"But, what if that star is not to come?
Will their dreams fade to nothing?
When the horizon darkens most
We all need to believe there is hope."
--Lucia's Theme by Jennifer Stigile

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thanks again for tonight, Rence," I said with a big grin plastered on my face as we reached the floor of my apartment. It was almost eight in the evening. "It was seriously a blast!"

Lawrence and I had had fun playing at the arcade, and then eating dinner at Pizzalicious, our favorite pizza parlor and hangout place.

He grinned back. "Anytime." But his beaming face instantly fell. "Klein, I wish I could help you more in the Selena Walker Case. Whenever I ask her why she attacks you, she doesn't answer me. It must be a hellish experience for you."

Waving a hand dismissively, I assured him, "Hey, it's all right. That was the forty-fifth time she attacked me; I think I'm getting used to it."

His brown eyes widened. "You've been keeping count?" he asked, incredulous.

"Yep, 'cause of boredom," I joked, laughing.

But Lawrence didn't join in my enthusiasm. "When I see her again, I swear I'll--"

"Whoa, Rence," I interrupted him, "don't push it. Seriously, it's not a big deal. But, if she starts attacking me physically, then feel free to throw your skateboard or books at her full-of-horrible-makeup face."

My best friend just sighed, clearly not agreeing with me.

"By the way," I continued to change the topic, "do you wanna come inside and get a glass of water?"

"Nah. I should go home now."

I nodded. "Be careful on your way home, 'kay?"

"I will," Rence replied. Then all of a sudden he wrapped his arms around me and was hugging me. I was surprised.

Well, "surprised" would be an understatement; I was actually super-duper-ultra-mega-totally surprised! This was the first time my best friend was giving me this kind of hug.

I hugged him back, fearing I'd hurt his feelings if I didn't. As far as I knew, Lawrence didn't have a problem with his family, and his grades in geometry were fine, so what was the reason?

Um, a video-game problem? I could totally help him if that was the case.

A few minutes passed when I began in an uncertain tone, "Um, Rence, is something wrong? Wanna talk about it? I'm all ears."

He leaned away slightly to meet my bewildered look while tucking a lock of loose hair behind my ear, making me catch my breath. There was something in his expression that was new to me; I couldn't decipher it.

"Klein," Lawrence whispered, and it made my skin tingle for some reason. I continued searching his eyes for any hints on his behavior, but there were none.

"I...I think I'm fall--"

But his sentence was cut off when his phone started ringing, causing us to end the hug awkwardly. Lawrence looked frustrated when he answered the call. "Hullo, Mom...Yeah, I'm on my way home now...I'll Skype you later...Okay. Bye."

"Liar," I said after he'd hung up. Thankfully, the awkwardness in the air had disappeared.

Lawrence chuckled while patting my head (he really likes to do that a lot), his expression back to normal. "My parents are still in London to take care of more papers for their business. Dunno when they'll be back, though."

Parents...

I hid the jealousy bubbling in my chest. "Give them my regards."

"I will."

Then I remembered what had happened minutes ago. "Hey, what were you about to tell me? You know, before you were interrupted."

Lawrence ran his hand through his hair with a sheepish smile. "I...er, I'll tell you some other time."

"Just say it now," I demanded, pouting my lips with matching puppy-dog eyes.

"It can wait." He patted my head again.

I crossed my arms over my chest, defeated. "Fiiiine."

His gaze then landed on the front door, looking worried. "Promise me you won't start World War Three in there, yeah?"

"I can't make that promise, Rence."

"Klein," he warned.

I held up my hands in surrender. "Fine. I'll do my best to control my mouth." I paused. "And my temper."

"That's better than nothing." Lawrence grinned. "See you tomorrow?"

"Duh!" I waved good-bye while chuckling. What Lawrence had wanted to tell me, I seriously had no idea. A new weapon had been released in Dragonia Online that I didn't know about? I must check the game's website later to read the latest news.

He gave a salute before going inside the elevator of the apartment building.

I then remembered the problem at hand as soon as I was all alone in front of the door, imagining it was the Doors of Death. Taking a deep breath, I opened it, smelling the heavenly aroma of carbonara coming from the kitchen. It momentarily distracted me from my inner turmoil.

