They pretend for you. And you watch, helpless, as the yeerk fools your friends and family. A creature with a yeerk inside their head is called a controller. They could be anyone. Your mother, father, teacher, friend, the man riding by on a bike, your grandparents, your aunt, uncle, cousin. You.

That’s why I have to be careful. The andalites fight them. We fight them. The andalites are good aliens, that look like a cross between a deer, scorpion, and a human, with a few added extra’s. We also fight them. Us, animorphs.

By animorphs, I mean me, and four of my friends. There’s Carey; our animal expert and tree hugger, whom we get most of our morphs from, since she lives on a farm; Rachel; our fashion-girl, who is a warrior underneath it all; Melissa; our serious expert on how dangerous everything will be; Brooke; our all-cool, all-joker and the one who will say “Let’s do it” every time we’re about to go on a dangerous mission; there’s Terin; our resident andalite; and well, last but not least, there’s me.

I’m sort of shy, and quiet. I love to read. I’m our sort-of leader. Melissa was the leader, up until a week ago, and I wasn’t even an animorph, until a week ago. And this story, is about how it all happened.

But let me back up. It was getting late, so we decided to take a shortcut through an abandoned construction site. It wasn’t very smart. Turns out we didn’t have to worry about ax-murderers, just aliens. We watched as four high-school kids raced around the construction sight, calling “Homer!”

Probably their dog. We followed them. We watched as another high-school kid, that stood with a dog, said “Here’s your dog.” And then, as if for an after thought, pointed into the sky, as a blond girl followed his gaze.

“Too weird.” I herd her say with a gasp.

I glanced at the sky where they were pointing. My mouth fell open. It looked like some sort of alien space ship. My heart was in my throat as I watched it land. I saw the others blinking a couple times, they looked awed. They looked a little intrigued too. I probably looked the same way. The high-school students just stood there. They didn’t look amazed, and they didn’t look afraid, but the sure didn’t look like they knew what was going on. The spaceship finished landing, and a small hatch on the side opened. I heard a tapping sound.

“I think this is the part where we hide.” I heard one of the high-school kids say, he had black hair and an orange jacket.

They went and crouched down behind a board, still watching. I turned my head back toward the ship. A tall alien-looking creature stepped out. It looked like someone had stuck a deer, a scorpion and a human in a blender with a bunch of blue paint. It was creepy. And its tail…

I don’t even want to go into that. It had a very sharp, very dangerous looking scythe-blade on the end. Its hooves tapped lightly on a metal ramp. I tried to scream, I tried to move. All I could manage was a wheeze and a couple of low gasps. Suddenly, It fell to the ground.

<Do not be afraid. I am Elfangor, of the andalite world.> I heard it in my head, and gasped.

“Your hurt.” I heard the black girl say. “Jake give me your jacket, he’s wounded.”

“We can help you. Cassie knows a lot about Animals.” I heard the blond girl say.

“Way to insult the guy Rachel.” I heard the guy in the orange jacket say.

Cool, I thought. If she has the same name as me, she can’t be all that bad, even if she is crazy.

<There is nothing you can do for me, the wound is fatal, and I will die.> The alien said. <But there will be others. Unlike me, they, have come to destroy you.> I watched as the high-school kids listened closely. The alien continued. <There is no time. You must protect yourselves from the yeerks.>

“The what?” The guy in the orange jacket asked.

<The yeerks.> I watched them, all the while, noticing that the guy in the black jacket remained silent, not speaking. <The yeerks are parasites. They enter your brain through the ear canal. They take over your body. They could be anyone, your friends, your family.> Elfangor said. <Earth is their next target.>

‘Wait,” The guy in the orange jacket asked, “Your telling me that some slimy alien slug, can crawl into my brain?”

“And control us?” Rachel added.

<Yes. There is no time. I will do what I can for you. I have no choice.>

That sent a chill down my spine.

