you remember all this advice?~ the fox asked.
"I'll try," I promised.
~Don't try. Do. And I have my own words of advice to offer you. Never hurt an animal. I noticed that you didn't even kill the flies on your Journey, though you did in your other life.~
"You guys saw that?"
~The animals did. You helped the animals. After all, that is why you are on that planet.~
"To save the whales?" I asked, making the lamest joke I had made in a long time.
Sly sighed. ~Like it or not, I must tell you that all will one day be made clear. Now. For my advice. Never harm an animal, unless it is a human. And only then, it must be in the name of Justice.~
"Do I have to say that first. The 'In the name of Justice'?"
Sly turned his head and looked at me as if I were crazy. ~Of course not. My second piece of advice is this: Never turn your back on an enemy.~
"Thank you." I knelt down beside him. "And good-bye, Sly. You are the weirdest fox I have, do, and ever will know."
He looked away. ~The girl is making me blush.~
We laughed.
Suddenly, there was a noise in the tree above me. *I have advice too!* the bird shouted. It's thought-speak voice was different. Noisier and more hasty.
"All right, Chirp," Jenny said, covering her ears. "Calm down and tell her."
Chirp rustled his feathers and calmed down as he had been commanded. He looked at me evenly. *When there is no other way, always look up.*
"What kind of advice is that?" Jenny asked.
*She'll see.*
Cliff looked at me. He was serious again. "I hate to say it, but you do have to go. This will be the hardest part." I shook hands with him. On second thought, we quickly hugged. I thanked Chirp, the bird, and went through the door.
It really was the hardest part. Someone was holding me under the water, but besides that, I was alone and surrounded only by water. I was going to die. The voice inside me kept telling me that I was going to die. Eventually, my burning lungs would give in to the pain, and I would breathe in water. A huge breath of water that I would never be able to get out of my lungs, and I would suffocate before anyone would ever be able to get it out.
There was a flash in front of my eyes. There were the guys- Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Tobias, Marco, and Ax. I'd asked them for help before it had gone this far. They had taken one look at Leslie and her gang of- well, humans, I guess- and chickened out.
The Question took the vision's place. Would you have done the same thing knowing what you know now?
YES! I shouted. It had only been a trick, I told myself. I hadn't known the guys back then. They hadn't turned me down. That had been my other friends. I didn't even remember their names.
Another flash. I was in the lobby of the Y, calling my mom so she could pick me up. She asked why. I told her that Leslie and the others were trying to beat me up. My mom had started laughing. Leslie and snuck up behind me. She pressed down the button and ended the conversation between me and my mom. After that, she had chased me into the pool. That was how I had ended up in the deep end with her holding my head under water. If only my mom had believed me...
Would you have done the same thing knowing what you know now?
Yes. I said it more softly than before.
Now I came up again. I took a deep breath as I broke the surface. Someone was a standing a few feet away, watching the lifeguards to make sure Leslie didn't get caught. The person turned my way. It was Cliff. Oh, God. He grinned at me, cold hatred shining in his eyes.
Even though I hadn't done so years before, I turned around, released from Leslie's grip. Only she wasn't Leslie. She was Jenny. Jenny was laughing at me. I was helpless. I was nothing but the new kid who had just moved out of the hood and into that rich people's neighborhood. I'd been too good for them. I should have done what Leslie/Jenny had told me to do. I should have obeyed her- They wouldn't have tried to kill me then. They'd have helped me. If I had been in trouble, they wouldn't have been playing Marco Polo in the safe shallow end like my so-called friends were.
I looked at the lifeguard. It was the fox. He looked at me, taking pity on me. He wasn't going to do anything, though. He knew Leslie. He knew her too well.
What decision will you make?
