December Starlight

Chapter 20

He nodded, sky blue eyes showing he was slightly shaken.

“Are you alright?” he asked as Davey placed a hand on the back of the chair to keep his balance. The newer leader nodded weakly.

“What just happened?” he managed to ask before he had to sit down.

“That was Stella. She killed Nex,” Alchior said grimly. Davey’s eyes widened.

“How? I thought that if one of them died, both of them would. That’s what Shade told me.” Alchior smiled knowingly at his words.

“Shade was very close. Stella and Nex were connected through dreams…but Stella was the stronger one and drained all of Nex’s life energy.”

“Kind of like what she did to me?” Davey asked, starting to understand.

“Exactly,” Alchior responded. Davey carefully thought about how to word his next question.

“So, now that you’re back…why don’t you lead them?” he asked. “My best friend hates me because of this. I just want it all to end.” Alchior almost laughed, but realized now was not the time for that.

“I can’t do that. I was the leader a long time ago, and my time is finished. They need you now.” Alchior raised a hand towards Davey. Blue and white sparks flew towards the new leader, restoring all of his energy. Alchior managed a small smile before he faded away completely. It was a small sacrifice to make for the good of the Despair Faction.
-
Davey wandered the halls listlessly, searching for any sign of Jade. It had been nearly a full day since Nex’s death, and he was nowhere to be seen.

A small squeaking sound near his feet made him stop walking. He knelt to the floor, seeing the same black and white rabbit hiding underneath a nearby table. It was quaking in fear. He carefully picked it up, and it calmed immediately.

“I was scared, too,” he admitted to the small animal, gently stroking the white patch of fur over its right eye.

He eventually went back to the room where Nex had been, feeling a stab of sadness as he opened the door. He felt even worse when he saw that Jade was slumped against the wall, one elbow resting on his knee, still crying. Davey placed the rabbit on the ground and walked over to Jade, sitting next to him. Jade acted like he didn’t even notice that someone had arrived. Davey wanted to say something to comfort his friend, but the words just wouldn’t come. ‘How ironic,’ he thought wryly. ‘I can give an entire speech to a crowd of people, but I can’t even say one word to my best friend.’

He watched with half a smile as the rabbit sniffed Jade’s shoe for a moment, then tried to climb over it. Jade roughly brushed it away with his foot, muttering something incoherent to himself. Davey scowled at him as the rabbit explored the room, then stopped at something underneath the bed. It froze up for a few seconds before scampering back to Davey, quivering in fear. A small white rabbit emerged from beneath the bed. It wandered over to Jade, and he delicately stroked its soft ears, staring into its pale blue-green eyes.

“Love is like winter,” he murmured to himself. “It’s cold…it doesn’t care about you…and it takes away the things you care about the most.”

“Jade…I’m sorry,” Davey began. He felt like his heart was weighed down with grief. “I wanted to save her, but there were other people-”

“Davey, go away,” Jade growled. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“I would if you would tell me anything,” Davey said quietly. He glanced sideways at his friend. The expression on Jade’s face had changed completely. Intense, deep sadness had replaced his anger.

“I loved her, Davey. That’s what you wouldn’t understand.” Jade hugged his knees to his chest, picking up the white rabbit and staring into its eyes thoughtfully. An awkward silence came between them. Davey wasn’t really surprised at his friend’s words; it had seemed more than a little obvious to him.

What Jade said next, though, did shock him.

“I’m leaving.”

At first Davey thought he had imagined the words since Jade said them so quietly. But the look on his friend’s face told Davey he was completely serious.

“Why?” he asked in numb shock.

“Because I can’t trust you anymore,” he mumbled. Davey felt his heart sink even further.

“…Where will you go?” he finally asked. Jade looked straight at him venomously, making sure Davey could see the scar lining his eyes. He recoiled slightly.

“If I can’t trust you with anything, what makes you think I’m going to tell you anything?” he asked bitterly. Davey frowned at him angrily, then abruptly stood and picked up the black rabbit. He left the room trying not to scream.