<I can give you a way to fight the yeerks.> The alien said, pulling out a small blue box. <Each of you must touch one side of the cube.> I saw them all hesitate.

“I-I’m not gonna touch that!” I saw the kid in the orange jacket say.

<If you don’t, all the things you love- your family, your friends, will all be destroyed.>

The kid in the orange jacket looked nervously at the rest of them.

“You heard him, Marco. We have no choice.” The girl, Rachel, said.

Marco, that was apparently the kid in the orange jacket’s name.

“Yeah.” Jake agreed. He pressed his hand against the side of the box. Followed my Cassie, Rachel, and reluctantly by Marco.

<This gift is for you too, Tobias.> Elfangor said.

“How do you know my name?”

<Hurry.> Elfangor said, not answering him.

Tobias, the guy in the black jacket, touched the top of the box. The box turned yellow, then red, then white, and then green, purple, and pink, finally turning back to blue. Finally they took their hands away.

<It is done.> Elfangor said. <The power of change is in you.>

“Change?” Tobias asked, “What kind of change?”

<You only need to touch a creature, to acquire its DNA pattern, and change your form.>

Rachel asked; “Change our form?”

“You mean we can change into animals?” Cassie asked.

<Exactly.> Suddenly, the wind swirled around them, and a second ship slowly hovered over the construction site. <Visser Three is here.>

Elfangor said. “What’s Visser Three?” Marco yelled over all the noise.

<Go! Your lives are more important than mine!> The andalite cried.

The high-school kids ran. At the last second, as the other ship landed, I saw the andalite throw a small disc toward Tobias. <Take this Tobias, and guard it with your life, and your soul.> I saw him race toward it, but he didn’t reach it in time. The blue box came blowing in our direction, and I saw Carey catch it. And she turned to run, but I grabbed her jacket.

“Not. Now.” I said. “I want to watch.” By then, I knew I really, truly was crazy.

No! It isn’t real! I thought. It’s a dream! But, I knew it was true. And my heart froze with dread. I began to cry. I heard a couple other of my friends doing the same. Who wouldn’t? I thought I was going to die.

<Prince Elfangor,> I heard the other andalite say. <What an honor it is, to be in the presence of a legend. > And he laughed cruelly.

<Visser. Three.> Elfangor said, with more hate that I had ever heard filling his voice.

<Yes, I have taken an andalite body as a host, your andalite morphing technology has been so very, useful> Visser Three said.

And then I realized, that Visser Three was a yeerk, in an andalite’s body. I tried to scream, but all I managed was a gagging sound. Visser Three began to go on and on about how he would torture Elfangor’s family.

<And,> I heard him say with arrogance, defiance, and finality, with the most evil, murderous voice I had ever heard. <I can’t wait to hear their minds scream.> He laughed cruelly, and began morphing a hideous beast, and he ate Elfangor. Literally, ate. It made me yell.

“No!” I cried, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw the high school girl named Rachel scream the same thing, even louder, and at the same time, her yell covered up mine, and a bunch of people began to chase the high-school kids. They ran. And everything was suddenly blacked out.

She was my best friend, and I had to do something. By now, the controllers were very close. Tears were streaming down my face. I realized that I couldn’t save her, I had to leave her here. But what would the yeerks do with her? Make her a controller? The thought was unbearable. I was running through the dense woods, my heart pounding.

I looked back, and to my utter relief, the controllers were heading in the other direction. I collapsed on top of Carey, and let the tears flow. They were tears of relief. But soon I realized that I was lost, somehow, when I had been running, I had gotten myself mixed up, and I was lost. I let out a low moan. I saw a pair of yellow eyes peering at me out of the shadows, gleaming with mischief. My heart began to pound. What the-? Out, from the shadows stepped a wolf, and he looked very, very hungry. What could I do? Help me. I thought. Please help.

