"Anyway, sweetie." Charlene interrupted mine and Owen's conversation, "Me and dear Roxanne here came to speak with you."
I turned my attention to them, curious to know what these funny older women might want with me.
I knew I had never met them before, I was sure I would remember them if I had...
"Yes?" I asked, my voice sounding quiet and shy.
Charlene smiled kindly at me before shooing the boys out of her way so she could move closer to me.
"I know a trio of birds that might be of interest to you." she "whispered" to me.
My eyebrows rose to the top of my head. With those simple words Charlene had assured me of a few things, one was that, indeed, the girls were in Charleston, and two was that these old grandmas were Academy.
I had suspected as much since they were at the dinner at such a late hour and none of the boys were bothered by their presence in the cramped office, but the confirmation still came as a bit of a shock.
"Excuse me?" I sputtered at her a little.
They nodded their colorful heads at me, polite smiles in their faces.
"Oh, yes," Added Roxanne. "You would really want to meet with them."
Seriously? Was it really going to be this easy?
"Oh?" Was all I could manage at the moment. Thankfully Owen didn't have the same problem.
"I am sorry, ma'am, but could you please be more specific? I am afraid we don't understand who you are talking about." He was lying, I knew. There no doubt that they were talking about my old friends.
Roxanne clucked her tongue at Owen and gave him a wink, "Of course, my Mr. Pretty Perfect."
I almost snorted at the look on Owen's face at the nickname. Sean was struggling to contain his giggles.
"But first, let's close that lovely door over there." Charlene ordered, sending a look at Brandon, who was standing closest to the doorway at the moment.
The boy turned around and closed the door, locking it behind himself.
Turning their attention back to us, all the boys stood in silent attention as the grannies started talking. "A few months ago we met a trio of younger girls living alone in New York, on the suburbs."
"They managed to stay out of the Academy's radar for quite a long time, but when they became involved in mine and Roxanne's mission we became aware of them." Charlene was saying, a serious look that didn't fit her persona on her face.
"We've been following them since, and thought it took us a lot of time, we found out about their time in Hell and about you." Added Roxanne, a look of respect flitted through her eyes as she stared at me and I blushed under her regard.
Owen's hand at my hip gave a little squeeze and I melted against his hard frame.
"You girls did very well at burning your trail and leaving no signs of your existence behind. But you must understand that people talk, and you, Sang, attracted a lot of attention on that school." Said Charlene.
I frowned at her, I had thought of myself as invisible in that place. I didn't really talk with anyone aside from the three girls who I had befriended, after all.
I did go out of my way to help the others a lot, but I did so discretely. I never thought people had taken notice of my interfering.
Charlene smiled at me, as if she could read my thoughts and found them amusing.
"A little while back the girls started acting strange and began trips between Illinois and here." Roxanne went on with their story. "We thought it was best to get a closer look at what they were doing, and it was when we found you."
Charlene nodded her head in agreement. "Indeed, although we had found about your existence we couldn't find your trail and locate you until the girls moved here."
Again that respectful glint shone in her eyes. I didn't feel the need to hide from it this time, thought.
"The Academy is interested in recruiting them," Roxanne went on, "But they are wary of strangers, understandably, and we hopped you could help us with bringing them in."
I thought about it for a minute, I wanted to help the girls, but I wasn't sure if they would let me. They hadn't come to me for help when they moved to Charleston, and it was clear that they knew about my location.
Again I wondered what they were doing. Were they alright?
Fixing my gaze in the two grannies in front of me I asked the question that had been burning in the back of my mind all this time. "Where are they?"
The grandmas smiled at me, pleased.
......
The building was dingy and a little smelly, the humidity in the place weighing heavily in the air and making my clothes stick to my skin in an uncomfortable way.
The place was eerily quiet, making the hairs at the back of my neck to stand on end, but I kept walking inside the building, up a flight of stairs to the third floor and down a mostly dark corridor.
I was going to give the girls a piece of my mind when I found them. They shouldn't be living in this dump. It wasn't safe!
The air suddenly moved behind me and I spun around quickly.
"Your senses are still as sharp as always, S." Said the red-haired girl in dark clothing who was standing right behind me, a smirk on her face.
I smiled at her. "And you are still as quiet as a ghost, Jay."
Jay was a really tall girl, with the slim form of a model and green eyes that reflected a world of hurt. Her black clothes, army boots and leather jacket made her look dangerous, but I knew it was her sister, Roberta, who you had to watch out for.
That girl had a vicious temper.
