The Starry Night Festival

The week in the city passed painfully slow. My every waking thought was about Chelsea, although I didn't know about my subconscious thoughts. Away from Chelsea, I'd begun to have nightmares again; only I couldn't remember what they were. I'd arranged to see a doctor when I got back.

I spent extra hours working and performed more back breaking work to earn extra cash, but I did it. I earned enough for my present I would give to Chelsea.

Softly I smile to myself as I hold the secret object hidden in my winter coat. I'd have to stop at Chen's and get some wrapping paper; I'd forgotten about it. I think I would give her the present after supper; I was planning to take her out on a walk afterwards, just the two of us.

The crisp winter wind slaps me in the face, but I don't budge from my position on the front of the dock. I knew Chelsea would be waiting for me, even though it was nearly six in the morning and I couldn't wait to see her. Just the thought of her name alone sent my heart racing and butterflies began flying in my stomach.

I was very excited for tonight. I hoped everything went well for Elliot and I prayed that Chelsea would like the present I bought her.

Soon then Island is within sight. I can see a figure standing on the beach and my heart pounds with anticipation. I'm so busy watching the ship draw closer, I barely the man that steps up beside me.

"Wonderful day isn't it?" He remarks to me. I shrug, not bothering to look at the man.

We dock on the Island and Chelsea waves from the beach. I'm about to wave back when I notice the man beside me waving to her.

"That's my girl." He says to me before flying off the boat, his blond hair a mess.

What! The! Hell! Is the only thought going through my mind as the blond guy picks Chelsea up and spins her around in a circle. My eyes narrow as I step off the boat and begin to walk to shore.

The guy lets her down when she catches sight of me. Her eyes seem to light up and she breaks out in a huge grin.

"Vaughn!" She calls to me as she releases herself from the blond guy and runs over to me.

I give her a tentative hug with my arm that wasn't holding my jacket to keep her present from falling. She hugs me around my waist and kisses my cheek gently.

"I missed you." Chelsea whispers into my ear.

"I missed you too." I tell her softly.

Then she smiles. "Vaughn, I want you to meet Mark. He's my cousin and he's going to visit for a while."

Cousin. I practically sigh in relief as I hold her closer. Now that I knew he was her cousin I take a closer look at him.

Mark had viciously messy blond hair that fell into his eyes, and he wore a blue cap backward upon his head. He wore blue overalls and a nice plain t-shirt. His eyes were also the same sparkling blue as Chelsea's.

I stick out my hand. "Vaughn."

"Mark." He smiles as he shakes my hand enthusiastically.

Chelsea beams. "Mark is a farmer in a small town, but he's very successful." Then she scowls. "Whole lot better than I am."

Mark chuckles. "Don't worry cuz. It'll all work out in time. I've just got more years of experience. And, I've got a birthday present for you!"

"Mark, you didn't have to." Chelsea tells him kindly.

"But I did!" He laughs as he takes out a package from beneath his jacket. "Happy Birthday Cuz!"

Chelsea blushes. "My birthday was three days ago." But she takes the present and opens the lid. My heart sinks in horror when I see what it is.

"Mark." She whispers in awe as she takes out the camera; the very expensive, very high tech, very professional camera. The very same one I had hidden in my jacket.

"These are supposed to cost a fortune." She whispers, her eyes wide. "I don't know if I can accept it."

Mark laughs. "Of course you can accept it! It's a birthday present and I know that you've been needing a new camera."

She laughs and hugs him. "Thank you SO much!"

I scowl and cross my arms. He may be her cousin, but I couldn't help but be jealous of him.

Suddenly Chelsea looks up and waves at someone entering the beach. I glance up and see Sabrina. My scowl deepens.

She walks up to us. "Hi Chelsea."

"Sabrina, this is Mark, my cousin."

When Mark turns to look at her fully, I can practically see the love in his eyes. Sabrina blushes and glances down at her feet.

"It's nice to meet you." Mark says to her in awe.

"Um, this may be sudden but would you like to go to the Starry Night Festival with me?" Sabrina asks him quietly as she continues to look at her feet.

Mark appears shocked and turns on Chelsea. "You planned this!"

Chelsea laughs. "Guilty as charged! Mark, you need a girlfriend! You can't just run your farm by yourself."

Mark laughs and turns back to Sabrina. "I'd love to."

She brightens and smiles. "You want me to show you around?"

He smiles at her. "I'd like that." Both of them walk away, deep in conversation.

My scowl lessens a bit, but it's still there. Chelsea turns around to look at me and frowns. "Vaughn, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." I growl at her. I know I shouldn't be angry at her; she couldn't have known. But I hated that her cousin just waltzed in and gave her the same gift I had worked my butt off for two weeks, like it was no big deal.

