Star Bright

Cathleen thoughtlessly jabbed her fork into the plate of food that was in front of her. She wasn’t hungry at all, despite hardly eating anything for hours. Eating was the absolute last thing on her mind at the moment. Too many thoughts and worries were going through her mind for her to take any notice of a slight grumble in her belly. She was still in the dark about a big secret that both Davis and Lance knew, or Astreaus and Karhasi as they called themselves. Cathleen racked her brain over and over to find some clue, some tiny piece to the puzzle that was surrounding those two, what they were hiding from her, and how it tied into her and the odd occurrences that were continually increasing. She was so wrapped up in those thoughts that she was next to oblivious to everything around her, even the worrisome stares from her parents. But as they began to talk to themselves, she took notice. Cathleen’s eyes may have been fixated on the contents of her meal, but her ears were still very much alert. She heard her mother whisper across the table to her father for him to say something to her.

“Nothing happened worth talking about.” Cathleen said before either of them had a chance to speak. A dead silence fell over the dinner table, no doubt a cause of them being taken completely by suprise.

“Cathleen, we’re only trying to…” her mom started.

“Mom, Dad…” Cathleen sighed. She was mad about her parents trying to pry into her private business once again, but she was just too mentally exhausted to really let her emotions run amok. “Please just leave it alone.”
The quite that continued to perforate through the room was unsettling. But thankfully, her parents chose to respect her plea. They clearly wanted her to talk to them, but trying to force words out of her wouldn’t get them anywhere, even they could see that. Cathleen didn’t dare to look at either of them, but she could feel their eyes upon her. Several times, she tried to will herself to take down some of the rapidly cooling food on her plate, yet couldn’t find the stomach for it. Without any really appetite, trying to shovel the food down was a chore in of itself. After some time had passed, Cathleen pushed her chair away from the table. “May I please be excused?”

“You’ve barely touched your dinner.” her mother protested.

“I’m not really hungry right now.”

“But, I worked all afternoon on this meal, I thought you liked it.”

Cathleen sighed. “Mom, I really just don’t want to eat right now.”

“You’re mother went through a lot of trouble to make this meal.” Her father injected himself into the conversation, pointing a fork at her. “And the least you can do is stay and finish it for her.”

Cathleen stared at her father, feeling her face beginning to tighten as the frustration flowed through her. The anger burned inside her chest, transforming itself into a seething mass that directed itself right at her father. She hated when things like this happened, when she was being forced to confront her parents when she wanted nothing more than to just get away from them. Who the hell were they, two normal looking people, to dictate what was best in life for a freak like her? Instead of aggravating the tense situation, Cathleen chose the best option to get herself out of the situation that she just wanted to escape from. Gritting her teeth, she began to rapidly stab her food and shovel it down her reluctant throat. Her actions were akin to the way a child would eat, but speed was more important to her than etiquette. In less than two minutes, she had completely cleaned her plate and left both of her parents wide eyed with shock.

“There,” she said, wiping the last traces of her reluctant dinner from her lips, “I finished. Now can I go?”

“Now see here…” her dad grumbled.

“Just go.”

Cathleen and her dad both looked to her mother. She was surprised to hear her mom say something like that. Usually she had to fight tooth and nail just to get away from her, which was why she was so stunned. Her surprise rapidly metamorphosis into a coil of guilt and shame that wrapped tightly around Cathleen’s throat when she saw her mother with her head hung low. The long strands of her mother’s hair were draped over her face, obscuring it from the both of them. A few very faint sobs came from behind that mask of hair, and it made Cathleen feel like she had been punched in the gut.

“She doesn’t want to be here, just let her go.” her mom said weakly.

“Honey.” her dad whispered, rising from his chair and going to her side.

“If she hates being here, being with us…I’d rather her leave and be happy.”

