Michelle
The day wore on, but it was dark and dreary. We managed to set up some lights, but it was still so dark. And the darkness weighed heavy on my soul.
By about five in the afternoon, I thought I'd go crazy. No real light... and everyone seemed dead. The most anyone said to one another were a few choice words, and a lot of the time it was from our parents. Dad wasn't even acting like dad anymore, and that just terrified me. It was even worse when I thought we'd lost him.
Megan and I retreated into our room for a little while, and Aerionna followed us. I guess she was afraid too. Her tail was lowered, and her eyes were a little droopy.
(I... I am... if this planet is taken over by Yeerks, I...)
"We know Aerionna. We know" Megan assured her, trying to smile. I couldn't blame them. I wasn't feeling so crash hot myself.
"If only there was a way to help..." I said, turning my thoughts inward. I sat with my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands.
(I believe Sean was correct. We are just 'kids' and we may do nothing more than become a nuisance to them)
"But what if... what if they come after us? You don't expect us to just sit here and let them attack us do you?" I asked "We can't expect our parents to save us every time, can we?"
(My tail blade is too small to be useful in a fight) she said gloomily.
"What are we gonna do Michelle? Throw rocks and sticks at them? Let Seth turn into a bat and try and squawk them to death?" Megan asked, mirroring my posture. If my hair were a bit longer, we'd be a mirror image of one another. Only in different clothes.
"One, bats don't squawk, and two, it wasn't a bat he said, it was a Chudnit" I said to her. She gave me one of those long sad looks that said 'you know what I mean', and I nodded.
Very soon, I walked off to check the others. Seth, Alex and Cody were in Alex and Cody's room, playing cards, believe it or not. They just smiled and waved at me. But nothing was really said, and I walked off a little angrily. I went into Nicole and Toni's room, where Nicole lay facedown on the bed, and Toni lay staring up at the ceiling on her own bed. I talked to Toni a little, but other than that I got nothing out of them. Then I went to Sean and Seth's room. Elfangor and Sean were just sitting in there, and for the first time in hours I heard them talking to one another.
"Cinnamon buns or chocolate?" Elfangor asked as I entered. Elfangor was perched on Seth's bed, just sitting there, and Sean was laying sideways across his own bed, his feet up on the wall and his head and shoulders hanging off the bed.
"Thank god I'm not insane" I sighed as I went and sat next to Sean, looking down at him. He smiled up at me, then turned his attention back on Elfangor.
"Uhhh, I'd have to say... cinnamon buns?"
Elfangor nodded, smiling "Yeah, you got it. My dad could not last a week on Earth without cinnamon buns"
I rolled my eyes "Okay, I take it back. I am insane"
"Or you just hang around the wrong people, making you insane as well" Sean said, his hand touching mine in a supporting gesture. Then it was gone again.
"Yeah. But..." I took a deep breath then continued "...what about all this stuff on the surface? I mean, we can't stay down here forever, can we?"
"No, we can't" Sean said getting up and nearly head-butting me as he turned around to sit upright "But for now, we can do what we've been asked to do and sit tight"
"If I sit any tighter I'm going to scream... or... something" I said desperately, tugging at my short hair, hating the 'waiting' part. I needed to do something, anything...
"Aerionna doesn't think she can do much. And... she's afraid she won't be able to protect me if it comes down to it, but..." Elfangor puffed out his chest a little "I can take care of myself"
"So can Seth the bat-boy" Sean snorted "Or not"
We were called out for 'dinner'. Another bowl of fruit... not much different from the one we had that morning. Dad made a joke about dinosaurs and freaky crab aliens, but for the most part... it was eerily silent.
We went back to our rooms, with Aerionna joining Megan and me, and Elfangor joining the twin boys. We all decided to go to sleep, since there was nothing better to do. A few hours later, I took a trip to the bathroom, and as I was walking out...
"I didn't think... I didn't know it was..."
"But you knew, didn't you? You knew about this... and you conveniently didn't tell us!"
It was coming from the kitchen. And... it sounded like my mom and dad arguing. But I felt it was more than that.
"I was fifteen christs sake! And I wasn't... and I'm still not sure when... or where... it was... is... going to happen!"
"You still should have told me!"
"I didn't..."
"You didn't what? Trust me?"
"That's exactly right!" My mom snapped, sounding furious. Dad fell silent.
"Look, stop it. Both of you. For all we knew, the Ellimist was yanking her chain, just like he loved doing to the rest of us" Jake's voice now, sounding harsh. I crept towards the kitchen, peeping ever so slightly around the corner.
All the parents were there. My mom was against a wall, and my dad a few feet from her, facing one another. They both looked furious. Jake was a few feet away from them both, leaning against the wall, and it seemed he was trying to protect my mom in a way. He seemed to be siding with her a bit.
"Well, look at it this way" Robert began "If Jade had come to you and said... and remember you were a fifteen year old boy.... if she had come to you and said 'guess what Marco? We're gonna get married and have kids!', what do you think your reaction would've been?"
