Run Away (An Academy Ghost Bird Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Ten

Kota

     We took turns visiting with Sang and running around, preparing for the Ashley Waters job. No matter what Sang decided, we still had this job and it wasn't going to wait. Tomorrow we had to be on campus for registration. With Sang still recovering we decided to do registration in shifts so someone is always with her. Also we were going to move her closer so we weren't driving all the way downtown to the hospital everytime. With my mom home, we wanted to avoid questions so we decided to take her to Nathan's house. His dad was still away, like normal, so we could come and go without issue. I didn't like having to take Sang so close to her parents' house but the next closest place was with Uncle at Luke and North's house. Uncle was former Academy, so we trusted him, but we weren't ready to introduce her to any other Academy until Sang made her decision on what she wanted to do.

     The next morning, Sang was moving easier. Nathan, North and I brought her some breakfast and helped her pack up her things. She showered and changed into a clean set of clothes. Gabriel had heard her favorite color was pink, so last night he had showed up for his shift with some more clothes he bought for her. She was wearing them now; a pair of pink cotton shorts and a white shirt with grey and pink horizontal pin stripes. After slipping on some sandals we helped her into North's Jeep and made the journey back to Sunnyvale Court.
     Pulling into Nathan's drive way, she eased her way out of the Jeep. We grabbed her bags from the back of the Jeep and began walking toward the door. I turned around when I noticed Sang wasn't next to me and saw her still standing next to North's Jeep, looking down the street. I walked back to her and followed her line of sight. A few doors down sat her parents' house, and at this moment a man was walking out to an older used sedan parked in the driveway. He was absentmindedly looking down at his phone, typing occasionally. He stood waiting by his car a moment before looking back to the house and shouting something. Then a girl appeared, wearing a t-shirt with the logo of some unknown band and long, worn jeans that covered the tops of her sneakers. She said something back to the man, looking annoyed, and then dropped into the car's front passenger seat. The man just shook his head and got in, starting the car.
     "They must be going to register Marie for classes." Sang said. Looking at her face, she looked disappointed and a little confused. "They're just carrying on without me." she said still staring at the house. It wasn't a question, she was seeing it with her own eyes. She turned, dropping her head down and walked toward Nathan's front door. I stayed in the driveway and watched the two drive the opposite way down the road until their car was out of site around the bend.
     Inside she didn't say a word to the others, but they could tell she seemed sad. Nathan and North both looked at me, silently asking me what was wrong. I just shook my head, not now. Sang deserved so much better than the life those people had given her. She was going to get a better life, we were going to make sure it happened.

     After about an hour, it was time for North and I to head to the school. Nathan stayed with Sang and put on a movie to try and bring her out of her dark mood. She had barely spoken since we arrived, only nodding and shaking her head or simple one word answers. She seemed deep in thought so we didn't pry but we all wanted to see her smile and joke with us again.
     North and I arrive at the school and started to patrol the campus. Since Mr. Blackbourne was adjusting and inputting our schedules we didn't actually have to wait in line like the other students. Our main job today was to observe the student body and try to blend in. Victor would be checking the video feeds to make sure everything was running smoothly. Dr. Green, North and Silas were going to be patrolling and monitor the hallways. Mr. Blackbourne was monitoring the administrative offices. Gabriel, Luke and I would be focusing on the outdoor areas including around the classroom trailors.
     As the day reached later into the day, morning turning to afternoon, the majority of the over-sized student body arrived and we found ourselves stretched thin. The hallways were crowed, people were walking shoulder to shoulder and front to back. Parents tried to stay out of the crowd by waiting in the stairways which restricted the flow of people walking up and down. Mr. Blackbourne joined the others in monitoring the hallways but the outside areas were just as packed with far more ground to cover. Silas had already broken up two fights upstairs and Luke found and chased off some kids in the parking lot trying to break into a car. I didn't want to call Nathan in away from Sang but we needed everyone here.

Sang

     I sat on Nathan's couch not really watching the movie he put on. Something with zombies, I think. It was either zombies or some movie about a natural disaster, there was a lot of people bleeding. Oh, I just saw someone holding a chainsaw, definately zombies.
     Nathan's phone buzzed, he pulled it out and furrowed his eyebrows at the message on the screen. He looked up at me apologetically.
     "Sang, I need to go help the others for a bit. Will you be okay for a couple hours? When I get back we'll order some pizza. I think the others wanted to come by tonight, we could watch some more movies or I can teach you how to play that racing game."
     "I'll be okay." I smiled, hoping it looked reassuring. "Go and help the guys. I think I might try and take a nap."
     "Okay. If you get hungry, there's food in the 'fridge, just help yourself to whatever you want. Make yourself at home." He stands and grabs his keys. With a final wave he walks to the door and leaves, locking it behind him.
"Make yourself at home"
     What does that feel like?

     I turn the movie off and stare at the blank screen. I'm pretty sure the zombies lose, at least I hope they do. I look around the room. Even empty, with no one but myself around, this place feels more home than my house, or my bedroom, ever did. Nathan says his Dad is away a lot for work so he's home alone most of the time, but he still has all his friends. He can leave and visit his friends. Talk to them on the phone. Talk to them at school. People would look for him if they didn't know where he was. He would be missed.
     Is that home?
     I think I read somewhere that 'home is a state of mind'. Or was that 'home is where the heart is'? What did Dorothy mean when she said, 'There's no place like home'?
     Ack, my mind is all over the place.

     There are so many unanswered questions in my head.
Why didn't they want to find me?
Are they really my parents?
Why did they lie to me?
Are they trying to keep me hidden?
Who am I?
Why?

     None of these questions will get answered. Not unless I ask them myself.

* * * * *

     I open the side door, like I have a hundred times before. My father's car was still gone so he and Marie are probably still at the school. The faint murmur of the television in my parents' bedroom is the only noise in the house. She is most likely asleep. My mother has been sick since I was ten. She went to the hospital one day when she had a severe migraine and she stayed for several days. When she came back she had tons of medications and they never told me why. The medicine makes her sleepy so she stays in her room a lot and we have to make sure she eats.
     I walk up the back stairs to the second floor, unlocking the door with a push pin I had tacked above the door frame, I enter my old bedroom and flip on the over head light. Its been three days and it already doesn't feel like mine anymore. My closet is open, a few of my clothes on the floor. Some of my books on the book shelf are laying on their sides. The mattress on the bed is laying slightly off center, the covers are crumpled. I used to find the room like this when my mother searched my room for my diary or anything else she thought I might be hiding. Marie was much sneakier, she'd just take it and I wouldn't know until I was called into my mother's room to be punished.
     A floorboard creaks and I freeze. Heavy breathing sounds from behind me and I turn slowly toward the door.

     "What the hell are you doing back here?"