It was cold and dark in the tunnel.
They slowly followed the tunnel to a doorway wedged between the stairs and a small section of wall.
She had never seen it before.
Great 'Head of Security' I was!!
Then again, how could she of? The door was literally underneath the stairs. And the door was the color of the wall.
They opened the door and before them was a curving hallway that led to a flight of stairs. They quickly climbed the stairs. As they reached the top another door presented itself.
Bobby, who was leading the group, held up his head-signaling for them to stop. He slowly approached the door. He then pressed his ear to the door. Then he slowly pulled back and opened the door.
It was Mr. Parker's office.
He slowly entered the room holding up his hand. When he assured himself that there was no danger, he motioned for them to enter the room.
Miss Green refused to move.
"What about the camera's?" she asked in a whisper.
"Deactivates when the door opens, no one's supposed to know about it. And I mean no one." Bobby explained.
Slowly they entered the room.
Bobby crossed the room to a bookshelf against the wall. He began to push the bookshelf aside trying to make so much noise. Behind the bookshelf lay another door.
The Major took out the gun underneath his jacket.
Bobby looked to Miss Green. She looked him in the eye and nodded. He took a deep breath and opened the door.
The Major quickly entered and secured the area. He waved his hand for them to follow him. The door apparently went to another flight of stairs that led down. They all quickly descended the stairs and stopped where the corridor began.
Bobby turned to Miss Green.
"You ready for this?" he asked her.
Miss Green looked at him.
"Ready as I'll ever be." She responded.
Bobby smiled. He quickly kneeled down and pulled out a gun from his left leg. He quickly checked the ammunition. He closed it and gave it to her. Then he quickly kneeled down again and pulled out a gun strapped to his right leg. As he stood up and checked the ammunition, he caught his sisters raised eyebrows. He looked over at her.
"We do live at the Centre. You can never be too prepared...Or paranoid." He answered the unspoken question.
She nodded her head in understanding. She turned to look at the only person who wasn't armed.
"Ethan, stay behind us and if something goes wrong just get yourself out. Don't worry about us." She told him.
"No way! We're family. Family sticks together no matter what. At least...at least I think it does." Ethan retaliated.
Miss Green smiled at Ethan.
"Your right it does." She stated.
Bobby turned and looked at Ethan.
"Family?" he asked him.
Miss Green turned her stare to Bobby.
"Ethan's are brother. Mom's son." She explained.
Bobby looked back to Ethan again.
"Why am I the only one in this family with blonde hair?" he asked to neither of the two.
He then stole a glance to check the corridor and then back to Ethan.
"When then remind me later to pay you back for that TKO punch you through at the park. After all I'm your big brother. That means I get certain privileges...doesn't it sis?" he directed his question to Miss Green.
She smiled at his comment.
"Yeah, Bobby. I seem to remember that in the Sibling Code Book." She smarted off.
Ethan looked confused.
"There's a Sibling Code Book?" he asked Miss Green as they began to walk down the hall.
As they continued to walk down the corridor, it was as though they all silently agreed to stop talking.
All was quiet.
The only sounds were of their breaths and footsteps.
As they rounded the corner of the hallway, they saw another door at the end of the hallway.
They slowly approached the door- All of them almost holding their breaths. The next thing that happened made them all jump.
A bone-curdling scream came from the opposite side of the door.
Miss Green's blood froze.
She knew where that scream came from.
It came from one of her children.
The other's watched as she moved passed them and flung open the door. As the door opened a man standing guard at the door sprang up to sound the alarm.
But she was faster.
He was unconscious before he could even mutter a word.
She quickly looked down the corridor to check if anyone had heard anything. The only thing heard was the voices of children. No noise of Sweepers.
She quickly bent down and removed the Sweepers gun and removed the keys that were hanging on his belt.
Bobby bent down to retrieve the keys from her hand.
She looked at him with a death glare.
He sighed and rolled his eyes and head at the look.
"I'll unlock the door and make sure there's no one inside of the rooms. You stand watch outside. If the coast is clear I'll signal for you to come in.," he explained his intentions.
"I want to be the first one they see. They might think you're a sweeper. I don't want them having to fear us in any way." She stated.
Bobby nodded his head. He then looked up into the hallway. A hallway filled with doors. He remembered being confined to a small dark place. He remembered the sensations and feelings that he had felt. He stood up and quickly moved to the first door on his right. Miss Green was close behind him.
They heard the voices behind the door become louder and more insistent. It took him a moment to find the right key, but he found it. He swiftly opened the door and looked inside.
Miss Green heard him suck in a breath, and in that moment she had never felt such fear in her life. It went beyond anything that she had ever known. She quickly moved into the doorframe along with Bobby.
