Bane (The Devil's Roses 2)

Ari flashed her hand, it was a neat trick she'd learned from her dad/Dorian. He told her the doors would just open like ladies bras did for him, it was a touching moment. She threw up a little thinking about it and the comment he'd made after wondering if Aimee would ever be into him. She cringed and opened the door.

"I'm powerless inside of here."

Ari nodded, "I think we both might be, that door makes me feel funny."

Aimee glared looking around, "If they were smart they built the whole damned warehouse with it."

Ari smiled, "It’s the government, they're not smart."

Inside the hallway Aimee tried to wink ahead but couldn’t.

Ari sighed, "Nice they're cheap with everything except powerful children and private jets."

They walked along the hallway until they reached a small room with the door open. Aimee looked inside to find a pink bed and a dresser covered in books. A blue jump rope sat on the floor beneath her feet. She closed the door looking around the room for it’s occupant. She smelled something, perfume perhaps. She breathed it in calmly looking the source of the smell. The room was disastrous.

"This looks like my sisters room. This will never fly with Annabelle.” She muttered looking at the clothes covering the floor at the base of the closet.

“Who are you?” a small female voice squeaked at her.

Nearly jumping out of their skin they turned toward the voice seeing nothing.

Aimee spoke softly again, “Your salvation. Who are you?”

Ari saw a slight movement in the air she assumed was the little being.

“Sarah, Sarah Martin. Why are you my salvation?” The girl sounded so calm for having strangers in her room this made Ari sad. The little girl had never truly been taken care of. She had a clinical approach to everything from a lack of tenderness.

"May I read you? Hold your hand out and I will touch it and see what your intentions are?" Her little voce squeaked.

Aimee nodded putting her hand out slowly.

Moments past as Aimee stood perfectly still until at last she felt tiny fingers gripping her own.

“I'm a fire witch.” The small voice spoke softly.

The little girl appeared suddenly.

"Thank god. I was wondering if you would ever come. We have to hurry. If we get to Danny first he will tell all the others before they get here.”

She was a cute little blond with curly long hair in pigtails. She looked about ten at the most with very pale skin from lack of sunshine. She had soft brown eyes and a few teeth missing.

She opened the door and peeked a head out into the hall. She walked to a door three doors down on the right hand side. She opened the door and spoke softly, “Danny they're here now. Tell the others we have to go now.” Aimee looked at Ari who looked as confused as she was.

They walked behind the fiery little thing as she pointed to Danny, a chubby boy with dark brown hair and dark skin and blue eyes who looked about twelve at the most. Danny sat playing a video game, “They’ll be here in a minute. Dawn doesn’t want to come though. Hi I’m Danny.” His eyes never left his game.

Aimee smiled, “Hi Danny. I’m Aimee. This is my best friend Ari. We need you guys to be ready to go in about a minute will they be here soon? Is there someone here who is blocking our powers?”

Ben spoke softly waiting for the others, “They’ll be here right now and that would be Anne.”

He pointed as a beautiful girl with big black colored eyes and silky brown hair came strolling in. She was so beautiful and old. Not at all what Amy had imagined when Lydia called them children but when considering the source it seemed to fit. Even she was a child compared to Lydia.

“Hi Anne I’m Aimee is there any way to turn that off?”

Anne looked oddly at her and spoke almost rude in her tone, “No. I don’t control where it happens it just does. If I could control it I wouldn’t be here with the A team.”

Ari raised her eyebrows at the girl wanting to slap her silly but instead took a deep breath. Six kids strolled into the room making the total eight.

“So eight of you. Right well let's get out of here then. Everyone has to touch at the exact moment I wink, do you understand?”

They all nodded except one girl Aimee took to be Dawn. She looked defiant and rude just standing there.

“Do you have a problem?” Ari asked pointedly.

Everyone else sighed as the girl answered, “Yes I have a problem. I don’t want to leave. We are asking for trouble. Here they feed us and give us clothes and somewhere warm to live. I am tired of running and I want to stay.”

Aimee nodded, "That ones yours dude."

Ari laughed and nodded feeling sad about what she was about to say but she needed everyone on board, “Our options are to end you or take you so your choice will result in one of those two selections.”

The eyes of the kids around them, mostly teenagers, all looked like they might come out of their heads.

