In a dark alley next to the Tin Alley nightclub, Sebastian McFadden's eyes flutter open. Dazed and disoriented, he sits up and groans as his fuzzy consciousness sharpens into focus from the mother of all blackouts.

With the insistent beat of techno-music thumping in the background and the smell of piss and stale beer wafting around him, he cups his aching head in his hands.

As his eyes adjust to the murky veil of night, his gaze lands on the crumpled body laying at his feet...

The dead crumpled body laying at his feet.

"Oh, shit!" Sebastian scrambles back up against the wall.

Short of breath, he tries to steady his trembling hands as he pulls out his cell phone and quick-dials for help.

"Farid," he says weakly into the phone. "Where are you?"

He listens impatiently to his half-brother's answer on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, yeah, I know all of that. Look," he runs a still trembling hand through his hair, then he rises to his feet, pacing the alley in chaotic circles. "You've got to come and get me, bro" he says. "I'm at the Tin Can Alley. Well, in the alley next to the Tin Can Alley. You remember that nightclub, right? The one in No Man's Land just east of Mount Diablo?"

There's a long pause.

"Yes, Farid, I understand. I do. I get it!" He huffs out a breath. "This is the last time, I promise!"

Another long pause.

As Sebastian listens, he slowly thumps his forehead with the heel of his palm, then comes to a stop less than twelve inches from the corpse.

He looks down at it—at him—this guy he hardly knows, shockingly pale and scrunched up into a ball like a fetus.

Sebastian closes his eyes. "Farid, please, you have to come," he implores.

A sad beat passes between them before he finishes his plea. "I really, really need your help."

***

Farid McFadden pulls off his helmet as he jumps off his vintage Harley. After looking up and down the deserted streets, he makes his way down the alley, searching for his half-brother in the dark.

"Sebastian?" he calls out hesitantly as he takes a tentative step forward.

"Sebastian, you here?" His voice is louder this time with a thread of unease seeping through it. He looks around cautiously. Man, he's not getting a good feeling about this.

"Seriously, Bash. This isn't funny. And just so you know, I'm pretty pissed at you for dragging me out here at three o'clock in the morning. If this is a joke, dude, I swear..." Farid suddenly stops short then lets out a gasp. "What the...?"

He looks down at Sebastian, who's crouching down with his arms wrapped around his shins, rocking back and forth helplessly against the wall.

Sebastian swipes away a crusty spot of blood clinging to his bottom lip. And even in the dark, Farid can see the fear evident in his brother's forlorn hazel eyes.

Sebastian croaks out, " I think he's dead." His voice is weak, tenuous, bordering on the pathetic, causing Farid to breathe out a sigh.

Carefully, Farid bends down to feel the guy's pulse. Then he shakes his head slowly. Nothing.

Farid stares at his brother, hard. "Bash...what the hell did you do?"

Sebastian stands awkwardly, avoiding Farid's gaze. "Look, it's not my fault okay?" He takes a few steps backward, putting some distance between him and his brother and him and the corpse. He holds his hands up at his sides. "I swear! I was with Eddie and Theo in the club last night and this guy, he just..." he points to the body, "well, he was being a real ass."

Farid tilts his head as if to say, "Really? You're gonna go with that excuse?"

Sebastian shakes his head woefully. "I don't know. He kept trying to score drugs off of us, and he just wouldn't quit. All night, he wouldn't leave us alone. So finally, Eddie said, 'Hey, let's have a little fun with this prick.' " Sebastian shrugs. "So that's what we did. We lured him out here and—"

"—bled him dry!" Farid finishes as he rises angrily to his feet.

"But that wasn't the plan!" Sebastian exclaims, professing his innocence valiantly, but likely to no avail. "We weren't trying to hurt the guy, bro. We hadn't even planned to go all the way." He looks away sheepishly, ashamed. "Well, not at first anyway." He looks back at his brother, trying to make a connection, "But he had so much Smack in him." Sebastian conjures up a pitiful, glassy-eyed smile. "You remember, Farid, how it used to be? You remember what it was like when we'd go out and party?"