She sucked in a breath- the sight in front of her completely taking her off guard.
Two boys were surrounding a boy in a bed. They weren't all the same age. She could see that clearly. They had black hair and brown eyes. They had white porcelain skin and a broad build. But that wasn't what took her off guard.
It was the blood and bruises covering their face.
The boy in the bed seemed to be badly hurt. His legs were exposed and the sight of them completely black and blue made for a terrified sight. His eyes were widened in fear of the person in the doorway.
The other two boys were in front of the boy, as if to shield him. They had faces of anger and determination on their faces- a look that reminded her of Jarod. As the seconds that she appeared in the doorway set in, the boy's faces changed from that of anger, to that of confused amazement.
Her mind whirled as she looked at the three boys in front of her. Her boys! It was obvious to anyone who looked at them.
But why were they looking at her in that way. Did they know who she was?
"Who are you?" asked the oldest boy.
Well there goes that thought!
The boy was looking at her in a quiet wonder- One that she was oh so familiar with, but with a different face. He couldn't have been older than thirteen. The boy next to him was maybe nine. The boy in the bed, had to be 6 years old.
Anger boiled with in her. It threatened to explode right in front of her children. And she couldn't allow that. They didn't even know her. If they saw her lose her temper now... they'd never trust her.
She couldn't risk that.
"Are you an angel?" asked a small little frightened voice that came from the bed.
It was odd. That word evocated so many emotions in her...that it almost scared her hearing the word coming out of his mouth.
She began to cry.
"No...no... I'm not an angel...but I'm here to get you out of here. Out of this place. You ok with that?" she asked the small boy.
"Do we look stupid?" asked the older boy.
"I know your tricks. Your just here to make him run more tests... but I won't let you. He's too weak. I won't let you near him." The older boy stated with an enraged face, and anger radiating from his body.
Miss Green looked into the boy's eyes. He had his father's eyes. So dark and full of emotions...his sadness... his pain... his anger...she could feel the intensity of these feelings.
Then it was as though a wave of calmness swept over her. She suddenly began to move towards him. She stopped as she saw him tensing, readying himself to be hit.
"What's your name?" she asked him.
His stance didn't change.
"You know what it is. Now why don't you tell me what my name is?" the boy responded.
He's too much like Jarod!
She smirked at the boy.
"I know your last name. But I don't know your first name...tell me...and I'll tell you your name."
The boy's eyebrows scrunched together and his eyes showed such longing that it was incredible.
"You really know our last name?" asked the boy next to the oldest.
Miss Green turned her gaze to the other boy. She smiled at the face of her son.
"Yes."
Bobby had been watching outside the door and was now getting antsy.
"Sis could you pick up the pace a little. We don't have much time."
Miss Green hardly heard him.
"My names Raymond." Answered the oldest with a warning glare to Miss Green.
She smiled then smirked.
"Then your name is Raymond Charles." She answered.
Raymond's eyes glistened with moisture.
"Who are you?" Raymond asked with a waver in his throat.
He was afraid. Afraid that this was another sick torture, that they had sent her to torture them with false hope and lies.
Miss Green couldn't tear her eyes away from her son. Her son. She slowly walked right up to him and touched his face with her hand. Raymond shut his eyes and nuzzled into her hand as tears fell down his face. His loss of control on his emotions mirrored her own.
"You know who I am." She whispered confidently.
Raymond slowly opened his eyes and his face was the look of relief and sadness all enveloped together.
"Mom?" he whispered out as tears still continued to travel down his face.
She couldn't help but smile at the title. Her title...from now until eternity...she would be Mom.
"Yeah baby...its me...I found you." She said as she wrapped her arms around him and began to rock him as he openly cried. She cried with him.
"Momma?" asked the boy beside them in wonder.
Miss Green pulled away from Raymond and wiped at her eyes and at Raymond's as he tried to compose himself. She turned to look at her other son. She nodded her head.
The boy stared at her and Raymond so close to each other. He began to fidget, and he looked from Raymond to Miss Green.
Raymond looked at his brother and then to his mother. His Mother. He smiled at the thought.
"Griffin. Come meet Mom." Raymond said.
Griffin smiled at Raymond and launched himself into his mother's body. She laughed out as she caught him and picked him up. Griffin sucked in a breath.
Miss Green's smile turned into a frown faster then lightning. She pulled away instantly.
"Are you ok?" she asked with concern written all over her face.
Griffin's right eye was a huge black and blue bruise, not to mention the bruises that his clothes were hiding. But the bruises counteracted the huge smile that spread across his face.
"I'm ok now...I feel a lot better now." He answered her with happiness in his voice.
Probably for the first time.
