Lonely

Chapter 57, Hanger

WHAT? TWO UPDATES IN ONE NIGHT??? YESSS!!!

“So, how long have you been with her?” Max asked a while later. I raised an eye brow at him.

“Never mind. Anyways, I like her.” He said matter of factly. The others nodded. Dodger rubbed the spot on his chin that Sadie had hit. Jett had cleared up the bruise.

“Yeah, me too.” Dodger sat up.

“While, speak of the devil and she shall arrive. I believe she just said she was going to come back here. The kids are done for the day, and she was going to take them out later.” He said. A few moments later, Sadie arrived, surrounded by seven loud children. Ariadne, Roxi, and Sophia all crowded around Liam and Nicco, who they were now friends with, and began babbling over one another about what they did. Jett came over and stood beside me, but didn’t say anything. Libby sat down next to Boomer and told him about the cabin she built once and what she had learned in the class, and Ryder and Sully sat in a circle with Levy, Max, and Dodger. Sadie sat down on my other side.

“I know it wasn’t what you had in mind, but you do you want to come with me when I take the kids into town? At least it will be away from here. We can out alone late.” She said. I bumped my knee against hers and smiled. I felt myself relaxing just because she was by my side again. Jett was watching me with his dusty gray eyes, a hopeful look on his face.

“Sure. Some one’s got to keep Jett company.” I said. Jett gave me a hesitant smile. Sadie took my hand.

“We can go out later. Alone.” She said. I liked the sound of that.

 Sadie opened the door of the van that held way more than it looked, and all seven kids piled out onto the cement of the mall we were at. The girls huddled around each other, talking excitedly about what they were going to buy. The boys came up to me and Sadie.

“Can we go to the car place again? We won’t get in trouble this time.” Ryder asked, widening his eyes to look innocent. It didn’t work. Sadie nodded.

“Can we go look at antiques too?" Jett asked in his soft voice. Sadie smiled at him.

“Sure. You can take Hanger with you.” She said, beaming at me. I didn’t mind. Jett was the easiest kid.

“He wants to go look at antiques?” I asked Sadie quietly as we walked towards the mall, the kids walking ahead of us. She nodded.

“Don’t ask why. He just likes them.” She said, giving me that dazzling smile. I couldn’t help but grin back. People were rushing about and pulling kids along behind them. The mall was a place that I couldn’t help but compare to the castle. The doors slid open with a slight hissing sound and Sadie kept the kids close as more people rushed by, carrying bags and talking with each other.

“I’m going with the girls first into the store with the bright yellow sign. Let me know if anything happens.” She said, kissing my cheek. She took Sophia and Ryder’s hand as they walked towards the store, swerving around people. The girls were practically bouncing. Jett looked up at me. I didn’t really know what to do with the poor kid.

“Lead the way.” I said. Jett began weaving through the crowd. No one even noticed him. Their eyes didn’t even flicker to the dusty kid walking past them. Maybe he had more than one ability.

He stopped in front of a big glass door with a old model train inside. Jett practically had his nose pressed up against the glass, staring at the train with wide eyes. I nudged his shoulder.

“We going in or what?” I asked. He pulled the door open, having to throw his entire weight into it. Inside, there was everything from ancient toys to old clothing and even washing machines. Jett went for the model car section first. He occasionally reached out to touch a sleek old car, but would jerk his hand away. Then we went down the aisle that contained furniture. Jett was fascinated by everything. I still found it odd that of all the things,  he liked antiques.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I didn’t show that anything was wrong. I commented on the trunk Jett was inspecting, then looked nonchalantly over my shoulder. There was no one else in the aisle except a guy wearing a black suit. He didn’t pose any real threat, but I couldn’t help but think of the man when me and Sadie had been on our way to Arianna’s, and the car had broken down. Jett moved down the aisle, and so did the man.

Then another one came around the corner on the other side of us. I defiantly recognized this guy. Jett was looking at him too. They were going to pen us in. there was only one other person in the store, I remembered. I always memorized stuff like that. A trick I had learned from Sadie. Jett looped a finger through my belt loop like I had seen him do with Sadie a million times. He knew what was going on. He kept looking though, as if nothing was wrong. I began running through plans in my head. I really didn’t want to trash the store, but I wasn’t seeing much else I could do. We had to get out of here.

I focused on the shelf that the guy closest to the door was pretending to look at. I knew it had to be quick, something they didn’t expect. Suddenly, the shelf tipped over and landed on top of the guy, creating a loud clattering sound. I saw the other guy come at us out of the corner of my eye. I let the other shelf fall also and scooped Jett up, vaulted over the fallen shelf and the struggling man and sprinted out the door. An alarm sounded. Luck for me, I was taller than most people and could see over most of their heads.

Sadie came skidding out of another store not far away with the kid’s right behind her. I could hear the two men starting to get up just as Sadie reached me. She didn’t ask anything, we just bolted down the hall, people ducking out of the way as they realized we were the main source of the problem. A few mall cops stood at the door, looking determined. They all looked suddenly confused and opened all the doors for us. I glanced at Sadie out of the corner of my eye, then threw a look over my shoulder.

There were six men in black suits running after us at top speed, shoving people out of the way. As soon as we were out we dived for the edge of the parking lot, forgetting the car. Little Sophia began to wheeze.

“We have to stop!” Ariadne cried.

“Not yet.” Sadie said breathlessly.

“She had asthma.” Roxi said. Sadie looked down at the wheezing Sophia and quickly scooped her off the ground and clutched her to her chest. We dived into the woods, but Ryder and Roxi were beginning to fall behind. Sully and Libby and Ariadne kept telling them to keep going, but it was apparent to both me and Sadie they couldn’t go forever. Then, in the trees not far ahead, more men appeared and blocked our path.

We skidded to a halt and turned to go the other direction. More appeared. They had us completely surrounded with at least twenty guys. We could take ten, maybe even fifteen, but not twenty, not with the condition the kids were in. Sadie formed a tight circle, still holding Sophia. I put Jett down, and he quickly went to Sophia and began stroking her. The men formed a circle around us.

“Ha! And they said we could never do it. But yet we have nine of the seventeen we need, right here in one place.” a familiar man said, stepping forward.

“Well, what’d you know? If it isn’t Mr. Fix-it himself.”Sadie said snidely. The man grinned.

“I never forget, and I rarely forget. Now you’re out numbered with tired children and Donnie Darko.” He said, gesturing to me.

“That movie sucked.” Sully muttered.

“I’d love to stick around and chat, but we have orders to carry through, and they don’t work in your favor. Move in, boys.” He said. All of the kids, even Jett and sickly Sophia straightened, a hard gleam in their eyes. Sadie moved closer to them, and so did I.

Ooh, cliff hanger!! what did you guys think??:)