Serenity of the Stars Chapter 1B

Chapter 1B -> Delicate Life

Chapter 1B -> Delicate Life

“Kendra, get out of bed! It’s getting late!” The words slowly seeped into my brain as my
eyes snapped open. What time is it? I looked at the clock to my horror it said 9AM. I must have overslept, what a great way to start such an important day.

“Sorry dear, I’m awake.” I hope he’s not in a bad mood. They seem to occur more often lately, he must be so stressed out about today.

“Get your ass out here! I’m hungry and your loser friend is going to be here soon.”

“Coming dear.” I don’t mind him snapping at me now and then to let off steam, but I wish he would be more kind to Edan. I’m sure he doesn’t try to be so mean to him all the time. He’s just so jealous of most the men that I talk to. That’s why I’ve tried to make Edan seem like less of a threat. When I lived with Edan, he had always wanted me to move in with him. I didn’t want to leave Edan on his own, we have always been there for each other and depended on each other. I owe Edan my life honestly; without his family and especially him, I probably wouldn’t be alive right now. Steve proposed about six months ago and of course I accepted. That’s when I decided it would be best to move out of our house and in with Steve.

I can’t believe we’re all 20 at the same time. It’ll be great to be on the same team with my fiance and my best friend. The open window allowed a perfect view to our back yard and I saw what a beautiful day it was outside. It’s incredibly lucky that the three of us all happened to be in the same class. Some people are destined to live peaceful lives, never able to see all the colors of the big picture. My race on the other hand are destined to travel. We are the policing force of the galaxy. Our school lives were, until now, spent entirely on learning galactic laws as well as combat maneuvers and everything else necessary to be an effective policing agent.

“Kendra, where in the hell are you!?” Here I am daydreaming, my poor fiance is starving. I had better get out there and make him his breakfast.

“I’m on my way dear.” I ran out the door of our bedroom into the much larger living room. I
looked at Steve, who had an annoyed expression painted his face. I wish I wouldn’t of overslept. Now he’s going to be in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

“Better hurry up and cook something, your boyfriend is meeting us in about 10 minutes. I expect to eat before he gets here.” He knows that annoys me when he talks like that. I don’t like how jealous he is of Edan and the fact that he constantly brings it up is unfair.

“I’m sorry I overslept, I’ll make you something quick. How does oatmeal sound?”

“Sounds horrible. I guess there’s no real choice since you had to sleep in.”

I finished cooking the food and gave Steve most of it. I then poured myself a small bowl. He quickly ate and walked into his room without a word. I finished mine slowly and started doing the dishes. He gets very annoyed if I don’t do them right after I cook. I started putting the dishes into the sink to clean them when I heard the door of our bedroom open and hit the wall with a loud thud. I snapped my head around and saw Steve standing in the doorway, he looked incredibly angry.

“Is something wrong dear?” I hope I didn’t do something wrong again.

“How many times have I told you not to touch my shit? I look in my drawer and everything’s moved around!”

“I’m sorry, I was just doing the laundry and I had to put it away. I didn’t mean to move your
stuff.” Steve had started to move towards me before I could even finish my sentence. When he got in front of me he grabbed my shirt and pulled on it.

“I don’t really give a damn what you say you were doing! I told you not to touch my stuff, but you did!” With his final word, he pushed me away and the force threw me into the refrigerator. When my head hit the door, it caused the refrigerator to tilt back and land into place again. I crumpled on the ground where I had once stood. There was a new stinging on the side of my head where it had hit the refrigerator. My ears had a distinct ring to them as he dragged me to my feet by my shirt. He looked in my eyes and his rage felt like it pierced straight to my soul. Suddenly, he let go of my shirt and slapped me in the face. The force of his last slap reduced me to being crumbled on the floor.

“I don’t like when you touch my stuff!” He yelled, then made his way to our bedroom, and slammed the door behind him. I continued to lay where I was, too shocked to move. He never use to be like this; although, lately he’s been getting more and more violent.

Tears were streaming down my face, I wiped them away as I sat up. I sat there for a minute or so and continued to wipe the tears from my eyes. I decided I should try to stand up because the dishes still needed to be cleaned. I rolled my weight unto my feet and made an effort to stand up. I failed to get up. I was too dizzy to stand. I fell back to my seat on the floor, dragged myself backwards, and leaned against the refrigerator. The door bell’s melody broke the silence. Edan must be here. I’m not sure I can stand up though.

