The next morning, Layne was able to find Adan wandering the streets of the village, alone. That was as good of a time as any and the matter couldn't be delayed any longer. When he approached, Adan swung around and gave him a smile.
"Good morning," he said. "Weird to see you up so early."
"Yeah, I don't usually sleep the whole day."
"And that is good to know."
Layne rubbed his neck, trying to figure out how to phrase the question in the most convincing way. For some reason, he believed that Adan might not want to agree with it.
Adan tilted his head and squinted. "Is something wrong?"
"Not exactly. We have friends left in the other village, I've just been wanting to talk to you about-" The man's look along stopped him from talking further. It was cold. Harsh. Layne darted his eyes down and waited for him to say something – though he wasn't going to back down.
Adan sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I'd gladly let your friends come here. But Victor wouldn't like it very much."
"Who cares what Victor wouldn't like?" Layne rose his voice. "They're not safe there with him, that matters a whole lot more, don't you think?"
He would have kept going but the old man raised his hand to make him stop. Layne frowned and squeezed his sore lips tight. Adan moved his eyes around, seemingly examining the houses and the trees with a dreamy look. Seeing that, Layne's fists started shivering.
"Yeah, well, our safety matters too. We can co-exist peacefully only for as long as we're not doing anything to harm them. That includes stealing their workforce."
"Their workforce? Seriously? Our friends are not their workforce."
"Now look, you two being here might already come to bite us in the ass. We have small children here and people incapable of protecting themselves if there's a need. We just can't risk it."
* * *
And it did come to bite them.
For the next few days, Layne and Coden did all they could to come up with a plan to help their friends. For a short time, they even considered going back themselves instead of leaving them behind – though that thought had to be pushed away cause of one simple fact. They would more than likely be killed if they were to return days after disappearing.
When Layne heard Victor's voice that evening, he thought he was being paranoid. Except, Coden grabbed his upper arm and squeezed it tight. At the very least, he wasn't the only one hearing it. They exchanged looks and crept towards the source.
As soon as Layne saw the man, he looked back at him as well. He was standing in the yard of one of the houses with Adan sitting nearby. His smile widened when the two approached.
"And there they are," he said.
Layne curled up his nose and clenched his fist. The sight of him alone caused anger to boil up inside him. That was the man responsible for Troy's death. "What are you doing here?"
"I've been looking for you two, of course. We've all been very worried."
Coden caught a grip of Layne's arm again, startling him.
Adan brushed his hand over his hair and sighed. "We've been discussing the best way to deal with the situation."
"Situation?" Layne flinched. "What situation? There is no situation."
"Shush, now, this conversation doesn't involve you." Victor waved them off with a chuckle.
Layne raised his eyebrows. Victor wasn't acting quite right. At that moment, he was more Adan than he was Victor. Layne wondered whether the sudden change was due to the company he was in.
"So, have you talked through anything?" asked Coden.
"Impatient," Victor remarked.
Adan's head swung down. He hid his face in his hands and didn't say a single word. Layne's body tensed up and he turned to Victor, hoping for answers. The man stared back into his eyes for a while, then, he diverted his look at Adan.
"Before you two showed up, I was just about to suggest to my friend that I would allow one of you to stay here with him in his traitors' village. Because I'm such a nice person."
Adan parted his hands and looked between Victor and the two guys. Seeing his expression, Layne took a step back. He was considering it.
"You can't be fucking serious," Layne yelled. "What's your problem with us being here, anyway? Miss us so much? That's too damn bad."
Victor rose his hand to silence him. "I'm sure we'll have time to talk about this later. Adan? Do you agree?"
Adan shook his head. "Have you gone insane? We're talking about people here, it's not for me to decide."
"No, we are talking about the future of... This place. You remember our deal, right, friend?"
Adan didn't say anything. His eyes wandered around his feet. Victor turned sideways and waved his hand towards Layne. "So, he'll be going with me and you can keep the other one."
