So, I'm happy to hear that you guys still love the story. I want to thank all my reviewers for sending me those lovely little messages. I was in the computer lab at school and couldn't help the smile that took over my face. You guys are all amazing, whether you reviewed or not. If you're reading, you're just fantastic. There are no words to describe your greatness. Sorry for not updating in a while. Life's been pretty hectic lately. Making new friends, school getting annoying, and don't forget getting sick and my computer crashing, deleting EVERYTHING. Ok, hope you enjoy!
Wanda POV
I hang up with Mel and call her mom. Ian starts to ask who I'm calling now, but I put my finger to his lips, making him grin. I was about to hang up and call again when she answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Wanda,"
"Oh, hello, Wanda. What do you need?" She asked politely, but I couldn't help but here the annoyance coating her voice. I pretend not to hear it and get right to the point.
"I was just wondering if Mel and Jamie could come over here and if it would be ok if Mel slept over?" Silence on the other end. I stand as I wait for her reply, but it sounds like no one's even on the other end. "Mrs. Strider?"
"Oh, right. Yes, Wanda, it's fine. They can go now,"
"Thank you so much!" Her laughter echoes into the phone.
"You're welcome Wanda," We say bye and hang up. I grin to Ian.
"I knew she'd listen to me," I say, making him chuckle as I call Mel back to tell her to come over.
20 Minutes Later
I stand beside Ian outside the front doors of the orphanage as we wait for Jared's brothers to get everyone down here. It's starting to get chilly outside now that it's later in the year. Ian's arms are wrapped around me to keep me warm while we wait.
"What's taking them so long? We've been waiting for 20 minutes now," He checks his phone to see if they'd tried to call or text. I do the same, but there's nothing. I look up again and see headlights pulling into the parking lot. Once it stops, the doors open and the loud music echoes across the dark, silent landscape. Mel walks over to us with Jamie and Jared following close behind. I hug Mel and we walk inside. Ian stays out to make sure Jared's brothers get inside without dying from a freak accident first.
When we get inside, Bronwen's jogging through the main room, shouting Payton's name.
"Payton, I'm serious! Where are you?!" She shouts again. There's no answer.
"Bronwen, what's wrong?" She stops and glares at me.
"In case you're too stupid to notice," She says, her voice coated with venom and hatred. "I'm looking for Payton. She said she knew where it was and ran off. I haven't seen her since. Now, I'm going to look for my sister. Don't wait up," And with that, she jogs back off, still shouting for Payton. Mel shakes her head.
"That bitch needs to be careful. If she talks to you like that again, I swear I'll-"
"What's wrong?" I hear Ian ask as his arms go around me protectively.
"Bronwen," I whisper quietly. There's no use in lying to them. They always see right through them. I feel Ian's arms tighten around me.
"What did she say?"
"It was nothing! Don't worry!" I give Mel a look and she slightly turns her head. I gasp. "We need to find Payton!"
"Why, where's Payton?" Ian asks.
"That's the thing, no one knows. It's like with Seraphina, no one knows where she goes when she hides away. I have a feeling, though, that if we find Payton, we'll find Seraphina,"
Payton POV
I stare at the picture frame I've watched for the past 5 minutes. I narrow my eyes when I see a bright light shine through the window. I get up and see a car pull in and some kids get out. I shrug and look back at the painting. I gasp slightly to see it's tilted to the right just slightly. I walk quietly towards it and take it off, gasping again as a few tears fall out of my eyes.
"Seraphina,"
Ian POV
I follow Wanda through the hallways as we call Payton's name. We're all together in one group, considering that only Wanda knows how to get around here and not get lost. Jared's oldest brother, Jake, shoves Mel and she stomps his instep. I grabs his foot as Jared shoves him backwards, making him bump into Jared's second oldest brother, Matt. Matt pushes Jake into the wall and they start to push each other. I look over at Jamie and see him moving his fists around as he watches the fight. I put a hand on his shoulder and he stops and looks up at me, his face going bright red. I start to laugh a little. Wanda bounces over to us and hugs Jamie as she grins at his blush.
Once Mel brakes the guys up, we keep moving as we call Payton's name. Now, even though I've actually only seen Payton two or three times, she reminded me of Mel in a way. They're both pretty demanding, which really makes them similar. Other than that, I haven't found any other similarities between them. Wanda makes a left and we keep following her. I feel a tap on my shoulder and look down to see Jamie. I lean down to hear him.
"Who's Payton anyways?"
"She's this six year old girl we met when I brought Wanda here,"
"Oh," Jamie says.
"What? Were you hoping she was near your age?"
"Whaaaat?" He lies. I look at him, eyebrow raised. He sighs. "Yeah. Yeah I was,"
"That's great,"
"What's great?" Wanda asks as she slows to our pace.
"That Jamie really wants to help find Payton," Wanda perks up. I feel bad about it, but it's not a bad lie. It's for Jamie to not get babied by both Mel and Wanda.
"Well, I know this is a really big building, but she can't have gone too far,"
"How big is this place, Wanda?" Jared asks as we take a right on Wanda's command. Wanda laughs a little, but her face is getting red.
"It's mostly underground. It started out as the smallish building that you see when you drive by, but all underneath the parking lot is more rooms. We usually don't go down here unless this is where your room is, though. The empty lots around the buildings will remain empty because we own it. Everything's underground, though,"
"That's awesome!" Jamie says. He starts to get excited so he starts talking really fast. "How did they do that? When did they do that? Wanda, how do you know all this?" She laughs as her face gets redder.
"Katlynd told me all this, along with Payton, both who showed me around. They actually did only around 10 years ago. There was an excessive amount of boys who were orphaned when this place was first built, but it didn't have a steady income at the time. So, the boys took their shovels and started digging. Once that was done, the girls and women started to make it more home-y down here. The men helped the boys with electricity and plumbing and eventually made this," She held her arms out and spun a little.
"Oh, I've got a question," Mel says as she raises her hand.
"Oh, boy," Matt says. She glares at him.
"What is it?" Wanda asks her. Mel looks back at Wanda, her glare gone.
"What if someone drank a lot of water a few hours before coming down here and insisted that they didn't have to pee and came down here and walked around a lot and then realized that their bladder might burst and they would all drown if they didn't relieve themselves. Would they have to find their way back up to the main building or is there a bathroom down here?" I don't think Wanda's face has ever been more red. She points to the door behind her.
"That's the bathroom," Mel runs for it, slamming the door behind her.
"I told her to use the bathroom before we left!" Jamie says. We all laugh at his outburst.
"I HEARD THAT, JAMIE!" Mel yells. All the color drains from Jamie's face, making us laugh some more.
Payton POV
"Hey, Payton. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Just a few days. But I have missed my ginger friend," Sera laughs as she gets out of the hole in the wall. We hug and sit down on the bed behind us.
"So, Sera," I say as she looks at me. "I was wondering-"
"Where I've hid?" I nod. She looks at the floor and nods, too. "Yeah. I'm starting to want to stop that. The hiding, I mean. It's lonely without my siblings, you know?" I nod again, but she doesn't see me. "But the funny thing is, I actually know what I love now more than I did before I left the last time," This time she looks at me.
"What is it?" I ask, truly curious. She grins at me.