Rosalyn's POV
My heartbeat was fastened by a million times as I saw Amber lying on the floor of her room. I rushed towards her, barely managing to avoid tripping on my gown.
"Amber!" Her eyes were sunken deep into her sockets. Her lips were colourless, her breathing faint. Her arms were sliced at places, so deep that blood pooled out of them endlessly. Her clothes were stained red and so was the white marble floor.
"Rose..." The front door burst open as I heard footsteps hurrying towards the room.
"Rose!"
"Oh my God!" My friends gasped on seeing the scenario inside.
"Amber please... You can't leave me..." My voice cracked as I burst into tears.
"My girl..." She placed a bloody palm on my cold cheek. "I... love you..."
"No, no, please." I turned to look at Vincent. "Do something." I felt Amber's hand on my wrist.
"No. Don't... turn me. I don't want... you to die..." She shook her head. I looked at her pleadingly, but she was right. She would never want me to die. I placed a gentle hand on one of her injuries.
"Ad sanandum vulnus." I performed a healing spell on her.
"It won't work... I will be long gone..." Her voice was raspy.
"Don't you dare say that!"
She reached down her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Read it... after I'm gone..."
"You are not going anywhere. You are staying here and we are going to end Nathaniel. Together."
I noticed the slight tears forming on her inside eye. "You can take him down... alone..." She gurgled out crimson blood.
"Please don't say that..."
She took my hand in hers. "I want to... show you something..." She closed her eyes, and in a moment, I was sucked into a void.
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Amber's POV
18 years ago...
"See who do we have here!" Sapphire said, walking into the living room, accompanied by Jaden. She was carrying in her arms, her child. My neice.
"Oh my..." I ran towards her. "Is she...?"
"Your neice." She nodded with a huge smile on her face.
"Can I hold her?" Sapphire nodded before the child was in my arms, her rosy cheeks and pink lips filling my heart with a warmth.
"What's her name?"
"Rosalyn, after her attunement, Rose Quartz."
I was taken aback by the mention of the gemstone. "Rose Quartz? You know what that means, right?"
"Yes, that she is the chosen one whom the First Vampires are after."
"And their destruction too." I said sternly.
"Amber, I want you to promise me that if, God forbid, anything happens to Jaden and I, you will take care of her. Look after her."
I looked at the innocent face of my newborn niece. I placed a finger on her palms as her little fingers curled up around it. "I will, Sapphire." I kissed her little forehead. "I will do everything to protect you. I will go against all odds, burn in the flames, drown in the water and even get crushed under the Earth, only to keep you safe. I will never let anything evil come upon you..."
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Present day
Rosalyn's POV
I was back from the vision, my eyes tired and puffy with crying. I looked at Amber. Her hold over me was no more. Her eyes were shut, a peaceful look on her face.
She was gone.
I felt the life out of me being sucked out. I could not breathe. I could not think. I could not feel. Emotions overtook me after a while as I realised what had just happened. Amber was no more. She would never wake me up again, she would never welcome me back when I came back from school, she would never wish me good night.
She was gone.
I broke into tears, my face turning warmer.
Why did you have to leave me? Why?
Vincent held me in his arms as I cried on his shoulder, wetting the fabric with my tears. "Why does everyone leave me?"
"Rose... she loved you. She loves you, from wherever she is now, and she will love you forever." He rubbed my back.
"We... need to bury her..." Damien's words were like piercing needles through my ears. I let out a cry, of pain, agony, sorrow, heartbreak, and every other emotion that I was going through.
"He's right..."
Vincent lifted me to my feet. "Take her to the car."
Damien lifted Amber in his arms and placed her in the car's trunk. We climbed into the limo, or hearts heavy in our chests.
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Once we reached the Blackwood's Mansion, Damien and Vincent placed Amber's body in the sarcophagus, where Genevieve had been trapped all these years.
Stella and Kristen stood by my side, placing a hand on either of shoulders as I cried with them.
"We will give her a proper funeral tomorrow."
"She wanted to be with mom and dad, where she would not be alone." I said.
"We will fulfil her wish."
It was then that I felt something crumple in my palm. It was the paper that Amber had given me. I unfolded it. It was a letter.
Dear Rosalyn,
Last time I had written to you, I mentioned that the next time you would hear from me would be the time when you would have to make a decision for yourself and for everyone around you. The time has come. You will have to give me an answer by Saturday, else someone very close to you will meet an untimely fate. I hope you will choose wisely.
Your wellwisher,
Nathaniel
The sorrow in me was now replaced with anger. Maddening anger. The anger when you want to kill everyone in your path.
