The Countdown

He Bragged

Call it morbid curiosity, but I wanted to see what Owen would say to Lizet in regards to me leaving her care and going with him to wherever he lived. The fact that I almost didn't even care what kind of house he lived in said a lot about how I felt about my previous home, and I think he knew that. 

I wasn't really worried about where I would stay, after all I had been about to run away, if anything I would run away from him too. I didn't think I would need to but it didn't hurt to be prepared, especially with the kind of life I'd been dealt so far. 

Nervous didn't quite justify how I felt as I walked up my driveway with Owen by my side. Not only was I not allowed visitors, but about an hour ago I had been grounded to my room. Not to mention the whole soulmate part. She's going to be livid. She'll see it as me rubbing it in, not me being taken off of her hateful hands. A part of me, the mean part who hates her guts practically screams at me to saunter in there and shove it in her face. 

But the other part of me knows that it would make the whole exchange worse, especially as a first impression to the guy that I'm supposedly supposed to spend the rest of my life with. Owen raised his hand to knock, and I put my hand on his arm to stop him. Under his suit I felt distinct muscles and quick as lightning dropped my hand. A hot blush swept across my face and I looked down at the floor mat as I opened the door for him. 

"You, uh, you can just walk it," I said.

Faint pink stains dotted his cheeks, "Right. I momentarily forgot this was your home," he explained formally. 

After a long thoughtful look at entry way he took a breath and stepped inside, his hand drifting back to grab hold of mine as he made sure I followed him. The house was dark, but even so it wasn't hard to navigate the barely furnished living room. I wasn't embarrassed about the lack of signs that pointed towards people inhabiting the house, because it'd never truly been my home to begin with. 

I was just passing through, and my ride had finally come to pick me up and take me out of here. 

Owen looks around, his grey eyes calculating everything they encounter, and already from the short time I've known him I can tell he's a very smart, take charge kind of guy.

"Sang," Lizet yells from what sounds like the kitchen.

She'll be expecting me to come downstairs. After all it's where she sent me and I've never misbehaved. I don't pretend to come downstairs, instead I head straight for the sound of her voice. However, when I get into the kitchen with Owen in tow I make sure not to turn her attention away from whatever she is stirring on the stove by speaking.

I had planned to wait for her to explode upon seeing Owen when she turned around but he surprises me and speaks up before she can find out there is an unidentified male in her kitchen. 

"Excuse me, are you Sang's mother?"

I could have laughed or screamed, but I did neither, rooted to my spot in fear. Lizet turned around, mouth open in surprise. Her eyes, blue and innocently misleading, rested on my soulmate. I was torn between flinching at her outrage that was sure to come and stepping in front of him to save him from some of it. 

"No," she sneered, "did she do something illegal?"

The saddest part, I thought, was that she couldn't even be bothered to hide her hopefulness. I looked at Owen, gone was the person on the street who blushed and smiled, and in his place was a very professional looking man with a cold expression.

"No ma'am," he said, not unkindly, though it as nothing like the warmth I knew he was capable of, "is there a father I can speak with?"

Lizet's face turned from hopeful to sour in seconds, I opened my mouth to say something but she beat me to it, revealing something I'd hope to save for maybe the third or fourth day I'd known the poor guy. 

"That man has been in jail since she," a long, bony finger pointed at me, "was born."

Owen's jaw twitched, "Ah," he said, looking down at me curiously though he didn't ask. 

Why didn't I just beg him to take me away again? It could have saved me a whole lot of anxiety and stress. I knew why though, because seeing Lizet upset made all of the pain she'd thrust upon me almost worth it. 

"Excuse me," Lizet seethed, "Why are you in my house again?"

There was an undertone in her voice, a demand, a threat, a promise. The latter of course, was for me. The brat who dared bringing in this male, who wasn't here to bust me  and take me away for some heinous crime, and who had brought up my father the bane of her current existence. 

Why did he bring him up, I wondered to myself, forgetting that Lizet and Owen were sparring back and forth, momentarily at least. 

The question was answered a heartbeat later, "Well then can you explain to me why she is being abused?" The words were sharp, like a wood chipper, and they had done the damage just as fast.

Lizet was now looking at me, "You called CPS?" Her voice raised with each word, "after everything I put with for you!?" by the last word she was nearly screeching. 

A better question, why hadn't I ever thought to call them before? I racked my brain for the answer, but now that I was no longer chained to this house, none of my prior excuses made up for the fact that I'd never called. They were pitiful and stupid now that I looked back and thought about it. 

Owen frowned, "relax, I'm not with CPS, but I am taking Sang away," he said, sounding angry.

"So you are a cop," she crossed her arms the accusation clear as day on her scowl. 

Owen thought over her words, "not exactly. You'll be hearing from those I work for about how you've treated Sang though, mark my words."

Lizet's eyes narrowed, "What does she interest you for anyways, and what do I care who the fuck you work for?" She asked, eyeing his suit. 

There was a pause, Owen slipped an arm around my shoulders and dared her to retaliate.

"She's my soulmate," he bragged, a big grin lighting up his face as he smirked at her, pulling me close as if he'd done it a million times. 

If looks could kill, Owen's eyes would have overpowered Lizet's and she'd be no more. Owen nudged me towards the doorway of the kitchen, eyes still on Lizet. 

"Sang, darling, please go and gather your things you want to bring, you won't be returning to this dwelling."

It wasn't until I'd packed up the few things I didn't want to leave behind that I finally felt it. The giddiness.

***

I slid into the passenger seat of his car, with every intention of getting to know every single little detail about him. If not because he was my soulmate but because he had just single handedly told Lizet off.

But that all changed as I went to buckle my seatbelt and my eyes caught on the timer on my wrist.

The mating mark was still present, but something was up with the clock.

40 minutes 57 seconds

40 minutes 56 seconds

It had begun to count down again. I was so confused and my heart was going insane, filling up my ears with the thumping. 

I couldn't even look at Owen.

Was he really the one, or was I that messed up that even a watch that is never wrong can't work properly on me? 

This is for Annie and Jennifer - Baby Bird update will be done tomorrow (I swear on my first born child, no Anne that doesn't mean I'm preggers by the way)