by C. L. Stone
♥♥♥
I was drifting off again when I heard footsteps in the hallway and my head popped up, despite the stab of pain in my neck and the water pouring into my face. I shivered hard, causing the stool to shake underneath. I didn’t care who it was, even if it was my mother who would only have me get on my knees or move me somewhere else. I would go anywhere. Had Marie come back? Had Silas heard me?
The footsteps moved away and I cried out in my raspy voice. “Help!” My voice was lost to the stream of water. I called again and again, grunting, groaning, destroying the last of my vocal cords to try to lure whoever was out there to come back. I slapped my hands against the wood of the chair. I rocked on the stool.
Voices sounded. Low and deep. The guys! I rocked on the stool.
The voices came closer. “I double checked, she’s passed out,” Nathan’s voice drifted to me. I quieted to hear. “I’ve looked everywhere. Sang’s not here.”
I am here! I slapped, slamming my wrists against the wood. Please hear me!
“Who’s in the shower?” Silas’s deep voice echoed.
“It’s got to be Marie,” Nathan said. “I checked her room, she’s not in there. Maybe Sang’s out in the woods. I told her not to go without me.”
No, not Marie! In a panic, I clutched my knees together against the stool. Please hear me, please hear me.
With what little strength I had left, I jumped, trying to lift the chair with me to slam myself back down against the tub.
Thunk.
My butt slammed against the flat part of the wood. Pain radiated from my tailbone through my spine. A sharp pang connected against my ankle. I gasped, a wash of red covering my eyes at the agony.
More silence. Were they thinking Marie was finishing in the bathroom and were trying to get away?
“Silas!” I squealed. “Nathan!” I knew they couldn’t hear me. I collected myself. I pulled myself up again, twisting my ankle as I drew up the stool and slammed it down against the tub. I rocked forward, and leaned back to stop myself from slipping off into the tub.
“That’s not Marie. That’s Sang,” Silas said. The doorknob rattled and a thud pounded against the door.
I twisted my face away from the door, shaking, crying quiet sobs. Thank you, thank you.
The floor shook, a loud crack thundered, mixed with splitting wood as the door broke away from the frame, slamming up against the wall. I vibrated with shivers so hard against the stool, I was sure I was going to fall over. I was ashamed, cold, tired, in pain. I was embarrassed they had to come for me. I was so sorry to drag them into this. What would I ever do without them?
The curtain was pulled back. Silas loomed over me, his face contorting into a rage so fierce that I wanted to cower but wouldn’t allow myself to do it.
♥♥♥
“Fucking shit,” Nathan said. He looked confused, disbelieving his own eyes. He reached out for me, diving into the cold water and wrapping his arms around me. “God damn it Sang, why the hell didn’t you call us sooner?”
Silas reached down, pulling at the stool. “She’s fucking tied up.” He growled and helped Nathan, pulling me and the stool out from the shower.
They lowered me onto my side against the floor of the bathroom. I coughed against the tile.
Nathan put his warm hand against my cheek. “Sang?” he called to me. He brushed my hair away from my face.
“Nathan,” I said as loud as I could, but there was nothing to my voice.
His blue eyes lit with tears. He shook his head. His eyes drifted from my face to my bound hands and feet. He grumbled something and turned back to me. “I’m going to break this damn thing, okay? Don’t move.”
I nodded but wasn’t sure if shivering counted as moving.
I heard Silas speaking, but I couldn’t see him. “Kota? We’ve got her. No, she’s not okay. Bring Dr. Green. We’re taking her to Nathan’s.”
Nathan stood over the stool. Silas slipped down and hovered over me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. Nathan kicked at the stool. I was jerked but Silas held on. The wood split. Another kick and my hands in the cords pulled away from the stool. He worked on freeing my legs, breaking the smaller wood slats and sliding the rope free.
Silas pulled me into his arms, picking me up. I was still shaking so bad, but I felt his warmth and leaned against him, burying my face into his shoulder.
The water was turned off and a moment later Nathan held out a towel. Silas readjusted until he had the towel wrapped over my body.
