Inciting Investigations

Chapter 8

(Tw for talking about abuse and previous trauma)

Birdy Anders

Her brother sat there for another couple of minutes without doing anything but breathing. Birdy stayed quiet because no matter how much she wanted to know what he was talking about, she knew it was best to give him some time. He usually needed some time.

“Sorry, this is just a bit hard to talk about.” He said, and Birdy was about to tell him that he didn’t have to be sorry, but she didn’t get the chance. Then he started talking again.

“So, a couple of years ago when I was kidnapped, well more when I came back. I started telling you all a bit about what happened to me and…I may have spared some detail when you were around. I guess in general too, but it was just because you were younger, so you didn’t need to know everything. But now, I talked to mom and dad, and we all think that you’re ready to know a bit more about what happened. We also agreed that it would be best if I talked to you alone about this.” He paused again for a long period of time.

“Birdy, you know that I love you so much, right?” She nodded. “And whenever it seems like I’m pulling away from you, I promise you that that is never what I’m doing okay?”

Birdy's head swam with thoughts as she wondered why her brother was talking like this. He continued to reassure her that she was and always will be his little sister no matter what and that he loves her. No matter how much he pulls back or how little he talks with her, he still cares about her and their family more than anyone else in the entire world.

His voice was shaking, and Birdy wanted nothing more than to pull him into a tight hug and never let go, but she knew that that would be a bad decision for this situation. She knew that it would only serve to freak her brother out further, but that didn’t stop the instinct that she held back. Her mother had always told her that a firm embrace could fix anything, but it couldn’t fix this. When she thought about it, she wasn’t sure that anything could fix this.

“The guy who took me, his name was Tempest. I mean, that wasn’t his real name, but it was what he always called himself. He wasn’t exactly a good person and…he did some really bad things to me and my friends. Magnus and Badger, those guys were with me at the time.” Birdy was surprised to hear that. She had known that Magnus and Badger had been there for Cyrus at the time, but she had always assumed that they had been a part of the rescue team or something. She hadn’t even thought that they could’ve been kidnapped, too.

Her brother just barely met her eyes, and he gave her a nice warm smile before looking away again. She knew that he was probably just trying to comfort her and that she should feel good that he wanted to do that for her. She knew plenty of others wouldn’t. But she still kinda wanted to tell him to stop because right at that moment, she was aware that she was the last person in the room who needed comforting. Last person in the world, really.

“And, there’s no easy way to really say it.” His voice cracked, and her heart cracked with it. He took a couple of deep breaths before beginning again with his words and voice.

“He hurt me but not just the way that you know about.” He looked away again, like he was ashamed. Birdy didn’t think he should be ashamed then, not for this he shouldn’t.

“Oh, he touched m-me and did some really, really horrible things to me when I couldn’t really stop him.” Cyrus stumbled over his words, and tears built up heavily in his eyes.

“I-...He was just really fucking horrible. Sorry for the language, Bird.” She was surprised to hear the word come out of his mouth. It wasn’t that her brother never swore, it was just different all the other times he swore around her. This was the first time it had actual emotion.