When The Stars Align

chapter nineteen | we'll be the stars

IT IS A STUPID, haunting tradition that my mind never lets me sleep the night of the anniversary.

I could hear the ticks of the clock as each second passes. I could be in a deep sleep before, but right when midnight strikes, I'm awake again. The shadows of my room watched over me and my actions, and I was too scared to move.

But then I dragged myself out of bed. I always ended up going on a midnight walk on this night, watching the stars in the sky. It was a beautiful kind of lonely when I was out on my own, but it was just an easy reminder of how lonely I truly was.

The house was quiet, obviously. Lysander and Sophia were early sleepers, which was kind of shocking considering their jobs. I would've expected Sophia busy marking papers into the night and Lysander managing some night shift, but both managed to do most of their work before night fell, and Lysander only ever had night shifts when it was absolutely necessary for him.

But...

We always kept the door that led to the staircase to the roof locked until we wanted to go up. The key was hidden in one of the flower vases, for some reason, and whenever we needed to, we all just went up there.

The door was now creaked open. The key was placed on the table holding the vase.

I walked towards the door and grabbed the key. We were never supposed to leave the key unattended, in case someone (four year old me) accidently locked whoever was outside out of the house (long story, maybe later).

I headed upstairs, the steps groaning under my weight. The crisp October air welcomed me outside as I opened the door. In the middle of the roof was where my siblings sat, Lysander leaning onto Victoria's shoulder.

It made sense that they were up here, looking up at the stars. Our parents made us believe that when people died, they became stars in nearby galaxies, watching over us. They told us not to be scared of death because it was part of life, and when our lives were over, we'd join our ancestors in the stars.

Of course, that was a direct result of the creation of our kingdoms. The ancient powers from the stars and galaxies gave us what we have today - the magic, the power, the world we step on. When we die, we return a portion, at least.

It also made sense why they didn't bring me up here. I was the one that killed them. Five years ago, I was the one that caused part of our family to break off - again. They didn't want me here. Maybe it was just killing them inside that I was in the same house where I murdered them.

I mean, it killed me. Out of all places, this was probably the last place I would've wanted to be in. Maybe I should've stayed one more night in the hospital, like Lysander insisted. But I was just so desperate to get out, I forgot about what today was.

They deserved this moment alone, talking to each other. They bonded as siblings without me, which was probably easy because I was only in their lives for eight years. They had fifteen other years where they were siblings.

I realised then that both of them had Leo in their lives for longer than they had me. The young prince was already ten, two years older than when I was kidnapped. That's how long I've been gone - my sister has a child who's age was in double digits.

I'm about to head back downstairs when Victoria calls my name. I bit my lip, considering to not hear her.

"Vera. Come here. You shouldn't be alone tonight either."

Lysander didn't say anything to back her up. When I turn around, I see the sadness in his eyes, the bitterness in his movements. He didn't want me here. That was understandable.

I shook my head. "You guys should talk... I don't want to be intruding..." But Victoria was already up, walking towards me and grabbing my wrist to drag me over. She took the key from my hand and sat me down besides Lysander. Tori sat on the other side of me.