The Question shocked me. It was different from the one before. Then I understood. That fight had been a major turning point in my life. It had made me wonder that about every other friend in my entire lifetime. This had been the event where I had lost my true childhood and innocence, my entire trust. This was the fight when I had realized what the real world was in a few minutes. Those few minutes had changed my life forever. I had needed to ask myself whether I really wanted to live. The answer, back then, had been, "I don't care how awful my life is. Eventually it has to get better." Then I had fought. And as life went on, I came to understand life- or at least understand it enough to enjoy it.
Every time I used my power, I got a major dose of everyone else's joys, just as I adopted their fears and sorrows.
But I still liked to live. Those sad, scary, and awful times in life were as much a part of living as the joyous times.
The same one I made last time,I told the Force that had asked the question firmly.
I wasn't in the pool anymore. I was in another room. I used a power and searched it. There was a foggy wall twelve feet in every direction. Only two feet below me. A square room. What power had I used again? Erek would want to know this.
Using the newfound power, I felt someone or something come into the room.
Well done, the Force said. It didn't use words. I simply knew what it said.
"Can I go home now?" I asked.
I felt the Force nod. Yes. But there are problems there.
"What kind of problems?"
Use your powers. You have them for a reason.
"You know why I-"
Suddenly, I wasn't in the room anymore. I was somewhere else. It looked like the woods. I looked at my hands. They were my own hands again. But something was under the skin. It shimmered for a few moments, and I was able to see a faint string of a thousand different colors stretching into nothingness.
I stood up. I had on my favorite outfit- jeans, boots, a tank top, and a long-sleeved shirt to go over it.
Had I shoved Leslie out of my body? Or was she still in here somewhere? This was getting to be a pain. I hated questions.
I started walking toward town. I threw out a string in front of me and felt it grab onto something that seemed like painted wood. The string actually even sent information back to me- like there were animals in this place. Lots of people. People who had secrets. I loved secrets. But I already knew this secret. It was Cassie's barn. I started jogging. I couldn't wait to see the guys.
* * *
She was standing in the woods near the Youth College, thinking. That girl, Mel. She had been following the girl ever since the building had burned down- thanks to her friends. She still hadn't found out who they were- or whether or not they were human. No human she knew of could change into an animal. Then there had been that creature with them. Whatever it was, that had definitely NOT been human.
But that didn't change the fact. Why was Mel here, in the middle of nowhere, rubbing around in the soot. She had already gone through the ruins long before this girl- there was nothing there. Whatever hadn't been destroyed had been taken by the campus kids as souvenirs.
As she watched, a pack of wolves approached the girl. Silently, she backed up and walked hurriedly to her car. She had to get them. The sooner, the better.
* * *
They found her at the old Youth College, where Cassie had gone to school that past summer. She had looked up at them and smiled.
"Hi."
Mel, where have you been? Jake demanded. You were out all night and-
"I'm fine, Marco," she had said firmly. Everyone stared at her. Leslie had kicked herself. Jake was the bossy one! Not Marco!
"Jake. Sorry. Kinda tired. You know."
Yeah. Right. For some reason, Jake hadn't completely believed her.
Come on, Cassie had said finally. We'd better get you home before you get caught.
"I won't get caught. I never get caught. Except maybe once, but not anymore. I took care of THAT problem." The others had looked at each other. This Mel was different.
Are you okay? Marco had asked. You know, sane?
She had laughed at that. "Of course I am. I just need to pick up something on the way home."
Why did you come here? Ax had asked.
She had shrugged. "Trust me."
Tobias had laughed and ruffled his feathers. Of course we trust you, Mel. Remember? The pool?
She had laughed.
The trip home, hadn't been the one they had expected. She led them into the rough neighborhoods.
What are we doing here? Cassie had asked. You seem like you know your way around.
"Of course I do. I grew up here."
She had led them to an old house. Rachel's wolf nose had picked up things she didn't necessarily like. Beer, smoke from cigarettes, and a bunch of clumps and powdery stuff that smelled suspiciously like drugs. Also some stuff on the walls and carpet some humans had left behind- not to mention a few animals.