A cinnamon scent tickled my nose, and I turned to find Roberta standing behind me. She was as tall as Jay and had the same sad, green eyes, but her long hair was black and hung loose around her shoulder while Jay had hers in a braid.
Roberta wore a white blouse with delicate flower trimmings on the edges and a long skirt. She looked elegant and delicate in the middle of this scary building and didn't fit in at all.
"Roberta." I greeted her with a nod of my head. We were never too close, but got along well with each other.
"Sang." She nodded back at me, a polite smile on her face. "You found us."
"A friend of mine did, actually." I answered.
Jay snorted from behind me. "Of course, tracking was never your strong suit."
She stepped in front of me and started walking to a door at the end of the corridor. "Come along, S. Alice is waiting for us."
Roberta turned around to follow her sister and I was right behind them.
Entering their apartment I saw that they had taken the time to fix the place a bit.
Here the walls were painted a light yellow color, with beautiful paintings hung up making the place actually look like a home. The furniture was good quality, they had a brown leather couch with a coffee table and a television in the living room, the kitchen had light blue cupboards and cabinets, the appliances looked all new, and the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room had some comfortable looking stools.
Alice was sitting at one of them.
She glanced up from the cup of cocoa and squealed before jumping up and coming to hug me.
"Sang!" she shouted like a little girl.
Alice was the same age as me, but she had always acted as if she were younger. Her short stature, black hair and icy blue eyes made her look delicate.
"Hello, Al." I said, putting my arms around the other girl and giving her a squeeze before stepping back.
I never liked hugging until I met the boys again, and hugging Alice now made me as uncomfortable as it used to do in the past.
Roberta had moved to sit primly at a stool and Jay went ahead and sat up in the counter, much to her sister annoyance.
Alice looked at me with wide, adoring eyes that always creeped me out a little bit.
"You girls didn't tell me you were around." I commented lightly, hoping for an explanation.
They looked at each other in silent conversation before turning back to me. it was Roberta who answered.
"We weren't sure we would be welcome." She simply said.
I was stunned. "W...what?" I sputtered.
Jay shrugged, "Well, none of us wanted company when we parted ways after the destruction of Hell..."
"...but later on, we started to miss one another," continued Roberta.
"And I decided to track down you guys and see if you wanted company." Said Jay. "When I found Alice and Roberta they weren't going too well alone and quickly agreed to come stay with me."
I could understand that. Freedom was something we'd all wanted when we were in Hell. But being free and alone was scary. you needed to have someone with you.
"But when we found you, Sang, you were fine and happy with your new life." Roberta said, "We didn't want to interfere, nor did we know if our presence was welcome."
"That is why we thought to bring you a gift of sorts!" Alice exclaimed happily. She was bouncing in place, her eyes wild and excited where the other two only stared at me quietly.
I focused in Alice, "What gift?" I asked her.
She smiled wider at me, "The gift of revenge, of course! We are making that people you once called family pay for what they did!"
I remembered what Owen had told me and what had been written in the mask left behind at my new home.
"But what didn't you come to me that night, Alice? Why leave just a mask behind?" I asked, still feeling confused.
She quieted, looking down at her shoes shyly. "I didn't want to face you if you didn't want us around, Sang." The girl whispered.
I melted a little and sighed, as I always did for Alice. "There is some people I would like for you all to meet." I told them.
They looked at me curiously before glancing at the door to the apartment.
Vanilla and spring soap reached my nose and I knew Luke and Owen had come in.
None of girls looked surprised at their appearance, merely standing curiously as the boys moved to either side of me. "Girls, this is Owen Blackbourne," I indicated Owen, even though I suspected the girls already knew who they were, "And Lucian Taylor, but please, call him Luke."
I took my boys' hands and saw a spark of clarity and curiosity enter the girls' eyes, "Boys, these are Jay and Roberta Wilson and Alice Carter."
"Nice to meet you, ladies." Said Owen, inclining his head at them.
"Hello, there!" Said Luke with a cheerful smile on his face.
Alice and Roberta blushed a little at the boys and smiled at them, Jay looked wary but didn't say anything.
We spent a few minutes conversing and agreed to all meet later and Bob's Dinner to talk more.
Leaving the building behind I glanced from Owen to Luke and asked, "So, what do you think about them?"
"It is amazing what they did to that place," Said Luke, "I mean, I am not the decorator of the family, that is Gabriel's thing, but the transformation in that apartment compared to the rest of the building is incredible."
Owen nodded his head at that, "I wonder how they managed it and with which money, too."
"That's easy," I said. "Jay is such an amazing tracker because of her computer skills, and with Roberta's knowledge of languages and codes they work straight from home and make a lot of money."
