Me: Hello, all, and welcome to the worst chapter I've ever written.

Denow: It's not, well... That's besides the point.

Me: Wha- You were NOT supposed to say that.

Denow: *smiles angelically* This is the best chapter ever and butterflies and unicorns will fly around your head when you read it.

Me: Okay. Now you're just mocking me.

Denow: Possibly.

Brooke: Would you like to explain to me why you keep inviting people to talk with us?

Dean: Did you bring me pie?

Denow: I brought pie...

Dean: Can I have it? *hopeful*

Denow: No. It's mine. Find your own pie.

Dean: ...Life is full of cruel people :'(

Solace: Alright, this is my type of writer. Sarcasm all the way.

Dean: Sarcasm? You're sarcastic too? But there's Solace!

Denow: Sarcastic? No. Never. *grinning sarcastically*

Solace: I love her already ;)

Me: I would quickly like to thank Firefrostflare, Princessjewel101, Renxoxox, and Caningirl365 for being awesome fans and putting up with my horrible story.

Denow: Excuse me?

Solace: Need some help? *conjuring sword*

Denow: Thanks, Solace.

Me: Thank you to Denow.

Denow: For?

Me: Being Denow.

Denow: Fair enough. *grins* Not now Solace I guess.

Solace: You wanna hold onto it? I got lots.

Denow and Solace: *smiling evilly*

D'Anna: Am I the only one who senses trouble here?

Dean: *whispering* I think Denow's evil!

Brooke: And friends with Solace? That's not good.

D'Anna: We should probably get out of here.

Denow and Solace: *whispering evil sounding things*

Brooke: Yep! Better get outa here. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 9: Broken

"Kalyn!" I hissed

The leaves above rustled as a head poked out of the branches.

"Brooke?"

"Come down, and meet my friends!"

"What? NO!"

I tried to climb the tree, but the foot holds had mysteriously disappeared.

"Come down here!" Solace cried.

I tried to coax him down, but he didn't seem to be going anywhere. He just sat in a branch and stayed put.

Don't like being in the spotlight, remember? Kalyn transmitted What don't you get about that? That's why I ran away. I can't come down. I won't.

Finally, Solace picked up a huge chunk of rock and chucked it at him. The rock was bigger than I expected it to be. It hit him square in the chest and he fell backwards out of the tree.

"Solace!" I cried and ran to catch him.

Luckily, he fell into a big pile of autumn leaves.

He moaned, his face contorted in pain.

"Well, he's down," Solace rolled her eyes "Really and truly you should be thanking me."

I gave her a glare and tried to lift up my brother. He looked obviously hurt, but he tried his best to keep a straight face.

Solace sighed "Just get up."

"Brooke!" He cried in exasperation.

"Aw, c'mon Kalyn," I said carefully pulling him out of the leaves "These are nice people."

He stared at me accusingly, then painfully stood up.

"Hey," Solace said nonchalantly

He raised an eyebrow.

"Are you really Brooke's brother?" Dean asked "Why were you in a tree? What were you doing?"

Clearly, he had had to much sugar before trying to kidnap me.

"Um..." Kalyn said tying to be friendly, but clearly uncomfortable. "Yes I am really Brooke's brother. The tree up there, I used to live there, I was playing cards."

"Really? What's your favourite colour?"

Kalyn shot me a twisted smile.

I know the answer to this one he transmitted.

You'd better. I answered and then laughed because I saw Dean was impatiently waiting an answer.

I let them talk while I sat with D'Anna and Solace.

"I have to admit, he's pretty cool," D'Anna said

"Pretty weird that's what," Solace muttered under her breath

"Solace, you're one to talk. You threw a rock at him, and he fell out of a tree."

"Alright, fine. But he's still weird."

Kalyn walked back with Dean. He was kind of limping. And he was breathing fast.

"So I heard you were a Conjurer," he said "Can I see?"

"Alright," Solace shrugged and a sword materialized in her hand "Wanna fight?"

"No..." Kalyn's eyes were wide.

"Fine then," the sword disappeared from her hand.

Suddenly my Imparter flew out of my bag and in to my hand.

"Hide!" I hissed to Kalyn, who limped over to a tree.

It was mom.

"Honey," she said "Where are you?"

"At Siren Rock with my friends." It must have been after school already.

"I need you to come home, ok? No wandering around."

"K mom," I said "I'll be there right away."

"Bye Brooke."

"Bye."

Solace said they were going to hang out in the woods a little longer, so I took my home crystal, and held Kalyn's hand.

We lightheaded directly to my room. As soon as I let go of his hand, Kalyn blew out a sharp breath, and staggered.

"Are you ok?" I asked

"Yeah, fine." He mumbled

"Let me see your back." I said

"I'm fine, Brooke." But I knew he wasn't.

I lifted up the back of his shirt, only to see it was covered with sweat. Angry patches of green and dark purple bruises racked his spine, and I knew he was trying to hold in the pain. But then I saw something else. A dart. Poison. I pulled it out and placed it on the table.