My dad opened his mouth, about to speak, but I saw he was thinking about it. But then he nodded a little.
"I would've gone running, that's what I would've done. At fifteen, guys aren't really in on those 'big' commitments"
"Exactly"
"But... she told Jake"
"Well... Jake was your leader. He probably wouldn't have..." Mom trailed off, looking down at the ground "I wasn't in love with him now, was I?"
"Stop blaming each other! It was hard enough knowing Jade was trying to be killed by Crayak, but now... at least now we know why!" Amanda said forcefully.
The others didn't seem to agree.
"Man, I'm cutting you a lot of slack because you seriously saved my butt back there... in that final war... but jeez, I mean, COME ON!! You made us keep secrets from one another!!" Rachel exploded, stepping forward like she was about to pound my mother, but Tobias grabbed her shoulders and pulled her roughly back.
"I... I didn't know what to do..." Mom whispered, and I saw she was fighting back tears.
"She was fifteen! We all were. I think if we all knew the future we would have all split and run off to fight the Yeerks our own way" Jake said, looking forceful.
"And we would have never had to be here on this rock, fighting people we should have been able to destroy years ago. Oh, and did I mention we have to protect our kids now?!!" Dad turned on Jake, balling his hands into fists. Jake flinched, but then there was no other reaction from him.
"Yeah, our kids. Our kids. See how that sounds? Do you understand what that means?" Ithiell asked, not moving from where he was standing but looking at my dad with narrowed eyes.
"That we're idiots?!"
"No, that we loved each other enough to have kids. That we fought one war, and moved on. And besides, those images could have been anywhere, even in our own backyards. Jade isn't to blame, the Ellimist is"
"And this human seer?" Rachel asked.
"Pure chance she realised who it was" Ithiell said simply. He looked at the War-Prince and Rtaia. They were the only ones who hadn't spoken or made a move.
"Our kids, huh? Are you sure they're our kids?" Dad accused, glaring at my mother. She was looking up at him now.
"What... what do you mean?"
"I mean are you sure they're really our kids, and not maybe... I dunno... Jake's!!"
Now my moms face flashed from horror, then straight to anger. Her hands were now balled into fists. I was pretty shocked myself.
"How... how can you even think that? How can you?"
"Well, yes or no. C'mon Jade, tell me" My dad sneered.
"How dare you accuse me of that. How... how dare you!" In seconds, there was an imprint of my mom's hand on my dad's cheek, and she was now angrier than I'd ever seen her. My dad's hand flew to his face, and he looked shocked.
"I seriously think you deserved that" Rachel muttered. She'd changed sides pretty quickly.
"How can you look at those kids and say they're not yours. They... they have your hair! Alex has your eyes! And they love you..." My mom's hands were now balled into tighter fists. And then I saw the blood begin to seep from the sides of her palms. She'd cut herself with her own nails!
I was about to cry out, but then a hand covered my mouth for just a second. When they let go, I turned my head to see my brother behind me. He nodded and mouthed the words 'I heard'. And he looked angry with our dad.
"Maybe Jake morphed me" He said as we turned back to the conversation.
"Now you're just grasping at straws!" Jake snapped.
"Do you really think your best friend would betray you like that? Do you think the woman who loves you could ever even think of doing that to you? Get real Marco, and stop accusing her. She knows all this already! She knows she did something wrong. Can't you see she feels bad enough already?" Rachel asked.
He turned back to mom, who still looked angry, but now tears were falling down her cheeks. I saw him look down at her hands, and his face suddenly softened.
"Jade, I'm sorry... your hands..." he trailed off, reaching for her right hand, but she pulled back.
"No Marco, don't touch me. In fact, don't come near me. Ever again" She began to walk away, but Jake stopped her.
"We still have to talk about the plan Ithiell has for Tobias" So she stayed, and they talked about joining his blood with Tobias's. It was then that Alex grabbed my shoulders and pulled me away. We were both probably feeling the same way about now.
"Can you believe that?" I whispered, staring up at him.
"No, I can't. I thought our father was better than that. But... then again, I heard more than you"
"But you"
"I dove under the table when I heard you coming"
"Oh"
"Apparently this Ellimist showed her images of the future, and one was of us. All of us, standing around... a table or something"
"Oh. Well... what do we do?"
"Wait till morning and hope our parents haven't killed each other by then"
"Is that all?" I accused silently. I didn't just want to...
"Michelle, it's ok. Just go back to bed, and we'll figure it out in the morning" He pushed me back to my door, then I watched as he walked to one of the bathrooms and go in, with the light of the bathroom lighting up his face for just an instant before he entered. And he looked furious.
Suddenly I didn't feel so crash hot about going into a war.
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The next morning, our parents got the 'call' they had been waiting for. They opened the hatch... cautiously, and left. But not before giving us specific instructions to stay here. Cody had asked about what would happen if we ran out of food down here. They told us to hold out as long as we could, and if they weren't back by then, to go to the nearest Chanaiben home. We would be safe until they got back if we did do this.
