Lonely

Chapter 44, Sadie

I noticed for the first time that the last three names on my list all had the same last name. If I was really lucky, then maybe they would live in the beat up cottage. I could be back at Arianna’s in…three days? Now that I wouldn’t have to be stopping for these kids, I could just go straight back to Arianna’s and Hanger. I looked up once again at the cottage we were standing in front of. The thought of kids staying in there made me incredibly sad. “Alright, you guys are coming with me.” I said as we marched towards the cabin. There was a scuffling noise as we approached, and silence by the time we actually reached the door. I pulled on it, and the door practically fell off the hinges. As I watched, the door basically repaired its self. I glanced at Libby, who looked rather proud. I opened the door and stepped inside, but there was no one to be seen.

Suddenly, it started to rain. Just like that. I frowned up at the sky, but went back to the task at hand. I looked around. “Spread out, guys.” I said in a low voice. They went to all corners of the small cabin and flitted down the short hall ways. Suddenly, I heard a scream, and there was a commotion. A girl suddenly dashed out a room that Libby had gone into, and turned to go racing down the hall. Libby grabbed her and held her in a head lock. The poor girl struggled, but couldn’t get out of it. Sully came down the hall with a small girl in his arms and scratch on his face. Libby looked pissed. He set the screaming girl down and she ran to the one Libby was holding. I nodded and Libby let go. The older girl gathered the small one into her arms and glared around at us just as a third girl came stomping down the hall with Jett on her heels. They all stood in tight group, glaring at us. Libby, Sully, Ryder and Jett all gathered around me.

“Take it easy.” Sully muttered. Libby turned his head to look at the long gash, and then turned to Jett as they started healing him, Ryder watching with fascination. I stepped closer to the girls. “It’s alright, we’re not here to hurt you.” I said. The tallest one glared at me. “And we’re supposed to believe that.”  Thunder cracked over head and the wind howled. Jett and Ryder huddled closer to Libby and Sully. “A woman named Arianna sent me to come get you. Bad people, the ones that send the monsters after you, are trying to do something bad, and Arianna sent me to get you guys and bring you back to her so we can stop it. Just ask them.” I said, gesturing to the kids behind me. Libby smiled reassuringly at them.

“What’s your name?” another one asked. I took in her appearance. I hadn’t noticed it the first time, but the girl had blue and black hair. I looked at all three of them. I assumed they were sisters, because they all looked similar, with blonde hair, except the one with dyed hair, and freckles dotting their faces. I smiled at the strange haired girl. “Sadie. This is Libby, Sully, Jett, and Ryder.” I said, pointing to each one as I said there names. They all gave a little wave, but stayed silent. The oldest one took a deep breath. “If Arianna sent her, then we need to go with her.” She said. The other two looked up at her and nodded, total trusting in their eyes.

“Why does Arianna need us again?” the shortest one asked, looking up at me. “I don’t really know, but it is so you can get rid of all those nasty monsters.” The girl smiled and slowly approached us, and my little group came up behind me. “I’m Ariadne, this is Sophia,” she said, pointing the youngest one, who waved at us, “and this is Roxi.” She said, pointing to the other one. I smiled at them. “Alright, we need to get going. We can right back to Arianna’s now.” I said. Ryder moaned. “How long will it take?” I ruffled his hair as we walked out of the house. Libby was walking in the front with the new girls, filling them in on what had happened so far. The boys stayed in the back with me. “Only a few days.” This seemed to please him, and for the time being, and they all started a game of eye spy, even the new girls who were fitting in already. The rain, which went from thunder storm to down pour, to regular rain, to a drizzle, was now completely gone and the sun was even starting to shine again. I noticed that Roxi, who was really paying attention ,was flicking the air as if shoving something away with her hand. I frowned.

“What’re you doing?’ I asked. She looked up, startled. “Uh, playing with electric signals.” Ariadne spoke up. “Okay, I’ll make this simple, because she has a really complicated quirk. There are like, lines, that connect one cell phone to another, televisions’ to stations, computers to other things. She can open any line, see what people are reading on line, listen to their conversations over the phone, read there texts, go online, and tap into video cameras watching. Get it?” I nodded slowly.  It sort of made sense. The others were all listening in on our conversation, except Roxi herself, who was twitching her handthrew the air. “She has to do that so she can open certain ones to see what the person is doing, or just so she can what is in front of her.” Roxi shoved her hand out and smiled at me.

“It’s really fun.” Sophia pushed her bottom lip out. “I’m special too.” She couldn’t have been more than five, and she was perfectly adorable. I couldn’t help smiling at her. “Oh? And what’s that?” I asked. She smiled, pleased with the attention. Suddenly, she wasn’t there. It took my eye a moment to process the moving figure that was the exact same color as the forest. It was like her body was made of a screen, and was changing with the scenery. It even moved like the trees did. She changed back. “Quit showing off, Sophia. She blends in with her environment.” Libby smiled at Ariadne. “Sully can do something like that also.” Sully grinned at Libby, then was gone. The girls gasped. “That’s awesome!” Roxi said.

“What can you do?” Ryder asked Ariadne. A strong wind blew through. “I control the weather.” She said with a grin. Ryder smiled. “I control the elemements, right, Sully?” Sully shook his head and made a face at Libby. “You control the elements.” He said. Ryder nodded. “Yeah, what he said.” He let a little sapling grow on the path, then it suddenly wilted and bent over. I lagged behind while they all shared their abilities and showed off what they could do with them. At one point, Sully leaned over and said whispered something into Libby’s ear. She blushed and looked back at me. I winked and she laughed, then continued on with the other kids. I hoped Arianna was right about the choice she making, bringing all those kids there for a battle. I watched Jett show off his abilities to Sophia by showing scars on Sully, including the one that he had healed right after she herself had scratched his face. I thought of Hanger, and for the moment, let myself drift off into some fantasy.