Rachel

I swear I was scared of Jake at that moment. There are hardly any moments when he is truly angry, but he was then and it scared me.

"I wouldn't give up the human race," I said staring him in the eyes.

But he wasn't satisfied.

"No?" he asked as he slowly walked up to me. Jake was a tall boy. Very tall, but right then, he looked like he was twice the size of Michael Jordan. "What did you have to think about then, Rachel?"

"I didn't have to think about anything," I said.

"What deal did you make with Crayak?" Jake demanded red in the face, from trying to keep his anger under control. What a failure.

"I didn't make any deal with Crayak," I answered truthfully.

"Okay then," Jake said, giving me a penetrating stare. "What deal did he make that you had to think about?"

"It's nothing," I lied, turning away from him.

He grabbed my arm and hurled me back towards him.

"Tell me," he snapped.

"It's nothing!" I repeated.

"If you don't tell me right now so help me…"

I never realised Jake had this little vein that pops out on his forehead when he's mad.

Did I mention Jake was angry? 'Cause if I didn't then I'll tell you now that he was really angry. I mean really angry. Out of control angry.

"Crayak wanted to give me power for something in return," I said, trying to break the stare.

"Rachel, what did he want in return?"

"Your life," I whispered ashamed of myself. "He wanted me to kill you."

I could see the look of betrayal in Jake's eyes. The hurt, the suffering… the anger.

"And you thought about that?" He roared and at that moment I thanked God Cassie's parents were out. "For power you would have killed me?"

"I said no," I said quickly, defensively.

"If it had been to kill me for the sake of the world then I would have let you kill me willingly," he shouted, absolutely furious. "But you would have killed me for power? Who are you?"

That hurt.

"I said no!" I shouted back, tears starting to form.

"You're weak Rachel," Jake shouted. "Crayak knows you want power and now he's got you where he wants you. How can I trust you?"

"I'm sorry!" I shouted, the tears pelting down. "I didn't mean to think about it."

"But you did! You thought about it. Have you ever thought about any one but yourself?"

"I'm sorry!" I shouted again. "What would you have done? Think about the power, Jake!"

I couldn't believe I just said that. Who am I?

Jake looked at me. I could see the others behind him, staring open mouthed at me; each one of them looked betrayed.

"I would have said no," he hissed. "I would never kill anybody for power."

"I didn't mean it like that," I started, but then I changed course almost instantly. "You think you're so great. You think you're the best," I raged. "But you're the one who's weak. You have no spine, Jake. When we go to war, you don't even think about destroying the enemy, all you think about is the lives."

"Have you gone nuts!" Jake shouted, imitating Marco.

"If it was anybody else in my position, if it was Marco or Cassie you wouldn't treat them like this," I shouted back, wiping away the tears.

"They wouldn't do a stupid think like this!" Jake roared and for a minute I thought I saw the colour of his hair change from brown to orange and black stripes. But then that illusion was over at it was brown again.

I noticed that all the others were behind Jake, backing him up. Nobody was supporting me, not even Tobias.

"You're just trying to punish me for what happened to Tom. It's not like I was the one being held back," I hissed.

Jake's expression fell and I knew I had hit where it most hurt.

((Rachel, that's enough!)) Tobias screamed at me in private thought speech.

"You know what, Rach?" Jake said, sneaking in a smile. "You want power? You've got it. You're the new leader of the Animorphs. Congratulations. I'm out of here."

He walked out and I think he was kind of relieved.

I looked at the others reluctantly. They each gave me a dirty look.

"Well that's it then," Marco said getting up and walking to the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" I demanded. "We have to think about our next mission."

"Are you crazy?" Marco snapped. "Do you really think I'm going to take orders from you? After what you did? To us and Jake? Jake is having a hard time and this is what you throw at him? You've changed Rachel. From crazy to completely nuts."

He walked out.

"Well one less nuisance, I say," I said, staring at the others with a sinking heart.

"I only follow Prince Jake," Ax said, turning to follow Marco out of the door.

((What have you become Rachel?)) Tobias asked quietly, before flying out of the barn.

I looked at Cassie. She avoided eye contact and walked out of the barn. I was left alone, feeling like I should just have kept my mouth shut.