Boy From the Stars

Celest didn't know if it was hours, minutes or seconds that went by but she awoke, freezing cold, yet, against something warm. Her fingers and toes tingled as though they had fallen asleep and her heart was racing as though she had run a non-stop kilometer. She glanced up and realized I was staring into the handsome face of an angel. When she became coherent she realized it was the star boy.
 
“Sorry,” he said looking genuinely worried, “Sometimes our bursts of energy can be a little overwhelming.”
 
She shoved away from him, “Stay three meters away from me at all times!” she nearly shouted. He barely had time to put her down before he quickly moved what seemed to be exactly three meters away. He stood and started pacing, looking worried. Celest tried to catch her breath but she felt like she was having an adrenalin rush like no other.
 
“What did you do to me?” She demanded.
 
“I’m really sorry.” He apologized again, “Whenever we get overly excited it is hard to control the surge of energy- it must have accidentally transferred to you. I should have controlled it better, but when you said you were worried about me- I- well I-.”
 
He nearly yelled to her his information from his distance. She realized the news crew was probably still looking for them and would hear the shouting.
 
“Keep your voice down.” She looked around the corner and sure enough she saw the news crew marching closer with the cameras. They couldn’t talk here, besides Celest was beginning to shiver from the cold. She stood and took a few steps away before stopping to look at the boy. He had stopped pacing and was trying to look like he wasn’t watching her. She figured he was going to follow her anyway, besides she still needed information about him. She sighed “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” She thought to herself.
 
“You can come- if you want to- I guess.” She said, not looking at him but instead watching the news crew close the distance. They must have realized that they used the back entrance of the park to escape. Celest took off again at a brisk pace, not wanting to have to stand out in the cold and be interviewed.
 
After rounding a few corners Celest had more questions to ask the odd boy. She looked over her shoulder and noticed that he was still a sizeable distance away.
 
“Where did you really come from?” She asked, not caring to look over her shoulder. Instead she continued to walk through the shady neighbourhood, keeping her eyes peeled for any scary activity.
 
“About six billion light-years to the left of Jupiter.” He said rather loudly.
 
Celest quickly turned to see is he was serious. She walked backwards and watched as he didn’t show any signs of lying. He seemed to truly believe what he said.
 
“Alright then, how did you get here so fast? Shouldn’t it take you a million years just to get here?”
 
“At human speed it would have actually been three million. Stars travel quickly. I think in your time it only took two days.”
 
“Riiiight.” Celest said not buying his story despite how genuine he seemed. He was a genuine nut case, but that didn’t explain the glow from his chest to hers and why she blacked out on  the sidewalk a few minutes ago.. It was probably a magic trick or something.
 
“Alright well, I’m going home now- don’t follow me.” She stormed off down one of the alleys and tried to make as much distance between them as possible. She took multiple turns to lose him. He seemed kind but isn’t that how all bad guys acted? This guy was just going the extra mile.

When she thought she had thoroughly lost him she continued on her way… though after turning a few corners she realized she didn’t exactly recognize where she was. No matter she usually had a good sense of direction she’d eventually find her way out. She just wished it wasn’t so cold.
 
Snow began to fall harder and she turned corner after corner. She looked for recognizeable landmarks or houses ut the snow was covering everything up.
 
“Hey-“ She heard someone call from behind her. She turned quickly around hoping it wasn’t the star boy. There was a man in a large brown jacket coming towards her. He had a fag in his mouth and was surprisingly large.
 
“What are you doing out in this kind of weather?” he asked and she could see the hint of a smirk beneath the shaggy beard on his face. Without answering she turned on her heel and dashed the other direction. She had had just enough of weird guys for the past couple days. Unfortunately, as she ran she wasn’t sure if she was going deeper into the unfamiliar area or if she was working her way out. She turned so many times her head should have been spinning and when she rounded another corner she ran right into the man again, but this time he wasn’t alone.
 
“Hello there again.” He smiled sinisterly and reached out to take her wrist. She jerked her hand free. “I guess you’re not used to being in this part of town, otherwise you’d know everything that gets lost in here becomes mine.”
 
He laughed a deep hacking laugh that let Celest know he had probably been a smoker all his life.
 
“She’s a pretty one.” The second man said and leaned down to look in her eyes. She took a step back and ran into yet another man. She didn’t have a chance to push away before he wrapped an arm around her waist.
 
“Don’t touch me!” Celest yelled as the man picked her up off the ground.
 
“She’s feisty. I like ‘em that way.” The man holding her said and laughed. Celest’s heart began to race painfully.
 