I brush by her and begin walking. She quickly catches up to me and grabs my hand. "Vaughn, you can talk to me."

I sigh and take the camera out of my jacket. I had been planning to give it to her this evening but that plan was toast now. Chelsea gasps and delicately takes the camera from my hands.

"First picture on there is of the most beautiful girl in the world." I whisper and then continue walking. I knew what she would find. It was a picture of her. I'd gone back to her parent's empty house and searched through pictures until I found one of her. Then I got it on the camera.

I'm trudging through the snow by the Animal Shop when Chelsea catches up to me again. She's clutching the camera to her chest. I notice that she's only holding one.

There are tears in her eyes. "You must have worked so hard to afford this."

I nod. "Happy Birthday." Then I shrug and scowl. "But it doesn't matter. Your cousin already bought you it."

She gives me a mischievous grin. "Did he? I must have left it on the dock; the water might have got it."

I blink. "You tossed the other camera in the water?" I pause. "Why?"

She stands on her toes and kisses me tenderly on the lips. "Because you really mean your gift. Mark is always buying me expensive gifts because his farm made him so rich."

Then she blushes. "I liked the picture you put on it."

I smile. "You're welcome."

"Can I take your picture?" She asks shyly.

I nod and give her a slight smile while she takes my picture. She smiles as she gazes upon the frozen picture. Then she looks up at me. "I'm keeping this forever."

I hug her tightly and kiss the top of her head. "Thank you Chelsea."

She shakes her head. "I should be thanking you."

I kiss her gently on the lips. "Then we're even."

"I'm going to go take pictures of the Island. You want to come?" She perks up as she holds her camera; the one I bought.

I shake my head. "Naw, I have to visit someone first."

"Alright." She smiles and runs off in the opposite direction after waving to me.

I smile slightly to myself as I walk over to Elliot's house. Once inside, I glance around the room but no one is there. I'm about to leave when I hear a crash followed by a stream of colourful curses.

"Elliot?" I call out.

"Uh, yeah! Just a sec!" He calls back.

So I stand in the doorway and wait. A minute later Elliot emerges from the back room.

"Are you okay?" I ask him. His brow was covered with sweat and he was completely red.

"Uh, I th-think I may be c-coming down w-with s-something." He stutters as he pushes his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"You're nervous." I state simply.

He sighs. "Yeah."

I shake my head. "Don't be. You have nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, you're right. But still," He sighs.

"Listen Elliot." I pause. "Do you love Julia?"

"Yes." He smiles. "And she loves me."

"Now I need to ask you a question." I pause again. This was embarrassing for me, but Julia didn't have a father to do it for her. "Have you two, um, had sex?"

Elliot turns a scarlet red. "N-no. I'm st-still a v-virgin."

I sigh. Now that was out of the way. "Elliot, don't be nervous. She'll say yes and then I'll tease you at your wedding for being such a chicken."

He let's out a hoarse laugh. "Promise?"

"Promise." I nod to him and then leave the house.

That night before supper I'm standing in the Animal Shop with Mirabelle, Julia, Elliot and Chelsea. Thankfully, Skye was off visiting Lily; though I think it was more lucky for us than her.

Chelsea is taking a picture of Elliot and Julia arm in arm. Little does she know that she'll soon be taking their wedding picture. Up against the far wall, I smile to myself. It would be good to see Julia settle down and it would give Elliot some confidence in life.

I watch Chelsea. She talks easily with everyone, even though we're all dressed up in ridiculous outfits.

Julia wore a light sparkly blue dress with no straps. It hugged her curves and hung just above her ankles.

Elliot wore some dress pants and an ironed white shirt. It looked awkward on him, but his smile made it seem more natural.

Mirabelle was the host of the party and just wore her regular clothes. She told everyone earlier that she would retreat to her room to give us "children" time alone.

Me, I wore my cowboy outfit. It was comfy and there was no way anyone was getting me in some high class fancy tux.

Chelsea was the belle of the ball though, so to speak. She had borrowed Julia's purple dress, but it looked fantastic on her. It had straps and a shawl along with it, but the silky fabric still clung to her curves and stopped just above her knees. Julia had put some makeup on her as well, and the sight took my breath away. It makes me wonder if she could wear anything that wouldn't take my breath away.

Then she walks over to me and puts her arms around me. She sighs and leans her head against my chest. I put my arm around her, peaceful in the silence.

I watch as Elliot inconspicuously asks Julia to go to the back with him for a minute. She agrees and leaves before him. Elliot looks my way and it's obvious that he's nervous. So I smile at him and nod. He smiles back, nods and then follows Julia.

"Julia's going to shriek in a second. Listen." I whisper to Chelsea who appears shocked at what I said.

