Okay I just wanted to say thank you again for the reviews. Especially to metamorphstorm, The Shang Kudarung, Darth Taegous, freak show, and Evance. Thank you!

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Chapter #3: What I Wouldn't Give For A Reese's

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"So . . ." I said, trying to break the awkward silence.

(I suppose I should show you where you will be sleeping) Elfangor said and then gestured for me to follow him. (Come with me)

I followed Elfangor deeper into the house until we came to the door of a room and Elfangor started to explain, (This is the room I normally use to sleep in when it rains, but you take it. I will sleep in another room.)

"Oh no," I said, shaking my head, horrified at the idea of taking his room. I mean, this guy had already saved me from having a slug shoved in my ear. I didn't want to take his room too. "I can't take your bedroom. That's not . . . I mean . . . I just can't."

Elfangor smiled at me with his eyes. (But I insist.)

"But . . ." I tried to find some way to get out of this. "But where will you sleep?"

(I will sleep where I usually sleep. Outside.)

"But what about when it rains?" I said, still horrified and now grasping at straws to get out of this.

(Then I will sleep in my study,) Elfangor said, still smiling in that weird way Andalites apparently have. (I'm sure it will be quite nice.)

"But . . ." I had run out of ideas.

(Tobias) Elfangor said gently. (Take the room.)

"Well . . ." I wasn't happy about this, but I supposed it would be really, really rude of me not to take his offer. Plus, I had no choice. "Okay," I finally said and entered the room to look around. The room was really plain, with nothing to give it any kind of life. The walls were white and nothing decorated the shelves. On the bed there was a blue comforter and some white pillows but that was the only color in the room.

(Tell me when you get hungry,) Elfangor said and then he left me to apparently get situated. There wasn't much to situate myself with really, but I suppose it was nice of him to give me space. I was going to have to get used to living and seeing only the things in this house, after all. My old life was gone.

And suddenly I realized all of what I had just given up. I sat down abruptly on the bed.

I had nothing. I owned nothing. All I had for family was the strange alien that had just left me his room and, I guess, his little brother. I would no longer go to school. I would never have to do homework again. There would be no more bullies, but no more Rachel either. I would never see my English teacher—who I had particularly liked because she would read my short stories—again. People would think I had run away and maybe they would try to look for me but they would never find me. I was, officially, dead.

Oh my God.

What on Earth had I been thinking? There's no way I could live like this. What about Dude? Who was going to feed him? My uncle certainly wouldn't.

What about Rachel? What was she going to do about her Chemistry partner suddenly disappearing? Would she even care?

I hope she cared.

And I had just said okay when Elfangor had asked me if I wanted to stay with them? I hadn't even thought about the question. Though, really, there had been no other answer. The Yeerks were after me. This was the only way I would be safe.

I just couldn't believe what I had given up though. I had given up everything. Hopefully this new life wouldn't turn out so bad, but I had learned enough in my 16 years of life to not give that much hope.

But what else could I do? I would just have to do what I always did and survive. In a way I guess my life hadn't changed so much after all.

I just had to survive.

--

The weeks went on and I paid close attention to the news to catch any developments in my missing persons case. They still couldn't find me and eventually they gave up. My uncle wasn't pushing for the search to continue, he honestly didn't seem to care, and so the search was called off. I'll tell you the truth. That upset me a little, but I tried not to think about it.

And I became more comfortable with the Andalites. Each one had made it a habit to stop by Elfangor's house regularly to report in to their leader. Aximili especially seemed to enjoy visiting his brother and would stay for hours at a time. But as Elfangor was usually busy that left Aximili to talk to me. And I quickly grew to like him and through him I had learned all about the other Andalites.

Apparently, Maril had a fiancé back on the Andalite home world called Aerui-Kaftul-Jaishn that he thought about constantly and Erithin really wasn't as arrogant as he seemed. He was just irritated about the primitiveness of the planet they were stuck on and had taken their isolation the hardest. Aximili also had a sort of hero worship for his brother and I had heard story after story of Elfangor's bravery in battle and kindness and intelligence. But I had also heard many amusing little anecdotes about when my father had been growing up on the Andalite home world.