Cathleen felt the corners of her eyes beginning to get wet from seeing the pain that she was causing her mother. A part of her yearned to go to her mother and just tell her that it was ok, that she didn’t really hate her. All she really needed was some time to just get away to figure everything out. But another part knew that it would be better for all of them if she just left for the time being. Quietly rising from her chair, Cathleen began to back out of the room as her parents tried to console each other. They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn’t seem to take any notice of her nearly silent exit. “I’m sorry.” she mumbled weakly before turning on her heels and rushing out of the house.

Night had fallen on the farm, and its blackness totally enveloped her the instant she had passed the gravel driveway. Cathleen didn’t stop to think about where she was going, she just ran. Ran as fast as her legs would carry her, trying desperately to flee the haunting feelings of the suffering that she was putting her parents through. Droplets of the pain that was coursing through her heart fell from her eyes as she plunged deeper into the seemingly endless darkness. She was hardly aware of the braches that slapped at her face and the roots that struck her feet. All concept of time had been lost to Cathleen in her mad flight. All that Cathleen could think of was how sad her mother had seemed. And it was all because of her. For a moment, Cathleen was afraid that her mother thought that she hated her, which was the furthest thing from the truth. Before she had a chance to continue on in her lamenting, Cathleen’s foot snapped on an unseen tree root. A startled gasp escaped her lips before her face hit into the soft, damp ground of the forest floor. Sobbing, she weakly rubbed her eyes of tears and sat up. It was only then that she became aware of her surroundings.

Sniffling slightly, she glanced at her surroundings. She had blindly run into the forest, and had no idea how long her flight had lasted. Swallowing hard, Cathleen weakly rose to her feet and searched around to see if there was anything that she could recognize. Although she had walked the woods since she had been old enough to place one foot in front of the other, it was far too dark for her to make out anything that would be familiar to her. Panic began to grip at Cathleen’s heart with the fear that she was probably lost. The multitude of noises coming from all around her did nothing to ease her worried mind. As her pulse began to race, she tried forced the fear down. Knowing that she could barely see anything, Cathleen instead strained her ears in the hopes that she could hear something that could give her a sense of where she was. Through the insanity of the dark forest, she was able to find a single noise which did that. A faint trickle sound tickled at the edge of her hearing as Cathleen tried to identify the source. Then, she remembered that there was creek that ran through the southern end of her parent’s farm. If she remembered correctly, following its natural flowing path would lead her to the road through the area, and once on it she could simply walk home from there. Cathleen turned in its direction, feeling herself desperately drawn to the sounds of the flowing water like it was one of her mother’s old lullabies.

Stumbling about in the darkness, Cathleen silently cursed herself for having run off recklessly into the woods the way she had. Feeling around cautiously, Cathleen made dozens of peril filled journeys from one tree to another in her quest to reach the creek. With feet crunching under dried leaves, her eyes detected a small sliver of light. The bluish glow pulled her along, directly towards the sounds of the flowing water. Up ahead, in the dim light, the forest thinned out, and with it the light increased. Stepping out past the last line of trees, Cathleen’s eyes were lifted towards the epicenter of the light. An odd tingle ran through her back as she gazed up at the complete circle moon high in the night sky. She hadn’t even realized that it was a night of the full moon. Sparkling glimmers caught her attention at the bottom of her vision, and she looked down. Out in front of her, snaking its way lazily through the land, was the creek. The beams of moonlight reflected off its uneasy surface, their unstable glow captivating her. Slowly, as if drawn to the glistening light, Cathleen approached the water. She stopped at the bank of the creek, and stared down at the water. It almost would have been funny to her if she hadn’t felt such a sense of longing from staring at the reflections off the water. A little further up the creek, the sounds of a small waterfall pierced through the sounds of the night.

