The Terran Ranger Saga Volume 4 by Heather Ray (ebook reader browser txt) 📖

carpet. Henry shrieked in outrage, standing up and leaning on his desk.

"We had a deal!" Henry roared, "I have paid your tithe since Tanya's birth, so as to protect her from your vile desires! It has been the curse of my family for you to haunt us, Sandman, and take our children from us!"

"Be silent, Human," chuckled Giuseppe. "Your family owes me for their very existence! Now, I shall take her!"

Giuseppe turned away from Henry, and knelt beside the slumbering girl. He didn't notice Henry snatching the burning candle from his desk. Henry leaped at the yellow creature in a fit of rage.

"Die, monster!!" he cried, touching Giuseppe's arm with the flame. Giuseppe screamed in pain, and knocked the candle from Henry's hand. Henry immediately lifted up his slumbering child, and started to run out of the study. He noticed the candle had landed by the window, and had instantly ignited the curtains. Henry glanced once more at Giuseppe, and noticed that his arm was no longer on fire. Rather, it had turned crystal clear, like glass.

"You shall pay!" Giuseppe roared, as Henry ran through the hall as quickly as his legs could carry him. Just outside his bedroom, he saw his wife, dressed in her robe, with an alarmed expression on her face.

"What's happening?!" she cried.

"Please, Agatha," Henry said, "take Tanya and get out of here! Run away as quickly as you can!"

"What about your friend?" asked Agatha, taking Tanya.

"He is no friend of mine! And, our business together has been terminated! Now flee! I'll make sure he doesn't follow you! And whatever you do, protect Tanya from this monster! I beg you!"

Agatha ran from the now burning house, holding onto Tanya for dear life. Once they escaped the house, she continued to run down the street. She knocked on the door of one of her friends. A tall, dark woman opened the door, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"What the..." she mumbled, "Agatha! What's happening?"

"Marie," Agatha panted, "I don't have much time. Please, take Tanya!"

Agatha put the sleeping child in Marie's arms. Marie stared at Agatha, dumfounded.

"Take her where?"

"To Ishala! Ishala will protect her from Giuseppe Coppola! Please, do this for me! I must go back for Henry!"

Before Marie could debate the matter, Agatha gently kissed her daughter's forehead, and ran back towards the house, now with smoke pouring out of the upstairs window. She hesitated for a moment, and then ran inside. That was the last time anyone saw Agatha and Henry Sloan.

As time passed, Tanya lived with Ishala, an old family friend, out with the African tribes of Kenya. Marie was true to Agatha's last request, and made sure Tanya was taken care of by the tribe. Tanya was fortunate enough not to recall the horrible night when she lost her parents, and Ishala ws forced to tell the child a lie, so as to protect her from the terrible memory of the Sandman. Ishala always kept Tanya close, and told her that her parents, who were archaeologists by trade, were lost in an expedition. Tanya believed this story, although she never lost hope that she'd see her parents again. Years later, in November 1996, Tanya first left the plains of Africa, going to America to bring the magical Zeo Crystal shard to the Power Rangers. Even though she wasn't granted a position on the team, she remained in Angel Grove, and lived with her new friend Katherine Hillard and her family. She was never reminded of the horrible Sandman, until late December of the same year, when her dreams were disturbed by visions of a yellow-skinned man, with a crooked mouth, large nose, bushy eyebrows, and piercing green eyes.
Chapter Two

December 30, 1996

Tanya Sloan was sitting up in her bed, with the sheets covering her body all the way up to her chin. She sat as still as death, staring up at the ceiling. She squeezed her eyes shut, but they flew open only moments later, when she heard an owl hoot. Tanya sighed, and glanced at the clock beside her bed.

For Pete's sake!

she thought. It's four in the morning! Why can't I sleep?

Tanya frowned and rolled over to her side, facing away from the window in the bedroom she had been residing in ever since her friend Katherine Hillard asked her to move in with her family. Tanya had since made herself at home, and the Hillard family had come to regard Tanya as a daughter. Tanya herself couldn't remember the last time she felt like she was part of a family. Her memories of her parents were often occluded.

Tanya once again squeezed her eyes shut, and tried to count sheep, in order to lull her to sleep. But every time she shut her eyes, she saw a glimpse of a hideous yellow face. Tanya shuddered slightly, and nearly jumped when she heard thunder crash outside.