They left us, hugging us and telling us they loved us. I couldn't tell if mom and dad were all right, but they seemed ok. Mom caught dad as he slipped on the stairs going up, and they kind of smiled sadly at one another. Then Aerionna shut the hatch, and we were alone again. And without natural lighting either.
A week went by... two? We couldn't be sure. We did what we could to keep the lights on for as long as possible, and we kept away the fear by staying together and just playing card games... and some other games that stopped the moment someone laughed, and someone else brought up the war happening above us. It was terrible. The wait... not knowing if our parents were alive or not. The fact that we didn't know if we were the only ones alive on the planet or not. It was just all so much.
We had showers once every four days, to keep our water reserves from diminishing too quickly. We also had to ration our food. It there was a lot... probably enough for about two months, but we didn't know how long we'd be here.
But the nights... they were the worst. The temperature dropped to just above freezing.
Two weeks later, I was about to give up. I stood at the computer Aerionna and her parents had used. I didn't know how to work it, and just trying to figure it all out was making me extremely mad. I'd raised a fist, about to smash it into pieces, not caring anymore, when a hand closed around my wrist. I shook it off, turning to find Sean there, his face unreadable.
"I know what you're thinking. But it's not gonna work Chellie" He said softly. Chellie was his nickname for me. I'd never let anyone else call me that... but he could. I guess you could say I had... feelings for him.
"What do you mean? We have to do something?! Just sitting here is... is..." I trailed off, flighting back angry tears and looking up at him. He smiled, understanding. And before I knew it, his arms were around my shoulders, and he pulled me close in an awkward sort of hug. I blushed, but hugged him back anyway.
He was sixteen... like my brother... and I was thirteen. But something... something was there between us. We were... closer than normal friends. Maybe... maybe...
"It's all right Chellie. Just hold on a little longer. Then we'll try and find someone... all right?"
"I... ok. But... I can't stand the silences anymore! I... it's driving me up the wall!" I cried, tears spilling over my cheeks as I dug my face into his chest, wetting the front of his shirt. He didn't seem to care. He only hugged me tighter.
"Shh, just a little longer. I promise. Then we'll rally the others, and we'll go somewhere. We'll find a way..." He trailed off, then let go of me and bent down to look into my eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes of his....
"Danger! Breach! Breach!!" The computer wailed, and the rest of the place seemed to come to life.
"What?! But I didn't touch it!!" I protested backing away from it with Sean by my side.
"I know... but look!" Then I saw why it was becoming lighter. Something very big was trying to wedge its way between the rock wall and the big hatch. And it the computer was fighting it. In seconds, everyone else was out of bed or whatever and in the dinning room with us.
"What did you do?!" Toni snapped looking at us.
"Nothing! We were talking, and then..." I pointed up at the thing, which was slowly winning against the computer. Alex gave us a fish-eye, but then it was gone as we watched the thing coming through. Aerionna and Elfangor took a position in front of the group, since they were probably the only ones that could stand a fight with whatever this thing was. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Seth changing. Grey fur was beginning to...
"Okay, there!" Yelled a voice.
"You sure?!" Came another.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Stop right there" The thing stopped, and now just attempted to hold the hatch open. It was only then that I realised the gap was big enough for a person to fit down the stairs. And that's exactly what happened. Someone walked hurriedly down the stairs, down to us, some kind of weapon...
And then I saw her face. For a second I thought she was my mom, but then I realised whoever this was, was actually a lot younger than my mom. Early to mid-twenties, I guessed. And there was a scar going diagonally from above her right eye to the bottom of her cheek. She was wearing jeans that were torn below the knee and tattered at the bottom, and a daggy grey shirt that looked like there had been blood and dirt and god knows what else had been on it. She looked like she hadn't had a bath in a while. Her short brown hair was tied tightly back, and the look on her eyes reminded me so much of my mother.
Then she saw us, and her weapon lowered. Then she smiled. Like she'd just won the lottery kind of smile.
"Did you find them?" Came a voice from above, and we all jumped. But the woman just kept smiling...
"Yeah, I found them. You can let go now"
"All right. If you're sure..."
"Dustin, I'm sure!" Then the thing let go, and the computer closed the hatch again. Now she was alone with us. Or... we were alone with her. Whichever way you liked to look at it.
She never turned her eyes away, and then that's when I realised who she was... I remembered her from when I was little...
"You're... you're our..." I stuttered, not really believing it. The story went that she went missing in space years ago... on an exploration to the...
"Yes Michelle. It's me. It's your Aunt Phoebe. And I knew I'd find you here. I've known since I was as young as you"
"But... why are you here now? I thought you...we thought you were dead!!" Megan cried, latching onto our brother. He looked shocked too.
"No. And I'm here because it is simply meant to be"
Meant to be. Now that's a line I wouldn't really understand until months later... until I witnessed our fate for myself.
Okay, this is not the best chappie, but I simply didn't know how to introduce you guys to her, and to get the parents out of the way for a while. Tell me whatcha think, ok? Thanx.