"Oh, Klein, you're finally here," Patricia said when she saw me about to go inside my room, smiling warmly. She was a pretty Hispanic woman; her brown hair was tied in a ponytail.

Oh, no. I'm just an illusion, so please don't bother me, I wanted to say as my inner turmoil took control again, but bit my tongue to hold back the "wonderful" words from coming out of my mouth. A silent nod was my reply instead.

"How was school?" she asked, wiping her hands on the apron she was wearing.

"Boring, as always," I replied nonchalantly. "I miss being homeschooled; it was a lot easier back then."

There was hesitation in her eyes, but then she hid it with a smile quickly. "I'm sure your perspective will change sooner or later. Anyway, dinner's now ready. I cooked your favorites--buttered fried chicken and carbonara. Come on; let's eat!"

"Um, I already ate dinner at Pizzalicious, so I'm--" But then I saw Dad standing behind Patricia a few feet away, giving me a pleading look, so I quickly coughed to correct myself. "I mean, but I'm still not full!" I tried to look happy for his sake in the meantime. "And buttered fried chicken and carbonara would always have a special place in my stomach, so yeah. Why get thinner when you can get more dinner!"

She giggled, and I mentally puked. "I also brought M&M's just for you."

​Well, that's one good thing she did.

And that's how I ended up eating dinner with Dad and Patricia. They were asking me questions about school while eating. Since it's rude to talk when your mouth is full of food (and my mouth for this dinner was always full of food), I only gave them one-word answers, like "yeah" "fine" "no" and "'kay."

A few minutes later, Dad started, "Klein?"

"Yo," I responded while twirling my carbonara around my fork. I had to admit Patricia was a great cook.

"Patricia and I wanted to tell you something very important."

Because I was enjoying eating my food, I only said "'Kay" and then drank from my glass of lemon iced tea.

He breathed deeply, exhaled, and then gave an announcement without preamble. "Patricia and I are dating."

Eyes widened, I sputtered the liquid from my mouth, it landing directly onto my plate of carbonara. It took me a few seconds for his words to sink in, then I finally found the words to speak while putting my glass back onto the table slowly. "Come again, Dad? I don't think I heard you clearly, even though I thoroughly cleaned my ears earlier."

​It was Patricia who repeated the terrifying news. "Your dad and I are dating, Klein. We're so sorry we only told you just now. We...we weren't prepared, because..." she faltered, looking unsure of what to say next.

"We thought this was the right time to tell you the real nature of our relationship," my dad added, placing his knife and fork onto his plate and placing his hand on Patricia's.

"When did you two start dating?" I asked calmly while wiping my mouth with a napkin, but deep inside I was feeling the anger starting to rise.

"Four months ago, Klein," he answered, smiling at Patricia and giving her hand a squeeze, and she squeezed back. They were gazing at each other with love. I was sure of it, because I'd seen that kind of look on my dad before: it was the look he shared with Mom. The look he used to share with Mom.

"I knew it," I spat out disgustedly. "I knew something fishy was going on between the two of you ever since she started hanging around here."

"Klein," he sighed, "we love each other."

No! I thought, gritting my teeth. You're lying, Dad! You only love Mom!

"So, this is also your way of moving on?" I questioned him harshly, looking at him with hatred in my eyes. "You're giving up?"

Dad clenched his jaw. "Cassandra left us, Klein--she left and ran off with another man. There's no other explanation for it."

"You of all people know that Mom wouldn't do that kind of thing in a million years!" I screamed, almost totally losing it. But I managed to hold back the tears threatening to fall. "Do you really think she left without bringing some of her stuff? Without bringing any of her personal keepsakes? No!"

​"So what do you think happened, Klein? Do you believe that aliens abducted her?" he rebutted sarcastically. "Or that she climbed inside a magic wardrobe and traveled to Narnia?"

I just remained silent.

Mom mysteriously disappeared ten months ago. She'd told us she was just going to the grocery store to buy some vegetables, but she never came back home. After weeks of searching, the police told us they couldn't find any trace of her, like she'd disappeared off the face of the Earth. She was put in the cold case file.