“Let me go or I’ll-“
 
“You’ll what? Scream?” The man with the beard chuckled, “No one will come out for you. Like I said I own this place. Anything that gets lost here is mine.” He placed his fingers on her chin and forced her to look up in his eyes.
 
“Ain’t never seen eyes lake that before-“ The skinny second man said. “All green and shiny- like diamonds.”
 
“Emeralds are green you idiot.” The man holding her chided.
 
“Those are wealthy eyes. You’re the daughter of that business man aren’t you? I’m sure he’d pay a hefty sum to get you back.” The bearded man said as though scheming a plot in that mind of his.
 
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Celest tried to keep her voice from shivering but she was cold and frightened.
 
“Sure you don’t. You guys think he’ll pay even if it’s a little broken?” he asked and Celest saw him loop his finger over his belt.
 
“You guys are sick.” Celest grumbled and swung her leg backwards as hard as she could into the man’s knee who was holding her while simultaneously biting down into his hand. He groaned and released her. She fell to the ground in the collecting snow and attempted to get up but the tall skinny man grabbed her.
 
“Don’t think you can get away.” The man in the beard laughed. “This isn’t some fairytale. You’re in my world now, missy.”
 
The man she had kicked started cursing up a storm and she felt him grab a handful of her hair. “No one does that to me and gets away with it!” He growled.
 
“Now hold her still this will only take a moment.” The man unbuttoned her jacket and started sliding it down her arms.
 
“You’re sick! The lot of you! Go crawl back into the pit where you came from!” She yelled while kicking out. The cold burst of wind took her by surprise as her jacket fell to the snow. She was now too frightened to feel the cold. “Let go of me! You’re going to be in big trouble if my father finds out you even touched me!”
 
“Well then he just won’t find out.” The bearded man’s belt fell to the ground. He grabbed her hair in his hands and forcefully pressed his lips against hers. His beard was scratchy against her face and his breath was stale. His tongue left cold slobbering streaks across her lips. She tried to push away but there wasn’t any room for movement. She felt his hands unlace from her hair and replaced themselves on her hips. His fingers felt like ice cubes as they touched her bare flesh under her shirt. She cringed at the cold. With one swift kick she dealt a painful blow in-between his legs. He groaned and doubled over. The other two men threw her to the ground.
 
She tried to get away but they held her there against the snow, it melted and started soaking her clothes.
 
“I was being nice, but it seems you like it rough.” The bearded man said. “Hold her!” he knelt over her and lifted his hand like he was going to hit. She closed her eyes and was just about to scream when there was a sudden blast like an explosion. Her hands were suddenly free and the man on top of her was a good twenty or so meters away lying face down on the ground. In front of her was the shining star boy, his eyes were glowing and his teeth were bared.
 
He crouched over her much like a cat would with one hand in the snow and the other clenched at his side as though he had just punched something or was about to.
 
“What are you, some kind of freaky-boy?” the skinny man said. Celest looked over to her right and saw him stand, rubbing the back of his head like he had hit it against the wall. He came over and looked like he was ready to fight.
 
“Don’t touch her.” The boy said just barely above a whisper, but it had the same effect as though he had shouted it. The man stopped in his tracks the other man looked like he too had been thrown against the wall. He stood and they both laughed.
 
“Get out of here punk, this isn’t your business.” 
 
The boy didn’t answer but instead took a more defensive position over Celest. They both lunged towards him. Celest felt a gentle yet forceful tug at her stomach an in an instant she was a meter away from where she had been and she was watching the men collide against each other. She looked back and saw the glowing boy. He had an arm wrapped protectively around her stomach and was glaring at the men. She was too scared to try and get free, and yet for some reason she felt like she didn’t want to. He was warm and calm despite the threats the men were now spewing after colliding.
 
The bearded man picked himself up from the snow and ran towards his cronies.
 
“What the- you have no idea what you’re dealing with, sparkle boy. You think some kind of glow is going to frighten us off? You’ve got another thing coming!" The bearded man rushed at the boy. In a flash Celest was suddenly pushed behind him. Every thing happened so quick. She didn’t even see the boy take a swing at the man but he was suddenly on the ground sliding backwards, completely knocked out.
 
The other two men looked up terrified. They grabbed their useless leader and dragged him away. Celest sat shivering in the snow. What kind of monster was he? He watched protectively as they dragged him away. Celest took this opportunity to run. She didn’t want to be alone running through this scary neighbour hood, but what she saw frightened her. At least she no longer had any doubt in her mind that the boy wasn’t human.
 
