when she heard the knock at the door. That in itself wasn't strange. Parents came at all hours during the night to drop off their children into her care. Normally she hopped up quickly and opened the door, already familiar with the knock.
But this knock was new. If she'd stopped to think about it, really stopped and not just slowed down, she would have called out instead of opening the door. Not that her door was much protection from anyone who really wanted in. Still, it was better than nothing.
So when she opened the door, she was unprepared for the face peering back at her with his keen eyes. It was a boy who was probably a year or two older than her. Right away he gave her a bad feeling. He clearly had no child to drop off, so he could only be there for some other reason.
"I'm Aaron," he said as he took a step inside making her step back. He shut the door behind himself softly as he added, "You must be Mary."
She stood still in front of him, watching his movements. There was something about him that suggested danger. Perhaps she'd just been hanging out with Jimmy too much under that large tree.
This boy looked normal, and he hadn't made any threatening moves towards her. Still, he knew her name. His name was completely unfamiliar to her. She had learned to listen for names since her first stupid chance taken with Jimmy. No one by the name of Aaron had ever come up.
Mary would give no more ground. Everything was a game to them.
He didn't press forward. He stared straight at her books lined up on top of her dresser. "You do have a lot of books."
She didn't dare turn away from him, not even to look at the nearby books. He spoke as if someone had told him about her, but he hadn't believed it. It wasn't a secret that she loved books. The one who watched over the care center knew. Brandon knew. Jimmy knew.
Mary kept her eyes on Aaron just as he turned back to her leaving little space between them. She could smell him he was so close. It wasn't the same heavy musky scent that hung on Jimmy when he visited on his breaks during training. It was softer, lighter, but still a masculine smell that made her uneasy. "Brandon says you're teaching him how to read."
She had to remind herself that she wouldn't move back. "You know Brandon."
He crossed his arms across his chest. "And Jimmy. They're like my brothers."
That didn't comfort her. He still unnerved her. For once she had an inkling of what it must be like for everyone else around Jimmy.
"What do you want?" Mary's entire body tensed so that she nearly trembled.
"To see what the big deal is." He looked down at her, his face impossible for her to read. It was an unfair advantage when her discomfort written was all over her face. "I don't see it. You're just a human. Brandon, though, he seems to have bonded, and if I didn't know better, I'd think he was screwing with Jimmy's thoughts too."
She held her mouth closed. She wasn't supposed to know about Brandon's power. He had confided it to her because of all the time they spent together. She was even aware of how close Brandon bonded when exposed to someone's thoughts over a long period of time.
But his power had no effect on others. It was only one way. And even if it did affect others, Jimmy was a special case. Brandon couldn't even read his thoughts. These were things she didn't bother to say out loud to Aaron.
"You should go. One of the parents is due to come tonight and drop a child off."
He smiled and took another step closer to her, one hand on the wall. "You're cute when you lie."
She resisted the urge to shove him away from her. There was nowhere to run. He stood in front of the only door and behind her there was only her bed.
Mary allowed herself to take a step back. "What're you going to do to me? Are you going to kill me?" The anger bubbled in her voice making it tremble ever so slightly. If he mistook it for fear, it would piss her off more. "This is a safe place," she added for good measure to let him know she wasn't scared. "You can't do that."
He grinned then. "There are things