The Girl Who Stopped Time

Innocence

I barely understand a thing that he said but it's clear to me that Gilah understood perfectly. She rushes out of the room with nothing more than a "oh no" under her breath.

Me and Oleander share a glance before we rush off after her. A few twists and turns later and we arrive at a bright pink door. It's already opened so I follow Oleander inside. The room is a mess of Barbie dolls and stuffed animals. Toys are scattered all over the pink Polka-dotted carpet along with an assortment of utensils, plates and bowls that were once filled with food. I guess we know why Oleander was such a mess.

Gilah is in the center of the room looking around frantically. Calling for Aggie's name over and over again. Seemingly begging her to come out of her hiding spot.

"Please Aggie, we can figure this out. Just come out." She coos.

Suddenly a deafening loud voice echoes through the room, causing it shake from the pure force. All three of us bring our hands up to our ears trying to protect them from the sound.

"No!" It says. The voice is loud but I can tell that it's a child. It's Aggie's. "I will not, I want my dolly!" She screams.

"Oleander give her her doll back, now." Gilah yells to him in the most authoritative tone I've heard come from her.

"She's being a brat! I'm not gonna give it-" the room begins to shake and I know that is not a good thing. I look down to the floor when I hear the clanking of metal. A knife that had been among the many utensils begins to float in midair. It spins around and faces towards Oleander and in seconds it's barreling towards his head. His eyes widen into saucers and he ducks down to the floor letting it speed past him, piercing the head of one of the many other baby dolls sitting on the shelf behind him. We all stare at it in shock. The knife struck right in between the eyes of the poor porcelain doll.

"Fine!" He exclaims taking the doll out from under his shirt and throwing it across the room. Running out of the room as soon as it leaves his hands.

The dolls stop in midair just like the knife and spins around so it's right way up. Aggie appears out of nowhere from behind it and takes it from the air. She pulls it back into her chest with her right arm while her left thumb remains in her mouth. I'd say she looks cute but her raven colored piggy's tails make her look more evil then sweet.

The room is silent while me and Gilah just stare at her. What the hell just happened? This little girl is part of some poltergeist shît or something. I knew these guys were powerful but this is just ridiculous.

"Well..." Gilah breaks the silence. "That was quite a ride, wasn't it?" She laughs, although once she sees the look of shock and terror on my face it quickly dies down. "What did we say about your tantrums, Aggie?" She questions the little girl.

"Al-always come to you or Lori first before trying to kill Olly." She says dutifully, then shows us her pearly whites.

"Yes, that's very good Aggie." Gilah encourages and watches as the little girl begins to beam with happiness. "We might want to add 'no throwing knives' onto the tantrum list." She says under her breath then walks over to me.

"What is happening?" I ask her.

"I'll explain once we get out of here." She whispers in my ear. "Aggie can you clean up your play room please? If you do, I'll tell Lori to get you a cookie for desert tonight." The little girl smiles wider and without even a second thought she begins picking up the mess. I guess bribery can be a good thing.

Gilah grabs my arm and leads me out of the room. Once the door is shut and locked, she turns towards me and lets out a big breath of air.

"I'm guessing you want some answers as to what just happened?" She asks to which I nod my head speedily. "Miss Aggie is the personification of Innocence and as you know the most innocent beings in the world are children. That's why she is so young. She doesn't grow."

"That's terrible. She's really stuck like that forever?"

"Unfortunately, but that's not the only thing. Because she is a child, she is very unpredictable. We have to keep a close eye on her at all times because the gifts she was given have no limits and the worst part is that she will never fully understand them or herself. Her memory isn't very good and she has the attention span of, well, a six-year-old. That's why on the first day me and you met I was so young. I can change my age whenever I want and little Aggie needs friends her own age."

"That's a lot to take in." I admit. "I can't imagine how she must feel; to be stuck as child for her entire life."

"Yes, it's very sad but luckily with innocence comes ignorance. She can't tell the difference, she doesn't know that she should be growing. She only knows how to play and be a kid."

"That's her weakness." I mumble.

"What?"

"Atlas, he said that you all have weaknesses. Ira has that fire thing, Lorelei is blind and Aggie has ignorance." I say, letting the pieces fall into place.

Gilah gives me a small smile, looping my arm with hers she says, "Come on, dinner should be ready in just a few minutes. Let's head down to eat."

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