As she ran her cold wet clothes stuck to her and the wind didn’t help the cold pain settle. She had to slow her run to a walk and she folded her arms across her chest. She couldn’t feel her fingers or toes. She only hoped she wouldn’t run into any more bad guys, but it seemed that was all there was in this part of town. She was utterly lost.
 
She turned one more corner and saw the golden boy sitting in the snow. He was leaning against the wall. It seemed that the excessive glowing had stopped. She quickly hid behind the wall. She didn’t want him to see her there. Her chest glowed brightly. She peered around the corner again and the boy spoke without moving.
 
“I’m sorry if I scared you.” He said. Scared was an understatement. She was terrified and confused. She thought about hiding behind the wall but what was the point? He knew where she was and for some reason she didn’t feel any animosity towards him. After all, he did save her. Reluctantly she trailed down the alley slowly making her way towards him.
 
“What are you?” She asked.
 
He didn’t answer right away knowing that she knew what he was already. She just needed the confirmation. “I am a wish granter, a promise keeper, protector, but originally I am and always will be a star.”
 
“A star?” She laughed as though it wasn’t possible, but she didn’t have any other explanation. He finally looked up at her with his golden eyes and it sent a shiver down her spine. It wasn’t a cold shiver, but more or less a pleasant warmth. His face fell and he stood.
 
“You’re cold.” He stated. She crossed her arms over her chest. It was pretty obvious. He was holding on to her jacket. He placed it on the ground but moved away from it. She wondered what he was up to, but for the moment she didn’t care she went over and picked it up. He stayed a good distance away from her.
 
“Why did you come here?” She asked, willing to play along with him. She slipped her arms into the jacket and winced as it held the cold wet clothes against her body. Her teeth began to chatter.
 
“That’s for us to figure out. I came here obviously for you-“ he grinned, “But you decide why I am here.”
 
He seemed so gentle compared to how he had just been.
 
“Do you have family around here?”
 
“I don’t have family.”
 
“No relatives, or anything?”
 
“No.”
 
“Well where are you staying?”
 
“Here.” He said and looked confused.
 
“You sleep in this alley? No wonder you knew it so well.” I took a step away from him.
 
“No- you misunderstand- I stay here on this planet.”
 
“So you don’t have a home?”
 
“No.”
 
Suddenly her heart fell. He stayed outside in the cold for almost four days. He said he was here for her, and if that was true he didn’t have anywhere to go. She wasn’t willing to believe his entire story yet, but for some reason he seemed genuine. Those other guys had been pretending to be nice and yet she could tell they weren’t. This boy, on the other hand really seemed harmless, except when he got all glowy and defensive.
 
She took a few steps closer to him. At one point he stood and every step She took he took a step away.
 
“Why are you doing that?” She asked as he seemed to move away from her without thinking.
 
“Three meters away.” He reminded her of her earlier command.
 
Celest groaned, again with the commanding business. “why must you follow my orders can I just command you to be free?”
 
“No!” he suddenly shouted. “Sorry- no you can’t do that. If you did that I would become useless.”
 
“Yeah right- you can do anything, modeling, working, going to school.”
 
He looked down as though she wasn’t understanding something. She sighed and shivered. “Well can’t you ignore my commands?”
 
“No.” he looked shocked that she would even suggest that.
 
“Well then how do you explain being able to get so close to me with those men around.”
 
“Oh-“ he said and looked down kind of sheepishly, “Sometimes I have overrides. I’m sorry I shouldn’t have gotten so worked up.”
 
“Well- forget about the three meter rule- and-“ Celest couldn’t believe what she was going to offer next. “I’ve got a big empty house- and there are plenty of rooms to choose from- so if you’d want to come spend the night until we can find you a real house-“
 
He suddenly sprang forward towards her like he was going to attack. She clenched up in fright but was suddenly embraced in a tight and considerably warm embrace. It was like heaven, all the cold air was pushed out and instantly her clothes and skin began to get toasty warm. It as like she had been surrounded in her own little summer. Suddenly she remembered he was hugging her and she shoved him off.
 
“Don’t hug me.”
 
His arms went down to his sides and he glanced at her. His eyes looked apologetic but his grin was sparkling from ear to ear. Celest was having my doubts of bringing him home.
 
“Ugh- lets find a way out of here.” She turned on her heel and started walking in a direction she thought was correct. They walked in silence the rest of the way and without knowing it he took the lead and led her out of the maze. Celest wanted to run and jump in the street and park when they finally made it back to familiar territory. It was beginning to get dark and she knew it could only get colder.
 
