Dimension Travelers

Chapter 29

I look at the picture Seth has one more time. We looked so happy and at peace, I guess you'd say. We don't look that much different than we do now. I mean, how could we? This was only a few months ago. I gave Seth his picture back and we just sat there. Time was ticking. It's almost time for our mission. Every time I think about it, I get a bit nervous and excited. I don't know why.

My head still hurts a bit from earlier but I'm better now. After my talk with Rick, I feel like I practically know him. Well, if anything, his life story; parts of it. I would see him every now and then at school but we never talked. I'm not the kind of girl to just walk up to a random person and start a conversation. Seth might do that, but...

Anyways, as we sit here, bored out of our minds, Rick suggests something he thinks will be entertaining.

"Hey, Chloe." He says, "You mind showing us what you can do?"

I look at him. "Like, morphing into different animals or kicking your butt in combat?"

Everyone laughs and I smile.

Rick rolls his eyes. "Morphing into different animals. I don't feel like getting my butt kicked today."

I laugh. "Ok then."

So I morph into a falcon and fly around a bit. Firefly stares at me in awe. After a few rounds, I land on Rick's shoulder and poke him in the face. I make sure my talons don't dig into his shoulder. He strokes my feathers. I like that. I nudge him to keep doing it. I fly off his shoulder then morph into a hybrid that Seth told me about. At first, they're a bit scared but then relax. I morph into a cheetah, wolf, eagle, rattlesnake, mouse, ferret, and a tiger. After all that, I'm rather tired so I sit down to rest.

"Wow, that's amazing." Rick says.

"Yeah, I've never seen animals like that before." Firefly says.

I smile. "My favorite thing to do is turn into a rat, cockroach, mouse, or spider and scare teachers."

"I like to scare my mom when she's in the kitchen." Seth says.

"Remember the last time you did that? You were grounded for a week." I say.

Seth sighs. "It's a risk I'm willin' ta take."

"Hey, what time is it?" Rick asks.

"I don't know, you tell me." I say.

"Maybe we should check." Firefly says. "I'll go if you want."

We all look at each other. Should we let her? I mean, she's emotionally unstable to say the least. She may be on our side but how long can we trust her? I mean, it took this long for Seth and me to trust Rick. So, how long will it take? We're not going to be here much longer...Will we ever trust her completely? Not likely.

"Uh, sure." Rick says.

When she leaves, I say, "This whole not trusting her thing isn't gonna help in a life or death situation."

"I agree. But she hasn't been exactly trustworthy lately." Rick says.

"Yeah, how are we supposed to trust her?" Seth asks.

"Not 'trust,' just...not get paranoid?" I say.

Rick shrugs. "I guess that could work, but if we're not paranoid, then what are we?"

"Not suspicious?" Seth puts in.

"Nah." I say, "Maybe...just dealing with it?"

"Ignoring it?" Rick says.

"Trying to forget about it?" Seth suggests.

That's when Firefly walks in. "Try and forget what?"