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whumble-beeee · 1 year ago

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Whumptember 2023, Day 4

“Where Are They?”

Kidnapped | Left behind | Desperation

@whumptember

The Bee’s Whumptember Masterlist

CW: mentioned kidnapping, mentioned character death (they didn't die but the characters don't know that lol

~1560 words

(This is going to be a direct continuation of my story from Day 3: This Can’t Be It, now from Sibling’s point of view (I’m really proud of that story so go give it a read if you have time))

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Sibling ran, faster than they had ever run before, faster than they thought was possible, across rooftops, over alleyways, speeding above sidestreets and hurtling over any rooftop obstacle that got in their way; away from Whumper and their goons, away from their problems, away from the person who held them back as Whumper whispered sweet threats into Whumpee’s ears, dangled him over the side of the building, threatened his life. Away from Whumpee, who could still be halfway over the side of the building for all they knew, his panicked eyes searching for them and looking at them with fear, hope, love, trust that Sibling would get him out of this situation. That Sibling wouldn’t let Whumper kill him over some stupid unpaid debt. But they didn’t. They ran.

Now Whumpee could just be a splatter on the pavement.

The rush of air against their skin had never felt more nauseating, their lungs screaming out in pain more and more as if the organs themselves were protesting Sibling's cowardice, demanding they go back and make things right.

They were finally in another gang’s territory now, and their tail had stopped chasing. Whether it was because Sibling managed to lose them or they just didn’t want to get caught chasing someone on Electric Underground turf, they didn’t care. It’s not like they would stop running until they got to the safehouse anyway.

The quickly punched in the code to the rusty old keypad and slammed open the door, paying no mind to the various panicked and suspicious looks they received as they frantically made their way through the room, searching. The panic and adrenaline rising in their chest made them feel like they were about to explode.

“HAS ANYONE SEEN CARETAKER?!” Sibling cried out, which only earned them some very annoyed and disgusted looks from some very annoyed gang members. Then a loud crash could be heard from the kitchenette across the room, and a small yelp. Then, a thankfully uninjured caretaker emerged, rubbing at a fresh bruise on their arm.

“Sibling? What the fuck man, you can’t just run into a gang hangout and start screaming–”

“They took Whumpee!”

Caretaker froze in their tracks. They looked around the room, then back at Sibling, confused. “What? Who's they? W-what happened, where's Whumpee?”

“The Ravens, they took Whumpee, they might have– might have killed him, I don't know, I don’t know where they are now, I didn’t–”

“Woah woah, wait, shut the hell up.” Caretaker raced over to Sibling, literally slapping their hand over Sibling's mouth. “Let’s maybe talk about this somewhere more private?” Caretaker gestured to the few other people in the room, and lo and behold, they were all either fully staring at them, or at least badly pretending they weren’t, unconvincingly reading or book or half playing a video game level that had barely been restarted. They all knew about the Emerald Ravens. Everybody did. Their wide eyes and sympathetically horrified expressions showcased that well enough.

“Ah yeah, right…” Sibling agreed. They let Caretaker guide them to what amounted to a janitor's closet, the walls lined with cleaning supplies and rags, and other stores that looked like they could be used for more… nefarious purposes. The literal axe in the corner proved particularly intriguing to Sibling.

"Okay, start over." Caretaker said when all fell quiet again. "What happened to Whumpee?"

"I- uh…" Sibling's stomach started doing flip-flops at the prospect of telling Caretaker everything. But they had to. For Whumpee. "Okay… so me an' Whumpee, we were on the rooftops, and I was showin' off a little for him, teachin' him how to jump across the large gaps, you know how I do all the parkour stuff…"

Caretaker gazed at Sibling, unimpressed. "Yeah…?"

"So uh, we were doin' that, and then outta nowhere, these four fuckin' Ravens just showed up behind us like fuckin' magic, cornered us, and they started messing with Whumpee, threatening him with knives an’ shit, trying to get to me and eventually they just up and dangled him over the edge of the damn building–"

"Wait wait, Sibling, slow down. What?" Caretaker exclaimed. "What do you mean you got jumped by the Ravens? They don't just jump people… They dangled Whumpee off a building? What did you do?"

Whumpee closed their eyes and took a deep breath through gritted teeth. This was what they'd been dreading. "I owe them some money. The Ravens. A lot of money." Sibling spat out quickly. "I assume they saw me with my kid brother and thought it'd be a good time to scare me straight and collect, show me they weren’t playin' around. Using him."

