MyStreet: The Emerald Secret (OC Character Added)

I Love You Aaron

I close my eyes to block out the smacking noise of Ein's palm against Aph's eye.

"Zane..." Garroth mumbles slowly, like he doesn't know what else to say.

"I just want her to be okay." Zane says. "After everything she went through... She had it the worst. And now... Aaron... she---she just..."

Garroth takes his hand off me to give Zane a big bear hug. He pulls me in too after a second, and I'll have to admit, it felt at least a tiny bit better with my big brother's arms around me.

"It will take time." Garroth says. "That's all she needs, is time."

"Yeah..." Zane says, choking back sobs.

But not Aaron.

Not Aaron.

"Time won't undo what I did to Aaron." I whisper into Garroth's shoulder, needing to say them out loud, needing them to not be true. "It can't."

"You didn't do anything---" Garroth and Zane start, but I can't stop.

"You weren't there. You didn't watch her stab him, watch her toss him off a cliff, watch myself attack my brother, watch myself hitting Aaron, killing him slowly with each time I... I c-couldn't... I..."

Zane lets go of Garroth to hug me. "I don't care what happened in the woods, Vi."

"But you SHOULD!" I practically scream. Luckily, the lodge is pretty loud, and nobody notices. "I almost killed him. I could feel his life draining from him... until..."

Garroth notices my pause. "Is now when you'll finally tell us why we didn't have to use a reverse-potion on you?"

I shake my head, rubbing my nose and letting go of Zane. "I... I don't know what happened. One minute, I was... I was under, and the next, there was a voice inside my head, telling me to stop. And... I did."

"You broke free of the potion?" Garroth asks in surprise.

"No." I say immediately. "No, it wasn't me. It was... something else. Tatiana said it was something bigger than ourselves."

"Who?" Zane asks.

"Oh, uh, the wolf girl." Garroth says. "I sorta forgot to fill you guys in, I guess."

"Right, wolf girl." I sigh, rubbing my forehead. "I could feel something inside me. I don't know... I just suddenly was back in myself."

"Do you have any way of describing it?" Zane asks.

I flush red. "It's going to sound stupid."

"A few weeks ago, we had no idea forever potions, Ultimas, and Ein still existed." Zane says. "Try us."

"Well... it kind of felt.... Purple. Like a purple wind." I mutter.

Garroth and Zane exchange a glance. "You don't believe me, do you?" I ask weakly.

"No, that's the bad part. We do believe you." Garroth says. "I just hate that we have another thing we really don't understand."

"Well... we have all the time in the world to wonder." I say, smiling a tiny bit.

Garroth reaches out and hugs us both again. "All the time in the world to be siblings." Garroth corrects. "I want to care about what you guys care about."

"Thank you." Zane chokes. "Big... brother."

I can practically feel Garroth smiling wide.

I feel a tiny bit guilty that I can be included in the category of not understanding my siblings. In my defense, it's hard to be the only girl in a gaggle of goofy boys. Mummy sometimes tries to help, and I know she'll worry about me, but now, right here... I just want my brothers.