“Let’s get her out of here,” Silas said.
“No shit,” Nathan said.
My eyes closed as Silas thudded down the back stairs.
A second later, I breathed in the night air.
Rescue Party
I woke up to the smell of cypress and menthol. The scents confused me. The sheets were stiff against my skin. Did I do something to my bed? My face felt heavy and thick, like I had the worst cold in the world. My head throbbed between my eyes.
Dry air tickled my throat and a coughing spasm hit me hard. I sat up, and through narrowed eyes, I recognized Nathan’s bedroom with karate posters and exercise equipment stuffed into his closet.
My lungs were on fire. I needed fresh air. The menthol was suffocating; I couldn’t breathe.
I got on my knees, trying to crawl to the edge of the bed. My whole body rattled as I coughed. I touched the floor and I got one step before my legs failed. I collapsed against Nathan’s dresser, knocking it against the wall. I slid to the floor. Everything on top of his dresser dropped to the carpet around me.
The door opened. Kota and Luke hovered in the doorway. There were more faces beyond them that I couldn’t make out as my eyes blurred.
I sat up against the dresser. The cluster of people at the door swooped in on me all at once.
Kota reached me first. He put his arm around my shoulders, trying to pull me up. His spice scent around me was too much. I pushed him away. I was coughing too hard to tell him that it felt overpowering.
Dr. Green nudged Kota away. He pressed his palms against my cheeks in an effort to get me to focus. I tried to back up but I was against the dresser and couldn’t move. I pushed at his arms but he wouldn’t budge. “Sang,” he said. “Sang, listen to me. Calm down. If you pass out, I’ll have to take you to the hospital.”
“Air,” I breathed out. “I can’t... I need air.”
“Let me take her,” Kota said. He pulled me into his arms, despite my squeaking protests. I coughed against his shoulder, my eyes scrunched closed. I willed myself to stay conscious. I didn’t want to have to go anywhere. I wanted to be with them.
With me in his arms, Kota moved through Nathan’s house. The sliding glass door was pulled aside and he put me down on my back on the concrete of Nathan’s patio. He took my arms and held them over my head.
It helped. I sucked in air between the raging coughs and slowly started to calm down. He held me like that until it died off and I was drinking in oxygen.
Kota knelt by my head, bringing his face close to mine. His glasses slid down his nose as his green eyes softened. “Sang?”
I wiped my face to clear my eyes. “Kota,” I breathed out.
“Want to sit up?”
I nodded. He crawled behind me, pulling me up by the shoulders until his chest pressed against my back. His legs extended on either side of mine. His arms were wrapped around my stomach. I was shaking again, but I was warm and Kota was there.
North knelt next to us. His dark eyes met mine and he frowned. “You okay, Sang Baby?”
“Perfect,” I squeaked out.
His eyes glazed and he blinked hard, but he grinned down at me. “You’re so full of shit.”
I attempted a smirk. He was right. My face still hurt. My throat and lungs felt twisted like knots. I hated feeling so helpless. I hated that I’d brought them into this. I was consumed with worry that my mother was looking for me right now, maybe even calling the police to find me. Still, I didn’
t want to leave. I wanted to stay with them forever.
“What do you need?” he asked.
“Water,” I mouthed. “And to get up.”
North held his hands out, palms up. I let go of Kota and clutched at North. He hefted me until I was on my feet. I blinked at the bandages at my wrists. I felt more crunching of bandage seams around my ankles. I was wearing a pair of shorts that didn’t fit and a large Nike t-shirt. I wondered who changed my clothes, but really didn’t care. My poor brain couldn’t handle that thought at the moment.
I wobbled on my feet. My legs didn’t want to work. My ankle throbbed. I willed myself to at least stand up straight. Kota rose with me, and wrapped an arm around my waist. North held on to my hands until I was stable.
North stepped beside me, holding on to my left hand like he was never letting go. Nathan and Silas hovered behind him. Their eyes were wide, mouths drawn, terrified. I mustered up another smile, hoping they would know I was okay. Nathan looked relieved but Silas hesitated, his dark eyes narrowing, unsure.
