Celestial

“You’re lying.” He whispered, I could hear the hesitation in his voice, he wanted proof that I was what I said I was. A monster. That’s what I thought I was, my mom, had thought I could be the world's savior.
My hands were shaking and I gazed at the soft shaggy carpet below my feet. I could still sense his eyes on my, my long auburn hair shading parts of my face from the afternoon sun cascading through the basement window. I finally peeled my gaze from my pink toe nails and looked up at his shining blue eyes, concern and curiosity sharpening his pupils.
I slowly shook my head, my hair landing by my ears, “You simply have to believe me.”
I knew he wouldn’t, he wasn’t the kind of person who fell for everything that came out of someone’s mouth. Something felt different today, something off about his mind. Any other day, he would have been yelling that it wasn’t true, but today he stared at me with a scared silence, his mouth forced into a frown.
I could feel the sun warming my face and arms as I waited for something, anything to show me he was still there. Liquid crystal tears burned down my face as he walked past me, not even looking to say goodbye.
Part of me wanted to call out to come back, the other part, was willing me to chase after his tall figure. I did neither, just stared as he stormed up my basement stairs. I heard the front door slam shut and his car pull out of the driveway.
“Rhys.” A whisper came out of my mouth, fifteen was too young to be cursed with the powers I had, as my older brother, he couldn’t handle the pain of knowing everyday I had to survive the burden that had been laid on me from the moment I turned ten.
I dashed after him, leaving the front door wide open in my wake. I came to a halt, leaning on one of the deck posts and rubbing my arms in the chilly 0 degree weather. I reached up to wipe the liquid from my scarlet cheeks when I felt a sudden rise in the temperature.
I knew what was happening and I willed myself to make it stop, but before I could decide what to do, I felt my feet carry me back inside the house as fast as they would move, throwing me behind my cream sofa. The house rattled as the wind picked up and I clutched my temples with both hands.
“Make it stop! Make it stop!” My screams rang out over the wind and the ground rumbled. Sparkling pointed crystals forced their way out of the cement and grass, facing out from the house. More tears dripped from my face like a leaky faucet, landing into my lap as I sat clutching my legs to my chest.
I let myself slowly tumble over and land in the fetal position, sobbing loudly. I heard the slam of a car door, making me jolt up. Rhys was back. If I were him, I’d turn tail and run. After what happened to our parents, I was quite surprised he had stuck around. When I got mad, I couldn’t control what I could do.
I heard the shattering of crystal, making my heart skip a beat, Rhys wasn’t strong enough to break the pinkish glass. The cracking came again, echoing in my ears like the crack of thunder during a storm. Again, came the sound and I felt myself shiver with fear, no longer cold. Once more the crystal cracked until I heard a sound like glass falling to the ground.
My mind flashed to that night five years ago, my mom screaming, my dad grabbing her and making a run for it. There was a flash of white and the sound of glass falling to the floor. In the background, Rhys was yelling at me to stop, but something inside me told me to keep going. By that point, my head felt like it was on fire, like something had been burning me.
I felt my legs give out from underneath me as I returned to the present, the world spinning until it collided with the side of my face. A orange haired boy with bloody and broken hands entered the living room where I was, a crooked smirk plastered to his freckled face. A patch of white broke his orange head almost two, my blood freezing as I realized it matched my own.
The boy approached me, holding out his hand to help me up. As he stared down at me, I saw our eyes were the same shade of green apple, with flecks of yellow in the right iris, making it seem almost blue from a distance as the colours merged together.
Fear made my heart pound against my chest as I hesitated my hand in front of his. I didn’t have time to decide whether or not I should grab it before he reached out and grabbed hold of my wrist.
His grip was too tight for my skinny limbs to twist out of and I felt him dragging me to my feet.
“There go first impressions.” I rolled my eyes, still frozen with fear.
“I can tell you scared, don’t be.” His face twisted into the crooked smirk again as he grabbed my other hand and bound “What are you, a horse?” My voice seemed small compared to his, ringing out with every word. He must be a terrible whisperer.
“Oh, foolish little girl, horses can’t smell fear. You must mean foxes…” The way he said foxes made the hair on my arms stand up, as if it should hold some meaning to me, but it didn’t. His voice was laced with a heavy Russian accent, slurring some of his syllables.
He pulled his hands in front of my face, a gag held firmly in his grip. I tried to talk, but the only word that came out was “name”.
