The Falling Stars of Mooncrest Bay, By Makaila Odoom, Part 5

The Falling Stars of Mooncrest Bay, By Makaila Odoom

Part 5

I stood there, alone on the beach.

Frozen in shock. What had just happened?

Whoever Orion was, he was not normal.

I'm guessing Kaspar and Seren weren't either.

And evidently… neither was I.

I stared down at my hand, half expecting to find a gaping, glowing hole in my palm—or at least something, anything there.

But there was nothing. No more glow. No hole. No magic powers shooting from my fingertips. Not even a mark.

I flexed my fingers, making sure they were functioning normally. They were.

That made it even weirder, somehow.

Would I ever figure out why that orb had fused with my skin? What it was?

"Lila!" Esme whisper-yelled from the porch door. "What are you doing? Get your butt in here!"

I was then sucked back into reality.

I sighed, making my way up the porch stairs. When I got to the door, Esme blocked the entrance.

"Where are your shells?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uhh," I fumbled for a response. "I couldn't find them. They must've gotten washed away by the ocean."

I realized it was a ridiculous excuse before I had even finished saying it.

She gave me a quizzical look. "The tide is super low and we were far away from the ocean… Why are you sweating?" It was like she could see right through me.

I wasn't sure if I should tell her what had happened. Esme would probably tell me I was losing my mind.

She crossed her arms, waiting for an answer.

"What are you two doing?" Chrystie shouted.

She was standing a few feet behind Esme, arms crossed and looking very, very unhappy.

Esme grabbed my wrist, dragging me back inside and closing the door behind her.

"Sorry, Chrystie," she muttered. "We thought we heard a sound, so we were just investigating."

Chrystie scoffed. "That's the stupidest thing you can do when you hear a weird noise," she stated. "Basically how everyone gets killed in horror movies."

I chuckled. "True. It was actually a squirrel, though. We were just headed back to bed," I said.

She frowned. "Okay."

Esme and I started walking back to the stairwell.

"Lila," Chrystie called. "I need to talk to you for a second. Come here."

I stopped like a deer stuck in headlights.

Esme turned around to give me a look that said, good luck, before continuing to the stairwell.

"Now that she's gone," Chrystie started, walking to the living room. I followed, flopping down on the couch. Chrystie sat across from me. "Tell me what you were really doing tonight."

I took a deep breath. I had known this was coming.

"Why don't you ask your friend, Kaspar?" I retorted. Her eyes widened. "He seemed very interested in me and what I was doing also. Maybe he can actually give me some real answers. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to."

She scowled. "I told that piece of crap to let me handle it!"

I was starting to think that Kaspar had exaggerated when he called himself one of Chrystie’s "friends."

"So it was him you were talking about on the phone?" I exclaimed.

Her eyes narrowed. Oops.

"You were eavesdropping on my conversation?" she yelled.

I shrugged. "You were acting weird, and you're super loud, so I didn't even really have to eavesdrop."

Chrystie rolled her eyes. "Right."

Her straight face returned. "I told you not to go to the beach, Lila."

I gave her a confused look. "I wasn't on the beach," I lied.

She glared at me. "You can drop the innocent act. You said you talked to Kaspar. If you spoke to him, that means you were on the beach."

I cringed. "Who the heck is he to you anyway? And why is he so fascinated with me?" I asked.

"Well... that all depends on what you found tonight."

Gulp.

"Why should I tell you what I found?" I questioned.

She leaned back in her seat.

"Because if you don't, we'll all be doomed.”

She said it so casually that I thought she was joking.

She wasn’t.

"I found a blue orb the size of my palm," I blurted.

Chrystie immediately sat up in her chair.

"Where is it?" she asked, her voice rock-solid. "Where is it, Lila?"

"Um," I started. "About that..."

She stood up. "Lila! Where is it?" she yelled.

I grimaced. "It happened so quickly. There was nothing there, then poof! He appeared, and I thought he was going to steal it from me, but instead he grabbed my hand, placed the orb in it, put his hand over it while pressing down, then it, like… melted right into my hand somehow and I don't know how it happened, but—"

"LILA SIRIUS ESTELLE!" I didn't know my sister was capable of yelling so loudly.

She took a deep, shaky breath. "Who? Who is 'he'?" she said between clenched teeth.

"Orion?" I said it more as a question. "Kaspar's brother."

She went completely still.

Somehow, that was much worse than the yelling.

"I know who he is," she gritted out, covering her face with her hands. "Lila, what have you done?"

"I have no idea, because you refuse to tell me!" I exclaimed.

She uncovered her face, anger twisting her expression. "And you won't know. Not until you're ready. Now go upstairs and go to sleep. This conversation is over."

I marched upstairs, more confused than ever. 

No way was I getting any sleep after that.

Chrystie wasn’t going to tell me the truth?

Fine.

I’d find it myself.