“Can you get that Steve?” I hope he doesn’t mind.

“No, I’m busy. Get it yourself!” I guess he does, I better get to my feet. I reached up and grabbed for the counter above me. Painfully, I dragged myself to my feet. I took a step, staggered, and then I took one more. The disconnect between my mind and legs was beginning to diminish. I slowly made my way to the door and pulled the door open. Edan’s face appeared from behind it. His black spiked hair mixed with his blue eyes were annoyingly attractive.

“Hey Edan! Come on in.” My voice, I need to hide what just happened a little better than that. I hope Edan doesn’t notice.

“Good morning Kendra.” I had to look up at him, but one glance into his eyes was all I could manage. I can’t stare into his eyes, he was always able to read me like an open book.

“You seem kind of skittish. Is something wrong?” Damn it, he knows something is wrong. His words brought my stare directly into his eyes. I stared blankly into his eyes before I finally snapped back to reality and looked away. It was only a few seconds, right? Surely he couldn’t of noticed anything was wrong.

“No, I’m just excited.” I need to fix the discrepancy between what I want my voice to sound like and what it actually sounds like. His eyes were searching my face and I concentrated on avoiding eye contact. I think it’s too late. I think he might know.

“Did you fall or something?” His question sent my heart racing. What am I going to tell him? I can’t tell him the truth. He can’t know what Steve did. If Edan knew what really happened he would start a fight with Steve and then I might not see Edan again. I can’t let that happen.

“Yeah, I tripped on the rug and fell into the refrigerator over there.” I pointed in the direction of the rug trying to add a little bit of persuasion behind my words. I fell into the refrigerator? I couldn’t have came up with a better lie than that? Well I guess when I think of the other options at least the lie I picked had a bit of truth associated with it. I think I’m getting better at lying to Edan, since I have been doing it a lot more often lately. Steve walked through the bedroom door and snapped my mind off my lies.

“Are you two done flirting?” He still sounds pretty annoyed.

“We were just talking babe.” I hope I can reassure him that nothing is going on with Edan and myself. My voice is betraying me again though.

“Do you have a problem?” Edan didn’t wait much after I finished speaking. I know he feels the need to defend me all the time but I can handle my own battles. The way he acts just makes Steve more jealous. I looked at Edan, he knows I don’t like when he does this.

“Yeah, I don’t trust you and I don’t like you around my girl either!” Steve is very mad, I wish Edan would have kept his mouth shut.

“Well that’s just too damn bad isn’t it. We were really good friends before she ever met you. I’m sure as hell not going to sit back and watch you drive a wedge between us you bastard! I don’t know who you think you are!” What is Edan thinking, he knows I don’t want the two of them to fight. The more he fights with Steve the more likely it is that Steve won’t allow me to talk to Edan anymore. I was still staring at Edan from before because I was still in shock.

“Watch your mouth. Don’t you start your shit with me you little bastard. I can make it so you never see Kendra again.” I knew it would go here because it always does with Steve. I wish Edan wouldn’t have pushed him. I can’t stand the pain on Edan's face right now. I have to stop this some how.

“Listen, lets just calm down. I’m sorry, okay.” I guess I won’t have to stop it. Edan did it for me. I’m glad, but I wish this wasn’t how things were. A smile crept across my face as Edan’s stare caught mine.

“Can we please go now?” I hope they agree. I don’t want them to fight anymore. They both agreed and we left. The walk to the council meeting building was extremely quiet. I hadn’t really expected much else. We reached the building fairly quickly. Steve’s house was pretty close. We made our way to the front of the room and sat down. A large group of people filled into the seats behind us. The council members were already seated on the stage. All eleven sat at a long table looking out over the crowd. Mr. Sayer was seated directly in the middle, he has been president of the council since before we were born. His older face has wrinkles across a majority of it. Some say he is too old to be the president, but no one could take his spot. According to council rules, the current president can only be replaced upon death or after losing a duel to a hopeful candidate. The room had filled very quickly most of the people took their seats. Mr. Sayer clapped his hands in and attempt to quiet the room.

