Ezekiel dodged the wererat’s claws, but the bite came down hard. The cleric was already pretty ragged, but the blood drained from his face as he once again closed his eyes and went limp.

“He better still be alive,” Nick said, his anger making his voice horse.

“I…. Yes, he’s alive,” Rafael said.

“A cleric should not be knocked out this much!” Nick couldn’t help but shout.

“Give him a break. He’s level one,” Alejandra said.

“And whose fault is that?” Nick almost shouted.

Ezekiel collapsed to the ground. Rafael had his hands in the hair, staring at nothing. Clarissa’s incantations were loud and furious. The wererat smiled as it approached her, but then Clarissa lifted a hand and blew a cloud of noxious green gas into his face. The creature snarled, snapping at the air.

It was Grizzizzik’s turn, and Nick had one last mana slot. He chose confusion.

The rogue stepped forward, moving his hands in a way that no one could deny he was using magic. Clarissa held her side as she watched, confused, as Grizzizzik finished saying the dark spell before shooting forth his hands. A black energy slammed against the wererat and it howled, his eyes growing wide as it began to snarl and whimper.

“What are you doing?” Clarissa asked.

“All questions must remain until the end.” Grizzizzik kept his hands out toward the wererat.

“Grizzly Bear! Is this magic?”

The rogue’s eyes darkened. “Yes. And it needs concentration, so shut up!”

The wererat howled and tried to run. Hraktar grabbed the wererat, pulling it into a grapple. “Milo! I’ve got a good hold of him!”

The mana fusor shook his head. “I’m not shooting you with a blast of flame! You’re not well enough for that kind of power.” He dropped his cannon and walked forward. “I can do this, though.” Milo grabbed the wererat, and an electric shock traveled through the creature’s whole body. It shrieked and cried, still suffering from the confusion spell Grizzizzik had him under. The wererat finally looked ragged. It held its head and howled in pain.

Clarissa picked up the white hot great sword again. It was too heavy for her, but luckily she just had to drop it on the wererat. It shrieked again. There couldn’t be much more that wererat could handle.

Grizzizzik couldn’t do much else, and instead opted to stay focused on his confusion spell.

“Milo! Hit it again!” Hraktar said.

The wererat shrieked, not doing anything to fight against Hraktar’s grappling. Milo once again placed his hands against the wererat’s fur and shocked him. The creature gave a final yelp, then he went limp, the thing finally dying.

Clarissa wasted no time. She gathered her skirts and ran with a notable limp to Ezekiel. The cleric was on the ground, looking bad. He was unconscious, though it sounded like something was caught in his lungs. The air he breathed came in raspy and fast.

The druid placed her hands inches from his head, saying a soft incantation. It was only a moment before Ezekiel gasped, throwing his hands out. He backed away, right into Clarissa’s arms, genuinely terrified.

Milo held up his hands toward his friend. “It’s alright, Ezekiel. You’re okay. It’s over. All the enemies are dead.”

It went better than expected. The wererat shifted and changed into a large demon rat, which meant it wasn’t someone from earth. Level one Ezekiel survived. They survived the night.

Ezekiel used one hand to brace himself and the other to touch his shoulder. “Right.” He let out another breath, wiping his mouth. Nick was both surprised and relieved that Ezekiel had made it through. “Right. Um… thank you. Thank you, Princess.”

Clarissa grabbed his jaw and kissed him hard. Nick couldn’t help it and winced. It was fine when those two were actually the ones in love, but after years of giving little to no role play moments with it, it felt out of place.

Milo rested his cannon on his shoulder, smiling at Hraktar. “It’s about time, honestly.”

Derek gave Nick a nudge with his elbow. “Probably feels better now that Ezekiel’s not your character, right?”

Nick snorted, looking away from Ezekiel and Clarissa. “I suppose.” He glanced at Evelyn, but she wasn’t looking at him, or at her character. She had a wide, almost frightened animal look that set off some older brother instincts. Things had gone fine. Why was she scared?

Following her gaze lead him to see Rafael looking almost as frightened, if not horrified. Nick wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but Rafael turned to see him, and the terrified look deepened. His former friend unfolded his arms, frantically glancing between the two siblings. Nick’s nose wrinkled. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Nothing.” Rafael’s gaze dropped to the ground. “It’s nothing.”

Nick’s eyes narrowed. Evelyn rubbed her arm. “Rafael—”

“No, Evelyn. Just…” Rafael lifted an arm, not looking at her. “No.”

Nick glanced between his little sister and the guy that used to be his best friend, and something inside his stomach boiled. The frustration of everything crept up on him. Nick took another step toward Rafael, the glare clear on his face. “Am I missing out on some sort of inside joke?”

Rafael again gave a terrified look at Evelyn, then back at Nick. The kid was sweating. “Look, Nick, you… please understand it’s… our characters are…”

“Explain. Now.” Everyone else disappeared. Nick didn’t even care about them. Clarissa and Ezekiel could make out this entire time, and he wouldn’t have noticed. All he cared about was how Evelyn looked scared and Rafael might be the reason for it.

Rafael sighed, and with it his face fell. “I was drunk. That was… my first mistake.” Blood roared through Nick’s ears. He didn’t think his glare could get any darker, but it did. Nick tried to calm the blood, because he needed to hear. Rafael’s voice had grown quiet. “My second was asking Evelyn to meet with me somewhere I knew no one would see us. I… I don’t even remember what I said. My parents were divorcing, and I…”

Nick took another step nearer. “What. Did. You. Do.”

