Free The Visitor by K. A. Applegate Page B

began to moan. “Oh, oh, no, Visser. I beg you.”
    In the little movie the translucent purple thing suddenly went into a spasm. From the woman’s ear there came the slug. It was sucked, dripping, gray, slimy, right out of her head.
    The purple creature swallowed the Yeerk slug. Then the little movie ended. “Not a very pretty picture, is it, Iniss Two-Two-Six?” Chapman just shook his head. His eyes were still staring at the empty air where the image had appeared.
    Visser Three began to resume the Andalite form. “Don’t fail me,” Visser Three said.

CHAPTER 14
     
    S uddenly Visser Three vanished. The room was dark again. Chapman sat hunched over the desk, with his head in his hands. It was a while before he opened the door and we both went back up the stairs.
    Ms. Chapman was there, waiting. “What are the Visser’s orders?” she asked in a whisper.
    Chapman looked at her like he’d just seen a ghost. “He wants the Andalite bandits. He … he morphed into a Vanarx. A
Yeerkbane.”
He kept his voice low, too. He glanced toward the stairs. I guess he was checking to see if Melissa was around.
    Ms. Chapman shuddered. “I’d heard that heacquired a Vanarx. I always thought it was just another story to frighten his underlings.”
    “He showed me … he showed how he destroyed Iniss One-Seven-Four.”
    Ms. Chapman looked shocked. “He used a Vanarx on an Iniss of the second century?”
    “That Andalite-Controlling scum,” Chapman said viciously. “I wish the Council of Thirteen
would
find out what kind of a mess he’s making on this planet. Let them take that Andalite body from him and throw him back in some distant pool on the home world.”
    “Don’t wish for that,” Ms. Chapman said grimly. “Long before Visser Three loses power, he will surely have destroyed you for failing him.”
    My cat ears noticed the sound before either of the Chapmans. Movement. Human feet pounding. I cocked my ears toward the stairs.
    “Hey, Mom? Dad? Can one of you help me with this math problem?”
    It was Melissa. She was halfway down the stairs. She stopped and glanced hopefully at her parents. Or at least at the people who had once been her parents.
    “We’re busy right now, Melissa,” Chapman snapped.
    “Besides, dear, you should do your own work. That’s how you learn,” Ms. Chapman said. “If youstill can’t figure it out later, your father will help you.”
    Melissa’s face fell. She forced a smile, but there was no happiness there at all. “I guess you’re right, Mom. It’s just this square root stuff.”
    She hesitated, like she was hoping her parents might change their minds and go back upstairs with her.
    Ms. Chapman smiled. It was a smile as empty as Melissa’s. “Square roots are hard to understand, aren’t they? But I know you can do it.”
    “I’ll come up and check on you before you turn in, sweetheart,” Mr. Chapman said.
    The words were normal enough. I guess my own mom or dad could have said exactly the same things to me. “Dear.” “Sweetheart.” But the way they were said … There was something missing. Humanity. Love. Call it whatever you want. The words were right, but they were completely wrong.
    It was horrible. Horrible in a totally different way than the monsters we had fought in the Yeerk pool. This was the kind of horrible that made you want to cry instead of scream.
    And suddenly I found myself running after Melissa as she headed back up the stairs. When I reached her room, Melissa sat down on the bed and began sobbing.
    
    
    
    
    Melissa flopped on her face on