Winding Roads {A Creative Writing Journal}

The Reluctant Villain (Part 1)

"Bro," Faith began, her fingers tightening around the steering wheel of her convertible, "if something ever happens to me , I want you to avenge me."

Zach looked up from his phone with a bored expression, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes only to have it blown back in his face by the wind. Pine green eyes met coffee brown for a brief moment before Faith turned her attention back to the road, and he didn't miss the resolute glint in her dark eyes.

She had been like this for several weeks, ever since they had seen a report of a masked vigilante protecting a gas station from a would-be robber. Faith had become obsessed with the idea of being a crime fighter since that night, and Zach was the only one who both cared enough to listen and not cared at all when she started rambling about how cool it would be to leap across rooftops and fight criminals.

But this was the first time she had ever asked him to join her little crusade, and Zach paused in his answer. After a moment's thought, he shrugged and turned back to his phone.

"Sure, I got you," he replied noncommittally, a teasing smirk peeking through. Faith sighed in exasperation.

"I'm serious, dude. If something ever happens to me, I want you to settle it."

Zach groaned, "Fine. I promise." But in his heart, he really didn't mean it.

After all, his older sister wasn't exactly someone to get into trouble. Sure, she was going through this whole "superhero" phase, but she was also the one who was more likely to talk things out rationally than get into a fistfight.

If anything, his track record with the occasional high school bully made Zach the more likely candidate to go looking for danger in a dark hoodie and a ski mask.

Faith nodded, a small smile gracing her features as she blew her caramel-colored locks out of her face. To Zach's relief, it seemed that she was satisfied with his answer. The rest of the drive was spent in companionable silence, and his sister turned on the radio to fill the void.

    "One Direction? Seriously?" he huffed with an absent eye roll. She only grinned back at him as she swatted his hand away from the radio dial.

   "My car. My music."

    Despite his distaste for boy bands, Zach Darager sang along with his sister, even though he was sure they were both off key. But it was moments like these that he enjoyed most—just the two of them with the radio blasting, no parents breathing down his neck, and almost no cares at all as the wind blasted him in the face.

   He had no idea that this would be the last time he shared a ride home with his sister or that he would have to choose whether he was going to keep the promise he made her.