“I didn’t rape her.” Rafael’s words were a little too quick. “I swear, I didn’t do that. I… kissed her and…” Nick held perfectly still. His muscles were stiff, ready to be used. Ready for a release he needed to give them. Rafael finally tore his gaze away. “I might have felt… over her shirt. And… tried to… underneath her shirt. I’m s-sorry. God, I’m so sorry.”

Nick waited three rapid heart beats before he snapped. He punched Rafael as hard as he could. He heard an explosion of noise that made him remember his friends were still there. The desire to care was still gone.

Rafael was down. Nick slammed his foot against his rib cage. He wanted to crush it. Snap the bones. He stomped again and again until hands grabbed his arms and pulled him back.

“Let me go!” Nick still tried to kick Rafael, fought against the hands that held him back.

“Stop, Nick. Stop this,” Tyler said.

“That son of a bitch hurt my sister!”

“You’ve hurt him enough,” Derek said.

They dragged him further away from Rafael. “Let me go!”

“Derek, take Alejandra and Rafael. Drive him to a hospital if you have to, but get him away from Nick,” Tyler said.

On the other side of Nick, Derek looked worried. “Are you sure?”

“Fast, before someone calls the cops,” Tyler said.

They were by a park, but it was still a residential area. By the light of the burning rats, Rafael got up with Alejandra’s help. He stumbled, and Nick felt a surge of pride seeing how bloody his face was; his grunts of pain as he hobbled away. The anger resumed, and he didn’t stop himself from screaming one more threat. “I never want to see you again, you worthless piece of shit!”

He was aware of Evelyn on the ground, leaning against a tree with her hands covering her mouth, tears streaming down her face.

Which is when Alejandra glanced behind her shoulder, right at Nick, and it was like he was thrown in a tub of ice. Tears streamed down Alejandra’s face as she looked at Nick with hopelessness and a twinge of terror. That look did more to stop his thrashing than Tyler ever could. The anger disappeared. Icy dread returned. Sometimes, in the black moments of hatred, he forgot Rafael was Alejandra’s older brother.

She faced forward again, helping Rafael into Derek’s minivan. Ezekiel, Hraktar, and Milo followed inside. Derek started up the van and drove off.

Nick collapsed to his knees, breathing deeply as the anger drained out of him.

“Evelyn?” Tyler asked.

She shook her head, staring at her knees. “Please, please leave me alone.”

“But—” Tyler said.

“I don’t…” she trailed off, then got to her feet, walking a few feet away, keeping her face covered. Nick’s hands were curled into fists, glaring at the ground. Tyler’s gaze bounced between the two siblings before he let out a shuddering breath.

***

Evelyn kept her arms folded as they walked inside the house. Even though it was ten, she was exhausted. A heaviness in her chest made it hard to want to do anything but sleep.

But her parents were there, her mother instantly reaching out with her hands. Evelyn accepted the hug, burying her face in Lydia’s shoulders.

Walt stared straight at Nick. “You broke Rafael’s nose. And three of his ribs.”

Evelyn closed her eyes, feeling more tears coming. She tried to be brave, tried not to remember the horror on everyone’s face as Rafael explained to Nick what happened. Somehow, she knew Nick would react like that. She was glad Derek and Tyler were there to keep him from killing Rafael.

“Don’t pretend like he didn’t deserve it,” Nick said.

Grizzizzik and Clarissa walked in the door. Grizzizzik retreated to Nick’s room, as Clarissa stayed in the corner, watching.

“Do you have any idea what this would look like on your record? If he presses charges?” Walt said.

Nick shook his head. “I am not doing this with you right now.”

Lydia kept holding Evelyn. “Are you okay, Evie?”

Evelyn didn’t have the strength to say anything. Instead she nodded, pretending to be fine, when inside she crumbled.

“Oh, really? You want me to not punish you for breaking Rafael’s nose?” Walt asked.

Nick’s glare got darker. “What more can you take from me!”

Evelyn winced, the anger almost matching his anger for Rafael.

“You are not attending that con. Do you hear me? Your mother will drive Evelyn to Phoenix, but you are staying here and doing chores! And no attending those little game sessions with your friends for a month! Give me your phone!”

Nick slapped his phone in Walt’s palm. “You know what? I’ve lost my love for the game, anyway.” He stormed past them toward his room.

“Do you want to press charges against Rafael, Evie?” Lydia asked.

There were tears in Evelyn’s eyes as she released herself from the hug. “He didn’t rape me, mom.” She wiped her eyes. “And rapists still go free. What on earth could anyone do? What would be his punishment? A slap on the wrist? A promise he’d never do it again?” Another sob threatened to crush her, her voice strangled. “What can anyone do to him to give any sort of justice?”

She wanted her mother to have an answer. To assure Evelyn that despite rapists going free, they could punish Rafael. Do something where Evelyn would never have to see Rafael again. Make it so the memories wouldn’t be so vivid.

But Lydia said nothing. She glanced at Walt, who was too busy calming his anger from the argument with Nick.

There was nothing. Nothing to make it so she’d never have to see Rafael again. Except to let Nick kill him.