Dark and Silent

Freedom to starve...

November 21. 10:00 

Owen watched the beautiful little blonde asleep on Kota’s living room sofa. She had been sleeping there for the past hour after crying herself to sleep. He had called an emergency family meeting after hanging up with Kota earlier in the morning. 
Kota had been curious about the family across the street for a while, ever since they moved in, really. He had tried to introduce himself several times since their arrival on Sunnyvale Ct. It had been a fruitless and frustrating endeavor for the first several weeks. He had finally managed to meet the young woman now sleeping on the sofa when Max had bowled her over one night a little more than a month ago. Kota had helped her up and struck up a friendship with the girl, Sang.  She had explained, rather awkwardly from what Kota had reported, that her mother was very strict and would be angry with her for speaking to boys. Their friendship had to be a secret from her family. That was fine with Kota as long as he didn't have to keep secrets from his family. She agreed to that and the younger members of his team had met her one by one. Eventually, even he and Sean had met her.  She had enchanted all of them. 
 About a week and a half ago the house had been surrounded by ambulances and when they left, they took a filled body bag with them. Afterward Sang had finally permitted the boys to speak to her openly. They’d all been overjoyed. 
Something had changed since that night with the ambulances. The first sign of something having gone wrong had been when Sang ran out of the house yesterday morning. A moving truck had arrived shortly after and departed that afternoon without any sign of Sang. According to reports from Kota and Nathan, Sang’s father and sister got into their car with suitcases very early this morning and left. They didn’t have Sang with them and they didn’t look for her either. The boys had been frantically looking for her since Kota had realized she’d run off and hadn't run to them. She finally came home about seven that morning only to find herself locked out. Kota and Nathan had brought her to Kota’s and explained what they had seen. 
 The timing couldn’t have been worse. Or maybe, Owen considered, it may be that the timing couldn't be better. It all depended on the sleeping beauty in front of him.  Their team was due to start a year-long rotation at the training camp in a few days. Kota had been looking for a way to help Sang before they left, but he’d been at a loss for what that could be. Mostly out of ingrained habit, Victor had done a background check on Sang as soon as he found out about her. The thing was on paper, she didn’t exist. That had made for some very interesting conversations. One of which Kota had with Sang that morning. He had explained that everyone that got close was given a background check. Not that he’s pointed out the illegality of doing one without consent, but that wasn’t important at this moment. Kota had gone on to tell Sang about the fact that she didn’t truly exist anywhere on paper. It had been a very stressful conversation for them both. 
Once Kota had told her about the suitcases and boxes, Sang wondered if they had taken all her things or if they had been left behind. Luke had helped her get into the house and the only things left were Sang’s. She packed what little she had and went to Kota’s where the boys had been gathering. She had been completely abandoned. She had no one else to care for her. It was a good thing they had already completed a closed academy adoption on her. 
Now they had to make decisions about what they could do for her. They were leaving early that afternoon for the camp. It would give them a few days to get settled before they started their jobs at the camp. His boys were going to have a difficult time if he suggested leaving her behind while they left.  He, like the rest of his brothers, was fascinated by Sang. He knew the boys were all half in love with her already. Even he had been hoping to get to know her better. She was beautiful, exquisite even, in her fragility. But her strength...it was a quiet strength. Subtle. He wanted to help her. He wanted to help her be whoever she wanted to be, to see her come into her strength. She would be incredible. She was a fascinating enigma. 
But they had agreed to stay at the camp for a year as trainers. It had been that or a complicated recovery case in a local school. The boys had all opted for the camp. Their only problem was now they had met Sang, they didn't want to go. 
Sang stirred and looked at him with solemn, haunted green eyes. She looked as though she was waiting for some kind of judgment from him.
“Hello,” Owen acknowledged that she was awake.
“Hello, Mr. Blackbourne,” Sang responded quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. 
“The boys told me what has happened,” he began. “We would like to help you if you’ll let us. Unfortunately decisions we wouldn't normally pressure about or rush you on must be made quickly.  We are supposed to leave town to work at a camp for a year. We are scheduled to leave this afternoon.”
“Oh,” Sang’s voice was dejected. “I remember Kota said you were leaving soon. I didn’t realize it was this soon.”
“I’m sorry that you didn't have more notice,” Owen nodded gravely. He truly was, but he had to work fast and that meant making decisions now. But she had to know where she stood. “You have choices to make now, Miss Sorenson. Where you live, what you will do, if you will continue at Ashley Waters or if you would complete your education in another way. You now have that freedom.”
She looked at him with serious eyes, “Freedom to starve is no freedom at all. What am I supposed to do? What choices do I have? I’m sixteen and have no one. No identification and no way to get any. I have no money, no real education. No home. No family. “
“You have several options,” he answered her gently. “I’ll answer your points in reverse, if I may? Family is a choice, Miss Sorenson, and we’ve built a family of choice. We would be more than happy if you could consider us your family. It takes time to build that and we understand that but know that offer remains no matter what you choose. As far as a home, despite the fact that they’re on a trip for Thanksgiving, I can with some confidence give you at least two options. You’ve met North and Luke’s uncle. Since North will be with us, He may offer you the trailer on his property to stay in. I’m sure if it was something you were interested in, Uncle would even give you a job at the diner he is planning to open. Mrs. Lee is a very kind woman and a registered nurse. She would probably offer to have you stay in Kota's room.”
“Oh.” It was a small sound of surprise. 
“If you  prefer solitude, you might help myself or Dr. Green out by living in either his condo or my house as neither of us was especially excited about renting our homes, but would prefer they not sit empty.”
Sang just blinked at him a moment before he continued. Now here was the risky part. He was not, as some people thought, risk-averse. He truly wasn't; he took risks. Big risks. But they were always very calculated ones. He had learned to be careful in his risk-taking. But no risk, no reward. And if this risk paid off, the reward for his family was great indeed. He knew about the Anderson team. He had gone to see them last week actually. He had watched his brothers and he was no fool. 
“Or you could come with us.”
She froze and stared at him. She could stay with them? The first people that had bothered to befriend her? “Where are you going?”
And just like that, he knew she would go with them. 
“Our academy owns a camp in the mountains....”