Brandon, I can't breathe!
Kneeling over the fallen form of Sarah, Brandon could hardly breathe himself! He couldn't understand what had happened. He'd simply taken her into the basement, she'd mentioned with growing anxiety that there was an odd smell and unusual warmth, and before his eyes she'd collapsed! She was unconscious, but she was still breathing. He'd tried to wake her up to no avail. Panic gripped him as he numbly tried to think of what he could do. Could he take her upstairs? He didn't see how that would help. Maybe he could call somebody? Maybe, but who? His dad? No way, he'd skin him alive for taking someone into the basement! Her parents? No, they'd probably skin him alive, too! Who could he call!
He ran his hands through his hair nervously. What the heck was he going to do? Almost on the verge of tears, he mumbled, "Sarah, I'm sorry ..." when he suddenly noticed that Sarah was well on her way to no longer being her human self. Her teeth were almost completely feline, and her ears had already grown; fur appeared in scattered patches. He was petrified for a moment before recalling that Pollicles reverted to their canine forms if badly injured or hurt; perhaps Jellicles did the same thing. Still, this posed an even greater problem. Maybe he would have been able to get Sarah to the hospital, but Etcetera! He wouldn't even be able to leave the house now, and when his dad finally came home ... well, he would have to get her somewhere else by then.
Extremely nervous, he went over his options once more, looking over her unconscious form. But then, his eyes fixed on her jeans pocket; a bulge there indicated a cell phone inside. Fingers fumbling, he pulled it out and opened up its contact list. Surely there must be someone in there he could call! Then he came upon a single entry called "911." Looking at the number the name correlated to, he saw that it was a regular seven-digit number, and not normal 911 service.
Well, it couldn't hurt could it?
Actually, it could. If whoever the number was for wasn't Jellicle ...
Well, he didn't have too many options, did he?
Numbly, he called the number.
Madeline wasn't sure if she'd just heard correctly. "Wait, he died just from being around a Pollicle a lot!" she questioned hastily.
"It would seem so," Solomon remarked without looking up from the book.
Mark, Sarah, and Greg exchanged a hasty look. They didn't have to read each others' to know what they were all thinking: Sarah could be in a life and death situation!
"Thanks Solomon, but we've gotta go!" Mark almost yelled.
The three of them tore out of that little living room and ran into the kitchen, leaving Solomon to mutter, "Now I wonder what can have gotten into them?"
Once out of earshot of Solomon, Mark whispered, "Quick, where is she now?"
Madeline racked her brain before gasping, "She went to Brandon's house for the afternoon! She said she was going to help him with something, but she was doing that weird twitchy thing she always does when she's trying to lie. I don't want to know what they're really doing!"
"I DO!" Mark shot back, panicked. "She's my sister! We have to get there RIGHT NOW! Greg - !"
But he was interrupted by the cool face of Mistoffelees in Greg's clothes. "Way ahead of you. Come on, you know the drill by now."
As he stared confusedly, Mark muttered, "Why - ?"
"Greg can't teleport. I can. You think we're going to waste time driving back! Hurry up and think of Brandon's house," he ordered, seizing Mark's and Madeline's shoulders and closing his eyes to work the spell.
As she hurriedly focused on Brandon's place, Madeline thought pitifully, I hope we're not too late...
One ring. Two rings. Three ri -
Finally, someone answered the phone. "Daniel Black."
"Uh ... hello?" Brandon managed to choke out.
"... Who is this?" the person (apparently Daniel Black) queried.
"Ah ... this is Brandon. I'm Sarah Forsworth's boyfriend."
A pause, then a cautious, "Is there something wrong?"
Brandon took a deep breath, then said, "Yes. Sarah's here with me at my house. She's unconscious. And she's ... transformed."
With no hesitation, Daniel blurted out, "I'll be right there. Don't tell anyone. Don't go anywhere. Don't open the door for anyone but me. Is anyone else there with you? What's your address?"
Brandon, a little fazed by all of this, answered, "No one else is here. And we're on 555 Oak Street."
"I'll be right there."
The line went dead.
Brandon let out a long sigh. Thankfully, whoever he just spoke to must have been Jellicle, or he wouldn't have been quite so ... cognizant of how to handle the situation. He looked over Sarah's unmoving form for a long minute, wishing that she would just wake up and nothing terrible would happen. For if she didn't, there was no doubt going to be a lot of explaining to do, explaining that would certainly put not only Brandon and his family at risk, but possibly the entire population of Pollicles on earth. For if anyone knew they were still around ... Brandon didn't want to think about it.
But currently, the most pressing matter was Sarah! Gazing at her, he tried to think of what he had to do until the Jellicle man came. Certainly he couldn't show him into the basement! He would have to carry Sarah upstairs.
However, just as he slipped his hands under her to get a stable grip, voices from upstairs reached his ears: "Aw, it does smell like dog!"
