Anybody But You

118

Chapter One-Eighteen

Vibe: Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths

Everything happened in a blur.

As Alice lost control of more and more mages, George struck out against Henry—their knuckles digging into his ribcage with a dangerous level of force behind them. As Henry went down, blood spurting out of his lips, George finally stopped fighting.

"Henry..." They squeaked, their eyes widening in horror as Henry coughed up more blood.

Hobbling over to Henry, Alice watched helplessly as Alfie's cords of energy disappeared—John cutting their bond and leaving him empty. It took even less time for something to take over his corpse—his body hollowing in further as it deteriorated with the unearthly being inside of him.

"You don't belong here." The being cracked their new neck; learning how to control Alfie's body as they joined the other corpses—grabbing the sword that had been too heavy for Alice off the ground.

"George," Alice swallowed loudly, hearing everyone fighting for their lives behind her, "That isn't your little brother anymore. Please break my chains."

Something seemed to shatter and break with a snap of reality in George's eyes as they looked between Alfie's sword wielding corpse and Henry who was having trouble standing back up.

"Let him go, Georgie... you don't have a choice." Henry coughed again, wiping the blood off his lips as he held his side—struggling to get up.

"Henry!" Arthur rushed over out of breath, picking his injured friend up by his arm as his opponents became distracted by the corpses wielding weapons that had been lost in fights. "What do we do now?" He looked at Alice and George, determination written in his thick brows.

"Fight." Henry clenched his jaw as he forced himself to stand up straight, "We fight like hell."

"How did you kill William's corpse?" Alice looked at George as the group backed away from the bodies coming for them.

George's face went even paler, "It wouldn't die... I tore it to pieces and it still fought back." They gulped, shaking their head, "It only stopped after I... threw its pieces in the river. They just... dissolved."

Picturing the gruesome scene, Alice nodded. "The river." She looked at the others, "They'll kill anyone that gets in their way, but they're only after me. I'll lead them to the water." Holding up a hand at their questionable faces, Alice shook her head.

She had no time to question it either.

"Arthur and Henry, stay together and fight off the slavers—they'll eventually realize the corpses are only after me and use it to their advantage. Be careful of Daisy and the tall lady wearing a skirt—I don't trust them." Alice spoke at the same time that she formed a plan in her mind; the boys nodded before she turned to George on her other side. As she strategized, the group carefully evaded the corpses in front of them, "George, you and any others you can get to, cut down all the mages that haven't turned yet. John will try to cut ties with the ones you kill, but he can't cut all the ties or he'll also die... so keep going no matter how overwhelmed I become by them. The sooner the better—I can't keep fighting back his magic." She added, feeling said energy depletion from counteracting his moves. Even the staff at that point was closer to powerless with so many energy cords severed.

"Everyone ready?" Alice clenched her jaw, preying she would be fast and strong enough as she looked at the short distance to the river between the last few mages under her control.

George grabbed Alice, breaking her chain with ease before abruptly throwing her non-bleeding arm around their shoulder, "We're going the same way, right?" Turning to Henry their face morphed regretfully in a grimace, "I'm sorry... Don't die out there, okay?"

Henry reached over, forcing back a wince on his face as he ruffled their white-blonde and bloody hair, "It's okay, Georgie. I'll get you back when we meet again." He promised, his bright blue eyes sparkling with forgiveness and understanding.

"You stay safe, too, Arch." George gestured to Arthur with their chin, "You owe me that meal."

Henry chuckled at the reminder as Arthur sighed, "A promise is a promise." With a salute, he nodded.

"Good luck, boys." Alice joined in as they began parting ways.

Henry tossed a hand up, "Kick ass out there, miss blondie!"

~*~*~

A.N.

Low key love the boys. They're such a good pair. And George is so cool. What do you think will happen next?

Thank you for returning and reading! Sorry for the MIA status!