Looking for the Light Through the Darkness

Chapter 65: We both didn't know

Pov: Nathan

Letting out heavy breaths, I allow the endorphins from working out to wash over me as I come to a stop at the bottom of the driveway. Stretching my arms up above my head in order to extend my diaphragm I take slow deep breaths. Physical activity always seemed to help me decompress after a long day but today's run didn't help as much as I had hoped. 

Taking a moment to stretch in the driveway, I hold a deep lung for a minute or two before I straighten once more. "She confirmed she was abused." Kota's ever so soft voice appears once more in my head almost knocking me over. I honestly couldn't believe it... well I could... the way Sang reacted around us at the beginning... its just that I don't want to believe it. 

Running a hand across the back of my neck, I pull open the mail box and grab the small postage inside before returning to the house. My mind spins with every step I take recalling the information Kota shared with my family and I minutes after Sang was taken out of the dining room, limp. 

"She told us a little bit of her past." Kota stated his eyes shifting to each of my brothers, lingering on some more than others. "She never attended Ashley Waters because she actually ran away only a day before we started our mission there." Kota's eyes flicker to me for a moment while saying this as if this is supposed to mean something. Unable to put the pieces together I silently shake my head unsure what he is trying to say and his head dips slightly as he swallows hard. 

"Marie Sorenson." Kota manages to whisper and instantly my stomach is in my throat. Marie Sorenson. The first girl we had met at Ashley Waters. She had been sitting at the front entrance of the school, her makeup running down her face as she stared off into the parking lot pain clear in her eyes. We had all rushed over to help but it wasn't until she finally began to trust us later on in the year that she revealed why she was sobbing that very first day. 

Her sister had died. 

Or at least that is what we had all thought, until our last year of high school when she received a text message from an untraceable phone stating that her sister was alive. Marie had been so shocked by the message that she had skipped school and stayed home hoping to hear more from the source. We learned about it after school when Mr. Blackbourne had visited the house in order to check on her. 

This was impossible. 

Glancing back to Kota I notice the clear pain in his eyes as he removes his glasses and runs his hand through his hair, copying Mr. Blackbourne's tell. He believed this information to be true and that meant that Sang had been only a few steps away all summer being abused in that small yellow house across the street and I hadn't noticed. 

The thoughts of Sang being hurt only just across the street, now haunted my mind as I put the mail on the table and pulled off my shoes. Moving toward the stairs, in need of a shower, I hear Silas's voice rings out before I spot blur of blonde hair rushing down the stairs at an alarmingly fast speed.

Sang. 

Moving up the stairs, I extend my hands as the beautiful girl slips on the hard wood stairs and collapses into my sweaty red tank top. My arms wrapping around her, I quickly do a once over before helping her get her balance and I hear her take a sharp breath of air. "Sang?." My heart pounds as this small girl trembles slightly in my hold and I gently pull her closer to my chest. 

"I didn't know." She whispers but I am unable to focus on her words because her voice is so small and her breathing uneven. Instantly reacting, I slip my hands tighter around her small body and I press her into my chest and lean down to whisper in her ear making her focus on her senses. 

"Sang calm down." I whisper ever so softly and I can feel her body tremble but she nods knowing she is close to panicking once more. "You just got over a panic attack..." I whisper softly my fingers running up and down her exposed skin. "Your body is tired." Feeling her nod against my chest once more, I relax a little as I feel her breathing start to even out. 

 "I didn't know you lived across the street." 

Sang's words hang in the air and I can't help but think back to those horrible thoughts that were floating in my mind only moments before. I should have been able to help her. I should have been able to save her. If I had noticed... Letting out a harsh breath, I tuck myself into Sang lifting her into the air. 

"It's okay." I whisper ever so softly into her ear as she curls around me just as an infant would. Rubbing my hands up and down her back, I begin climbing back up the stairs and to Silas's room who stands in the doorway his eyes focused upon me. Unable to meet them at the moment, I duck my head down and slip into his room carefully sitting the two of us down on his bed.

Settling Sang onto my lap, I gently run my fingers through her soft blonde hair as I try and calm her down. "You didn't know we were across the street and we didn't know either." I whisper into her ear as she tucks her face into the crook of my neck. "But you are safe now with us and that is all that matters." 

I watch the beautiful girl in my arms shift slightly so that we become face to face once more and I notice the small tears that are now rolling down her cheeks. "It isn't your fault either though." She whispers and instantly my heart clenches in pain as she easily spots what I have been thinking. 

Nodding slightly, I pull Sang back into my arms and we hug each other tightly trying to forget the past.