Aximili continued with his story. (And then he jumped over the skirlig and ran—)

"What's a skirlig?" I had to ask, hating to break into the middle of a story, but curious.

(It looks much like a cross between your Earth squirrel and this other creature I have seen,) Aximili tried to explain. (It is black with a white stripe down the middle and squirts this horrible stench.)

I nodded, understanding. "Oh, you mean a skunk."

(Is that what they're called?) Aximili asked and then tried out the word himself, (Skunk. It is a strange word.)

"Hey, no weirder than skirlig."

(Skirlig is a fine word,) Aximili said, sounding a little insulted.

"Yeah, yeah whatever." I had discovered that all Andalites seemed to hold their planet and other Andalites in a higher regard than others and so had learned not to pay too much attention when Aximili or the others would get insulted on behalf of their species. "Keep going."

Getting over the insult quickly so that he could finish this much loved story, Aximili continued, (Well he jumped over the skirlig and then ran right into the jafa, which is much like your human barn. He broke through the wood and crashed to the floor right in front of these Andalite females and then he stands up and—)

"Aximili," Elfangor said, coming into the room in his human morph. "Are you telling that story again?"

Aximili stopped, looking a bit embarrassed. (Yes, brother.)

"I told you to stop that. Don't you have anything better to do?"

Aximili looked down at the floor and scuffed at it with a hoof in an embarrassed fashion.

Elfangor sighed. "Never mind. It's not important. Just stop telling that story." And then he left, supposedly to go do some more work.

Getting over his embarrassment quickly, Aximili immediately turned back to me and started up with the story again. (Right in front of these Andalite females and then he stands up and says—)

So I was actually okay with having to leave my old life behind. I had a new friend, my first friend in a long time never mind that he was a different species, and I was having fun learning about the universe as Elfangor had decided to keep up my schooling by having Maril teach me all I needed to know.

But, for all the stories Aximili told, I still hadn't spent much time with my father. It was just my luck, I suppose. I discover I have a father and he turns out to be a workaholic. Elfangor loved his job as a computer programmer and he was intensely dedicated to stopping the Yeerk invasion. Which was good, I guess, for the human race, but maybe not so good for me individually. Not that I liked the Yeerks all that much either, but you know what I mean. I had all these questions I wanted answered. Questions like 'What was Mom like? How did you meet her? What have you been doing all this time? Why did you really leave?' But I never got up the courage to ask.

But that was another thing. Maril had also explained more about the Yeerks. Apparently Yeerks had to feed every three days on something called Kadrona rays. They went down into something called the Yeerk pool and crawled out of their host's ear and swam around as they fed. There was also something called the Yeerk Peace Movement that Elfangor and the others had discovered, though they didn't really trust them, and apparently the Sharing was a front for the Yeerk invasion. Apparently if I had become a full member I would have become a Controller. When I had heard that I had never been so thankful to have gone to that meeting with DeGroot. It had kept me Yeerk-free.

But as the days passed and the weeks became a month, it became apparent that the Andalites still hadn't figured out what to do with me. The discussion had continued and was taken out whenever they weren't busy planning a raid on the Yeerk forces, but nothing was settled. I had actually listened in on one of these arguments and they seemed to go around in circles. They knew I had to be hidden, but they also knew that I couldn't be hidden forever and they had no idea as to how to get around this. I got the feeling when I was listening in that they were dodging around a certain solution, but I couldn't figure out what that was.

Still, that was my life and it would have been my life for a long time after that if I hadn't gotten the Idea.

--

Okay, before I go any further you have to understand that I knew from the start this was a stupid idea. I'm not an idiot. I knew what I was doing was the most idiotic thing I could possibly be doing at that moment. But I was so bored and I was going stir-crazy. I had been staying at Elfangor's house for more than a month, only able to see the same four walls day after day after day. I could go outside but only out into the small 10-foot by 4-foot backyard. I needed some variety. I needed to get out.

