Ghost Bird Fanfiction: Sang's Lyric, The Story of Sang Sorenson's Mother

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Voices filtered to me in the darkness, calling me. I could feel a hand on my face and I flinched away. Don't touch me don't touch me don't touch me. A sudden, intense overload of sensory information caused me to jerk and cry out. Bright light pulled me out of darkness and I blinked quickly, pulling my head back.

"Lyric," James' voice said to me comfortingly.

In a rush, everything came back: James babysitting with me, insisting on bringing me home, walking me to the door. Tim. I gagged and clapped a hand over my mouth.

"Here," he said quickly, and put a wastebasket under my chin where I promptly threw up the little I had eaten today.

His brown eyes watched me with concern. I felt a hand on my back, rubbing in gentle circles and looking over quickly to see Taylor sitting next to me as well.

"I'm okay," I got out, mortified. I was back in the beautiful room, the one with the French doors, but I couldn't see anything since it was dark out. I was lying on the bed, and it was just as comfortable as I imagined it would be. I threw my legs over the side and made a move to grab the wastebasket.

"I have it," a voice said, and took it away. I looked up and saw Kell. His lips were drawn tight together and he looked pissed.

The wastebasket was whisked away and James pushed at my shoulders, causing me to recline on the bed again.

I stared up at Taylor and James who sat on either side of me before looking back at the comforter. I felt movement by my feet and lifted my eyes to see Kell sitting down as well.

"Lyric," Kell said, his voice soft. "I need to ask you something..." 

I knew what he was going to ask, and I closed my eyes, waiting for the sick feeling that would come when he did.

"Go ahead," I whispered.

"Has Tim hurt you?" he asked. I watched my fingers trace the paisley decoration on the comforter.

I nodded. "But not like you think," I added quietly."Not worse than what you've seen. But he grabs and he pushes."

I heard a choked sound and looked up to see Taylor stand and walk to the wall, pushing both hands against it, and lowering his head.

"She's not going back," he said, whipping around and linking his hands above his head. "Kell."

"We're not ready for that yet," Kell said, confusing me. "It's in review, but I've only had a day to make requests."

"Will your family notice if you're not home?" James asked me.

I shrugged. "It depends," I answered.

"Oh what?" Kell asked.

I wanted to be sick again and swallowed against the bile rising from my empty stomach. I looked desperately at James. I really didn't want to talk about it.

Taylor surprised me by answering for me. "On how drunk they are," he said quietly. "On how much money they need. If there's food or not."

I nodded slowly and he gave me a half smile, moving to the bed and sitting back down. He gripped my calf with his hand. "It's okay Lyric," he said kindly. "Our birth families aren't perfect either, despite what you may think."

I closed my eyes. He understood. Somehow he understood. "All of that," I said.

"Do you ever stay away?" Kell asked.

I hesitated again, but nodded.

"Where do you go?" he asked, "Can you go there again?" 

"She's not going anywhere, Kell," James interjected angrily, his hand tightening on the hand I hadn't realized he was holding.

I cleared my throat, "I have a sleeping bag," I said. "I'll stay in the woods. I try to move around, just in case." 

"In case of what?" Kell asked. I wanted to look at him and risked a glance. His face was a mask; his emotions shuttered.

"In case Tim comes looking for me," I answer.

"Goddammit!" he yelled suddenly, making me jump. He stood up and paced around the room.

"James," he directed.

James stood. "I'm on it," he answered without needing Kell to finish.

I felt movement next to me and looked over to see Taylor sitting. "You'll stay here," he told me.

My eyes widened. "What?" I asked surprised. "I can't do that."

"You will," Kell commanded from across the room, his eyes like ice. "You're not going back there. You'll stay here as long as you need to."

I looked around the room. Stay here? In the beautiful house?

"What about your parents?" I asked. "Shouldn't you ask them?"

"It's James' house," Kell answered, pausing before continuing. "His parents are... traveling... and we all live here. Believe me, they don't care."

"Really?" I asked disbelieving.

"Really," Taylor answered for him. "They're gone, and even if they weren't, they wouldn't notice anyway."

I started to understand that there was more to each of the boys' stories than I realized. It was ironic really, considering how often people judged me based on first impressions.

"If it's okay with James," I said slowly, "I'll stay."

"It's okay with James." 

I heard his voice from the doorway and I looked up to see him smiling at me. His eyes were still hooded and concerned, but he looked relieved as well. And it hit me, the boys were really worried about me. They wanted me to stay, and when I said I would, it made them happy. I would do anything, I realized then, to make them happy.