Farid shoots his brother a withering glare.

Once...only once did he accompany Sebastian to one of his friend's debauched parties, and he hated every minute of it. He was a Second Son, and his job was to keep Sebastian, the family's First Son, out of trouble. It's the primary role of a Second Son in Vampyric culture—practically their only reason for existing. The protecting, not the partying.

And typically Farid hangs out with the other Second Sons in a separate room, or on the steps of some rich Vampyr's gaudy mansion, or in the backyard far away from the bedlam and chaos.

"Look," Sebastian says, his smile slowly fading, "I don't remember much of what happened last night. But I'm certain, absolutely certain, this guy was alive when I passed out. I swear it!"

Farid's cold, hard stare eventually eases because he knows Sebastian is telling the truth. He can read his brother like a book. And with that admission, a familiar sense of dread begins to swell inside him. Damn it! This is what he gets for taking the night off and letting Sebastian go out on his own.

Farid lets out a beleaguered sigh. He pinches his eyes and begins to pace the alley. He thinks for a long time before stopping short.

"Okay, first," he says calmly. "We've got to get you out of here, as quickly and quietly as possible. Then, when we're far enough away, I'll call the cops and—"

Sebastian frantically waves his hands and shakes his head.

"No! No, Farid, you can't take the fall. The situation is far worse than you know."

Sebastian's eyes meet Farid's. He's all serious now.

"Okay, why?" Farid asks him. "Why is it worse than the last time?"

Sebastian swallows hard, then summoning all the courage he can, he says, "I can't let you take the blame for me this time because the guy..." he blows out a shaky breath, "because the guy is a Shifter."

Stunned, Farid's eyes go wide as he balls his fists tightly at his sides. "Damn it, Sebastian!" He begins pacing the alley again. "Have you lost your mind? Are you trying to start a race war?!"

"No! Of course not!" Sebastian counters. "We were just trying to have a little fun. I thought... I thought maybe... maybe I could..."

"What?" Farid barks. "What, Sebastian! Tell me exactly what you thought you were doing when you lured a Shifter out here in the dark, proceeded to suck the very life out of him, and then planned to leave his corpse to rot in an alley for his pack to find!"

Farid grunts and throws his hands up in the air, frustrated but now also increasingly concerned.

"Why?" he leans his head back against the wall and looks up at the night sky, hazy and veiled by layers and layers of clouds. "Why do you do these things, Bash?" he asks, his voice much softer now. "Honestly, I don't understand you. Why do you keep slipping back so far every time it looks like you're finally making progress?"

Sebastian hangs his head and shrugs helplessly. "I don't know, to be honest. Maybe there's no traction beneath my feet?" He quirks a piteous smile.

Farid grimaces and turns away from his brother, not amused by Sebastian's attempt at a joke.

Watching his brother walk away from him, Sebastian's smile falters. He grows serious as the implications of what he's done finally sink in. "Farid, what are we gonna do?"

Having been in the unfortunate position of having to save Sebastian's ass far, far too many times, Farid knows exactly what they have to do.

After a moment, he comes back and crouches down by the body, avoiding his brother's gaze. After inspecting the corpse one more time, he looks cautiously over his shoulder.

And when he's certain they're alone, he continues, through clenched teeth, his voice disturbingly calm. "We get rid of the body," he says. "We find a place to bury him, far, far away from here. 

And Bash..." He finally looks into his brother's eyes. "I need you to sober up, get your act together. Take this seriously for once because we have to do this quietly and we have to do this now!"

#####

A/N - It's so great to be back! I hope you'll enjoy this expanded version of The Otherworlders!!!

As I said, I"ll be posting on Fridays (U.S. time.)

So much has changed on the platform and it's harder to stay in touch, so don't hesitate to comment up a storm, ask questions you have, or let me know what you think!

Also, engagement has become increasingly important to Wattpad and Wattpad/WEBTOON studios, so don't be shy.

Vote, Comment (especially comment), and Share!!! 💖💖💖

~ Paula