(eng) K. A. Applegate - Megamorphs 01 by The Andalite's Gift

Author:The Andalite's Gift [Gift, The Andalite's]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20 - Rachel

I think the pain would have killed me, if I had been human. But I was not just human. I was the bear. And because of the bear's strength, I held on.

My front paws were gone. Chewed off by the terrible dust monster. Blood was everywhere. I could not walk like a bear. But I could wallow along on two legs, until I had gotten far enough away from the terrifying creature.

I found a stream, no more than a foot deep and three feet wide. I sank down into the water and tried to change.

I didn't know if I could. I didn't know how I had become a bear. So I wasn't sure if I could become human again. And if I did . . . what about my hands? Did this terrible injury to my bear body mean that my human hands would be gone, too?

Rachel. That's what the other creature had called me. The creature that looked like a deer and a scorpion and a boy. He'd made no sound, but I had heard his voice in my head. He'd called me "Rachel."

Was I Rachel?

I focused on becoming human again. But all the time, I braced myself for pain beyond endurance.

I lay on my side in the stream. Cold water bubbled and rushed around me. I kept the stumps of my paws in the numbing water. And slowly, I grew smaller. Smaller and weaker. I held the bloody stumps up so I could see them. I would have cried, if I'd had human tears. Fingers . . . human fingers . . . were growing from the gore.

My hands grew back. The carpet of rough fur was replaced by skin and the black fabric of my leotard. Massive bear legs became my own human limbs. My sense of smell grew weak, as my sense of sight grew strong.

I stood up. Shaky. Weak. But no longer in pain. And what was strange was that the scratches and scrapes I'd gotten from walking barefoot through the woods were gone. I was renewed.

I looked fearfully around for the dust beast, but I saw nothing. It was growing dark. Would darkness protect me? Or would it help my enemy?

I looked closer, searching for the alien who knew my name.

Alien?

The word stuck in my mind. Yes! Yes, that creature could not have been from Earth. I knew that. Those memories were still intact. I didn't know whether I knew the alien, or whether he was good or evil, but he had to be an alien.

Like the dust beast. Yes. Yes, of course. The old woman ranting about "Yeerks." They were aliens, weren't they?

FLASH! A construction site. Half-finished buildings all around. Heavy equipment. Dark night. A light in the sky. Something . . .landing. Something . . . alien. People around me. Faces. Faces I knew . . .

"What faces?" I cried. But the vision was gone.

"Arrrrgggghhh!" I yelled in frustration. I wanted to kick something. I wanted to reach inside my own head and tear down the gray curtain that hid the truth from me.

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