New Celestial : A teen paranormal romance series (The Celestial Series Book 1)

by Lisa Champagne

  He looks around my room, paying special attention to my bed before he begins talking. “Thanks for inviting me over. It was hard waiting for you to wake, not sure if you ever would. It gave me a lot of time to think.”

  I almost respond by rolling my eyes. “I’m happy to be awake. What did you think about?”

  James hesitates, trying to form a connection with me, unaware that I’ve changed since waking. “I thought a lot about you and me. How I feel deeply for you. How Easton drags you down, where I would lift you up. I don’t understand how you could be with him.”

  James’ words anger me, and a hidden rage begins to emerge in my voice. “Really? That seems like a waste of a month if you ask me. How would you lift me up? You couldn’t even hold your own against Easton at the NYE party.” My words sting him, which was my intent. The darkness revels in his pain, gaining an advantage in my mind.

  James almost spits his words at me, trying to convince himself as much as me. “I don’t even have my powers yet—it wasn’t a fair fight from the start. I thought you’d like someone who is in control of their emotions, but if you’re attracted to brute force and jealousy, then you picked the perfect guy.” James takes a deep breath, unhappy to have lost his temper. He wrestles with what to say, abruptly standing up and abandoning his plan of “seducing” me.

  I’m shocked to find myself grabbing James and pulling him closer to me. I try to control my dark energy but feel it trying to grab the reins before I have any chance of stopping it. “James, what is it you like about me?”

  James avoids eye contact—fumbling with his words before finding the courage to look at me. “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. I can’t think when I’m around you.”

  My reply is heavy with sarcasm. “Beauty—I see. The start of every great romance.”

  James hesitates before responding. “You’re also kind. Remember what a great time we had in Austin?”

  “James, we haven’t even kissed.” Spurred on by the darker me, James intensely kisses me. I feel a sinful energy emerge within me as I kiss him back. My lighter self feels lost amongst the darkness, just like I felt in the abyss.

  James is unaware of my internal battle as he arrogantly speaks. “You can’t tell me that we don’t have chemistry. We are meant to be together.”

  The kiss was anything but special. I didn’t feel a spark like I do when I kiss Easton, but I’m unable to gain control as my mouth forms words duplicitous in nature. “There’s something between us, but I’m sorry to tell you it’s not enough.”

  My words wound James, and I see a switch flip inside of him. He aggressively steps forward as he unyieldingly grabs my arm. “You didn’t feel anything? I don’t believe you—you know we have a connection, and you’re lying to me and yourself.” He begins to kiss me again—this time more forcefully than before. Externally paralyzed and lost within my own body, I gather all the strength I have left and start pushing the darkness away.

  Once the light gains control again, I push James back as I say. “No. I don’t want to. Get off.” James is lost to his own demons, unable to hear my words. He continues to kiss me, trying to remove my top as he clumsily unbuttons his pants. I shakily use my energy to push James back against my door. I put my shirt on and scream at him—putting on a show of strength but feeling utterly weak inside.

  “Leave! Don’t ever touch me again.” James’ face falls as he realizes he’s made a mistake, and disgust washes over him. He buttons his pants and leaves my room, slamming the door behind him. I hurriedly lock it behind him, sliding down the door until my butt hits the floor. I feel overwhelmed by the shock running through my body and notice an almost menacing joy down deep—scaring me more than James ever could.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Broken

  Easton - Discovery

  I sit down on my bed, fighting to keep my eyes open. I need to figure out how to help Lili even though she won’t let me near her. My eyes begin to close again right as my door opens dramatically, reveling Nora.

  She walks in my room, talking so quickly I can barely understand her. “Lili is in trouble. She’s been infected by darkness and hasn’t gotten out of bed. I don’t know if I have any more time to find a solution. I think she needs help now.”

  I stand up immediately and begin walking to Lili and Nora’s room. “Let’s go.”

  Once outside their dorm Nora opens the door, saying. “I’ll wait out here. I think it would be better if there was only one of us.”

  I agree, and quickly storm Lili’s bedroom. The normally light filled room is pitch black with the windows drawn. I quickly turn on the light trying to locate Lili, finding her laying in bed with her wide eyes staring at the ceiling.

  Worry overtakes my emotions as I climb into her bed next to her and gently pull her covers off. “Lili—what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  She turns to me, as if she’s just noticed me. Her voice sounds dead. “I’m not okay. I’m evil and I deserve everything that’s happened to me.”

  I gently grab her hand. “You’re not. I know what darkness looks like, and you’re not it. You’re good, I promise.”

  “You don’t understand. I’ve been infected. It’s like my soul isn’t mine anymore. I have evil inside me, and I can’t beat it. It’s too strong.” I feel the truth behind her words as I contemplate how to help her. I figured Lili had been infected, but I’m unsure of how much darkness she has inside of her. I begin to search her energy and I’m shocked by the amount of corruption inside of her—more than I would have ever thought possible. Her light is still there but buried down deep. I instantly know what to do.

