Avery
Avery picked up her harmonica and ran her fingers up and down it, smiling as she remembered when Taylor gave it to her. She stood and picked up the harmonica, then went and knocked on Taylor's bedroom door. She opened it a second later.
"Hey, Taylor? Um... I was wondering, if you were up to it, you wanna play harmonica?"
Taylor
Taylor looked up from his desk.
He'd only been staring at the desk for the past hour or so, trying to decide his next course of action. He'd hardly left his room since he'd been back.
"Harmonica?" he frowned a little, indicating for her to sit on the bed.
Avery
"You know, this shiney creature here... you blow through it and it makes noise?" Avery lifted the harmonica up and demonstrated by putting her lips to it.
It made an awful sound.
She needed lessons. Badly.
"So, if you felt like it... but if you're not ready, I can go..."
Taylor
"No, don't go," Taylor shook his head slowly, reaching for the harmonica.
He ran his fingers along it and smiled slightly.
"I gave this to you, didn't I? For your birthday..."
He hesitated and pulled his hand back, before sitting on the bed. He patted the space next to him indicating for her to sit beside him.
"Have you been practicing?"
Avery
Avery sat next to him and grinned sheepishly.
"Well... what I just demonstarted then was about the extent of my talent... I tried to practice, but I couldn't do it properly without you."
Taylor
Taylor frowned a little and took the harmonica from her hands to study it.
"Yeah, our lessons were kinda interrupted rather rudely, weren't they?" he grinned slightly.
He threw it up and caught it again.
Avery
"Come on, Tay, play something for me. I've missed hearing it played... well properly."
Avie grinned at her brother.
Taylor
Taylor nodded slowly.
"Ok," he grinned at her, sitting the harmonica in his hands and putting it to his lips.
He concentrated for a moment, then dropped it.
"I-I'm sorry," Taylor shook his head, staring at it, "but, I can't..."
Avery
"What do you mean, you can't? You can, Tay you're a good player!"
Avery stared at her brother in confusion.
Taylor
Taylor bent down to fetch the harmonica and placed it in her hand knowing she could feel him shaking. He took her other hand and covered the harmonica with it.
"Avie... alot of things have changed..." he began slowly, "you know, you and I have been through hell together, and I know you don't know why I've been acting strange and anti-social."
He gulped as he glanced away.
"A lot of damage was done to me, up here," he tapped his temple, "and I don't know how it happened or how long it's going to last. But I'm not the same person I was before we left. Hopefully I'll be back to the old Taylor soon, but at the moment, no."
He took a deep breath.
"I guess that's my long-winded way of saying I've forgotten."
He looked into her eyes and shook his head, biting his lip.
"I've forgotten how to play."
Avery
Avery gasped in shock. She stared at Taylor for a long while, then she shook her head.
"But how? No, this can't... what... I don't... Taylor, are you ok?"
Avery wrapped her arms around her brother.
Taylor
"At the moment I don't know," Taylor shook his head, willing the tears away as he hugged her.
"Something happened back there, and I don't know what. You know how I said whenever you used telepathy on me it gave me a headache? Well whatever caused it has gotten worse... that's what I think anyway."
He looked confused.
Avery
"Then... this is my fault?" Avery asked, withdrawing from Taylor's arms.
Taylor
"No, no, no..." Taylor insisted softly, running his fingers down the side of her face, "I don't know what happened before, but if it wasn't for the Spider or the Eye..."
Avery
"So what do we do? What happens now?"
Avery reached over and held her brothers hands.
"It's not over, is it?"
Taylor
Taylor bit his lip, not knowing what to say. He couldn't even look her in the eyes anymore.
"It's..." he figured that by now she would have picked it from his thoughts anyway, "it's not going to be over until he finds me. He wanted me to translate something for him, and going to hurt you if I didn't. I tried to kill myself but he wouldn't even let me do that."
He covered his face with one of his hands, holding his eyes shut.
"And now he's decided he doesn't want anyone to know what that was, and I'm in desperate need of telling someone."
Avery
Avery squeezed Taylor's hand harder.
"Tay, you have to tell mom or dad... or anyone really."
A tear fell down her cheek. "I'm so sorry that I didn't know Christian wasn't you... I should've known."
Taylor
"I don't care about that Avie, it wasn't anyone's fault."
He tried to stop his voice shaking.
"And I plan to tell Dad. As soon as I get a chance... I have to find the right time. It's not going to be something he's going to take lightly."
He raised his eyebrows.
"To put it lightly that is."