Of Stardust and Moonstone

Chapter One

Without any inkling as to why, Seraphine was overcome with a wave of dread upon crossing the threshold to her home, the weight of which suggested that someone within the walls of the house was in a particularly miserable mood. Using her own prior knowledge of her family's personalities and the exaggeratedly happy masks both of her parents wore, she inferred that her older brother, Evan, was having the bad day.

Tossing her backpack to the side, she approached her parents hesitantly, as if she might be crossing a battleground toward a possible landmine. "How's Evan?" Seraphine ventured.

"Same as always," her mother responded solemnly. She wrapped her arms around Seraphine and planted a tender kiss on the top of her head. Instinctively, Sera swiped at the spot her mother's lips had just brushed, but the hurt look her mother flashed her made her freeze with her hand hanging in midair.

After the few seconds it took for Seraphine's mother to regain her composure and adjust her happy mask, she sighed and admitted, "I just wish I could help him."

Seraphine was immediately flooded with guilt at the sound of her mother's exhausted voice. All her parents wanted to do was make their children happy. They were in way over their heads, but they refused to let that deter them. With determination, they fought for the approval of their children, and they never gave up on Seraphine, Evan, or Sebastian, Evan's twin.

Despite Evan's naturally melancholy disposition, his parents continued to hope for brighter days. They kept their eyes trained on the light at the end of the tunnel and seemed to ignore the fact that the train they had boarded was heading far away from that speck of luminosity as Evan regressed each day. When Seraphine felt scared and alone because she never quite belonged anywhere, they coaxed and comforted her until she truly believed she was a part of something great in their family. They made her see how different the dynamic would be if she was not a member of the household. They even took care of Sebastian's creepy lizard habitat on the extremely rare occasion that he neglected it.

Whenever the trio needed a hand, no matter the task, they each knew they had two willing and loving parents to help them out. Her mother and father did everything in their power to please her, yet Seraphine was still disappointing them.

"I'm sorry," she mouthed to her mother, hanging her head in shame. It was a small gesture, brushing off the display of affection her mother had offered, but it seemed like a much larger show of failure to Seraphine, because she had hurt her mom in the process.

Behind Seraphine, the front door groaned to life as Sebastian finally came inside from saying goodbye to his friends. Quickly, Seraphine hugged her father and rushed past both of her parents, explaining, "I'm going to check on Evan." Truly, she just didn't want the chance to disappoint her parents again.

"Hey, sis, wait. I have something to tell him," Sebastian called after her, discarding his backpack in same vicinity as Seraphine's. "Would you mind checking on my lizards for me?"

"Oh, of course not. I would love to go sit in a room filled with slimy, scaly little creatures with black, beady eyes that follow my every move while you go harass our brother. Thank you for giving me this opportunity." Seraphine clasped her hands over her heart and did a small, sarcastic leap of joy.

"Now, that's the spirit!" Sebastian exclaimed, rolling his eyes at his sister's dramatics.

Seraphine spun on her heel and stalked off to Sebastian's room. The weirdest part of his lizard collection was that he didn't have a cage for any of them. Over one hundred lizards and not a single one lived in isolated captivity. They just roamed his room freely. On the very common occasion that he left his bedroom door ajar, they swiftly took over the entire house, claiming every inch of it as their own territory. It could take hours to locate them all and return them to their designated area. Seraphine knew it was because of his ability that he kept so many and fought to give them their freedom, but that never helped her feel more comfortable around them. He just had a special connection with the creatures that Seraphine never would. That was his gift, the ability to connect and bond with lizards. Although she had tried numerous times, she could never get him to confirm her suspicions that he was able to verbally or telepathically communicate with them.