  “Lili—I see the darkness. I’m going to remove as much as I can.” Lili looks at me, a slight ray of hope shining through her eyes. I’m desperate to help her and make the choice to withdraw as much dark energy from her soul as possible. Baxoney’s lessons have taught me how, and without anywhere to put that much darkness, I’ll have to take it within me. I’ve had years to manage the evilness within me, and a little bit more won’t affect me like it’s affecting her.

  I wrap her in my arms, taking a deep breath, and withdraw as much darkness from her as I can. Wrapping the darkness inside my light and taking it in, over and over until I can’t take any more. The heaviness of my new energy is overwhelming, and I plan to dump it somewhere as soon as I can. I look at Lili’s energy and see her light emerging, taking control of her energy. I still see darkness, but there’s much less than before.

  I swallow hard, pushing the heaviness down so I can talk to Lili. “I’ll help you learn to control what remains.”

  She grins at me going in to kiss me, then pulls back as though something just occurred to her. “Thank you, Easton. I feel like I can breathe again.” Her face shifts as she continues talking. “Before you agree to help me, I need to tell you something.” I remain silent waiting for her to tell me, afraid that she’s discovered my secret and is cutting me loose. “Easton—I made a mistake and I have no one to blame but myself. I invited James over, and we kissed.”

  I feel more rage than I’ve ever felt overpowering my energy as I try to contain it. Lili’s dark energy has more of an edge, making my words come out harsher than I intend. “I need to hear everything that happened.”

  Lili’s eyes swell as she fights to find the right words. “I woke infected by darkness. I kept fighting it, but after a while I couldn’t anymore.” Shame radiates from her as she adds, “I stopped fighting it. I was too tired to resist…I shouldn’t have done that. You fight it every day.” I grab her hand, understanding her more than ever as she continues her explanation. “I said horrible things to James that really hurt him, basically begging him to kiss me.” She hesitates, and a tear falls on my hand. “I found the strength to stop it and he left but he… It’s all my fault.”

  Lili’s story feels like dagger to my soul—but the darkness in her is to blame. I know Lili and she would never do this, and I won’t let the darkness tear us apart. “Lili
, I understand the darkness, how it works and what it does. It’s to blame, not you.”

  Her eyes flash with fear as her words come rushing out. “I’ve lost so much time and my birthday’s almost here. Plus, I have no idea how to prevent my dream from coming true. Time is slipping away.”

  “Then we have no time to waste. Do you feel up to learning what I discovered in Wayward’s office?”

  Lili’s eyes perk up, exposing her hope. “Tell me everything!”

  “Everything Baxoney told us is true. I found information about the girl he spoke of. Her name was Mary and she was special, just like you. Her abilities were present at birth and continued to grow. They thought she was the new replacement for Michael. He lost his connection with God around the same time the new Celestials were sent down.”

  Lili’s eyes bug out in shock. “Mary… Her name was said in my dream before I started school. I had almost completely forgot about it.”

  She twists her face in thought as I continue to tell the story. “Mary came into massive amounts of power on her sixteenth birthday. There was a battle at the school, and she was captured and killed. In order to protect the secret of who Mary was, and why the Celestials were sent down, the school decided to erase all memory of her. They wiped her existence from the memories of all new and old Celestials.”

  Lili’s face shows concern as she asks, “Why do they still perform the memory eradication?”

  “They discovered that the Celestials were more docile once a part of their memories had been removed. The next year they experimented with removing the new Celestial’s memories of their human life, finding it made them more susceptible to darkness.”

  Lili tries to wrap her brain around the revelation, nervously asking, “Does it say who started the procedure?”

  I answer her honestly. “Adem was the one who first implemented the procedure. I’m sure he’s behind it.” I continue telling Lili about what I found in the silver box. “They always perform the memory eradication on the eve of a new Celestial’s sixteenth birthday—which aligns to when Mary came into her full power. I believe they have been preparing for another Mary to return.”

  Lili seems deep in thought as she talks to herself aloud. “I’m the new Mary?”

  “I think you’re meant to be the new Michael, and the Darkness will stop at nothing to prevent that. I believe that the Darkness now knows who you are, and we are now all in deep trouble.”

  Lili - Warnings

  The events of the last couple of days have been forever marked on my soul. The darkness removal has helped me return to my old self, but I feel my soul has been forever changed. I closely follow Nora to class, using her as a security blanket, as I face my classmates post-darkness. Today’s the first day I’ve seen James since the night he came to my room, and the thought of talking to him makes me feel like a washing machine with a load of bulky sheets inside.

  Nora’s been helping me relax before our class starts, filling me in on all the school gossip I missed over the last month. “Ben from our history class just had his memory eradication, and he’s a completely different person. The school had a big party for him the day before, where everyone celebrated, like nothing was amiss. It was really weird. Amanda just wanted to dance the whole night—she never wanted to talk about the elephant in the room. I guess I finally found a less talkative girl—not sure I like it.” Nora and her new girlfriend have been hot and heavy since our holiday break.

  Eager for more information about Ben’s memory eradication, I ask, “Is he the first Celestial in our class to have it done?”

