The Crystal 3 by Jones M (best beach reads TXT) 📖

hard to accept the fact that Emery was dead.

Everyone, particularly Zane, felt that it was a nightmare. Some time after he had accepted it, he felt it was so unfair. He had just gotten to see Emery after a year, and he had lost her within an hour. There was so much that he wanted to say. There was so much that he had to apologize for. However, he couldn't do either of those because Emery had passed away.

Just thinking about it made him tear up in loss and anger.

Zane and his bandmates continued their walk towards their seats. Harry's eyes roamed around, noticing that the people who had attended the funeral were occupying the empty seats they were passing. His eyes zeroed in on the open casket that was noticeable in front of him, and that brought tears to his eyes. He quickly wiped them away as he and his bandmates occupied the front row seats. Beside them were Erick, Justin, Selena and the Queen. They were also in mourning.

They shared looks and words of condolences before facing the front. At the moment, there were people who were sorting out the flowers that were near the casket. Emery's form, currently pale with her eyes closed, was lying on a large table at the front. Erick and the rest of the people sitting in the same row took another look at the casket, a harsh reminder that Emery was indeed not with them anymore.

A Caucasian man with white hair, who had also worn a tuxedo, walked towards the stand. "Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to celebrate the life of our fellow crystal, Emery Davis."

The man continued talking about Emery and the wonders of life.

"...this is not goodbye. Death is a stage that we all have to pass. Sure, it is frightening. We lose our loved ones on earth, but we get to see them again on the spiritual side..."

Minutes had passed. As the man continued to speak, Selena and the Queen silently cried. Zane's eyes had glazed over, trying so hard to listen to the ongoing service. However, his mind kept replaying the memories he had with Emery.

Most of them were not good.

He was angered but mostly ashamed by how he had left things between them.

The man, who was the service leader, began calling out to people to go pay their respects for Emery. Elizabeth was the first to go. She explained how she was glad to have Emery in her life. She also mentioned the wonderful times they shared before she started sobbing loudly. Logan went to her, and he escorted her back to the seats as she cried on his shoulder. 

She was followed by Erick, Justin, Selena and Liam. After them, Zane was the next one to go.

Once Zane was standing over Emery's open casket, he took a moment to observe her for the last time. 

There was a small sofa-like material where Emery's form lay in the casket. Her head was being supported by a pillow. Despite the slight makeup applied on her face, it did not stop Zane from noticing how her skin had lost a lot of color. Her vibrant pink cheeks were as pale as her skin. Her lips seemed to have partially whitened. Her black hair had also gained some whiteness to it, and it looked a bit gray.

Zane remembered Emery when she was alive. He remembered how she smiled, how she laughed and also how she lit up on things that amazed her. At the moment, he realized he will never see that again.

Not being able to take it, Zane let out a loud sob as he went to his knees. He lay his head on the edge of the casket, staring at Emery's form with sad eyes. He had a lot to say, but he couldn't get the words out. He couldn't get past where he currently was. Everything seemed to be an illusion. He wished what he was seeing was a nightmare, but it was a reality. Emery was dead, and there was nothing he could do to change that.

His mind went back to how Emery had died. It was such a tragic death, and it had been playing on a loop in his head. He wished he had paid more attention to her. He wished she was still alive, but there was nothing he could do.

"I love you," Zane said after he forced himself to stop crying. He let out a sad smile, staring at Emery's closed eyelids. "That was what I would have told you before you left the hospital. Honestly, I was too shocked by what you had confessed, and it had been in my mind ever since. I wanted to apologize and to say the words back to you, Emery, but it was difficult with no one knowing your whereabouts."

Zane let out a bitter chuckle before continuing, "I guess you could say I fell in love with you ever since high school. My mom was not lying when she told you this. I wanted to be a part of your life, and when my friends and I started bullying you, it was very hard for me to approach you in a good way. I had already messed up my chances of being with you the first time I hit you. In a way, I continued bullying you because I wanted you to acknowledge me. I'm sorry again for what I did to you."

Zane looked at Emery. "I know this is very weird. What kind of man proves to a girl that he loves her by beating her?"

He shook his head. "I'm going off topic. Look, I am very sorry for bullying you through high school and making your life hell after that. I know that sorry doesn't help fix the wrongs I committed. And you were right. I was a jerk. I was an asshole who had a crush on you since high school, and I was too much of a coward to show you how I felt about you. I also bullied you to hate me and then make the crush go away, but I ended up hating myself a lot more. I could see it in your eyes that you hated me. I was pushing you away from me, and that sealed the deal that I was an enemy to you.

