Deep Down

Looking Forward

"Yo! We have arrived!" Aiden proudly announced, interrupting us. Vale gave us a small wave with a smile and Devina just remained silent.

By now, the sun was about three quarters through the sky and Dakota and I were sitting in the car. I had been worried about them, but I was more focused on the use of the small boy's ability than my mind running worrying thoughts about negative possibilities. I climbed out of the car with Dakota behind me so we could greet them.

"Did it go well?" I asked while approaching the trio. Dakota ran up to Vale and gave him a warm hug.

"Well, I would say more than well!" The outgoing twin responded while pulling out a thick wallet from the pocket of his black hoodie and holding it in the air. "And it ain't just me, either!" He said while nodding towards the other two.

"Aiden, we haven't counted anything yet so don't jinx us. It could all just be nothing that's useless to us." Devina urged. "But the good side of things is that we didn't run into any trouble. We saw a few more people from the laboratory but we didn't get caught. However," She shot a quick gaze at Aiden, "we did have a few close calls with the people." Aiden shyly rubbed the back of his neck and smiled nervously.

"But nothing happened!" He retaliated.

"Well, I'm glad you guys are okay." I cut in. Taking a peek at the wallet he was holding, I noticed that it had a cloth exterior and had lots of zippers going around it. "So did you all get the stuff?" I asked.

The remaining two both responded with a yes, pulling different things out that you would find on a person. Devina even pulled out a small pale pink bag with a pair of poorly glued eyes on it out of her jacket; it was hardly the size of her hand. This must have been hard to get, and I don't want to think of the people that they might have had to steal from. My gaze shifted down to my mismatched socks.

Oh!

"Devina, can I talk to you?" I nervously asked while twirling a piece of blonde hair in my hand.

She looked at me skeptically and then responded, "Yeah, sure." The older female tossed the small satchel to the calmer twin, who caught it at the last second with a hint of surprise; her chocolate eyes never left my hazel ones. She motioned for me to follow her behind the car.

I awkwardly followed with my eyes glued to the dry ground. My heartbeat increased as thoughts of confrontation filled my mind, I don't want to start an argument. We're all stressed, and I'm sure Devina and the twins had a harder time than me and the troubles I had while entering the building. But at least now we know that there is someone in there who comes and goes.

The girl stopped in front of me, her shoulder-length hair bouncing a bit as she whipped around to look at me once we were concealed behind the car. "So what? What do you need to talk about?" She snapped.

"Uhm..." I started, immediately losing my words and my mind going blank.

"Uhm?" She echoed, "Come on, spit it out." The female demanded.

"So, while you guys were out collecting us money, curiosity got the best of me." I bit my lip, looking for the right words, "I decided to go into the building," I glanced to the apartments, "and I think that someone might be in there."

I paused for a moment before she could speak up. "I only intended to enter a single apartment and see, but I found something that I wish I could erase from my mind. In a rush to get away from it, I went out the door and upstairs. On the upper level, I found some... evidence that makes me think that someone could be coming and going."

A flash of anger danced in her eyes before she closed them and slightly pinched the bridge of her nose with furrowed eyebrows. She let out a shaky sigh, it was obvious she was holding back many emotions; she then lifted her hand up to my face, as if blocking it. "What made you think that someone could be there?" She hissed.