“Now Celeste,” hearing my name on his tongue made me want to spit, but the scratchy fabric was already being pulled around my mouth. “You already know my name, don’t you?” He pulled the fabric tightly in a knot, forcing my face to remain in a creepy smile, like the killers in horror movies wear.
I felt like I should know his name, but I couldn’t quite remember where I knew him from. He moved to stand in front of me and began walking out of the house, dragging me along by my shirt.
All of a sudden, I got an idea. I closed my right eye and concentrated my mind. I felt my fingertips begin to tingle and I felt a sudden warmth around my hands. I blinked my eye open and grasped the handle of the weapon of death forming in my hands; a scythe.
I let the weapon drop until I held it right by the long crystal curved blade. I maneuvered my hands until the sharp end sliced through the ropes bounding my wrists.
In one swift movement I swung the sickle over my head and down the boy’s back. His shirt crumpled to the crystal covered entryway floor and he turned to me.
“Son of a-” I swung the scythe around, forcing him to duck and interrupting his cursing.
I brought the sword of death high over my head and brought it down again. The boy rolled to the side and with a puff of smoke, he was gone. I turned a complete circle, spotting something small and orange slip back into the living room. Careful not to step on anymore of the crystal shards with my bare feet, I followed him, holding the scythe ready.
I entered the living room, expecting him to lung out at me, but nothing came. I snapped my fingers and waited for a moment as a whitish pink cape blew over my shoulders and onto my neck, barely ruffling my long hair. Just as I turned to leave, a flash of orange filled my vision as a small fox lunged for me.
I braced myself for the impact, but instead, I felt the sickle dragged from my hands and watched as the fox changed back into the boy, now holding my weapon. This time it was my turn to smirk as I forced the scythe to disappear into a pile of crystal needles, then re-materialize in my outstretched hands.
“Now what, are you gonna turn back into a fox and smell me to death?” My voice came out with more confidence this time, allowing me to stand taller. The boy kicked the crystal needles at my and lunged forward. I dodged just in time and took off running, hearing his footsteps close behind me.
He chased me around the living room as though we were kids playing tag, without the laughing. I allowed the sickle to disappear and reappear in my hands, giving me more piles of crystal shards the throw behind me. I let out a breath of satisfaction as I heard the crystals poke into something, only to feel warm hands force me into the glass covered ground.
I didn’t have enough energy to de-materialize the scythe as the boy pried it from my sweaty hands, and held it at my neck.
“Any final words, Crystal Girl?” Before I could respond, I heard the crunch of gravel as Rhys car pulled back into the driveway seemed to echo in the house. I felt the curved crystal blade pull closer to my neck, and the boy grabbed all of my hair in his hand, pulling back until I stared at him upside down.
“You get lucky this time, but next time, not so lucky.” He slowly dragged the blade across my neck, letting a trickle of blood fall as a warning. Before I could dematerialize the scythe once more, he jerked it back with a satisfying crunch sound. I heard the soft thump of something hitting the floor, and let tears flow freely from my face as I realized my head felt a lot lighter.
I heard the pounding of Rhys’s footsteps down the entryway, and the gasp of shock as he stared at me, kneeling on the hardwood and sobbing. I finally allowed the scythe to disappear beside me, leaving a pile of crystal needles, just like before.
I pushed myself up, ignoring Rhys beside me and looked around for the boy. I let the cape fall off my shoulders and stared at my reflecxion in the thousands of crystals around me. My hair had been cut short in a jagged line, and the auburn Color had faded into a whitish pink.
I let out a long sob and cupped my head in my hands, “I look like an anime girl!”
I didn’t wait for my brother to respond as I moved past him and climbed slowly up the stairs to my room. I could feel someone's eyes on me as I walked closer into my room. I tried to ignore the stare I knew belonged to a irises the shade of green apples, the right one flecked with yellow, making it appear blue from a distance.
I slammed my door shut and let my back slide down the dark oak. My room was still lit with the now setting sun, making it seem happy. I closed my eyes tightly and tried to make everything go away.
As I laid in bed waiting for exhaustion to set in, a single word came to my mind in the place of drowsiness. A name. A name that belonged to a boy with irises the shade of green apples, the right eye flecked with yellow making it look blue from a distance. A boy with eyes like mine.
The name of a demon, sending chills up and down my spine and making my blood turn to ice. I didn’t need to be afraid of the name, but it seemed to haunt me.
Todd.