Run Away (An Academy Ghost Bird Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Eight

Sang

I finished showering, taking my time to wash carefully around my knee and other scraps. I stayed sitting on the stool, not trusting my legs to hold me up. The body wash Gabriel bought me smelled like jasmine and made my battered skin feel super soft. After I patted my skin dry I picked up the stack of clothes. Gabriel brought in a pair of gray shorts as well as a soft cotton white t-shirt. He also provided a clean pair of bra and panties, I blush at the thought of Gabriel and Victor buying me underwear. I don't know how they would have known my size but I'm grateful all the same. I slip on the new clothes, wrapping my hair in a towel like Gabriel wanted, and open the door.
"See! She's fine!" Gabriel is laying on the empty bed that Luke was previously occupying. North is standing over him grumbling with his arms crossed over his chest. Victor comes over to me and offers me his hand again, helping me across the floor to the bed. Dr. Green is watching Luke while he is setting up a tray of food by my bed, but turns his attention to me as we approach.
     "There's my patient." He grins, green eyes twinkling. "You are looking nice and refreshed. How are you feeling? Any dizziness?" I shake my head and he smiles. "Good. Let me know if that changes. We've got some food for you here, I understand Luke promised you something special." I nod and sit on the bed, Luke pushes the tray of food closer to me with a giant smile, looking pleased with himself. He has it loaded with a mountain of eggs, bacon, a bowl of mixed fruit and of course, piled up high, the promised chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream and chocolate syrup drizzled on top. Three drink cups are on the tray filled with orange juice, water and milk. My eyes widen at the food spread, I know I was hungry but how was I supposed to eat all of this?
Noticing my expression, Dr. Green reassures me, "Just eat as much as you can, Pumpkin. You don't have to force yourself. If you can, try to eat a little of everything. Some protein will do you good." I nod and dig in. Everything is so delicious, I try to focus on the food and not to be self conscious about eating in front of the other people in the room. Just them I notice a few more people have gathered. North, now sitting on a large couch by the window talks quietly to another guy that rivals him in size. The giant, maybe 17, has an olive complexion and dark, short cropped hair. He's wearing dark blue jeans and a blue and white baseball shirt over his wide shoulders. Next to him sits a boy around the same age as the others, he talks to North and the giant. He has auburn hair and dark blue eyes. He wears some black sport shorts and a red sleeveless athletic shirt, I admire his toned biceps that flex as he runs his hand through his reddish hair. I look around and see Luke and Gabriel are fighting over who gets to sit on the extra bed, even though I'm sure there would be room for both of them. Near the door I spot Kota talking to another man, about the same age as Dr. Green. He is angular perfection. He wears a charcoal grey suit and maroon tie. Both he and Kota wear similar dark framed glasses but Kota's give him a intellectual boyish charm while the other man's give a polished sophistication. The man has pale skin like mine and soft brown hair, cut short and brushed away from his face. He turns his steel grey eyes to me, he murmurs something to Kota and they both approach the side of my bed.
"Sang, let me introduce you to a friend of mine, Mr. Blackbourne." Dr. Green said, pointing to the polished businessman. Mr. Blackbourne seemed to study me closely. Just being next to him made me want to sit up straighter, like he was grading my posture. He obviously was someone important and I didn't want to disappoint him. He silently extended his smooth, perfect hand to me in greeting, I scrambled to meet his grasp and hoped my palms weren't sweaty.
"A pleasure to meet you Miss Sorenson. Have you had a chance to meet the rest of my team?"
"I think Nathan and Silas are the only ones left she hasn't officially met." Kota informed Mr. Blackbourne. Upon hearing their names the giant and the auburn haired boy stood up and walked over to us. Kota gestures to the auburn haired boy, "This is Nathan," then gestures to the giant, "this is Silas. Guys, this is Sang." Nathan smiles and waves at me.
"Hi Sang. It's nice to finally meet you." His teeth are bright white and when he smiles his deep blue eyes sparkle. Silas is just as big as I imagined. He towers over everyone and obviously works out, but even with his bulk his face is kind. Warm brown eyes compliment his olive complexion and his soft smile tells me that he's a gentle giant.
"Hello, I heard North scared you. Would you like me to thump him for you?" He smirks in teasing. I smile back with mischief.
"No, that's okay. My revenge is best served cold." I joke back, he bursts out laughing. The rest of the boys join in, all except North.
"Ah ha! Little Aggele is going to be trouble."
"Trouble is right!" Called Gabriel, "that's what I'm calling her from now on." The guys chuckle at that too.
"That's a horrible nickname! I don't want my first nickname to be 'Trouble'!" I pout.
"You've never had a nick name before?" Nathan asks.
I shake my head, "No, it's hard to shorten Sang. It's only one syllable." I joke, but I'm a little embarrassed. Nicknames are something friends give you and I've never had a bunch of friends like this. I've only ever been Sang. I feel that I could be friends with these boys. The idea that they even want to give me a nickname gives me a thrill, even if the name is Trouble.
"Well, I called you Aggele. So, Trouble wasn't the first." Says Silas. I smile back at him shyly.
"What language is that?" I ask him.
"Greek. I came here from Greece." He grins.
"That's so neat. I've never been anywhere but here and Illinois." I tell him.
"Do you speak any other languages?" Kota asks me.
"No, not really. I know the alphabet in sign language. Oh, and how to write the alphabet in Korean letters, but I don't actually know any Korean. I've always wanted to learn another language like Japanese or Russian, maybe French." I answer. Mr. Blackbourne gives me a curious look.

