Chapter Five: A Talk With Freya

When she opened the door for me she moved out of the way as I set the cups on a beauty table.

I took a drink of my juice and so did she. Freya was looking worse for wear.

She had bags under her eyes and her skin was pale. Her hair was frazzled and her eyes kept darting to and from me.

She was nervous to be around me- No, she was scared to be around me, her own brother.

The more I looked at her the more I felt useless. How had I not noticed all this before. It was obvious something was wrong with her, but I didn't even notice until the damage was already done.

I took a breath, putting my cup down softly before speaking. "You know I won't hurt you, right?" I asked.

Freya also put down her cup before answering. "Y-yeah. Of course I know that." She said. She tried to be reassuring when she said that, but it didn't do anything to ease my worries, despite knowing the problem was gone.

"And you know you can tell me anything, don't you?" I asked again. I was just hoping she would open up about it, on her own terms, even if I was forcing her to think about it.

She nodded her head in confirmation. I could see her eyes start to get a bit watery as she spoke. "W-what are you getting at? If something had h-happened I would have... t-told you." She said slowly, her breathing get a little quicker and she started folding with her fingers.

I put my hands up in a placid manner, making sure she felt safe. I didn't want to do any damage, not anymore than what's already happened. "Hey, calm down. It's alright." I said to her calmly.

She just nodded her head, her breathing starting to get under her control. "S-sorry… for making you worry." She said quietly while turning away. Her eyes were full of sadness and fear, like she was afraid I was going to do something to her.

"There's no need to apologise." I reassured her. "Take a drink if you need it." I offered hers to her as I grabbed it off the table and handed it to her.

"Thanks." She mumbled before finishing the drink in a few big gulps. She then put down the cup and let out a breath of relief as the drink cooled her down.

It was then silent between us for a minute. I could see the look in her eyes, practically screaming 'PLEASE GET OUTTA MY ROOM'. I, of course, ignored her silent plea. I still needed to talk to her about what I had done.

I wasn't going to tell her about me being the Seventh System User. But I would tell her that… the people who had… I didn't want to think about it, I couldn't imagine what she would be feeling. But I would tell her straight up, the people who had done those disgusting things to her were now dead.

"I got some news." I said. I could practically feel her relief as I started to talk. If she was her normal self, she would have shouted at me till I left if it wasn't important. But now I guess her trauma of it wouldn't even let her speak up to me in fear of being punished. "It's really good news, I'm sure you'll like it." I said happily.

Freya nodded her head, pretending to be excited. While in reality she felt a panic attack could just happen any second now.

I decided to make it sound like a story, and I would let her figure it out slowly until the end where I would tell her about it.

"I found something out… it disturbed me, deeply. And at first I couldn't do anything." I said honestly. "Until I found someone. He was a very formal man, but also a weird one where I couldn't get a proper read on him." I said, describing Joe to the best of my abilities. I usually believed in myself that I had good reads on people. Clearly I was being proven wrong.

I didn't notice my sister suffering until a few days ago, and by then I knew a lot of damage had been done. But seeing something, I knew I would never understand.

While Joe was a killer. He was used to hiding things that would give himself away. So I think it's only natural I can't get a good read on him. Despite that, I still felt a bit down that I couldn't get a proper read.

While Freya on the other hand was trying to figure out what this had to do with her? Or maybe it didn't and Jayden was just telling another one of his king winded stories.

"This man, was struggling." I lied blatantly, but Freya wouldn't know. "He needed money. And I could give him that. He just needed to do something for me."

I paused for a second, thinking about the direction I wanted to go with this before speaking again. "And that thing I mentioned earlier, that disturbed me. Well, I paid that man to get rid of what was disturbing me."

Freya couldn't see how this had anything to do with her. And she didn't need Jayden here right now. Hugo would, unfortunately, be calling in soon. To… 'do a check up' as he called it. It was basically just him threading her with the death of everybody she loved, and him exposing her to the world.

Jayden snapped Freya out of her thoughts. "The thing that disturbed me… was happening to a girl, around your age." I said, as Freya wondered what he was on about, while her mind was already coming up with absurd theories that she dismissed immediately. As much as she wanted them to be true, she knew it probably wasn't.

"The people causing the problem for this girl… were four very disgusting excuses for human beings." I said distastefully. I could see Freya's eyes widen a bit before she controlled it. "That man I had mentioned before, I paid him to kill the people bothering that girl." I said outright, no more playing around.

Freya looked shocked, before her breath hitched and she asked a question, tears starting to build up in her eyes. "W-who was the g-girl?"

I looked her in the eyes. I didn't know how to look at her. I wanted to give her a reassuring look, but I felt guilt at not doing anything sooner, so I don't know what it came out like. "That girl was you." I said honestly.

Tears started pouring out of her eyes while she looked at me.

"I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner." I said, for some reason I felt myself beginning to cry.

Freya then jumped out of her seat and hugged me tightly. Her head tucked into my shoulder, tears staining my shirt. "Thank you. Thank you." She said, repeating it like a broken record.

But although I was happy that she was now happy, at least for now. But I felt I didn't deserve her thanks. I was her brother, someone that was supposed to always be there for her. And when she was in her crisis, I wasn't there. And although I got rid of the problem, it was only after the damage had been done.

"I'm sorry." I managed to mumble out. But she didn't hear me, still too busy in her crying mess and hugging me tightly.

I knew once she was calm and collected again. She would definitely chew me out, as from what I had told her I had practically hired a hit man.

But for now, I would just keep embracing her. Until she calmed down. I didn't really mind if she never stopped hugging me though. With her in my arms I knew nothing could hurt her, but I also knew I wouldn't be able to protect her forever. Despite how much I wanted to.

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This is definitely the shortest chapter I have ever uploaded for an original story. But I didn't know how to continue it from there, so I just left it.

A little hint for next week,

'Seventh is know,

But the Six still roam,

Reactions unknown,

But forces to be hold'

It's pretty shit now that I look at it, but f it.