Just a quick note;
Wraithlord42; i think you might have gotten me confused with Lady Alionae. My character's name is Jade, not Mary-Sue
Disclaimer; i don't own Animorphs, but i do own Jade, Amanda, Ithiell, Robert, Rtaia, Lowri, Talia, and the Chanaiben and Terinan races. And Jades family of course.
This chappie kind of jumps right into the action. Anyway, here goes...
My name is Jade.
And right now I was in one of the most frightening places I'd ever been.
It was dark, noisy, and crowded.
It was a party.
Now, I'm not the one to diss a party or anything, but I had only been here for five months and I still wasn't really used to 'American culture'. This girl called Darlene was hosting it, and so far I hadn't seen her at all.
I don't even know why she'd invited me. I didn't really know her, and she didn't really know me. Originally, I wasn't going to go.
I had been sitting at a lunch table, my head in my hands, looking down at something yellow on my plate, when Darlene came over, handing me a pale blue envelope.
"Here you go Jade, hope to see you there" she said in a giggly, I'm-high-on-air kind of voice, then she was gone again. I looked at it, where she had scribbled my name neatly across the front, then opened it.
Party, Saturday night at Darlene's house. Hmm...
A few minutes later, Jake had sat across from me, holding his blue envelope up for me to see. He looked at mine, and just as he was about to open his mouth, Rachel came. She pushed him aside a little, looking excitedly at me as she sat down next to him.
"You got one too!" Rachel cried "This calls for some serious shopping!!"
"But I..."
"No, don't say you're not going. This could be the perfect opportunity to mingle, maybe meet some of the cute guys..."
"Definitely not cuter than me" Came another voice, and seconds later Marco sat next to me, smiling cheekily.
"Oh, did you have to pick him? He's gotten a bigger ego since..."
"I'm not going Rachel"
"What?!" Uh-oh. I think I insulted her.
"No no no no no! You are definitely going!"
"But I don't even know this..."
"Yeah, why should she go..." Now Marco was siding with me.
"What, just because you don't think she can stand one night away from you?"
"No, I'm just giving her the support that a..."
"You didn't get one, did you?" Jake's voice brought us all back to reality. I saw Marco hang his head in shame, then he looked cheekily back up at us.
"Darlene doesn't know what she's missing" I rolled my eyes.
"Ok, change of plan. I am going"
"What?!" Now it was Marco's turn to be surprised.
"Rachel's right. If I'm ever going to fit in here, I'm going to have to get used to all this stuff..."
"But... but..."
Rachel looked like she had a smart comment she was just dying to say, but Jake cut her off.
"Don't worry Marco, I'll be going too. Just to keep an eye on these two" I knew he was about to say 'to keep and eye on her' but I guess he changed his tactic. Immediately Rachel ripped into him about being sexist, and Marco seemed a little happier with the result, but I guess I took all the fun out of his day. Apparently Cassie got invited too, but she didn't want to go. She told us she needed to seriously start her biology paper, that was due the week before.
So, here I was, standing on the edge of the party, almost against the wall. I was wearing the outfit Rachel had picked out for me. It included orangy-brown, knee- high, high heeled boots that I could barely stand in. Rachel and Jake were beside me, one on either side. Rachel soon got swept off into the 'in' crowd, leaving just me and Jake, who I have to admit looked really cute all done up. Not that I'm complaining about Marco or anything...
"How are you liking America so far?" Jake yelled in my ear.
"Wonderful" I muttered.
"What?" I didn't get to answer him, because at that moment a girl with pig-tails grabbed his arm and pulled him into the crowd. He looked back, a little guiltily, and I just smiled and nodded. The music was getting too loud for me anyway.
I moved to where I knew the stairs were, making a path upstairs to where I knew there was a balcony. It overlooked a humongous pool, and I guessed Darlene was one of those spoilt 'rich kids'.
I went out, opening and closing the sliding door behind me, then walking over to the edge, grabbing onto the cold metal railing and looking out at the tops of mostly houses. The moon shone that night, and I could still hear the pounding of the music downstairs.
Maybe I should just go home...
Behind me I heard the sliding door open and close. I thought it might be Rachel or Jake, and I turned around to look. To my surprise I found Marco there, hands behind his back, wearing sweatpants and a grey top.
"Hey, what are you doing here? And... did you... oh man Jake will kill you if..." Wait a minute, his eyes weren't right...
"No, Jake won't kill me" his voice was wrong too. And that smile...
