I know that I have many wrong details in this chapter, but I did not know how else to write it.
Chapter 1
Salme didn't know what happened. All she knew was that he hurt her, and her body burned. She saw lights, and slowly and painfully crawled to it.
She collapsed on the ground, crying. A man walked up, taking her condition in surprise.
He picked her up, taking her to a building where people flurried around her, speaking in fast English.
She was passed to another person, who took her to a private room.
When Salme looked, she saw a woman now, who laid her down on a bed and put on some rubber gloves.
"I'm not going to hurt you." She said calmly in English, giving a pained smile.
Salme didn't care. She just sat there and cried. There was only one person she wanted right now. Only one person who could comfort her: her brother.
"All I'm going to do is a check-up, okay? I won't hurt you."
Salme ignored her. She didn't care. She was lost in thought, trying to figure out what happened. This was America. Her contact information was in Finnish. And she didn't know where her family was. They went out last night. As they were leaving, she left her wallet inside. She went back in. He grabbed her.
"I'm done now." The strange woman said in English. "Just stay here. We'll help you."
As the woman left, and the door was closing, Salme heard a familiar voice, speaking in English, but an accent clearly noticeable. The person spoke carefully. "Hello sir." It said. "Have you seen a girl here? Blonde hair, purple eyes, and short."
The door was shut, so the voice wouldn't be as loud, and it didn't help that her throat felt raw, and sore, but she tried. "Clara!" She called, breaking down into hoarse, painful coughing, tears streaming down her face even more.
There was a loud crash, and the door was thrown open, slamming against the wall it was hinged to, the female Dane standing there in the doorway. "Salme!" she called relieved.
Feeling invigorated, Salme got off the table, running into her almost-sister's arms. Once embraced, she let herself go limp. Fresh tears fell, this time in happiness.
"Mam, you can't do that." A man said, walking in.
"But I did. And I found my sister. Besides, I don't think you could read her ID."
Clara picked Salme up, the latter still not letting go of her almost-sister's neck. They walked down the hall, to the front, where Clara set her down in a chair, and pulled out her phone. Salme pulled her legs up, hugging them close to her, still crying, and watching the Dane. Clara pressed a few numbers and set up a conference call. She then looked to the man at the desk. "May I please put it on speaker? Knowing our family, they would want to talk to her."
The man looked around, and with no one else in the station, he gave her a nod of approval. With that, almost all lines simultaneously clicked on.
"Any luck?" Emil asked, keeping what they were saying a secret by speaking in Icelandic.
"Yeah. She's right here with me." Clara responded in Danish.
"Where?" Tino asked, getting frantic, wanting to find his sister faster.
"Velli!" was all Salme said, glad to hear her brother's voice.
The rest of the conversation was Clara giving the address.
Not too long after, Berwald came in, looking around, eyes stopping on the other Nordics. He sat down, too, looking Salme over, taking notes of every scratch, cut, scrape, bruise or scar that had been inflicted on her frame.
Then Linnea walked in, who crouched in front of Salme, also looking her over.
Emil and Camilla followed, standing off to the side.
Tino, ran in, out of breath, bursting through the door.
Salme looked up, before jumping over Linnea and to her brother. Again, she started crying.
As they stood there in the doorway, the last three came up, not interrupting the scene.
Tino looked around, moving them to the side.
The woman from earlier appeared, looking at the brother and sister.
"I take it you are her guardian?" she asked, keeping her voice soft to preserve the moment. She looked from Tino to the others around them.
"Yes. We are all her relatives." Tino spoke, and the woman turned to the rest of the group, shuddering slightly under six intense, non-emotional gazes.
"All right. Then please come with me. There is something that I need to tell you about this situation, and I rather not say it out here."
Salme turned around, still holding Tino's hand as the large group followed. They filled into a room near the back, and the woman sat on the other side of the table.
As he came in, Lukas closed the door, keeping things private.
The woman sighed, introducing herself as "Dr. Sanchez" before continuing. "There is absolutely no way to say this lightly. But your, sister, correct?" When some nodded, she continued. "She was brought in by a man who said he found her outside in an ally, and he immediately brought her here. I did a check up on her, and I do apologize if it was against any of your beliefs, but I did find something you might have an interest in. Your sister, she was, she was raped."
