The coldness between Ax and Tom continues, Jake even though he appears in the chapter doesn't have time to talk to him about it, I guess you have to wait for it. And Abby's in this chapter, and so is Sixkiller, Tom, Ax, Tobias, Rachel. Jake. Cassie. Marco. Yup, they're all here. Oh, and so are Mickey and Dominic. They're in the chapter but they're quite…uh, lifeless.
Chapter Twenty-eight
She's not there! Tom shouted, trying to keep panic out of his voice, I don't see her!
We should have called the others and Prince Jake. Like I suggested. Ax said a hint of anger in his voice, but you said we didn't have time. You wanted to get there before Sixkiller got to Abby, we warned you that it would be too late.
Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake! Is that all that matters to you?! Tom shouted, Man, the hell with him, what could he have done if he were here?!
Tobias seemed to draw back from Tom and Ax said something better not repeated.
Tom landed and demorphed fast. Once he regained his human features he talked to the two in an even voice. "There isn't time for this now. We need to find Abby fast. The question is were did she go?"
No answer.
Wings flapped signaling that one of the two have left.
"Tobias? Ax?"
Tobias fluffed out his feathers, the questioned isn't where she went but how can we retrace her steps.
Ax had left. Tom not really caring, "And how do we do that?"
Another beat of hesitation, We morph wolf.
"I don't have a wolf morph!"
I do, Tobias said reluctantly. I'll morph wolf and you go owl. An owl could see better than a falcon at night.
Tom hesitated.
Tobias groaned, you don't have that either?
Tom shrugged, "How am I supposed to know that we needed that many morphs?"
Jake asked you to follow that up with Cassie! What were you doing all that time?
"Are you going to help me or not?" Tom snapped. In the back of his mind he knew what he was doing during that time; exactly what he wasn't supposed to do; spending too much of his time with Abby.
Oh I will. Tobias said with a sigh, but keep in mind that I'm doing it not because I want to, but because I have to.
"Whatever," Tom said, "I'm going falcon."
Tobias fluttered to the ground and started to morph wolf. In five minutes he was done, and so was Tom.
Tom labored to get above the tree line, Is it working? he asked anxiously.
Yeah, I'm getting a clear sent. She ran deeper into the forest. Must have left Ax's scoop about an hour ago.
Your wolf morph can tell you that?
Tobias sighed, as he looped silently in the forest dogging trees he talked to Tom, There was no need for all that, Tom.
I'm sorry, okay? Tom grumbled. I didn't mean it. Call it bad judgment.
It isn't about being sorry. Tobias said quietly, What good would it do to any of us if you were sorry that you caused one of us to die?
I know, Tobias. Tom heaved a sigh, I wasn't thinking much about that, but heck, that Andalite played on my nerves big time.
Maybe you should think a lot about that, more than how much Ax is getting on your nerves. What's important counts.
You don't get it, Tobias said, I've had it up to here with that alien, its bad enough spending my days with him at his 'scoop' its worse having him thinking he has a right to lead me!
Jake said that the decisions are up to Ax to make. We trust Jake, Tom. We trust him a lot.
Jake again. Tom muttered. The little brother he was used to teasing day and night, taking up the parenting role when his own parents were not there, and now this? How was it that the roles were reversed?
What?
Nothing. Tom said, How's it going down there?
I'm getting a new sent, Tobias sounded worried, and by the tracks I'd say they're fresh.
The sky overhead rumbled. To Tom's ears they were magnified considerably. Though it was night Tom could catch flashes of the damp forest through lightning.
I hope the others are coming soon. Tobias grumbled as he crossed over a river by walking over a tree that must have fallen earlier on, he ran alongside the river, We don't have any more than forty-five minutes left in this morph and-yyyyahh!
What? Tom cried out, searching futilely in the dark with his falcon vision, Is it Abby? Did you find her?
No. Tobias said sounding shaken, But I found Mickey and Dominic.
That's good, maybe they could tell us where Abby went. Tom was getting increasingly worried.
I said I found Mickey and Dominic; what's left of them anyway.
Tom drifted down to see for himself; instantly wishing that he didn't. Their bodies were hanged and their faces appeared bloody, raw.
How can you tell this is them? Tom tried to keep the uneasiness out of his voice. Another set of lightning flashes illuminated the hanging carcasses and brought back the memory of earlier on the day, when Sixkiller appeared calmly at the doorway. He didn't try to stop her then, he was glad he hadn't tried. He honestly thought that Ax wouldn't have come to his rescue.
I recognized their sent from the other day.
Can you sniff out Abby? Tom asked his voice hoarse, Did she come here?
Defiantly. Tobias said, The other sent I sniffed out passed here too.
Sixkiller?
Most defiantly. Tobias said, otherwise it wouldn't make sense.
Let's go. Tom said silently in Tobias's head.
They must have proceeded no more than five minutes in the forest when Tobias down by the ground and Tom not so far away heard it; a blood curling scream; someone screaming bloody murder.
And not too soon after-
Tobias! Tom! Ax yelled, The others arrived.
Did you hear that?
