But could be Understood

You found the first camera easy enough… once you'd piled up some furniture to stand on. It was hidden behind the decorative wooden trim at the top of the wardrobe, and aimed directly at the bed you shared with your step-sister. You had waited until she was in the bathroom to follow up on Nancy’s hints, just in case the older girl was messing with you. Yet, there it was… hidden cables leading off from it into the badly-plastered wall. Once Jenny had finished, you rushed in after her to confirm the worst and… yes. There, hidden in the little plastic soap-thing beneath the rim, was another tiny lens. This one presumably waterproof and a whole lot more invasive. You called out to your ‘twin’ to show her both of them, then immediately began scouring the walls and shelves for where any others might be.

Yawningly, Jenny confirmed what you were saying. Lazily clambering up where you instructed to trace the wires and moving her head to catch the glint in the toilet bowl. “Oh yeah, would you look at that…” She commented, with all the vaguely interested tones of a girl who had just been shown a particularly interesting beetle in the front yard. There was certainly none of the rage and disgust you had been hoping for when providing evidence of this gross invasion of your combined privacy. “D’ya think he’s watching right now, the dirty, old perv? Or does he record it all for later? Maybe he puts it straight up on the internet? That’d be pretty weird to think about…”

You’d just found another buried amongst the battered old DvD player and satellite boxes attached to the TV. Aimed directly at where you had lain with your head in another man’s lap, slurping away. The idea of that being posted on some forum somewhere, for all the world to see… nearly paralysed you with fear and shame.

“It doesn’t matter! He must have watched some of them by now! He’s seen us changing! He’s seen me!” You tried to arrange some order into the way your worst fears were unravelling. To the ways that old man had taken liberties over you. Yet, still Jenny acted like none of this was any big deal. That blasé nonchalance she exhibited even in the face of situations like this, infuriating you as only those one truly loves can.

She caught hold of you in the bedroom again, stopping the circling sprint of a headless chicken as you scratched in every corner for more invisible lenses. “So? Think about it… You’re right: he must have seen your little pinky by now… and he hasn’t done or said anything about it! He still seemed perfectly happy for you to suck him off with me this morning. I guess that proves he’s alright with it! It’s a good thing! You don’t have to worry so much about him catching a glimpse up your skirt any more…”

The grip of her arms did steady you a little, as it always had. Though her complete failure to get upset over being spied upon even in your most private moments still baffled and broke you. She was who you relied upon to burst into fits of defensive passion when the two of you were under attack. She who had bloodied noses and screamed in adult’s faces when anyone had stepped out of line to bully or threaten you. But, here was a situation you felt was more obviously wrong than any of that… and she just didn’t seem to care.

“How did you know where to look for them, anyway?” She asked, looking up at the wardrobe-top glint of that beady, electronic eye.

“N-nancy told me…” You replied. Not wanting to go into any more details of that encounter.

“That makes sense… She must’ve found ‘em before she left…” Your step-sibling stated, looking thoughtful at these connotations. More questions began to bubble to the surface of you as well, through all the shame and panic. How and why had she known where they would be hidden?

“She used to live here… right?” You asked, looking up at Jenny for answers.

“Yeah… Rod told me. She an’ Skeg used to go at it like rabbits. That’s why he had to leave his wife… She caught them screwing each other’s brains out not long after Nancy’s 18th birthday; threw ‘em both out on the street. They lived here together for a few years… as a proper couple, not just step-father and step-daughter. But, something went wrong… and they broke up. ‘Things got too kinky’ was all Rod’d say... Even step-cest doesn’t last forever, I guess…”

Your twin looked down at you with a consoling smile, but her words cut straight to your heart. You’d never even thought of that as a word, until now. Never dared think of how she looked at the burgeoning physical relationship you both were building. Did she worry it might break you apart, like it had done for those other two unsuitable lovers? Suddenly, all thoughts of disgust and betrayal towards the man who had been secretly filming you became buried beneath this much more important equation. At the end of the day… What did it matter? The man was taking advantage of you both in much more obvious and physical ways anyway. The chance to be here, in your step-sister’s arms was so much more important. You couldn’t risk that, for a second.