Chapter 11

Rachel

"It's my life and its now or never! I ain't gonna live forever!"

Bon Jovi's song played on the radio, while Jordan sang along.

"Like Franken said I feel it in my way!"

"I don't think those are the words-" I began.

Jordan gave me a look. A 'Don't-Interrupt-My-Favorite-Song' look.

I rolled my eyes.

"Are we there yet?" Asked my other little sister, Sara.

"Almost, honey," My mom replied. "We'll be at the mall any minute now."

Which was a lie. We were at least 20 minutes from the mall; it was just one of those things parents did to make their kids feel better.

Some comfort.

I sighed, and turned to look out the window.

There-the arcade! One bird of prey circled overhead. Tobias! I smiled up at the red-tailed hawk.

Hi, Rachel. Came his mental voice that I had grown so accustomed to.

So he had noticed me. I made a small nod to show I had heard him, even as we pulled away, 'til he was out of sight.

See you at the meeting tomorrow, his voice called back into my head.

The mall grew in our view.

"Yay! We're FINALLY here!"

"Yup. And now we can go clothes shopping. I know you all need school clothes."

I sighed. That was the only kind of shopping I liked. School clothes shopping with mom. Don't get me wrong; my mom has fashion sense. But I think all mothers lose that when school shopping for their kids. Oh well.

The Bon Jovi song had ended. Now, Destiny's Child was on.

We pulled into the parking lot.

"Let's go shopping, girls." Smiled my mom.

Chapter 12

Tobias

I spiraled around and above the arcade. Nowhere we could get in that I could see, so far. Wait, what was that?

I flared and lowered to the roof, and claw-walked to the edge. A drainage pipe, that's what I'd see. I was about to leave when an idea struck me. I began to peck at the roof right by the drain pipe, and saw to my relief chips breaking off, 'til about ten minutes later, when a whole shingle was gone.

I gave myself a mental smile, and opened my wings to catch a thermal. I had done my part; now to see Jake.

***

I flew back to the forest after seeing Jake. He had been happy I'd found a way in, whether or not I had to 'destroy' the roof in order to do it. If we lost to the Yeerks, more than a shingle on an arcade building would be damaged.

I glided above the trees, until I came to a familiar spot. I lost speed, and drifted down below tree level, and did a flap-and-glide routine to get to Ax's scoop.

When I saw the couch (put there for when Jake or Rachel or Cassie or Marco wanted to watch T.V), I flapped harder to gain more altitude.

I landed right on top of the couch, and dug my talons in automatically, hearing and feeling the couch's cover ripping.

Ax was watching 'Pop-Up Video' on VH1.

Hi Ax. Did you like that Alien show?

What? He asked, all eyes glued to the tube.

Um. Never mind…

So, what song is this? I asked.

Uhh…. Ax clicked the info button. 'No Information Available'. He read.

Baha Men! He exclaimed. He began singing. Who, who, who, WHO let the dogs out?!

Ax. I've, uh, got to go hunt before dark. I'm famished. See you...

Who let the dogs out? Bye Tobias- Who who who who who let the dogs out? Get back, get back you flea-infested mongrel!

I rolled my eyes and did a Dr. Evil impersonation. [Riiiigh-tuh.]

Chapter 13

Jake

Yawn, I thought. YAWN. History does that to you.

I looked around the room. That day, I felt the urgent excitement building. I couldn't wait for tomorrow night! I didn't know why…

Tomorrow would be Thursday. The next day we would be working on getting rid of the Yeerks' new pool entrance.

"Jake? Are you with us? I asked you a question." The thick accented voice cut through my

thoughts.

"What? I'm sorry. What was the question?"

The teacher sighed. "Is there anyone here who was PAYING ATTENTION that could help Jake?"

Every hand in the room shot up.

"Yes, Brittany."

"We were discussing Folk Lore, and I believe the question you asked was what imaginary creature was supposedly able to turn into a wolf by moonlight?"