Just like I'd predicted a shriek echoes through out the building. I chuckle when I hear Julia call out. "Yes! Yes! A million times yes!"

"Julia?" Mirabelle calls out, her tone just as confused as Chelsea's face looks. "Are you okay?"

Julia emerges from the back with a flustered Elliot. She's holding the blue feather in her hand.

Both Chelsea and Mirabelle gasp and rush over to Julia, who squeals again. Elliot makes his way over to me.

"Told you." I tell him, a smug look on my face.

"I-I-I know." He still looks flustered. "I can't believe it."

"Believe it. You're marrying Julia."

"I r-really am." He chuckles and let's out a huge grin. "Thanks Vaughn."

Chelsea looks over at me with a grin on her face. I smile at her. "No problem." I tell Elliot.

"All right, all right!" Mirabelle calls out to everyone. "Calm down."

Elliot walks back over to Julia and slips his arm around her waist. She sighs contently and leans on his shoulder.

"When do you want to get married?" Mirabelle asks them as Chelsea walks over to me.

"A week from now would be good." Julia says.

Chelsea shakes her head. "That's the first of Spring. There's a festival that day."

"How about the second then? That way Vaughn can come." Elliot offers as he gives me a meaningful look. I get it and nod back at him. He still wanted me to be his best man.

Everyone agrees, so their wedding is set for the second of Spring. Then Mirabelle has us all sit down to eat and pours us all drinks.

Mirabelle raises her glass of white wine in the air. "To Julia and Elliot."

"Julia and Elliot." Chelsea and I repeat as they both blush. I sip my red wine and Chelsea her chocolate milk. She'd told me earlier that she didn't want this night to be even the slightest foggy in her memory.

Then we all sit down to eat and Mirabelle sweeps out of the room. She had served stew.

As I eat, I pick around the stupid carrots inside. Chelsea slips her hand into mine under the table and smiles at me. I give her a smile back.

"Chelsea will you go to the city to help me buy a dress?" Julia asks.

Chelsea laughs. "Of course I will Jules! I still can't believe you're getting married!"

Julia giggles and throws an adoring look at Elliot. "Me neither."

Elliot leans over and kisses her on the lips. I avert my eyes and Chelsea laughs.

"Hey Vaughn, aren't you going to eat the carrots?" Julia asks me after a while.

"No." I say as I take another spoonful without the hateful orange veggie.

"But they're good for you! And they're so yummy!"

"No."

"Chelsea, do you think he should eat the carrots?"

Chelsea shakes her head. "Everyone has their dislikes. Why don't you eat the fish? It's yummy."

Julia's face scrunches up in disgust. "On second thought, never mind."

Both Chelsea and Elliot crack up, drawing smiles from Julia and I. Gently I squeeze Chelsea's hand as thanks. She returns the gesture and my heart warms.

As we eat, I think about the picture we make. Our two couples, one engaged. It made me wonder if Mirabelle would walk Julia down the aisle. She probably would. Chelsea will probably end up being the bridesmaid.

I wonder again who would walk Chelsea down the aisle when she gets married. As far as I know she didn't have other relatives. Would Mark walk her down the aisle? I don't know. I get lost in a fantasy of me marrying Chelsea.

"Vaughn." Chelsea nudges me. "Vaughn."

I start. Elliot and Julia had left without me realizing it and
I'd been sitting there staring at my bowl full of carrots.

"Sorry." I mutter as I stand to clear away my dishes and hers.

She sighs and smiles at me. "I never thought Elliot would propose to Julia; tonight of all nights!"

I chuckle. "He sure was nervous this morning though."

She gasps. "That's who you went to see!"

I nod and she cracks up. "I guess you saw this coming huh?"

I grab her hand. "Come on."

We leave the Animal Shop and head to the small meadow where Festivals are held. Thankfully no one else was there.

Chelsea gazes up into the sky. "Vaughn, look at the sky! It's beautiful."

I look up into the sky that twinkled with the billions of stars up there. It was quite breathtaking, but I stare right into Chelsea's eyes as I speak. "It sure is."

She blushes at the compliment and leans against me. I kiss her softly, wishing I never had to tear my hard lips from her soft ones.

We lie down side by side on the grass, out hands intertwined. We don't talk, just enjoy the silence and the beauty of the stars.

My free hand finds it's way to my pocket. Inside is the ring that my mother gave me; the one Chelsea helped me find when I lost it that day so long ago. Even then I could tell I was falling in love with her.

"Look! A shooting star!" Chelsea calls out as she uses her free hand to point. "Make a wish." Her eyes close as she makes her wish.

My finger latch onto the ring when her eyes shut. I knew what my wish was. "Chelsea." I start and her eyes open.

