Ghost Bird | ✔

Fifty

Sang's POV

***

I grin at the boys and take an open seat in Kota's living room. My grin dissolves as I turn serious.

"I'm sure you all would like to know what happened," I chuckle drily. "The day you guys came, I was taken by Cleopatra, the people you guys spoke with, to an airport. I don't know where we landed, but when I left the place, there was snow and ice everywhere. Nothing else. The place was like an underground fortress. There was only one layer above ground. It is a headquarters for the Wolves. Finding this place is going to be our first priority. Speed is essential, not only because of Silas and Gabriel."

"What could be more important than Silas and Gabriel?" North demands.

"They have a video," I continue evenly, staring him down. "A video that is a call to arms. The Wolves are calling for an uprising, a riot among the streets. Who knows what they plan on doing during that time of chaos."

"An uprising?" Kota questions.

I nod. "They have a video of me, dressed as Ghost Bird, calling everyone to attack anyone who has ever hurt you."

"Well, that's going to go over well," Luke snorts.

"Where do Silas and Gabriel come in?" Sean asks wearily.

"And how did they get the video?" Owen continues.

"Cecile is my trainer. The Wolves took me there to be some sort of secret weapon," I explain with a small frown. "I refused. They beat me. I refused. Cecile beat me again. Eventually, we came to an agreement. Cecile wouldn't beat me without training me as well and she would bring me you guys. In return, I would train without fighting."

"But only Silas got taken at first," North growls, growing angry.

"Let her finish," Owen barks.

I nod at him and continue, "Cecile only brought me Silas. A good thing too. Cleopatra didn't like the idea of him being around. She probably would've killed you all. Two months later, Cecile brings me into a studio. That's when Gabriel was brought in to get me ready for the video. I knew that they would just beat me—or worse, Silas—so I just went along. Then Cecile had me leave the fortress saying we needed one more piece of footage.

"I was flown out of the fortress to Charleston. We landed in the same airport we took out of here. Cecile took me to see my father who I had previously believed to be dead. Cecile didn't know we were related and my father didn't recognize me at all. Cecile discussed the footage with him. Somehow, he is connected.

"Then, Cecile took drove me to my mother's new home in a surprisingly nice neighborhood. I guess she made a decent amount of money when she auctioned me off." I shrug and keep going. "There, Cecile videoed me... getting revenge, I suppose, though I certainly didn't kill her. She wanted to show people that we really are fighting back. She told my father that day that the video would be released the next day at midnight. I fell asleep on the drive back, a terrible mistake."

I look around and see that all the boys are listening with dread in their eyes.

"I woke in a cell," I say, ignoring the swearing from North. "There were no doors, no windows, no nothing except a steel pipe that my hands were cuffed to and a blood-encrusted drain in the middle of the floor."

I pull out the Kevlar saw and shim.

"I used these to break free and saw open the metal drain. It took me hours to wiggle down the tiny pipe. Eventually, I dropped into the sewer. I then walked for a while until I found a manhole. I was able to get into the street. Coincidentally, the house I chose to knock on was Kota's. And now here we are," I finish before looking at Sean. "Which reminds me. A cut reopened on my side. Can you make sure it isn't infected from the sewer water?"

Sean snaps out of his daze and nods. "Come on, Sang. I can check you over in the bathroom."

Nodding, I stand up and follow him to the bathroom. It'll give them time to talk everything over too. I of all people know that it is a lot to process.

We step into the bathroom and Sean closes the door. I lift my shirt up to show him my side and his emotions dissolve into a professional and concern as he gently looks over the gash.

"What happened to the stitches?" Sean asks, confuzzled.

"What stitches?"

Sean gawks at me before shaking his head and sighing.

I shrug at his strange behavior."

"You speak Japanese, right?" I ask him in Japanese as boredom sets in.

He pauses his preparations to stitch me up. "Yes! You do too?! That's amazing!"

I blush and mutter, "Not really..."

Sean grins, "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven, Angel?"

"No, only when I crashed through the earth right into hell," I reply somewhat coldly. "And only Silas can call me Angel."

Disappointment fills his vivid green eyes. "You mean you two are together?"

"We were imprisoned together..." I reply with confusion.

"Together, like dating," Sean explains with a small smile.

I blush brightly. "No, we weren't dating. But you do grow close to someone when you live with them for two months. That's all."

But it isn't all. I can't help but feel something for Silas. And all these boys despite the fact that I only truly met them just now. Now's not the time to be thinking about this though.

"I'm going to give you a mild sedative so that you don't feel the stitches," Sean warns me offhandedly.

"No!" I exclaim, eyes wide. "No sedatives!"

I can't be like Mother. I don't want to be in a drug-induced haze, doped up on medications. I refuse to be like Mother.

"Sang, you'll feel everything, each stitch," Sean warns seriously.

I look him dead in the eye. "I've felt a lot more pain than a few simple stitches can bring. Stitch me up. Now."

Nodding, Sean sticks the needle in without warning. I don't even flinch. The pain reminds me of Mother. It reminds me of how I can't be like her. I need the pain to ground me. To keep me sane. Plus, after what I did to Mother, I am so close to becoming just like Mara. I can't be like her. The pain helps me stay sharp and remember to not be like her.

Sean is quick and wraps a bandage around my torso. I think the bandage is a bit too much, but I don't argue.

Following him down the stairs, I realize that they have made good use of the time.

"We have a plan," Owen announces, his intense steel eyes capturing my gaze.