Page 89 of The Order

“Is something going on?” Xavier questions, quickly asking the question with worry. Adam nudges my brother forward, watching him stumble.

“What the hell is your problem?” Kai yells, swinging back at Adam, nearly hitting his face.

Xavier grabs my brother's fist, giving him an apologetic look in hopes of calming him down. I watch my brother's anger die down. Adam laughs in his face, taunting him.

“Fallan?”I question, feeling an unusual silence in the presence of something lingering at the back door of my mind.

“Adam, go wait in the car,'' Xavier says, lowering my brother's hand. His companion scoffs.

“Boy, you know-”

Xavier’s hands are around Adam’s collar within the blink of an eye, shoving the man back so hard into the house he almost falls to the ground. I watch Xavier pin the man against the wall, quickly putting him in a position with no easy way out.

“What the hell is going on?” my father’s voice booms.

He stands in the doorway, watching the scene unfold before him. My brother and I both give him a look, taking a step back with Xavier, all of us watching Adam slump to the ground.

“He was being rough with your children,” Xavier lets out, having no regrets in his actions against his superior.

My father pinches the bridge of his nose, finally forcing his gaze toward me. His hand reaches for me, grabbing my collar to pull me closer to him. Xavier almost reaches for me first, quickly deciding not to the minute he sees the anger on my father’s face. Kai grabs my free arm, stopping my father from being able to pull me any further.

"This doesn't involve you, Kaiden,” my father hisses, using my brother's full name, while he continues pulling.

“Whatever you have to say to her, you can say to me too,” Kai begins.

My father gives Xavier and Adam a look. Xavier looks hesitant, clenching his jaw in anger as he pries my brother's hand away from my arm, promptly shoving him back and into Adam. They both prevent Kai from following us. My head snaps to my father, giving Kai one last look of worry before feeling my legs force themselves into unison with my father’s steps. My body drags across the floor, eventually being tossed into my father’s study.

He slams the door, giving me a look of irritation. I pound my fists on its wood, ready to yell out for my mother. His hand is on my shoulder, squeezing tightly while guiding me down and into the nearest chair. He applies as much pressure as he can, keeping his weight down on me to keep me within his grasp. I thrash my shoulders, looking up at him with anger.

“Get the fuck off of me!” I yell, unsure of how willing I am to act on the energy surging through me.

“Do you have any idea what you've done? What you've made me do?” my father questions in a low tone. His computer screen is flipped away, shielding whatever paints his screen in bright light.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about-”

“Stop lying!” my father yells, grabbing my face in his hand with a clutch so tight my skin is surely bruised. I feel the scrape of a presence in my headspace, urging me to fight back.

“How long have you been around him? How long has it been since he found you?” my father questions.

My stomach drops.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I question, nudging my body forward to get out of his grasp.

He shoves my face away, easing the tension in my jaw. Angrily, he moves to his computer screen, flipping around the monitor to show me the one visual I had hoped he wouldn't. It's distant but clear enough to make out who it is. Fallan’s hands are all over me, holding me up and against him, still managing to fill me with an incurable need to be near him, even from a digitized state.

My father’s eyes are wide between glances at me and the monitor. I slowly rise to my feet, watching him switch the screen from that night on the deck to earlier today behind the shops, all of my severe violations on display like glaring red flags.

“Do you sympathize with the scum now?” my father questions, minimizing the tab that dissolves itself into a file labeled “Project X.”There are multiple files with different dates, most dated over the last two years.

“It was a slip-up,” I start, doing my best to justify my actions. “And it wasn't his choice. I forced it onto him.” I continue.

“I tried to keep him safe,'' my father says, running his hand along his mouth in a frustrated tick. “I told Joshua I would keep him safe and told myself each time I input code for the two of you that it would be different,” my father continues, fidgeting at his desk, finishing off what's left of the glass of scotch. “Every time, I think it's different, but we always end up back here,” he continues, pulling out the one thing that ruins it all.

A Re-Regulation Device.

“Who's Joshua?” I question with a wobble in my tone, feeling my fears rise as my father switches on the device.

“Fallan’s father," he begins, looking up at me with sorrow. “My best friend,” he continues, drawing more blanks in my mind as I try to recall us being around anyone named Joshua growing up.

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