"Miss Sorenson, we are all relieved that you are here safe with us. I know there are a great many things we need to discuss. Firstly, would you mind giving us your account on what happened a few nights ago?" Mr. Blackbourne asks. At this everyone falls silent, the rest of the guys slowly stand and gather around so they can hear as well. I blush and become nervous at their expectant expressions. I drop my eyes and twist my hands in my lap. "Miss Sorenson?" Mr. Blackbourne urges, "Why did you run away?"

"Would you believe me if I said it seemed like a good idea at the time?" I ask, his expression remains expectant. I sigh and continue, "I don't know if this will make sense." I begin, "I didn't really run away. Well, I guess I did but that wasn't what I was trying to do." I begin to worry the hem of my t-shirt, fidgeting and trying to find the words. A smooth finger taps the bottom of my chin and I raise my eyes to meet a pair steel grey eyes. One eyebrow raised a millimeter as if to say, continue please. "I just wanted a night out of my parents' house. It sounds crazy, I know. My parents are... different. I just wanted to get away for the night. I didn't want to feel trapped anymore."
"What do you mean by trapped? Do your parents hurt you?" Mr. Blackbourne asks.

I shake my head, "No. My mother is strict, but she doesn't hit me." she doesn't touch me at all if she can help it, I think to myself. I try to explain, "The morning before I left, while I was washing dishes my mother came in to the kitchen and told me about a girl on the news. She told me that three men had kidnapped her from her front lawn and molested her, that it had only taken a minute. This was one of maybe a hundred different stories she tells me all the time. Always about a girl being kidnapped or raped or any number of horrific things. She tells me not to talk to anyone. Not to stand on my front porch or play in the front yard. I can't bring anyone over, or have anyone call me on the phone. She doesn't like people she doesn't know, but she won't meet anyone." I tell them. "I can usually handle the stories or any punishment she gives me if she thinks I've disobeyed her. But that morning I just felt trapped. I wanted to prove to myself that she was wrong. That a murderer didn't hide in every shadow." I think of that night, of the men in the empty house. "I guess I was wrong though."

"What happened after you left your house?" Mr. Blackbourne asks.

I begin telling them everything. The empty house that I went to, the men that came and how I escaped. I told them where I had been. Hiding, afraid that the men would find me and too afraid to go home and face my mother's wrath. They occasionally stop me with a question, like how I knew how to fall. So explain about my gym class in elementary school. A few of them chuckle when I tell them those lessons discontinued when some students threw themselves off playground equipment so we could practice, and that I may or may not have been apart of that.

When I finish telling them my side of the story, I finally ask the question that has been burning in the back of my mind. "So, why were you all looking for me? Most of you are too young to be police?"

"We're not the police, Miss Sorenson." Mr. Blackbourne answers, "We're actually from a private school. We were searching for you because Mr. Lee suspected you ran away and that you might be hurt." he points to Kota.

"How did you know?" I ask him.
"I live on your street. Nathan and I both do actually. I noticed when your family moved in, and I saw you every once and a while walking in the woods. I've been trying to introduce myself for a while now but always seem to miss you. When I hadn't seen you in a few days I walked out back behind your house to see if you were there and I heard your parents arguing."
"What did they say?" I ask. He looks a little uncomfortable for a moment, but Mr. Blackbourne speaks before he can answer.

"I actually would like to discuss this with you, Miss Sorenson." Mr. Blackbourne tells me. His eyes give nothing away. I direct my full attention to him, the rest of the boys seem to fade away. He continues, "Mr. Lee overheard Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson arguing about you. Based on what was said we were lead to believe that they were not going to take any action in finding you so we then took it upon ourselves. We used some of our resources and attempted to find out more information about you and your family in hopes that it would aid our search." He pauses, making sure he has my full attention. "Miss Sorenson, we believe your parents didn't want to report you missing because they wanted to keep you hidden. They didn't want anyone to find out about you." I looked at him confused.
"Why would they want to do that?" I ask, afraid to know the answer.

"Because, Miss Sorenson. According to our research, you don't exist."