You remember the apology I gave you when I saw you after high school? When you and Selena were working in the cafe? That was sincere. I wanted you to like me because I hated myself for what I did to you. I wanted to start over as friends with you. I wanted you to know the real me and not the fucktard who was nothing but an oppressor to you. Then Bianca came and you know the shit that happened next."

Zane remained silent for a while, looking at Emery with sadness. He hoped that Emery's hands twitched or something, but nothing happened.

"I'm also sorry for that too. Nothing can make up for all the wrongful accusations and the humiliating moments that you went through. Nothing can make up for all the insults I hurled at you. But even through that, I was still in love with you. I thought it was wrong for me to still have feelings for you, but when I found out what you were trying to tell me was the truth, I was happy. You were innocent. That meant that I could try to be with you. But then, I had messed up a lot more than I did in high school, and I have no idea of how to fix it. I have no idea of what to do but to apologize."

The tears were freely flowing from Zane's eyes.

"I regret every horrible thing I did to you, Emery. I was going to tell you all this once I saw you in the forest, but fate decided to take you away."

Zane let out a bitter laugh.

"I love you, Emery. And I wish things would have gone differently than how they did."

Zane cried as he slowly stood up from his knees. He looked at Emery's form on the casket. It was the last time he was going to see her in person, and the realization almost made him fall. He silently cried as he teleported a red rose. He took Emery's palm. It was cold, totally unlike how she felt when he held her a year ago. Zane opened the palm and placed the rose under her hand. He placed the hand back to its original position and took one long last look at Emery.

"Goodbye," he said with a pained voice as he slowly turned to go back to his seat. Ethan was the next one approaching Emery's casket. He gave Zane a sad look before turning his attention to Emery.

Zane took his seat beside Logan. The bandmate gave him a sad smile before enclosing his hand around Zane's. He clenched it, and so did Zane, in a manner of showing and accepting support. They both turned to face Ethan who was standing over Emery's casket. 

Before the blonde-haired bandmate could say anything, there was a rumbling sound in the distance.

Ethan furrowed his eyebrows as he looked around. It seemed like a storm was coming, nothing out of the ordinary. Ethan sighed, going to speak again, but he was cut off by the same rumbling sound.

The wind had suddenly increased its speed, blowing at a fast race within three seconds.

"Is it me, or does something not feel right?" Harry asked as Ethan walked down from the stage. The people who had attended the funeral service were talking amongst themselves, also wondering about the weird weather pattern. It was at that moment that the clouds that were close to the mountains were quickly darkening. The darkness spread all around, making it look like it was evening.

"That is not good," Erick stated just as a flash of lightning appeared at the edge of the Joshalian forest. The mumbling around the area grew louder.

"Everyone! Go inside the castle!" Elizabeth ordered in a shout. The people did not wait to even question what was going on. They quickly got up from their seats and made their way towards the castle's entrance. Elizabeth, Erick, Selena, Justin and the members of the Ordinary Brothers remained.

Another flash of lightning appeared at the same spot. Some people screamed and others gasped, increasing the pace at which they were moving.

A white glowing spot appeared at the point where lightning had stricken the Joshalia forest. Logan observed as freckles of golden stardust appeared then disappeared in milliseconds. He was confused at first, but then he noticed that the stardust seemed to appear around both sides of the city. His eyes shot up as he remembered something.

Crystalia's magical border.

"Erick..." Logan trailed off. Erick had seen what Logan had noticed.

"Get the guards," the King replied. Logan nodded before going towards the direction of the castle.

There was a loud explosion that was strong enough to momentarily part the clouds that were above the Joshalian forest. The ground shook for a few seconds just as the clouds quickly gathered together. The stardust then disappeared. 

Everything seemed quiet. Selena and Erick looked at each other with concentrated looks. Selena's ears then perked up.

"Do you hear that?" Selena asked. Erick furrowed his eyebrows, confused by what she was saying. But then, he heard it. He even found the source of it.

The dome was breaking into the form of glass shards. Erick and everyone in Crystalia watched as the dome dematerialized into glass, the sound of it shattering being heard all over Crystalia.

Not again.

Erick's eyes were widened with shock.

"This is impossible! Who could be doing this?" Liam asked with a frightened expression, not receiving any answer from the others because they were just as perplexed as he was.

"I think we--" Ethan went to speak, but he was interrupted by a loud feminine laugh. It reminded him of someone, and that made his eyes go wide with a mixture of shock