No Place to Hide

Amanda Pierce knew she should have accepted Mr. Bellings offer to drive her home. She quickened her pace and glanced over her shoulder. She had the feeling she was being followed. The building around her didnt look familiar at all and to make things worse there was no one on the streets- no cars no animals, she couldnt even hear the crickets or other night insects making noise. It was as if the whole world was holding its breath.
Shivering she tried to get her bearings. Sunddenly out of no where some one grabbed her. As she started to scream a hand clamped over her mouth. Two men seemingly appeared in front of her. Struggling to get free Amanda bit his hand. With a howl of anguish the man released his hold and she tried to run but the two men in front easily caught her.
"It wont do you any good to run Amanda- we wont hurt you..... as long as you do exactly as we say." The man who held her hissed in her ear. They dragged her to a dark colored lincoln and dumped her inside. The man she had bitted took the wheel and the other two sat in the back with her. Gasping for breath she straightened up and got a good look of her captors. One was short and muscular with bright red hair and a scar running from his eye to the corner of his mouth. She shuddered and glanced at the second one. He was on the tall side with piercing blue eyes and light brown hair.
Taking a deap breath she asked. "What do you want? Who are you?" The red headed man glanced at her. "Oh don't worry, like I said we aren't taking you to hurt you- we're not going to rape you or anything, we're just are going to take you to a place where you'll be safe." The two men in the backseat kind of smiled at eachother when he said that. Amanda bit her lip and kept quiet. She couldn't let them know how frightened she really was. "We know how frightened you are already." The tall one said as if he had read her thoughts. "Im Mike and he's Earl." He said jabbing his thumb at the red headed man.
Suddenly it was no longer night- it was as if someone had turned on a light in a pitch black room. They were riding along a smooth road with green fields and tall trees on either side. When she say the huge mansions spread out on hilly countryside she gulping hard. "What is that?"
"That...." The tall man said. "Is you new home."

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Amanda stepped through the front door of the main mansion with Mike and Earl on either sides of her. The third man whose name she discovered was Bill brought up the rear- closing the door behind them.
A door to the right opened and a tall heavy set women with bright red hair stepped out. She smiled at the group and joined them. "You must be Amanda, I'm Iris Randall- everyone here calls me Iris. I'm going to take you to where you'll be staying." She nodded to the three men and led the way back out the front door. A golf cart was waiting outside and she got in and gazed hard at Amanda as if daring her to try and make a run for it. Amanda wanted to escape but she wasn't stupid- If she tried anything she was sure that lady would do something pretty bad. Instead she got in.
Amanda gazed across the beautiful countryside.In the the distance she could see a lake and there were playing fields to the right. Tons of other golf carts were speeding across the paths and the grass. A lot of them were driven by kids around her age.
"This all belngs to me, this is Country Acres a place where teens with special powers can live in peace and without fear." Iris smiled at the shocked look on Amanda's face. "Dont look so suprised that i know about what you can do, You would be amazed at what sort of gizmos Alan can come up with." She paused and patted Amanda's hand. "Dont worry- you can use you special gifts out in the open here. No one will hurt you if you do." Amanda stared at Iris in disbelief. "You go around kidnapping kids, snatching them away from their families to bring them here? In case you haden't noticed I was doing perfectly fine with my family." Iris smiled tolorantly. "Of course you think that but- sooner or later disaster would have struck- your lucky we detected you soon enough." Amanda could only stare at the woman as if she were crazy. "What are you and your minions getting out of this? huh? Something tells me your not doing this cause you really want to help people like us." Amanda said spitefully. Iris narrowed her eyes. "You'll thank me one day, as they all do- one day you'll know how much you owe me and repay me what's due." She abrutly stopped the cart. "Here you are. Go on inside and you'll meet you new roomate- I think you'll like them." Amanda got out and gazed at the huge house. "I'll see you tommorow." Iris said in cheerfull tone and drove away. Amanda watched her fear growing in her chest. Something was really wrong with that lady and she knew that if she didn't find a way off this land soon she might also come under her spell.

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Amanda stepped into a huge hall that was sparsly furnished. She heard laughter and voices comming from down the hall but instead of going toward them she slumped down on the only piece of furniture in hall a antique bench with no back. She leaned against the wall closing her eyes against the tears. She wouldn't cry- she would find a way out of this place. Her Aunt must be worrying her heart out. Amanda was her only family left and vise wersa. Against her will tears squeezed out and trailed down her cheeks. Those people must be using some sort of hypnosis or some sort of magic to be able to transport her into--- whatever this place was. It all seemed so hopeless. She didn't have a clue on how to escape this place- it had all happened so fast- It just appeared. The tears were flowing freely now. What was the real deal behind this place? When she found out what it was they would pay.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you must be Amanda." A male voice said. "Man Daniel don't touch her- she might not like it." A female voice said. "Yeah" Another voice chimed in. "Stop being so touchy-feely."

Amanda opened her eyes to find herself surounded by a group of teens. There had to be at least twelve of them. The guy removed his hand and put it in his pocket. "I'm Daniel, welcome to Country Acres." A tall thin black American girl with long brown hair smiled. "Hey, I'm Gineva- everyone calls me Gena. Iris told us you were comming- you'll be rooming with me and Daniel. Don't worry the rooms are huge and Daniels not a hog." She smiled at Amanda again. Amanda looked at her and knew instantly that she had made a friend.

After everyone had introduced theirselves Gena led her up the winding staircase. "We don't ask personal questions- like what you gift is, we just hang out and when you get to know someone and feel comftorable enough you tell them." Amanda glanced at her- "You mean I dont even have to tell that Iris lady or her little minions?" Gena looked suprised at Amanda's tone and look. Then she smiled and shared a glance with Daniel that said- YES!- then answered Amanda. "Well, they most likely already know- tommorow you'll take some tests and they'll see how powerfull you really are."

Gena flung open a door. "Anyway this is our room." Amanda followed her in and Daniel brought up the rear. The room was huge. A queen sized bed was up a against a far wall next to a window. and another bed was neer the door in a corner that bed was a full sized. Even though there was only a few inches difference between the two sizes Amanda could tell which was which. A big screened 40" inch tv was in an entertainment center that was up against a wall in the middle of the room. with a futton and recliner facing it. By both beds were dressers and a large wardrobe was in another far corner. Gena motioned toward the full sized bed. "Thats your bed, me and Danny sleep over there." Amanda felt embarresment creep over her face. She couldn't tell that Daniel and Gena were, well, serious like that. "Uh, I dont mean to intrude or anything. I can move in with someone else I'm sure." Daniel and Gena shared a grinned. "It's not like that at all." Daniel said but didnt offer any more information. Amanda had a feeling there was more to it than that but didnt press. "C'mon we'll take you to the clothing department to get some clothes." Gena said leading the way out the door. "And tell you a little more about this place."

They had gone out the back door to the house and piled into a golf cart. Now they were speeding along the green grass. "What's your style? Hooker, girly, grunge? Whatever you want they got." Gena said. Amanda was taking in the scenery. "Huh?" Gena glanced at her. Daniel was driving and the girls were seated next to him. "Clothes, what kind?" Amanda shrugged. "I wear a little of everything."


TO BE CONTINUED...........