“Let’s get inside and sit down,” Dr. Green said somewhere behind Silas. “We should talk.”
“I think we need to let her sleep,” North said next to me. “She needs to recover.”
“We need to figure out our next move,” Mr. Blackbourne’s smooth vocals cut through and I shivered with embarrassment. I couldn’t believe he was there, too.
North squared off his shoulders. “What we’re doing is getting her the hell out of there,” he said.
I squeezed his hand. His eyes glided to mine. “Inside,” I whispered. “I want to talk.”
He smirked at me. “Baby, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you can’t talk.”
I rolled my eyes. “Never stopped me before,” I croaked out.
He and Kota, who must have been the only ones who could have heard me, started chuckling. Silas finally relaxed his shoulders. He and Nathan stepped out of the way. Behind them stood Dr. Green, with Luke, Gabriel, Victor and Mr. Blackbourne next to him. Nine concerned sets of eyes fell on my face and I shivered under the weight of their pity. Heat clung to my cheeks, but I was feeling too miserable to protest.
It took a little bit of stretching and a few steps assisted by Kota before I was able to break the stiffness from my limbs. The entire lower half of my body felt numb. I staggered toward the house. Mr. Blackbourne held the sliding door open for me.
I stood in the living room until everyone gathered inside. Kota motioned to the large leather chair, but I shook my head. There was a large wooden coffee table on the rug in the middle of the room. I slid onto my knees to the rug and sat with my butt on my heels. I felt the bandages against my ankles wrinkle and a pain shot through my legs. My tailbone radiated equal agony through my lower spine. It was dulled, more like a throbbing ache that eased in and settled into my bones. I couldn’t sit on my butt, I knew, not right now. The ankle was bad enough but tolerable. I folded my hands into my lap and I patiently waited, my eyes challenging anyone to tell me to do otherwise.
The others took positions around the table. Silas, Luke and North sat on the couch. Victor fell into the armchair. The fire was gone from his eyes. I only caught glistening and it looked terrible on him. Kota and Gabriel took up positions next to me on the floor. Gabriel chewed on a thumbnail, as if he wasn’t sure if he should be near me or not.
Mr. Blackbourne stood by the coffee table, his arms crossed against his chest, looking displeased. Nathan disappeared for a moment but came back with a bottle of water which he handed to me.
Dr. Green plopped down on top of the coffee table in front of me. He scooped a flashlight from his pocket.
“Let me check your throat,” he said. He gently placed a thumb on my chin to get me to open up. He shifted the flashlight to let the light glare into my throat. The warmth of the light was surprisingly soothing on my esophagus. I pressed my tongue down in my mouth so he could see better.
“Was it vinegar again?” Kota asked next to me.
I squeezed his hand and nodded.
Dr. Green let go of me and sat back, swinging his eyes to Kota. “This happened before?”
“Her mother made her drink vinegar and lemon juice a couple weeks ago. It burned her throat for a few days so she couldn’t talk.”
“That’s not all,” North said, in a quiet tone. I fired off a look at him but he ignored me completely. “She was forced to kneel in rice on the hard floor for a few hours a couple of weeks ago, too.”
“And she sat in that stool before,” Luke said. “That was several hours, too. Not in the tub though, just in the kitchen. Just the once.”
North’s face flashed with surprise and he frowned. “That we know of...” He gazed over at me.
There was a stunned silence that fell between them all as they registered the truth. I wanted to tell them that outside of the vinegar and being tied in the bathtub, that the rice and the stool sitting was actually pretty easy. I could handle that. Weren’t they ever punished for doing bad things? Didn’t parents spank their kids? Somehow I felt that it wasn’t the right response. My face flared with heat. I didn’t know what normal was.
Dr. Green pressed a palm to his eye. “Why didn’t you tell us what she was going through?”
“We were working on it,” Kota said. “I didn’t know how bad things had gotten. And I didn’t want to overwhelm her with… with us.”
Dr. Green’s head flexed back. “Kota,” he said. “This is abuse. You shouldn’t have kept this to yourself.”
