Maybe this was all a dream.

I was certainly dreaming now. Either that, or I was dead. But I doubted that. If I was dead, I shouldn’t feel so… sad. I would get to see Tony again. Things would be better.

But instead, I just felt horrible.

Looking around at the rolling hills and vast expanse of greenery, I couldn’t see another soul. Weird ass dream.

Since there was nothing else to do, and mysteriously my stomach, chest, and face were all unwounded, I decided to walk. After what felt like hours, I had gone seemingly nowhere. My surroundings had barely changed.

Then the wind seemed to whisper, almost like a voice.

In the blink of an eye, I was standing in a forest not unlike the one I had been running in (in real life, I thought).

Voices were floating from the trees.

“Welcome. It’s nice to see you again.” My heart stopped for a moment. That was Matt.

But he wasn’t talking to me. Someone replied, “Where am I?”

“You’re in the plane of illumination. In other words, you’re dead.”

“What?!” My pulse doubled at the sound of the second voice. I knew that voice too. Tony. I crept behind a tree and peeked out into a clearing.

And there they were. Matt and Tony were staring each other down in the clearing, Tony looking distressed, Matt as calm as if he was meditating. For a split second, Matt’s gaze shifted over to the tree I was crouched behind. Did he know I was here? Did he want me to be here?

I shook my head silently, too irritated to analyze his motives. When my hearing focused in again, they had resumed their conversation.

“You have to send me back,” Tony was saying. “I need to be alive. I can’t die yet!”

“I’ve never sent someone back from the dead before.” Matt nearly smirked.

“But it’s still possible.”

“Yes. But what makes you think I’d be willing to send you back?” Once more, Matt’s eyes turned towards me. Maybe he was trying to tell me something: that it was possible to live after dying? That Tony had a chance?

“Well… I know you like my mom, Ariel. She always said you had a soft spot for her, after her cancer and all. You wouldn’t take her son from her, would you?”

“Hmm, very convincing,” Matt said sarcastically. “I’ve helped her out of her suffering before. She’s content now. I bet she never told you the deal she made with me.”

“Deal?”

“Oh yes. She agreed to restart a feud for me, in exchange for her cancer to fade. Of course, I didn’t intend for that to happen. Her life was never supposed to be at stake. But mistakes happen.” He shrugged this off easily. “It all works out in the end.”

Tony’s mouth was hanging open.

“But,” Matt continued, “your family should not be in Svartur. Being away from the Fitzgerald line weakens the feud. However, if you stay here, dead, Tyler will eventually go back to Earth. The feud will continue.”

“You… You killed me so a feud could continue?!”

“No!” Matt scowled. “I am not a killer. Besides, I can’t control life and death in the physical world. I’m simply telling you the positive effect of your death.”

I sank lower behind the tree, letting the rough bark dig into my palms. Matt would never send Tony back. I knew that much.

But he seemed to know I was here, yet he did nothing. Why? Was he torturing me by putting my brother somewhere I could see him, but didn’t dare to approach? What the hell, Matt…

Sighing, I forced that thought away and refocused my attention on the conversation.

“Whatever. I just want to go home,” Tony pleaded. “Tyler needs me. It’s not me who needs him anymore.”

“Really? Are you sure?” Matt raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sure. He… loves me.” I winced at how unconvincing Tony sounded.

“Prove it.”

Tony sighed and played with his sleeve for a second before looking up. “Well, he took care of me ever since my mom and dad left. He used to read to me every night. Made sure I had fun.”

“That’s hardly an example of love. More like he was forced into the role of a parent-”

“Alright, fine.” Tony paused to think again. “Um… Tyler used to tuck me in at night. I’d tell him about school and how things were going, and he would… reassure me, I guess.”

“Used to?” Matt’s sharp ears had obviously not missed the past tense.

“Ugh, never mind.”

Matt crossed his arms, making his biceps bulge. “Is that really the best you can do? Isn’t there anything more recent?” Now I was certain – he was definitely looking at me, maybe even looking through the tree somehow.

Tony’s face scrunched up for a second as he thought. Suddenly, his eyebrows flew up and his face lightened. “I know! Tyler used to street fight for money when he was a teen, but Samson got him out of that.”

“Why?” Matt interrupted with a snort.

“Street fighters… ended up dead a lot. Or else they were so good, they got recruited as hit men.”

“Interesting. But how does that relate to an example of his love for you?”

“I’m getting there,” Tony said, and I had a feeling he was suppressing the urge to yell. I know I was. “Samson loaned us money, and Tyler got into better activities in his free time. He joined the soccer team.”

“And?”

“And he won a scholarship for soccer. Like, a college one. He was really good, but he turned it down so he could stay at home and keep working to support me. He gave up his dream so I could have a chance at mine. There’s no bigger sacrifice in life than that.”

Matt was nodding now, his head slowly moving up and down. “Better. But lets see if what you say is really true.”

With a wave of Matt’s hand, Tony vanished.

“What did you do with him?!” I burst out from behind the tree and rushed at Matt, fully intending to tackle him to the ground. Instead, he simply put out a hand.

“Please, Tyler. You know you can’t hurt me. I’m dead.”

“Where’s Tony?” I snarled.

“I sent him somewhere else. He doesn’t need to know that you’re here.”

“Somewhere safe?” My eyes searched the ground for a rock, but there were none. And no branches. I suspected Matt had somehow moved those too.

“Of course.” He spread his hands wide, as if suggesting he had nothing to hide. “Tony did what I asked.”

Curiosity got the better of me. My anger slowly ebbed away. “Why did you make him say all that? And why did I have to see it? Don’t deny it-” I said as Matt raised his hand to butt in. “-I know you brought me here just so I could hear what Tony said.”

“I’m giving you a deal.”

“Nuh uh, I’m not taking part in your shitty-”

“This is your only chance to get Tony back.” His hardened gaze bored into mine. “Your mother promised the feud would be restarted. But by moving you to another world, it will not stay that way. I need you to continue what she started.”

I knew I would regret saying this, but I said it anyway. “How?”

“You will go back to Earth and resume the feud with Nick and Laura Dole. Only then will I think about releasing Tony from this plane.”