Cassie █████

It was my first time going out to look for the Yeerk pool since the vampires kidnapped me. It still hit me oddly, to think that I'd been kidnapped by vampires. I'd gone from thinking they were make-believe to finding out the hard way they were real: just like aliens. It made me wonder what else was real.

I knew I had to get back out there, though. I needed to make sure that Darrow was safe from at least one thing, and the Yeerks were familiar. I went out later in the evening. I texted Miles, too, to let him know, so at least if I went missing again, he'd have a head start in knowing. It was pushing ten by the time I actually morphed and headed out. It was dark, but my great horned owl morph could see as clearly as if it were day. The world was lit up for me. If it were spring, I'd be able to see every mouse, mole, and vole scurrying for their dinner. As it was, the city proper had a few rats that I spotted with ease — and that my owl instincts found tasty!

How did Tobias do it? He'd been living as a red-tailed hawk for months and months. I knew he'd begun hunting his own food, instead of eating the plates that Jake had made for him, but it had to have been hard. I mean, he was killing animals and eating them raw to survive. Or maybe it would just be hard for someone like me, who couldn't imagine hurting animals. I knew it was just nature, but with a human mind, I supposed I would find it a lot harder.

As I flew, I saw a few vampires. If I hadn't been kidnapped by them, I probably never would have known. Up here, people just look like overlapping ovals moving mundanely over the streets. But I recognized now how vampires moved a little differently, a little smoothly — a little inhumanly. I was tempted to fly to Miles's place and tell him. But it was late, and we both had school tomorrow.

And right now, the Yeerks were more important to me than a handful of vampires.

I banked away from the vampires and made my way south, looking for any familiar sign. As usual, I was looking for outbuildings that looked more populated than they should, or closed businesses with heavy night traffic.

But as it drew closer to the two hour limit, I knew I'd have to give up for the night. Everything was quiet, and dark windows were dark and motionless, as they were meant to be. If there were any Yeerks here, then I wouldn't be finding them tonight.

Besides, I had a test tomorrow.

I didn't like to morph where there was the chance people could see me. I usually stuck to morphing inside my apartment, with the window open enough for me to fly or climb out, or else take the bus somewhere to the edges of town and morph behind some construction, or in a warehouse alley, or somewhere else similar. I didn't want anyone to see me morphing, if I could help it.

Mind you, that didn't mean that I always succeeded. Sometimes, people were unavoidable. That was how I'd met John, actually. He was one of the only people that knew I could morph, and he'd been so gallant, making sure I kept my secret so that no one would try to hurt me. It was sweet, and I'd felt weirdly safe when he'd found out, not afraid.

But I wasn't going to run around blurting my secret out to everyone, either! I'd gotten used to keeping this secret, until it felt like telling it was actually going to physically hurt me and I wanted to tell Jack, tell Miles, but I wasn't sure I could. What if I'd been wrong this whole time, and one of them was a Controller? Or, if not the whole time, most of the time. I had no idea if the Yeerks had followed me here, how deep their hold on the city was, or how many people they'd infested. I had no idea who I could trust!

So, once and for all, I resolved to find out.

I stripped down to my morphing suit — nothing more than a navy blue leotard with bike shorts over top — and cracked my window open about ten inches. I morphed quickly into my osprey morph so I could fly easily out the window and around the city.

The view was amazing from up here. I could see almost to the city borders just from my apartment building. The sun beating on the asphalt provided thermals that would make Tobias jealous. I zoomed straight up — up and up! — until the people braving the chill were just little ovals beneath me.

From here, I could see all of the buildings that I thought the Yeerks would want to use as entrances to their Yeerk pool: city hall, the schools, department stores and malls. School wasn't open right now, so it would be weird if anyone, Controller or not, used any potential school entrances. On the other hand, it would mean that I could take the time to look for them without being noticed by the bad guys. Then again, the fact that the school was closed for the holidays meant that any Controllers could come and go as they pleased, without having to worry about nosy students.

Argh! This was why I needed Jake. I wasn't good at making decisions like this. Jake was the strategist. Not me.

Okay, just think, I told myself. The schools were a good option. No one would be there to catch me. If there were any Controllers, I was in morph — a decent battle morph, if I needed it to be — so they wouldn't know it was me. I could scope it out, see if anywhere looked promising.

I banked towards Petros High, then hopped thermals the entire way. It made flying easy and fast. Soon, I was perching in one of the larger trees behind the building. My keen osprey eyes saw every crevice that could be a secret entrance, every shadow that might be a hidden door.

Movement inside! Hide!

I fluttered up behind a branch, then directed my gaze at the window. Osprey eyes are meant for finding fish through the surface of the water. Looking through a window was a piece of cake.

A janitor. Phew, nothing to worry about. Wait. What was he doing?

He was standing at the janitor's closet door, but he kept playing with the knob. Twisting a secret code to unlock the Yeerk pool entrance?

No, I realized as I watched. Just figuring out which key to use. The staff had begun locking the closets up so kids couldn't make out in them during class. I guessed this guy was new, or forgetful.

I watched him for another hour before I realized that there was nothing suspicious about the janitor. And, maybe, nothing suspicious about the school. I hoped it was a sign that maybe the Yeerks hadn't come, but I had a feeling it was more of a sign that I hadn't picked the right spot.

Resigned, I flew back to my apartment. I'd try somewhere else another time.