Graduation. I still can't believe it.
My knees were getting shaky, as I prepared to walk across the stage to deliver my Valedictorian speech. I was used to the feeling though, ever since that night.
-Flashback-
When my mind finally settled, I realized my situation. I was kissing Brian. Yes, some part of me loved him, and yes I told my mom that, but I knew all along it wasn't true love. My love for Brian, the human, didn't run as deep as my love for a certain boy. It was just a shame considering I figured this out too late, Alek had heard me tell my mother, and he was disgusted with me.
I didn't blame him either. If our situations were reversed, and I was in love with him, but I found out he loved Mimi, I would be devastated.
But that wasn't the whole story, because my love for Brian was more of a best friend love, or the love one would give their brother.
But Alek… my love for him was something else, that no human could ever experience. I wasn't promising anything to myself just yet, but what I have with Alek, might just be the real thing. He might just hold the other half to my clashing heart.
I pushed Brian off of me, knowing it was too late. My unconscious mind had let me kiss him, since I was recovering from a death.
"No!" I said, as my eyes began to fill with water.
No matter the fact the I wasn't in love with Brian, I still loved him. And my heart lingered for him to stay alive, despite the chances. I hope, as bad as it sounds, for him to be paralyzed, at least he would still be alive.
Within the time that I had fully recovered, and remembered every detail that had went down, I had a limp boy laying in my lap, dead.
Tears were running down his face, but they didn't belong to him.
"Brian! Brain!" I cried, knowing it would have no effect, my calling of his name.
The blood on my shirt was drying, as well were my eyes. The worst part about this whole situation wasn't that I killed him with my kiss of death, but he died because he loved me. Brian didn't just love me, he was in love with me, which was a whole other story. He was in love, so he kissed me, as he had been longing to do for weeks, and he received his death sentence.
His body was turning colder by the minute, and there was not a single thing in the world that I could do.
To top it off, Amy and Paul, who had been following me all night, walked into the murder scene. Both of them stopped dead in their tracks when they saw us.
"He's dead." I told them, as a whole new round of tears began.
The only sound being heard at that minute, was the sound of Amy's heels as she ran over to me. She stopped, at the end of the stairs, waiting for me to stand. I picked up the head of a boy that died a sad death, and laid it on the stairs. I stood up and hugged my best friend, staining her shirt with my tears.
There was no way that I would be able to take Brain home, as much as I owed him, I couldn't do it. And as much as I knew that I had to attend his funeral, I wasn't sure if I could do that, either.
The memory of Brian was forever going to be burned into me heart.
Then it all sank in.
This is why I was born.
I was born the Uniter, of an ancient race, called the Mai. I was given nine lives to live, nine lives to endure. Nine lives to accomplish much. Each death more painful than the one before.
The last part was true, dying definitely entered a whole new level, the second time around.
I was born to end a feud, that had lasted too long. Mai and humans weren't meant to live how they have for thousands of years, because the outcome, as I witnessed tonight, is too much to bear. The reason I was born, was to fix this mess, and unite both races for eternity.
It finally, all sunk in.
From this point on, there would be no more lies to myself, or anyone else, From now on, I was in charge, and nobody would tell me otherwise. I have a job to do.
I broke apart from my hug, and my eyes stopped their crying.
"I have to go." I told my two best friends.
Without another word, I ran. I ran on the roves of buildings, with the breeze blowing my hair into a mess. But I didn't care.
The only thing on my mind was my destination. I knew what I had to do, and it was tell Alek how I truly felt. He deserved to know, due to how much pain I've put him through.
When I stepped out of the elevator, onto the floor of the penthouse, I got the chills. Something wasn't right. I listened in, and there was nothing. Worse case scenarios were bussing threw my mind, causing me to move faster. I didn't knock, I just grabbed the doorknob and flung the door open.
The air was bitter, and so was the view.
Jasmine and Valentina laid near one another, on the floor; stiff. I knew what I was looking at; two dead bodies, but I wouldn't accept it.
I ran over to them calling their names, but I got no response. I checked them both for a pulse, and my theories were proven true. They were dead.
I could feel my tears trying to come back, but my rage took over. I had to find out who did this, and I had to punish them.