Funny. The sky was clear all day, and the weather report didn't say anything about storms.

Tanya brought the blanket over her head, and tried to shut out the sounds of a raging storm outside. But then, she heard a branch crack from just outside her window. Tanya sat up in alarm, and rose from her bed to see what had caused the branch to break. She yelped in surprise when she saw the shadow of a person retreating from the front yard of the Hillard residence. Tanya blinked, and once again looked for the strange silhouette, but it was gone. Tanya lay back in bed, and began to question whether or not she had seen some intruder. She shrugged off the incident as merely a figment of her imagination, and covered herself in her blankets. But her dreams were filled of images of a dark, mysterious being, and her night wasn't restful in the least. Soon, the sun peeked out from below the horizon. Tanya had long since given up trying to sleep, and tried to read a book. She was glad to see the sun rise, and vanquish the mysterious shadows that suddenly made Tanya fearful. At nine o'clock, there was a knock at Tanya's door.

"Come in," Tanya called. She tried to smile when her best friend entered the room. Kat was wearing her navy blue bathrobe, and she was drying her curly blonde hair with a matching towel.

"G'morning, Tanya!" Kat said cheerily. "Why are you still in bed? You're usually up with the dawn!"

Kat glanced at her friend, and gasped when she saw the bags under Tanya's dark eyes.

"What happened to you? You look like death warmed over!"

"I...I couldn't get much sleep last night," Tanya said with a sigh, "so I decided to catch up on my reading."

"Oh," said Kat, stepping towards the door. "Are you planning on coming hiking with us? It'll be fantastic!"

"Sounds great," said Tanya, putting away her book and getting out of bed. "Lemme get ready."

Chapter Three

By noon, Tommy Oliver, Katherine Hillard, Tanya Sloan, Adam Park, Jason Lee, Kimberly Hart, Billy Mitchell, Rocky DeSantos, Aisha Campbell, and Zack Taylor were all hiking up the cliffs just outside Angel Grove. Zack, who was bringing up the rear, stopped to look back at Angel Grove from the high altitude.

"Wow," he said, "it's beautiful up here."

"It is," said Aisha. "You know, I didn't realize how much I missed all this! You know, the whole gang, just hanging out and having fun!"

"Affirmative," said Billy, "it's really wonderful when the entire group gets together for recreation. If only Trini and Alexis were here. Then every Power Ranger, past and present, would be with us."

Tanya was unusually quiet. She never spoke much when the others were talking about Trini and Alexis, since she had never even met the Purple and the original Yellow Ranger. And, since she was the only member of the party to never actually be a Power Ranger, she felt especially uncomfortable when the group referred to themselves as the Power Rangers. But today, Tanya barely spoke a word. She was too busy fighting off sleep, as well as thinking about the strange shadow she saw run away from her bedroom window early that morning.

"Hey, Tanya," said Adam, tapping her on the shoulder and startling her out of her reverie, "are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm just fine, Adam. Thank you. How are you feeling? You probably shouldn't be doing this kind of strenuous exercise. Not with your heart being so fragile and all."

"I'll be fine," said Adam with his characteristic shy grin. "After all, I haven't done exercise for a week! I'm starting to feel out of shape."

Don't worry, you're in perfect shape, Tanya thought to herself. She could feel the color rise in her cheeks, but due to her dark skin tone, the blush didn't show.

"Here we are," said Tommy from the front, "the peak of the cliff. The view's dynamite!"

"So I see," said Aisha, taking off her deep green backpack. She searched for a few moments, and pulled out a large professional camera with a zoom lens attached. She began looking out at Angel Grove, and snapping pictures.

"Since when have you been into photography?" asked Rocky.

"Since I lived out on the African savannah," she said, not turning around, "I have some magnificent shots of the wildlife, and I've even put together a portfolio of my work. I'll show you sometime. Now that the scenery's changed, so will the style of my photographs. But I must say, photographs from high vantage points are always breath-taking! Especially on such a clear day! I can see for miles!"

Tanya looked up, and was surprised to notice that the sky was completely free of clouds. "Wow, I guess that storm front passed quickly."

"What storm front?" asked Jason.

"The one that hit last night," said Tanya. "You know, the thunder?"

"I don't remember any thunder," said Kimberly. "Are you sure there was a storm last night?"

"Yes I'm sure!" snapped Tanya. "Don't you think I know what thunder sounds like?!"

She looked around,