The Otherworlders Academy - An Original Teen Fantasy

Ep. 2.3 (R) - Secrets Never Stay Buried

As they leave the classroom for good, Farid signals to Fiona that she should go on without them, then he pulls Sebastian aside. "We need to talk," he hisses.

Farid steers Sebastian into a corner, then lowers his voice to a hush, "Bash, we can't keep pretending that nothing ever happened. We've gotta tell someone."

Sebastian looks at Farid, confused. "Tell someone what?"

"About the Shifter!" Farid says through clenched teeth. "You know, the one we had to bury in the woods!"

"Oh, that!" Sebastian's confusion turns to amusement and he laughs. "Farid, you can't be serious? Who are we gonna tell and what do you want to tell them?"

"I don't know." Farid shrugs. "I'm just feeling increasingly uncomfortable with what we did, especially after getting to know the other kids better and talking to Master Liu." He begins to pace. "I mean, sure, I did mention starting a race war when you first showed the guy to me, but I was kinda blowing smoke out of my ass at the time. We know it's illegal but--"

"Farid!" Sebastian raises his hands to put a stop to his brother's panic. "Think about what you're saying. Why would we do that?" he asks earnestly, "so they can kick us out of the Academy? Or worse, have us arrested?"

Anxious, Farid drags his fingers through his shoulder-length hair, desperately needing to do something with his hands. "I don't know, Bash," he moans, "I just... I just don't want to keep carrying this guilt around with me anymore. Isn't it eating you up inside?"

"Oh, brother, brother, brother." Sebastian shakes his head as he slips his arm around Farid's shoulders, pulling him close as they walk slowly down the hall. "Look," he says, "even though we didn't kill the guy, we did go to a hell of a lot of trouble to respectfully bury his body out in the woods. We even left a marker on his grave," he adds.

"And what about his family?" Farid pleads. "Don't they have a right to know?"

"Know what?" Sebastian replies.

"Know where he's buried!" Farid shoots back.

Sebastian stops abruptly and throws Farid an incredulous look, his face a mix of confusion and disbelief. "Are you serious?" he scoffs. "They're Shifters! They're warriors! Things like this don't matter to them. I mean, a hundred years ago they would have left the battlefield littered with the bodies of their fallen comrades."

"And you know this, how?" Farid asks skeptically.

"I'm not sure." Annoyed, Sebastian waves Farid's concerns away. "I read it on the Internet somewhere. The point is," he rushes his words in an attempt to deflect Farid's challenge, "Shifters aren't like us," he says. "They don't stand on ritual and ceremony like we do. They're... " He looks up at the ceiling, searching for just the right word. "They're... Well, let's just say they're more primitive than we are."

Farid is horrified by the comment, but Sebastian just plows on. "Plus, like I said earlier," he adds, "it's not like we were the ones to kill him or anything. We did the best we could, given the rather unfortunate situation we got stuck with." He shrugs.

Farid stares at his brother in shock and disbelief. How on earth can they share the same genes?! He closes his eyes and shakes his head to try and refocus. He's determined to find a way to make things right. "Okay, fine," he says to Sebastian, "but that doesn't mean we can just ignore it. What about the guy's family? Don't they have a right to know where he's buried?"

"Oh, for the love of the gods, Farid!" Sebastian throws up his hands, then glares at his brother, his brows furrowing in frustration. "Honestly, I can't tell if you're being obstinate or naive."