"MONA! Hurry it up!!" Bobby roughly whispered out.
Miss Green turned briefly to look at Bobby and then back to her sons. She touched both of Raymond's and Griffin's face and then went passed them to the little boy in the bed.
"What the hell is taking so long?!!" came Ethan's voice from behind her.
She lowered herself to the bed smiling.
"Hi." She whispered.
The boy smiled.
"Hi." He whispered back shyly.
"What's your name?" she asked him.
"Wyatt." He whispered smiling to her.
She smiled back.
"I'm gonna get you out of here...ok Wyatt?" she asked.
"Ok...momma." Wyatt responded.
Miss Green smiled and scooped up her son and turned to exit the room.
"Ethan, I need you to get Wyatt to the car." She told him while placing the boy in his arms.
Ethan looked at the boy who was unceremoniously shoved into his arms.
"Hi." Wyatt said to him.
Ethan smiled.
"Hi." Ethan responded.
"Take him up to the van. We'll be there shortly." Green told Ethan.
Ethan just kept looking at Wyatt and nodded his head. He then tried to exit the room.
Bobby grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back into the room.
"No. We stick together. We can't afford you getting caught." Bobby said to Ethan.
Miss Green was about to protest when the Major walked in with the unconscious sweeper. The sweeper was now bound and gagged. He looked to Miss Green.
"I'm assuming you forced him into sleep." The Major stated.
The Major then placed the sweeper on the now empty bed.
"We have to get to the other children, and we need to move. We've already wasted too much time. Emily will leave in less then 15 minutes. Now lets move." The Major stated and then exited the room.
Bobby followed as well as Ethan with Wyatt.
Miss Green turned to Raymond and Griffin cupping both of their faces.
"Raymond...Griffin...I need your help." She said to the boys.
"I need you two to help me with the others ok? There not going to trust me, especially since were rushing and can't explain everything. Can you do that for me?" asked Green.
Raymond and Griffin looked at each other. With the exchange of glances they both nodded. They both looked back to their mother.
"We can help, but I think when they see us they'll understand." Raymond told her.
"We'll see." Green said.
She turned and looked to where Bobby was. He was already at the other door across the way waiting for her, impatiently pacing. She looked behind and motioned with her head to follow her.
Green motioned with her head for Bobby to open the door.
As soon as the door opened four girls huddled together in the middle of the room with scarred faces. Two of the girls were still little maybe 8 and 7, while the other two were older by a few years- still not teenagers yet.
They all had black hair and blue eyes.
"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to get you out of here." Green spoke calmly.
The children eyed her suspiciously.
Raymond and Griffin came into view.
"Hope...It's HER!!" Raymond spoke.
The oldest girl in the group looked from Raymond to Green.
"Come on Hope there's no time." Raymond urged her.
The other girls had looked to Hope as if asking if it were safe to go.
Hope just kept staring and Raymond. She then nodded her head. The girls stepped towards Green.
Green walked toward the children.
"It's ok. I won't let anything happen to you." Green voiced her thoughts.
"Raymond, I want you and the others to stay behind me and the others, is that understood." She said as her voice took the sound of a scolding mother.
"Consider it done." Raymond responded.
The girls were herded out of the room.
Raymond took the keys from Bobby's hands in a swift motion and quickly jumped to unlocking the other doors.
"WHAT are you doing?" Bobby half yelled out, remembering that they weren't supposed to be heard.
"They know me, and you're taking way too much time." Raymond responded confidently.
Green rubbed her forehead with her hand.
Great, they also act like Jarod.
By the time she had finished the thought Raymond had already opened all of the doors and was motioning for all of the children to be quiet and to follow him. Green began to help him round the children up behind them and to be near the exit.
"There's two missing. Where are they Raymond?" Green asked her son.
"The babies, they're in the nursery. I'll get them- you stay here and watch the others." Raymond stated.
"You wait here and we'll get the babies." And older boy stated-who just happened to be taller than Miss Green.
"Yah Ray you're too hurt. If you get caught it's going to be harder for you to get away." An older girl stated.
"Ok guys it's us 6 together. Avery and Ayden – you two stand guard. Nia and Ian- you two make sure the kids are safe here and if anything happens, get them all out. Breanna and I will get the babies." The boy instructed.
"Got it!" They all stated.
"Wait." Green said as she stepped up to the six children.
She looked at the faces in front of her.
God they can't be more than 14 years old.
She touched the older boys face. And he recoiled from the touch on instinct...but she didn't back away.
"Be careful, and don't get caught. Keep your senses sharp and feet sharper. Understand?" she asked the boy.
He looked at her with confusion...but nodded his head.
Then he pulled away and rounded the corner of the hall with the other 3 behind him.