“Welcome all of you! If there are any of you that are not 20 years old on this day, I kindly ask you to leave.” A few kids start walking towards the door. How foolish to try to attempt this task without being of age. My mind continued to race as Mr. Sayer began to speak.

“If you look under your seats there should be a packet of papers there. The first page is the squad registration sheet. This will only be filled out and submitted by the captain. The rest of the slots will be signed by the team you choose.” I wonder how long he has been talking. He is still talking though. I really should be listening to what he is saying. So far that’s all I’ve heard. I reached down and grabbed the papers that had my name on them. As I looked through the papers, the crowd began to clap. What? He’s done talking already? That’s not good, I missed everything.

Steve and Edan are starting to stand, I better do the same. We walked out of the hall together Steve in the lead, me next, and Edan was behind me. Steve lead us down the road to our house. Once we got to the door Steve turned the knob and let myself in and followed right after me.

“You don’t need to come in. We will talk to you later.” He still sounded angry.

“Okay.” Edan couldn’t of got another word in if he tried. Steve slammed the door shut right after he spoke.

“Did you have fun with your boyfriend?” Steve was staring at me, I guess he’s still mad.

“I told you dear, nothing is going on between me and E-” Before I could finish my sentence Steves hand hit me in the mouth. His hand hit me so hard I couldn’t help but scream out of shock and pain.

“Shut up!” He hit me again just as hard.

“Stop it Steve!” His hand came up to hit me again but I dodged his palm. I ran for the door but Steve grabbed onto the back of my shirt. I continued to run and as I did, I could hear my shirt ripping. I made it to the door, slammed it open, and ran outside. Edan was still standing outside the door and it looked like he was about to knock on the door again. I ran passed him. I fell not long after I passed Edan and spun around in time to see Edan shove Steve hard enough to stop him in his tracks.

“I thought I told you to go home!”

“What’s going on?” I don’t remember hearing Edan’s voice sound like that before. It sounded lower and angry.

“Mind your own fucking business. What did I tell you about sticking your nose in my business?” Steve sounded just as angry though. I hope they don’t start to fight.

“Don’t you ever fucking touch her again! Do you understand me?!” Edan’s voice sounded even stranger this time. Is his voice changing?

“Stop it guys. Let’s go inside, Steve.” I don’t want them to fight. If they do I might not be able to see Edan anymore.

“Shut up bitch, I’ll deal with you in a minute. As for you kid, back off. You’re going to get hurt if you keep this up.” I felt anger inside me.

You don’t have to take the way he treats you anymore Kendra.

Whose voice is that? It sounded like a faint whisper.

“I’m sick of your hollow threats. If you really think you can beat me just take a shot. Remember one thing though, I’m not as easy to beat up as a small girl.” Steve started to move towards, but Edan and threw the first punch. Edan dodged and countered with a straight that hit Steve right in the nose.

The emotions are getting the better of me, all I could do was set up on my knees and start to cry. I kept begging both of them to stop fighting but neither of them would listen.

“I swear I’m going to hurt you. When I’m done with you, you’ll never see Kendra again after I kick your ass.”

Kendra, it’ll be okay. Edan can handle himself and you’re better off without Steve.

That voice again? Am I hallucinating? Better off without Steve? They are just fighting with their hands; there’s no way could someone die. The fight continued, but I couldn’t really tell who was doing better. Edan kicked Steve in the back which sent Steve to the ground. Steve got up quickly as did Edan, but Edan suddenly fell to his knees. Is he okay? The area around us started to get very dark. What’s happening?

“You’ve hurt the two people closest to me and as a result you will die today.” Edan’s voice was still low, dark, and almost menacing sounding.His face was different from how I remember it. His eyes were darker, colder. A loud crack from the sky made me jump. Is that a thunderstorm?

“What do you think you’re doing you bastard?” The anger in Steve’s voice had been crossed with fear.

“You will no longer hurt Kendra, or anyone else around you.” I heard the loudest crack yet and I looked up in the sky. There’s something falling from the sky. It’s huge...it’s a fireball...it’s heading directly for Steve! The ball of fire landed directly on his head setting him on fire.

