Little Green Stars

Chapter 32-The Curse

"What the hell do you mean you created me?" I ask.

"I, unknowingly and unintentionally, impregnated your mother when Antares was at the peak of brightness. And worse, I did so after using the spiritual world to summon Maeve Shamrock home," Malcolm replies as if talking about the most normal thing in the world.

WHAT?!

"So now you're a freaking wizard?!" I demand as the car doors close in around me.

"Wizards aren't real," Malcolm says bluntly. "But you, as a Shamrock, should know that there is a spiritual world living in balance with our world."

"Like the force?" Jin says.

I can't tell if he is kidding or being funny, so I ignore him and continue, "How the hell would I know that?!" My hands grasp the Oh-Shit! handle. I'm not just low key freaking out anymore. I'm MAJORLY freaking out.

"And just like our world, the spiritual world lives in conjunction with the pull of gravity and the astrological systems," Malcolm continues without missing a beat.

"I don't understand how you getting Vel's mom pregnant under a certain star configuration would make her haunt my house?" Jin says, taking control of the conversation.

"You need to understand that Antares is the brightest star in the Scorpius system. It's the largest, most evolved star in the entire Scorpius–Centaurus Association. And every year on May 31st, the exact night I was with River Shamrock, it's visible the entire night. Imagine that massive, emanating light transcending space and time to shine down to us on earth. The gravitational force alone, I mean it's mass is twelve times that of the sun!" Malcolm continues to rant with undying devotion while Jin and I try to follow his logic.

"So, when I used my spiritual gift to summon Maeve Shamrock home, unbeknownst to me, I created a chemical reaction that was absorbed by Antares. Remember Red Velvet theory?" Malcolm asks.

"Where the cake turns red because of a chemical reaction?" Jin asks.

"Yes, but after the chemical reaction, if you were to add food-dye to it, that red would be exacerbated!"

"I'm not following?" Jin says.

"That summoning spell created a chemical reaction, where instead of summoning Maeve Shamrock home to her mother, I was creating life with River Shamrock instead. Mixing of the summoning and the procreation caused a chemical reaction! BUT, that chemical reaction took on a life of its own, being exacerbated because of Antares! Because of this, when you were conceived, your soul was accidentally summoned to HillCrest house."

"Can you please speak like a normal human being? What does it all mean!?"

"Most people don't know this, but Antares isn't just one star, it's a binary star. Scorpii A and Scorpii B make up Antares, one is the bright burning supernova, and the other star is the distinctive band of stars called the main sequence."

"So, are you saying Vel is the supernova?"

"Very astute, yes, comparatively Vel would be the supernova burning bright red, giving the illusion of being green—or in her case a normal soul."

A normal soul?

"Then what's the main sequence in this scenario?" Jin asks.

"Where the chemical reaction took place in the first place—HillCrest House."

"So, what does it mean!?" I demand, even more annoyed that Jin seems to be following something I'm not.

"Meaning, the two of them work together in one symbiotic relationship. Vel's soul is tied to HillCrest House."

"That's why your soul has tried to return every night since my parents bought the house!" Jin looks like he just won a Nobel peace prize or some other dork award.

"So, how do we stop it?" I ask. Unlike Jin, I'm NOT excited, I'm terrified.

"I never thought Red Velvet theory would come to an apex...that's why I was looking for a letter," Malcolm says, and for the first time, I think I hear regret in his voice.

"What letter?!" I demand

"River Shamrock contacted me when she got institutionalized. She told me she detailed Vel's condition in a letter in which she implored Meave never to sell the house. Subsequently, she asked me to make sure Maeve got it. Knowing the risk involved, I went to try and procure the letter to no avail. Instead, I wrote an anonymous letter of my own in which I detailed the psychological collapse of Vel Shamrock if the house was ever to be sold. I also said that her mother's letter would explain everything."

Oh, my God! It all makes sense.

"Maeve never got that letter!" I yell back, irritated. "She didn't go and try to get it until today!" With that, I begin rummaging through the box of my Mom's stuff until I feel a small envelope graze my hands. Quickly, I pull it out and examine it. Sure as shit, a letter with the words Maeve written in my mom's handwriting sits in my hand. "The letter, it's here..."

"Open it!" Jin says, trying to keep his excited eyes on the road in front of him.

"Okay!" I open the envelope and stare down at the words. The curls and loops of Mom's wild handwriting makes me miss her that much more.

"Dear Meave," I begin, clearing my throat from any sign of sadness. "I feel ill. I don't feel connected to the spiritual world anymore, and I fear it's because of what I've done. I need to tell you something before it's too late. I'm afraid I don't have much time. I need you to make sure HillCrest House goes to Vel. The house cannot be sold or rented. Vel's life depends on it. Do you remember that winter we had a major water leak, and Vel got really sick? You cried and cried and cried because your Cabbage Patch Dolls were ruined. Vel got really sick and was shaking uncontrollably and kept spitting up fluid? We rushed her to the hospital, but the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong?"

"I think I remember that," I say aloud as a vision of dull white hospital walls and balloons pop into my mind. I continue reading, as my heart pounds. "Vel only got better once the plumbers fixed the pipe and removed all the water from the basement. That's when I knew something was wrong. I contacted her father, and together we realized that Vel's soul was symbiotic with HillCrest house. Search your heart, and you'll feel the pull I'm talking about between Vel and our home. I know you're sensitive to the spiritual world, you've just always shut yourself off to it, and it's partly my fault. I'm not asking you to be open to your gifts, and I just need you to heed my warning. If you don't, something unknown and sinister will happen to your sister. You don't have to live in the house. It can sit vacant just DO NOT SELL IT or let any major repairs go unfixed! If something does happen to Vel, you need to contact Malcolm McMurvin immediately. Look him up, you'll find him. I know I've always let you down, but please break that cycle and don't let your sister down. Love, Mom."

"I don't feel very good." The letter slides out of my hands as my heart seems to race.

"Told you," Malcolm says, ignoring me.

"Okay, but what do we do about it?" Jin says.

"I'll know once I get to the house and feel it out."

"What does that mean?"

The words around me blur as my heartbeat pounds in my ears. All at once, dizziness kicks in.

"Vel?" Jin's voice sounds like a distant echo.

I try to respond, but my head drops against the window. My eyes close, and all I see is what looks like stars moving across a black vastness—some galaxy within my mind, and then everything goes dark.

*Please vote if you enjoyed this chapter. What do you think is happening to Vel?