"Right. So, Jake. Think you know?"

"WEREWOLVES!" I practically shouted. "WEREWOLVES!"

Everyone stared at me.

"I THINK I'M GOING TO HURL!" I cried, wanting to get away from all the eyes on me. It was making me sick…

I jumped out of my seat, and ran for the door, running down a small kid who was loaded down with books. "SORRY!" I called back.

The kid gave me a mean glance, then scrambled up, trying to get all the papers in order again.

I ran past the bathrooms, and out of the school, into the fresh air.

I breathed in deeply. It would all end soon, I thought. Soon I'll be free.

Chapter 14

Cassie

I woke up, sweat beading my forehead. I was hyperventilating.

I slowed my breathing. Looked at my clock. The red letters glowed '3:42 AM'. I sighed.

It was early. I didn't remember what had woken me up so afraid- and I was glad of it. I needed sleep, not to think about old nightmares.

Shivering even in the heat of my room, I huddled under the covers.

It was probably the termite dream, I thought. The one where-

I shook my head. I didn't want to think about it.

But already, my mind was replaying every action. I was going to scream if-

I woke up again. I must've been having a weird nightmare. I shuddered.

Well, I thought. I'm not getting any sleep tonight. The clock's numbers were '5:32 AM' this time.

I sat up, fixing my nightgown (OK, it was an old paint shirt, so sue me), and walked down the stairs, towards the kitchen. Pulled out a jug of orange juice and grabbed some Oreos. Pigged out for awhile in front of a mute T. V.

I fell asleep with the bag of Oreos by my side with some old black and white movie playing on the television around 5:30.

Chapter 15

Marco

"It was true love at first-um, hug." I told them. I looked into her eyes, and she said "Oh Marco, I wish so so so much that I could go on a date with you, but my parents are demons and-"

"In an alternate universe, maybe."

"Hey, who is telling the story here?" I glanced up (literally up) at Rachel.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Marco, we're here to discuss battle plans, not you're love life. How many times do I have to say that?"

"I'm going to ignore that," I replied. "Now, who wants to hear what happens next? At least discussing this is more fun than dying and getting gored to death."

Rachel sighed, along with Jake. We looked at him surprised.

"What? What did I do?" He asked.

"Nothing," Rachel answered, but she kept an eye on him after he turned back to Cassie, shrugging.

Do you want to explain what we're going to do? Inquired Tobias.

Jake jumped. "Sorry." He mumbled. "I'm just feeling weird today."

"I noticed." Said Cassie.

"Yeah. Anyway, our plan. I figured we could morph roaches, and climb on Tobias. He can fly us to the arcade, where we can get in. That way, even though we'll have less time, we won't have to morph on the roof. It'll be a lot easier." He explained. "Once we get in, Ax will find a spot to demorph and check for cameras. Marco, you might want to help him-" Ax interrupted with a huff-"to find them."

"Sounds good," Cassie answered.

"Jake, man. I gotta talk with you," I spoke suddenly. "It's about History class yesterday.

Jake froze like a deer in headlights. "OK," He said slowly.

He led me off away from the group, to a point where he figured Tobias and Ax wouldn't be able to hear us.

"About yesterday. I was really stressed out, Marco. I really did hurl." He explained. "It's just been so weird lately. Ever since that dog bit me."

"Yeah. I just wanted you to know, we're here for you." I searched his face. "If you've got something you want to say, you can come over to my house. I remember what it was like when my 'mom' died. There was no one to help me, or so I thought. If you need it, you got it, Big Jake."

He forced a smile. "Thanks, man. C'mon, let's go. The girls and Ax and Tobias must be getting impatient. We need rest if we're going to attack the pool tomorrow night. And time to do our homework, and think up excuses."

"Right, man." I turned, and walked away, looking once over my shoulder to see him looking up at the sky, towards the far-away clouds.