Owen thought about this for a moment as we walked in silence in the direction of our car. Luke opened my door for me as Owen walked around to the driver side and got in.
Once he'd started the car and we were on our way home he said, "They seem to be good girls, and I am sure the academy will want them. We must make sure they are okay, and move them to a less dangerous place in town."
I nodded at him; I didn't like the neighborhood they were living on.
Luke had his phone on his hands and was punching at it madly. "What are you doing?" I asked him.
"Updating the guys." He answered without looking up.
I rolled my eyes, academy' grapevine was at work. The girls wouldn't know what hit them. I just hoped Jay didn't shoot any of my boys...
......
It was already dark when I finally managed to get home from work at the hospital that day. There had been a horrible accident in the highway involving several cars and a bus full of teenagers who weren't using the damned seat belt.
I'd had to stay and help, which meant I had worked the past six hours without stopping. Pookie would be worried and scold me if she found out.
Entering my house I saw that someone, probably Owen, had come and turned the lights on for me so I didn't arrive to a dark and empty house.
Passing by the kitchen I felt my stomach rumbling at the thought of dinner, but the tiredness of my body convinced me to go straight to bed.
I took a few minutes to take a shower and dressed in my pajamas. I was heading to my bed when my phone started to ring. Cursing quietly I picked it up from the nightstand and checked the caller Id.
The word "Oka-san" shone at my face, the display-light making me squint my eyes in the room's darkness.
Putting the phone to my ear I greeted. "こんにちは、お母さん。" (Hello, mother.)
"ショーン" (Sean.) Answered my mother's stern voice. She sounded so much like Owen that it was sometimes creepy.
"あなたが今日食べていますか？" (Have you eaten today?) She asked suspiciously and I looked around myself with startled eyes.
It was very rare for me to skip a meal, and if she'd called at this time any other day of the week, my answer would've been a cheerful "Yes!" with a full description of everything I had eaten along the day.
Figures that she would ask it the day I choose to skip a meal, what super power was this that some mother had of always knowing when their child was doing something that they didn't agree to?
"Eeer..." staring at the floor with wide eyes I felt my brain freeze, becoming completely incapable of formulating a lie or excuse for my mother.
"ショーン・グリーン！" (Sean Green!) She exclaimed angrily over the phone, making me wince and look around myself again.
I knew she wasn't even in the country right now, but from the tone of her voice I felt like she'd be marching up the stairs right now to scold me about taking better care of myself.
"はい、お母さん？" (Yes, mother?) I asked her meekly.
"すでに何かを食べに行く、見ました！" (Go eat something already, Sean!) She ordered over the phone, her voice ringing with the same power she'd had when he was a child. He might be older now and living alone, but damned if he didn't jump whenever his mother ordered him too.
Turning on his heel he started to walk downstairs. "私は行くよ、行きますよ。" (I'm going, I'm going.)
"より良いあなた、または私はBlackbourneさんを呼び出します。" (You better, or I will be calling Blackbourne-san.) She threatened before hanging up.
Eeek!
I ran back to the kitchen and started reheating the leftovers from lunch, and while I did so I wondered once more if maybe my mother had super-powers... or cameras installed in my house...
My phone rang again and I answered the call without checking the display this time. "Yes?"
"Sean," Came Owen's dry voice, "Do you care to tell me why I received a call from your mother saying that I am not taking proper care of you?"
I winced, "Sorry about that. She caught me skipping a meal so I could go to sleep earlier."
"Really, Sean?" Owen's voice was now exasperated, "Do you want me to call Sang?"
God, no. If there was something worse than being scolded by his mother it was being scolded by his girlfriend.
"Let's not make our Pookie worry, Owen." I tried.
He snorted. "Right. I believe I have already told you she isn't our Pookie, right Sean?"
I smirked at that, "Of course, I apologize."
He merely grunted at me, someone was spending a lot of time with North...
"How is she, by the way?" After the return of the other girl Sang had started to get more nightmares as the memories from her past arose.
I worried about her.
"She will be okay, Sean. Our girl is strong. Stronger than she believes herself to be." Owen stated with surety.
"I know that, Owen." I told him, "But I still don't like what these girls presence are doing to her."
"Neither do I. But it will be resolved soon. They will be introduced to academy along with Sang pretty soon. After that they will each have their teams and missions to take care of, which mean that they don't be able to see Sang a lot."
This time I was the one to grunt, "I hope so, Pookie needs a bit of peace."
"She will have everything she needs, Sean. We will always make sure of it."
I agreed with him.
Our Pookie would be okay, no matter what...