“Steve, no! Someone help him please!” I could feel my mouth moving, but I didn’t mean to speak.

You are better off without him Kendra. You don’t have to beg for his life. He will die here there is no doubt about it. You will live though, as will Edan.

I don’t know what this voice is, but I am not better off without Steve. I love him and I can’t let him die. My skin is stinging as something continually hits all parts of my body. The giant fireball had been followed by a fire rain that was covering the area darkened by these clouds. The fireballs were continually growing in size and were the size of baseballs now. Everything they touch was set on fire. Steve was still on fire and the screams that were coming from his direction were inaudible. Is he dead? He can’t be. I looked in Edans direction. He’s on fire as well. I could feel my own skin burning and it causes me to be unable to think clearly. The darkness of the sky was now being replaced with the same clear sky that was there before. I watched Edan fall to the ground and I fell to my back as well.

Two of you will survive this. I’ll make sure of that. Your friend is right though, the other will die here today.

I want Steve to live, as well as us. The sky is getting dark again. Why is it darkening now? The pain is entirely unbearable. I could feel my consciousness slipping away. There is a peacefulness about the environment now, my vision continued to darken. A new sensation on my skin made me open my eyes again. What is this feel? Is this rain? How did it just suddenly start raining?

The pain that had been engulfing my body is now fading. Every drop of rain brought a joyous sensation, almost a feeling of happiness washed over my body. I had been drained of all energy just a second ago, why do I feel like I just woke up. I looked at my hands, the fire had caused each hand into a mass of blisters each one looked worse than the last. The drops of rain were appearing more steadily now, each drop that hit my skin washed a little of the blisters away. The burning sensation is almost nonexistent now. I closed my eyes, the feeling of water running down my cheeks, tears? Why am I crying, I’m not upset. My thoughts are no longer racing, it feels like this is the first time I’ve thought clearly for a while. I have to be imagining this situation though, this has to be a dream. There is no possible spell in normal existence that could cause as much damage as that fire spell just did. There is definitely not a spell that could do as much healing as this rain is doing complimented by this calming effect and the restoration of my energy.

This is my power. This power that I possess, this also belongs to you. I have chosen you, and I will protect you and whoever helps you.

I opened my eyes and started to look around and survey the surrounding area. My calm mind is fogging up again, my thoughts racing. Steve is dead. I almost died but didn’t. Eda-- is he… is he dead? I looked over slowly towards the direction in which I had last seen Edan. As my eyes moved to the right I saw Edan setting on his knees looking towards me. I examined him with my eyes moving from the ground up to his face, he didn’t look injured either. Actually he looks incredibly powerful, it could just be the cloud of steam that the rain has seemed to cause. My eyes moved upwards until our eyes locked on each other. His eyes showed no fear, no pain, nothing really. If I hadn’t known better I would say he’s dead actually.

“Is he… is he dead?” I heard my cracking voice murmur. I know the answer already, why did I even ask? I don’t want to hear Edan answer it anyway. Steve can’t be dead, there’s no way.
He is dead Kendra, I’m sorry but you are better this way.

“I, I think he is… I don’t know what happened, I am so sorry.” Why is he apologizing? Steve was chasing me, of course Edan would try to defend me. Does he think I don’t know him at all?

“You did nothing wrong, you just defended me.” I expect nothing less than what he did. Should I be mad though? Wouldn’t a normal person be mad?

“You’re not mad?” The words came with a voice that did not accompany the powerful aura that surrounded him right now. His words instead sounded very weak, unsure, scared almost.

“No, you did what you thought you had to. Accidents happen and you were trying to help me” Why does he have it stuck in his head that I would be mad. Though, the more I think about it he killed Steve. He should be sorry, he is a murderer. My thoughts are becoming more unclear as the more I speak to him.

“Come on, I need to get you home.” What makes him think I would go anywhere with him? I don’t even want to talk to him right now, why is he still talking? The anger that had apparently been suppressed is surfacing now. What am I even mad at though? I know Edan didn’t kill anyone on purpose. If this happened it’s for the same reason that I was able to save Edan and myself but not Steve… I couldn’t save Steve. His death is my fault. If I had more control over my own emotions he would still be alive.