"Kalyn," I said

"Brooke, I'm ok really," he tried to smile, but it only came out as a wince.

"Stay in here." I said "I have to find mom, but I'll be right back."

"I'm not going anywhere." He tried to smile.

I opened the door and ran into the kitchen. Mom was waiting for me. I grabbed the painkillers from the cupboard as she started to talk.

"Hey Brooke," she said. "We need to talk."

"Umm... Can we talk later?" I asked.

I needed to be upstairs right now.

"No, we need to talk now."

"I have a stomach ache though." I rubbed my tummy and gestured to the painkillers for extra effect.

"Brooke."

"Oh mom," I groaned "I don't feel well."

"Are you-"

"I think I'm gonna-"

I took the moment to run upstairs to my room and slam the door. I knew she wouldn't follow me.

Kalyn was doubled over on the floor. Beads of sweat were running down his face.

He clenched his fists, and he was closing his eyes. I turned him over onto his back, and pulled out something. A dart. Poison.

"Kalyn," I whispered and poured a few painkillers out of the bottle, although I knew it wouldn't help.

But he just groaned, shook his head, and curled up into a ball.

"Kalyn, you have to take these." I cried

Kalyn's eyes went pale, and I knew he was fitting for consciousness. I took the pills and practically shoved them in his mouth.

"Swallow," I ordered.

He swallowed them. I wrapped my arm over his body.

"It's okay," I said "You're going to be fine."

Kalyn was breathing in short breathes, his chest rising and falling at a scary rate.

I hugged him tight, whispering that he was going to be fine.

Kalyn's eyes opened to stare at me before rolling into his head. He didn't open his eyes, but his breathing started to slow. He passed out on the floor, right in front of me.

I cried softly, half worried, and half sick to my stomach.

I knew that he couldn't sleep under my bed tonight. He was going to have to sleep on top of it.

I grunted as I lifted him onto my bed and threw the blankets over his limp body. I flipped my happy sign on the door of my bedroom to a sad sign. My parents wouldn't be bugging me now.

Then I grabbed some towels from the bathroom, and some bandages, then filled a basin with cold water.

I peeled off his shirt and did my best to wrap the cloth bandages around his chest. I put some cold clothes on his head, and then I sat on the floor in a puddle of dread. I wasn't a doctor. What would happen if I couldn't fix him?

I stared at his broken figure. What if I couldn't save him? I mentally slapped myself. If I was trying to hide a brother, I was going to hide a healthy one. I looked at Kalyn worriedly; but all I could do was wait.

Waiting was torturous. Kalyn was non stop work. He had broke into a fever and the painkillers didn't seem to be working. I had to resoak the clothes a million times, but nothing seemed to be working. I was going to need help. But I couldn't do this without a doctor. And I didn't think I could call the

school doctor until tomorrow. But I was getting desperate. So I lifted the Imparter to my face and whispered "Show me Elwin."

I had to light leap him to the school. My nexus level was almost full, so I was alright with carrying him.

"What happened to him?" Elwin asked right away

"He fell out of a tree." Was I all I said. "And fell on a poison dart."

I laid him down on the bed, as Elwin made all sorts of lights appear from his finger tips. He started to work. I watched him with misery, as his face turned cold. He tried a million different ingredients on him. Then he sighed.

"He'll be fine," Elwin said "But he needs to be very careful. These things take time to heal. I don't remember seeing him around before. Is he new?"

"No," I said "He's my friend from another place. But you can't tell anyone we were here. We might be in big big trouble if you do."

He didn't look convinced but he agreed. He said we were going to have to stay here a while until he finished.

It was dark when we finally went back home. I laid him on the bed, and turned out the room light. The night table lamp turned on and I sat on the end of the bed.

I needed to stay awake to protect him. But sooner than I wanted, my eyelids started to droop. And I was asleep before I knew it.

"Hey sleepy head." I heard as I woke up curled at the end of the bed.

Kalyn smiled at me and waved. I ran to embrace him.

"I'm so glad you're better." I sighed "I was really worried."

"Me too."

Then I said something I'd never said before.

"I love you."

There was silence then. "I love you too."

I smiled as we lay on my bed. My life was officially anything but normal. But at the end of the day, everything turned out to be ok. And that was totally fine with me.

Me: So thanks for putting up with my horrible chapter. Probably another horrible one to come!

Denow: Probably.

Me: Okay, you're just mean.

Denow: *beams* S'what I do.

Dean: Yep. You're just evil. Won't even give me pie.

Denow: *holds up pie* You want it Dean?

Dean: YES YES YES YES!

Denow: Solace?

*Five shaving cream pies appear and smash themselves into Dean*

Dean: MEHHHHHH!

Denow: Byeeeee! *High fives Solace*

Dean: Is she gone?

Denow: *smashes one more shaving cream pie in Dean's face* Review, Favourite, Follow!