Star Drifting

CHAPTER TEN: MY PROMISE

Edited 9/30/2024

"So what now?" Bri's words mirrored her thoughts just a bit earlier. When the message came in, we sat and watched silently, remaining still even after Viva had shut down the program and removed the drive. I could tell they still didn't truly understand what they had just read, especially not what it meant. But it was all too clear to me.

These weren't traps for them. I am this Star. The Star destined to usher in chaos and devastation, to undo all of humanity's progress and plunge them back into their primitive, savage instincts.The Star that showed up in the sand to wreak havoc. I find myself at odds. There is no trace of evil or malice within me. I harbor no desire to enact chaos or ravage lands. I'm just a kid. An outsider in this unfamiliar world, surrounded only by those who share my twisted fate. I have always felt adrift in this world, never truly belonging, no matter how hard I tried to fit in. But the more I uncover about myself—from haunting visions to resurfacing memories to the stark reality before me—the more apparent it becomes that I am alone in this world. No one else could understand the pain I was going through. This confusion, this fire in me that I wished would remain white, but as the world broke me down, I felt myself drifting into a pool of darkness.

And then I was pulled out by the faintest touch. All the noise had drowned out as my mind wandered, thinking about all kinds of things and all kinds of nothingness. The girls who talked about what any of this could mean were mere lips that said nothing to me. The sounds of the room were nothing to me. No blanket, no lamp, no souls. And then I felt something—a touch, a spark that jolted me awake and shocked me like the stabbing feeling from before. Inherently taboo, I felt Leon's touch, bringing me back to reality, back to the bright shine in his eyes, void of the darkness I was feeling. He stared at me, his hand on my lower thigh, adorned with a look I couldn't quite understand, one I never wanted to see again.

"Hey, are you-"

"It's me. I'm the Star. They know I'm here. This wasn't a trap for you all. It was a trap to try and draw me out, and it worked. They knew we'd be so scared we would try to shut down their operation. That's why the drive was so easy to find. That's why Mr. Brandt gave his speech again, so he could instill more fear and make us panic. And we did. We fell for this stupid trap. This was all one big plan to get me to show myself, and now they know I'm here. Now they know exactly who to take out." My rant ends after cutting off Leo, who desperately tried to comfort me. To think I was so worried about my family in danger that my own dangers never crossed my mind. And now I'm going to pay for it.

No one could be trusted.

The girls had stopped talking to each other now. I saw their look—the way they searched each other's eyes for an answer, for a solution. But all they saw was that glossy white wall. While the girls searched each other's eyes, Leo returned to me—not with a face of fear but one of sublime conviction.

"I won't let anything happen to you. Je le jure avec ma vie. You hear me? I die before anything happens to you. Any of you." Leo's words struck deep, even to the girls. This was the first time I'd heard Leo use a different language. I had grown to associate his passion with this language. All too familiar, yet I could not understand. He had mentioned speaking many different languages before as a result of being the future Mayor. Even with foreign words, I felt I could trust him. His hands tightened their hold on the sides of my face, gently guiding my gaze back to him. At that moment, I could see a glint of something indefinable in his eyes, a mixture of determination and vulnerability. I can see the spark that flashed like feigning confidence, the deep black betraying his sturdiness. His weakness and fear were all visible in that shimmer of light in his eye. In his mind, he was playing all the bad things that could happen, but in his words, he told me all the things that he would never let happen.