A/N: I sincerely apologise (again! Argh...) for the long, long delay! I come bearing two chapters as gifts to make up for it! Hope you all enjoy it. I promise that more action will come in the following chapters now that they've found out who seems to be responsible for all these ridiculous shenanigans!
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
::Jake::
"Who the hell is David?" I demanded.
It took quite a long time for the rest to explain to both Loren and I who this David person was. My head was spinning with all these theories and speculations, but there was an emotion of sorts intensifying with me as Marco detailed what David had done in the other reality. Even though I could have just dismissed everything as a cock-and-bull story, somehow the emotions of this whole situation was so palpable that my hands were already clenched into fists. Cassie's voice was trembling as she added in details about what had happened to David in the end, with the Coke-bottle and all, but hearing about David's betrayal was enough to make me feel like he deserved it.
Well, turns out turning into a tiger and facing death at an alien's hands does things to your heart.
"He has a happy family now," said Marco, gritting his teeth. "And he wants to make sure none of us have it. He wants to make us lose it all!"
"But I don't understand how he can be so powerful," said Cassie. "Unless – Crayak?" She looked a bit disturbed at the thought.
‹Crayak may be able to bend time. But he, too, is not a personality manipulator,› said Ax, calmly. He seemed to be more comfortable in thoughtspeech despite the fact that he had a mouth.
"Please don't tell me that creep got his hands on the Time Matrix and some mega-machine that can twist people inside out," groaned Marco.
‹Whatever it is, time alone is not something to be toggled with. David has been playing with time by appearing when he shouldn't have, and that has very serious consequences.›
"Guess the only way to find out is if we get David," said Cassie.
"I'm going to phone Rachel," I said, immediately. "We have to get her and Tobias with us and we're going to check this David guy out quick."
"I'm going to check out if David still lives at where he used to," said Marco. "Be back in less than fifteen minutes, I hope. Cassie, you coming along?"
"I'll stay with Jake. Ax, please follow him."
"Very well." And Ax and Marco took off, while Cassie brought her handheld phone over.
"Sure there's reception?" I asked doubtfully, looking around the barn.
"Well, yeah, sometimes I call you from here," said Cassie, looking slightly embarrassed. "Privacy."
"Oh, right."
"I mean, Yeerk-issues kinda privacy," clarified Cassie, hastily. "Not, you know..."
I bit back a smile. "Right. Sorry, I err... only know one-level of privacy in this reality."
Cassie went really red, and I hurriedly turned to dial Rachel's number. A few rings, and Sara picked up.
"Hey, Sara," I said, as cheerfully as possible. "Jake here. Is Rachel there?"
Sara did a few shouts away from the phone before returning to say, "No, I think she's gone sharping!"
"Right," I said. Sharping was really Sara's way of saying 'shopping'. "Err... if she comes back, tell her to give me a call, 'kay?"
Sara made an assenting noise and hung up.
"It's been half a day," said Cassie, frowning. "Rachel and Tobias wouldn't just go off for half a day like that without telling us."
"They look pretty intense," I joked. "Could take a whole day."
"No, that's not the way they roll, not when Tobias knows he's being watched by Controllers," said Cassie, grimly.
"Tobias..." Loren's voice made both Cassie and I jump. Geez, I'd forgotten the lady was still there. Had she heard my pathetic attempts at flirt– "Is he lost?"
Her voice seemed steady, but it was cracking towards the end. I exchanged looks with Cassie.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," said Cassie.
"He sounds so – so strong. The way you all described him. Hardy."
Her eyes were shining, as though she was so eager to find this 'new' Tobias. I felt a little sorry for her.
"Look, Loren," said Cassie, quietly. "This Tobias? He's not really your son." Loren's face fell. "He's got his own life to live and you mustn't raise your expectations to hope that he may stay behind. Tobias loves you, there's no doubt about that. But he doesn't belong here. None of us do, not even Jake." I flinched slightly. "You have to help us in this in order to get your son back."
Loren looked extremely conflicted. The son she was going to get back was the son who was plagued with problems. Not that the current Tobias was any less problematic, from what the others had told me.
"I'm going to get one of Rachel's dresses from my wardrobe," said Cassie. "We're going to play a little game."
