Faults

Chapter 7: Taylor

In class, seeing Archie show off with his ability is unfair. It only makes me resent him more. We were doing what is basically a glorified show and tell with our abilities, even with all the clamor about the "mysterious black marks". Our teacher told us it would be fine since we're inside, but some kids were still worried.

Not Archie, though. No, he still took his sweet time, making a big show of how great he is. The fact that he's in some sort of "relationship" with my brother makes this all the more odd and I can't say my hatred is at bay when I think about that.

Did I get a useful ability? Yes.

Did Archie get a useful ability? Yes.

The only difference between us is that he has practically perfected his. Yesterday, during demonstrations, Archie made all of us newbies look like fools. We were given a while to test out our magic and learn how it works, but Archie has had almost triple the time. His unfair advantage of having an ability a year longer than the rest of us should automatically disqualify him from demonstrations. We all know what his ability is and how great it is, so why should he show off even more when it's our time to shine?

He barely attends most of the classes, so why is he even here anymore? He hadn't shown up all week until demonstration day, almost as if it was on purpose just to show off.

Everything is just building on top of all the preexisting factors, like making a skyscraper of hate. I think someone needs to knock Archie down a peg. That someone being me.

I'm going to risk getting those black marks that are apparently worse than the headaches. The rumors say that most of my class has the marks already and they seem fine, so no need to worry. Even if it's painful, it'll all be worth it when I complete this simple task.

I'm about to burn down the castle.

It wasn't difficult to lie to Mother and Aydin about where I was going–I just told them I'd be with the girls. They're used to my antics with Emmie and Caitlin so there was no argument from my family.

Now, I'm creeping around the back side of the castle, looking out for any guards. Shit, there are three coming my way. I don't think they've seen me yet but I better get out of the way. Quickly, I run to the side of the castle which is considered the east wing.

As far as I can tell, there are no guards here at the moment. I head over to a window that I can actually reach and peer inside. Besides the stone-covered exterior walls, the inside appears to be constructed of wood and plaster on the walls. I light my index finger with a snap and touch it to the wood of the window frame.

Unfortunately, I have no idea if this is going to work, but it better. And to my dismay, it doesn't. A patch of charred wood appears under my finger, making me frown. I whip my head around, searching for guards in both directions. There's one to my left, meaning I better start hurrying up.

This time, I light my entire hand and press it to the frame once again. This time, it catches fire and the beautiful blaze slowly spreads around the frame. Time to run, I took too long. The guards are onto me.

I run all the way home with the guards hot on my heels. When I get inside, I rush to Aydin's room. "Remember how you agreed to doing something for me and I'll keep quiet about your secret?"

"Yes?"

I stick my head out of his room. "One second."

I dash over to the window and see that the guards are almost to the door. I hurry back to Aydin's room and tell him, "Just answer the door in about thirty seconds and your secret's safe with me. I'll be out back."

He shrugs. "Alright."

As fast as possible, I head to the yard and slam the back door behind me. I slump against the house, out of breath. I listen for the guards and a few seconds later, I hear them banging on the front door.

Talking.

Yelling.

Screaming.

Quietly, I creep back into the house and find that Aydin is gone. All I do is go to the window and watch in disbelief as the guards carry my brother away.

Oops.

Oh well, maybe I killed two birds with one stone. I knocked Archie down a peg and got rid of my brother. Damn, I'm good.

However, I can't help but wonder what's going to happen to Aydin. I ponder whether he'll come back soon or a long time from now. Either way, I should savor having him be away from me.

This is going to be difficult to explain to Mother, though. How do I tell her that I tried to burn the castle down while simultaneously acting like my brother? I guess what I should be more concerned about is whether or not anyone will be able to tell I'm pretending to be my twin.

Or, worse yet, what if someone finds out that I am actually the culprit? Oh, scream to the gods, how do I deal with Archie?

This might be worse than being on trial for arson.

What have I gotten myself into?