The Star Caster by Jamie Loeak Page B

death of my mother was fresh, a faded wound that could be easily torn open. And it had been torn by the death of my real mother. And then, the realization that I had been lied to for all of my life had ripped a hole in my soul; especially the knowledge that the person that had been lying to me had been my father. No, Sterren didn’t know what it was like to cry out desperately. He didn’t know what it was like to feel like this. And he would never know why I was going to do this. He would never understand.
    I pull away from him, but gently. “I have to do this for him. It’s probably the only kind thing anyone has ever done for him.”
    “But you’re going to help him kill a man, Danika. Don’t you see that?” His voice is franticly trying to get me to understand his side.
    “I do,” I say slowly. “But I also see something more than that. I see kindness and compassion and love. I don’ t see the bad things.”
    “None of this, nothing that he wants you to do is good, Danika.” Sterren is growing angry. His hands are fists at his sides and his golden eye, which I can see when he flips his hair from his eyes, is glowing.
    I reach out and put my hand on his chest. “Sterren, I have to do this.”
    “But you don’t have to do it willingly!” he shouts.
    I step back, startled. Tears burst from my eyes and tumble down my cheeks. I don’t want him to see me like this, fragile and weakened from my own experiences, but he already has. So, the only thing I can do is run from him.
    I rush forward, silently begging Vick to begin walking. He does, and I follow him upstairs and out into the night air.
    When I get outside, I stop. I’m out of breath from hurrying up those stairs and I bend over, my hands on my knees, so that I can catch my breath. When I’m relaxed, and calmer from my argument with Sterren, I stand back up.
    “Ready?” Vick and Val ask simultaneously.
    I nod and take a deep, steadying breath. I stand there, watching the two of them as Sterren stumbles outside. He walks over to me and takes my hands. “I don’t know why you have to do this,” he says, “but I know that you must. And I want you to know that I am still here for you, and I will always be here for you.”
    I smile and squeeze Sterren’s hands before letting them go. He’ll definitely be getting an earth-shattering kiss from me. However, first things are first. “Okay,” I say as I look back over at Vick and Val.
    Vick licks his lips, preparing himself for his wildest dreams. The eagerness in his eyes shows that he cannot wait to gain his heart’s revenge, and I can’t help but stare at his scars, at the constant reminders of the cruelty he’s experienced. He must grow angrier every day; I know I would.
    I breathe to erase my thoughts, close my eyes, and reach up to pull the first star from my cheek. It slides easily, and that same sparkling heat tickles my fingertips. When the star is held firmly in my hand, I whisper the words that I am meant to say, and this time a new power surges through me. This is the first real star that I have cast. This is how it’s supposed to be for the Star Casters; they were supposed to want this. That is why we were created. We were created to help those in need of the wishes we had. We were created to provide hope and love where there was none. We were there to save human faith.
    I open my eyes, feeling a renewed sense of purpose. And as I throw the star into the sky and watch it race up to the heavens, I listen to Vick’s rough voice recite the rhyme:
     
    “Star light, star bright – wishing star, you are mine.
    I close my eyes at first sight and grant myself a wish tonight.”
     
    When Vick finishes, he closes his eyes. He mumbles to himself before speaking aloud, and I can tell that he’s preparing his words, ironing them out to make them right. He doesn’t want to mess this up in his eagerness. “I wish to bring my birth father to this place,” he says.
    The thrumming power in my