One Shot Short Story collections

Story One - Crystal Heart

Celyn stopped in front of me, a small smirk on their lips. "Hey, Jen- Oh wait. You changed, didn't you? You call yourself Orion now? Why? Because you like to think of yourself as a hunter? A strong independent man that doesn't need daddy to tell you how to act and what gender to identify as. I've never heard of anything more hypocritical than your existence." I could feel my jaw tensing at their harsh words.
I stepped closer to them, an attempt to intimidate them. It didn't work and their smirk only grew. "You need to shut up. Now." I yell-whispered, hatred entering my tone. For the first time, I noticed a flicker of pain in Celyn's eyes and I relished in them feeling the same pain inflicted upon me.
"Maybe if she was still alive, you could ask her about Amaiya." My eyes widened and I stumbled back a few steps. Celyn didn't give me a chance to respond before walking past me and disappearing through the doors to the chapel.
Celyn's words still rang through my head as I began to speak with the guests that had shown up to honor my mother. Maybe if she was still alive, you could ask her about Amaiya. I didn't know what they meant by that. There was no way they could have known the truth.
My eyes kept drifting to Celyn. They were playing with a necklace hanging elegantly from their throat. My heart almost stopped as I looked closer. That necklace... I recognized it. I needed to get it no matter the cost, even if that meant pulling it off Celyn's cold dead corpse. Their eyes met mine as they leaned back in their pew, staring into my soul. I watched as they lifted the necklace and ran their tongue gently across the crystal jewel. They were trying to provoke me and it was working.
Anger spread throughout my body and soul, and I hurried from my grandfather toward them without a word. I was angry and they would pay. They chuckled and stood just as I neared them.
"What's got your knickers in a twist?" They said in a mock tone, but I knew they were mad, their fist clutching the crystal tight as if already guessing my reason for coming over here. They were protecting it better than they ever had before.
"Give it to me. Now. It is mine."
"I hate to break it to you, but it was never yours. You don't deserve it." They snapped at me and a growl slipped from my throat, low and dangerous. "What? That supposed to scare me or something?" They scoffed, rolling their eyes even as they held the crystal tighter.
I leaned forward and whispered in their ear, "I know it's working. I can smell the fear on you. You are intimidated by my Alpha energy."
Celyn started to laugh. It was an insane type of laugh that made people stop and look over at us, worried. "I'm sorry for laughing, Ori. It's just funny to me. You still think you were ever the Alpha."
They shot me a wink and turned to walk away but I grabbed their arm, roughly yanking their back against my chest. "You aren't going to get off that easily, Cel." I growled in Celyn's ear and felt their body tense up. But then they relaxed and laughed once more when I tried to reach for the crystal. I couldn't prepare myself before they dropped down, shifting their weight and using my momentum against me. I was flipped, my eyes widening as I landed hard on my back. The breath was knocked from my lungs.
"You should learn to respect your superiors, little wolf. You will never touch either of our hearts again. You probably think I couldn't possibly know what you did but..." They moved closer to me and my heart was racing. "You wanted to know why your mother died. She told me what you said, Orion. Your pride will be the death of you." They got off of me, standing and dusting themselves off. People were staring but I stayed down for a few moments. I had no choice because they won. They always won. No matter what I did. I could never beat them. I started to get up. "I just can't seem to understand what happened to you. You were our best friend, Orion. But you betrayed us. Why did you do that?" There was hurt in their tone and I felt my stomach drop further than the center of the Earth.
"You think I had a choice? I was being abused! I needed to protect myself!" I yelled before remembering we were at my mother's funeral. I stood quickly and turned to them. They didn't seem to care much about the setting, hands crossed over their chest as they raised an eyebrow at me. "Not here. Outside. Now."