Dad was consumed with lovesick grief, and started drinking almost every night just to forget her. He was barely able to function--he almost lost his job because of his unreliability. In his drunken anger, he'd also thrown all of Mom's things into the dumpster, like she never existed. But he didn't know that I'd retrieved them and put Mom's stuff into a large rectangular box under my bed.

I'd even looked Mom on my own to no avail. I did online searches, putting her name and picture into every search engine imaginable. I even did physical footwork like an amateur Sherlock Holmes, going to all the places she used to frequent looking for some kind of clue to her whereabouts. Anything.

But I always came up empty.

I remembered those horrible nights crying under the covers waiting for Mom to come home. I knew in my heart that she was still alive and that she certainly hadn't left her husband and only daughter to be with another guy; she was true to all the people she knew. I understood why Dad was upset, but I just couldn't believe he was giving up this easily and that he didn't have faith in her.

Mom and I had been very close; she'd homeschooled me since I was in elementary. But after she'd mysteriously vanished, Dad had told me to continue studying in any high school I wanted for my junior year. My grades never suffered, but the thought of Mom always weighed heavily in everything I did from that point on.

I really felt that there was a supernatural explanation behind Mom's disappearance, but I couldn't tell anyone that, much less prove it; they'd think I'd become a psycho and would put me in a mental facility. I was surprised I hadn't gone crazy already.

What Dad was doing right now was a violation to me in so many ways. I knew Patricia Vasquez was a nice and true woman. She's the one who initially helped Dad get back on his feet, covering for him at work when he was abusing the bottle. I was grateful to her for that, thinking it was simply a friendly thing to do for him.

But then she started coming over more and more. She never spent the night, but sometimes Dad wouldn't come home until very early in the morning, just in time to shower, prepare breakfast for us both, then send me off to school. I tried not to think about what that meant, but deep down I knew.

Yes, Patricia was...well, cool, and maybe in another life she would have been a great mother to me. But in this one? For her to date my dad, and maybe get married in the future...just hell to the no.

"Klein," Dad sighed again, snapping me from my thoughts, "this is for our own good."

"No, it's not!" I yelled, my hands itching to flip the dining table.

Patricia put a calming hand on his arm. "It's all right, Alex. I...I understand what Klein's going through right now."

"If you understand what I'm going through right now," I snapped at her, glowering, "then stay out of our lives."

"Kleindiana Powers!" Dad boomed, standing up from his seat. He was now clearly furious because he pulled the full-name card on me. "Respect the woman in front of you!"

"'Respect'?" I echoed, astonished. "Dad, I understand that life has to go on, and I'm not expecting you to live alone forever," I told him. "But you're being disrespectful to Mom and me!"

"Get out of that denial stage of yours, Klein!" he shouted. "You need to accept that Cassandra left us to go live with another man!"

"It's barely been a year since she disappeared!" I cried desperately, clutching to rapidly fading straws. "There's still a chance she might come back! And if you're going to tell me that I need a new mother--" I shot Patricia a venomous look while standing up also. "No one can replace Mom! No one!"

All of a sudden I felt a sharp pain in my left cheek. It took me a few surreal moments to realize that Dad had just slapped me, hard. I slowly touched my throbbing cheek while turning my head to look at him, and saw he was also shocked by what he'd done. I heard Patricia gasp.

I finally let the tears fall from my eyes.

"Klein!" Patricia got up and hugged me, but I just stayed still, not responding to her embrace. She glared at my dad. "What have you done, Alex?!"

Dad looked torn and ashamed of himself. "K-Klein...I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to--"

​I pushed Patricia away from me before Dad could finish his sentence. Not caring about the consequences, I stormed out of the apartment--but not before grabbing the five packs of M&M's on the table that she'd bought me, stuffing them into my pockets.

No matter how upset you are, no matter what's going on, it's a rule to never forget to bring your chocolates with you. Ever.

After bursting out of the building and onto the street, I was running to I-don't-care-where-my-feet-take-me while bawling my eyes out, barely hearing the heavy traffic barrel by in the background. If people saw me in this state I was in--me crying like Niagara Falls--and thought I was nuts, then screw them.

I still couldn't believe my dad had slapped me. That was the first time he'd ever laid a hand on me--and hopefully the last. It hurt me physically, but also emotionally and mentally, making me feel more alone than ever. If only Mom hadn't vanished, then we'd still be happy, like problems in this world didn't exist.

