Hello, everyone! This is a spin off of Big Brother, Little Sister: We Love Each Other.
Disclaimer: I do not own the 2018 remake of Benji.
WARNINGS: INCEST, CHILD ABUSE
"What time is it?" Syd wondered, reaching for his pocket.
Cold panic struck Carter, and his hand latched onto Frankie's.
"Where's my phone?" Syd demanded before yanking Carter towards him and withdrawing the phone from Carter's pocket. "You took my phone!"
"I'm sorry!" Carter squeaked.
Syd raised his hand to strike Carter.
"Leave him alone!" Frankie yelled before jumping onto Syd's back. He shrugged the small girl off, easily, and she was flung into a wall.
"Frankie!" Carter cried before Syd back handed him across the face so hard, Carter fell to the ground.
"Syd, stop!" Titus ordered, desperately.
In another world, Syd listened to his brother's cry and didn't continue the violence any further, but that's another universe, a universe where the children returned home completely unharmed. This universe isn't quite so pleasant.
Feet stomped on Carter's back; fists pummeled the tiny boy until it hurt to move, to breathe, to live. His head ached and everything was muffled after several blows to his skull; everything ached and throbbed and screamed with a burning agony as Syd beat him.
It hurt so much, and Carter just wanted it to stop…
During all of this, Titus was shouting for his younger brother to stop, to calm down, while Frankie desperately tried to protect Carter, resulting in her being repeatedly thrown backwards and grabbed by the arm before she could even get near Carter. Not to mention Titus was trying to hold her back; he'd seen his brother angry (believe me, Syd had lots of anger issues), but he'd never seen his brother so full of rage. It scared him, and just because the boy had to suffer didn't mean Titus would allow the girl to go through the same brutal punishment as her brother. She may have called him ugly, but she didn't deserve to get in the middle of this and wind up just like her brother.
By the end, Carter couldn't move. It hurt too much to even blink, so he kept his eyes closed, his head resting on the dirt as Syd bent down beside him and whispered in his ear:
"I hope this made you realize I'm not playing with you, boy. I only need one of you as my insurance policy. So unless you want this to happen again, I suggest you behave. Tell your sister, too, unless you want her in this position."
Syd stormed further down the tunnel to cool off while Titus backed away, releasing Frankie and allowing her to run over to Carter.
"Carter," she murmured, rolling her brother onto his back to assess the damage.
Carter looked like he'd been hit by a bus. Both of his eyes were swollen, and his nose was gushing blood; both of his cheeks were puffy with developing bruises, and his lip was split. There was a long cut stretching across his forehead from the watch Syd was wearing. Frankie was sure there were more injuries beneath his clothes, and as she shakily lifted his shirt, she was proven right when she spotted a plethora of bruises staining Carter's stomach. She wouldn't be surprised if she discovered Carter had broken bones.
Carter was either sleeping or unconscious, so Frankie held her brother tightly, whispering soothing words, hoping somewhere deep in his slumber, he could hear her.
"It's going to be okay, Carter," Little Sister whimpered, cradling Big Brother in her arms. "Somehow."
Syd leaped from the dock to the boat, barely escaping the detective, and he smirked as he landed on the deck before climbing the stairs to the place where the kids were being held captive.
The cop pulled his gun out of his jeans and pointed it at Syd.
"Don't move!" he shouted.
Syd, beginning to panic, reached into the small room where the captain was steering the boat and dragged an injured Carter in front of him.
"Carter!" the kids' mother yelled upon seeing her beaten son held between the criminal and the gun the detective was pointing at him.
Syd shoved Carter against the railing and screamed, "Back off, or I'll push him off."
Frankie felt rage consume her as she watched her brother get pushed against the railing, threatened with a two story drop to the deck below. She would not let that man harm her brother ever again. That was a promise.
Before the detective could decide what to do, Frankie appeared out of no where and tackled Syd from behind. Carter, seeing his sister's plan, dropped to the ground as soon as Syd lost his grip on Carter. The criminal toppled over the railing, but his hand was still latched onto Carter's sleeve, and Frankie was still latched onto Syd, so they were all sent tumbling over the railing.
Syd splashed into the water below, but Carter grabbed the railing with one hand and held Frankie with the other.
"Carter!" Frankie wailed as Carter yelped in pain as he clutched the railing with the hand that was connected to the arm with his dislocated shoulder. He wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.
"Frankie, I'm sorry. I can't hold on," he mumbled, feeling like he was letting his sister down if he let them fall. Syd had survived; the detective had pulled him ashore, but one, Frankie and Carter were much smaller than Syd and wouldn't be able to take such a hard fall. Two, Syd had had momentum on his side, and that momentum sent him flying through the air, so that he missed the deck and fell into the water. Frankie and Carter had a straight drop two stories onto the hard deck directly below them. There was no telling if they would survive a fall like that.
Little Sister took a shaky breath. "It'll be okay. Somehow."
Big Brother nodded, but fear continued to blossom in Big Brother's heart.
If they died, at least they'd be with Dad, right? And if they survived, they'd be with Mom. As long as they were together, it would all be okay. Their greatest fear in that moment was not dying; it was losing the other, whether because they died and the other survived or vice versa. In that moment, the risk of dying wasn't terrifying. It was the risk of losing each other that made Carter hang on, not for dear life, but to be with Frankie without the risk of losing her, either to death or to life.
But it was no use. Carter couldn't hang on any longer.
Carter and Frankie fell while their mother screamed their names in horror as her children plummeted two stories…
And were caught by Titus.
Titus, having climbed back on board at some point, felt sorry for everything Syd had put the children through and for everything Titus had let Syd put them through. The least he could do was save their lives. Both of their lives.
Frankie and Carter ran to meet their mother as the boat was pulled back up to the dock. Benji, who had become conscious at some point, joined them, and their mother hugged them with the unconditional love she'd been too prideful to show them since discovering their relationship.
In real life, happy endings are rare. I'm glad to say that at least Carter and Frankie found their happy ending.
This story looks at Titus in a better light because I think his character had potential in the movie and thought he deserved one story where he wasn't totally a bad guy.
Thanks for reading! Make sure to read the other two books in the series:
Big Brother, Little Sister: We Love Each Other
Big Brother, Little Sister: We Look Out For Each Other