Brooke and I were in an old building, at the construction site. We were curled up in a corner of the room. We had entered a large building when we were running, and had gotten lost. The building was so huge, that they had wandered around the dark, empty, deathly quiet halls, peering around corners, trying to find our way out, for what seemed like hours, but what was probably only a few minuets.

“I don’t know, I hope so.” Brooke said.

“We shouldn’t have just left them like that, and I’m going to find a way out.” I said stubbornly., and stood up. “Come on.”

Brooke slowly stood up, gave me a doubtful look, and we started off. We turned corners, peering into the darkness, exploring rooms that smelled of sawdust and charcoal, with a faint tint of mustiness. It was almost airtight. There were no windows, just tiny slivers of cracks on the ceilings enough to let air come in and out. Barely. We wandered down metal, and wood staircases, some long and winding, others short, and straight. In some rooms were boxes or crates, we tried to open a couple, and they wouldn’t open. We crept through another room, it was so dark, I couldn’t see at all. Suddenly my foot hit something, and I tripped.

“Ahhh!” I cried.

I reached for the small object. I felt all over it with my hand. My brain knew it was vaguely familiar. Suddenly my thumb switched a part of it to the side, and a beam of light shone across the hard wooden floor.

“A flashlight!” I cried. “Excellent! Hey, isn’t this great Brooke!? A flashlight, and I just happened to stumble on it.”

I looked around, and my heart froze with fear, as it dawned on me. I was in a large, empty building, Alone. Because Brooke, was nowhere to be seen.

I was now backed up against a tree. I would have moved to one of the sides, but the forest was so dense at this point, that the branches reached far out on all sides, and the branches tangled to the base of the tree, to the very top. I was trapped! I was trying hard to use the box. But, I guess it didn’t work, as I found out later. I didn’t even have a chance to try, and see if it had worked yet, because he leaped! Right at me.

His snarling jaws clamped on a branch, breaking it in two, as I dodged aside. I was lucky. The branch! Before my brain had time to react, I leaped into the air, swinging on a branch, then I fell. I guess I had been watching too much TV, cause that didn’t work either. So, I guess I was a total fool, cause I tried again. And this time my other hand reached the branch when it was supposed to, just as the wolf’s snapping, tearing jaws were about to sink into my flesh.

The wolf just turned and walked away. I was confused. But then I realized why it had just left. My heart wrenched with blood boiling dread. Carey was still down there. Helpless. Hopeless. Just like I was then, alone, in a dark, alien forest. Alien. What was happening to me?

A few yards away I saw a large branch, broken off from a tree, that came sloping off in large, sharp angles. It wasn’t much, but it might hold the wolf off if I could manage to get up and walk. I tried to get up. I couldn’t. I tried again. Success! I was standing on my weak little legs that were quivering in fear.

I took a step backward, as the wolf lunged. I tripped and fell face first in the mud. The wolf leaped at me, snarling! I began crawling again, as fast as I could toward the branch. I was almost there. Just a little closer…a little closer…yes! It was in my hand. The wolf lunged again, and I plunged stick out toward him. It nearly stabbed the wolf. But I had missed. People say wolves are very smart. I don’t think this one was.

He didn’t back away. He either was the most un-smart wolf in all of history, or he was really, really hungry. I slashed at him again! Miss. Again! Miss! Miss! SWOOP! Miss!

The stick nearly flew out of my hands, I had swung so hard. I regained my firm grip, and, with every last ounce of my strength, I plunged the sharpest point of the stick at him. Hit! But it wasn’t that deep, the wolf had leaped back, and it had only put a small scar on his belly. The stick went flying out of my hands and too far away to go grab again. I was so weak… drifting…darkness… faint…

I slowly gave the battle up. I let go, and I felt the awful growl of the wolf, nearer…nearer… so close I could smell it breath. I slowly opened my eyes. SNAP!

I gasped. Melissa had hit the wolf over the head with a large stick. A part of me felt like cheering. The other part…just wanted to sleep. I gave it up. And I let the darkness engulf me.

