Faults

Chapter 20: Aydin

"Did he agree?" I ask when Archie comes back into my room.

He nods. "It took some convincing but he's on board. At least for the most part. I can tell that this is the last thing he wants to be doing but the only thing he wants less is to die."

"As long as he agreed. You and I know damn well that we need his help. But... You've convinced me of something as well," I say, starting to get nervous about admitting this.

"What is it?"

I let out a shaky breath and confess, "I'm ready to be with you."

Archie's eyes widen and he steps over to where I'm sitting on my bed. "You're sure about this?"

Nodding, I stand up and wrap my arms around him. "It's only if you're willing to try this again," I say.

"I am," he replies before giving me a quick kiss.

A quiet chuckle comes from the doorway. "How touching," my brother's voice comes.

Archie spins around and waves his hand at the door, slamming it in Taylor's face. I laugh and sit back down. "He's such a dick." I lean back on the bed and prop myself up on my elbows.

"I know, right?" Archie laughs with me, taking a seat next to me.

Everything feels right again. I can only hope that everything goes well with fighting Christian and hopefully Taylor doesn't try to annihilate me anytime soon.

※ ※ ※

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I ask as we walk through the woods towards Christian's house.

"It's most definitely not a good idea," Archie replies.

I look around and see nothing but trees. "Are we even going in the right direction?"

He looks back in the direction from which we entered the forest. "Probably."

"That's reassuring."

After what seems like an eternity of walking, we finally reach a secluded cottage sitting in a small clearing. There's a decent amount of distance between us and the village, making my worry increase. If something goes wrong, there's only a slim chance someone will come to help us. I walk up to the little house and peer into one of the windows that looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years. I can't see very much within the house as the dirt on the glass is making everything blurry. "Is this it?"

"This is it," Archie says as he walks around the perimeter of the house, looking to see if Christian is here.

"I don't think Christian is here. What did we come here for anyway?" I ask.

"Observation," he replies.

"Of wh–" I get cut off by someone's laughter. By the way it sounds, there's not a chance in hell it belongs to Archie.

I spin around to see Christian walking towards us. "You two are dumber than I thought. Archie, I always thought you were smart. But look at you now, what are you doing here?"

Archie walks past me, toward Christian. "You need to stop attacking my classmates."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. You see, I can only stun people. That doesn't hurt them," Christian explains. "After all the time we spent together, I thought you knew that."

Archie's face reddens but he still keeps his voice calm. "You're bluffing." He thrusts his hand out to Christian, sending him flying backward in the direction of the edge of the forest.

"My, my. You've improved," he says with a low chuckle. "I see you've called me out. I'm not sure how to feel about your accusation, other than confirming it. You're absolutely right." He stares intently at Archie, getting to his feet once again. "I am bluffing. There's no point in lying about it, really. Once I defeat you, it won't matter what the truth is."

Archie groans and clutches his head. "Damn you."

Christian slowly walks back over to us, a smile slowly spreading across his face. "Unfortunately for the two of you, I don't think you're quite strong enough to stop me."

I push with my mind, sending Christian a thought, more imperative than any other time. It may not work but it's worth a shot. I'm going to stop walking.

He stops moving, frozen in an awkward position. He has one leg in the air and the other stuck with only his toes planted on the ground. He tips over to the side, unable to regain control of his body. "What's this? I can't move–"

I jog over to Archie and look at him. His eyes are shut tightly. He's obviously in pain from what I surmise to be a headache given to him by Christian. "Archie, we should go. We can't do this alone." I look over at Christian. "He's getting up, come on."

He doesn't say anything, he only groans as I begin to pull him out of the woods. Christian is on his feet again, walking swiftly over to us. "You both are so weak. It was foolish of you to come out here."

"It was foolish of you to mess with us. You're going to pay," Archie says in a strained voice.

"We'll see about that," Christian says as I drag Archie away, breaking into a full sprint.

For the first time in my life, I need Taylor. I hope to the gods that it's a one time thing.