I'm just open to pull the ring out when I hear barking. I sit up, my hand releasing the ring back into my pocket. In the distance I see Stark running towards us as fast as he can. God, even the animals were working against me! I have the most awful luck ever.

"Stark?" Chelsea yelps as he jumps on her; barking loudly.

"What is it boy?" She asks him.

He runs off a bit and then runs back to us and barks. Then he runs off again. Chelsea and I take one look at each other and then run after the dog.

Stark leads us back to Chelsea's farm. I barely have enough time to notice that Chelsea's house was fixed and bigger before Chelsea screams.

My attention snaps up. Her barn, coop and stable were all open and animals were running all over the place in panic. My eyes widen as I fully take in the scene.

Her horse, wait, Chelsea had a horse? No, not important. Her horse was neighing and kicking at a dark shape that kept lashing out at it. Three chickens were running all over the place, chirping nonstop. Wait, three? Didn't she have four? I could hear some bleating and I saw her sheep nearly frozen in the snow. Then I fully see the sight she must have screamed at. Her cow was on the ground, blood covering it with a dark shape beside it.

Stark barks again but the shapes don't move. It suddenly strikes me that the dark shapes are wild dogs. Instinctively I grab the axe that was leaned up against the house and charge the wild dogs. The moment they see me with the axe they run off though.

Chelsea runs over to the cow. I can clearly see tears leaking down her face and hear the sobs getting caught in her throat.

"Amethyst." She moans as she collapses by the dead cow.

My heart goes out to her, but I can't go to her yet. As fast as I can I gather up her sheep and put her in the barn, making sure that she was warm. Then I grab the chickens and throw them in the chicken coop. My heart drops when I see a small bloody mess of feathers in the coop. So that's what happened to the last chicken. I check the register; all the chickens looked slightly different. The dead one was Yellow; the one Chelsea tricked me into naming.

I close the door to the coop and the barn and then the stable after I lead the horse inside and clean his small wounds: the register says the horse's name is Spirit. Well he defiantly earned that name today.

Finally I head outside to Chelsea. She has her head buried in the cow's sort fur and her shoulder shake with sobs. I kneel down beside her and rub her back gently.

"Wh-why d-do all these b-bad th-things keep h-happening V-Vaughn?" She chokes out between her sobs.

My eyes narrow. Chelsea chokes on another sob. "I m-made sure the d-doors were l-locked."

If I ever see Will again I am going to murder him. Screw the legal system. Will was a dead man.

Chelsea sits up from the cow and falls into my arms. I slowly rise with her, my arms around her for comfort. We walk back to the Animal Shop with Stark following us.

I barge in without knocking, for obvious reasons, but I wish I had knocked. Stark barks loudly and Julia and Elliot spilt apart from their make out session, both looking embarrassed. But as soon as they see my raging mad face and Chelsea's grief stricken one, they rush over.

"Mirabelle!" I call loudly.

"What happened?" Elliot asks me, but I don't respond.

"Chelsea are you okay?" Julia asks Chelsea, who doesn't respond either. However her reason is that she's too busy crying.

Mirabelle enters the room and immediately rushes over to us. "Vaughn, what happened." She demands of me.

I motion for her to come closer and then I whisper to her. "Can you please go to Chelsea's farm and clean up the dead chicken in the coop and the dead cow on the snow?"

Mirabelle's face drains of all colour, just like Elliot's and Julia's. All three quickly leave the house to do as I'd asked.

I lead Chelsea over to the couch once again. The scene reminded me of what happened two weeks ago with her house; only this is worse. Stark follows us and curls up at the end of the couch.

Chelsea sniffles and looks into my eyes. "You chased off the wild dogs."

I shrug. She smiles though. "Thank you."

She wouldn't have to thank me if Will had just left her alone. Ever since I had started going out with her, bad things happened to her. All my fault. Once again something bad was happening to someone I loved because of me. I could have killed myself with the disgust I felt.

Chelsea kisses me gently on the lips. "Hey, don't look so upset. Animals will come and go, but you'll be here forever. No regrets right?" She smiles and snuggles into my chest. "I loved Amethyst. But I'll get over her."

She sighs gently and I couldn't believe how quickly she had turned her emotions around. I guess it was probably because of the anger that was apparent on my face.

"Vaughn?" She starts. "What were you going to say earlier?"

"Nothing." I tell her as I hug her tightly. "It's not important right now."

Chelsea had too much stress already. I wasn't about to add to that. But I am a patient man; I can wait.

Ha, ha, ha. Cliffhanger! I love cliffhangers! Don't hate me. Thanks so much for getting me all the way to 88 reviews! I'm sure that when I next come to update there will be over 100 right? ;)

I love you all, and there should be an update within the week!