Lonely

Chapter 74, Sadie

I watched the car containing all of the guys, including Hanger, drive off with Arianna. She had said that she was taking them to a field for practice. Jasper was going to train the kids, and I was going with them. Sully appeared next to me, and I jumped.

“Sully! Don’t scare me like that. I’ll deck you next time.” I said. He gave me a lazy grin.

“Sorry. Just fooling.” He said, disappearing again and showing up next to Libby. She smiled at him, used to his common appearances. Roxi flicked the air and made a face.

“There are no signals here.” She said, then smiled. “It’s sort of nice.”

Ever since Arianna had taught me how to read minds, there was a constant buzz of voices that I knew would only get worse when I got back to the real world. Now, there was just the guys, which was sort of gross at times, and the kids and Arianna and Jasper.

I shifted Sophia to my other hip. Jasper was standing in front of us.

“Alright, all we’re going to do today is try and teach you guys new things that you can do with your abilities. Sophia, I’d like to work with you first.” He said. I set Sophia down and ruffled her hair. I looked around for Jett, and saw his feet poking out from under a prop. The other kids weren’t really paying attention. Ariadne was staring at the ceiling; Sully and Libby were fooling around, Ryder was picking at a scab on his arm, and Roxi was watching him with a disgusted face. Jasper cleared his throat and we all looked at him.

“Sophia, we’re going to work on how fast you can change your settings. I know you can fade into it, but we need to you to be faster than that.” He said. Sophia nodded, a familiar determined look on her face. Jasper clicked a button in his hand, and suddenly we were in the middle of a rain forest. It was so real, with the dome shaped building made out of screens that I almost thought I was there for a moment.

Sophia stepped closer to the wall and changed so she matched it exactly, like a puzzle piece. Jasper smiled and nodded. “Very good. It’s amazing how realistic it is. Now, we’re going to change the scene, and try to change to that as fast as possible.” He said, clicking the button. The scene changed so it looked like we were in a desert. Ariadne made a hot wind blow across our faces, and Roxi and her cackled. Almost as soon as the scene changed, so did Sophia, although it made her eyes shut in concentration. Still, Jasper shook his head.

“Not fast enough, Sophia. If there was a monster right there, you would be lunch.” He said. I wanted to jump to Sophia’s rescue, but decided against it. She could defend herself. She made a face.

“No offense, Jasper, but in what situation am I gonna go from the rain forest to the Mohave desert in two seconds flat?” she asked in her grown up way. Jasper’s face blanked, then he composed himself.

“That’s not the point. Just try.” He said. Sophia rolled her eyes, but screwed her face up in concentration. Jasper clicked the button. Sophia didn’t even pause when she changed to the arctic tundra scene that was so real it made me shiver. Jasper smiled widely at Sophia.

“Very good, Sophia. That wasn’t that bad, now was it?” he asked. Sophia nodded but a made a face that made me think she probably didn’t agree. Sophia came up to me.

“That was stupid.” She muttered. I laughed and ruffled her blonde hair.

“Where’s Jett? It’s his turn.” Jasper said. Most of the kids didn’t even look up, just pointed at the table. Jett’s tiny feet pulled under the table, trying to avoid being scene. It reminded of a scene from The Wizard of Oz. I sighed and went over and pulled him out. He frowned at me.

“It won’t be long, then you can go back.” I said, bringing him over. It didn’t really seem to console him much, but he went over to Jasper anyways.

“You have, amazingly, almost perfected your healing ability, Jett. What is the extent of your ability?” Jasper inquired. He wasn’t very good with kids, I might add. Jett shrugged.

“I dunno.” He said. Jasper looked non-plussed.

“Think back to the worst injury you have ever healed.” He suggested. Jett was silent for a moment. “

I one time healed a guy they said was going to die of some sort of spinal cord injury at the hospital” Jett said thoughtfully. I remembered the miracle hospital we had found him in. Jasper looked amazed.

“That is very, very good. Can you heal, let’s say, the dead?” he inquired further. Jett frowned.

"If their dead, my guess is it's probably to late. I don't really know.” Something changed in Jasper’s face. I didn’t like the way this was going.

“Over my dead body, Jasper.” I snarled. He raised an eye brow at me.

“Are you volunteering to be our lab rat?” he teased. “No, of course not. I wouldn’t do that. We will work on this later.” He said, gesturing for Jett to get back in line. Jett ignored it and went back under the table. Jasper’s eye brows knit together. “Amazing little boy, but a bit odd. Yes, well, shall we continue? Ariadne, you’re next.” Ariadne rolled her eyes in the I’m-to-grown up-for this-sort-of-stuff way, but stepped forward anyways.

“We are going to work on your emotions affecting the change in weather. Unfortunately, we can’t have a massive hurricane when your future boyfriend breaks up with you.” He said, smiling. A smile flickered around Ariadne’s face. The practice continued. It was interesting at time, but other times the kids and I were nearly asleep. Finally, jasper clapped his hands.

“Very, very well done children. I do believe Arianna has left something for you in the house.” They all squealed with delight and ran off. I waited for Jasper, then we started out of the amazing building. His blue eyes were practically sparkling as he watched the kids run off into the house they shared.

“They really are amazing kids.” He muttered.

“They are, aren’t they?” I answered.

He looked down at me, looking as though he may have forgotten I was there. He smiled. 

“Yes, remarkable talents. I can’t wait to see how they change and develop. Both children and abilities.” He said in a dreamy voice. We walked in silence until we reached the door.

“Well, I have some business to attend to, so I will be back later. Can you handle the children alone?” he asked, rubbing his hands together like it was cold outside. I rolled my eyes.

“I can handle them.” The idea of not being too was almost funny. He smiled and trotted off and down the road. I opened the door. I could hear the kids down the hall. This house was different than the one I was staying in. the hall way was paneled in rich red cherry wood, and the floor was a lighter wood, and so shiny it reflected the light. I noticed it had many aspects similar to the mansion Arianna had. A coffee table on the side looked like it had been made from spare branches and rocks found in the driveway, but was obviously of a much finer craft.

I found the kids all in the kitchen, stuffing their tiny faces with chocolate chip cookies. The rich smell drifted to my nose. The kitchen contained a massive island, with shiny marble counter tops and a double Decker stove. Ariadne shoved a cookie in my face.

“Try one! They’re amazing!” she cried, then ran back to the other kids. I took a bite. She was right. They were amazing. I noticed that sully and Ryder were missing. I could just see Jett under a table.

“Where’re Sully and Ryder?” I asked. Libby shrugged.

“I think I saw them go down the hall.” She said, pointing to the other end of the kitchen. There was another door leading down a hall furnished much the same as the first one. I could see a light on at one end. Sully was standing in the bathroom, looking at his hair proudly in the mirror. He had it slicked back with some kind of grease and curled in the front.

“You look like Kenickie.” I stated. He looked confused.

“Who’s Kenickie?” I

threw my hands into the air. “Grease? You know the movie? What do you kids watch these days?”

Sorry for the abrupt ending, hope you all liked it!:)