Plus, I figured it had been a month already. Surely the Yeerks had forgotten about me. Or at the very least forgotten what I looked like.

And Elfangor wasn't in the habit of buying junk food when he bought groceries and I had a serious craving for some candy. Any candy would do, but I especially wanted a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. I don't know why. I just did. And so came the Idea.

I would go into town just for a little while. Just for a walk around the block really. I just needed to stretch my legs. It was one of those rare days that Elfangor had had to go in for work and none of the other Andalites were scheduled to drop by. I'd thought it was perfect. Nobody would even know.

And so I got out a hat and donned some sunglasses and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked suspicious, but also completely unlike myself. Perfect.

The first half of the walk went fine. I walked to the 7-11 two blocks down and got myself a whole bag of candy and a Big Gulp. But it was as I was walking around after that, munching contentedly on my King Size Reese's, that I ran into trouble. Literally, in fact. I was so busy slurping some soda, and loving every minute of it, that I ran right into someone.

"Hey!" the girl said angrily as I fumbled with my drink and candy and barely kept from spilling all over her. "Watch it!" And then she kneeled down to start picking up her purchases. There were a few specialty boutiques around the corner that she had apparently just shopped at and it was around this time that I realized that this girl was Rachel. My drink now under control, I stared at her stupidly.

She eventually looked up from gathering her things and asked angrily, "What are you staring at?"

"Nothing," I said quickly and hurriedly turned my face away, reaching up with the hand still holding my Reese's to make sure my glasses were still on my face.

Rachel narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously. "Do I know you?"

"No," I said nervously, carefully keeping my face averted. My disguise was good enough that if she had just walked by me she wouldn't have suspected a thing, but it wasn't good enough for head on close scrutiny. "Never seen you before in my life."

"No," she said, pursing her lips and scrutinizing me carefully. "I know you from somewhere. Take off that stupid hat."

My head still averted, the hand still holding my candy flew to my head to make sure the hat was in place. "I'd really rather keep it on," I said.

"Then take off the sunglasses. They're too big for your head anyways."

"I like these sunglasses," I said feebly, hand moving to touch my sunglasses.

Rachel sighed irritably and obviously decided she would need a more hands on approach. She ripped the sunglasses off my head.

"Hey!" I said and tried to block her view of my face with my Big Gulp and candy-holding hand.

But she had seen all she needed to. "I knew it!" she cried. "Tobias! Where have you been?"

"What do you mean Tobias?" I asked, still keeping my Big Gulp and hand in front of my face. "I'm not Tobias. I'm . . ." I searched frantically for a name, finally coming up with, "I'm Greg."

"Tobias," she just said and I couldn't exactly see her face, Big Gulp in the way and all, but I could envision her getting this look on her face that said she was getting fed up with this.

And so I did the only thing I could do. I bolted. Throwing the Big Gulp off to the side so that it didn't slow me down, I turned and ran away.

"Hey!" Rachel shouted and then I heard feet other than mine pounding the pavement. She was chasing after me.

I raced around the next corner, my hat flying off, but I couldn't go back and get it. My feet fairly flew I was running so fast. You don't have as many bullies after you as I do and not know how to run. Problem was Rachel was just as fast and she was determined. She raced around the same corner and kept after me.

Coming up to the end of the next block, I raced across the busy street, dodging between the cars. Luckily it had been a red light so the cars weren't actually moving.

I kept going. There was a scary moment where I almost tripped, but I didn't and I kept going. I ran around the next corner and ducked into an alleyway. Rachel saw and followed me in, following after me even as I climbed and jumped over the fence.

"Tobias!" she shouted as she ran. "Stop! I just want to talk to you!"

Normally those were seven words that I would love to hear, but not now, not like this, not when I had a whole alien species after my head. I couldn't slow down and I darted out of the alleyway onto the next street and kept running.

