Three weeks and two days after Rena’s chat with the king, the Storm Star died.
“Re-na!” The Sea Star sang. She looked off. Her hair was knotted and the dress she had worn for all the other deaths had torn from the Sakura Star’s attempted escape. Where once stood a Lady, there was a mad woman. “I’m coming for you, Rena! You poor little thing, trapped in that dismal country. Do you even know how many of us there are? Let’s count shall we?” The Sea Star had completely forgotten about the Storm Star, having lost interest in captured prey. “There’s you, the eldest of us, then the Tiger Star who had pretty orange eyes. Then, the Onyx Star. Evil little black eyes, that girl. Lightning fell after her, and her eyes were yellow. That little pink freak really messed me up, what was her name?” The Sea Star tried to take a step closer, but stumbled almost drunkenly, “Oh, right. The Sakura Star. After her came you,” she poked the Storm Star in the chest with her knife. The girl whimpered, eliciting a laugh from the murderer.
“You’ve got some gray eyes there, Miss Sis!” Rena could smell the blood on the Sea Star’s breath, “Then we’ve got that Sand Storm-oops! I mean Sand Star!” She laughed in Rena’s face, “Now that girl’s eye was simply ghastly! I would have been doing her a favor to take out that other brown eye! It’s a pity I didn’t.” The Sea Star pouted. “Anyway, after that was that blind looking Snow Star and then me!” She jumped like a little kid. “Wait, who did I forget?”
“Oh, I know! That little suicidal Fire Star with the red eyes. She was the one that fell after you, not the Tiger Star, she was third. So that means you have the power of two stars and I have the power of seven. Well, eight now.” The Sea Star stabbed her older sister in the neck, not even bothering to keep the blood from pouring out.
Rena’s eyes jerked open. She did not scream because she could not scream. All she could do was stare at the wall of her room and hyperventilate. Suddenly, a shadow detached itself from its brethren and came towards her. Rena watched with wide eyes as her murderer approached her, terrified into complete paralysis. Strong arms wrapped around the lump of a girl and picked her up.
Aiden whispered sweet nothings in Rena’s ear as he rocked her back and forth. Finally, the dam broke and Rena began quietly sobbing into Aiden’s chest. He couldn’t understand her for almost half an hour, but eventually he got the entire story out of her. He held her even tighter when she was done.
“Why are you up here, Aiden?” Rena’s tired voice came from the covers.
“Oh, a number of reasons. I’ve grown fond of your snoring-”
“I don’t snore!” Rena protested.
Aiden chuckled softly and continued, “Me and Tanya worry about you, Ren-ren. Before you, I only thought of one thing when we weren’t together: Is Neverix alright? Does she need me? But now, all I can think about is: Are Tanya and Rena alright? Do they need me? If I walk through this door, am I going to get hit with another bucket of slop?” Rena giggled, remembering the prank. “Seriously, Ren-ren, I don’t think we could survive without you anymore.”
“You’ll be okay. I know you’ll heal.” Rena thought she said as she fell asleep, but no one heard her and even less understood.
YOU ARE READING
Contract with a Star (On Hold, Possibly Forever)
FantasyWhen giant chunks of rock fall out of the sky, we call them stars and wish on them. But what if they’re not always rock? What if some of them are sources of energy? What if that energy was what created and sustained life this entire time? Rena is on...