"Aw, it does smell like dog!" Madeline gasped, covering her nose as they materialized in the living room of the Miller residence.
"Sarah? SARAH?" Mark immediately started calling out as soon as he could see. Finding that she was not in this room, he pelted down the hall, in search of his zany younger sister.
Madeline was about to follow him until she noticed that Mistoffelees was unmoving. He stood transfixed, staring at the floor, and clutching at his middle as if in pain.
She was at his side immediately, demanding, "What's wrong!"
"I can't stay in here," he gasped breathlessly. "I'll meet you outside." He closed his eyes, about to will himself away, but she stopped him.
"Wait, is safe for me and Mark? Can't you just change back?"
He tried to make a move half-way between nodding and shaking his head, but gave up; he seemed to be exhausted from just standing in the living room. "You'll be fine," he gasped, "I just ... there's a magic in here ... I can't stand it ... I'll see you outside." And with that, he poofed out.
Relieved of her tuxedoed burden, but still quite worried about him, and mumbling a prayer, Madeline joined Mark in his search of the house.
Brandon, who had tensed upon hearing the newcomers, relaxed as he recognized who it was. "Mark, is that you?" (Brandon did know Mark, sort of; they'd attended summer camp together some years ago.)
"Brandon! Where are you!" came the response. "Where's my sister!"
"She's down here! I -" but he broke off abruptly, suddenly reconsidering the wisdom of letting them know exactly where they were. Changing his response, he called up the stairs, "Don't come down, I'll bring her up there!"
Madeline found the guest room with the secret passage before Mark could, and dashed over to the open bureau, about to descend the stairs. But a sudden force halted her at the threshold, and she stood doubled over for a moment, as though punched in the stomach. Brandon didn't need to tell her; she did not want to go down there!
Brandon soon came up, holding the unconscious Etcetera in his arms. Mark had found the room by this time. As he saw his sister's unmoving form, his eyes widened dramatically, but Brandon quickly cut off his assumptions of the worst with, "She's not dead! She's unconscious!"
With a tiny sigh of relief (but not very much relief; she was still out cold!), Mark assisted Brandon in laying her down on the large bed in the room. While Brandon closed the doors of the bureau hastily, Mark and Madeline went over Etcetera for signs of life. They were able to ascertain no more than Brandon had: Sarah was still breathing, but she showed no other signs of life.
"Etcetera! Etcetera!" Madeline almost screamed in her face, trying to wake her up. If what had happened to the Jellicle in Soloman's book was true ... well, Madeline really wanted Etcetera to wake up.
Mark meanwhile, took out his rage on the other occupant of the room. He grabbed Brandon by the collar and roared, "What have you done to my sister!"
"I – I didn't - !" he tried explain, gasping.
"What did you do to my sister, you Pollicle son of a bitch!"
Brandon's breath caught in his throat (or, what little breath he had did). They knew what he was! "I – how do you – ?" he tried to gasp, but they were both interrupted by a frantic knocking on the door.
"Shut up, you two!" Madeline ordered. "We can't let whoever that is hear us!"
"Wait," Brandon gasped struggling to breathe. "It's okay. I called – "
"WHO DID YOU CALL?" Mark demanded, shaking Brandon harder, outraged that he had have endangered his sister so flagrantly by calling someone!
"His name's ... Daniel," Brandon managed to get out.
Madeline sighed heavily. "It's Danny. I'll get him." She raced out towards the front entrance of the large house, but paused at the door of the room they were in. Glaring at Mark, she ordered "Put him down!"
Mark reluctantly let go of Brandon's shirt and slumped down on the bed next to Etcetera. Brandon, fearful and trembling, still managed to inquire angrily, "How the heck do you know what I am!"
"We saw you the night of the full moon," Mark answered, eyes still locked on Etcetera. "We followed the two of you from the junkyard."
"WE!" Brandon demanded, panicking. "Who else knows!"
"Just me, Madeline and Greg. Nobody else. Okay!" Mark answered, growing angrier as the dog kept questioning him.
"You can't tell this Daniel guy! If he -"
"We'll tell him whatever the hell we have to!" Mark yelled, cutting him off. He stood up from the bed, using his extra height to try to intimidate the shorter boy. "No bloody dog is going to tell me what – "
"Where's Sarah!" Daniel Black called, storming into the room, followed closely by Madeline. (Munkustrap could sure be threatening when he had to be.) He didn't have too far to look though. As soon as he spied the Jellicle girl on the bed, he turned on Brandon and demanded, "What happened?"
"She fainted. And then she transformed." Brandon answered, keeping his cool before the man (for that was what he'd been trained to do in times of hiding; Pollicles took no chances).
Danny didn't press the point. He had more important matters to attend to. "Madeline, call Mitchell at his clinic. He has a private section there where we can take her. You two," he said, turning to Mark and Brandon, "Find blankets. We'll wrap her up so no one sees her and take her in my car." When no one moved, he shouted, "Don't just stand there! Move!"