Strolling up the creek, Cathleen stood by the water’s edge as she stared at the six foot waterfall that fell into a small pool at its base. Staring at it, she suddenly felt memories that she had long ago supposedly forgotten flow into the front of her mind. She remembered days, sometimes even early hours of the night, when her parents would take her to this place. She had been very young, still too young to go to school. It was here where they had taught her how to swim, and told her uncounted times how special she was to them. Pain poked at the edges of her troubled heart, because these memories only helped to reinforce to Cathleen that while her parents may not have been able to relate to her problems, she knew that deep down they really did love her. Blinking away several tears, Cathleen cast her eyes at the star lit sky. Staring up at those tiny twinkling lights in the endless carpet of blackness, Cathleen felt a longing deep inside her. She could never explain why, but she always felt as if she was somehow empty as she let herself become lost in their twinkling light. The effect of the stars was a sort of paradox to Cathleen. She almost hated to look up at them, yet always felt herself longing for them to return each night. As if they were a another piece of the great puzzle that made up her life.

She forced herself to look away from them before their faint lights drowned her. Keeping her eyes on the ground in front of her, Cathleen began to walk the circumference of the pool. She should have been heading back home, to let her parents know that she was alright so that they wouldn’t worry. But not just yet. Cathleen didn’t know why, but something was keeping her from just walking away, tugging her along like she was attached to invisible puppet strings. Something inside her said that she needed to get to the top of the waterfall to understand why. She made the unsteady climb up to the small rise where the waterfall began, hoping to get a better view of the area. She also hoped that she might be able find out why she had this odd sensation pulling at her, trying to draw her to something that she didn’t know what it was. Standing on the edge of the miniature waterfall, Cathleen absorbed the surrounding scenery in its eerie blue glow. It was almost impossible for her to believe that she hadn’t been to this place in years, yet it was exactly the same way she remembered it, even if she had never seen it at night. Glancing around, Cathleen felt the nervous itching in the back of her mind intensify. The rest of the surrounding woods had changed significantly, with various states of vegetation overgrowing areas along both sides of the creek. But the waterfall and the small pool underneath it remained intact. Shifting her eyes slightly to the left, Cathleen spotted something else that hadn’t been overcome by the forest. It was a nearly hundred yard depression in the earth that cut its way down from the slight elevation that the creek was located on.

Looking at it, Cathleen felt even more memories of coming out to this spot with her parents during the winters and sliding down the depression on an old toboggan that her grandfather had made. She could picture both of her parents bright faces as they spent those almost magical frosty afternoons with her. Sobbing slightly, Cathleen wiped the tears from her eyes once more. She hated feeling this way, tittering between the anger she felt for the way her parents treated her now, and the happiness they had made her feel when she had been younger. She also hated crying so much, but how could she not. So many other kids didn’t even have a fraction of the troubles that she had to endure. Like everything in her life, there was no clear answer for her dilemma. Some part of her wondered if there ever would be.

As she continued to let the small droplets of her suffering seep down the side of her face, another faint glistening caught her attention. It pulled at her, causing Cathleen turned her eyes back to the seemingly crystal clear pool. The light of the moon continued to reflect off its rippling surface. But that light wasn’t what had captured her. It was another light beyond that of the moon which caught her attention. She strained her eyes, trying to penetrate the sparkling glow of the water’s surface to find it. Cathleen’s stomach tightened when she realized that it was radiating from below the water, and its glow was almost completely shielded from the moonlight upon the water. Almost. There was just enough of it for her to make out the alluring purple illumination emanating from the depths of the pool. Cathleen was only vaguely aware of how the strange radiance was enveloping her, and how her mind feebly strained to prevent its mesmerizing hold from completely consuming her. Not that she would have wanted it too. The light was too captivating. Too other worldly beautiful to fear.
Cathleen didn’t dare to blink for a moment, least this seemingly mystical glow escape her dazzled eyes. Her lips parted slightly as she drew in a shallow breath, and began to lean towards without thought. Further and further her body tilted over the edge of the waterfall, completely oblivious to her leaning. All that there was in her mind was the mesmerizing aurora at the bottom of that pool. And before she had time to process what was happening, the sudden shock of cold water smashed into her like she had hit a brick wall. Frosty needles pierced into her along every last portion of her thin body, causing pain unlike anything Cathleen had ever dared to imagine existed. She tried to scream, but only muffled bubbles poured from her mouth. Her arms flailed feebly in the frosty water, refusing to acknowledge her desperate commands. Unable to move from the immense frosty shock to her system, Cathleen slowly began to sink into the relatively deep pool.

