The Fallen Star

I shook my head. “No. This is different. I can feel it. I know there’s got to be more to it than that. I mean, I can barely remember anything about my life at all.”

“Gemma, I really think that—” I threw my hands in the air exasperatedly. “Just tell me. Has my memory ever been erased?”

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He shook his head. “No. Your memory has never been erased.”

“You’re lying!” I yelled. “I know you are.

There’s no way I could forget her.” And now I was crying. But honestly, I really didn’t care.

There was too much agonizing pain inside me to care.

“Gemma, please just sit down for a minute and hear me out,” Alex said in the shakiest voice I’d ever heard come out of his mouth.

“ No!” I cried. “I’m not doing anything else that you tell me to do. I’ll never listen to you again!”

He rubbed his forehead, looking tense.

“If you’ll sit down and listen to me, then I’ll try to explain everything the best that I can.”

“Yeah right.” I sniffled. “You’re like the mastermind of lying.”

He pressed his lips together, trying really hard not to laugh at my remark. “I know I’ve 627/695

lied to you a lot, but this time I won’t. I promise.”

I stared at him through tear-drenched eyes, searching his face for signs that he was lying. He looked so sincere it was almost startling.

“You promise.” I sniffed. “You’ll tell me the truth?”

He gave a slow, reluctant nod. “But I have to warn you that what I’m going to say is way worse then what you’re imagining.” I wiped the tears from my face with the sleeve of my shirt and sank down on the couch. “It doesn’t matter. I still want to hear it.”

He sank down on the couch beside me, slipped off his baseball hat, and dragged his fingers tautly through his hair. “I don’t even know where to begin. No matter where I start, it’s going to sound really bad.” I liked that he was nervous. He was usually so calm, cool, and collected—he was 628/695

usually lying. So nervous was a good sign he was telling the truth…I hoped, anyway.

“Start anywhere, then. If it’s all bad, then what does it matter?”

He contemplated this for a moment.

“Okay, so you remember the prophecy I told you about, right?”

I sighed. “How could I forget it?”

“Well, I left out a few parts of that story.

See, while Stephan was trying to figure out a way to keep the prophecy from happening, your mother had just disa—or if what you say is correct, was thrown into The Underworld.” He paused, gazing off, lost in thought. “You were extremely emotional. Crying all the time.”

“I’d just lost my mother,” I pointed out, a

“Yeah, I know. And I’m not saying that it wasn’t understandable, I’m just trying to explain why Stephan did what he did.” He shifted uneasily in the chair. “A lot of Keepers 629/695

are born with gifts. There are a lot of different kinds, some more useful than others. The one Sophia has is called unus quisnam aufero animus.Or one who removes the soul.”

“One who removes the soul,” I repeated, my eyes widening. “You took my soul! Are you freaking kidding me?!” I leapt up from the couch, my adrenaline pulsating into overdrive. He was so right. It was way worse.

At least the stars energy could be construed as adding to a persons’ life. But taking away a soul—it was like ripping away the very essence of being human.

My legs wobbled and the room swayed. I grasped onto the edge of the coffee table, gasping for air. Was this what a panic attack felt like?

Alex got up and placed his hand on my back. “Gemma, calm down and listen to me.

That’s not what I am saying.” I tried to shake off his hand, but he held it steadily in place.

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“Get—away—from—me,”

I

gasped

between shallow breaths.

“No, I won’t get away from you. You need to listen to me. We didn’t take your soul away.”

“Huh?” I let go of the table and stood up straight. Alex’s hand fell off my back. “Then what did you do to me?”

“I’ll tell you, but let me finish before you start freaking out, okay?” I nodded, but it still didn’t mean that I wouldn’t freak out. In fact, I wasn’t even sure I had any control over my reactions at the moment.

“So like I told you a few times, we didn’t take your soul. Unus quisnam aufero animusis mostly used as a form of punishment.

But in your case, we weren’t trying to punish you or anything. You were just a little girl and Jocelyn’s daughter. So instead of taking your soul, Sophia did something a little less severe. She detached you soul from your 631/695

emotions. And since emotions have such a huge co

An a

“Gemma.” Alex’s tone was cautious. “Do you want me to continue? Or do you need a break?”

“What?” I blinked and shook my head.

“No, you can go on.”

“Are you sure, because I can give you a break?”

“No,” I said determinedly. “I want to hear the rest.”

It seemed like he didn’t want to tell me, but went on anyway.

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“After Sophia detached your soul, she and Marco took you to Afton to keep you hidden from the Death Walkers. There was something about the snow that made it difficult to track the stars energy. I think the cold might reduce the heat the energy produces or something, but I’m not exactly sure.”

“Maybe that’s why I hate the cold so much.” I joked in an eerily humorless tone.

God, I sounded as dead and hollow as the Death Walkers looked.

He gave me a small smile. “Perhaps. But that’s not really the point I was trying to make. The point is your soul is still there, along with your memories. You just can’t co

He gave me a look that made may skin feel hot and fiery, and it wasn’t just the electricity. No, this was something else. Something more. The prickle on the back of my neck was confirming that. I hadn’t felt the 633/695

prickle in awhile, and I wondered if somehow my soul was trying to reco

Or maybe I was just hoping.

I had to slow my breathing down before I spoke. “So why did I all of a sudden start to feel again?” I asked.

“No one really knows the answer to that.” He shut his eyes and massaged his temples. “Sophia tried to detach it again, but it didn’t work.”

Breath, I told myself. “What do you mean she tried to do it again? When?” He opened his eyes back up. “She tried it a few months ago, after you started showing signs of feeling emotions. You don’t remember because she did it while you were asleep.”

No wonder I have nightmares. Imagine some old lady sneaking into your room late at night and trying to detach your soul. You’d probably have nightmares too.

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“So what do they plan on doing to me now that it didn’t work?” I snapped. “Lock me away somewhere and throw away the key?”

“No,” he said, avoiding eye contact with me.

“Then what? Tell me. What are they going to do?”

There was a hint of pity in his bright green eyes. “There’s someone else with the same gift as Sophia that’s headed here right now. He’s supposed to be more powerful than Sophia, and Stephan seems convinced it’ll work.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Well, I actually could, considering all the other crap I’d been told over the last few days, but…“Why?”

His eyebrows dipped down. “Why what?”

“Why didn’t you guys have this detaching soul person detach my soul sooner? I’ve 635/695

been feeling for a few months now? Why wait and let it get worse.”