Caretaker stared, horrified. "So they killed a 19-year-old kid because his sibling couldn't pay up? How deep in are you?!"

Sibling could feel the pinpricks of tears on the edges of his eyes. "...I dunno–"

"What do you mean you don't know, you were THERE!" Caretaker yelled.

"I know why they were there, Caretaker! I just don't know–" their voice broke as they thought of the last time their amazing, trusting brother had gazed into their eyes, right after he'd completed that first jump. He was so proud. Sibling's breath hitched. "I dun-dunno… what happened to Whumpee…"

Caretaker had to pause to regroup all their thoughts. "You don't know–… but weren't you–"

"I ran a-away, okay? I ran away! They were dangling him o-over the edge an' he was screamin' and cryin' and begging me to save him, and I was yellin' at Whumper that I'd get them the money, but only if they put him down and, and… and leave my little brother out of this, he’s got nothin’ to do with them. They said they wanted the money now, so I couldn't save him and they were gearin’ do something to me too so I just… I ran. So fast. Didn't look back, I dunno what happened afterward, I didn't see…"

Sibling felt salty tears streaming down their face. They just wanted to crawl up into a ball and die.

"Wow…” Caretaker, for about the hundredth time in the past five minutes, stared at Sibling absolutely dumbfounded. “You're a real piece of shit, Sibling."

Sibling laughed despite themself, and half-strangled cry that barely choked out among the quiet sobs. They were so tired. So tired. Not just their joints and muscles, which hadn't stopped screaming out since Sibling finished their mad dash here. Their thoughts, their very mind just felt like it was shutting down.

"I know. Huge piece of shit. I didn't deserve him…" Sibling wiped the snot away from their nose with a snort. "I dunno if he's even alive, Caretaker. They coulda just… let him go, and…" Sibling half-heartedly pantomimed a falling body with their hand, falling down, down, down before splatting out on the closest shelf.

"They also could have kept him alive…" Caretaker pointed out. "Use him to make sure you pay out, to show they're serious. That'd be the smart thing to do."

Caretaker didn't voice possibility that even if the Sibling did somehow manage to pay out, Whumper could still easily kill both Sibling and Whumpee. And probably would. But Sibling looked downtrodden enough without the notion this could all end with them both being tortured and killed.

"So… my little brother is either abstract sidewalk art… or being held ransom by one of the most uppity gangs in the city…" They buried their face in their hands with a loud groan. "God, I'm such a huge piece of SHIT!"

Caretaker stayed silent, deep in thought, allowing Sibling to cry themself out while they tried to figure out what the hell to do to save Whumpee.”So… what’re you gonna do about it then, Sibling?”

Sibling glanced up from their hands. “Whaddaya mean?”

“What. Are you. Gonna do?” Caretaker spelled slower as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“They killed him, you get revenge, and if not, you need to get him the fuck out of there. Either way, you can't sit around in an Electric Underground storage closet whining and crying. You gotta do something! Avenge your damn brother, because whatever's happening to him is your fault. So what’re you gonna do?” Caretaker got increasingly aggressive as their speech went on, gesticulating around with their hands until they were literally jabbing Sibling in the chest with their finger.

Sibling stared at Caretaker desperately. They grabbed Caretaker's hands with both of theirs, both to stop the assault and as a plea for help. “I– I–... I’m gonna ask you for help…”

“Uh-huh, and I’m agreeing. I always got your back. What next?”

“Then we maybe get some reinforcements…” Sibling looked to Caretaker for approval. Caretaker rolled their eyes and nodded, motioning for them to continue. “And figure out what happened to Whumpee. If he’s dead, or-or kidnapped…”

"There ya go," Caretaker praised with an almost painful exaggerated back pat. “You got there eventually. Though, you forgot the part where you’re certainly gonna have to find money to pay them back, though… but baby steps. So, where to? Where are they?”

Sibling hissed inward with a grimace. “If Whumpee’s still alive, which he fuckin’ better be…” Sibling looked to Caretaker sheepishly. “...they’d’ve brought him to the Emerald Raven headquarters.”

Caretaker clenched his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose with a groan. Of course that's where they'd take Whumpee. They really were doing this weren't they?

“God, you’re really such a piece of shit… C'mon, then. Let’s go save your brother.”

#whumptember2023 #whumptember day 4 #day four: where are they #day four: left behind #day four: kidnapped #day four: desperation #whump #kidnapping #kidnapping whump #caretaker #not too much editting bc i didnt have enough time to write this as is #so sorry if it's a bit dense to read lol #I usually fix that a bit more in editing #rescue

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