"But I know someone's going to get killed tonight" He finally removed his hands behind his back, and I finally saw what he had been hiding. A kitchen knife. A very large, and very sharp, kitchen knife.
"Marco, what are you..." At that second he came charging at me. No time to change! Jump!
I turned, grabbing and pulling myself up on the railing, then leaping off into the night! I might have been a thousand miles away from earth before, but this... this was definitely more terrifying.
BAM!
SLPOOSHHH!!!
I dive-bombed the water, the hight making me go deep under, nearly hitting my feet on the bottom of the pool.
SLPOOOOSHH!!
He'd followed me! Quick! Swim!
But where was...
I broke the surface, turning my head to see Marco, still with the kitchen knife, swimming towards me, that look on his face...
I kicked, doing my best to swim away from him, my boots slowing me down. But there was no time to take them off! He was right behind me!
I made it to the other edge of the pool, and trying to climb frantically out, when hands grabbed me, pulling me under the water. He was going to drown me!
I kicked him, breaking the surface and watching through blurry eyes as someone... maybe two... came out of the house.
Then... he grabbed me again! He backed himself up against the edge of the pool, holding me tightly, and in seconds I had a blade inches from my throat.
"Marco? What the hell are you doing?!" Rachel's shrill voice echoed into the dead night air.
"One more move and she dies" He snarled behind me.
"What's going on?! What are you doing?!" I cried in a panic. Now the blade was pressed against my throat.
"Shut up!"
"You're not Marco, are you? Marco wouldn't do something like this" Jake was there too! But what did he mean about...
"You're right about that big guy. I'm not Marco. But I bet you now who I am" He mocked, keeping the knife against my throat.
"Jade, it's all right. We'll help you..." I saw them both now, looking concerned and tense all at once.
"No, you won't"
"Why don't you tell her who you really are David" Rachel sneered "Why don't you tell them how you nearly destroyed us"
"Shut up or I'll kill her right here and now!"
"How did you... why are you here?!" Jake demanded.
"Like I'd ever tell you. But if you insist on telling her about that, maybe you should tell her what you did to me" he was turning desperate now, I could feel that. I saw him grip the blade more tightly.
Jake and Rachel couldn't do or say anything without making it worse for me. So I had to do something. Even if I could just get the blade a few inches away from my throat...
At that moment I grabbed his hand, pulling his arm and that blade away from me with all my might.
"Hey!" He protested, but I got it far enough away from my throat. He fought back, but then I bit his arm.
"Aaah!" He cried, dropping the blade in the water. But his other arm still held me, and I was still trapped if...
Behind me, I felt two arms dive into the water, pulling at his arms. Thankfully, they seemed to be winning the battle, and two other arms pulled me away from him, and up onto dry ground.
"Are you ok?" It was Rachel, and she helped me sit up as I shook from the cold night air.
Ka- PLOOOSH!!
I turned to see that 'David' had thrown Jake into the pool, before he got out himself, running away. He jumped up onto the back fence, but not before giving me a look that just made me shake more.
"I'll be back for you Jade!!" he called back as Jake got out of the pool, soaking wet like me, spitting out pool water as he did so. He got up, coming over to me and Rachel, the look in his eyes telling me this was serious.
"We've got to talk" he said.
------------------------------------------BREAK------------------------------------------
A few hours later, we all met in Cassie's barn. Rachel had took me to her house (since I was planning to stay with her that night anyway) where I got cleaned and dried up, with Rachel drying and platting my hair for me. She wasn't that bad. We'd become really good friends, especially with me into shopping. And the athletic thing. In fact, I'd become connected with all the Animorphs, all in different ways. Cassie I could talk to about animals and biology. As well as war.
Tobias and I had an unspoken understanding. We both hated bullies, and I guess that in itself demanded respect from each of us. Ax... well, he was always talking about Rtaia, always asking me about their customs and stuff... I guess he had a thing for her.
Jake and Rachel... well, that was an entirely different story. I'd help them with their maths and stuff (since I was just naturally good at it) and in return, they'd help me get used to American culture.
And well... Jake and I had an understanding too. A 'Crayak' understanding.
My family and I were still living in the three-room apartment, at least until we found a better place to live. So I had to share my room with Phoebe. But I didn't mind. Most of the time she'd wake me up, and help me get away from the nightmares I'd been having, night after night. Most were of the day I'd first fought the Yeerks, and this time, I couldn't shape shift. I was falling, just falling, and waiting for the moment I hit...
We flew there, and found that besides me and Cassie, they were all in their morphing outfits.