“She wasn’t fully with us when the vinegar thing happened,” Kota insisted. “And she was around us so often these past couple of weeks, I didn’t realize she was…”
“You know better than that,” Mr. Blackbourne hovered over Dr. Green’s shoulder. His steel eyes narrowed. “Abuse doesn’t disappear overnight.”
“I didn’t know about the rice or the other parts,” Kota said.
“That’s not what I mean. You didn’t tell us the full truth about what was going on. You brought her to us knowing her home life and kept it from us. We might have prevented this if you had told us earlier. Now we’re left without a choice.”
I swallowed. They were talking in circles around me. “It’s my choice,” I said in a whisper.
Mr. Blackbourne twisted his head to gaze down at me. “What are you saying?”
I closed my eyes, swallowing hard again. I knew they didn’t want to hear this but I had to say it. “I have to go back.”
“No,” Gabriel said. He grabbed my hand. He slid closer on his knees near me. His crystal eyes glossed over with tears. “You’re not fucking going back there. I’ll kidnap you myself and take you home with me.”
There was a round of loud talking and it was a mess. I didn’t understand what anyone was saying. I couldn’t attempt to talk over them. I looked desperately at Kota. He leaned in, holding his head close.
I angled until my lips brushed his ear as I whispered. “I have to go back.”
Kota shook his head, pulling away to narrow his eyes at me. “No,” he commanded. “You can’t. Sang, you were in there for hours. Do you even remember what happened?”
I nodded. Of course I did. I remembered everything. I knew the truth. If I disappeared, there was a lot more to lose than if I went back now.
The others were arguing but it was a blur of noise. Gabriel squeezed my hand, clinging to me. Maybe he would listen.
I leaned into him. “My mother is ill,” I said. “She didn’t eat. With the medication she takes, she’s probably making herself super sick again.”
“She just tied you to a stool and left you to die,” Gabriel said. “You want to go back and save her?”
I felt my body shaking as I forced the words out. “She’s my mother.” That meant something, didn’t it? Wasn’t I supposed watch over her?
He reeled his head back as if I’d slapped him. His hand squeezed mine again. I clutched it back, begging silently that he might understand. “We can’t,” he said, though s
ofter.
“My mother probably doesn’t even remember what she did. I can slip back in.”
Dr. Green’s gentle eyes washed over my face. He pressed his palms to my cheeks. “Sweetheart,” he soothed. “Do you understand what you’re asking? If you go back, she could do it again. She might do worse. We might not make it next time.”
“We will make it,” Kota said. “We’ll be right there. I’m not leaving her again. There won’t be a next time.”
“This isn’t happening,” Mr. Blackbourne said. He started pacing the floor, his hands on his hips. His glasses glinted against the light as he turned back to look down at me. “No, I refuse. I can’t allow it. She can’t stay in that house.”
He didn’t understand. I needed to go back before she called the cops and they were arrested. I couldn’t ask them to take me in. Where would I go? “What about Marie? What happens to her if I leave?” I asked. “What about my dad? Would he be arrested? He didn’t know.” I hunched my shoulders, swallowing hard, trying to suppress a cough.
“If he doesn’t know, it’s neglect,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “You can’t stay in a house with an abusive mother. Marie can’t, either. Your father made his choice. You didn’t have one.”
“I have one now. Where else am I going to go? I have to go back.”
Anguished glances were exchanged above my head.
Mr. Blackbourne knelt nearby, his fingertips brushed my arm. The gentle touch forced me to look in his direction. His steel eyes focused on mine. “Miss Sorenson,” he said in a quiet voice. “Listen to me. You can’t go back. We can’t keep you safe there.”
“She needs help,” I whispered. There was nothing they could say that would convince me otherwise. Where else would I go? Kota was being brave, but he couldn’t take me in. How would any of them explain it to their parents? How could I explain everything to them without a voice?
I turned to Gabriel, looking for help. He bent his head over, pressing his ear to my lips. He spoke for me. “If she’s not there, her mother may call the police to find her. If the police find out what happened, she’ll end up under control of the state.”