I hadn't realized that, while running, I was clutching the silver locket around my neck that had our family picture in it. Mom had given it to me when I was eight years old, and I'd worn it ever since.

I missed her so, so much.

After a few minutes of running absentmindedly, I ended up in front of Lawrence's apartment. I couldn't turn back; I needed him right now, so I knocked timidly on the door. It opened, and there was my best friend--standing with a baffled look on his face.

"Klein?" He stared at me closely, then his eyes widened. "Why're you crying? What ha--"

I hugged him desperately like he was my last lifeline, sobbing loudly that my tears started staining his gray T-shirt. "I hate him so much, Rence!"

He didn't ask any questions; he just drew circles on my back to comfort me, even when we were now seated on the sofa in his living room.

Before I knew it, I'd fallen asleep in Lawrence's arms.

♒♒♒

I woke up in a dark room.

I checked the time on my phone, squinting my eyes because of the light the screen was casting, then saw it was almost half past two in the morning. I noticed there was a note placed on the side table, so I read it with the help of my phone's flashlight.

​I called your dad and told him you were here and fell asleep while playing a video game. He was okay with you staying the night at my house. I wrote this just in case you woke up early and worried about what your dad's reaction was going to be. Yehey for Saturdays!

It was Lawrence's gorgeous cursive handwriting that I envied so much.

Oh, right. After the events with Dad and Patricia, I went here, cried a river, and then fell asleep. I hoped Lawrence hadn't had a hard time carrying me to bed.

I got up, flicked the light switch on beside the door, and saw my shoes were on the right side of his desk. After tying the shoelaces, I gazed at his computer. It was tempting to play Dragonia Online just to forget what had happened, but I shook my head and went outside to look for him after turning off the light.

"Rence?" I called softly, then noticed there was a yellowish light to my left. When I reached the living room, I saw Lawrence sleeping on the sofa, his mouth opened slightly. He was still wearing his glasses. Maybe he'd fallen asleep, too? I felt guilty that he was sleeping here instead in his bed.

I kneeled down beside the sofa to remove the glasses, put them onto the coffee table, and then gazed at his face. It was rare to see my best friend without his thick glasses, so I took a picture of him instantly using my phone as a souvenir. And also for blackmailing purposes in the future.

Heh.

"Thank you so much for everything, Rence," I whispered, planting a soft kiss on his forehead.

"Klein," he mumbled.

I froze, fearing he'd wake up. But after a minute he didn't stir. I got a blanket from his room and carefully placed it on top of him. There was a ballpen and paper on the coffee table, so I decided to write a message for him using my crappy penmanship.

Yo, Rence. I'm going to Central Park to clear the cobwebs from my head. I'm writing this just in case you woke up early and panicked to find that I wasn't here. Will be back at four. I promise I'll be careful, and that I'll tell you everything that happened later. :)

Placing the note under his glasses on the table, I gazed at him one last time, and, for some reason, I had a sudden feeling that this would be the last time I'd see him.

Shaking my head, I turned off the lamp in the corner, and then I was out the door of his apartment.

♒♒♒

Central Park was one of my favorite places to hangout. Whenever I woke up early in the morning and couldn't get back to sleep, I'd always come here to feel refreshed.

​I saw Vicki, one of the Central Park guards for the early morning shift, standing near the Park's entrance. She was a short but noticeably strong Black woman in her mid-twenties. We first met three years ago, when I passed by Central Park one in the morning. When she asked me why I was skateboarding at such an ungodly hour and I gave her my answer, she nicely let me inside the park on the downlow. It became our little secret, and she always let me in whenever I came by.

When Vicki saw me, she grinned, waving. "Good early morning, Klein. Can't get back to sleep again?"

"Good early morning, too, Vick," I replied when I reached her, grinning back. "Y-yeah. Something like that."

"This is a first, though," she mused. "You didn't bring your skateboard with you."

"I wanted to exercise my feet for a change." I laughed. "Anyway, um, may I--"

Vicki waved a dismissing hand. "Since it's you, of course you may enter."

I grinned again, giving her a pack of M&M's. "Thanks! You really are the most amazing guard of Central Park."