I was in the room, with Rachel, when suddenly rough hands grabbed my shoulders and covered my mouth. I tried to scream, but I was already being dragged out of the room, and the hand was so tight over my mouth I could barely breathe. It was strange, but I could swear that there was blue fur sticking out of his hands. Maybe it was just the suffocation I was feeling. We went down a long hallway. The hand seemed to meld over my mouth giving me just enough time to breathe a few ragged gasps of air before it covered my mouth again.

We went down a twisted stairway. I nearly fainted, because of breathing. But the hands grabbed my and I able to breathe for about ten seconds before I was shoved into a dark room.

“Take this human, and tie her to the wall. We can’t have anyone knowing about our being here. After days, she will starve and die.” The voice of the person who had brought me here said.

The way he said it, it was so…evil and ruthless. And then, I realized. “No.” I said.

It couldn’t be Visser Three. But I had seen blue fur... or had I? Another pair of hands grabbed my out of the darkness, and pushed me up against the wall. And then, I just realized I was crying. The hands tied a rope around my hands so tight, I felt the circulation being cut off. I saw a bunch of shadows leave the room. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw that no one else was there. My wrists hurt so bad.

Suddenly a wonderful thought struck me! I still had a Swiss army knife in my back pocket that I had swiped from my brother when he nearly stabbed me with it. I reached, further, further. The pain was agonizing. A little closer… yes! I had the knife. I cut myself opening the knife, but it was worth it. It took my a while to cut through the thick rope, and I cup myself a few times, but I did it.

I dropped the knife and rubbed at my sore wrists. It took me what seemed about twenty minutes for them to finally get blood pulsing regularly through them again. I wiped the bloody cuts on my shirt, and closed the Swiss army knife and stuck it back in my pocket. I slowly stood up. I hated it in there. I wanted out. I wanted out now.

Anger suddenly shot through me like electricity. I stood up and was about to try and bang the wall down when I felt a hand on my wrist. Suddenly I wasn’t mad anymore. My blood ran cold. I was suddenly very, very terrified.

And I heard Brooke crying. I almost gasped. But I realized I couldn’t do that. I sneaked back into the last room that there was. I crept back still, into the farthest, darkest corner of the room, and curled up tight, still holding the flashlight.

I watched a human stop in front of the door, and I saw a blurring, and the human was replaced with an andalite. Visser Three! I thought with terror. I was so terrified, I swear I didn’t move for a long time. He had left so long ago, I had just waited there to be careful. Slowly, I got up, I didn’t turn on the flashlight, because I was still being careful. I turned the corner. I glanced around, and slowly let out my breath. No one was in sight.

I heard scared breathing coming from the next room. I crept in. I placed my hand on her wrist. I was glad I wasn’t alone again. I felt her tense up.

“Take a chill pill girl, it’s just me!” I said.

She let her breath out in a whoosh. She whirled around and hugged me. I started to cry.

“We have to get out of here.” I said.

“I know.” Brooke replied.

We carefully walked around the place, but we did it as quickly as we could. We didn’t want to be there another second. We had our arms around each other, mostly because we were freezing, but we both needed comfort.

“This place is huge! It could be like a mansion or something.” Brooke said.

I looked at her. “I think it was supposed to be for some really high tech working scientists, a lab or office for them or something, but they found another, bigger place off in Colorado or something. I heard it on the news, but I wasn’t really paying attention.” I said.

“Weird.” Brooke replied.

“Look!” I cried.

I shone my flashlight ahead on an exit sign above a door, that was faded, but you could still see it. I jumped with joy and raced for the door. Brooke followed me. I raced out the door, and ran straight into someone! I gasped. It was Carey! And Melissa was right behind her. We all hugged each other.

“Let’s go home.” I said.

Everyone agreed, and we walked away from all the terror and destruction of the night.

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