  “Yes, all of our birthdays are in the next month. Harper says all our souls were sent down at the same time, but our birthdays are dependent on our mothers’ bodies and personalities. Can you imagine your mom’s personality preventing you from being born?”

  I smile at the thought. “I actually can.” Nora laughs as I nervously ask, “Does Ben seem like his old self?”

  Nora stops walking. “I’m not really sure. I didn’t really know him well before the procedure. I can tell you that he seems like a drone now, but he could have had that personality before. It’s hard to tell.” Nora’s answer worries me. We continue to walk towards our class, spotting James standing outside the room. My body tenses as I physically get closer to him. Nora notices a change in my body as she glances in James’ direction. “Do you want me to stay? I still say you shouldn’t apologize. You were dark, what’s his excuse?”

  Unsure of my answer, I say, “It feels like a blur, really. Trust me, I am as much to blame as he is. Would you mind if I meet you inside? I think it will go better if it’s just me and him.” Nora gives James a nasty look as she heads inside. I take a deep breath, nervously walking towards him with a million thoughts racing through my head. The first thing to pop out is… “Hi, James.”

  He looks at me with a mixture of shame and anger. His tone is darker than before—which I expected. “Hi. How’s everything going?”

  I struggle with how to move forward with our relationship but feel that I have to try to fix what my darkness intentionally broke. “I’m sorry for what happened the other night. I wasn’t myself. I don’t know how to explain it, but I was horrible to you, and there’s no excuse for my actions. I hope you know I would never want to hurt you or cause you pain.”

  James’ face softens, taking in my apology and lifting his eyes to connect to mine. “I understand. I wasn’t myself either. I felt something heavy taking over me that night, but as soon as I left your room—it was gone. I know that’s not an excuse…but I hope you can forgive me anyway.”

  I needed to hear James’ explanation. I wonder if the darkness in me affected him in some way? I acted horribly, but so did he. If he can forgive me for my actions, then I can certainly forgive him. “Of course. Clean slate?”

  James’ eyebrows flare as he says, “Absolutely, completely clean.” He pretends to wash his hands, then continues to talk. “My birthday’s coming up—I think it’s been messing with my head.”

  Fear for James runs through my body. “James—I’m sorry, I didn’t know. When is it?”

  James looks down at the floor again as he responds. “It’s tomorrow. I was going to tell you the other night, but things got so messed up.” I want to hug him and tell him everything will be all right, but I don’t believe it will. So, I stand staring at him with despair as he nervously talks. “They’re throwing a party for me tonight. I hope you’ll still try to make it.” I try to put on a brave face—smiling at him when I feel like crying.

  I breathe in deep, trying to steady my voice. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  James didn’t like the ‘we’ within my sentence, tinting his response with jealousy. “I know you’re still with Easton, but can you not bring him?” I feel an uncomfortable feeling emerge within me. I understand James’ reasoning, but I feel uneasy about his request.

  I try to ignore my own feelings and focus on James’ sensitivity. “Uh…sure, if that’s what you want.”

  “Did you tell him about the other night?”

  The darkness and drama of the other night comes racing back to my mind as I answer James quickly, wanting to wipe that night from my mind forever. “I told him most of it.”

  James anxiously asks, “And how did he take it?”

  “Easton understands I wasn’t in the right mind. You have nothing to worry about.” The lights on the classroom door begin to flash, signaling class is about to begin. James and I start to head in together, when I hear someone call my name from around the corner.

  I turn around and find Wayward walking towards me. I signal to James that I’ll be right in then I walk towards Wayward with a heavy feeling in my stomach. He stops abruptly in front of me. “Thanks for waiting. I haven’t had a chance to check in with you since you woke up. I want to know how you’re doing,” he says.

  “I’m doing much better, thanks.”

  He puckers his lips before replying. “So glad to hear that. I heard E
aston was in your room almost every day. You two seem to have a unique relationship.”

  I feel as though Wayward is warning me away from Easton, which feels uncomfortable in all sorts of ways. “Just a normal relationship. I don’t typically see things the way others do.”

  “I’m sure you don’t.” He pauses, letting the silence between us expand until it feels uncomfortable. “I just want to make sure your guard is up.” I nod my head as Wayward continues to talk. “I know you have to get to class, but I’d love if you could stop by my office next week for a chat. I want to keep checking in on you. We can make it a standing appointment.” I reluctantly agree to Wayward’s request. He heads back in the direction of his office, and I head into my classroom with a slight alarm sounding inside my head.

  Lili - Fear

  After a long day of classes, I head outside to meet Easton for our darkness training session. It’s colder than normal, with grey clouds forming outside the school’s boundaries. I spot Easton sitting on a bench isolated by large trees. He looks up at me, hiding his overpowering dark energy deep inside. I worry that when he took some of my darkness the other night, his energy was more affected than he let on.

  As I sit next to him our energies begin to intertwine, providing me a feeling of contentment and safety. I smile at him, and he smiles back. “How did today go? Having an easier time than before?”

  Happy to feel a deep, loving connection to Easton again, I gently kiss him then answer his question. “Happy to feel like my old self again.”