Fallen Chapter Thirty

This is the end of Fallen, book one!!! Tell me what you think!! Remember this is not the final draft but a ruff draft!!

 

                 Chapter Thirty

 

   Everyone in the house was very down and quite for a while after Colby’s funeral. We had buried her on the grounds; it has its own cemetery. Cassidy was nearly catatonic through the entire service that Dixon performed. I was surprised to find out that Dixon had studied to be a priest before he had found out about being a Star. He had told me that he sometimes missed his Church but believed that this was more important.

    I did not know what to do to help Cassidy. I just stood by, held on to Cooper, and cried silently.

 About a week after the service, Marcus suggested that we all go out and have dinner. Not wanting to stay in the house any longer, we all agreed, including Cassidy. He had been hanging out, eating and sleeping in Colby’s room since the service; I was glad that he agreed to go. Fresh air will do him some good, I was positive about that.

 “How are you doing?” I walked slower than the rest to talk to Cassidy. He did not look good, his eyes were puffy and his hair needed a good brushing.

 “Okay I guess. I know she would not want me sulking around like this. She knew the dangers of being a Star and she died for what she believed in.” He held his head high as he talked about his sister.

 “She was a great lady and I am sorry for what happened.” I grabbed his hand and squeezed.

 He squeezed back and gave me a small smile before dropping my hand and catching up with Dixon. I wish I could have done more for him.

 “Do not worry about him, he will come around.” Cooper’s voice was at my ear, his breath tickling my neck.

 “I know, I just feel so sad for him and a little guilty.” I hung my head in shame.

 “It is not your fault Kennley. Please stop blaming yourself.” Cooper grabbed up my hand and kissed my palm, breathing in my scent. He had taken to kissing me as much as possible since his return and I welcomed it with open arms.

 We walked along in silence for a while, the group a morose bunch.

 When we arrived at the restaurant, a small retro diner place, we entered with a new sense of purpose, a new beginning. None of us has been eating well lately and this was a chance for us to catch up.

 A small ferrety girl showed us to our table, excusing herself with a wave. I watched her walk over to a new customer and show him to a bar seat. The man was very tall, almost as tall as Cassidy; he had square shoulders and a round face. He would not be someone I would consider handsome but he was not ugly. He was just average. I had no idea why I noticed so much about him but I had a weird feeling about him.

 “What shall I get you to drink?” The ferrety waitress was back, pen and a pad of paper in hand. She was smacking her lips together, chewing some gum.

 “Um, water will be fine. Unless anyone wants something different?” Dixon ordered. We all shook our heads agreeing that water would be fine.

 The waitress nodded her head and smiled as she walked away.

 “So, how is everyone doing?” Cassidy whispered but we all heard the pain in his question.

 “Cass, you don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.” Toshia said as she rubbed his back.

 “No, I want to. It has to help.” Cassidy lifted his head and stared expectantly at the rest of us.  

 Alorha was the first to speak, she barley spoke louder than a whisper, “I am so sorry Cassidy, I wish I could have done something more. I know how much you hate me now because I could not bring her back.” She started to sob, her tears running down her cheeks in little waterfalls. Marcus wrapped his arms around her shoulders, whispering words of comfort.

 “Oh Alorha it is not your fault, please do not blame yourself. I did not mean to yell at you I was just upset.” Cassidy stood and rushed over to Alorha, hugging her close. She calmed her tears and smiled weakly at Cassidy, who smiled back.  

   The waitress came back carrying a large tray full of water glasses and a pitcher in the middle.

 “Here you go Huns.” She placed the tray in the middle of the table and then took out her pen and paper.

 “What would you like?” She stared at Cooper, which annoyed me a little; she was giving him an unnecessarily warm smile.

 I huffed out a breath and glared at the waitress.

 “We will have a turkey sandwich and French fries.” Cooper’s voice was calm and low, he could feel the tension in my arms.

 The rest of the Stars ordered almost the same thing; they just varied between ham and BLT’s. The waitress smiled again directly at Cooper who blushed and cleared his throat. I elbowed him in the ribs but he did not even notice.       

 I looked around the room, keeping my eyes from the too flirty waitress and Cooper who was lapping it up like a dog to water. The strange man caught my eye. He was staring at the others; he seemed to be surveying us.

 “Look at that guy over there, he is staring at us!” I whispered to Cooper.

 Cooper took a very sly peek over at the man who was drinking his own water at the bar. The man immediately looked away and stared straight ahead, his cheeks turning a light pink.

 “He is probably just surprised to see so many of us, it is a small restaurant.” Cooper logically put. He shrugged and turned back to the conversation.

 The others were talking about another Star, who was supposed to be coming soon. I was surprised that they could talk about replacing Colby I was afraid about Cassidy’s feelings but he did not seem to mind. We all knew that Colby had to be replaced, there had to be eight Stars total at all times. Cooper had explained it to me but I still did not understand it.

 My mind wandered again and this time found the waitress staring at Cooper. I glared at her but she seemed to only have eyes for him. I did not know why it made me so jealous but I wanted to zap that annoying ferrety waitress. Cooper held my hands very firmly as if he could feel my intentions. I tried to pull them free but he squeezed tighter.

 “You are my one and only. Please do not let that girl make you jealous. It is not becoming of you.” Cooper stroked my cheek with his lips and then kissed the tip of my nose.

 I peeked at the waitress but she was already gone. I felt a mean satisfaction but tried to wipe the feeling away, I did not like feeling angry.

 All of a sudden, the man at the bar stood and walked towards us. He did not look angry or violent in fact he looked like he was about to puke. Everyone at the table noticed the man approach; we all stood at the same time. Which caused quite a lot of noise, the other people in the diner looked around at us, glaring for making a ruckus.  

   “Can we help you with something?” Cooper had pushed me behind him. As if I needed saving.

 “Are y’all the Falling Stars?” The man’s voice was very deep, so when he whispered it was hard to hear.

 “Who wants to know?” Dixon was coming around the table to stand next to Cooper.

 “My name is Ethan and I am one of you.” He bowed slightly to show his respect but snapped up fast.

 We all stared at each other, taken a back by the man that had declared to be one of us. How can this be? How did he find us alone? We had all expected a woman that was how it had always been. Four women and four men, never had there ever been an uneven amount. Albert was the only one not looking surprised. He just nodded his head as if he agreed and sat back down.

 “How did you find us?” Even though my stomach was a flip flopping mess, my voice was steady.

 “My Watcher Derik told me where y’all would be. We arrived at the house just after y’all left and he had asked Curt where y’all went.” He had a small southern accent, which only surfaced occasionally. He was staring at the floor, adverting his eyes from everyone else’s.

   I was surprised to hear Derik’s name. I had not actually seen Derik in the longest time, I had thought that he was taking care of Curt his lover but I guess he was out searching for his Star.

 “May I join y’all?” He was still staring at the floor.

 “Of course you can, come sit by us.” Toshia was eyeing the new Star with undeniable interest. He smiled at her and obliged.

 Once every one was settled down and received their food by the too flirty waitress, who once again smiled at Cooper and even stroked his arm, she said it was an accident but I knew better, Ethan dropped the bomb that I was praying was Nicolai’s last try to scare me.

 “I must warn y’all that our problems with the Light are not over. Nicolai was only the beginning.”

 We all stared at Ethan with horror and anger on our faces. We must fight again.

Reviews

[Xfaerie corpseX]

omg!!!! more more more! i dont like endings.

[ShadowWolf]

Mmmm...a new member and possibly a new beginning. Excellent.