Better Together Part 3

Trauma Talk

They walked outside and sat down on a rock where they sat down and looked up at the bright sun. Both of them looked at each other and tried to not cry in front of their sister who comforted them by hugging them. "So... you don't have to tell me everything... but just tell me so I understand." CC asked from them. Braden lifted his head and looked at her painfully. "When I was captured for the first time, they locked me in a cell, just like the other rebellious Wildcats who refused to fight you and other Academies. In the cage, we would get treated like animals. Some days we didn't get to eat. Some nights we couldn't sleep. We were just stuck in there almost all day long. Some of the Wildcats became... antsy inside... we all knew we had instincts and drives... never did we think it would get out of hand." Braden began.

Perrin then lifted his head and looked at her. "Sometimes... there were fights inside, no one tried to stop them except for the other Wildcats inside the cage with us. It was almost like an actual Alcatraz just without intense guards or sharks. Every now and again we'd get into fights with other Wildcats that would hurt our family. But the Wildcat prisoners were better with the guards most of the time..." Perrin explained, his lip starting to tremble. Never, in her entire life, had CC ever seen either of them like this. "The Lead Wildcats... the ones that overthrew the Leaders sometimes... sometimes they'd take prisoners out and..." Perrin went on, suddenly burst into a cry. He fell into Braden's embrace as the tears flowed out like waterfalls. CC looked to her other brother that looked at her, his eyes filled with regret. "He'd do it for me..." Braden replied and lifted his sleeve. He had huge claw marks across his arm that were deep and still looked fresh. "Oh my gosh... who did that?" she asked horrifiedly.

"We're not sure entirely. I always fought the Wildcats inside the cage with us to protect our pack. He'd be the one to leave the cage. We would have the choice to go or not. I tried to go for him but he didn't let me... many packmates walked out that door... and I was scared to know if they'd ever come back." Braden replied. "But... but what did they do?" CC asked, almost too scared to find out. "I... they... h-hurt me... a lot. I-I don't want to talk about it." Perrin stuttered as he wiped his tears. CC didn't want to have to snoop but she had to know if she knew what to look out for in battle. She got up in both of their faces and looked them right in the eyes, her concentration was very visible. "Uh, sis, what are you doing?" Perrin asked.

She focused on them and they saw her eyes turn white and they freaked out for a minute. They watched as she freaked out and jumped away from them twice in a row. In the middle of everything, they didn't know what to do when she cried and yelled at them. She reached out for something but of course there was nothing in front of her. Then suddenly she fell back and shook her head. "Are you ok?" Braden asked helping her up. They watched her and she pushed them back a little bit. "I will end them. You didn't deserve this." she growled. They looked closer and saw her eyes started turning black and gray. "Sis... are you ok?" Braden asked, putting his hand in her face. Perrin looked and saw her hair turn darker and darker. "Sis calm down! We're ok! You've worked too hard to get past that awful part of you!" Perrin snapped and hugged her. After a second or two, CC relaxed and her eyes went back to a soft brown, and hair returned to her natural darkish brown.

Both hugged her tight to make sure she didn't return to her dark side. "We'll be ok. Just don't go there!" Perrin reassured and shook her gently. "You can't prove those awful Wildcats right," Braden added. "I'm sorry. I know you guys are strong but... what I saw... I can't deal with it because you're my family. No one is taking you away from my flank again. My dark side is not easy to control... you guys of all my friends should know that." CC replied nudging them. "We're not helpless. We're going back to save them. I know it's gonna give us awful memories but it'll be worth it when we get everyone out of there." Braden added before they got up to walk back to the resting places. "Well... get some sleep. You'll need it for the road ahead." CC told them. "Agreed. Thanks again, we're not sure what we'd do without you." Braden replied and the two hugged their sister.

Once they felt better she escorted them back to the main Academy where they went inside the boy's room to sleep. CC decided to rest for a little bit too but she couldn't. Ever since she was young, she had figured out how to look into someone's past. She never told anyone about her powers, even her own family didn't know. What she had seen, she didn't like it at all. They had done unspoken things to her best friends and her brothers that she almost felt her dark side coming back to haunt her. No! I can't prove my enemies right by turning to the darkness. I already know how that would end. She told herself and settled into the mattress. With everything going on, it started to make CC's head hurt so she finally closed her eyes and fell asleep.