She led him to her home and stuck the key in the lock. No turning back now. She opened the door. Before inviting him in she turned and asked, “Do you have a name?”
 
“Estian” he replied, “Estien Noir Nox.”

Celest stepped into the house and stood to the side to allow him in. She looked back and saw him grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, come in." she said shivering from the cold. He immediately stepped inside and looked around amazed.

"I've never been inside anything before."

"You've never been in a house?" Celest asked.

"I've always been able to see the sky- this hides it. What a concept!" he took a few steps around while Celest realized she was beginning to though and leave puddles on the floor. She was so cold she couldn't feel herself shivering.

"i need to go get into something warm. Don't cause trouble. I'll be right back."

Leaving a strange boy in her house was going against all her good judgment, but right now she really needed to get warm. She ran up the stairs as quickly as her frozen legs could carry her. She passed the bathroom and glanced longingly at the tub wanting to immerse herself in hot water. Instead, she ran to her room and locked the door. She threw her wet jacket in the hamper next to her closet and peeled off the soaking shirt that had suctioned on to her. Her hands shook as she pulled the first long sleeved shirt out of the closet she could grab. She also changed her pants and pulled on two pairs of socks.

Finally, she pulled her dripping hair up into a quick French braid so it wouldn't trickle on her dry clothes. She was still shivering when she went back downstairs. Estian was by the door examining all the little Christmas decorations.

She cleared her throat to get his attention as she came down the stairs. He stood and twirled on his heel towards her. "you look lovely in your new set of clothing!" he exclaimed. She didn't know how to respond, she wasn't willing to warm up to him yet. Maybe him mentioning clothes meant that he wanted to change as well. That was only natural and he had been outside longer than her.

"if your clothes are wet I'm sure you can borrow some of my father's." she gestured to a room at the top of the stairs.

"you are too kind offering me gifts." he exclaimed and grinned wildly. 

"you don't have to get so happy about it. Just go change before you get sick. When you're done come to the kitchen, I'll make something hot."

"you are too kind!" he nearly yelled and threw his arms up to embrace her. She took a step to the side causing him to miss. He chuckled and scratched the back of his head in embarassment as though just remembering she didn't like being hugged.

Before she could reprimand him he spoke, "I am very greatful, but I don't need clothes."

"well I won't have you walking around naked!" she took a giant step away from him slightly repulsed.

"oh sorry, you misunderstood. I meant I have my own clothes."

She was just about to ask him where they were when he bowed to her. As he did he started to glow and by the time he was upright his shining gold-trimmed White outfit had dissappeared and was replaced by a perfectly fitting caramel turtleneck with long White pressed slacks to match. For a moment Celest was taken aback at how much like a model he looked. His perfectly shaggy gold-highlighted hair fell into his golden eyes. He seemed to have some muscle on him despite how slight he looked in his flowing White outfit. The trutleneck fell slightly into creases around his chest. The glow was hindering her vision of the rest of him.

"are you alright?" he asked after she realized she had been staring at him for quite some time. She was more amazed that he randomly changed his outfit than anything.

"um-I- you just-" she didn't know what to say. "you just had clothes materialize on you, half an hour ago you were glowing, I've got this terrible light that shines right in the middle of my chest and I apparently pass out when you get too 'excited.' I think it is going to be a while before I am alright. I might be going insane."

He took a step towards her with his arms slightly raised like he was going to comfort her. Celest turned quickly so he wouldn't have the chance.

"I need something to wake me up. Maybe I should get some food into my system." she shivered towards the kitchen and started getting out a pot for soup. Her hands shook as she turned on the stove and when opened two cans of chicken soup and poured them in.

She was thankful when the stove became warm, but even then she was chilled to the bone.

"you're cold." she heard him say from the doorway.

"Its hard for me to get warm." she admitted while stirring the soup. Suddenly, a heat wave surrounded her. It was like arms of heat wrapped even the air around her. The beam on her chest grew bright and she could feel warmth melting into her body and start surging through her. It took her completely by surprise and was so comfortable she didn't repulse it.

Celest began to come to her senses and feelings came back to her. She looked down and saw Estian's arms wrapped across her shoulders. He was holding her against him and warmth was soaking into her cold flesh. It was the perfect ammount of heat as though regulated just for her. Her heart began to race painfully. Maybe his intentions weren't really as good as she had thought. She was just about to yell at him to get off when he whispered in her ear.

"I'm going to fall in love with you."