Illarim was just as nervous as I was, which only made me more nervous. He
made me look around, but there was no one in sight. There were just some
animals. When Illarim saw these, he got really scared for some reason and
started walking faster. He didn't think I could detect his alarm, but it's
not actually that difficult for a host to tell its Yeerk's emotions,
particularly if they are strong ones like fear.
He looked around again, and, coming off of a side street was a teenager whom I didn't recognize. I knew I'd never met him, but somehow he seemed almost familiar. Illarim walked even faster, and turned off onto a different street.
He made me look around again, and the kid was still there. It was clear he was following me.
Illarim made me break into a trot. The kid started to run, too, but I'm a fast sprinter and was managing to outpace him fairly well, even though I could see he was still trailing me.
Illarim turned me off the street and into the woods. We had run for some time, and it seemed we had lost the kid. He stopped to catch my breath, since I'm used to sprinting, not distance running.
Then, in approximately half a second, someone grabbed me from behind. I would have screamed, but a hand was clamped firmly over my mouth.
"It's all right, Katie," Emily said, stepping into view. "We're not going to hurt you. We're here to help. But you need to come with us."
"You don't really have a choice, anyway," the kid who was holding me said. "We have some tricks up our sleeves if you try to escape."
They dragged me about a quarter of a mile further into the forest, where there was a small, rotting shack with half the roof already missing. There were a couple other kids standing outside.
"Katie?" Emily said. "I'd like you to meet my friends, Rachel, Cassie, Marco and Jake."
I didn't know what to think. My initial instinct was disbelief, like I couldn't believe they were real. I felt a flicker of amusement coming from Illarim, then merely felt sheepish. Duh, I'm a Controller. Of course the Animorphs are real. But Emily was with them? Emily was an Animorph?
The kid took his hand away from my mouth so I could speak. We were already so far into the woods that no one could have heard me had I screamed.
"Is this like a joke or something?" Illarim made me ask, making my voice sound incredulous, terrified, and angry at the same time. He decided to keep pretending I was not a controller.
I saw a flicker of doubt in Emily's eyes. She still wasn't completely sure I was a controller. I knew Illarim would use that to try to get us out of there.
"No, it's not a joke," Jake said. (Once I knew who they were, it was easy enough to figure out who was who.)
"What are you going to do to me?"
"We're going to starve that Yeerk right out of your head, Katie," Emily said softly.
He looked around again, and, coming off of a side street was a teenager whom I didn't recognize. I knew I'd never met him, but somehow he seemed almost familiar. Illarim walked even faster, and turned off onto a different street.
He made me look around again, and the kid was still there. It was clear he was following me.
Illarim made me break into a trot. The kid started to run, too, but I'm a fast sprinter and was managing to outpace him fairly well, even though I could see he was still trailing me.
Illarim turned me off the street and into the woods. We had run for some time, and it seemed we had lost the kid. He stopped to catch my breath, since I'm used to sprinting, not distance running.
Then, in approximately half a second, someone grabbed me from behind. I would have screamed, but a hand was clamped firmly over my mouth.
"It's all right, Katie," Emily said, stepping into view. "We're not going to hurt you. We're here to help. But you need to come with us."
"You don't really have a choice, anyway," the kid who was holding me said. "We have some tricks up our sleeves if you try to escape."
They dragged me about a quarter of a mile further into the forest, where there was a small, rotting shack with half the roof already missing. There were a couple other kids standing outside.
"Katie?" Emily said. "I'd like you to meet my friends, Rachel, Cassie, Marco and Jake."
I didn't know what to think. My initial instinct was disbelief, like I couldn't believe they were real. I felt a flicker of amusement coming from Illarim, then merely felt sheepish. Duh, I'm a Controller. Of course the Animorphs are real. But Emily was with them? Emily was an Animorph?
The kid took his hand away from my mouth so I could speak. We were already so far into the woods that no one could have heard me had I screamed.
"Is this like a joke or something?" Illarim made me ask, making my voice sound incredulous, terrified, and angry at the same time. He decided to keep pretending I was not a controller.
I saw a flicker of doubt in Emily's eyes. She still wasn't completely sure I was a controller. I knew Illarim would use that to try to get us out of there.
"No, it's not a joke," Jake said. (Once I knew who they were, it was easy enough to figure out who was who.)
"What are you going to do to me?"
"We're going to starve that Yeerk right out of your head, Katie," Emily said softly.