Chapter 9: New Friends

Later that evening, after Ms. Seilia was kind enough to drive Serena to the grocery store so that she could make a big dinner to celebrate her new friendships since moving to Dakota... Earlier that evening, Serena had gotten a flashback of a woman in white cooking in a big pot on the stove... It smelled so good, Serena had almost believed that it was real... The woman had pretty dark bluish black hair that hung in soft waves down her back and was singing a soft melody as she stirred the pot... The woman had said something about chicken and dumplings and how much her husband and children loved them, then the vision changed... She suddenly found herself in a beautiful palace with crystalline water fountains and endless fields of flowers, but what was the most intriguing of all was the view! It was earth! Serena gasped as she took in the sight... A woman with long white hair and kind purplish blue eyes opened her arms and Serena began running towards her... Suddenly, a handsome man appeared before her and at first, she was happy to see him... But then, her happiness had turned to fear as he drew nearer... Before she had a chance to run, she'd felt an excruciating pain in her abdomen... Slowly, she placed her hand on her abdomen and screamed when she saw blood on her hand... Tears began streaming down her cheeks as words began buzzing around in her head...

My love... Darling... Dearest... Then... Hurt... Pain... Betrayal... Traiter...

" Why?!" Serena said in pain... " Traiter... Traiter!"

Then suddenly, she was back and Virgil and Ritchie both had been staring strangely at her... When they'd tried to talk to her about it, she'd just laughed nervously and told them it was just a stupid daydream... Even though Virgil and Ritchie did not want to let it go, they went ahead and left her alone about it and shortly afterwards, Leech had shown up and attacked them... So now, as Virgil and Ritchie sat waiting for Serena and Virgil's Grandma Seilia to get back, there was an awkward silence that hung in the air as they looked nervously at the three bang babies sitting on the sofa... Virgil and Ritchie sat beside each other on one couch while Sharon and Mr. Hawkins sat on the other couch. A few months back, had asked to help rehabilitate some juveniles and since he'd done wonders with the troubled kids, had rewarded with several new pieces of furniture for they're home as a show of gratitude...

" I like your house." Talon suddenly said, " Its very nice."

"Thank you." said smiling, " I must say, I never imagined my son and his friend would be rescued by such a lovely young lady... Wouldn't you agree Ritchie?"

" Uh... Yeah! Absolutely!" Ritchie said blushing.

Talon giggled.

"So, what do you like to do Ritchie?" Talon asked smiling, " You look like the athletic type..."

"He's a pretty good swimmer!" Virgil piped in.

Ritchie shot him a glare and saw Virgil's eyes shining with mischief... It was supposed to be a secret that Ritchie thought Talon was very pretty, even as a bang baby. But he didn't want it broadcast. Of course, what he failed to realize was that Talon was attracted to him as well...

" So you like to swim?" Talon asked smiling.

"Yeah I can swim pretty girl... " Ritchie said then blushed the same shade as a tomato, "Pretty good! I swim pretty good... "

Virgil burst out laughing, as did Sharon and Mr. Hawkins...

" Ritchie Foley... Smooth talker extroardinar... I never thought Id see the day where you'd yet tongue tied over a pretty girl!" Sharon said laughing.

Ritchie blushed even more... It felt strange to both him and Ritchie having a pleasant conversation with three bang babies, but it was nice getting to know them. Shiv was a pretty cool guy, once you got over his weird streak and his overall ability to make any thing into a joke... Ferret actually liked to cook, his grandma owned her own restaurant in the French quarter in New Orleans... And Talon loved to sing, although she was too embarrassed to let anyone hear her...

About two hours later, Serena got back with Ms. Seilia and quickly got to work on dinner... Originally, she planned to make chicken and dumplings, but after seeing chicken breast and multiple different types of cheeses, she decided to make three cheese bacon wrapped chicken breasts with roasted onions, peppers and mushrooms... By the time dinner was ready, the whole house smelled delicious! Everyone really enjoyed the dinner and even Sharon voted for Serena to cook each and every night... Serena asked if Shiv, Talon, and Ferret could stay and visit a little while longer, but they weren't able to, they're other friends would get worried and start looking for them if they didn't go back to the hideout... After they left, Serena yawned and headed up to bed, she would share a room with Sharon, so Ms. Seilia made sure to buy a new bed for Serena with beautiful pink velvet sheets... Ms. Seilia had also insisted on buying Serena a bunch of silk pjs in every color of the rainbow and a whole wardrobe for school... Serena had never felt so content in all her life...

She fell asleep that night, dreaming of dancing at a ball with a very handsome red haired stranger...

End chapter...