Candescent (The Opalescent Collection Book 1) (31 page)

              Blood dripped down onto his hands, soaked through his clothes. And then I saw red blood, mortal’s blood. The arrow had slain Lucian’s heart. That would mean he wouldn’t have a reincarnation. A slain half-mortal’s heart was a guarantee for one to die.

“Pete,” I managed to say.

“Sebastian did this,” he said through his teeth.

              I knew that was not possible. Sebastian was destroyed. But that did not mean his army was too. There was bound to be at least one of his followers that would avenge his death. And whoever it was, had been successful.

              Pete reached behind him to take the arrow out of his back, but he cringed in pain, unable to do so, sending his body on top of me. The arrowhead, protruding from my own Eternal Mate’s heart, closed the space between us. I felt it pierce through my own chest, perhaps through my own heart as well. Pete turned toward me now, filled with sorrow. He had wanted to save me. He would have had a chance to live on and save our planet, even with me gone. But now, it was too late for all of us.

              I heard his gasps, or were they my own? I knew we only had a few moments left. I felt his soft, warm skin against my face. His face rubbed against me with affection. His hand left my own for only a moment to reach back and retrieve the arrow that caused us both pain. It barely made a noise as it fell to the floor, but the sound echoed in my ears, the sound of what had been responsible for our demise.

              We could barely think straight. We were dying so we could not exchange our final thoughts. If we had something to say, we’d have to speak it out loud.

              I felt his lips brush against my face, near my ear in attempt to speak. My head felt so light. I struggled to listen, hoping he would speak now before it was too late.

“I love you Chenille.” He said. His hand flew back to mine and his fingers wrapped around my own hand that could not move. I could not hold his hand back. “I love you,” he whispered again, his breath dying with him.

“I love you Pete. I always will.” I whispered back. I couldn’t hear his breathing any longer now. But I felt a gentle squeeze to my hand and I knew he had heard me. Those words consumed my final breaths. I knew it was over.

              The King and Queen of Catastrophe were no more. Chenille and Pete Silver were no more, left their planet behind, and in fulfilling their own destiny, spelled out its fate.

* * * * *

I
woke, startled from my haunting nightmare. I looked around hoping I was alone, but I saw Louie. I then noticed his hands on my face. His head was bent down, his face no longer hidden from his plastic mask. He was sobbing.

“Louie.”

He lifted his head to face me. His eyes were filled with fright. “Chenille,” he replied softly. His hands held me tighter. “You’re ok.” It was more of a statement to inform me.

“Where’s Pete?”

I saw a sudden shock that flew to his face from hearing Pete’s name. I looked into his eyes and saw sadness. “He’s not here. The party has ended.”

I looked down at my hands and noticed the charm. “Monty saved me. And he got the charm back for me too?”

“No, I got it back for you,” he replied stiffly.

“I had another dream.” I gazed over the charm. “It was horrible.” I handed back the charm, remembering its powers were the cause of the dream. “Please take it.”

“No!” he said angrily, releasing my face. “You have caused enough trouble with that charm. You wanted it so bad so now it’s yours. No one will touch it again.”

I was taken back at his sudden rage toward me and the charm but it made sense why he was angry. He had a point.

“Are you mad at me Louie?”

“No. I’m not mad at you. I almost lost you.”

“But I’m here now.”

His hands rested on my shoulders and his eyes turned sad again. “Please stay with me tonight.”

“Ok Louie.”

There was a sudden relief that came over him at once. He laid down beside me and I could hear his shaky, uneasy breaths. He was still strangely upset.

“What’s wrong Louie?”

“Nothing.” He held his breath, convinced that I had heard his shaky attempts to breathe.

“Are you sure Pete is ok?”

“He’s fine.”

“You know what happened before,” my voice trailed off. “I didn’t say anything to him. I never told his father anything regarding his eyesight. I just found out recently.”

“I know,” he breathed, “don’t worry about it.”

“How can’t I? I feel as though our friendship has been jeopardized…and I didn’t do anything!”

“Shh, don’t get yourself upset. There’s nothing you can do about it now.”

“Why not? Why can’t I talk to him? Where is he?”

“He’s not here.”

“But where is-,”

“Shh,” he said again, this time holding me tightly. “Let’s talk in the morning.”

My eyes flew to the open window that revealed the darkness of the night sky. I could almost see the calm milky glow of the moon. It was probably late, but why was the party suddenly over? What could’ve canceled it?

I closed my eyes, rested against Louie and fell asleep. I didn’t have a single dream and I woke up refreshed and relieved. Louie wasn’t next to me when I woke up. I pulled myself out of bed and made my way down the stairs.

I found him sitting at the kitchen table. His head hung over his bowl of cereal. He swirled the milk with his spoon until is scraped the edge of the bowl.

“Good morning Louie.”

His sad blue-gray eyes gazed up at me. I wanted him to be amused. I could imagine I looked atrocious. My hair was a mess and my dress was untidy and wrinkled. I was sure he would laugh at me. He barely acknowledged me. His reply was a mere mumble.

“Are you all right?” I knew it was about the fifth time asking him and I knew what his reply would be.

He only stared at me. I barely had a chance to sit when Monty practically flew into the room.