Just as panic and fear of a watery grave began to set inside her, the mysterious glow from under the water intensified. Cathleen was drawn to its light, and saw a shiny object obscured under a thin layer of muck that was at the bottom of the pool. It was right in front of her, and it seemed to her as if it was driving away all of her pain. Without a second thought, she summoned up all of her willpower and plunged her hand into the mud. With agony coursing through her from even the faintest movement, Cathleen weakly wretched the item from its nasty resting spot. Once free of the bottom, the clumps of mud fell away, and Cathleen blinked in stunned wonder in the semi-clear water.

In her hand was a sliver of a clear crystal that looked almost like glass. Yet it wasn’t. It just couldn’t be. Glass didn’t radiate light from its sharp angled edges like this surface did. But it was glowing on its own. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. And strange as it was, with it in her hand, she didn’t feel the terrible icy pain across her body anymore. Nor did she feel the pressure in her lungs of the air her body so desperately craved. Everything, except the small little piece of glowing crystal, vanished from her mind. A command rushed through her brain, and she clenched her fingers around the shard without hesitation. An intense wave of light burst from the cracks of her fingers, and the world around Cathleen vanished in an instant.
She instinctively shut her eyes, and for one terror filled heartbeat, she thought that she had been blinded stunning burst. With a bit of caution and hope, she opened her eyes. What she saw before her took her breath away.

The world that she had known was gone. Just gone.

In its place…was somewhere else. Her eyes slowly traversed the strange landscape, and knew without question that it was completely different from anything she had ever known. And yet, she felt a strange affinity with being in this place. The ground was sparkling, and for a moment, Cathleen thought that she was seeing a snowy landscape. Until she looked harder, and realized that she couldn’t have been more wrong. The surface of the land, which she had first mistaken for snow, was in fact eerily identical to the small glowing shard she had found. Small, thin crystalline strands jutted out of the ground in tiny clumps every few feet. Although they were obviously crystal in structure, they swayed in fluidity with faint breeze like strands of grass. Their transparent forms caught and reflected the deep blue light that was shining down across the land, projecting the rays in a multitude of hundreds of stunning and varying prisms. Every edge of each crystalline strand shined with the brilliance of a seemingly microscopic sun. It was as if the complete and total marvel of the entire galaxy’s countless stars were glistening before her very eyes.

Feeling her eyes being pulled up, Cathleen felt her throat tighten as she marveled in the magnificence of the way the light refracted across the night sky. It was almost identical to that of an aurora borealis, the hues ranging from a light blue to a dark purple. The multi colored lines rolled across the sky like ocean waves, creating a vision so stunningly captivating that Cathleen would have been brought to tears if she hadn’t been so suddenly overwhelmed. This place, it was so different from anything she had ever known, yet she recognized it instant. It was as if this alien landscape was a part of her. And for the life of her, she had absolutely no idea why.

She reached out a hand for the crystal like grass. Every cell in the tips of her fingers vibrated with tension as the space between her skin and the reflective surface closed. Her heart was racing as she gazed at the sparkling strands, completely mystified by their wondrous glow. All she wanted to do was to take one. Just one. That wasn’t asking too much, was it? Just a little memento of this amazing place that she felt so at home in and never wanted to leave. The surface of the pale skin of her fingertips brushed across the smooth surface of the crystalline strands, and a shudder ran through Cathleen. Just as she began to wrap her hand around one of the beautiful swaying shards, she was struck from behind by a heavy blow.