By now I would admit that I was a little lost. That alleyway had gotten me confused, but I was pretty sure I was close to where I had started. I turned right and ran off into the direction I thought Elfangor's house was in, but then realized I probably shouldn't lead Rachel there and so turned in the opposite direction at the next corner.

"Tobias!" Rachel shouted. "Stop!"

I darted out into the next street only this time there wasn't a red light and the cars honked and screeched as they tried to avoid hitting me.

"Hey! Get outta the road!" one driver screamed as he barely dodged by me.

I didn't stop. Another car screeched, pulling itself sideways as it tried to avoid me, and almost rammed into the car in the next lane. I jumped back to avoid this incoming pile-up only for my luck to run out. One car couldn't stop in time and hit me right at knee level, sending me flying. I hit the ground hard, my head snapping back to smash into the ground. Light exploded behind my eyes.

Ow.

I was dazed. I couldn't move. My legs and head hurt like hell and I just lay there as Rachel finally caught up with me and raced out to my side. All the traffic had stopped.

"Tobias!"

Around this time the driver of the car that had hit me had gotten out of his car and ran to my side as well. He seemed to do a double take at the sight of my face, but then, after a pause, he was right there with Rachel trying to help me sit up.

"Are you alright?" he kept asking frantically. "Does anything hurt?"

"Tobias," Rachel said, looking at me in concern, "Are you okay?"

I tried to blink, but everything was kind of spinning and my head hurt too much. I closed my eyes and reached up a hand to touch the growing bump on the back of my head. "Ow." Okay. I didn't want to do that anymore. I let my hand fall back into my lap and my head kind of fell down so that my chin rested on my chest. I rested most of my weight on Rachel and just kind of sat there.

"Does anything hurt?" the driver—a nondescript man in his forties—asked again, still looking somewhat frantic, but calming down.

"My head," I admitted vaguely, not quite keeping up with what was going on. "It hurts."

"We need to get you to a hospital," the driver said with a serious frown. "You could have a concussion." And he started trying to get me to stand up. "Come on. I'll drive you." Rachel started helping him as well, but I really couldn't afford to go to a hospital. I knew that even in my dazed state.

"No," I tried protesting, trying to shake off their hands, but it hurt too much. I winced and ducked my head lower. "No hospitals," I got out.

"Tobias, you need to see a doctor," Rachel said, still concerned.

"No doctors," I said vaguely and then I started to kind of drift off. I must have blacked out for a moment because the next thing I knew I was in a car, Rachel at my side.

"Wha--?" I asked, fighting my way back into consciousness and looking around blearily.

"Calm down," Rachel said, turning away from the window to look at me. "We're just going to the hospital."

"No hospital," I tried protesting again. "I can't . . ." There was a harder than normal throb in my head and I winced. "Ow." I brought my hand back up to touch the bump on the back of my head, just kind of testing it out. Was it getting bigger?

But then I remembered that I needed to get out of here before they could get me to the hospital and turned back to that. Turning to the door, I tried the handle. Maybe I could jump out of the car and roll off to the side. But the door was locked and I couldn't find the switch to unlock it. I kind of just fumbled around with my hand trying to find it, my eyes unable to focus properly and hand-eye coordination not quite up to par. My head still hurt and my legs ached and I think I really did have a concussion because my brain just didn't seem to be working right.

Rachel, of course, noticed my fumbling. "What are you doing?"

"I need to get out," I muttered and continued to determinedly try and find the lock.

""What, are you just going to jump?" she asked, sounding like she thought I was stupid. "We're going at least 40 mph and you already have a concussion."

"I need to get out," was all I said to this logic.

Rachel rolled her eyes and reached over to grab my hands, pulling them away from the door and just kind of holding them. I blushed and couldn't quite think right. Too embarrassed, I think, though the concussion probably didn't help. Still I didn't do anything for a long moment after one last feeble attempt to free my hands that just left Rachel holding me all the firmer.

Eventually, Rachel, who had turned back to looking out the window, seemed to notice something. "Hey, this isn't the way to the hospital."

