Book Two Wylan: Chapter 14

Wen and Wy

Chapter 14: Wen and Wy

One Week Later

Wylan’s full bladder and the sound of rustling in his duffel bag woke him up.

Kneeling on the carpet, Wen was holding Wylan’s sketchbook.

Every trace of sleep left Wylan in an instant.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Wylan demanded.

Wen’s whole body jolted. He slowly turned to look at Wylan, the guilt unmistakable on his face. “I was just putting your key necklace back,” Wen said. “I noticed Mary Shelley swiped it again.”

“If you were ‘just putting my key necklace back,’ why are you holding my sketchbook?” Wylan retaliated.

“I was moving it so I could put it on top of the key so she wouldn’t be able to drag the chain out again,” Wen said innocently.

“Bullshit. The next time you want to go through my shit, maybe think about asking me before just diving in,” Wylan lunged at Wen and snatched his sketchbook back.

“I’m sorry,” Wen said softly. “I just want to understand … this is your sketchbook from when you were in that fae world, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Wylan said, feeling fiercely defensive over what it held within its pages.

“Can we look through it … together?” Wen asked cautiously.

I can tell him fuck no, Wylan considered. Instead, he said, “I guess. Let me pee first though.”

After Wylan hit the bathroom, he grabbed a glass of water in the kitchen. His throat still felt like it was coated in sandpaper, and he was still dealing with purple snot but his skin didn’t feel like it was being turned inside out or lit on fire anymore.

Must be through the worst of it, Wylan thought with relief as he circled back to the living room. As he grabbed his sketchbook, Wen sat on the couch next to him. He settled the sketchbook on his lap and opened it to the first page.

Still taped in was the photo Wylan snapped of everyone when they arrived at Grammy and Grandpa’s house that day in April back in 1993.

“Look at us, we were so happy,” Wen said. “Can you imagine if we knew what would happen a few months later?”

“A few days later for me,” Wylan cut in. Of course, he’s thinking about himself again.

“Yeah, of course,” Wen said. His cheeks turned pink.

Wylan slowly flipped the pages, revealing the fantastical creatures in Tamsin’s realm that he drew, like the mushrooms with eyes on them. Wen chuckled at the “Fung-eye” comment Wylan wrote.

A few pages later, Wylan reached the section of his sketchbook where he sandwiched a stack of his Polaroid photos.

He showed Wen the unicorns, the bird-sized butterflies, the pink sky with its two suns, the fantastical Dr. Seuss trees and flowers, and the orchard with jewel-like fruit.

“It was beautiful,” Wen said, awestruck.

“That’s what made it such a nightmare,” Wylan said solemnly.

“We never talked about what really happened while you were there,” Wen said carefully.

The next photos were of the treehouse, the meadows, and even some of the cottages with the colorful clothes drying on lines outside of them. Beneath them was a picture of Kaelis. It was the very first one Wylan surprised him by taking.

Heat surged into Wylan’s body and his heart thudded in his throat.

“No! Not that one!” Wylan snatched it away and turned it over so it was on the couch cushion next to him, backside up.

“Do you want to tell me about him?”

“No. Not right now,” Wylan said. With a trembling hand, he wiped away the tears that raced down his cheeks, with the other he slammed the whole sketchbook shut.

“I’m sorry. Can we look through the rest of your sketchbook? Please?” Wen asked gently.

Wylan exhaled a shallow, shaky breath. Once we go through this, there’s no going back. The thought was terrifying and in a strange way, reassuring. Bringing these nightmares into the light like this was a surefire way to banish the darkness and shadows.

It won’t belong to me alone anymore either, Wylan considered. Maybe looping Wen in on what happened would give the traumatic memories less power over him. Still, he felt his body break out into a cold sweat.

“Wy?” Wen prompted.

He called me by my nickname … finally… the surge of love that hit Wylan was stronger than the fear. He slowly nodded.

The next chunk of pages were all of the maps, most of them sabotaged by Kaelis. Wylan teared up again at the memories that flooded back.

“What were these for?” Wen asked.

Wylan cleared his throat and tried to will the lump in it away. “I didn’t fall down a ‘rabbit hole’ or some shit like that when I crossed over into that realm. I went through a cave. I barely escaped this freaky reptilian bear thing,” he shuddered.

“What is with cave creatures?! I saved a monster hunter from a crocotta in one of the old mining tunnels in a cave on Hollow Road,” Wen explained.

“What the fuck is a crocotta?” Wylan said.

“You don’t want to know,” Wen sighed.

