Chapter Twelve: War

            It was a little past ten in the morning when the note came. Torin was relaxing by the window in the boy’s living room, staring out at the tall oak tree in the distance. She could feel Kye’s gaze fixed on her, but she didn’t say anything, and tried to hold a straight face. She wanted to see how long they could keep up this little game.

            They were both beginning to enjoy the silence when there was a sharp knocking at the front door. They looked to each other, and Kyrill hurried past them, muttering under his breath.

            “No, that’s okay, I’ll get it. Don’t bother moving.”

            Kye rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. Such a drama queen. He mouthed, and Torin giggled.

            Kyrill pulled open the old door, allowing the rays of sunlight to pour in from the threshold. Nobody was there, but a solitary envelope sat on the doorstep, completely blank except for the address. He picked it up and closed the door, turning it over in his hands,

            “Planning on opening that any time today?” Kye asked smartly.

            Kyrill rolled his eyes and tossed it to him. “Knock yourself out.”

            He caught it in one hand, smiling at his simple triumph. Even he was surprised it hadn’t hit him in the face.

            “Well?” Torin asked, pushing a renegade strand of red hair behind her ear. “Open it.”

            He rolled his eyes, but nonetheless tore the envelope open. Unfolding the thick paper, he scanned it quickly, paling as he read.

            “What is it?” questioned Torin, noticing the abrupt change in his demeanor.

            “Get Kyrill,” he ordered quietly, still looking down at the paper.

            Torin stood, knowing better to question him. Though she hadn’t known him much longer than two months, she knew that Kye was almost never serious, unless it was about something important. So she did as she was told, and went in search for Kyrill. It didn’t take long to find him; after all, the house wasn’t exactly easy to get lost in.

            She knocked twice on the open bedroom door.

            “What is it?” he grunted, turning to face her.

            “Kye wants you in the living room,” she explained, frustrated that she couldn’t give him a direct answer.

            He shrugged. “It can wait.”

            “I don’t think it can,” she responded, turning her blue eyes on him and silently begging for him to come with her.

            “Fine,” he sighed, turning to follow her.

            By the time they got back to the main room, Kye was still staring at the page, his face unreadable.

            “What do you want?” Kyrill asked gruffly, standing with his arms crossed.

            “I don’t want anything,” Kye explained rather vaguely. “Read this.” He handed his brother the paper, and as he was reading it, Torin saw his face change in almost the same way as Kye’s had.

            “This has got to be a joke,” Kyrill said, looking up from the note in his hand. “They can’t just…”

            “They can.”

            “What are you two talking about?” Torin practically shouted, fed up with not knowing what was going on.

            “Torin,” Kye said quietly, taking her left hand in both of his. “We’re going to war.”

            “We’re what? What do you mean?” she asked, feeling her heart pounding against her ribcage.

            “You’re not,” he explained, still nearly whispering. “Kyrill and I. The Bloods have started a war, and since we’re seventeen, we have to fight.”

            “But you can’t!” Torin exclaimed, feeling as if she could burst from raw emotion at any moment. “There has to be a different way to fix this.”

            He shook his head sadly. “I wish there was, but there isn’t.” He tightened his hold on her hand and looked into her eyes. “Promise me you’re not going to try to solve this on your own.”

            “But…”

            “Torin.”

            “I promise,” she sighed, pulling away from his gaze. It seemed like things had taken a turn for the worst that morning. “When do you leave?” she asked quietly, afraid of the answer.

            “Tomorrow,” he whispered back.

            “What? That’s not fair!”

            “I’m sorry Tor. I really am. But there’s nothing I can do.”

            She stayed silent; knowing anything she said would only make the pain worse.

            “Do you want to do something before we have to go?” he asked, trying to get her to look at him.

            “Later, okay? I need to think, if it’s alright with you,” she responded, rising up from her seat.

            “No problem,” he said, letting her hand slip from his and watching her walk silently out the door.

 

            Torin remained in her bed for the remainder of the day, and would have stayed there a lot longer if Cori hadn’t let herself in. She searched around the house for a few minutes before finding Torin curled up on the mattress, her knees pulled up to her chest.

            “Torin. You need to get up. Kye said you’ve been inside since yesterday.”

            “So?” she murmured from underneath the blankets.

            “So he’s leaving in less than two hours, and you’re in bed sulking instead of getting out there and being with him,” she pointed out, sitting on the edge of the bed.

            “What difference does it make?” she asked, sitting up. “It’s not like I can stop him from leaving.”

            “T, I don’t like this any more than you do.”

            “It’s different for you. You aren’t possibly in love with one of them,” she mumbled.

            “And how do you know I’m not?” she retorted, raising an eyebrow.

            Torin’s eyes shot up to rest on the girl in front of her. “What?”

            “I’ll explain later,” she said with a wave of her hand. “You need to get out there and at least say goodbye.”

            “Cori…”

            “Just do it already. I’ll bring him over if you don’t go yourself,” she threatened.

            “No. I’ll do it on my own,” she said, getting up to dress. “Cori?”

            “Yes?”

            “Thank you.”

 

            Torin sat on the front step of her porch one hour later, wanting to see Kye, but too afraid to do anything other than sit there. She just couldn’t bring herself to talk to him, knowing that he was just going to leave in minutes. Though before she could even muster up the courage to get off the steps, he walked into her vision, taking a seat next to her.

            “You know I’d stay if I had the choice,” he said after a moment.

            “I know,” she said quietly. “But what if something happens? You could get hurt. Or worse.”

            “I’m coming back,” he said, taking her hand again, gripping it reassuringly.

            “You can’t promise that.”

            “I can, and I just did. Trust me, things will turn out fine.”

            Torin sighed, running her free hand through her tangled hair. “I want to believe you.”

            “Why don’t you?” he asked, sounding so sincere that she turned to look into his emerald irises.  

            “Because you can’t know that everything’s going to be okay. Things happen, and more often than not, they’re not good.”

            “Everything bad that’s happened to me has had a good result.”

            “What do you mean?” she asked, genuinely curious.

            “I was forced to go to that party, where I met you. The Bloods decided to attack that night at the ball, but I still got to dance with you, and then you fell asleep in my bed,” he blushed. “When you tried to save the world yourself and hit your head on that rock, I found you and brought you back here.”

            “That last one doesn’t sound like a good thing,” she pointed out.

            “Would you rather I have let you go out that night by yourself?”

            “I guess not,” she mumbled.

            “So just trust me this time, alright?” he asked.

            She didn’t get a chance to answer, as at that moment Kyrill walked outside, calling for Kye to hurry up so they could leave.

            He looked into Torin’s eyes once more and stood up, dreading what he was being forced to do. “I’ll come back,” he said, just quietly enough so only he and Torin could hear.

            “Promise?”

            “Promise.”

            And with that simple promise, Torin felt just a little better. Knowing it might be weeks, maybe months until she saw him again, she did what Cori had been suggesting. She leaned up and kissed him; a sort of parting gift.

            She broke away before he could respond, and though the situation was grim, smiled up at his dumbstruck expression.

            “Are you coming or not?” Kyrill called from the distance, having missed the kiss.

            “On my way!” Kye shouted back, kissing Torin on the forehead before sprinting off in a better mood than he thought possible.

Author's Note

I'm rather happy with my plot change. Let me know what you think!
(This has been edited)