CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

::Jake::

I've known Marco for a long time, and I've never seen him argue so passionately about something unless it involved arcade games or cheerleaders whom he never really gets to date. Most of the time, he's pretty easygoing and just takes things as they are. But this time, he was getting into a major tiff – with Cassie, of all people – over my parents, and God, this whole thing is beyond insane.

"I said I'll do it!" I repeated, exasperated.

Strangely enough, Marco finally stopped arguing and said, "Alright, you said it. Fine. Now let's do it."

"Marco..." Cassie began, startled.

"You win, alright?" Marco snapped. "There's no time left if we want to do this!"

In no time, we were birds up in the air – Marco had been one for the umpteenth time today, given the amount of spying and rescuing we had to do. But I wasn't so concerned about him anymore. The closer we flew to my house, the more frightened I became.

‹Jake? Buddy, you're so quiet it's kinda scary. We're going to beat this thing, okay.›

‹Right.› I knew I sounded sarcastic, but I let it go. I wasn't in the mood to over-analyse anything.

‹You don't have to flap so hard. It's pretty breezy for night-time. Just relax and ride the thermals.›

Okay, relaxing really wasn't something my body was reacting to at the moment, but I opened my wings and just let myself float. Morphing was crazy cool, but I couldn't enjoy any bit of it considering it was also screwing up my life at the same –

‹There they are!› I gasped.

Below us, a black car was parked outside my house, and my parents were being ushered out of the house by a couple of men. But it wasn't any ordinary form of ushering... from ground level, they could barely be seen, but from aerial view, their hands were behind their backs, and they were struggling.

‹Marco...› I whispered, shakily. ‹Please...›

‹Dude, get a grip. Jake...›

I swooped down.

‹JAKE!

I was heading for the man who was going towards the driver's seat. Sunglasses. Leather jacket. You're dead meat.

‹Jake, you ass...›

WHUMP!

The impact sent me reeling – instinctively, the bird brain took over and my wings flapped frantically as I let out a squawk.

‹Oh my God, shut up!›

The men looked up, but then another bird – Marco – swooped towards me and began pecking at me.

‹What the hell are you doing?› I screamed.

‹Pretending to attack you like a normal bird?› hissed Marco. ‹Don't you see? There's no way...›

‹I SEE THAT!› I roared, lunging back at him, but Marco is definitely more experienced in flight. He expertly veered away and began flapping towards a tree. I was beyond caring anymore; sure, when Cassie had brought up the idea, I was going to do it, just like a freakin' leader should, but just seeing them below... I couldn't take it anymore.

‹Let it go, Jake!›

‹You try letting it go when it's your dad – damn it, Marco!› I yelled as the car drove off. ‹I could have stopped them!›

‹You agreed to go on Cassie's awesome plan, so quit yelling,› Marco snapped. ‹You think I don't know what it's like to watch from the sidelines and be completely helpless? I could have saved my mom a long time ago, when we were spying on the Yeerk mothership, but no, I had to be a freakin' good Animorph and obey orders – yours, mind you – and pretend to be a stupid gorilla instead of snatching her up and tossing her back to Earth.›

‹Yeah, you know what, you have her back now. In that oh-so-exciting reality of yours,› I replied, coldly. ‹And guess what, this has been my life and you all are RUINING it!›

‹Way to get angsty now, Jake. Remember what we're here for?›

I had a hard time calming myself down.

‹Jake?›

‹No. No.›

My talons raked out to grab the branch on which Marco was also resting upon now. ‹I... Christ. Okay. Just say it again. Distract me.›

Marco let out an irritated sigh. ‹You're supposed to pretend to be a Controller and tell Tom that your parents' 'arrest' by the Yeerks has been spied on by humans who have managed to escape the Yeerk pool. Tell them it's a dark blue Audi with the license plate number 422 TEK.› He chuckled bitterly. ‹Yup, that's right, I caught sight of it while we flew over David's house just now.›

‹Right, and you didn't even tell me which house was his,› I said, sourly. ‹I feel like the greatest leader on Earth.›

‹You are, buddy, always will be,› said Marco, solemnly. ‹Just not now.›

I don't know what was compelling me to listen to Marco like he was making the most sense ever. Even when my parents were being mind-controlled by evil alien slugs. God, this was just beyond insane.

