Sang's Freedom (Original And Rewritten)

Chapter 48: Would you, Could you, in a Tree?

-Chapter 48-

Sang Sorenson's POV:

We were in the trees, running and leaping through the tightly knit branches of the forest. I was fast, but had to slow down a time or two for Matthew. His black mercenary boots were not made for climbing and slid on the bark.

By now the building that had held me lay far behind. I was not going to be raped. I was not going to be touched.

I was going home.

I could have sighed with relief until I remembered what home meant.

It meant Mother.

It meant Marie.

How could I explain where I had been? How could I explain what I had done?

My heart clenched. I lost my footing and nearly toppled into the green below, but Matthew caught my arm, pulling me sharply. I stumbled into his chest, knocking him off kilter and he landed with an oomph against where the thick branch met with the trunk of the tree.

"Hell, are you alright?" Matthew turned me in his arms, my hands falling onto his muscular chest.

I nodded.

"Do you need a break? It's your arm, isn't it? Or are your wrists giving you trouble?"

My wrists burned, but the pain was nothing compared to the bruises my mother inflicted on me earlier in the week. My shoulder was aching, though I didn't think it was slowing me down. "No, I'm fine. We can't afford to stop."

The way Matthew's dark eyes looked me over made me want to cry. It was like he could see through me. He knew I was lying. He was just debating whether or not to call me on it. "I'm tired," he finally murmured. "You got my ass hopping through trees. I need a nap."

"You're going to nap in a tree?" I asked doubtfully.

He glanced down. "Yeah, I think I am." When he looked back up, there was something almost playful in his eyes. "Come here and keep me warm, you jacket stealer."

I blushed as he pulled me closer, letting me rest my head against his chest. With his legs on either side of me, I didn't have to worry about falling. I closed my eyes, hoping sleep would find me, but instead I opened my mouth. "Matt?"

"Hmm?"

"I...killed people today."

"You did."

"I don't feel bad. I feel kind of empty. I killed them, but those people still took something from me."

Matthew's hand sank into my hair, brushing his fingers through it once, twice. "People are terrible, Sang, but you're stronger than their poor nature. You are a fighter; a survivor."

"Do you think I could be Academy? There are other girls back there. We left them behind. We could go back."

"You're already Academy, beautiful. The Blackbourne team accepted you into their family and because of this incident, the Academy will recruit you."

"How do you figure?" I asked against his shirt.

"Sang, you shot a man in the head the first time you ever shot a gun. You're silent when you move. You have courage. What more could they ask for?"

***

Matthew Eli's POV:

The sun sank down under the horizon, filling the world with shadow. Sang was asleep in my arms, her cheek pressed against my chest as I pet her hair. She was more tired than she realized.