Hear what? Marco sounded grumpy, a typical human reaction to being awakened in the middle of the night and forced to fly all the way over to the forest in the beginning of an ugly storm.
I caught it. Jake said grimly. Fan out people, Rachel, Marco and Ax, you guys haven't morphed owl. Go down and cover the ground. Tobias we need you in the sky, this is your territory.
I'm going down. Tom said.
Jake's response was automatic, no.
Tom had been preparing himself for this answer and had something in line for Jake, I'm almost out of time, I've got to demorph.
Jake didn't respond for a few beats then he said, Okay.
It must have been an eerie sight; two falcons descending in the night, they may have looked identical to the untrained eye but the falcons were not carbon copies.
Another scream catalyzed the procedure and caused the Animorphs to act quicker.
Tom was the first to rush forward, Rachel yelled at him to turn back; Tom wasn't in morph.
And for the second time that day he was confronted by the mysterious girl, the girl whose eyes spoke far stronger than her actions. Eyes that told him to back off and not interfere.
Tom hesitated. On one hand he had the animorphs' orders to carry out. An easy way to back off from an enemy that he did not understand fully and therefore feared.
On the other hand was Abby, the unfortunate Irish girl who somehow found her way into trouble; she was on her knees before Sixkiller. She turned a tear-streaked face towards him and her eyes pleaded with his.
Another moment passed and he could hear that the others were almost finished transforming into their various morphs. Tom turned his eyes on Sixkiller, in the rain it wasn't clear what she did exactly. She must have bent over and hissed something in Abby's ear, and then she shoved her forward in the mud and slipped silently into the forest.
Tom rushed forward to Abby and helped her to her feet, her clothes were soaked wet and her face and shirt held traces of blood, dirt and mud. When Tom reached Abby she found herself leaning against him, and she placed her head onto his shoulder, and before the Animorphs could join them she whispered quickly into his ear, "Don't leave me Tom, please don't leave me."
Tom didn't have the chance to give a full reply, he managed to give her a quick; "Don't worry about it." And the urged her forward towards the group.
Rachel bounded forward, Tom was surprised to see her there, he thought that she would still be home bond to a cast –she obviously wasn't.
Where did she go? Rachel demanded.
"She left." Abby said quietly, holding on to Tom as if afraid to be blown away by the wind. "It's no use following her. Not in the rain at least."
Rachel lumbered past the two, she dipped her grizzly face towards the ground. Trying to locate a sent.
"There's no use for that." Abby repeated as the rest filed out in front of both Tom and her.
Why do you keep saying that? Cassie asked landing on a nearby branch.
Abby turned her face towards Cassie, "because she'll be back. Soon. You can count on that."
Jake called on Tobias to check on it.
If she's here she's doing one hell of a job hiding her. I can't find her Jake. Sorry.
Jake, we need to get her somewhere dry. She'll get a cold like this.
We'll take her to Erek's.
"That's too far away," Tom interrupted, "The walk alone would take the rest of the day. I say we head to where I'm at, I've go some dry clothes over there."
That would make sense. Ax spoke aloud.
The group started heading towards Ax's home and Tom's temporary residence. Abby said that she wanted to show the group something after she got some fresh clothes. Something important.
Soon enough, after having a clean pair of jeans and a shirt that didn't fit at all, Abby retrieved something from her dirty clothes. It was small and glinted in the gloomy night.
She walked right over to Ax and handed him the small device she held. "Sixkiller wanted me to give this to you."
A hologram emitter! Ax exclaimed, It's the standard Andalite model, from where did she come across it?
Abby looked like she was going to choke on tears, she knew what secrets it held but dared not to tell anyone; let them find out for themselves.
"I don't know." Abby managed, "But she wanted me to relay a message across to you all."
What's that? Tobias asked.
Marco and Ax were fidgeting with the device. Ax regarded Abby with his stalk eyes.
"Sixkiller told me what she wants of you." Abby took a deep breath, "She wants the blue box, or else."
Jake and Cassie exchanged a look.
Tobias turned his gaze on Ax first then Jake, then Marco.
Marco raised an eyebrow at Rachel who barked out a laugh and said, "Oh yeah? She wants the blue box huh?" Rachel's eyes gleamed, "Or else what?"
Abby stared at the ground, "Don't take this lightly, if Sixkiller asks for something she'll get it."
"And what does she have to bargain with?" Jake asked incredulously. "She doesn't expect me to hand it over like that. Does she?"
"No." Abby said nodding towards the device that Ax held in his hands, "She has something alright. She wants you to see it before you decide on ignoring her."
"Play it out Ax." Jake said. "Lets see what she has for us."
Ax nodded. I doubt that she could do anything to harm us.
"I think you're wrong." Abby muttered. "Very wrong."
And indeed she herself knew; she knew that what Ax was about to see would bring him down to his knees.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Oh wow, another one of my infamous cliffhangers; though not much of a challenge, if you've been up-to-date with what's happening its clear what's going to happen next. If anyone is stumped on what is contained in the holographic emitter then go back to Letter 3. The clue is uh, in the letter.
Be on the look out for the next chapter, I haven't written it yet but I have a feeling that I'm going to reveal yet another secret.