Vicki accepted the M&M's, chuckling. "Pssshh. I get that comment every time." She opened the gate slightly. "Now go inside before someone else sees you."

I nodded with a thankful smile, entered the park and then walked toward Bow Bridge. Even coming here dozens of times, it was still kind of eerie being all alone inside the park. But at least it was peaceful.

As I reached my destination, I sat on the bridge's side, my feet dangling over the water, then looked up at the sky. Too bad I couldn't see any stars from here because of light pollution.

That's when I realized I missed stargazing with my grandmother whenever I was in Virginia; she'd been the one who'd lectured me about the constellations.

"Oh, Grandma," I whispered, feeling the tears start to fall again. "I miss you so, so much, too."

My sobbing subsided slowly a few minutes later, and I was reminiscing about the times that Grandma had comforted me: she'd sing me a song--but it wasn't just any song. She'd told me it was one of the ancient songs of Calares and then it had been translated centuries later by Galdry the Great, the leader of the Rune Knights who defeated the strongest demon, Viako the Wretched. According to Grandma, the song was so ancient that no one knew who had composed the legendary masterpiece.

Whenever she told me stories about Calares, it seemed she'd been implying that they were real, like she'd been in that world and seen all those amazing and unbelievable things herself. Since then, I'd always wondered about it, and wished Grandma's stories had been real.

And if they were indeed real, then I hoped I'd get to see and explore Calares myself someday. Also...maybe that was where Mom had disappeared to.

There was nothing wrong with wishing for the impossible, right?

Snapping myself from my thoughts, I imagined Grandma was by my side, and then started singing the song to find comfort in it. She'd sung it to me so many times, I knew it by heart:

"Waking up at early morn
The stars are singing their own songs
You look at me and I am strong."

The cold air of January puffed out of my mouth while I was singing.

"The birds are humming, I'm coming alive
Scars from the past are fading in the morning light
Take me in your arms and we will fly."

I closed my eyes because I was starting to feel at ease, and I wanted to feel the moment.

"I'll be your wings, we'll soar the skies
With bloodstained hands, let me carry
your memories
What you have lost, what you hold on the most."

Suddenly, I felt a soft touch on top of my right hand before I could sing the lovely chorus. Startled, I quickly opened my eyes to see if someone was beside me--if I'd been caught by a guard patrolling the park.

But I was all alone.

Goosebumps rose along my arms, making me shiver, even though I was wearing a hoodie and T-shirt underneath. This was a sure sign that I was seriously creeped out.

I gulped, looking around nervously. Even with how my mind works, I didn't believe in ghosts, but I still called, "Er, did you touch my hand, Grandma?" My voice was cracking. "I know I said I missed you, but please don't frighten me to death; I still have to defeat GTG_01 in Dragonia Online."

The sound of crickets coming from the trees was the only response I got.

"Oo-kay," I drawled a moment later. "Klein, maybe it was just the wind," I firmly told myself to believe my own words. "Or a leaf. Or an insect. Or--"

​That's when I noticed there was a soft light coming from below, causing my fear to intensify to the highest level. I sat frozen in my spot; I couldn't even move my legs to run, to get out of there alive. I was sure the light wasn't caused by fireflies.

Looking down slowly to be sure, I saw the light was in the water, and it was kind of circular.

Then I furrowed my brows in confusion, the fear I'd been feeling suddenly forgotten. Anglerfishes only lived in the deep ocean, right? So what was making the light?

Ghosts glowing while swimming underwater? I thought, scowling. Luuuh. I don't think so.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I leaned down closer to discover the answer behind the mystery.

I was about to sing "I See the Light" as a joke, but then realized too late that I was falling into the Central Park Lake headfirst. My panicked scream was cut off as I hit the water.

And then all I could see was white.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Who touched Klein? Awoooo! XD

Thanks so much to Freesia Lockheart (@crossroad) for composing the wonderful song in this chap. She's a genius, and it was perf! And also to @phillyboy10 for editing and making the chapter more dramatic. :D

The full song will be revealed soon. Can't wait to share it with you all! The song in the Media, however, kinda explains Klein's feelings in this chap. Feel free to listen to it. :)