Sang's Freedom (Original And Rewritten)

Chapter 91: Warehouse Flowers

-Chapter 91-

Victor Morgan's POV:

I sent another call from Mr. Blackbourne to voicemail. I didn't want to talk on the phone while I was driving. I didn't want to think about my team right now.

Clues to my mother's disappearance were in the warehouse we had found. Everyone had seemed to forget the place. But not me. Thirteen years ago, my mom had disappeared without a trace. I had always thought she had abandoned me, but now? Now I wasn't so sure.

Her dragon pendant felt hot against my skin where I kept it tucked under my shirt.

Had my mom really been taken into some sex ring? Was she dead like the others there? Or had she been brought to the new location?

Hope filled me with both happiness and dread. My hands felt sweaty on the steering wheel of my father's silver BMW.

I was halfway there.

A shovel was in my backseat along with a pair of gloves. My cellphone joined the items.

I suppose I could have called the police. Gave an anonymous tip as to the location of the bodies, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

What if the police missed something? What if they never took the time to check if my mother was one of the victims? I would have asked the Academy for help, but I was very low on favors after paying in to help save Sang.

I was willing to take the risk of getting caught, shovel in hand, if it meant an end to the questions.

My car was zooming down the empty highway. 70 MPH. 80 MPH. I slowed, trying to stay within the speed limit...trying to maintain some semblance of control.

A van baring the logo of my family's cooperation whizzed by, followed by a red corvette.

The Morgan name was too grand a thing for my taste. It made me sick to see it everywhere, and the electronics company coupled with his own musical prowess made it impossible for me to do anything outside of the Academy without getting hounded.

Play me a song, Victor! Oh, won't you dance with me, Victor? But these earrings, Victor! Don't they match my eyes?

My mouth hardened into a line. For years I had steered clear, but now a girl had come about and suddenly I found myself doing the pursuing.

Sang was everything I wanted, and yet I could not have her. Still, I remembered the heat of our kiss. Still I was tempted to take another. Maybe I would once I got back.

Sang understood my burns. She knew what it was to be beaten. She knew what it was to be harmed by the people who were supposed to love you most. But she did not let herself break.

Sang wasn't bought by things, and when she asked me to play her music, I found myself willing to play her anything. She knew a few keys after all and our sound was beautiful.

I could hear my phone ringing in the back seat again and knew the team had certainly realized I was missing now. I hadn't wanted to worry them. This was my mission. My mother.

I wasn't going to freeze up again. I was going to be strong.

I passed the gas station where we had picked up North and Matthew.

I drove through miles and miles of burned fields and absently wondered what had happened.

And then finally, finally I reached the place of the abandoned warehouse...except...there was no warehouse to find.