"Ugh, no, I'm not." Layne stretched out tall and took a few steps closer to the man. "Who in the world do you think you are?"
"And what exactly will you do when you're not allowed to stay here anymore?"
"It's a good thing that's not happening."
Adan stood up, causing everyone to fall silent. He looked at everyone, stopping at each man individually, with an emotionless expression. Finally, he settled on Victor and stared directly into his eyes. Layne waited for him to send him away.
Except, that he didn't. He nodded. "Fine."
Layne's heart dropped and so did his jaw. Without thinking, he threw himself forward with his fists rock hard only to be stopped by Coden catching his arm.
"You darn asshole!" he yelled, looking at Adan. "You know he'll kill me, right?"
"I won't kill you," said Victor in an overly plain manner. Layne waited for him to add something else but he didn't.
"Adan, please." Coden released Layne and stepped forward. "That's not fair. That's not what my parents stood for, right?"
"You didn't know your parents, Coden." Adan glanced at him through the side of his eyes and looked back at Victor. "When are you leaving?"
"When it's fully dark."
* * *
Layne paced around the small room they were staying in. The light outside was diminishing fast and it was only a matter of time before Victor came looking for him. Coden laid in his bed and watched the ceiling. His calmness only made Layne's rage boil harder.
"And you'll just stay here, just like that?" He articulated his arms, unsure of what to do with the energy that came with his anger.
Coden didn't show any change in his emotions. "Yeah, still seems like the safer place to be."
"Even after you watched Adan sell me out like that? You're sure he won't do that to you when the time comes?"
"I trust Adan."
"But why would you?"
Coden sat up and shrugged. "Because trusting him is better than returning to a place where I know for a fact I might get killed."
Layne sighed and dropped onto his bed, causing the springs in the mattress to scream as if they were in pain. He knew there was no logical reason for him to hope that Coden would have dropped everything and left with him and Victor. He, himself, wouldn't have done that.
"I wish I knew how to help you," said Coden.
Layne shook his head. "Well, you tried, sorta, I guess."
"Layne, I'm sorry." Coden rose from his bed and moved onto Layne's. Sitting on its edge, he looked around the room and took a long breath. "We might still figure it out, later."
"If he doesn't kill me as soon as we leave the village, that is."
"He probably won't."
"Probably."
Silence followed. Every sound made Layne flinch, thinking that it had to be Victor coming for him. The man seemed to be in no rush, though. Even when the sky outside the window became completely dark, he just wouldn't come. Layne wondered whether he was toying with him, making his stress the situation as long as possible before ending his suffering.
Coden left the room only to come back a few minutes later. "No one's around." He shrugged.
Layne sat up. "You think I should run?"
"No, of course not." He shook his head. "Where would you go, even?"
"I don't know. The forest? Where else?"
"That's a terrible idea."
"Maybe there's a third village we don't know about yet, better than both of these. Or maybe I could be the founder of the third village. That should be a fun little activity."
Coden twiddled with his lips but didn't say anything. He didn't need to, anyway – his expressionless eyes said enough. Layne breathed out and hugged his chest. He was starting to get nauseous. Even though he never found Victor to be quite a pleasant person, he wasn't so terrified of him before.
At the same time, never before did he wish to hurt someone so much.
It wasn't long before footsteps approached their room. Even if expected, the heavy knock on the door made Layne jump. Victor came in without waiting for an answer, wearing his usual smile. Layne turned his attention to the man's hands – or one of them, in particular. The one, in which he was holding a sturdy folding knife.
"Ready to go?" he asked.
Layne couldn't keep his eyes off the knife. In his mind, he lunged at the man and ripped it off his hand. He was just about to do that, too.
"I see that." Victor's voice returned him to reality. With his free hand, he pulled a thin string out of his jacket's pocket. Layne guessed it might have originally been a shoelace. "I thought about it myself, as well."
Layne frowned. "You cannot be serious."