Love's Cruel Redemption

by C. L. Stone

  The questions she shot from her eyes as she looked at him and Victor last night, it killed him.

  She found Nathan alone without a phone in the middle of the night. Finding Sang in the grocery store. Catching Kota in lies he’d told her. Kota then not showing up until very early in the morning, dropping off Gabriel and taking Nathan out.

  “It’s an emergency,” Kota had said. “I need you to trust me.”

  It was all he needed to say to her, but that was temporary. He was lucky she trusted him enough to let him go without explanation.

  Or maybe it was the early morning hour and she’d lost the gumption to fight it out there.

  Nathan brushed a hand across his tired face. He had already been to the spot where he lost the car. He was back to get dressed for school. And he had to find a way to get Marie and Danielle to go to school like they were supposed to.

  After a quick brush of his teeth and checking over the place to make sure everything was put up, he collected a book bag and stuffed it with an old textbook and notebooks, just to make it look right.

  His first stop was Danielle’s.

  He took the back way, crossing by the pool, covered for the winter. There was frost on the grass and encrusting old, dead leaves. The sun peeked over the tops of trees. He breathed in the crisp air.

  The woods behind his house were quiet. He took the path to the right. It had been a while since he’d been out here. A bit of bramble and some fallen tree limbs cluttered the trail. At some point, he needed to come out and clear the way again.

  Would anyone else do this if the others bought a house? Would he be back to keep up with the walking paths? He wasn’t sure anyone else in the neighborhood did.

  What Kota told him that morning disturbed him. On the way over to find the lake, Nathan asked him about what happened with Lily.

  “You should talk to her,” Kota had said.

  It was all he’d say about it. You should see her. You should talk to her.

  But then he talked about houses, about how Sang needed a house. Despite Nathan suggesting they should wait on a big house until they’ve settled the relationship part, Kota seemed more enthusiastic about finding the right house for all of them.

  Nathan didn’t know what to make of it. As Kota talked about a number of rooms, locations and space for vehicles, Nathan had sat back and wondered what Lily said to him. What would get Kota to change his position on the relationship so quickly?

  And why did Kota refuse to talk to him about it? That wasn’t like him.

  Nathan emerged on the other side of the woods, behind a neighbor’s house a few houses away from the diner. He walked a path between two homes and came out on the road. Unless Erica drove past, she wouldn’t see him.

  He hurried to Danielle’s front door, ringing the bell.

  Derrick answered. His brown hair still had the bowl cut, but it was shorter now. He wore jeans, a T-shirt, and was barefoot and sleepy eyed. “Hey,” he said. “What’s going on?”

  “Hey!” Nathan said. “Danielle said you all could use a ride to school.”

  He smirked and opened the door further. “What did she rope you into doing now? Yesterday she gets you to drive her to school and now you’ll take us both?”

  Good question. If they went to school normally, taking them wouldn’t have been a problem. The only reason they hadn’t all school year was because they weren’t reliable, given Academy work. Nathan shrugged. “Silas should be here any minute with the car. I think we can squeeze you two in.” This would be better than getting just Danielle. Now she’d have to go or her brother would rat on her. “We need to pick up Marie, too.”

  “Where has she been?” Derrick closed the door as Nathan stepped into the front hallway. The carpet was dark and the space was crowded with a coat stand and a side table covered in mail and receipts. “I haven’t seen her lately.”

  “She’s around,” Nathan said. “Let’s get going.”

  Derrick disappeared down the hallway to the right. There was activity in the kitchen, but Nathan avoided going to inspect it, assuming it could be their mom or dad. He didn’t want to get in the way.

  A moment later, Danielle emerged, trying to appear placid, but her eyes were wide, raging. “Nathan,” she said through clenched teeth. “What are you doing here?”

  “Came to pick you up instead of you having to walk over,” he said. “Silas will be here any second.”

  She made a face but before she could respond, her mother appeared from the kitchen. The older woman leaned out. She had straight brown hair to her shoulders and big, wide eyes.

  “Danielle?” she called out in a nagging voice. “Don’t make them wait on you. Get out the door.” She glanced over at Nathan. “Good morning.”

  “Good morning,” he replied.

  She disappeared again into the kitchen.

  Danielle clenched her teeth as her lips curled into a snarl. She went down the hallway to her room and picked up her bag. Derrick appeared a minute later, fully dressed.

  “Where are you going?” Danielle asked him. “Get your own ride.”

  “He said I could go, too,” Derrick said. “Any chance not to go on a suicide trip on those busses...”

  “Still overcrowded, hm?” Nathan asked.

  “I think there’s five to a seat now,” he said. “One of the other busses broke, and we’ve been taking on extra people since.”

  Nathan wasn’t sure how many more busses could break down. He was pretty sure those busses were well overloaded as it was. They were critically dangerous.

  By the time they emerged from the house, Silas was parked in the driveway. The blue sedan’s exhaust steamed against the frosty chill outside. Silas sat behind the wheel, phone close to his face, waiting. His broad shoulder was pressed up against the window. When they got close, Silas put his phone away and sat up properly.