Here he goes again, making it about him, Wylan thought bitterly. “Anyway, I escaped that thing, and I was willing to face off with it again if that meant I could escape Tamsin’s realm. And before you ask, no, I don’t have any pictures of her, and I’m glad I don’t. As it is, I see her face almost every time I close my eyes. I see her dying over and over and over.”

“Tamsin?” Wen asked.

“She was the fae woman that ruled over everything. I pissed her off when I refused to eat her food. Eating food and telling the fae your name is how they trap you there forever,” Wylan said. “She wouldn’t take no for an answer, and I head butted her. I messed up her nose and everything.”

“You what?!” Wen asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

“I thought about what you would do, and I did it,” Wylan explained.

“I don’t head butt people in the face,” Wen said dryly.

“But you were braver than I was,” Wylan said. “Don’t tell me that wasn’t true. I thought about you a lot in the early weeks I was there. I thought about what you would do, and it gave me … strength to keep going.”

Wen leaned against Wylan’s shoulder and put his arm around him in a side hug. “You must’ve been so scared.”

“I was terrified,” Wylan confirmed. “I hid out in the woods until I met …” Wylan shook his head, tears blurring his vision again. “Until I met … Kaelis. He was a shapeshifter. He was looking for his little brother and sister who were stolen from his world.”

His throat was so tight he could barely breathe.

“It’s okay, Wy, you’re here,” Wen said, squeezing him closer. “You’re here.”

“We killed Tamsin. Together. She had her cronies burn down the forest we were hiding out in, and we snuck into her mansion on her wedding day. She had guests coming from other realms, so there were portals there. They were mirrors.”

“Mirrors? Is that why you were hellbent on breaking them? Did you have a nightmare?” Wen asked.

Wylan nodded. “Anyway, we knew we’d be able to find our way back to our worlds through those portals. But we didn’t go there immediately. Instead, we made a pit stop and killed her,” Wylan said. He dug around his duffel bag and yanked the silver chain, holding the key up again, “I stabbed through her throat with this. Kaelis clawed her eyes out. I still see it. I still see her dying.”

“That sounds horrible,” Wen said quietly.

“It was traumatic as fuck,” Wylan said.

“How did you–”

“-What do you remember about me coming back?” Wylan cut in.

“It was the day after the werewolf attack. I was in the hospital when you found your way back to us,” Wen said slowly.

“And what do you remember about it?”

“From what I overheard?” Wen said in the same cautious tone. “That you were skin and bones and clutching a dead kitten. I couldn’t believe how thin you were when I saw you. It was scary.”

“You looked exactly the same. Werewolf attack or not,” Wylan said.

“I was anything but,” Wen said grimly.

“But everyone believed you! For me, everyone was convinced that it was one of two things,” Wylan huffed.

He held up his pointer finger, “One, that I ran away and stayed in the woods for three months because I wanted attention. Two, that I was kidnapped by some freak who held me hostage, and I was finally able to get away. No one let me say what actually happened. And even if they did, they never would’ve believed me. Until DONHE stepped in, everyone thought my ‘trauma’ was causing psychosis. I don’t think even you believed me. Even that ‘special’ therapist mom and dad found for me wanted to put me on pills to stop the ‘delusions.’”

“You remember it that vividly?” Wen gasped.

“My memory isn’t total dogshit, Wen,” Wylan deadpanned. “Anyway, mom and dad disagreed with him. They didn’t want to pump me full of drugs. Funny how that worked out, though,” he flashed a humorless smile.

“Mom and Dad gave you everything you wanted, Wylan,” Wen said.

We’re back to full names again, huh.

“Video games and art supplies didn’t change that it was always all about you, my werewolf brother,” Wylan objected. “Forget what I went through. No. We all needed to think about poor Wen and how everyone died around him, and how he was a werewolf. What about everyone who died around me? What about the gruesome as fuck shit I saw? But when it comes down to it, being a fae survivor is never as good as being a werewolf attack survivor.”

“That’s not true, Wylan!” Wen insisted.

“It is, and you know it,” Wylan forced a smile. “It was all about your pain, your suffering, your grief. You lost Rodger that night. What about how I lost Kaelis? The boy I loved was taken from me just like the boy you loved was taken from you. You saw Rodger die, and you never let any of us ever forget about it. Wait, Wen. Let me finish,” Wylan held a hand up.

“You saw the boy you loved get slaughtered. What about me?” Wylan continued. “That kitten I was holding? He was Kaelis, and he was with me almost the whole time I was in Tamsin Thorncott’s realm. I loved him. He loved me back. He died as I held him in my arms, and then he was ripped from them and tossed into a hole in the ground like trash. He meant everything to me.”

