Evelyn was working on homework she didn’t get to yesterday. She tried to stay focused, but her mind was gone. She kept thinking about how to break it gently to Clarissa how she’d never go back home. Never see her brother again.

Her throat closed up at the thought. How could she possibly tell her character that? After everything Clarissa had done for her. She remembered how catatonic she was when they first arrived. They couldn’t afford to have her do that again.

There was a knock on the front door, and she let Walt answer it. It was a reminder to focus on her math homework. There was still English and history after this.

She was in the middle of solving a problem when Walt entered the house again. “Evie? Tyler’s here. He wants to talk to you.”

“Oh.” Evelyn knew what Tyler wanted to say. They needed to figure out a plan on how to move forward. They no longer had one or two months more of CCNC sessions. They had many, many more. For now, they needed to focus on curing Ezekiel of lycanthropy. Which meant Rafael.

Evelyn stood up from the table as Walt pointed over his shoulder. “He wants to talk to you outside.”

She glanced at the door, then walked past Walt and through the door. They had a small front porch with enough room to hold a two-person bench swing. Tyler was sitting with his elbow on the armrest, his finger under his lip, the movement of the swing also moving his finger back and forth. He looked deep in thought. This information was heavy. Almost two thousand creatures were on Earth, and they needed to be killed before they took over the planet.

Evelyn didn’t enjoy staying in her head, but Tyler still wasn’t saying anything, even after she sat down next to him. It was almost like she wasn’t there. A pile of homework waited for her inside, but it was barely eleven. Still plenty hot, though.

Tyler finally dropped his hand, but didn’t look at her. “I heard you’ve been attending therapy.”

Evelyn brought her legs up and hugged them, like she did in Gemma’s office. “Um, yeah. It’s been nice. My therapist is pretty laid back. Which is something I need.”

He nodded, still not looking at her. The only sound between the two of them was the squeaking of the rocking bench. Tyler was still gone, lost in whatever maze his thoughts gave him. She kept her eyes on their rocky front yard.

The rocking was disrupted as Tyler straightened. “Okay, so…” again he trailed off. He closed his eyes, sighing. He looked at her, then tore his gaze, shaking his head as he looked at the wall. “God, this has to be the hardest conversation I’ve ever had.”

Evelyn panicked. She was terrified he was going to ask her to work with Rafael. That he’d backpedal on his promise. That Chaos and Order were demanding she partner with him.

Tyler held up a hand, as though he could hear her thoughts. “You’re still in control, Evie. You get to choose who comes and who goes. I’ve told Rafael he isn’t allowed to attend CCNC if you don’t want him there, and he agreed to the boundaries.”

Evelyn swallowed. “Even with… even with Ezekiel getting cured before next month?”

“Yes. Even then. I don’t know what happened between Rafael and Ezekiel this past week, but I could almost sense their bond. He’s close to rolling at a distance. You will never have to see him again if you don’t want to.”

Tears appeared way too quickly in Evelyn’s eyes. She tried to blink them away, but this was not a phone call. Tyler was here, looking at her face, seeing the tears form. Emotions clawed at her throat, and she forced herself to turn away. She had a death grip on her legs, pressing them against her chest. She did this at Gemma’s office too, but she didn’t mean to think of Tyler as a therapist. Tyler saw the tears in her eyes, and she could see his heart breaking.

“I’m sorry, Evelyn. About what Rafael did to you.” Tyler shook his head. “God, that sucks.”

Evelyn let go of her legs in order to cover her face. She didn’t want Tyler to talk to her like this. Despite wanting someone to acknowledge her pain, how much it hurt that everyone focused on whether Rafael was right, she wasn’t ready to acknowledge her own pain in front of people. She felt a brotherly hand around her shoulder, which is when she realized how much she was already crying. She leaned into his chest, keeping her legs up to protect hers. Thankfully, she had her sob session with Moonsparkle and Clarissa. She was not ready to leave a trail of tears and snot on Tyler, no matter how great a friend he was. But it was enough. The sob wasn’t nearly as violent, and maybe that was part of healing. Crying it out enough times for each time to be a little less.

“I’m sorry,” she said after the worst of her crying was done. She straightened, drying the rest of her tears.

“Don’t. Please don’t ever apologize,” Tyler said.