The moment I saw Marco though, I hid back in the shadows. He tried to come to me, since he'd found out what had happened as well, but Rachel stopped him.
I knew it was stupid, but even if someone had morphed him, just the sight of him made me start to shiver all over again.
Once Tobias reported it was clear, they told me about David, and what happened to him. They even told me about what they'd had to do, just to stop him from destroying their only chance against the Yeerks. I thought it was horrible. I also knew they were right to do it.
And now he was back.
"Are you sure you didn't just... let him go just before his time was up?" Marci accused, staring at her.
"What kind of moron..."
(Marco, did you forget? I was there too. I watched until his time was up, and then we...)
"Yeah, yeah" he dismissed Ax.
"The point is, how did he get back here? Why isn't he still a rat?"
(I think he is) we all turned to look up at Tobias.
"What are you talking about? He's back and he was..." Tobias cut Rachel off.
(Don't you get it Rachel? Look at me? Am I a bird, or a boy?)
"Both" Marco muttered.
"You're... I think I get it now!" Cassie spoke up, and Tobias nodded. Well, I think it was a nod.
(The Ellimist) Ax got it too. Too bad I was still clueless.
"No, I don't think it was him" Jake was looking at me now, and I think in that moment I knew... but I didn't want to...
"Crayak" I blurted before I could stop myself.
"What? You mean he did to David what the Ellimist did to Tobias?" Rachel looked confused. But I saw Cassie nodding, and Ax looking like he understood it too.
"But what could David possibly have that could help him?" Marco asked, catching my gaze for a moment. I looked away.
(Don't you get it? The Crayak doesn't just want one life now, he wants two)
"Which means Crayak made him like an assassin or something. But why go after Jade? Why not Jake?" Rachel was getting it too now.
"I think... I think it's because I have something. Something that could change this war around. And Crayak doesn't want that. He's trying to finish me off as soon as possible" I met Marco's gaze again, forcing myself to look, forcing myself to see the way he... his face was different... he cared about me...
"What, you mean we might win or something?" Marco asked, looking straight back at me. He knew what I was doing, and he was trying to help me see it.
Come on. You know me! He seemed to say with his eyes.
"Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows. Maybe in the future I do... or say something that changes it all around. Maybe that's what does it"
"Or maybe you might be our link to some real firepower" Jake interrupted, turning my attention back to him.
"The Chanaibens" Cassie said, and I nodded.
"But... Lowri didn't know when he'd be back. It could take up to a year... and with the Yeerks flying around... they could be in the middle of a war up there" I said, my thoughts turning to Ithiell and the others. No... maybe Jake was right...
"Do you think he'll come back tonight?" Rachel asked.
"I don't know. But maybe a little security for you might..."
"I can take care of myself. After all, I'm a shape-shifter. As long as no one else is around... like your little sisters or anything Rachel... I can take care of myself" I said firmly. Too bad he didn't seem to believe it.
"She'll be ok, I'll be with her" Rachel assured them, backing me up.
Jake looked sceptical, then nodded.
"You're right. She'd probably be safest with you anyway"
"Xena and Gabrielle huh?" Marco smirked.
"Gabrielle?" I asked. I was getting over my past scare.
"Yeah. You know, the short blond that hangs around her"
"Uh... did you know in real life, that woman is actually taller than the one that plays Xena?"
"Huh?"
"I watch E news" I smiled.
"Okay, maybe it's the other way..."
"Oh just shut up Marco, you're just digging yourself in deeper" Rachel said, rolling her eyes. Everyone laughed at that, even me. Well, maybe not everyone. Ax didn't seem to understand it.
Jake broke our little meeting up, and Rachel and I started to become eagles again.
"Jade? Do you have a minute?" It was Marco, and he touched my shoulder only slightly to get me to turn around. I saw Rachel smile and nod, walking off outside to finish her change.
"Look, I don't know what went on at that party, but that wasn't... I'd never hurt you like that, all right?"
"I... I know. It's just... this thing's got me so messed up, and..." I trailed off, trying to control a new wave of shaking, looking down and closing my eyes. I felt his arms go around me, and I cried.
"Can't I just go a little while without that stupid Crayak trying to kill me?" I sobbed a little as he held me close.
"It's ok, we won't let him take you. And we... I...wont let David hurt you again" he said softly, and I put my arms around him, digging my head into his shoulder. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but it seemed to calm me down a lot.
After a little while I pulled away, going out to meet Rachel. Together we flew off, back to her house, with me still seeing the look in David's eyes...