Starlight [ON HOLD]

Chapter 1

Verse's POV

It was a tradition. We sat around of the table eating, talking, and laughing. My mom and dad, sisters and brothers, and nieces and nephews. I was the closest to my niece Ashley. She was the closest to my age only being younger than me by 4 years. I was close to my sister Vicky and her husband Jace, they were like second parents to me. I was named after Jace's mom who was best friends with my mom. I was a miracle baby because of my mom's age when she had me. I was a twin but I absorbed them, probably to survive.

"Ashley stop messing with your brother." I looked at Vicky reprimanding Ashley for messing with Zach. I heard Jade laugh. Ashley got a lot of traits from Jade and Jaden. Jade and her husband Malik had their own kid Malaya. Jaden was with his boyfriend Eric. They were the type that didn't want kids and wanted to live their lives to the fullest. My brother Asher was with his girlfriend who had a baby on the way. I was still living with our parents to make it cheaper with college.

"You ok Star you haven't ate much?" Jace asked me, he has been calling me Star since I was a kid. I always had a fascination with stars they brought me a sense of peace. It was also hard to call me Verse, his mom was a big part of his life and had a hard time when she died. Both Vicky and him had a hard time.

"Yeah I ate a big lunch." I gave him a smile taking a bite of my food to appease him. He smiled as he talked to Vicky. I sighed looking around the table. I always felt left out. I felt like nobody really got me. Having such a large age gap from all my other siblings.

"Has anybody hear from Kylie?" My mom nervously asked everyone. Everyone got tense. My sister Kylie ran off before I was born. Apparently she couldn't accept Jace decided to be with Vicky and turned to drugs. My parents checked her into a rehab but she escaped and we haven't heard from her since.

"No mom I'm sorry." Vicky awkwardly said to her. I never felt attached to Kylie. Sure mainly because I've never met her but mainly because she hurt my family.

"Verse." Ashley whispered and I directed my attention to her.

"Why does everyone get tense about Aunt Kylie?" She has asked me this question multiple times. I always deflected because it wasn't my story to tell.

"Just eat Ashley." She huffed and went back to taking to Malaya. I always saw Ashley more of like a sister than a niece.

"How's school going Verse?" My dad asked me stuff about school. I was studying to be an astronomer.

"Good dad." The banter continued. I know my parents loved me but they always seemed more interested in my siblings than me. I sighed taking another bite hoping this dinner ended soon.

"Do you want to go to our spot again tonight?" Jace asked and I instantly lit up. I instantly said yes becoming even more eager for this dinner to end.

...

We pulled up to the cliff. I jumped out of his trunk and grabbed my telescope. I went close to the edge and set up the telescope. My whole family was obsessed with the beach and the ocean but I was more interested in the sky. They looked down while I looked up.

"Ok I got the blanket spread out and snacks." Jace sat down instantly opening a bag of chips. I always looked at Jace more of a dad than my own. He always supported me and found this place when I was 5. It became a tradition for us to come here. I looked into the telescope and instantly met the sight of the moon. The night sky was pretty at this time of night. The sky was clear and the stars shone lighter than they usually do.

"It's beautiful tonight." I looked at Jace lying down looking up at the sky.

"Yeah I can see Cassiopeia." I loved constellations. I believed they told stories of the stars.

"V is calling I'll be right back." Jace said as he got up and walked towards the truck. I looked back into the telescope looking at the Canis Major constellation.

AGGGGH!!

I looked towards the woods hearing the bloodcurdling scream of a woman. I don't know what drove me to walk near the edge of the woods. My curiosity got the better of me when I entered the woods turning on my phones flashlight. The further I got the darker the sky got as the trees covered the stars. I heard a branch crack I looked to the side to see a man holding a woman by the neck. He was choking the woman and I felt my eyes widen and heart face as the man draw out a gun.

BANG!

The man shot the woman in the head and I couldn't help but to scream. The man directed his attention towards me. Noticing i witnessed him killing the woman he started coming near me. I instantly started running back to the clearing.

"COME HERE B*TCH!" I heard the man yelled but I didn't stop. I kept running I just wanted to hug Jace and tell him to take me away from here.

BANG!

I fell down as I felt a sharp piercing in my leg. I looked down at the leg seeing I was shot. Tears streamed down my face. This is not how I wanted to die. I kept crawling and I saw the clearing. But I stopped and screamed in pain as the man stepped on the bullet wound stooping me.

"Please don't kill me! I'll forget what I saw!" I cried out begging for him to have mercy on me. But all he did was just laugh.

"Since I wasted my last bullet on your leg a knife will have to do." He chuckled as he pulled a big knife out of his jacket. I couldn't see the mans face because of his hood.

"JACEEEEEEE!" As I screamed out in a last ditch effort I felt the blade pierce through my back. Then the man pulled the knife out of my back. The man tugged my hair back exposing my neck. I choked out blood crying realizing what he was going to do. He slowly dragged knife along my throat and blood spurted out. The whole time he sliced he laughed. He dropped my head walking off. I lied there staring at the ground getting woozy. My body hurt so much and I couldn't breathe. But then I heard footsteps. I was scared the man came back to hurt me more.

"F**K VERSE!" I heard Jace yell as my body flipped and I looked up at the sky. Jace was panicking calling someone on his phone. I felt his tears drop down as my face, but I just stared at the small patch of sky in the trees. That's where I saw Orion. I stared at it as everything faded away and I passed out.

...

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