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

Kell's Point of View

James pulled his phone out of his pocket, his eyebrows drawn together as he accessed the cameras on the outside of his house.

He stood quickly, his chair slamming into the cabinets, his face pale. "Stop her," he choked.

Taylor jumped up, kicking James's chair out of his way as he leapt to the door.

"Wait!" I yelled, standing up, and calling to Lyric. I didn't know what was happening, but James's face told me Lyric was in trouble. I ran toward the door, but Taylor stopped me with his arm across the frame.

"Stop," he whispered, pulling out his phone.

I looked over his shoulder and saw two town officers. I recognized Officer Standish, and saw him take a step toward Lyric, his hand outstretched as she took a step back.

No. He would not touch her.

James shouldered us out of the way, sending us a look to say: use favors, get the Academy. Taylor pulled his phone out, dialing Constance. I heard him explaining the situation to her. He turned to me, his face creasing in concern, his eyes worried.

"What do you mean?" he hissed.

I clenched my hands to stop myself from grabbing the phone and demanding Constance explain what was happening, but I saw Standish reach toward Lyric again. I felt hot, rage bubbled up inside of me, and I stepped forward to stop him. 

She is ours, no one else touches her.

Taylor stopped me with a hand to my chest. Lyric's eyes met mine, fear evident in her gaze before her eyes snapped back to Standish.

"We need to get in position, Kell," Taylor said tonelessly, getting my attention.

I struggled, every cell in my body pulling me to Lyric, but recognizing that I couldn't help her here. I allowed Taylor to push me back into the kitchen, balling up my fist to slam into the wall, but Taylor grabbed my hand.

"Get to her trailer," he directed. "I'll be right behind you. Her mother reported her as a runaway, and there's a problem with the adoption on the Academy's end. James has the cameras up, but we need to be ready to extract if there's a problem."

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. The desire to hurt myself grew as my fear built. In the old days, I would have made a cut, or punched the wall, but now I forced myself to move, and to feel the emotions coursing through me. I spoke the words the Academy had taught me. My emotions didn't rule me anymore, I could control them.

I forced a deep breath and nodded again, running out of the kitchen to my bike. I kicked it started and roared down the driveway, peeling onto the main highway toward Lyric's house.

I had never been there before. Taylor and James had, and they had said that it was rough.

That was James' word, rough. Sometimes, his manners and good breeding presented themselves like a reflex, and honesty took a backseat for politeness. Then he had described what he'd found in the "rough" trailer: the drugs, the gun, the images of girls, of Lyric. That was when the facade had cracked, and he'd requested an accelerated adoption.

We loved her. I knew this without having to ask my brothers how they felt. From the first moment I saw Lyric, and then, when she offered to correct my physics homework, I felt a pull to her. This short week in her presence had made what I was feeling clear. It was something I'd never expected or even wanted. I had my team, my brothers, that had been enough.

Until her.

This girl came into my life like a thunderbolt, and somehow wound her way around the organ I thought lay dead inside me. She shocked me back to life. She brought to life words that the Academy taught me, the lessons I had never truly understood until I met her.