Sibling spotlight - billie and Finneas story

Desperation

Chapter: Desperation

At Home...

The knock on the door was sharp and loud, cutting through the tense silence of the house. Billie jumped slightly, her nerves already on edge, while Finneas stood frozen, his gaze locked on the door. Their parents moved quickly, opening it to reveal two police officers, their expressions serious.

“Mr. and Mrs. O’Connell,” one of the officers greeted, stepping inside with a clipboard. “We’re here to discuss the situation regarding your daughter, Y/N.”

Billie’s heart pounded in her chest as she and Finneas moved toward the officers. Their parents ushered everyone into the living room, the weight of the moment pressing down on them all.

“Thank you for coming,” their father said, his voice strained. “We’re desperate for any news. We’re doing everything we can, but—”

The officer held up a hand, signaling for him to stop. “We understand how difficult this must be. We’ve already started gathering information and have put together a search team. We just need a bit more from you all.”

The officers sat down, flipping through their notes. “Can you walk us through the last time you saw Y/N? Anything she said or did that seemed out of the ordinary?”

Finneas spoke first, his voice tight. “She was quiet last night, but she’s been… off for a while. We thought she was getting better, though. She played some music with us yesterday, and we thought she was starting to feel more like herself.”

Billie nodded in agreement, her throat dry. “She went to bed early. We didn’t hear anything after that. We only realized she was gone when we woke up this morning.”

The officer jotted down notes, his expression unreadable. “And there’s been no contact from her since? No texts, no calls?”

“No,” Billie said softly. “Nothing.”

The other officer leaned forward slightly. “I know this is hard, but is there any reason Y/N would want to leave? Has she expressed feeling overwhelmed by the attention or pressure?”

The question hit Billie and Finneas like a punch to the gut. They exchanged a glance, knowing the answer but not wanting to say it out loud.

“She’s been struggling,” Finneas admitted. “With fame, the pressure… the comments. It’s been hard on her, but we didn’t think she’d just run off. She wouldn’t do that.”

Billie nodded, her voice barely a whisper. “She’s been hurt by it all, but she’d never leave without saying something. She wouldn’t do that to us.”

The officers exchanged a glance before the first one spoke again. “We’re going to continue looking, and we’ll do everything we can to bring her home. I recommend keeping this quiet for now, avoiding any media attention until we know more. We’ll need your cooperation with that.”

Finneas clenched his jaw, nodding. He hated the thought of staying silent, but he understood. Making this public too soon could complicate things in ways they couldn’t afford.

Billie’s eyes were fixed on the officer, desperate for any glimmer of hope. “Do you think she’s okay?” she asked quietly.

The officer didn’t answer immediately. “We don’t know yet. But we’re going to find out.”

---

Meanwhile, with Y/N...

The darkness in the warehouse seemed to grow colder by the minute. Y/N’s body was heavy with exhaustion and pain, each breath sending a dull ache through her chest. She had curled herself up in a ball on the cold, hard floor, trying to stay as still as possible, hoping that if she didn’t move, maybe the man would leave her alone.

But he hadn’t. His erratic pacing filled the room with tension, and every now and then, he’d throw something—small, but enough to make her flinch. The fear of his anger consumed her, twisting her stomach into knots.

The bruises on her side and face throbbed, but it wasn’t just the physical pain that was breaking her down. It was the words—the cruel, hateful things he had said that felt like they were echoing in her mind.

"You think you’re special? Just another kid hiding behind your famous siblings. You don’t deserve any of this."

The words hit harder than the physical blows. They weren’t new—she had seen comments like that before. But hearing them spoken out loud, by someone who hated her enough to do this to her—it was soul-crushing.

Y/N bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes. She didn’t want to cry, didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her break, but it was getting harder to hold it in. The fear, the pain, the overwhelming sense of isolation—it all threatened to swallow her whole.

“Why are you doing this?” she whispered, her voice shaking as she finally mustered the courage to speak.

The man stopped pacing, turning toward her. His eyes were wild, full of anger. “Why? Because people like you are ruining everything,” he snapped. “You get everything handed to you, while the rest of us are forgotten. You’re part of the problem.”

Y/N swallowed hard, her heart racing. “I didn’t ask for any of this. I just want to make music with my family.”

The man let out a bitter laugh. “Music? You think that’s all it is? You’re part of a machine—a machine that’s destroying people like me.”

Tears slipped down Y/N’s face as she struggled to comprehend his words. She had never thought of herself as part of anything destructive. She just wanted to be with her siblings, to make music that mattered.

The man stepped closer, and Y/N’s body tensed instinctively. “You’re not going anywhere until people like you are exposed for what you really are.”

---

Back at Home...

As the police continued their investigation, Billie and Finneas sat in the living room, their minds racing with worry. The weight of everything was unbearable, the fear that they might not find Y/N gnawing at their hearts.

“I can’t stand this,” Billie muttered, her hands shaking slightly. “We have to do something. We can’t just sit here waiting for a phone call.”

“I know,” Finneas replied, his voice low. “But what can we do? We don’t even know where to start looking.”

Billie shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes. “I just want her to be okay.”

Finneas reached over, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find her, Billie. We have to believe that.”

But as the hours dragged on, hope became harder to hold on to.