"Here it is," she had said. She turned from the closet she had been looking in. She looked at them with a stupid grin on her face. She was holding a gun. "Now. You guys are going to come with me, make me lots of money, and- no. I guess you guys WON'T be living happily ever after."
Mel? Jake asked, laughing nervously. Surely she didn't think a GUN could kill them. If she did, then she must have hurt her head somewhere.
Now Mel laughed. "Haven't you heard the latest newsflash, Animorphs? Mel's dead. I killed her. I'm just, uh, borrowing her body interminably."
* * *
Suddenly, she had collapsed, doubled over in pain. Ax had hurried over and hit the gun away with a paw, grumbling about how he hated this morph. He preferred his own body.
When she got up again, she looked as if she were still in pain.
We need to get her to a hospital, Cassie said swiftly. I think she hit her head. Not to mention whatever just happened to her.
Man, I can't wait to see her explain to her parents how she did THIS! Rachel said.
Here. I'll handle it. Marco, who had been left in another room because the room the others were in was so small, came into the room, now as a gorilla. Geez. I know you hate my carrying you like a baby, so I suggest you don't do this to yourself.
They had finally managed to get across town, morphing as they had nearly ran out of time. Mel wouldn't say anything. She looked confused.
They went to Cassie's barn first, so Mel and Marco, not to mention the others, could get some rest.
Cassie, demorphed, had opened the door.
Mel, who had been sitting on a bale of hay, jumped up. "Hey! Finally." She stared at the other Mel in Marco's arms. "Crud."
I'll say, Rachel agreed.
* * *
Jake demorphed, looking from me to Leslie. "Mel? Mel? Either of you care to explain what the -- is going on?"
I walked over to Leslie, who was cradled in Marco's arms. She was shaking just a bit, and she had her eyes squeezed shut. So I hadn't replaced her in my own bod after all. I had come into a completely new body. It did feel kind of different. Not stiff, though. It felt like it had enough energy to last a whole lot longer than a lifetime.
"What happened?" I asked.
Everyone except Marco started to demorph. I looked up at Marco. "Put her on a bale of hay. Or better yet, the floor." He looked at me, confused, and put Leslie on a nearby bale of hay before demorphing.
"She got sick," Rachel told me unhappily. She didn't seem pleased with the fact that I wasn't explaining anything.
"When?" I asked.
"We couldn't find you," Jake explained, glancing undecidedly at Leslie and me. "We followed her scent to the Youth College. We found Mel- I mean, you-, and you- Mel- took us to this neighborhood. She- you- I mean-"
I sighed. "Her name is Leslie."
He looked more confused than ever, but accepted it.
"Right. Leslie went into this house and held a gun on us and-"
I blanched. "She held you up with a GUN?!" I shouted.
He looked at me. I could tell everyone else was as confused as he was.
"Sorry. Go on. I'll try and hold my comments until you're done. Promise."
He nodded. "Anyway, then she suddenly doubled over. Marco brought her here."
"Doubled over? Why?"
"It looked like she was in pain," Cassie said. "I thought maybe you- she had hit her head or something and it was making her spaz out or something."
I grinned. Leslie must have felt when I had come in my own body. It would hurt her much more than it would me. "No. Leslie does spaz, but it wasn't because of her usual, uh, activities."
Why? asked Tobias. He had flown to one of the rafters, his favorite perch.
"This is going to take a lot of explaining." I took a deep breath. Then I began to tell them everything. From my dreams to going into the barn and waiting for them.
* * *
Brandy sat up in bed. She felt... weird. Like she should be somewhere else.
Without knowing why, she got up and dressed. A force was pulling her. She let it. She walked for what felt like miles, feeling as if she were dreaming. Finally, she stopped, jerking herself awake.
This was the weirdest thing that had ever happened to her. Well, okay. She's had weirder things happen to her. Like that time a few months ago.
