Across Worlds - Chapter 32 Part 2

To her surprise, Aidan backed away. “Rhys has my mother. That’s the only reason I agreed to anything. He threatened her. Said he’d kill her if I didn’t do what he wanted.” When he looked up at her this time, there was something different in his eyes. They were soft, sad, vulnerable. No one was that good of an actor.

“Why’d he send you?”

Falyn could almost hear the relief in Aidan’s voice as he responded, “To distract you guys. Rhys is planning an attack. He didn’t say exactly when, but I think it’s going to be tomorrow morning. I was supposed to keep you all from figuring it out.”

“Well you did a damn good job of it.” Falyn snapped. The words seemed to sting Aidan well, exactly what Falyn was going for. If she was going to be able to trust him, she’d have to see his response to her questioning. When faced with their own life choices, no one can hide behind a mask.

Aidan didn’t even have to respond for her to know that he was worth trusting. The look of him alone was enough for her. His eyes were wet with tears and his head hung low. He refused to meet her gaze, something that showed true regret.

Suddenly, Falyn felt guilty for ever doubting him. How could she have thought that Akia’s own brother would betray her? Their family was already damaged, with Kit being murdered those years ago and their mother in captivity. Aidan wouldn’t do anything else to make it worse. What would he gain from that?

“Look,” he started. “If you need further proof, just stay with me during the fight.”

“The fight? What fight?”
“With Rhys,” he responded, as if it were the most obvious answer. “Remember, the one I was supposed to keep you from figuring out? I’m going to fight alongside you and the others.”

“But what about your mother?” Falyn asked. Frida was the only missing piece. Rhys had threatened to kill Aidan’s mother. Surely that would play a heavy role in his decision making.

He took a deep breath and motioned to the far end of the basement. “Can we sit again, please? Standing is making me nauseous.” Falyn could do nothing but agree. Aidan wouldn’t give her any more answers otherwise.

The second they sat down, Aidan continued. “I talked to my mother before I left. Many times. I was able to sneak away from Rhys while he thought I was out doing something else. It’s not that hard to find where Rhys keeps his enemies. They’re all in tiny cells in the basement.

“I didn’t want to leave her, but she insisted. She’s done living. That’s what she told me. You know that disease people get when their magic becomes too much? It bottles up inside of them because they just can’t seem to use it?”

Falyn nodded grimly. “Sam’s sister had that.”

“My mother has reached that point. And she begged me not to save her. Do you know how hard it is to do that?”

“No, I don’t.” Falyn said quietly. But it was a lie. She knew exactly how it felt. With Archie. Sure he didn’t ask her to let him die, but she didn’t exactly fight hard to save him. Leaving behind a family member, even one who turned out not to be family after all, was never easy.

Aidan took a deep breath. Falyn realized that he was trying to conceal his tears from her. She wished she could tell him that he didn’t have to, but she just couldn’t do it. How would she tell a grown man not to be ashamed of crying? It just didn’t seem like something he’d listen to.

She wanted so much to comfort him, to tell him that she had lost a parent too, tell him that they were in the same predicament. The only difference was the Falyn had lost someone fake. Her real parents were here in Lightport. But they didn’t seem to care about her either, really. They had let her stay behind. Why hadn’t they begged her to come along?

If they loved you half as much as Archie did, they would’ve made you come. She shook the thought from her mind. Why was she doing this to herself? Archie never really loved her. He was only posing, taking on the role of a parent until things could go back to normal. Whatever normal was.

She had finally come to terms with the fact that Archie wasn’t her real father. She couldn’t believe it took her this long to realize it. He hadn’t been as good of a father as she had made him out to be in her head. He was barely home, always working, rarely cooked dinner – or any meal – and never bothered to ask when she was coming home. Most kids would think that would be the best situation. But Falyn didn’t think so. She wanted a parent who was going to teach her and take care of her. Not one that was just around when they needed to be.

“Falyn, have you been listening?” Aidan asked.

“What? Oh, no. Sorry.”

“Rhys is going to attack in the morning,” he repeated. “And we’re going to be there waiting for him. You, me, Akia and Sam. If they get back in time that is.”

“Just us? Don’t we need more people than that?”

“Nope. We can overpower Rhys easily.”

“What about Phillip?

“He’s not a fighter. Trust me, if he was there we’d be hurt more than helped.

“Oh.” Falyn wanted to ask what he meant by that, but she didn’t feel like sitting through another story. She also wanted to argue with Aidan, tell him that he was crazy to think that four of them could stop Rhys. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to convince him. He had his mind set; she could see it in his eyes. They were big and desperate. There was no way she was going to change his mind.

She yawned involuntarily and hastily tried to cover it up. Why was she so tired? The sun had fallen below the horizon not too long ago. It wasn’t even close to the time that she normally slept. Yet here she was, sitting on the couch, yawning. She didn’t want to sleep. She wanted more answers.

“Tired?” Aidan asked, a small smile breaking across his lips. She quickly shook her head.

“I’m fine, really. What else can you tell me about Rhys?”

Aidan shook his head. “There’s nothing else. I told you all you need to know.”

“All I need to know, maybe. But I want to know more.”

“There’s nothing more to tell you,” he said, spreading his arms wide. “I’ve told you all I know.”

“Well what have you found out from Rhys?”

“Nothing. Look, I know you don’t believe me, but it’s the truth. I haven’t actually done anything for him except come here. It was a strange deal we had. I was there in case he needed something and he kept my mother safe. We barely spent time together.”

“So how do you know anything?”

“I’m a good eavesdropper,” he admitted with a smile.

Falyn had no response, she was too busy thinking ahead. Now that Aidan had warned her of Rhys’s attack, there was more to think about than ever. Soon Rhys would be there and they would have to be ready for him.

Could she fight? She’d never used her magic on someone else. There were those fights against the Force those few days ago, but she hadn’t done much. She remembered sending one spell at a guard, but it hadn’t hit. What would happen if she had to defend herself? Maybe it would all come natural. Once the adrenaline started pumping things could be different. At least she hoped.

They had to find everyone else eventually. She figured they’d just do that in the morning. Aidan seemed to have it all planned out so she’d leave it to him. As long as they wouldn’t expect much from her, everything would be okay. Se knew that she was special, but the rest of them had so many more years of experience than she did. It was possible that she’d just make things worse before she made them better.

“Let me take you home,” Aidan said, standing. “It’s getting late and we both have to get some sleep. You’ll need all your energy for tomorrow. By the end of tomorrow we’ll get all the powers back.”

All Falyn could do was nod and follow him back up the stairs. She wasn’t about to tell him all of her fears. They would have to wait until she could talk to Mina again.

Mina. It had been forever since the two of them had just sat down and talked. Things had been a huge mess ever since Akia came into their lives. Falyn had been carted away to meet with Phillip and Akia while Mina had been reunited with their parents. They needed to be best friends again. And there was no better time than the present.

As they walked out of the house into the cold air, Falyn imagined what she would say to her newly found family. Maybe she could get them to come together and she could have someone real in her life. As long as they didn’t get torn apart again once Rhys attacked, everything would be fine.

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For the LMS contest. Word count: 1,585