He walked to the end of the hallway, finding a locked door. Undeterred, he lifted a hand to the lock and watched green sparks jump onto the metal, opening it easily. He cautiously turned the doorknob and walked into the room.

Moonlight poured in through the large window adorning one wall. Everything was either an intense shade of midnight blue or highlighted silver by the moon. Two or three fully stocked bookshelves lined two of the walls, and a huge marble fireplace took up the space of the third. However, the main thing that caught his eye was the instrument delicately placed on the floor in the center of the room.

Davey walked over to it and picked it up, then sat on the bed and strummed it a few times. A feeling of familiarity came over him, and he smiled slightly, but it disappeared just as quickly.

Jade had always loved to play the guitar.

Slowly at first, very softly and only to himself, Davey began to play a song. And not long after that, he began to sing.

“I cannot leave here, I cannot stay. Forever haunted, more than afraid. Asphyxiate on words I would say. I’m drawn to a blackened sky as I turn blue…” Davey felt like he was about to start crying during the song, but he refused to let that happen. He needed the music too much. “There are no flowers, no, not this time. There will be no angels gracing the lines, just these stark words I find. I’d show a smile, but I’m too weak. I’d share with you, could I only speak, just how much this hurts me.”

He absentmindedly strummed chords for a while, just thinking about what to say next. He didn’t know someone was watching - and listening.

Jade stood just outside the almost-closed door, leaning against the wall with his gaze directed at the ground. He saw that the snow-colored rabbit had followed him, and was staring up at him with its pale eyes. It only made his heart hurt more. He had come to say goodbye to Davey, but now all he wanted to do was listen to the song. He decided to sing his own words to the song.

“I cannot stay here, I cannot leave. Just like all I loved, I’m make-believe. Imagined heart, I disappear. Seems no one will appear here and make me real. There are no flowers, no, not this time. There will be no angels gracing the lines, just these stark words I find. I’d show a smile, but I’m too weak. I’d share with you, could I only speak, just how much this hurts me.”

Davey glanced toward the door, thinking he heard someone else’s voice. But he decided it was only his imagination.

Jade sank to the ground as sorrow flooded his heart. This was only making him feel even worse about leaving. But he knew it was something he had to do.

“I’d tell you how it haunts me… I’d tell you how it haunts me…” Davey continued this as Jade added his own words.

“…cuts through my day and sinks into my dreams…”

“You don’t care that it haunts me…”

‘He’s right,’ Jade thought darkly. ‘I don’t care if this memory haunts him for the rest of his life. Because it will haunt me forever.’

“There are no flowers, no, not this time. There will be no angels gracing the lines, just these stark words I find. I’d show a smile, but I’m too weak. I’d share with you, could I only speak, just how much this hurts me…” It really did sound like he was crying now. Davey knew his voice wouldn’t last much longer. “…just how much this hurts me…” His words grew softer and slower with each passing moment.

“…just how much you-”

He stopped. It was too much. He let the last chord echo in the empty silence, unable to think or feel anything.

Jade finally stood, picking up the rabbit and carrying it with him. He walked away from the room in absolute silence. He could be quiet when he wanted to. He brushed past Shade on his way, giving him a poisonous look before turning and leaving. Shade just shook his head sadly and walked toward the door, sensing an overwhelming aura of sadness within. He shrank back for a moment, feeling a slight headache as his own magic tried to fight off the onslaught. He shook his head a few times to clear it and tentatively knocked on the door.

“Are you there, Davey?” he asked softly.

“Yeah…” Davey set the guitar back in its place and approached the door. Shade pushed it open with one hand.

“Is something wrong?” he asked. “Well, besides the obvious.” Davey finally looked at him with pleading, tearstained eyes.

“Jade’s gone.”

Shade’s eyes widened.

“He can’t leave… Where will he possibly go?” he asked. Davey shook his head in response, lowering his gaze to the floor once again. The rabbit sat next to his foot, staring up at him once again. The silver light of the moon gleamed on the small patch of white fur over its right eye, while the rest of the rabbit was a deep blue-black. Davey smiled in spite of everything and picked up the rabbit, looking at its dark eyes and feeling a wave of calm wash over him.

He knew what he would name it.