"What does it say?" Stella said.
I turned to everyone in the room. "Nathaniel did this! He killed Amber! He wanted me to make a decision tonight, but she knew that I would never want anyone to get hurt. So she made that decision herself, and so, he killed her!" I was fuming with anger, my nostrils flaring.
"That son of a bitch..."
"He will pay. I will make sure he does." I said between clenched teeth.
Nathaniel is going down.
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The next morning
The seven of us stood at the spot, where Amber had just been buried. The silent graveyard breeze cooled the tears that I had been shedding from last night, but it failed to cool down the fire that was building up in me. The fire of vengeance.
The fire to kill.
I walked up to Amber's grave, placing a white rose on it. "You gave me a life mom and dad couldn't. You taught me how to be my real self. You loved me like a mother. You helped me in my tough times like a sister. You never gave up on me. I love you, and there is nothing in this world and beyond it that can change that. I will make you proud. I will be how you wanted me to be, and that's my promise."
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Two weeks later
"Why is this gown so long?"
"Stella, this is a graduation gown. It is supposed to be long."
"You're so boring cousin. I wanted to flaunt my legs! But thank God it's red."
"You're so overdramatic!"
"I know, right?"
"Hey..." Vincent sidled upto me. "What's bothering you?"
I looked down at my hands, which held Amber's as she died. "I'm just... wishing that my family was here..."
"Rose, wherever your parents are, wherever Amber is, they are watching over you, always, and I know that they must be so happy for you right now. They must feel so proud of their girl." He held my hand in his. I nodded, smiling through the tears that I had just shed.
"Guys, the ceremony starts in 5 minutes." Damien said to us.
"Let's get in line."
The five of us stood accordingly as the names were being called out.
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After about twenty minutes, Vincent's name was called on stage.
"You've got this." He said before fixing his cap and going on stage.
Suddenly, I started feeling nervous. I had written a speech for the graduation, but all I could remember back then was the suffering in Amber's eyes, the cuts and bruises covering her body. I felt scared and paranoid.
"Rosalyn Silverhawk." The student standing by the curtains called out. I was awoken from my thoughts on hearing his voice. "You are next."
Once Vincent's speech was over, I walked up the stage, lit up with bright white lights, proud faces sitting in the crowd.
"Miss Silverhawk." The alumni announced as I made my way towards him. He handed me over my diploma. "Congratulations." I couldn't smile. I was paralyzed by the killing thoughts inside me. He moved slightly aside such that I could stand right in front of the microphone stand. I glanced at the crowd. Hundreds of faces fixed on me, but none of them were of my family, the people who died saving me. My hands shook and so did my whole body. I was worried I would fall, that I would faint. But Amber's words to me rang in my mind.
"Whenever you feel nervous, take a deep breath and let it all out the right way."
And so, I did. Taking a deep breath I felt all the nervousness leave me. I brought my face closer to the microphone and began.
"This school has given me what I have lacked for so long. True friends. People who care about me. People who love me. It has taught me a new meaning of life, and how to live it. This year has been epic, for the good and also for the bad. I have lost people that I cared for, but gained many in turn. Sometimes, we may pass each other in the hallway, never glancing at the next person. Sometimes, we may just not notice whom we are standing next to during gym classes. Sometimes, we don't care what others are going through. But when we say Crestfall, we all come forward, to represent it. Knowingly, or unknowingly, we have become a family, an inseparable one. This is my school, our school, which gave us being and no matter what I or someone else says, we can never be thankful enough. Thank you." My speech was followed by thunderous clapping among the crowd.
"A wonderful speech, Miss Silverhawk." The alumni said.
"Thank you." I realised the tears that I had shed during the speech and rubbed them off. I walked upto my friends standing a little far away as the alumni called the next student onstage.
"That was spectacular, Rose!"
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"I can't believe it's finally over!" Stella beamed as Genevieve, Aurora and the five of us walked out of Crestfall High for the last time.
"We made it!"
"It has been a long ride."
"Undoubtedly."
"Guess we have only one work left to do." I said as I held my graduation cap firmly in my hand, my breath suddenly catching in my throat. The others did the same.
"You ready Rose?"
"With you all by my side and in my heart? Absolutely."
With that, I tossed my cap into the vast, blue expanse of the sky, whispering one final goodbye to Crestfall High.
Thank you for everything.
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As the clock keeps ticking, how difficult will Rose's path be, now that Amber is no more? Read on to find out!
Until then,
Goodbye,
-Adrianna