I was a whole knew Chloe, and I was no longer going to be messed with.
I got up and stampeded down the halls. I checked all the rooms, finding nothing. There was only one more room to check, and it belonged to the only living being of the house. The door was a jar, so I pushed it open and walked in.
There was no sign of him, until the curtain caught my attention. The back door was slightly open, and the curtain was blowing with the breeze.
"Alek?" I called, running to the patio. I opened the door and then I saw him.
Zane was holding Alek's throat, and Alek was being pushed up against the railing. One push would be enough to send Alek plummeting to his death. When I took a closer look at Zane, I saw the blood on his shirt, that could only belong to three people; two of which were dead in the other room.
"Hey!" I screamed, and Zane turned to look at me.
Alek looked at me, and his eyes were watering. The look in his eyes begged me to run, because he knew that I would be next on Zane's list.
Zane took out a knife, and he prepared himself to send it into Alek's heart.
My instincts took over, and I grabbed Zane's wrist.
The next part happened so fast. Somehow I was able to pin Zane down long enough for Alek to regain his breath, and run in to take over. Alek ushered me out of the room. He had the upper hand, so I wasn't worried.
I tried not to think about what was going on back in the bedroom, as I ran back to Valentina and Jasmine. I knew they were both dead, but I checked them for their pulses again, finding the same conclusion. This time, I sat over them on my knees, and let myself cry.
Alek came out of his room, and he ran over towards me, and he checked the same thing that I had already done twice this evening. He started crying.
We both cried for a few minutes, and then I remembered the reason I came here. It was a good reason I did too, otherwise Alek would have died.
"Alek," I started, and I was still crying.
Alek looked at me, and he was angry, still. He was angry at Zane, for taking his loved ones. I knew that. But I knew that under that heavy layer of anger, laid another layer that was for me. He was still angry at me.
"To cut things short, Valentina and Jasmine weren't the only ones to die tonight. Brian and I did as well." I said, the tears still pouring from my eyes.
"I'm sorry, but I still refuse to be your second choice." He spat out.
I wanted to tell him that he was wrong, and that it was Brian, who was my second choice. I just realized it too late. But before I could think of the way to tell him, he was shaking his head.
"Just go, I'm done." He said, throwing his finger towards the door.
I was heartbroken, but I obeyed. I cried my eyes out, as I walked towards the door. Alek hated me, and now he was never going to know how I felt. This was the worst night of my life.
I lost four people I loved. Three of them died, but the other chose to leave my life. I was hoping he could find it in him to forgive me. I knew it would take time, so I planned on giving it to him.
I walked in my front door, and I came to a halt. I couldn't hear my mom. This was never a good sign. Manically, I searched the house, only to come up empty handed.
It took me a few days to track her down. But I did.
I barged into the office of an Order member. He had my mom tied up in a chair, and his eyes were beat red.
"You!" He spat out.
"Mom!" I cried.
"Chloe!" She cried back.
"Just give me back my mom, and I won't kill you!" I told him, running, claws out, to untie my mom.
My mom starred in horror, at my claws, and I knew I would have a lot of explaining to do. I was about to cut the ropes, when he spoke.
"Don't you think you have killed enough of my family!" He yelled.
I stopped, and I turned to look at him. I saw a few similarities, and it clicked. I looked down at the desk, and I saw the logo across it. It read, Rezza Capitol.
It couldn't be, I told myself. But I knew it was.
"You're his dad?" I asked, knowing my eyes were about to get puffy.
"And you're his killer." He said, reaching for his gun.
When I woke up, I didn't open my eyes. All of my senses came back, and I could feel his presence standing over me. I heard my mom crying in the back ground, and I knew I would have a whole lot of explaining to do later.
I knew that he must have had his gun pointed at me, waiting for me to wake up. But he didn't know that I was ready. I mapped out a quick plan in my head, and then I counted to three.
I grabbed his ankle and pulled him down, before he had time to react. I was able to quickly get the gun from him, and then I made my way over to untie my mom. I kept the gun pointed at him.
My mom was still crying, but I pushed her out the door.
"He was in love with me, and he kissed me after your people attacked and killed me. He killed himself. I kept telling him to leave me alone, but he was in love and wouldn't listen. Brian was nothing like you!" I spat out as I grabbed my moms arm and ran.
