My Name is Emerald

Fourteen

     I heard something. Something Steven hadn't heard. I stood and looked around, listening. The background music of the movie blared from the speakers.
     "Pause it," I murmured. Steven rummaged around for the remote. There it was again. He found the pause button, and then there was silence. I waited.
     "What is it, Emerald?" Steven said loudly. I shushed him quickly. Something didn't seem right about this. I had a funny feeling in my stomach. Again! It was coming from outside. I ran to the door and yanked it open, dashing onto the beach. I heard a muffled voice. It sounded angry, distraught, as if its owner was in a great deal of pain. I crept toward it, straining my ears to make it out over the sighing of the ocean.
     "You... you did this to me... you'll pay..." I began to run. Crying. I heard crying. It was two voices now.
     "Please stop, please just go away...!"
     "You're going to regret ever defying me! I'll... I'll rip you apart!" I sprinted towards the voices.
     "Stop!" I shrieked. "Stop, please!"
     "Can't you see? You're just a pawn in all of this! It's not about you or me, it's about this awful planet!"
     "I don't care about any of that! I just want to make you pay for what you've done to me!"
     "STOP! JASPER, STOP!" I stumbled and fell just as I reached them. Jasper had a slender, blue gem pinned to the ground. She was writhing and squirming trying to free herself, and Jasper was shaking her violently, her whole body quivering in rage. I scrambled to my feet and launched myself at them. "I said STOP!" Jasper looked up, growling.
     "Stay out of this!" she bellowed. She drew her arm back and before I could dodge, she threw a powerful blow at me that sent me hurtling backwards into a rock. I cried out in pain and Citrine and Azurite broke apart. They fell to the ground in shock and horror. Never had Jasper laid a finger on them. Not once. She was their friend. She wouldn't hurt them. She wouldn't. Azurite curled up in a ball and began to cry softly. Citrine crawled to her side and wrapped her in a tight embrace, biting her lip.
     "It's going to be okay, Azurite. She didn't mean it. She didn't," Citrine stammered.
     "Sh-she... she hurt us... why would she hurt us, Citrine? I thought she cared about us...!"