Little Green Stars

Chapter 51-The Stain

"You're hurting me!" I yell as Malcolm drags me down the stairs.

"Sorry, but time's a-ticking."

"When are you going to tell me what happened last night? Just tell me if Jin is okay!"

"Of course he's fine! I wouldn't just stand by and let an innocent family get killed, it would draw too much attention, and I don't have time for that," Malcolm says as we collapse at the bottom of the stairs.

Malcolm's sage stone rolls out of his pocket, and he lunges after it, giving me time to look around. I don't see any more damage. Everything looks the same.

"Just tell me what happened?!"

Malcolm confines the stone to his pocket and then begins dragging me again, this time to the basement door. "I intercepted the boy's parents at the door. I offered them a million dollars to sell me the house immediately. They happily agreed. It took all of twelve minutes for me to wire them the funds and complete a quit-claim deed online."

"You said Maeve did the spell! Why would she cast the soul-tie spell if she didn't need to?!"

"Because I told her to! It was the only way!"Malcolm says, pulling me further down the basement steps.

"Only why for what? The problem was already solved!"

"No, it wasn't! MY problem was NOT solved!" Malcolm screams, he screams.

We reach the bottom of the steps, and Malcolm fumbles around for the light switch. His hands soon reach it, and a yellow, buzzing light blares into the basement. My eyes instantly dart to the white-green stair splattered into the basement ground. I have a feeling this is why we are down here. Why the hell didn't Grandma Shamrock tell me that story?!

I look at Malcolm as fear and confusion pulsate through every part of me. His breathing is heavy, his forehead sweaty, and his eyes crazed. In the twelve or so hours I've known him, he's been calm and collected, but now he's completely flipped. I didn't think it was possible, but somehow right here, right now, I'm more afraid of him than Red Lady.

"What problem, Malcolm? What problem could possibly be worth risking your own daughter's life?"

"This isn't my fault!" Malcolm demands, beginning to pace violently around the room. "It's your damn grandfathers. He took everything from me!"

"Help me understand," I say, trying to use a calm, sincere voice, like the ones people use to talk people off ledges—I'm pretty sure Malcolm's on a ledge right now.

"Your Grandfather Shamrock had the gift, as I once did."

"I thought you said you didn't have the gift?"

"I DID UNTIL HE TOOK IT AWAY!"

"Why would he do that?" I take several slow steps backward, shocked by Malcolm's rage. I imagine Grandpa Shamrock's kind old man face. He wouldn't ever do anything to harm anyone, right?

"RIGHT THERE!" Malcolm screams, pointing to the stain.

My eyes move back to the stain lying lifeless on the cold, basement floor, trying to imagine what horrors would have happened to cause it. "Help me understand."

Malcolm runs over to me, putting his hands on my shoulders and shaking me as he screams, "HE RIPPED MY GIFT FROM ME!"

"YOU'RE NOT MAKING ANY SENSE! CALM DOWN!" I yell back, twisting out of his grasp.

Malcolm draws back, slamming his back against the wall. "That isn't a STAIN! It's residue from the CURSE! The one you're precious Grandfather put on me, RIPPING MY GIFT AWAY FROM ME!"

There's no way Malcolm is lying; the pain and embarrassment in his eyes is overwhelming. If he weren't such an asshole, I'd feel bad for him. But, what he's saying doesn't make sense.

"Why, Malcolm, tell me why?"

"Your mother!"

"Mom?"

"I've known your Grandfather since I was eleven. He was my teacher, I IDOLIZED HIM," Malcolm says with a sad laugh, as he slumps against the wall behind him."He helped me with everything, harnessing my power, learning the stars, everything I had was because of him..."

"Then what'd you do to piss him off?"

Malcolm slumps his head against the wall and says, "I was close to thirty, living the dream, even had my show, as you already know. Sure, some critics thought I was a fake, but those scenes and those readings were real! Ask anyone who was on the show! They'll tell you! So overall, life was near perfect for me." Malcolm sways his hands in irritation as he talks, he takes a breath to calm down and then continues, "One day he reached out, asking me for a favor. He wanted me to train his daughter. So, I came here to this very house where I met your mother and fell in love."

"What happened next?" The way he looks, there's no way he's making it up—he loved my mom.

"Maeve happened. Your Grandfather wasn't pleased when his seventeen-year-old daughter ended up pregnant. As soon as she was born, he knew—she looked just like me."

Malcolm stares hard at the stain, his eyes lost in a memory. "I asked her to come away with me, but I think your Grandfather stopped her. As punishment, he cursed me right here, right in this very spot. He took away the only two things I ever loved, your mother, and my gift."

I don't even know what to think. I don't know what to say. Poor Mom. She never showed me she had any gifts; everything she ever did was just a show for her customers. Did she stop using her gift when Malcolm left? Could she have been heartbroken?

"Did Mom love you?" I find myself asking.

"I thought she did, but she never reached out after I left. She knew my offer stood. She could have a life in the spotlight with me. I wait and nothing. Then, sixteen years went by, and I realized she didn't love me. I knew I had to do something, and so I did," Malcolm says, his eyes filling with ghosts.

"What did you do?"

"I came to the only logical conclusion: that your mother didn't love me. I wasn't ever going to get her back, but I could get something else back—my gift. You must understand that after your Grandfather stripped away my gift, my show tanked. I had to resort to writing fluffy books and use amateur tricks, the kinds the fakes use! BUT, I had something else⁠—time. During all those years of waiting, I came up with Red Velvet Theory. It was no mistake that Maeve went missing, nor was it a coincidence that she went missing the exact week Antares would be at its apex. You, my dear, were no mistake..."

"Malcolm, what are you saying?"

"Your mother may have cast that spell, but I knew exactly what would happen. Once you were born, all I had to do was wait for the curse to take her. It wasn't just a spell gone wrong that caused you to be born with your soul tied to HillCrest House. It was no coincidence that house-flippers bought HillCrest House. It was no coincidence that you found my name on that visitor's log. The letter to Maeve from your mother was no coincidence. It was all me. I did exactly what needed to be done to make this exact situation possible."

*As always, thanks for reading. Please take a second to vote :)