What? I turned to look out the window. From what I could tell, she was right, though I still couldn't exactly see all that great. Everything was kind of blurry now.

"Hey!" Rachel said, trying to get the attention of the driver. "I said this isn't the way to the hospital. Where are you taking us?"

The driver didn't reply.

"Hey!" Rachel tried again. "Are you listening to me?" She was starting to get mad now and had let go of my hands. I immediately turned back to fumbling with the door and Rachel started kicking at the seat in front of her. Unfortunately that was the passenger seat so it didn't really have much of an effect. "Where are you taking us?" she demanded. "Do you want me to scream?"

"Go ahead," the driver said without turning back to face us. "Nobody can hear you in here."

Which was probably true since we were on a busy road, so Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the driver. And it was at that time that I finally found the lock.

"Ha!" I said, triumphant, and flicked the lock switch. The door came unlocked. The driver quickly locked it again.

I frowned and flipped the switch again. The driver locked it again.

This happened again. And again. And again.

"Will you stop that, kid?"

And again. And again. And then we were in the parking lot of the McDonald's by the mall.

The driver turned off the ignition, grabbed a strange looking gun from the dashboard, and stepped out of the car. Opening my door and manhandling me out of it, the driver jabbed the gun into my temple and told Rachel in his most threatening voice, "Get out of the car and come around peacefully or your little friend here gets hurt."

I blinked and tried to focus my vision as my head throbbed and what I assumed was Rachels' blurry silhouette got out of the car.

Then the driver jabbed the gun further into my temple so as to apparently keep Rachel from doing anything rash in an attempt to save me and he motioned with his elbow for Rachel to go ahead. She did and he started dragging me across the parking lot after her.

And let me tell you. It hurts to have a gun jabbed into your temple and to be dragged anywhere when you're already barely holding onto consciousness. So I was a little out of it for the short walk up to the back entrance of the McDonald's. At one point, the driver had to let go of me to knock on the door and that's when Rachel elbowed the guy hard in the gut, grabbed his gun and got me away from our captor all in one move. From what little I could understand of the move, I was very impressed.

"Alright, now I want you to get your hands in the air and sit down on the sidewalk." I don't think Rachel really knew how to use the gun but she was doing a very good impression of knowing how.

The guy, now suddenly scared for his life, followed Rachel's orders and got down on the sidewalk.

"And now you stay there and we're gonna go, okay?" Rachel said, still sounding as threatening as she could possibly force her voice to sound. Which was very threatening.

I think the guy nodded then. I had to close my eyes for a moment. Either way Rachel suddenly grabbed me by the elbow and started leading me away. We got about ten feet and then Rachel threw the gun off into the bushes and shouted, "Run!"

And we ran.

We ran. We ran some more. And we dodged around the next corner and ran.

I was getting really dizzy and eventually had to kind of stumble to a stop to put a hand on my head and make the world stop spinning. But Rachel grabbed my hand then and started pulling me along, looking behind her every few steps to make sure we weren't being followed. I didn't think we were, but then we turned around the next corner and there was the driver driving slowly down the street, looking this way and that. I had no time to wonder how he could have possibly gotten there that quickly. Rachel and I immediately ducked down an alleyway and then out the other side and continued to run.

"Here! In here!" Rachel shouted and pointed at the nearest store.

I looked up at the name. It was some fancy specialty boutique. I blinked, not really understanding why she would want to go in there. We were kind of busy running for our lives here. "I don't think now is really the time to shop, do you?" I kind of mumbled.

Rachel rolled her eyes, irritated, and pulled me into the store and then into the back rooms where people were trying on clothes. Shoving me in a stall, she followed me in and then pushed me so that I was sitting down on the little seat. Even I could understand now. We were going to wait in here until the guy looking for us got tired and stopped the search.

"Oh," I said with a dumb nod. "Right." And then I blinked hard and tried to get the world to stop spinning. Resting my pounding head against the stall wall, Rachel and I sat and waited.

We waited for a long time.

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TBC?