They didn't argue, just marched past the crowd of gawking people and walked through the doors of the chapel. I followed them quickly. "Abuse has nothing to do with what you did, Orion. You were just hurting. And you figured you would take it out on us. But if I hear about you defiling her name again, I will come back and take more than just your mother next time." Their voice was dripping with poison
"You really think you can take something I want? You think you can walk away with it around your neck? I'd sooner kill you, here, on God's doorstep."
They huffed, a smile forming on their lips. "It's funny how you think I would allow that. I've been living with your mistake for ten years. No matter how much it hurts, I have to live so I can protect it to make up for what you did!" They are shouting again.
"I didn't want her to die!"
"But she did. And that is on you."
They had let their guard down. I tried to stop myself but before I could, I had reached forward and ripped the necklace right off Celyn's neck. They yelped, likely from the sharp burn of the chain as it cut them. Their eyes widened when they saw me holding it. "You son of a-" Celyn pounced on me and we were sent rolling down a hill. I felt my head being smashed in as they screamed, digging their nails into my scalp. "NEVER TOUCH HER!" they had completely lost their mind. I saw flashes of their glowing yellow eyes. When we'd finally stopped rolling, they were on top of me. I tried to keep it but I could feel my hold on the necklace loosening.
I lifted my free hand to try and block their next attack. My eyes were attached to Celyn and I could see tears falling down their cheeks as they continued to hit me. "Stop it!" I yelled, finally grabbing Celyn's waist and tearing them off of me. I tossed them, they hardly weighed anything to me.
Celyn was glaring at me but they didn't attack and I saw why soon enough. In our struggle and them being thrown, they had managed to grab the necklace and now it's cradled against their chest. "You almost hurt her, Orion." They moved closer to me but this time I didn't try to grab the necklace. They lifted the necklace so the crystal was swaying beside my ear. "Do you hear that, Orion? Do you? Please say you do. I don't want to be the only crazy one."
I went still because I could hear it. I hadn't been able to before but now there was silence and I could hear the soft sound of Amaiya's heart beating. Beating as if she was still alive. Beating as if I hadn't killed my best friend because I was told that being different was a bad thing. Tears fell down my cheeks as I screamed because it was me. She was dead and it was my fault.
The next day was a Saturday and we were burying my mother. Celyn had stayed the whole weekend but they didn't look at all happy to be there. They had stayed for me. For Amaiya. I suspect that it was more than likely guilt that kept them here. Since we were kids Celyn was always different from other kids. They fought for what they believed in and never let anyone hurt me or Amaiya. We were all they had.
I hadn't thought about Celyn since they showed up to the funeral yesterday and I couldn't say I wasn't happy they were here. Looking at them now I remember what they went through. I'd gotten the only person they loved killed the same week their entire family was murdered in a fire. Celyn's eyes drifted to me but I didn't look away. I was staring at the necklace, my brain shifting from Celyn to Amaiya.
Amaiya had been trangender. I could remember their dead name of course. David. I liked her as David. I hated myself because I got her killed. And it was all because of my stupid jealousy. When she'd made the transition, she didn't like me as much anymore. Celyn became her favorite and they would spend every moment together. As the year of the transition passed, I grew more and more hate filled until one day I finally snapped.
I shook my head and covered my ears as if that would stop the voices in my head. "Are you okay, little wolf?" I could hear Celyn asking me, though I knew they didn't care. Why would I expect them to? I've taken so much from them. Something I'd never told them started to scratch at my throat until I blurted it from my lips. The full truth I've kept inside for ten years.
"It was me! It was me that set the fire. It was me that killed everyone. I just can't help myself... I just love blood so much..."  I licked my lips as an insane glint shone in my eyes. Since before I could remember, everyone thought Celyn was the villain. Thought they would end up in jail. But that just wasn't the truth. Because everything was me.
I was the murderer. I was a psychopath. I was the one of us that was going to Hell. I had tricked all of them but the death of my mother was the last straw. If it wasn't Celyn that killed her, I might have myself. I was glad she was gone. I couldn't keep up the facade of loving son anymore.