“Yes, but feel free to call me Lance,” the man said, his tone warm. “Seri, first I’d like to start off by saying that these sessions can be whatever you want them to be. We can talk about how things are going now. We can talk about the past. We can talk about the future. Whatever you feel comfortable with, and whatever you think will benefit you the most as we maneuver through the process of trying to resolve your fears and current response to the trauma you experienced.
“Though, my suggestion would be to use these first few sessions to get to know each other, and build some level of trust, before we try to delve deeper. That usually is the best course of action for most.
“To note, if you at any time decide you are not comfortable with me, or that perhaps I am not the right fit, please tell me. I won’t take any offense. While I was the first option, there are other options that can be explored.”
Seri took another deep breath. “Well…I…guess…we can… Um… Who are you? No…that’s not what…” He let out a groan.
The doctor chuckled. “Take all the time you need to gather your thoughts. I understand this can feel awkward at first.”
“Can you…tell me about yourself?” he managed to ask without sounding like a complete idiot this time.
“I can. What would you like to know?”
“Married?”
“I am.”
“Do you…have kids?”
“I have a young daughter. She is twelve.”
“Do you…” Seri frowned. “Get scared when she isn’t close by?”
“There are times that I do. But…it’s only natural for a parent to worry about their child when they are out of sight.”
“I worry…too.” He curled up more, burrowing his face into his knees. “Sometimes…it scares me so much that I can’t breathe…”
At the first cry,Severo took a deep breath and walked past his room towards Seri’s door. Without hesitating, he opened it and walked in. His heart thumped loudly as he took in Seri on the bed. The Nymph was twisted up in the maroon covers. Face stained with tears, the man was clearly fighting off his attacker in his sleep.
Taking another deep breath, he walked to the bed and sat on the edge. “Seri,” he called out.
When calling his name didn’t wake him, Severo slowly reached out and touched his shoulder.
The Nymph’s eyes snapped open wide, a cry of fear slipping out as he jerked away from his touch. Trembling, the man stared, eyes still cloudy with sleep, tears continuing to fall. As the glazed look slipped away, Seri’s face crumpled on a sob.
“I-I forgot… I f-forgot how bad it was…”
Holding back his own tears, Severo opened his arms.
The Nymph threw himself at him, sobbing so hard that his body shook with the force of it. Severo just wrapped his arms around the man and held him tight, doing his best to protect him in the only way he could at the moment—by just being there. “I have you, Seri. I’ve got you. You are safe.”
Seri sobbed harder.
Severo stopped holding back his tears and just let them fall as his heart clenched painfully. He felt too much. It hurt. And the fact it hurt this much told him he was in too deep. The man in his arms was more than just a duty or a job, his actions were now more than the guilt Ender had accused him of, more than the friendship he had claimed to want. Severo didn’t want to let Seri go—now or ever.
Please,he begged whatever God or Goddess who may be listening—to the void his kind believed all originated from…Please…help me show this man that he is more than worth all the care and emotions that I feel… Beyond everything else…don’t let me fail him.
“Now, Detective Liane, you know I know who you are working for. We aren’t even asking for you to name him.” Coming up behind Liane, Cyrus rested his hands on his shoulders and leaned down. “We just want to know who else is involved. And what happened to Sheriff Tormd. He’s missing, you know?”
Dead, actually. Cyrus could see it. The thread…black and frayed—cut. But Liane didn’t need to know he knew this. And it wasn’t as if he could write it down in a report.
The human jerked from his hold, and snapped, “I don’t know anything.”
Cyrus tsked. “This is your one shot to try to barter for leniency. The charges you are facing are no joke. The minor things we can overlook. The falsifying of records and such, are no big deal. Covering up a murder—oh sorry, multiple murders—however, is not something we can ignore.
“Not to mention, aiding and abetting in the abduction and continued abuse of a Cryptid individual, using your position to falsely frame that same individual… The list goes on, and doesn’t get any better. Quite a few US Class A and Universal felonies there, Liane. If you want to have even a chance of leaving prison before you die, you need to speak now.”
“If I talk, I die. So, I’ll stay quiet, thank you,” the former detective sneered.