Ten minutes later, Marco and Ax returned to report that David was not at home.
"But Megadeth is there," said Marco, snidely. "So I'm definitely sure it's his place."
"Megadeth?" I echoed.
"His err... pet cobra."
"What? What is wrong with this kid?"
"That thing exists in my DNA, by the way," said Marco. Then he winced. "No time to explain. Okay, Cassie, why are you holding up a dress?"
Cassie smiled. "We're playing a game of find-the-bone."
Marco groaned. "Rachel will kill you if she found out you had dogs sniffing at her clothes."
Cassie shrugged. "Not the first time. As long as she doesn't know."
-.-.-.-.-.-
A few minutes later, Marco and I were both in dog morphs. I hadn't even known I had a dog in me – and said dog was Homer. God, was this what he always felt whenever I made him run? I was lazy and sleepy, and I didn't want to move from the haystack. But the girl was dragging me by the scruff. Why? I whined a doggy whine.
"For God's sake, Jake," Cassie panted. "Can you please just go out there by yourself?"
‹But I don't want to!›
"Rachel and Tobias's lives are at stake, you – you dog!"
That jerked me up, and I bolted out of the doorway to find another dog running in circles. I had to control a strange urge to join in the circling fun.
"Okay, come off it, you two!" Cassie said, crossly. She grabbed both of us by the scruffs and we let out doggy whines once again. "Ax, where's the dress?"
Ax looked extremely comical holding up a girl's dress and placing it against his body. "This is a strangeee – stranGUHH article of clothing. It is one-piece!"
"Ax, you've been on Earth long enough to tell that it's a dress," said Cassie, putting her hands on her hips.
"But I have nevvvv – nevv – nice sound – never seen it so flat."
‹Is he talking about boobs?› I asked Marco, privately.
‹I believe our boy Ax has just made his first dirty human joke,› Marco announced to the rest.
"Not bad, Marco, some of that humour's coming through," said Cassie, who tossed the dress from Ax's hands onto both Marco's and my head. "Now, smell it and go find Rachel. Go!"
I sniffed the clothing as deeply and frantically as I possibly could. Rachel and Tobias had left the barn many hours ago – it was even starting to get dark – but for some reason, Homer's sense of smell is incredible. He could still smell the faint scent of...
‹This way! I tossed the dress off my head and bounded towards the gate. ‹I don't know why, but it smells like this way.›
Marco and I bounded ahead, while Cassie and Ax tried their best to follow us. Somehow, we were led in circles all around the neighbourhood. Eventually, Cassie and Ax both morphed into birds to catch up with us.
‹What were they doing, going all around?› demanded Cassie, as she circled overhead. ‹Playing catch?
‹No,› said Marco. ‹I think someone was playing catch with them. Rachel's scent is strongly intermingled with another's – it must be Tobias's.›
‹Oh. You think it was the Sharing guys?› Cassie asked. I felt a shudder go through my dog body as I thought of Tom leading Cam, Matt and the rest to chase after Rachel and Tobias.
‹It's not like I know their scent,› said Marco, exasperated. ‹Hey, look, their scents separate!›
‹Tobias's is stronger here,› I said, tilting my head in one direction. ‹I'm going after that. You go after Rachel's.›
Cassie followed me while Ax flew above Marco. I found myself heading towards the woods and stopped short. I sniffed the grass and gingerly padded my way to one of the trees. Then I moved onwards to the next one.
‹Look, Jake!› Cassie fluttered down to the branch above me. ‹In front of you!›
I looked – and there were faint markings in the soil.
Large paw prints.
‹What could have made those?› I asked.
‹It's a big cat's prints,› said Cassie, her tone harsh.
‹What the hell is a big cat doing...›
‹David was well-known for a lion morph.›
I felt a tingle go down my spine. ‹Wait.› Then I sniffed Tobias's scent all the way to the main road. Then it was gone.
‹He must have driven off with Tobias,› said Cassie, now extremely worried-sounding. ‹Oh my God, how are we going to find Tobias?›
‹Rachel?› I whispered. ‹What about Rachel?›
‹Time to find Marco and Ax.›