The Immortal Stone

The End

I laughed as my dad pulled into the parking lot of the diner and he, my mom, and me all got out of the car to go inside as enjoy the after party.

"So,"Clarisse nudged me."How does it feel to be eighteen, not pregnant, and graduated?"

"Quite... refreshing, actually. How does it feel to have a boyfriend?"I winked at her as the chaplain from a horrible wedding, Gary Turner, came up to the two of us with milkshakes. Did I mention that we had brought him back with us so that he wouldn't tell anyone what he had seen? Anyway, when we brought him back, Clarisse and him had hit it off and have been dating ever since.

"Thrilling."Clarisse chuckled before heading away with Gary, who was actually a pretty cool guy.

"I can't believe we are both finally graduated, Amber!"Clara came up to me with Blake at her side. Those two had been a pretty big hit, as well.

"I can't believe how fabulous she looks!" Carlton clapped his hands in joy as he admired his beautiful work of art that I was wearing."Where is that girl you said wanted to talk to me about something?" I pointed him to the fiery red head and told him that her name was Seraphina.

After about two hours of talking and hanging out with all of my friends, I was ready to go home. It was getting late and I was beginning to nod off. Today had been one of the most eventful days of my life.

But, I was trying to stay awake. I sti hadn't seen Devon. Sure, he had graduated last year and was already living in a small apartment of his own just a half an hour away and had a part time job as a vet (which we had all teased him about since he had never really seemed like the whole animal-caring kind of guy). Lately, it feels like I haven't seen Devon at all. Whenever I did see him, he acted so out of it. I knew he was hiding something from me but I didn't have the guts to question him about it or even think about what he might be doing behind my back.

I still wanted to see him, though.

Finally, after nearly everyone had left, my dad drove me and my mom home.

I was the first to go inside. The lights turned on and I was frozen solid. White and black streamers were hung from the ceiling and all of my friends were crowding around. Jake, Mira, Blake, Alex, Michael, Brett, Seraphina, Carlton, Janie, Suzy, Clarisse, Gary, Henry, and so many more. Devon was about five feet away from me.

"What's going on?"I asked warily.

"Amber,"Devon started but his voice caught. He took my hand and pulled me closer."I know that you have been through a lot. And, I know that you probably aren't ready for something big yet. But, going through all of those things with you, helped me realize that I don't ever want to waste a single minute if it could have been spent with you."

"Devon...?"

"Even if you aren't ready for this, I am going to ask you, and I'm going to keep asking you until you say yes. So,"Devon got down on one knee and held out a small red box."Amber Kenning, will you marry me?" He opened the box and revealed a small gold band with several small red stones embedded in the top. I recognized it as the stone that had once belonged to Christopher.

I stood there. Speechless.

Someone cleared their throat and I realized that everyone was staring at me, waiting for me to say something. Anything.

So I did.

"Yes." That one, breathless word started a riot. Everyone cheered and Devon sighed with relief. His scared, worried, and tired expression was replaced with a relieved, happy, and still tired expression.

"You had me scared there for a minute."Devon whispered to me as he slid the ring onto my finger.

"I had me scared for a minute there, too."I smiled weakly."I'm engaged."I couldn't help the wide smile that spread across my face.

"And, I can guarantee you that we will be married for a very long time."Devon pulled a necklace out from under his shirt. The red stone that was hanging from the chain was about the size of a quarter of my palm and it pulsed along with Devon's heartbeat."We were elected to protect the stone from the wrong hands. So, I have a necklace, and you have a ring."Devon nodded to the other red box that was sitting on the bookshelf across the room.

"So, in other words, we are the new guardians of one of the most powerful things on Earth? For, the rest of our long, long, long lives?"I rose an eyebrow and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"You mean I am the guardian of the most powerful thing in the world?"Devon smiled slyly."Yeah."

"So I am the sidekick?"I pulled back from the kiss that I was about to give him.

"No, I mean you, plus the whole psychic thing, plus the werewolf thing plus a stone that makes you immortal? I think we can both guarantee that I will be one of the only people around that could calm you down."Devon remarked.

"So, we just watch our friends and family die?"We suddenly became very serious.

"No. Janie will always be around. Michael, Blake, Brett, Alex, Mira, Jake, Seraphina. They all have pieces of the stone. The others all passed down the offer. Something about being too old or something."Devon shrugged.

I kissed him.

"I'm looking forward to it."