Splendid Fall

Ch.32 Madness

Chapter 32

The warm embrace of slumber lulled Birdie into a blissful state that she did not want to awake from. Her body was positioned perfectly and the heavy coat of sleep was so thick on her eyes, she wanted to drown in it. It was her mind and body's way of making up for the lack of sleep she had been getting for the past few days. Every cell in her body was drained and starving for slumber. Even when she was full, she still craved more.

"Birdie!"

Birdie jerked in her sleep as Noor's voice startled her.

"Wake up! Wake up!" The little boy hollered.

"Noor..." Birdie muttered, her heart beat rising. "Noor?"

"Baba said he's taking us to the treehouse," suddenly the bed dipped beside Birdie and Noor's cold fingers wrapped around her hand. "Let's go!"

"What...." Birdie's eyes fluttered open. She blinked against the harsh sunlight pouring in through her windows as she stared at the boy with the pointy ears and bright green eyes. "What are you doing?"

"You've been sleeping all day," Noor complained. "Let's go! Mama will be here to pick me up soon."

"What's going on?" Birdie sat up, her throat dry and her head pounding. "How did I....What happened?"

"Birdie," Hayden appeared at the door. "If you want to go then come on. I have to be somewhere with Elsa in a few hours."

"Hayden," Birdie's eyes watered.

Jumping out of bed, Birdie ran forward and threw herself into her brother's arms. Her chest swelled up as the half jinn wrapped an arm around her and arched his brow.

"What's wrong?" He asked, looking down. "Are you still thinking you're gonna get lost again?"

Birdie's heart quivered. She pulled back and looked at her brother, her mind a mix of emotions she couldn't name.

"I don't know what's happening," Birdie confessed. "But it's good to see you."

"I'm right here," Hayden chuckled, brushing back Birdie's silver hair. "And so is mom, baba, Noor and Elsa."

"Elsa?" Birdie laughed through her tears. "Nora will kill you."

"Why?" Hayden snorted, pushing off the door and shoving his hands into his pocket like he always did when he was uncomfortable. "If I can't say anything about Dev then she can't say anything about Elsa."

"But Dev is nice," Noor muttered from where he laid in Birdie's bed. "Elsa isn't."

"Noor," Hayden frowned. "We talked about this. You can't keep being mean to Elsa. Nora said you had to be nice to both Dev and Elsa."

"Paba said I don't have to be nice to anyone," Noor said.

"This isn't right," Hayden shook his head and turned his eyes towards Birdie. "You see this? This is why we don't come around here. Because everyone is just so obsessed with Nora."

"Hey, hey," Birdie said, growing concerned. "Hayden, what's going on? Where's baba?"

"I don't know," Hayden said. "Noor, let's go."

"Is Elsa coming with us?"

"Mom," Hayden corrected the little boy.

"Nora is my mom," Noor said stubbornly. "Elsa is my step-mom."

"What?" Birdie looked over her shoulder at the boy.

"Are you okay?" Hayden asked, looking down at Birdie. "You've been acting very strange for the past few days. Ever since you got back, it's like you don-"