Looking for the Light Through the Darkness

Chapter 24: Jigsaw Puzzles

Point of view: Sang

I can still feel the tears rolling down my face as I stand awkwardly in the doorway my mind swimming with confusion and I start to back up. "Sang..." It is Luke's voice and I realize he must have answered the door with how close his voice is. Taking a sharp breath, I begin to back farther away from the door when I suddenly fee fingers touching my wrist. Without a second thought, I pull my hands out of reach by hiding them behind my back as my mind spins a little quicker. So Mr. Blackbourne and Luke knew each other? Had they known about me through Gabriel? My heart started to pound harder as I thought of him and I could feel my heart sinking.

Avery had been right, about these boys. Something wasn't quite adding up. Although I had met a few of them in different places was it possible that the world was just that small... or was there other factors at play. Stepping farther away from the door, I feel the wall hit my back making me flinch.

"Sang." This time the voice is from Silas and he is to my right his voice deep but soft so as not to frighten me. "Come inside and talk to us." He whispers calmly. "We understand you are probably very confused as to why-"

I raise my hand moving away from Silas's voice slightly but looking directly at him. "Was this all set up?" I can feel my voice rising in panic but also in frustration wanting to know the truth instantly. "Did you all know who I was before I even met you?" Biting my lip, I listen to the pure silence that follows my questions and I can feel my heart drop into my stomach.

Rubbing my tears off my face, I begin to move away from the apartment when suddenly the air shifts around me. "Miss. H.." This time the voice is from Mr. Blackbourne and unlike our previous meeting his voice is filled with worry and a bit higher than normal. "Miss. H we had heard about you through Mr. Coleman and Dr. Green that day they met you in the hospital. We all however, did not plan on running into you after that. Our original meeting in Ann's was not planned I honestly was only going to get breakfast. Mr. Morgan also had no idea his mother had called your work until you had showed up. Even Kota didn't know that you all would be out shopping." I can hear Mr. Blackbourne swallow and suddenly I realize he is just as nervous as I am.

Letting out a slow shaky breath as I try to gather my thoughts I nod in understanding putting the pieces together in my mind. They wouldn't have done this intensionally and in addition they all had seemed genuinely surprised when I first met each of them. Releasing another held breath, I try to keep the tears at bay when suddenly warm arms are wrapped up around my own and drawing me close to a very muscular chest scented with a musky cologne. "Baby girl are you alright? Victor told us you ran out of work crying this morning and we got scared something had happened."

Unable to resist, I curl into North's warmth and break down again letting the tears fall freely from my cheeks as he easily scoops me up and carries me into the apartment. The small room is now filled with a variety of different scents as I am placed on the comfy couch and I realize I don't recognize one of them. Sniffing, I tense a little and look toward the scent. Focusing a little harder, it seems to be a mix of cypress and leather. "Wow..." Suddenly a voice appears where I am looking and I shift nervously on the couch. It is a little deeper than Victor's but smooth and crisp like Kota's. "How did you know I was standing there?" His voice is soft and comforting as he talks, just as the rest of the guys voices are and I manage a small smile.

"Just a good guess..." I whisper before leaning back into the couch as I try to calm down. "My name is Sang... but I guess you already knew that." I whisper in response and offer a hand to the male standing across from me and suddenly I feel slightly callused hand touching my own in a comforting manor.

"My name is Nathan. It is a pleasure to finally meet you." He says his voice getting a notch higher and I assume he is smiling. "I honestly was going nuts thinking I was the last person to meet you." Nathan states and I shrug slightly and can't help but smile back.

"How many of their are you?" I question looking around the room toward each of their voices. I was feeling a little overwhelmed at the fact that there were so many people all together here in this small apartment let alone all of them being very handsome and attractive men. Letting out a controlled breath, I find that I focus my attention toward Mr. Blackbourne, knowing just by his personality and behavior that he was the leader of the group.

"There are nine of us in total." Mr. Blackbourne admits his voice quiet and calm as he states the facts easily. "As Nathan said, he is the last to meet you out of our group. All of us met when we were in grade school down South. We only recently moved up here to New York. We are basically family." He explains and I nod a little resting my back against the couch.

Nodding, I slowly play with Silas's sweatshirt that I still have on, making sure to fully grasp everything that Mr. Blackbourne is saying before speaking. "Okay..." I whisper looking toward each of them. "I believe you..." With those three words the entire room seems to take a breath of air in and relax.

Smiling, I feel North's hand slip into my own as he pulls me closer to his side and I curl up feeling tired from crying. "Hey little one?" Looking toward Nathan, I nod letting him know that I have heard him. "Why were you crying?" The room seems to hold its breath once more and I can feel my smile falter a little.

"It's okay.." Luke whispers from my left and I nod smiling sadly before starting in on my story.

"After Silas and Gabriel dropped me off at work, I went in to talk to my boss and she got really worried when I told her about what happened to my apartment. Then another co-worked walked into the room and they started to yell." I whisper my voice growing smaller and smaller as I recall the memories. "I don't do well when people yell... as North found out..." I continue and feel North's arm tense around me and pull me closer to his chest. "So I started to get scared and ran out of the door when I ran into Victor."

Freezing, I look toward Victor my eyes wide as I recall the scene and I can't help the tears that threaten to spill over once more. "I am sorry for how I acted Victor..." My voice wavers a little with the tears and instantly I feel a hand rubbing my exposed side.

"It's okay.." The sweet angelic voice of Victor appears on my left and I blush as he places a very soft kiss on my cheek. "You were scared and I probably wasn't helping." He whispers and I nod a little before hiding my face in North's chest.

"So what happened next Miss.?" This time the voice is Kota's. "Where did you go?" I pause for a moment to catch my breath before speaking once more to the male's in the room.

"I just walked around... I went back to my apartment for a little bit... but since everything was destroyed I figured I would come here and get my new things." I whisper but I tense when I feel someone move about the room.

"You walked here?" The voice was Silas's and he was careful as he sat on the arm of the couch besides me.

"I did..." I admit and fidget a little. "I would have taken a cab but I pretty much used up all of my money this morning while shopping... Plus I really needed time to calm down and think."