Cathleen’s eyes shot open, and she began to cough from the water that was still trapped in her throat. Rolling over onto her side, she spit out a small amount of liquid that had nearly drowned her and continued to gag. Falling onto her back after several hard breaths, Cathleen stared up at the night sky. The plan blackness mixed with the twinkling lights of stars above brought her to tears. It was gone. That beautiful place, where she knew she knew she had rightfully belonged, had vanished. The suffering of that terrible loss pressed into her chest even worse than the day she had heard that her grandmother had died. She suddenly felt so helpless, so lost, and so very much alone. Never before had she felt as if nothing at all left in the world except her.

A hand softly fell on her arm. “Cat?”

Her head shifted slightly to the sound of the voice, and she saw Lance kneeling beside her. His face glistened in the moonlight as small beads of water rolled down his skin. Damp clothes clung tightly to his large body as he hovered cautiously over her. But those things weren’t what she really saw. It was his strong red eyes gazing down at her with deep worry. Without thinking, Cathleen sat up and threw her arms around him.

“Lance…” she cried, burying her face into his damp chest.

As she shook all over, Cathleen felt his powerful arms encompass her in their protective grip without hesitation. Even with Lance there, the pain of some unknown loss crushed Cathleen. Tears fell freely down her face as she cried in Lance’s protection. She felt his large hands gently rub across her shivering back while he pulled her close to him. “Sshhh.” he said softly. “Everything’s going to be fine. It’s going to be alright, Cat.”
“It’ll never be alright!” she sobbed. “Never. It’s gone, that beautiful place belong in, it’s gone! I don’t know who I am or what’s happening to me anymore. What was that place, Lance? Where was it?”

“I don’t know, Cat. I just don’t know.”

“I’m all alone.” she continued. “I’m just so lost.”

His hands slowly worked their way up, until they were lightly brushing through her wet hair. “You’ll never be lost, Cat. And you’ll never be alone. I’ll always be here for you. I swear.”

She knew he was telling her the truth, and that only made her sobs grow harder. She knew that Lance would always be ready at a moment’s notice to come to her, that he would protect her from all the things in the world that made her weep without hesitation. Cathleen didn’t know how she knew this. She just did. And it made her heart nearly sing with a joy she had never known of to know that someone cared about her as deeply as that. Tightening her grip, Cathleen didn’t want anything else in the whole world except to sink into the blanket of complete protection that Lance gave her. As she pressed her body into his, Cathleen felt the warmth of both her gem and Lance’s radiate into her, driving away the harsh chill of the night air against her wet skin. It also drove back some of her sadness, but it couldn’t destroy the image of that wondrous land that she so desperately wanted to go back to, even if it meant leaving the whole world that she knew behind.

Even as she continued to cry uncontrollably, Lance scooped her up into his broad arms and lifted her off the ground. “Come on, Cat.” he whispered. “Let’s get you home.”

“Lance.” Cathleen said, weakly opening her eyes to gaze up at her self proclaimed protector.

“Keep your eyes closed.” he told her.

“But…why?”

“You wouldn’t understand. Not yet.”

“I…”

“Do you trust me?”

The odd warmth raced through her chest at his request. She did trust him. She didn’t even know him, and she would willingly trust Lance with her life. Again, she didn’t know how or why, but she was certain that he would always protect her. Feeling the way he held her, with such tenderness and caution within the bounds of his immense strength, the undeniable truth was lay bare in front of Cathleen. Lance would lay down his life to protect her. But what, she wondered, could that possibly mean? What did it mean for him, and her?

“I trust you.” she answered almost instantly.

“Then hold on to me.”

She did, clinging to him the same way she had to her mother when she had been a child. What happened next was almost impossible for Cathleen to describe. She felt her weight in Lance’s arms increase, as if she were being pushed down on from above. The oddness vanished from her mind in the next instant, for she was slammed into Lance with the same kind of force she had felt when she had been on his motorcycle. Wind whipped wildly about her face, chilling her to the bone. She wanted to open her eyes, the massive wave of sensations that were washing over her was maddening. But she had promised Lance that she wouldn’t look. After everything that he had done, and was doing for her, honoring that little request seemed more than fair. Before Cathleen had time to even start to wonder why she was feeling all these things, it was over. She felt herself being laid down on clump of dew slick grass.

