stargirl020: Here's your update! We're glad that you like it. You'll see what happened to him now.

Lorelei(guest): Here. It. Is.

Guest: WE POST EVERY SATURDAY. CHECK HERE AND YOU'LL GET YOUR CHAPTERS!

Chapter 4: And Yet, Here We Are

Darkness. That's all he could see.

The aching pain coming from his arms that were strung above his head was all that he could feel. Stinging, burning pain raced down his arm from where he got cut when he tried to fight the assailant. He never thought this would happen again, and he never thought it'd happen to him.

And yet, here he was, tied up, and was probably going to die.

A cold wind brushed against his skin as air rushed out of the still room. The thick, heavy metal door was swung open by a person. A person whose power he could sense as they walked toward him. He could also feel how angry they were. Swirling deep within this person was a pure, utter rage.

"Shall we start?" the person asked.

And the screaming began.

"What did you do with Keefe?!" Biana screamed, lunging for Tam. No one tried to stop her as she tackled him to the ground.

Tam struggled against her. "Nothing! I swear!" His mind raced as he tried to figure out what happened. "It was a prank, but I didn't do this!"

"It was a prank?! Here we are, standing in the middle of an empty field, with no civilization for MILES and Keefe is GONE!" She screamed. Angry tears welled in her teal blue eyes and they slid down her cheeks.

Tam's mind swirled with possible answers and fear. Not just of Biana, but of what was going on.

Did Keefe get kidnapped?

Or is he pranking him again?

"Biana, get off," Fitz said.

When she didn't comply, he pulled her up. "Biana, enough. Tam didn't do anything. At least, not that we can prove,"

A pang of hurt echoed in his chest at those words. How could his friends not believe him?

Another pang echoed through him as he realized something far deeper.

There was another rebellion.

Dex offered him his hand, pulling him up. "Thanks," he whispered. Dex nodded once, as though he understood Tam didn't do this.

"Keefe's gone," Linh said, running her hands through her hair. "We have to call Magnate Leto or the Council."

Tam saw Sophie pull out her imparter, calling Magnate Leto. She stepped away, but he made out words like "missing, note, please come."

And just a few moments later, bright flashes of light brought all twelve Councillors and the five members of the collective.

No one was in disguise, as there was no point. Not anymore, not now that the Council and Black Swan worked together.

Juline Diznee raced toward her son, pulling him into a tight hug that he seemed to melt into.

Fitz and Sophie had taken to explain things to the Council and Collective.

Councillor Emery looked at the registry pendent on the ground, and his face turned grim. He looked concentrated for a moment, as though he was carrying out a telepathic conversation. The more Tam thought about it, the more he realized that probably what was happening.

And suddenly the gravity of the situation dawned on him.

Keefe Sencen was not just missing.

Someone took him, someone caused him harm.

Tam suddenly couldn't breathe as he fell to his knees. He did this. He caused this. The guilt was so heavy, it was like it was crushing him. Keefe wasn't someone he was fond of, but at the end of the day, they were still friends. No matter the number of times he wanted to clobber the boy to death, he was still someone he cared about.

Now, he was suffocating in his friend's doom.

Strong hands pulled him up. They were saying something, something Tam didn't hear.

"W-what?" He said, hating the shakiness in his tone. Tiergan. It makes sense that it was Tiergan.

"This is not your fault," he said, his voice stern and hard. Unwavering. "You are not to blame."

"I brought him out here, I sent him here, I was going to make him think he was kidnapped, how is it not my fault?" Tam whispered, feeling tears burn in his eyes.

"You did not mean to cause him harm," Tiergan murmured, pulling Tam into a hug.

And yet, here we are, with Keefe's blood splattered on the ground.

Tam was never one for hugs, not after never receiving one from his parents. But at this moment, he didn't care. Because he had never felt so guilty. Because he's never felt so horrible.

So Tam melted into the hug, struggling to hold himself together. Struggling to not fall into the cracks that his mind was forming as he held himself accountable.

"It's not your fault," Tiergan repeated as Tam sobbed into his chest.

And yet, here we are.