With A Ghost

5. A Little Bit Of Comfort

Sang

I could only thank North for coming up with the idea of covering my face with my long bangs and glasses, otherwise they'd immediately know that I knew something about Victor's missing phone just by looking at my face. Maybe I should listen to him more.

When Victor let me know about the disappearance of his phone, the thought that the phone Luke got hold of yesterday might be his didn't strike me until he described it as one with a silver casing, and broken edges and a  screen. Right now, the phone was much more broken than Victor thought.

I offered to help look for whatever they were looking for, of course, but that was before knowing that it was a phone and that it was with my team. Now, I was quickly group-texting North and Luke.

Sang: Find a way to return it. They're worried sick!
North: Don't worry. Luke will sneak into Nathan's house when you guys go over to Kota's. He'll place it there.
Luke: Leave it to me.

After searching all over Nathan's place and replacing the cameras of his house, they all settled down on the sofas and the carpet, waiting for Kota's mother to leave so that they could replace the cameras there. They looked tired after aimlessly looking for something they wouldn't find no matter how much they looked. Kota kept them going. His motivational strength never died down for the sake of his family. The rest of the guys looked a little low on energy, believing they wouldn't find it. After all, it was unlikely that someone with access to so much would just up and return it, or nicely give it back to them after going through the trouble of stealing it.

I felt horrible for them. I have met them only four days ago but I liked them already. North knew that engaging deep in conversation would only make them feel free to ask questions that would best be not answered yet. We had to find out who was after them without further risking their safety. They had to act like they knew nothing, or things would get too unpredictable for us to make a move. So I had to draw a line between us and pretend to be quieter than usual, which shouldn't have been too hard for me considering what I'm like, but it was, and I didn't know exactly why. It's a good thing that the half-disguise hides most of what I'm thinking, because apparently my face is an open book. If it's hidden, they wouldn't catch on to too many things and wouldn't want to ask questions. It also hid me from the any unwanted view of whoever might be stalking the Blackbourne family. It gave me a double identity if needed. I could always replace myself... with myself, in any given situation. It was easy because of my ghost bird status. It would work on anyone who didn't see me closely enough. But I also had this gut feeling that there was another reason that North made me go undercover... like this. I guess it was just his protective instinct.

I'm sure the Blackbourne team caught on to the possibly dangerous situation they were in, but thought that keeping quiet while they didn't know the details was best. I could see it in their eyes that they wanted to investigate it themselves, but refrained from doing so. I wouldn't expect anything less from the team of Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green, the two youngest members to have graduated the Academy. At the age of sixteen! Because they were so young, you'd never expect them to be to this amazing, but they were. And each member of their team was equally unique. Meeting them, my jaw almost dropped more than a dozen times. Could that be the reason that I felt like I wanted to get along with them? Is it because I admire their family so much?

I usually never wanted to be around people for too long, besides Luke and North, but I noticed that I didn't mind being with this particular team at all. With North and Luke always in contact with me, and the five, no, seven nice guys around me, if you counted Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green, I didn't feel like I needed to be scared of anything. I have worked with around twenty-five teams ever since the Academy found me, but I've never felt easy with anyone but North and Luke. The three of us may be fairly new in the Academy, but we would be lying if we said that we were allowed to form a special team just because of my ghost bird 'privileges'. North and Luke are very talented, and have polished those talents, and still continue to do so. We work extremely well with each other like no other, and we understand each other best of all. They saw this and agreed to let us form our own team despite the fact that none of us have graduated yet. Well, this was possible because of my ghost bird status.

I glanced at Victor, the techie of the team. He looked visibly relieved after replacing the cameras of at least one house and setting up the monitor system on their phones from his laptop, but he still looked bothered. He wouldn't rest until all the cameras have been replaced. He looked like a lost puppy. His eyes which never ceased to consume me in an inferno looked like a dull blaze. His eyes that  looked like they contained a passionate fire swirling around his pupil was the first feature that I noticed when I saw him. I wanted to see it again. I saw down on the floor, next to him. He looked at me in an alarmed way. I surprised myself by not flinching. I touched his arm as gently as I could, keeping my fingers there as I spoke, "We'll go to Kota's house next, right? That will make it one less house. Before you know it, it'll all be done soon and I'll get to see all of your homes." I tried to smile as warmly as I could, but he just continued to stare at me, trying to look at my eyes more. His flames were now burning in a warm and cozy way. That's when I had to look away and take down my hand from his arm.  But he caught it and held it, bringing it to his lap. When I looked at him again, I saw that he was smiling at me, and it caused a warm fluttering feeling in my chest, but I ignored it as I felt eyes on us. I started to turn away again, feeling shy. I didn't have to. The phone in my hand vibrated. Luke texted me, "Mrs. Lee just left. Expect to be on your way soon. " What a life-saver to have an excuse to be busy with my phone. Whew!

Victor let go of my hand, but moved closer, so that my shoulder was touching his arm. It made my cheeks heat up. I could smell the mild scent of berries and moss. I should definitely thank North for this ridiculous outfit that didn't seem so ridiculous anymore. But the thought of what I was wearing kind of disappointed me. Why didn't I stop to think about how creepy it might have felt to the others if I approached them in such an unattractive state? Sure, none of them made me feel ugly, but they were just being nice.

We walked the short distance to Kota's house as he led the way, with me right behind him. Gabriel, Silas, Nathan and Victor followed. When we were passing by Nathan's pool, I couldn't help but want to jump in. I'll remember to ask Luke and North if we could go swimming somewhere some time.

Kota's little sister, Jessica wasn't home. When we got to the front door, an excited golden retriever welcomed Kota and the rest of us. He sniffed at my shoes and looked up at me, wagging his tail. I gingerly petted him. I loved dogs, I just wasn't used to them yet.
"Meet Max," Kota said, looking pleased.
"Hi, Max," I giggled at his friendliness as I bent down and stroked his fur.
For a moment, it felt too quiet. I looked around to find everyone looking at me intently, again. It made me feel very self-conscious.
Kota coughed. He smiled at me, "Looks like Max made a new friend."

Kota's room was almost too neat and organized. Was he really a teenager? I looked out the window and saw Nathan's house.
And a guy with long blonde hair.
It was Luke.
I quickly glanced back to check whether anyone was paying attention. Kota and Victor were just outside the room, on the staircase. The rest were downstairs.
When I turned back to the window, he was no longer there; he was most probably already inside Nathan's house. Luke's not joking when he says he can pull off a ninja's stealth mode.

Relieved, I walked away from the window and caught words of Kota and Victor's conversation. They were talking in hushed voices, so I wanted to give them some privacy. But no matter where I stood, I understood what they were saying. And I couldn't help but listen while sitting on Kota's bed.

"He didn't even tell me off," Victor said. He sounded guilty.
"There's no reason to," Kota sounded reassuring, "You made a careless mistake anyone could have made. Next time you'll be more careful. That's it, really. You couldn't have known."
"You guys are always cleaning up my mess."
"We're all in this together."
Victor sighed, "How many more times will you be fixing my problems?"
"Every time, Victor, every single time."

I thought I would cry. It felt so endearing. This is what family is. It reminded me of mine. North and Luke. All of a sudden, I missed my two Taylors dearly. I wanted to hug them and never let go. I wanted to hug Kota too. I felt like he just squeezed my heart. Maybe I should go to the bathroom and calm down. But before I could get up, Victor entered the room. "Mind if I sit with you for a while?"