“You can open your eyes now, Cat.”

She did, and was stunned to see that they were in front of her house. Cathleen looked in amazement from first the house, then at Lance. He didn’t look the least bit winded. Which Cathleen knew just wasn’t right. The pool and waterfall had been almost a mile away from the house, with a dense woods planted between them. And Lance had gotten her back to the house in the space of only a few panicked breaths.

“How…”

“You’ll see soon enough.” he assured her. “I promise.”

He stepped back to let her rise on unsteady feet. She stumbled on her unsure feet, and fell. Lance caught her before she could go down, and pulled her into him. Cathleen swallowed hard, and slowly lifted her face to meet his. In the dim light coming from the nearby house, she saw that his red eyes now had an odd shin in them. But so did his skin. Cathleen’s jaw dropped slightly as she saw what she could only guess were faint red sparkles emanating across Lance’s pale skin. She blinked, and his face was its normal self once more. Cathleen shook her head. Had that been real? Was she seeing things that weren’t really there? Was she…going crazy?

“What was that?” she gasped.

“You’ll know soon.” he said again, slightly tightening his grip around her as he brought a hand up and brushed away a few clumps wet hair that clung to her face. “You’re going to be fine, Cat.”

Staring up into his eyes, feeling his body press into hers, Cathleen couldn’t help but think that this was all some kind of dream. Tension was pulling at every fiber of her being as she found herself lost in captivation of Lance. His very touch caused waves of intense shudders to flow through her body. Her heart was racing, and the strange warmth was returning to her. Lance hesitated for a moment, and then slowly lowered his face to hers. She saw the way his eyes closed slightly and how his lips were parting just enough for her to see the tips of his teeth. Cathleen knew instantly what Lance was trying to do. As the breath caught in her throat, Lance’s lips met hers. A massive surge of sensations assaulted Cathleen as she fell into her second kiss with the boy who claimed to be her bodyguard. She felt the way the faint touch of their flesh tickled at all of her senses, nearly driving her mind and body made with so many alien feelings. As quick as it had come, the moment was over, and Lance pulled back enough so that they were staring into each other’s eyes. In the moonlight above them, she could almost see how Lance’s face was nearly supernatural in its wonder. And she could see that he was looking at her the same way. Her heart did a double flip from that realization, and she saw that he was pulling himself in for another kiss. As he did, the oddest thing happened to Cathleen. She became scared.

It wasn’t the fact that Lance was slowly pulling her into another kiss that frightened Cathleen. It was what she was feeling about another stunning moment between her. A part of her wanted Lance, wanted him so desperately that she could scream. But another part of her, felt guilt. Guilt for her parents, for Maude…and for Davis. Cathleen knew that she shouldn’t have been thinking of the other pale boy with the twilight blue eyes in that magical moment, but she was. Davis had met her first, and shared the first of many odd sensations that were now racing through her body and mind. He had comforted her when she had felt as if her entire world was falling apart around her. There was, without a doubt, something special between them.

But…Cathleen felt the same thing had happened to her with Lance. She so desperately craved to feel Lance’s powerful lips connecting with her own tender ones, to feel the immense strength in them flowing into her body. And at the same time, she didn’t want to hurt Davis, which is what she knew in the back of her mind would happen if she let Lance kiss her again. If she did, then she would be spiking a grueling wedge between two boys that she felt were as close as brothers. Knowing what she craved, and what she should do, made Cathleen want to cry, scream, and rip her hair out all at once. It wasn’t fair, any of it. She had never asked to suddenly have her entire world turned upside down. And she had certainly never asked to have two very separate boys vying for her affections, each with an equal claim to capture her even though Lance already had an edge.