Salme's grip on her brother's hand tightened as those words sunk in. All she remembered was a figure, nothing more.
Linnea, who was standing next to the wall, hit it before walking out.
"Salme," Camilla said, kneeling beside the younger girl. "Do you remember anything about what happened?" she finished in Norwegian.
"H-he was tall, l-like Berwald, or Ludwig, or Abel. B-but he was slender, Like Yao, or Kiku, but it was solid muscle. He had slightly longer hair, like M-Matthew, or Toris, or Feliks, or Francis, but it was dark like Lovino's. A-and it was pulled back." Salme stuttered in Finnish. As she finished, she started crying again. But she kept talking. "W-when I went b-back to get my w-wallet, he grabbed me. I t-tried to fight him, but before I could do anything, h-he knocked me out."
Tino, who had taken the chair to her right, pulled her closer.
Kristian translated what Salme said, and Camilla stepped out to see what was wrong with Linnea.
When told the story, Dr. Sanchez nodded, writing it down. "If you want you can go. But we will watch you all to make sure you stay safe."
They left the room, heading to the twelve person van they rented, Mathias getting into the front driver's seat. Linnea was already sitting in the very back, and Camilla was in the passenger.
When Salme climbed in, Linnea looked away from her, and the Finnish girl sat beside her.
As they were heading off, Salme started talking to her. "Linnea, is everything okay? You're not normally like this."
"I'm fine." She said simply. Right now, we just need to make sure your better, and find the jerk that did this to you." To make her point, she ran a finger down a relatively fresh scratch on her neck.
From there, they really didn't say anything to Salme, except Tino.
It took about two weeks, but they were able to catch the man, and he was surprised that Salme was there to aid the prosecution. They were surprised to find that the man was a serial rapist and murderer, killing those he had forced to sleep with him. That made Salme even more valuable. After her testimony, was found guilty on all accounts (eight accounts of rape, and seven of murder.)
For a week or two afterwards, they watched her to make sure she would be fine. No sooner had they quit, Salme started getting sick.
Almost every day, she woke up nauseated and exhausted, and after several weeks, she still refused to see the doctor, out of embarrassment.
Only after several weeks of on and off sickness and pressure from her entire family, did she agree to go.
Tino drove her, their large van seeming even bigger without everyone else.
"Velli, I don't know why, but I'm nervous."
He looked over to her for a quick second. Since that happened to her, most of the scratches, cuts, and scrapes had healed, and when the man was locked away, her joy was returned in her violet eyes. He didn't want anything to take it away again.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure everything will be all right."
For the rest of the ride, they were quiet, before they pulled into the doctor's office.
Salme felt nervous, wondering what was wrong with her, and feeling a small spring of anger and hate well up for the man, knowing that he had something to do with the way she was feeling.
She leaned on her brother's shoulder, and stiffened when her name was called.
She followed the doctor back, who asked her the generic questions, and performed tests based on her answers. At one point, she clicked on a machine that Salme didn't notice before, and told her to lie on her back and pull her shirt up so she could check her stomach.
She jumped a little as the cold gel touched her skin, and a black and white picture appeared blurry on the screen. The doctor moved the wand a little before stopping, smile growing.
"I honestly wasn't expecting this, but if you look here, you will see a little peanut of a baby. Congratulations, momma, you're pregnant."
Salme just starred, letting those words sink in.
The doctor wiped her stomach clean, and she sat up, unconsciously taking the photos that was handed to her.
"Do you want me to go get your husband for you?"
"H-he's not my husband. He's my brother." She said automatically.
She nodded, leaving Salme in the room alone, tears welling up.
When Tino stepped in, he was concerned, and when she looked up, he got even more worried. "Sisko, what's wrong?"
Rather than saying anything, she handed him the pictures.
He looked at them before looking back at her. "Salme, are you sure?" She knew he was worried when he used her real name, like when she was worried and called him "Tino."
"I-I guess. I don't know."
The doctor entered again, talking about some programs, noticing the distraught look.
"And, if you don't want to keep the baby, then I could help you make an appointment at a nearby abortion clinic."
Salme swallowed. She had a choice to keep or kill this little baby. Both Tino and the doctor waited for her choice.
She looked at the pictures again. The baby was so small, he or she was just a little curl. Tears welled in her eyes, but she knew her answer.
"I don't want an abortion."