  ♥♥♥

  “Morning,” Silas said to Nathan. He looked a little better today, like at least he had gotten a little sleep. When and where wasn’t clear. Nathan was sure no one really managed to make it home before three. That was if Silas actually made it home and didn’t just sleep somewhere else.

  Nathan got into the front seat next to him. Danielle and Derrick got into the car in the back.

  “We have room for one more?” Nathan asked. He turned to face Danielle. “Can you go in and get Marie?”

  Danielle looked horrified. “You’re kidding.”

  Nathan exhaled slowly and shrugged. “It’s either you or me.”

  Danielle didn’t say anything. He supposed he was pushing it to get her involved in getting them to school today. He sensed she was barely holding back from yelling at him for the stunt he pulled at her home and getting her to go to school today.

  The only reason she wasn’t yelling at him was probably Derrick.

  It’s not like he was doing it for his own benefit.

  They’d passed the Lee house, but no one was outside when they went by. Silas pulled into the drive of the two-story gray house but pulled in close to the large shed near the back, where he could sit in a blind spot. There weren’t windows on this side of the house. Nathan motioned to Silas’s phone in the cup holder and Silas nodded, indicating Nathan could take it with him.

  This time when Nathan got out, he hurried to get inside the garage.

  Once he was out of sight of both the house and the car, he used Silas’s phone to check the house cameras.

  It was still super early. Mrs. Sorenson was asleep in bed. He should be okay going in, but he’d have to be as quiet as a Luke.

  He went to the door inside the garage. It was locked, but he pulled keys out of his pocket and used one to get in.

  From there, he tiptoed up the back stairway. On the landing, he paused, listening.

  Sang’s old room door was open. The others were closed. He peeked into the open room first.

  There were clothes spilling out of the closet, all over the floor. The short black-painted wardrobe that
had been in the attic had been pulled out. It was open, with only a couple of hangers inside. The bed was there, stripped but had books on it that looked like Sang’s old ones from before she stopped going to classes.

  The whole place was a mess. Did Mrs. Sorenson do this or did Marie? The attic space was compromised now for sure anyway.

  Nostalgia slithered into him as he checked once by the window, the one he’d climbed up to a few times to get to Sang.

  The heavy feeling in him returned from that same night, knowing something was wrong in this house for Sang. He didn’t know what at the time. He had no idea. He could only feel it. The memory of her green eyes and the way she tried to ward him off before he was caught.

  Now he knew the full of it, he shuddered from all the memories of her being here. He’d never let her come back. They’d come so far.

  He went to Marie’s door next, and then at great risk of her screaming, he knocked quickly once and then opened the door slowly.

  Marie was in bed, her body bunched up next to a pillow. She picked her head up quickly and then threw darts with her eyes at him. “What are you doing here?” she whispered hoarsely.

  “We need to get you to go to school today,” he said.

  “I don’t want to,” she said.

  “You don’t have to go to class.” He stepped in and closed the door behind him. He kept his voice low as he stepped softly over to her. He squatted down, sitting on his heels to be more at her level and hopefully appearing less threatening. “I just need you to come with me.”

  Marie sat up and pushed a palm to her face, rubbing at her eyes. She yawned. “Why? I don’t want to go.”

  “Just for a little while,” he said. “This will help get you out.” He didn’t tell her it was to get Danielle to go along with this more than her. “It’s part of the process. When we get there, you’ll both sit in a room quietly and take a test. That’s all.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Ugh.”

  “It’s not what you’re thinking,” he said. “Just do your best. And we need to be able to mark you as having been in the school.”

  “What about tomorrow?”

  “You may still have to show up, but the same thing.”

  “More tests?”

  He shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s a process.” He leaned in, his knees on the carpet, and focused on her, trying to appear sympathetic. This place, it was dark and dreary, and the thought of Mrs. Sorenson down there and what she could do to her... She needed something more than this. “Marie, trust me. We’re trying to help, but we can’t if you won’t let us.”

  She grunted but then slowly sat up more, putting her feet on the floor. She was in a T-shirt and pajamas, and he wasn’t totally sure but he thought they were the same as he’d seen her in the other day. Had she changed at all?

  “Let me get dressed,” she said.

  “Silas is downstairs. Danielle and Derrick are in the car with him. They’re waiting.”

  She stood up, reaching for clothes.

  Nathan left the room, shutting the door behind himself. He went to the end of the hallway, to the top of the stairs and waited for her.

  Marie emerged, and on quiet feet, she followed him. They took the stairs slowly. Marie wasn’t as quiet as Sang, but it was good enough to escape without waking her mother.

  Nathan opened the door that led out into the garage. Marie went out and he followed, locking the door behind himself.

  Marie got into the back of the car. Nathan got in front. The car rolled backward, and soon Silas had them on the way to the school.

  Scenery rolled by as Nathan’s thoughts drifted. It might be the only minute he had of quiet until they got to school.

  “Can we stop for breakfast?” Danielle asked, completely breaking Nathan’s thoughts.

  “Just the fast food place by that grocery store,” Nathan said. He was sure she was speaking more for herself, but maybe it was a good idea to get some food. He needed to be able to keep up today. “Might be all we’ve got time to get to.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Danielle said.