Feeling herself beginning to cry, Cathleen feebly pushed against Lance’s iron like grasp as he pulled closer to her. “Lance,” she begged. “Don’t, please…”

“There’s nothing wrong with what you’re feeling, Cat.” he said in a soft voice. “What’s happening between us, it’s right.”

“And…what about Davis?”

She felt the shudder run through Lance’s arms and he instantly stopped. She didn’t dare to look at his face to see what she had done to him, but she heard him sigh heavily. “Davis is my best friend. He’s the only person in this world that I would trust with my life.” Lance hesitated. “But…that doesn’t change the way I feel about you. I know that we’ve only met, but I also know what’s happening to me is real. I’ve never, ever felt this way before. Cat, I…”

“Stop it.” Cathleen cried through tears, weakly pounding her fists off his chest. “Just, stop it. I don’t want any part of this. Please, just let me go.”

Lance paused again. After several long moments, each which felt like a lifetime had passed for Cathleen, Lance’s grip around her eased. His arms reluctantly fell away from her, and he backed away, his red eyes full of sadness and want. Cathleen felt herself trembling, feeling as if she had been stabbed as she looked at what she was doing to him.

“Alright.” he said. She could see that his entire body was shaking, and it wasn’t because he was mad or cold. “I won’t do that again, Cat. I give you my word that I won’t ever try to kiss you again, unless you ask me to.”
Cathleen backed away from him, her mind torn between wanting to throw something heavy at him for making her feel this awful way, but also to run to him for the way he made her feel warm and safe. She was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It was all happening so fast, her life was changing with light speed before her eyes, and she was helpless to do anything to stop it.

“Cat,” Lance said softly, “I think you should know something. Ever since that first day that I first met you, Davis hasn’t shut up about you. He talks about you all the time, and even when he isn’t, I can see in his eyes that he’s thinking about you. He told me that he loves the way you try to hide your face behind your hair, how you always look so innocent when you’re trying to get around, and how he can tell just by looking into your eyes what you’re feeling.”

“Why?” Cathleen asked, her own body trembling. “Why are you telling me these things?”

Lance gulped and looked down at his feet. “Because…”

“Because what?”

Lance’s eyes rose to meet her, and she saw so many emotions racing about in the red rings. “Because I feel the same way.”

Cathleen gasped, bringing her hands over her mouth as she felt the flood gates in her eyes open. “This…” she cried with trembling lips. “This isn’t fair, Lance. It’s not!”

“It never is fair, Cat.” Lance took a hesitant step towards her. “Not for any of us. We didn’t ask to be this way. I didn’t ask to have myself feeling this way. But it is what it is, and we have to accept that. Just as you have to accept that Davis and I both care about you. And you’re going to have to choose.”

“I don’t want to choose!” Cathleen snapped at him. “I don’t want any of this. I don’t want my life to be falling apart like this. I don’t want to be something that’s killing your friendship with Davis! I don’t want my parents and my best friend hating me. And I don’t want this!” She grabbed the gemstone around her neck and hurled it at Lance. The large boy didn’t flinch as it hit into him and fell the ground between his feet. He quietly picked it up and walked over to her, holding the crystal out for her.

“I really do wish that it didn’t have to be this way, Cat.” Lance said with sadness in his voice. “But this is just the way it is.”

He held out the gem for her, and she instantly snatched it up. Even being away from it for just a moment had made Cathleen feel empty inside, like she had just thrown away part of her soul. Lance stepped back, but kept his strong gaze on her.

“I know that you’ll make the right choice when the time comes. And remember, no matter what happens, no matter who you decide, I will always be here to protect you.” He lightly thumped his fist into his chest. “Always. It’s in my blood.”

She wanted to tell him something, anything. But there weren’t any words that she could think of that would be right. She had just pushed him away, and he had sworn to guard her with his life. What could she say to something like that? Cathleen desperately searched to at least give Lance some kind of answer to his proclamation. Before Cathleen had a chance to speak, the door to her house swung open. Her dad stepped out onto the front porch, his eyes peering out into the night.