The doctor nodded, smiling even wider. "Well, in that case, you are free to go. And please make an appointment for next month. That way, we can keep track of the development."
Salme jumped off the table, exiting out the door the doctor held for her and her brother. She went to the counter to pay for her visit. Tino went out and started up the van. As soon as she got in, he drove away.
They both stayed silent, the athmosphere a little awkward. Salme broke the quiet.
"Velli, do you think I did the right thing?" she asked, getting scared.
"Honestly, I don't know. But, it's your decision, and we'll be there if you need anything. We've been through a lot already, and this will just be another."
"How am I going to tell the others?" she asked, scared of her family's reaction, starting to shake violently.
"First, you don't need to worry yourself like that. We have known rulers who have had children, so you should know not to work yourself up like that. Second, to answer your question, I don't know that either. I'm sure you'll just tell them. It might be strange, but we're all family, and I'm sure they will understand. Even if we're fighting with each other, we all care about each other, so don't worry."
They were once again quiet as they pulled up to the large house.
Salme stuffed the photos into her purse, before walking with Tino inside.
Clara went up to her first, smiling. "Did they figure it out?" When she didn't smile back, she got serious. "What's wrong?"
"Well, they did figure it out. Here. Look at these." She pulled the pictures out of her bag, and shoved them into the Dane's hands before going to sit on the couch and pulling her feet up, hugging her legs and peeking over, tears about to fall, and face going red.
Confused, Clara looked at her before the pictures, her smile once again returning as she passed them to the next person, who happened to be Linnea. Linnea, on the other hand, quickly sat them on the table before leaving to her room. Kristian picked them up, showing the others as Clara and Tino sat next to Salme on the couch.
"Don't worry," Clara whispered. "I'll try and be the best aunt ever."
Salme smiled, and Mathias flopped down next to her. "And I'll try for that 'number one uncle' spot, but I bet Tino will be hard to beat."
That caused the four of them to smile, and Salme was glad that her brother was correct. Despite all of the crazieness they've been through, they will all pull together when someone needed support.
The rest of the day, everything was normal, except Linnea never came out of her room. After several hours, Camilla went up to talk to her. Salme started to get scared again. Did she accidentally do something to Linnea by getting those pictures? Did Linnea hate her now? She swallowed the lump in her throat worriedly. Linnea was the one who brought her (albeit, against her will at the time), to meet the other Nordics. Out of all the girls, Linnea was the closest one to her older sister.
When it was about eight, she headed to her room, which was near the back of the house on the ground floor. As she went to shut off the lamp by her bed, she noticed a figure standing in the almost closed doorway, starring at her. Salme set on the bed, watching Linnea, too.
"Do you need something?" she asked, slightly put off by the way her older sister was acting.
"I wanted to talk to you."
Salme bounced a little, glad that they would talk, and watched as Linnea sat on her bed.
"I'm sorry for earlier." Linnea said, not looking at Salme. "It's just, when I found you and brought you back, I made a promise to myself to do everything I could to keep you safe. I saw how kind and sweet you are, and I didn't want that destroyed, or taken from you. But then, all that happened, and now you're pregnant with that creep's child."
Salme felt tears in her eyes. She never knew that Linnea felt that way about her. She leaned up, giving her sister a hug. The other jumped at the sudden contact, but didn't fight it.
"I know the baby wasn't conceived in a good way, and if I had my choice, I wouldn't be pregnant. I was given the option to abort it, but, I just feel that it's murder. I don't have the heart to do that to something that couldn't fight back."
Linnea looked at Salme, cupping her cheek in her hand, almost smiling. "That is what I wanted to protect. But I guess I'm glad that it's not gone."
Salme leaned back again. "That is why you would be the best aunt, despite all of Clara's attempts. Especially if you treat this baby the same way you treat me."
When Linnea stood up after several seconds of silence, Salme tucked herself further into the covers, and they told each other good night.
At the end of the week, Tino asked her a question she almost forgot about.
"So, are you going to the meeting or not?"
"I forgot about it. But I do want to go. I missed the last one since I was sick."
"You couldn't help that." Tino pointed out. "Are you going to tell everyone or not?"
"Honestly, I don't know, Velli. Should I? Maybe I should just tell a few. Like Aire, and Daniel, and let it go from there."
Tino nodded. "However you want to do it."