When I made it back to our house, I kept the gun near me at all times. I cleaned my mom up as she practically screamed the questions at me.
"Just stop, and I'll explain." I told her. "My parents were Mai, and so am I. Mai are a different race, and I'm not human. You don't have to worry, because Jasmine and Valentina, well they were, but they were killed by the Order. That man is part of the Order. Brian was that man's son, and he died from kissing me. Humans and Mai can't be intimate. But Alek is Mai too." My mom nodded, and I could see the horror in her eyes. "Mom, I'm still the same old Chloe, you don't have to be scared of me."
I gave her a hug, much against her will. At first she didn't hug me back, but eventually she did, and then she began to realize I was telling the truth.
"But on top of all of that, I'm the Uniter of the Mai. I was born to end the feud between he humans and the Mai. I'm empathetic and I have, well had, nine lives. Now I have six. Are you okay?" I asked her.
"Does your father know?" She asked me, crying.
"I'm not positive, but I would guess so." I told her.
She didn't talk to me much the rest of the night, and I could tell she tried to keep her distance. I just hoped she would learn to accept me, otherwise I would have to disappear.
The funerals all came, and I attended each of them, alone. I didn't talk to anybody while I was there, and I only attended them briefly. I knew that Alek saw me, but he made no indication of wanting to acknowledge me. So I continued to give him time.
-End of Flashback-
My mom had learned to accept me, and it was easier now that she knew. Actually, she was fascinated by my claws, and she was asking me for assistance left and right.
Alek, on the other hand, hadn't talked to me in months, so I never got to tell him how I felt.
To distract myself from all of the pain, I studied. I guess that's what caused me to become the Valedictorian.
"Now, here is our Valedictorian, Ms. Chloe King." The crowd started to clap, and I walked across the stage.
I paused, waiting for the crowd to die down, and then I began my speech.
"I don't have a huge, elaborate speech planned out. I only came here with what I felt I had to say. There comes a time when we all have to let go. Whether its from High School or a loved one. A few month ago, I lost three people all within a short time. Two were good friends, and the other my mentor, in a way. It wasn't easy, but I let go. For weeks I cried myself to sleep, and I needed something to distract my mind. So I studied. When I would come home from school, I would lose myself in my books. Only because I knew they would always be there. Page 84 was never going to disappear, and it was never going to change. Eventually, the crying stopped. I knew it was doing me no good, but sometimes I just needed to let it out. I lost a friend after the deaths, and to this day, he has refused to speak to me. For a while I accepted it. Everyone handles death in a different way. But then I realized that he hated me. And I accepted that too. Life isn't easy, and its only just begun. Class of 2013, its time to move on. We can't waste our lives living for High School. It's time to embrace the fact that its time to explore the world and go to college. It won't be easy, but together we can do it. I, too, have realized that its time to move on. Instead of giving up this friend completely, I'm moving on and I'm going to talk to him. The funny part is that he is here, tonight, and he is wearing a cap and gown." The audience turned to stare at the graduating class. "I'm done waiting for him to get over his hate for me, and I'm done hoping he will ever change. I can't wait any longer. The night of the deaths, he heard me talking about how I loved another guy. But I realized that I didn't love that other guy. My heart was confused. I loved him. And I still do. Now, if he is hoping to forgive me, I'd like to start over. I'd like to move one, and let go of the pain we shared. I love you, Alek Petrov." I said.
The audience gasped, and I listened in on his heart. It increased its rate.
I was walking across the stage, and the tears were about to start. I told him. For months, this has been my top goal. And now its complete. Whether or not he chooses to forgive me, its up to him.
I climbed down the steps, and walked back to my seat.
The rest of the speeches came and went, and then it was time to walk.
I walked across the stage, and received my diploma. And then it was over.
I went and took my seat. When the P-last names went across, I watched him. He looked amazing, as always. He received his diploma, but he didn't finish his walk across the stage. He stopped, halfway. He walked up to the microphone.
"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. I'm sorry to interrupt. I just wanted you all to know, that I'm moving on, past my hate. I always have felt the way I do, hidden behind my hate, but now I'm ready to tell her. Chloe King, I love you, too."