Faults

Chapter 38: Taylor

When I wake up, I rub the back of my head. I open my eyes and the sun is streaming through the breaks in the trees towering over me. It's much too bright for me right now. I can feel the pool of blood surrounding my neck. How long have I been out?

Judging by the position of the sun, it must be late morning. I look around and spot both Christian and Marshall on the ground. When I look to my left, I see a blond guy standing, leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. "Who the fuck are you?" I ask.

He opens his eyes. "I'm Trey. No need to be so aggressive. I made sure that you stayed alive. I'm here to join you. My friends all hate me, I suppose. They left me here, didn't they?"

"Hm, I guess they did," I say as I stand up. My back burns and I touch a hand to my skin, remembering the one kid who could change into different animals. Damn, those cuts hurt. I walk over to Christian and my hand flies to my mouth when I see his throat.

"No, no, no," I say, hoping that this isn't actually happening. "You can't be dead."

Trey speaks up, "I'm sorry, kid. He's gone."

I whip my head around, glaring at him. "Shut up," I growl. Trey throws his hands up as if to say, 'Chill out. Don't look at me, I didn't do it.' I don't have time for this right now. I turn back to Christian and close my eyes. I open them back up after a few seconds but Christian's throat is still cut wide open, any hope of this just being a bad dream vanishing. Tears well up in my eyes but I don't allow myself to cry.

I stand up and walk over to Marshall. "Please don't be dead, too," I whisper as I step over to him. He's my only hope now. My only way to get Christian back.

Marshall lets out a quiet snore. Thank the gods, he's just sleeping, I think. I bend down and shake him. "Marshall, wake up."

After shaking him a few more times, he stirs, opening his eyes halfway. "What happened?" he asks.

"Nothing good," I respond, my brow furrowed with worry.

Marshall sits up and Trey walks over to us. "Trey? What're you doing here?" Marshall inquires.

"Wait, you two know each other?" I ask, not giving Trey a chance to reply.

"Loosely. We were best friends with the two brother's on Archie's side, Klaus and Aster," Marshall explains.

I nod and then turn my attention back to Christian's body. I point at him. "Marshall, you need to raise him," I say urgently.

"But it only lasts for a few seconds," he responds.

"It's a long shot, but there might be a way we can bring him back permanently," I say.

Marshall stands up and scratches his head. "What? How?"

"Magic," I say, a smile tugging at my lips despite the horrible circumstances.

"Well, of course. Magic is a given. You're not making any sense at the moment," Marshall says snidely.

I smirk. "Black magic. It's going to take a sacrifice, but–"

"You want me to perform a sacrifice?" Marshall asks, visibly taken aback.

I grab Christian's lifeless arms and drag his body over to the shack with much difficulty. I open the door to the shack and pull his body inside. It may not be the wisest idea to keep him in here, but it's definitely better than leaving him outside where animals can easily get at him. "It's the only way to bring him back. Lucky for us, I know the perfect person to be our sacrifice."

Marshall looks like he's about to piss his pants. "W-Who?"

"Shane Saunders. He's my brother's friend. Christian wanted to kill him before, so why don't we honor that wish of his?" I say.

Trey walks over to us as I shut the door to the shack. He looks between me and Marshall and then says, "You know what, why don't we?"

Marshall looks at Trey with wide eyes and then he turns to me, his expression growing more serious. "Let's go."

"Onward! Back to Galariesse," I say triumphantly.

I'd do anything for Christian. When I thought I felt love for Archie, I was wrong. What I feel for Christian, on the other hand, is love. He's the most important thing in this world to me. No other person can come close to him. I'd kill for him. I'd die for him if it ever came to that.

Anything for him.

Anything to save him.