The Changes

Part 21: You Should Never Let Me Book Your Vacation Plans

    Honestly, I was glad that we had another person to help us out. It boosted the team's morale because the fight was getting too hard, and we were all extremely tired.
    Noah flung balls of light at incoming enemies. Once, he got so desperate, he raised both arms and a super bright light filled the room, blinding those opposing him. He took out a good dozen with that move, but the light in his hands started to flicker. Beside me, Leyna's flames sputtered weakly, and I noticed I couldn't even turn into a rabbit if I wanted to (not that I wanted to, of course, psh). Ashton was still a human, and hit as many opponents with his karambit as possible, but even he wasn't holding up well. He had also taken martial arts as a kid, so he was doing fine with a short weapon.
     Barry's lightning bolts came down slower, and Marissa's ice started to melt, the people she had frozen almost being freed. Ethan aimed with less accuracy and Amber's brewing storms weakened. The strange man who was helping us took down as many people as possible, but he couldn't handle them all. He was actually very powerful. He made enemies believe there was a hole in the ground once, and while they paused, confused, he would knock them out. Still, more enemies came. We were getting overwhelmed.
      "We aren't going to make it!" shouted Leyna over the noise of energy blasts and items breaking.
       "That, I've figure out," I mumbled, as I tripped a man. Vladmir had left my rod when he fled, and I found it.
      Barry started to hum the chorus of "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" by Selena Gomez. I rolled my eyes. This wasn't the time.
      "You kids find Vladmir. I'll find you later," yelled the man.
      "We can't leave you here," argued Noah.
       "You'll have to trust me," he replied.
       It was very unlikely he would make it out alive, but Amber reluctantly nodded.
      "Okay," she said, pulling snowballs out of thin air and throwing them in people's faces.
     "What about the stone?" asked Marissa.
      "We'll figure it out later," I responded. "There's no way we can get it to the pedestal with all these people in the way."
      We ran towards the exit of the room. Some people chased after us, but we tried out best to hold them back. Noah's light powers were actually very useful in temporary knock out.
     We checked the entire downstairs of the White House. Nothing was out of order, except the giant hole in the roof where Ashton must've landed. We could see no one in sight, but I suddenly heard a little whimper from underneath a small table with a vase on it.
     "Guys, hold up." The room was eerily quiet at the moment. I carefully approached the table, my staff in my hand.
    When I reached the small wooden table, I lowered myself to see under it. I saw a little girl, possibly of the age of six. I gasped in shock, and the girl curled herself into a small ball, silently sobbing. Okay, let me tell you this, I was not soft with younger kids. I hated it when they cried. Call me cold, but that was the way I was. But this girl was different. She didn't cry out loud like most kids did, and also, she was separated from her parents and was smart enough to find a place to hide.
      Her short brown and gold locks curled around her face, and under her small pink blouse, she wore grey tights.
     "You okay over there?" shouted Barry from the other side of the hall.
     The girl curled into a smaller ball.
     "Shhhh," I hissed. Barry always scared kids away.
    I turned back to her. "Are you okay?" She stared at me with her large chocolate brown eyes. A few tears lay on her cheeks, and she shook her head no.
    "We're here to help," I told her softly. Speaking kindly to a small child wasn't really my strong suit. I always felt awkward, as if I was talking to a dog.
   "Mommy," she croaked quietly. "Daddy. Anya."
    "Is that your family?" I asked. She nodded.
     I turned to my friends, and Ethan gestured to me to hurry up.
    "What's you name?"
    "Sadie," she whispered.
    "Sadie, we don't have much time. We can help get you out of here, but we're going to have to do it fast, okay?"
    Amber appeared beside me, crouching so she was level with Sadie.
    "Look, we can help you find your parents, but we'll have to do it quick," Amber said. "We can do it if you listen to us. Cooperate."