“Where have you been?” Louie yelled, flying from his chair. His hands gripped the edge of the table angrily.

Monty was still dressed in what he wore the day before. His eyes were wide and pained. He disregarded what Louie had said and how he acted. He noticed me, looked me over, probably noticed how hideous I appeared, and rested his head in his hands.

“How did this happen? How could this have happened?” He cried.

“What happened to him? Tell me Monty!”

“Is this about Pete?” I asked, clueless.

“You don’t know what you’ve caused,” Louie hissed. “If you had just stayed away from him and just gave that charm back-,”

“Louie shut up! Chenille did nothing wrong and you know it!”

“Don’t try to cover all of it up for her!”

“You only added to the whole thing!”

“What’s going on?”

They both stopped and looked at me. The brothers were silent, exchanging glances. At last Monty looked at me, swallowed and finally spoke.

“Pete is dead.” He struggled to say the words. And now I understood, knowing that Louie must have suspected something like this. That’s why they were both acting the way they were.

His face changed, seeing my expression, and faded from my view as I fell to my knees. My breathing choked me. My own anxiety kept me from breathing. I couldn’t bring myself to understand why or how it happened.

I felt Monty’s presence before me, on his knees to meet my level. His hands held my shoulders. He struggled to tilt my chin to meet his gaze.

“Please tell me what happened,” I whispered.

“When Pete got a hold of your charm he threw it, sending it over the balcony. You launched for it and I stopped you. Pete also attempted to stop you so he went forward, but I pulled you out of the way. His own motion sent him over the banister…and he fell over, with the two story drop to meet his death.” Monty looked away, unable to finish. Louie  finally spoke up.

“You fell into a dead faint in Monty’s arms. He took you to the guest bedroom. And then together we went outside to see Pete laying there in the dirt, barely alive. We were sure he was paralyzed. Monty took him to the hospital. I had to stay and end the party and make sure you were ok. I found the charm in the dirt where Pete had been.”

I looked up at Louie. “You didn’t tell me any of this before.”

“Why should I have told you? I didn’t want to upset you.”

“But you didn’t say anything. You were being secretive.”

“I had to be. I couldn’t have you rushing off to the hospital– to see him the way he was.”

I got to my feet. “I need to go home.”

“Let me take you home,” Monty offered.

“No, I-,”

“Please go with him.”

I shook my head. My eyes filled with tears as Louie came over and caught me before I fell. He took me home himself. There was nothing he could say that would comfort me. He barely uttered a goodbye before I was out of the car. For a moment he stayed and watched me go and finally I heard him drive off.

I entered the house to find my brother watching TV. He rolled his eyes to meet me - to see how horrible and tearstained I was. He flew from the couch and grabbed me, starting to look me over.

“Where on earth were you? What happened to you Chenille?
Who did this to you
?”

“Zaire, Zaire.” I started to sob.

“What happened?” he repeated softly, more concerned.

“Zaire, Pete is dead…he’s dead.”

“What? How?”

My eyes flew down to meet the loose buttons on his jacket. “He was angry. He met Monty and me on the balcony.”

He stopped me. “What were you doing on the balcony? Why weren’t you at the party?”

“Monty wanted to show me the view,” I said innocently. Zaire made an unconvinced face. “Pete found us there. He was angry at me and accused me that I told his father about his eyesight – that he’s partially blind.” I explained. Zaire looked at me quietly, trying to understand. He never knew about Pete’s eyesight so this was all new to him. “He was so angry that he broke my necklace.” I pulled the necklace from the palm of my hand and held it up to show him. “And he threw it over the balcony. I launched for it, but Monty caught me. He pulled me back so quickly that when Pete went for me, it was too late. The force sent him over the balcony.”

“Did you see it happen?”

“No, I fainted. That’s why I was there all night.”

“I’m so sorry. I know what he meant to you.” He embraced me lovingly until my sobbing stopped. “Mom and Dad are coming home. Go get yourself cleaned up. I’ll tell them what happened.”

I nodded once he released me. “Thanks Zaire.”

I headed to my room where I tore off my beautiful wrinkled dress. I held my broken necklace in my hands, clutching it harshly. Angrily, I went to my worn dresser and found my old music box. I didn’t use it anymore. It was broken and forgotten, served no purpose, just like the charm. I stuffed it into the box that I hid beneath the pile of clothes in one of the drawers. It would be forgotten - at least, I hoped it would.

I then dressed myself and waited for my parents to come home. Zaire told them everything. They were devastated for me. I stayed home for the remainder of the day, playing the scene over in my head. The grief wouldn’t be over anytime soon. Staring at my open closet, I caught sight of my one black dress. It caused tears to fill my eyes again. I still had a funeral to attend.

I would be faced with his family members.
I
would be the one accused of everything that happened. This was
my fault
, they would say. I only wished it was. I wished that was the case, that it was the truth.

What would come of Monty and Louie? Would they still be my friends? I knew right now it didn’t matter if they were. I was so upset, I didn’t care. My mind flew back to the charm. It represented friendship. I wished I could laugh at the irony. I started to think about the dream, playing it over and frowned at it.

The dream must’ve been telling me something. I swallowed hard, daring to think about the horrifying ending. I only hoped that would not come of me. I wouldn’t allow it to.