I demorphed in the shadows of my yard and walked to the front door. I took a deep breath and banged hard on the door.

Tom opened it and glared at me. "Midget, don't you have manners? We have a damned doorbell for a–"

"You cut the crap," I hissed and shoved him back into the house. Tom's eyes flared as I slammed the door behind me. I narrowed my eyes and jabbed a finger into his shoulder. He swiped it away angrily and was about to protest when I curled my lip.

His eyes flickered.

"You fool." I gritted my teeth. "How could you let this happen in broad daylight?"

"Jake, what the hell are you–" Tom stared at me in complete confusion.

"You know this is not going to get you any sympathy points with Visser Three."

Tom froze.

I smirked. "Always so careful to keep that cover, my comrade. But so careless to bring a car full of Controllers to this house in full view of those who have actually escaped our grasp."

Tom narrowed his eyes. "I don't understand the gibberish you're talking."

"Shall I be more explicit?" I cocked my head to the side. At the same time, I was desperately trying to recall what Cassie and Marco had told me to say earlier – the shock of seeing my parents being taken away by these scumbags had rattled me so much that I was having trouble trying to calm myself down, let alone put on a full performance for Tom's Yeerk. "You are lower in rank than me, and there are stories you do not know. Stories of humans who have run away. They have been elusive for a while – changed their identity and disguised themselves. But lately we have tracked them down, and just when we are about to get them, you choose to stage this little intervention before their very eyes."

Tom stared at me in disbelief. "You–" He took a step back, his face contorting a little. For a moment, I thought I saw my brother – my real brother – staring at me. Then a smirk overcame his face. "So the midget's done for, is he?"

"He walked into The Sharing looking for you and we decided not to risk it anymore." I sneered.

"What is your name?" Tom demanded. "I am privy to a good amount of information myself."

‹Iniss Four-Five-Five, of the Sulp Niaar Pool,› said Marco, immediately. I repeated the name, even though I had no idea what that even meant. The Yeerks named their pools?

Tom hesitated. "I have heard of you. I did not realise you were promoted."

‹That was supposed to be Melissa Chapman's Yeerk. That was one of the first Yeerk names we ever knew and I just remembered it for convenience's sake,› explained Marco, even though I didn't understand what he had just said.

"There will be time for you to catch up on such information later, fool. Now stop changing the subject!" I paused to gather my thoughts, before continuing, "The problem is that these humans who have run away once have now witnessed your taking away of your host's parents. They are going to suspect that you are a Controller as well and if we do not get them in time, your cover is blown! Do you not understand the severity of this issue?"

It dawned upon Tom's Yeerk, and the smirk was wiped off his face completely. "Y-yes. I realise it now."

"Good." I tried to sound as condescending as possible.

"But why do you not go after them yourself?" Tom's voice was heavy with suspicion.

"My host actually knows who these humans are, but I believe that it is your responsibility to tell Visser Three that. If I turn them in to Visser Three and he finds out that you have been careless, what do you think will happen?"

Tom curled his lip. "I'm surprised you would let me off."

I barked out a harsh laugh. "If you are indebted to me, it is beneficial to me, no?"

Tom's Yeerk didn't seem to like that idea at all, but he got the gist of it. He had to get David's parents before they started pulling off the cover of my family. My family. The Yeerks that had got hold of my family, that is.

Damn it.

Once I had told Tom where David and his parents lived and he had made the call to his fellow Yeerks, I left the house and demorphed in the shadows. I was trembling with rage while I made the transition to falcon, but there was nothing I could do. Or so Marco said. And Cassie. And all of them who think they can control the world –

‹To The Sharing,› announced Marco. ‹They should reach there with David's parents in no time. And then our showdown can begin.›

‹I look forward to it,› I replied, bitterly.