“No one but you knew how much I loved Rodger,” Wen retaliated. “And when I told you I was going to come out to mom and dad about it, what did you do? You told them you were gay the first thing the next morning.”

Wylan remembered it like it was yesterday. He wasn’t going to deny it. “We’re identical, Wen. Once I came out, they assumed you were too.”

“You took that moment away from me,” Wen insisted.

“How about everything you took from me?” Wylan asked, rising to his feet. “Playing the victim doesn’t look good on you, Wen. I thought you were past throwing pity parties for yourself.”

“You were being spiteful,” Wen said.

Wylan could hear that Wen was daring him to contradict him.

“I think we’ve all done things we’re not proud of, Wen,” Wylan said, feeling like the older twin for the first time in his life.

“Let’s not fight,” Wen said, wiping at the tears streaming down his cheeks. “I’m sorry you hurt so badly. You were so angry and defensive all the time. It was impossible to talk to you. And then after high school, you ran off to be with that shitty guy you were dating.”

“You went to college, so it’s not like you were sticking around either,” Wylan paced, “I would’ve stayed if you asked me to.”

“I thought you hated me,” Wen admitted.

“I hated how you treated me, Wen,” Wylan jabbed a finger at Wen. “There’s a difference. Even now … look at the ways you talk to me. What do you know about me as an adult?”

“You don’t act like an adult,” Wen admitted.

“So that means you don’t care to find out,” Wylan said, challenging Wen to deny it.

“I didn’t say that. It’s just …”

“It’s just, what, Wen?” Wylan flung his arms out. “It’s easier for you to hate your ‘dirty, thieving, addict’ brother than to get to know me. That’s what it is. Did you ever think about why I got hooked on fae drugs?”

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t here for you, Wy. I’m sorry that I didn’t try,” Wen got up and pulled Wylan into a full hug. “Things could’ve been so different if I pushed harder to get you to talk to me instead of just leaving you alone.”

Wylan relaxed into the embrace.

When Wen broke the hug, Wylan fought the urge to throw himself back into his brother’s arms.

“Why are you really here, Wy? What happened? Can you please tell me?” Wen asked.

Here we go, Wylan sighed. “I was dating this guy, okay…”

“Okay …?”

“And he … he … he proposed to me,” Wylan stammered. “He’s a musician and a Selkie. He’s neurotic and obsessive and crazy, and fuck, I love him. I love him, Wen.”

“So you abandoned him and drove away,” Wen stated.

“You don’t have to say it like that,” Wylan sighed.

“I’m not saying it any way,” Wen said innocently.

“Yes, you are! You’re doing that thing where you’re judging me again, and it’s really fucking uncool, Wen,” Wylan groaned.

“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to,” Wen apologized.

“I’m the reason Kaelis is dead. I shoulda pushed harder for him to go back to his own world. I was so selfish,” Wylan admitted, his eyes blurring with tears again. “If it wasn’t for me, he’d be alive.”

“What do you mean?” Wen frowned.

“When we went through the portal back to that mirror garden, I didn’t think we’d age back down to when we were kids, and that he’d be trapped in his cat form. I just wanted to be with him. He was my world in Tamsin’s realm, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him,” Wylan dug the heel of his hand into his eyes, trying to grind the tears out of them. “What would he think of me now?”

It’d been haunting him for years. For decades. And now for the first time, he was voicing it aloud.

“You weren’t selfish,” Wen said firmly. “There’s no way you could’ve known what was going to happen.”

“What would he think of me now?” Wylan repeated numbly.

“I think Kaelis would want you to keep living your life. He wouldn’t want you to give up on love and isolate yourself,” Wen declared. “I don’t think you want that either, Wy. You wouldn’t be here with me right now if you did.”

“Yeah,” Wylan sighed.

“So what are you going to do about it?” Wen asked.

For once, judgment wasn’t clinging to his words.

“I don’t want to get married. Not now. Maybe not ever,” Wylan said, rising and pacing again.

“Is that you speaking or your fear?”

“You’re really frustrating sometimes, Wen. Do you know that?” Wylan rolled his eyes.

“Where is he?”

“California,” Wylan said, bracing himself for Wen’s reaction.

“California!? You drove all the way from California to … to … escape here?!” Wen exclaimed.

“You know I’ve always loved roadtrips,” Wylan said casually.

Wow. Talk about a heart to heart! Now that he’s opened up about everything that happened in Tamsin Thorncott’s realm, what’s next for Wylan?

Find out in the final chapter on Friday July 24th. ✨🪞🗝️

(Yes, you read that correctly! There is no chapter next Friday the 17th.)