Evelyn sniffed, doing her best to carefully touch her face. She’d been putting on waterproof mascara ever since the story came out. It was going to absolutely ruin her lashes, but she was grateful for it today. She didn’t look at him. “Princess Clarissa and Ezekiel are… they are officially dating. I do not want Ezekiel to turn into a wererat. Everything I do, I’m doing for Ezekiel. Not Rafael. We can trade off who goes to what session, and he can go the first couple times to strengthen his bond with Ezekiel.”

She was proud of herself for how steady her voice sounded. It wavered slightly at Rafael’s name, but she felt good. She set an appropriate boundary, which is something she wanted to report back to Gemma. Somehow.

Actually, she wasn’t sure what she should talk about with Gemma when it came to CCNC.

“Great. I will plan on calling you each week to know who you want to attend. Because it doesn’t have to be about Rafael, either. If that week you feel good enough to come with him there but change your mind halfway through, you let me know and I’ll take care of it. Don’t feel like you have to tough it out for anything. Okay?”

Evelyn nodded. Honestly, it felt good. They set a boundary, and she knew Tyler would enforce it. She thought that was all they were going to talk about, but Tyler remained, still watching her face carefully, his eyes were full of sorrow. “I’m not expecting you to forgive him in a day,” he said quietly. “Nor next week. Hell, not even… ever. But…” Tyler again looked out at the road. “I’ve been studying Akshi’s characteristics, going through what I think he’d do. We’ve been looking at it all wrong. We think it’s only the CCNC character’s he’s focusing on. But… we are part of that, too. All of us. We’re not split into two groups, we are one. All of us.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Evelyn turned away from Tyler’s gaze, heat pricking her ears. She knew exactly what he was going to say. “The thing about Rafael is… if you asked him to quit the football team, he would. If you asked him to break up with his girlfriend, he would. If you told him to take a long walk off a short pier, he would. In a heartbeat.” He gave a defeated shrug. “And as much as this has caused deep pains I will never understand, I am here to warn you that someone else could-”

“He already has,” Evelyn whispered.

Tyler glanced at her, confused. “What?”

“Akshi,” Evelyn said, her arms once again going around her legs. “He’s already… asked permission to hurt Rafael. Didn’t… didn’t Derek tell you?”

Tyler’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, then fear. “What?”

“He was there last week Friday and talked to me. I didn’t mention it to Derek, but he was rattled enough seeing Akshi near me. I told him not to tell Nick, but that he could tell you.”

Tyler looked confused, then pulled out his phone. “The hell…” He scrolled through his messages. “I… nothing. Derek told me nothing.”

Evelyn’s heart hammered in her chest. She tried not to feel like this was a betrayal, because it was a little too much. Derek would never do that. He always talked to Tyler. “I will… talk to him later. What did you say to Akshi?” Tyler asked.

“Nothing,” Evelyn said. “Neither… agreed or… disagreed.”

Tyler turned his head, the surprise still there on his face. “Oh shit.” He covered his head, rubbing his face. Evelyn hugged her legs tighter. He dropped his hands, staring at the ground. “You were hurt in a way I will never understand, Evie. And I cannot even begin to understand the hurt and pain you’ll have to cycle through to process this. People have said they’ve often felt so angry at their perpetrator that they’ve wanted to place a bomb in their room and explode them to bits. But… Akshi just handed you the detonator.” Tyler glanced at her. “Please don’t choose Akshi’s way. Please. Take it from someone who’s watched many a revenge plot unfold in CCNC. It’s never as satisfying as you think it is.”

Evelyn couldn’t keep his gaze. Every time she thought of the justice of it all, it filled her with despair. Rafael got nothing. He walked away free. He took her peace, her security, and broke them. Nothing was done for that.

Tyler studied her face, and Evelyn blinked. He leaned back a bit, crossing his ankles in front of him, and rested his head against the back of the swing. “If these characters never came into the game, who knows how much longer this secret would have remained. Perhaps none of us would have known. Perhaps one of you would have come forward, the weight of it too much. But we all know now, and we’ve got a responsibility to work through it.” Tyler blinked, glancing at the road with a fear trickling through his eyes. “There is a powerful enchanter out here that has a reputation for mentally torturing people and filling them so full of fear that they are left a shell of who they are. Someone who was only supposed to be fictional, but from what we’ve seen with Mr. Stower, can touch this world. Do not give him Rafael.” Tyler glanced at her, and she dropped her gaze, tightening her grip around her legs.