She crept closer to the barn. "We'll have to keep her someplace." The voice sounded familiar. Brandy ran through a list of people she knew and found a perfect match: Mel. Of course. Mel had probably lured her out here with witchcraft or something.
"Why?" This voice took longer for Brandy to place, but she finally found a match. It was a girl from the Youth College. Her name had been Cathy. No, that hadn't been it. Cassie.
"She held a gun on you. And I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to be the one watching her 24-7. My mind'll get tired. Besides, the Ellimist said that she'll get really sick. She might go back on her own."
The Ellimist? So Mel hadn't been a witch after all.
She'd been stark raving mad.
"When?" a boy asked.
Silence for a few seconds. "I don't know. The Ellimist said it was three days there. But some of the stops took a bit longer than others."
There was more silence.
Suddenly, another boy said, "Yeah. You might as well, Tobias. Tell him to come fast. Mel, why don't you go home and get some sleep? Your parents are probably going to kill you." Brandy watched as a hawk flew out of the window above the door.
"I don't know why you bothered to put that 'probably' in there. I'm dead for sure. Well, I'll come back from the world of the dead again and talk to you tomorrow. Deal?"
A few moments later, Mel walked out of the barn quietly and closed the huge door behind her. She looked up and saw Brandy.
"It's too early in the morning for this," she moaned. She started walking toward Brandy. "Hey. What are you doing here?" She reached out her hand to shake hands with Brandy.
Suddenly, Brandy wasn't there anymore. She was looking around her own room like an idiot. Confused, she crawled into bed and buried herself under the covers. Something very weird was going on here. And Brandy didn't like it. She didn't appear and disappear between places like that. She didn't hear conversations about Ellimists or see birds fly out of windows. She had been dreaming. She blinked open her eyes. There was a huge eyeball in front of her. "You weren't dreaming," it began. "I have a few things for you to do..."
* * *
I was finally in my own bed. Erek had come to get Leslie. I had told him that he could do experiments with her mind instead of mine. Get her to throw up for a change. The new problem, though, was Brandy. How much had she heard? I hadn't been able to find out. Some force had taken her away suddenly. I had a deep feeling that it had been Crayak.
What is it with Crayak? He can never mind his own business.
Finally, around four in the morning, I fell asleep.
I wasn't on the road. I was in a field. Cliff and Jenny had set up a table that was piled high with candy. I found a twix and pulled it out. "What's up?" I asked.
Jenny, serious for once, looked into my eyes. I found out quickly that when someone was talking to you here, you looked right into their eyes. "We've got trouble."
I nodded. "I know. Leslie. Were there supposed to be two of me?"
She shook her head. "Another problem. A few of the freed Controllers have stolen nuclear bombs. They're planning to blow up the Yeerk pool."
I laughed. "But the pool is under the entire city! They couldn't do that. They'd kill everyone for miles."
"Maybe not miles," Cliff admitted. "But it will be a lot of damage."
"Not all of those people can go on the journey." Jenny sighed and took out a Reese's Cup. "They can't if they don't have any bodies to live in."
"But how did I do that then? Leslie was in my body."
Cliff and Jenny looked at me for a few seconds and then looke at each other. "Yours was a special circumstance," Cliff said.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Never mind that," Jenny said quickly. "Grab another Twix bar and scram. You've got a lot of work to do."
* * *
She had been coming home. She lost the wolves and the girl, Mel, along the way somewhere- she wasn't even sure where. Her head was hung low as she drove into the driveway.
And then, what do you know? She looks over across the street, and there's Mel, running out of her house as if it was the Indy 500 without wheels.
She paused and looked at her car. Every time she had attempted to follow them on foot, she'd lost them. But without a car, she should be able to fit into all the places they could fit into. She began running quietly after Mel. Mel went to the barn.
* * *
Oh, boy. Nuclear bombs. Leslie, Brandy, and Lord only knew what else. Why couldn't I just have an ORDINARY bad day like everyone else?