“Cathleen? You out there honey?”

“I’m here, daddy.” she called out to him. “I’ll be right there.”

Cathleen whirled to face Lance. “Go, Lance. Before my dad sees you.”

He nodded and moved. As he took his first step, the lights on the porch turned on, bathing both of them in its dull yellow glow. Cathleen brought her hands up to her eyes as the light nearly blinded her. When her vision cleared, she saw her father standing at the top of the steps, his eyes wide as dinner plates and his jaw dropped. Cathleen knew that he had seen Lance.

“Daddy,” she stammered. “let me explain…”

“Linda!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, not once taking his eyes off of Lance.

Cathleen felt her heart sink when her mother rushed out to his side, still clutching a dinner plate that she had been drying off. “What’s going on out here?” she demanded, looking at him first. “Why are you screaming?”
When her gaze followed his, Cathleen’s mom got an equally shocked expression on her face. The gasp that she made was loud enough for Cathleen to hear, even as far away as she was. The plate slipped from her mother’s hand and shattered in a hail of shards. “Cathleen, get in the house!”

Cathleen took a hesitant step towards her parents. “Mom, dad, listen to me. This isn’t…”

“Get in the house now!” her mother shrieked. The ferocity in her voice was unlike anything Cathleen had heard from her mother before, and its scared her. With her pulse racing throughout all of her veins, Cathleen rushed up the steps and was shooed inside by her mother.

“Get my shotgun!” her dad roared after she had been shoved inside. “And you, whoever you are, get the hell off of this land right now.”

There was a tense moment of silence as Cathleen waited from behind the closed door, her entire body shaking. Then she heard Lance’s voice.

“You bastard, you know the truth. Don’t you? What, did you really think that she was the only one?”

“Linda!”

At his calling, Cathleen’s mom came rushing out of the bedroom with her dad’s shotgun in hand. Cathleen tried to get in her way. “Mom, you can’t do this. Will you please stop.”

“Go to your room!” her mom screamed before she slipped out the front door.

“Get the hell out of here right now!” Her dad commanded. His threat was followed by the sharp click of the shotgun.

“You’re hiding it from her.” Lance snapped. “You’re hiding it the same way my parents did. But you can’t keep her in the dark forever. You can already tell that she’s changing, and there’s nothing that you can do about it.”

“You’ve got till three to get out of here!” her dad threatened. “Then I’m pumping your guts full of lead.”

“That’s an empty threat, and we both know it. That little bird gun of yours isn’t going to do anything to me.”

“Leave!”

“Fine, I’m going.” Cathleen was breathing heavy, as the tension permeated through all the air around her. She didn’t know what was going to happen next, and she was terrified. Then she heard Lance’s voice again. “But know this, she’s going to find out soon enough, one way or the other. And if you really cared about Cathleen, you’d tell her the truth, since you’re her parents. You at least owe her that.”

Cathleen fully expected to hear a gunshot in the next second. But none came. As she waited in the living room, her head spinning from the wild confusion, her parents slowly entered the house. Cathleen looked at them both. Their faces were full of shock, and exhaustion. Her lips quivered as she tried to find the courage to speak to them.

“Mom, dad.”

“Go to your room.” her mother said in a drained voice.

“But…”

“We’ll talk about it in the morning.”

She almost wanted to defy them, to rush out of the house and after Lance. But she didn’t. Cathleen had a strong belief that she wouldn’t even be able to find him if she did go. And, she just couldn’t bear to look her parents the way they were. Turning on her heels, Cathleen raced to her bedroom and slammed the door shut. Locking both locks, she threw herself on the bed, and tried her very best to not let her mind fall apart from the sheer insanity of everything that was happening around her. There was a big secret surrounding her, and everyone damn person in the world seemed to know it, even her parents, except her. As she fought to keep even more tears from falling from her eyes, the tiny crystalline shard she had pulled from the pool fell silently to the floor, its surface dull and unreflective of the light surrounding it.