Perception

Untitled Part 66

****WARNING! There is some mature content during Owen's POV. If this is something you'd rather skip, do so when he lays down next to Sang.

Sang POV

"Are you alright, Miss Sorenson?" Mr. Blackbourne asks calmly. I just stare at him like he's grown a second head for a minute before I can unfreeze my mind and mouth.

"Yes, I think so. He's been drinking. He never drank when he lived here," I babble through my shock.

"I do believe you are right. The man reeks like a distillery," Mr. Blackbourne says while tapping on his phone. Once I assured him that I was alright, he had pulled it out and acts as though he isn't standing over the prone form of a man that was bent on harming me moments before.

"Sang, what happened?" Marie calls from behind Mr. Blackbourne. He doesn't flinch, so he must have known she was coming.

"Dad just busted in my room yelling. I don't know why," I tell her carefully. I don't want to start another fight with her. She went to her room in a huff earlier, and I don't see her being very reasonable now, either.

"I heard him. How'd he get knocked out? Did you do it?" she asks.

"Mr. Blackbourne used pressure points, I think. No one hit dad," I tell her hoping she doesn't start throwing around accusations.

"Shame," I hear her mumble. I'm glad I'm somewhat concealed by Mr. Blackbourne, as my mouth is hanging open at her muttered response. "Well, let's get the ass downstairs. He smells like he won't remember anything anyway," she tells me.

"Miss Sorenson, I have called for assistance. There's no need for you to help carry him," Mr. Blackbourne tells Marie...I think.

"Carry? Who said anything about carrying him?" she says then shoves Mr. Blackbourne to the side. Marie grabs our father's feet then yanks him back through the doorway. Once my father is out of the way, I follow behind them.

"Allow me, Miss Sorenson," Mr. Blackbourne takes the feet, and backs down the stairs. I should feel bad, but I really don't as my father's head thumps against each stair during his descent.

Marie watches with detachment, then we slowly follow as soon as they reach the bottom then round the corner into the hallway toward our parents' bedroom. As we reach the bottom of the stairs, Kota throws open the outside door and looks around frantically.

"Where's Mr. Blackbourne and your father?" he asks, sounding winded. Marie simply lifts an eyebrow, then points her long, slim finger to point down the hall toward the room they disappeared into. Kota quickly walks in and we can hear their low-pitched voices talking to each other. The itchy feeling on my neck tells me that I'm being watched. I turn to face my sister, and see she is watching me with the same inscrutable expression she wore when we got home from school.

"How did you know about the schools?" Marie finally asks quietly. I'm unsure how to answer this without giving away the guys' roles in monitoring our father's activities, but I can give her a little something that should ease her into accepting the fact that Dad is a weasel.

"After your mother tried to kill me, they found the paperwork while they tried to get rid of all the ropes in the house," I say then wish I could summon the words back, and reword them into something less...blunt.

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic. A little lemon juice isn't going to kill you," she tells me while rolling her eyes. I'm starting to feel really irritated, and couldn't seem to keep my bitter words to myself.

"No, neither of the times I was forced to drink vinegar and lemon juice killed me, much to her dismay, I'm sure. I'm talking about the time she tied me up on that stool and left me in the shower with it running. It started out so hot that my skin blistered, then when the hot water ran out, it was icy. I spent hours and hours under an icy spray with my skin trying to peel off, and my vocal cords burned from that oh-so-tasty concoction she forced upon me," I swallowed, remembering. "I couldn't call out for help. There was no one here to help me anyway. You were at Danielle's house for the weekend, and Dad was on a 'business trip'. I would have been dead if Silas and Nathan didn't come looking for me. I still can't face taking showers without triggering panic attacks," I end on a broken whisper.