Chapter Four: Revealings
"What are you talking about?" Rachel said in a panicked voice. "Of course it's about the Yeerks- all of the people killed so far were ex-Controllers or fought the Yeerks. It's just coincidence that you knew two of them."
"Try all of them." Riley whispered.
Lee shook his head, "Why didn't dad or I catch that?"
"Catch what?" Alex asked. Unlike his father, he didn't bother to take charge. "I'm not seeing the connections here."
"Shannen, age 49, is Shannen Sinclair. My mother." Riley hissed. "People can exist in one or more worlds, unless something happens, or unless you are a Traveler like myself. So my mother existed in my time but she also existed in your time- only without me because I can't exist in two times."
"Kind of like my mom?" Lee asked, quietly, hesitant to bring up Rachel.
"Because I took her from a time before this and brought her to one that she had existed in but died, she couldn't stay in this one." Riley sighed. "I'll try to explain it but even I don't understand everything.
"There are an infinite number of worlds out there. All coinciding at once. In some worlds, others are just stories- like in my original time, your parents are just characters in a book. But since all of these worlds and times and whatever you call them do exist at once, some people can cross into them. Some are just born with them and others happen to go through a doorway. Anything making sense?"
Rachel raised a hand, then put it down, embarrassed. "So, what about the second person- Jess or Jesse or whatever? Did you know him?"
"He's a Traveler." Riley whispered. "Or he was- we were friends and he is the one who told me about your world but he swore he would never come back after he saw what the Yeerks had done."
"Then how did he die in our time?" Alex asked.
"We have to get out of here." Lee said, his voice panicked now, and looked into the Yeerk pool. "Right now."
"Not quite." A deep voice growled and an arm wrapped around Riley's neck. Her eyes went wide as the others faced the shadowed figure holding her hostage. "I am so glad that you brought others, Riley. I wasn't actually thinking about killing the Animorphs or their children but while they are here, why not?
"And while we are here, I'll take this to hold on to." The man grabbed Riley's hand and pulled off her emerald ring. "That is the only way you can travel without dying, right? I always knew Shannen would make you weak."
"Who the hell are you?" Alex asked and stepped forward, finally showing a little bit of Jake in him. David pulled Rachel behind the three boys against the wall and she struggled to look through them. "And what do you think are doing?"
"I think I am going to kill Riley." He grinned in the darkness and his white teeth shone through it. "And for the who the hell am I part, you can call me Casen Hause but Riley can call me dad." He waved an arm and the dream disappeared but the scenery stayed. "Since I got you, I don't need to kill Madison anymore."
"You can't kill your own daughter." Alex hissed and thought about his history books- the history his father would never tell him. How Rachel had killed her own cousin.
"I have before." Casen grinned. He looked at Riley. "The world we are from is so boring, so normal, Riley, and you should thank me for giving you the power to explore the others. So after I killed Shannen in that world, I moved on to another one. It was much more fascinating because people had other abilities besides traveling but I couldn't let them live either."
"You sick bastard." Riley growled and narrowed her eyes. "You aren't my father. You never were."
"Don't interrupt me, Riley." Casen warned and squeezed his arm around her neck tighter. "As I was saying, in this new world, I couldn't be the best if everyone else had some sort of abilities. So I started the panic that has killed thousands so far. Witches, just like in Salem. Then I remembered you and your powers and how there were travelers in all worlds. And I knew they would somehow end up in mine."
"So you killed Jess and others like him?" Riley gasped.
"Don't be so shocked," Casen said. "You know how it is to take someone's life. Or have you so soon forgotten your own chaos in Ydobon? Do these four know that a murderer is leading them around? Do they know that you helped one human kill another? Do they know that you killed the only one who knew about it?" Casen gripped her shoulders and spun her around and then pushed her back. She stumbled and caught her balance, glaring at the man. "You are just like me, Riley. You should really just admit it."
Before another word could be spoken, the three boys rushed Casen. He fell to the side and into the Yeerk pool that was only a memory. Lee grabbed Riley's hand and the group ran out of the pool, not knowing where they would end up.
They reached a street with people without realizing it and looked around for Casen. Alex rested against a wall next to a store with televisions in its display window, "I don't see him."
"Where are we and what is going on?" Rachel asked and sat down against the wall. She looked up at the others. "Can't we just leave?"
Riley shook her head, "That ring is the only reason that I don't die when I travel. I can't go without it."