“You’re a death dealer, Sam saw you coming. He saw you taking us to some old house. You can’t kill us. God won’t let you.” She crossed her arms defiantly.

Aimee grinned at her, “why would you think I serve god, he didn’t make me?”

The girl took the hands of the girl beside her with a lump to swallow in her throat.

A noise made them all jump, Aimee smelled them as they made their way down the hall.

“Now!” She screamed as the kids all took hands and ran. At the end of the hall Ari had a door open leading into another part of the warehouse. She watched as another black door closed.

"WE'RE FREE AIMS, NOW!"

Aimee put her hands out and she winked them away as fast as she could. Not fast enough, she caught a glimpse of Daniel's face as she faded away. He looked panicked as he reached for her too late.

She opened her eyes to the minivan parked miles away. She stopped momentarily feeling her heart pounding in her chest after seeing his face. Daniel had seemed upset. She smiled thinking about it.

“Well now we know that works lets leave the minivan and try to get to Lydia's."

She had expected to be long gone by the time the sun went down. All the bickering and bull had prolonged their stay in the creepy warehouse.

Ari looked nervously at the huge boy standing in front of her as they all took Aimee's hand, "So are you Sam?”

He nodded looking straight ahead. He looked incredibly sad as he spoke softly, “We need to get there as fast as your able to. We have a small problem your not aware of.”

He looked around at the kids all reaching in to touch Aimee, “This group of kids is full of the most dangerous weapons on the planet and you’ve just taken us out of the only place we were guaranteed not to do bad things to the world. There will be people after us from here on out.” He raised an eyebrow looking extremely unhappy with his circumstances.

Aimee nodded, “We didn’t decide to come get you on a whim contrary to your belief. We have given this a lot of thought and the woods near our house are the safest on this continent. You will be safe there, we just have to get you there. We're not exactly without skills young man. We will do our best for you and them.”

He frowned, “I think we will probably need some hellfire to get us there. And don’t call me boy, lad or young man. I would bet you I’m older than you are.”

Ari laughed for the first time in days, “Yea well I wish that you were. Then perhaps I wouldn’t feel so alone right now. And don’t ask for hellfire sonny unless you know what your talking about, it is a very bad thing to mess with.”

He snorted at her, “Fine whatever just don’t say I never warned you.”

Ari shook her head in disbelief. They were the least grateful group she had ever met. They had no idea the kind of things she had saved them from.

“Anne just out of curiosity why was your block only working on us? How come the other people in the little science experiment camp could use their gifts of foresight or vanishing or whatever but ours was blocked?”

Anne shrugged, “I didn’t know you. That makes you a threat to me. No one has ever explained how this all works to me, they just get excited that it does. I have the ability to put up a shield around myself and others near me against the threats.”

“So does that mean that they won’t be able to track you to Lydia's house or sense you being there?"

“I don’t know. I’ve never had it explained to me.” Anne continued to look out the window as Aimee winked.

“Aimee are we almost there I’m hungry and I need to pee?” A small voice came from below her.

Sam sighed, “If we stop now they will find us and make us do the bad things again, okay? Everyone just follow Aimee and Ari. Aimee is going to take us all now and get as far away from here as possible.”

Ari looked at him for a second before feeling the words hit her, he was a good-looking teenager. His brown hair was soft looking framing his handsome face. He had dark brown eyes that looked black in the night. Ari took a deep breath to cool herself off.

She scolded herself remembering Lucas and his sweet face.

Ari thought again to the comment Anne made about her being a threat, “So what the heck are you guys?”

Sam shook his head, “Not right now.”

Aimee winked them all smiling at the groans of nausea.

Ari raised her eyebrows in annoyance, “We just saved you and that’s your answer, not right now? Fair enough you’ve been nothing but ungrateful since we met you so why not continue in that direction. We're here anyway, see the huge house. That’s your new home away from home."

Lydia and Annabelle waved at them from the front door as the huge crowd walked into the driveway.

Lydia smiled, "Everyone inside and Annabelle will give you the tour." She turned to Aimee and Ari, "Have a fun trip girls?"

Ari rolled her eyes watching Sam walk into the house, "Weird would be the better word."

Aimee shrugged, "We got there just before Daniel. He looked pissed cause we got the kids first."