  Silas shared a long look with Nathan, asking him silently why he’d encourage her.

  Why not? A little reward for going along with this? She’s already going to be pretty ticked at them for making her take a test today.

  The line for breakfast was a little long, as Nathan suspected most lines would be anywhere near the school. It would probably be faster to grab something quick from the grocery store. Still, they waited behind the other cars.

  They emerged about twenty minutes later with several egg and bacon muffins and plenty of orange juice. Everyone ate in the car. Silas stuffed what he could of the food in while driving.

  As they passed in front of the school, there were cop cars near the front, and with so many policemen there, they blocked view of what was going on. There appeared to be a few faculty members there as well, along with a couple of students on the sidewalk near the front doors of the school. There was one fire truck blocking the lane and access for any other vehicles to get to where the cops were.

  Nathan sat up, staring into the small crowd, but Silas passed a bit quickly to get into line near the entrance. “What the hell is going on now?” Nathan asked.

  “Don’t know,” Silas said. “It wasn’t another bomb threat, was it?”

  “This early?” Derrick asked. “Wouldn’t a student wait until class started first?”

  He was probably right, but the position of the cops and the fact that people were still dropping off kids along the side of the building didn’t seem to match up with the bomb threat theory anyway. But something was incredibly off.

  Silas parked far back in the student lot, almost next to the baseball field. They all climbed out. Derrick walked ahead of them, heading into the school and catching up to a few of the other students going in that direction. Heads were turned toward the front of the school. No doubt everyone was curious as to what was going on.

  Nathan slowed to create distance from them. Silas followed his lead as did Marie.

  When Marie slowed, Danielle flat stopped. “What are we doing here?” she asked. Her book bag that seemed mostly empty slid off her shoulder, and she caught it with her elbow. “We said we didn’t want to...”

  Marie waved to her, motioning to be quiet. “Just go with it.”

  It was the first time Nathan heard Marie speak up to her. He was rather proud of that. Danielle tended to be over dramatic when things weren’t going how she wanted and often needed to be convinced to change course. Her mood swings often revealed how intolerant she was. “Just go in with us,” he said, backing up Marie. “We’ll explain. You wanted out. This is what it takes.”

  Danielle kept her frown but put her book bag back into position on her shoulder and proceeded to walk forward with them. “This better not be a trick,” she said.

  “Like one of yours?” Nathan asked and turned from her to head toward the school. “No. We’re not like that.” He bit his tongue, immediately regretting what he said. He was supposed to be befriending them.

  She flashed him an angry glare and then looked away. He doubted she’d forget his comment. He was probably going to get it from her later.

  They entered the far side of the school, the long part that extended around the gym section. The hallway was mostly clear.

  “I’m going to check out what’s going on up front,” Silas said. “Bring them to the music room.”

  Nathan wanted to know what was going on, too, but he agreed. He needed to keep the girls focused. Unless Mr. Blackbourne or someone else said to alter the plan, they needed to stay on course.

  “We’re not going to class?” Danielle asked.

  “We’re taking a test,” Marie said.

  Danielle groaned loudly. “You’re kidding me.”

  Nathan led the way to Music Room B. He held open the door for them and closed it behind himself once they were inside.

  A folding table had been plac
ed in the middle, and a couple of the chairs sat next to it. Sang sat at one of them. She shared a wide-eyed look with Nathan but otherwise kept where she was with her hands in her lap.

  Dr. Green stood by the piano with his usual happy expression. “Welcome!” he called to the other girls and then did a short wave to Nathan. “Hey. You made it.”

  “What’s all this?” Danielle asked.

  Dr. Green picked up a couple of manila files. There were names on the front of each. He placed one in front of Sang. “I need you two to do me a favor. You can leave your bags here, but I need you to go to homeroom once the bell rings.”

  “I thought we didn’t have to go to class,” Marie said, looking over at Nathan for confirmation.

  Dr. Green held a palm over his heart. “I promise, it’s just to homeroom. We need your teachers to mark you present. That’s the report that ensures you’ve arrived and gets you off the phone call list. After that, you’ll come back here. I’ve some paperwork and some testing to complete with you. Sang’s going to stay here and do the same.”

  Nathan hadn’t been aware of this part, but in a way, perhaps it was for the best. If Sang was willing to go along with it, it might help keep the other girls in line.

  It was almost a complete waste of time for her but maybe it was better like this. She’d be safe today, out of the way of whatever was going on.

  Sang had a cup filled with pens and pencils that looked like it came from Dr. Green’s desk in his office. Smart of her to bring it along in case Marie and Danielle hadn’t brought anything. She took one of the pencils from it. He noticed her hair was up, wearing a couple of pencils in a bun. Where was her clip? She lose it?

  The bell rang, indicating everyone on campus should be heading to homeroom. Dr. Green checked his phone and then waved to Marie and Danielle. “Remember to come here after. We’ll start as soon as you get back.”

  Danielle and Marie left their bags, and they walked out together. Their heads tilted toward one another, whispering.

  Sang popped up out of her seat as soon as they were gone. “Did you see North’s Jeep? What’s going on out there?”