She didn’t like this. Any of it. Tyler leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “God, I hate hearing myself talk. I’d like to emphasize, Evelyn, that I don’t want to put any pressure on you. You don’t have to forgive Rafael in order to save the group. You don’t have to come to the sessions. Roll as much as you want in your room for as long as you feel comfortable. Come to the sessions and I’ll tell Rafael to stay home. Just…” Tyler’s fingers tightened, then released. “Just please… don’t hate Rafael so much that you’d step aside and let Akshi torture him.” Tyler shook his head. “I guess, the TL;DR of this entire conversation, know that Akshi can use your anger to destroy us all. But… you are totally fine to take your time, going through the process of healing what happened and staying away from Rafael as long as you want.” Tyler gave her a pained smile, slowly lifting two thumbs up.

Evelyn couldn’t help it. The smallest flicker of a smile crossed her face, and Tyler’s entire being seemed to relax. “Oh, thank god you’re smiling.”

She shook her head. “You’re a dork.”

Tyler snorted, then leaned back on the bench. “Thanks for listening. If you decide to come to any of the sessions again and have him along, I will keep my eyes on him. I retain the right to kick him out, too, if he does anything I don’t like. I’m the game master, after all. I need to make sure the people at my table feel safe.”

A warmth fluttered through her chest. It was something she needed to hear. Someone in a position of power who gave their assurance that they would make sure it never happened again. Evelyn slowly loosened her hands, letting her feet drop to the ground. She looked at her bare feet, seeing the recent red fingernail polish she used on her toes.

“Thanks, Tyler. I… appreciate it. It makes me feel better about Rafael and I going to a sesh at the same time. Sometime.” She played with a lock of her hair. “Not that I can promise anytime soon.”

Tyler gave her a small half smile. “You are more than welcome to decide who you want to have at the session.” He glanced at the door, his smile disappearing. “I’d like to talk to Nick now. Do you want to send him out?”

Evelyn’s smile dropped. “Um, yeah. Yeah, I’ll go get him.” She stood up, heading toward the door. Tyler looked like he was about to re-enter his mind. She was nervous about Tyler’s talk with Nick. Her brother had been in a funk ever since it happened, and he was far too happy to remain in it.

“Hey, Tyler?” she asked before he got too deep into his head space.

He pulled himself back out of his thought maze, glancing at her. “Yeah?”

“Thanks. The only thing I can promise is I’ll try to hate him a little less than the day before,” Evelyn said.

He nodded. “That sounds like a good plan.”

“And…” She hesitated. Tyler glanced at her, waiting. She had already thanked him, but it didn’t feel like enough. Seriously, this guy loved CCNC. He was the most incredible game master and friend. He didn’t need to do any of this, but he was here making sure they stayed safe and have difficult conversations. She didn’t know how else to thank him. But her mind thought of the sweetest compliment she could think of. “You’re actually… fantastic at being an adult.”

The moment it left her mouth, she felt like an idiot, but the way Tyler’s face relaxed into a smile made her feel like it was worth it. “Thanks Evie.”

She smiled again before slipping into the room. She walked down the hall before knocking quietly at Nick’s door. He grunted from inside and it was all the permission she needed.

She opened the door to see him sitting on a chair, glaring at his book. Maybe he was reading it, but it didn’t look like it. Nick glanced up, his glare softening a fraction, which didn’t feel like much.

“Hey, um, Tyler’s out there. He wants to talk to you on the bench.”

Nick continued to stare at her, then he tossed his book on the bed before standing, brushing past her to the front door. It gave her an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Tyler was worried about Akshi asking Evelyn to torture Rafael, but she realized in that moment Tyler would have the same conversation with Nick. And from what she saw on his face, Nick seemed more likely to say yes to Akshi’s promises of pain.

Evelyn pushed the thought aside as she walked back to her homework. She sat down and picked up her pencil, but math homework was the furthest thing from her mind. She glanced at her phone and noticed a missed call. She frowned, seeing it was from Derek. Weeks ago. And a voice mail.

“Evelyn, hey. It’s Derek. Look, Akshi was there at the fight. He spooked us all. I know you had me promise to never tell Nick, but you should. Please, Evelyn. Tell Nick that Akshi stopped you at school.”

When was this sent? Why did it appear on her phone? She had no idea, but the thought of telling Nick about Akshi still filled her with dread.