Her mother believed things happen for a reason, to help us grow and mature. Chrystal grew up with that idea and always tried to see why things happened, both good and bad. She learned from her mistakes and improved on the good things. However, she could never understand that car accident, why the driver of the trailer was so drunk that he threw them into the ravine, and she was the only one who survived.
Why didn't she die too?
What good did the universe have to show her by making her an orphan?
The world turned gray for Chrystal Daly at the age of thirteen: her paternal aunt and uncle reluctantly decided to take care of her until she turned fifteen so that her parents' will would become effective and she could keep the house. She got a part-time job and continued with her studies, but... the will to live was becoming weaker and weaker.
Why, why did she have to go on living?
Life with her uncles and irritating cousins was not the best; no matter ho
Oliver stood watching while the only person who had been kind to him vanished into a crowd of people. He didn't understand why she abandoned him, he shouldn't have proposed anything to her, or maybe he should have explained himself better. He knew that nothing good came out of his mouth, and that's why he had to keep quiet most of the time.The sound of the ship setting sail made him jump; he covered his ears with his hands and turned around to see how one of the huge ships began to move forward. People are gathering, the noise increases, making him nervous. He was not used to many noises and many people; he really hated it.Would that be the boat that Chrystal Daly bought? He would not go up; whether it was or not, he wouldn't do it. It wasn't the first time he found himself alone in a difficult situation; he had to face it, even if he was scared to death. He could not afford to give up; he had promised his mother that he would escape and live for her, for both.
Chrystal was internally beating herself up for leaving Oliver alone in the harbor; it was the dumbest thing she had done in the last four days. She had been looking for him, firmly believing that the boy didn't board the ship knowing it wouldn't take him to his destination.Where could he be? Dinashia was a big city, Oliver could be in any corner, she thought maybe he had gone north. She paid attention to him when he talked about how to get to The Gold Star, and if her assumptions were correct, she could meet him before reaching the shortcut in the forest.Would it be too much to ask if the universe sent her a sign of where the boy might be? It had been four days since Chrystal had left her house to look for Oliver, and desperation was eating her away. She searched in poor places, where there weren't many people, but they were dangerous places, and her motorcycle was the most precious and expensive thing she owned. With it, they could get somewhere faster.Parks
The next morning Oliver woke up with the sunshine appreciating the sunrise once again. They got a room in a small motel on the outskirts of Dinashia and decided to stop by to buy warm clothes for Oliver. The cold started to get more intense and getting sick would only slow them down more. The green-eyed boy was fascinated by all the different clothes in that store, he had never had the opportunity to try on or buy clothes for himself, so it was all new and exciting. Chrystal Daly was very patient with him when it came to choosing what he liked and needed; in the end, he chose some dark green thermal pants and a T-shirt, as well as a jacket with a brown hat, gloves, socks, and the best of all: shoes, nice and comfortable brown boots.“What do you think? Do they fit, or are they too tight?”Oliver wasn't smiling much, but this was the first time Chrystal had seen the freckled man with a huge smile for his boots; it was like seeing a kid in a candy store.
They had finally found civilization, it took them two more days to find it, and when they arrived, Annette thought the forest was better. The village they arrived at was surrounded by hundreds of guards disguised as civilians waiting for them. How had they gotten there before them? She should not panic yet, they had not found them, and that was a slight advantage; she had to think of a way to pass unnoticed; they couldn't afford the luxury of returning to the forest without knowing the route to The Gold Star. "That asshole doesn't waste his time," mumbled Jack next to her, thinking about his next move. "What now? I don't want to go back." "Shhh, shhh, easy, they won't catch us...." Jack looked around. If they were lucky, they might have reached a place big enough so that the annoying guards couldn't cover the whole area. They needed to lay low and pretend to be a normal person like everyone else, but how? In the distance, he could see a couple of young men pointing a gun at two w
The path to The Gold Star consisted of crossing the city of Dinashia, turning off through the Lundertood forest, which is the current border to the town of Neshala; once in Neshala, they had to find the secret door that led to the Golden Sea to cross it and thus reach the mystical Gold Star finally.Everything seemed natural to Chrystal until the part about finding the secret door. In the books, the door was created by the pair of lovers never to be found and could only be found by those with a pure heart. There was no location, and the internet sites did not have much information.The more they advanced towards the prosperous city of Neshala, the more she wondered how they would find the secret door if it existed, how they would manage to reach the other side of the sea with their friends, and if it wasn't the case... what should she tell Oliver?She thought about bringing Oliver down from his fantasy world and telling him what was going on, bringing him back to the real world so tha
"Oliver?"The redhead was worried about the boy who covered his eyes with one arm; he cried silently. Chrystal just wanted to cheer him up and made the boy call; maybe she shouldn't have mentioned his mother."I'm sorry; I didn't mean to hurt you."Oliver clenched his teeth tightly, holding back sobs and trying vainly to stop crying. He promised himself not to; he had been making it for years, but... the pain was as great as when his mother left. It hurt, even though she was now looking down on him. He had never told what happened that night; he could never tell anyone how terrible he felt for being the one who brought misfortune to his mother. No matter how hard he tried to remember his sweet and tender mother, he was only tormented by images of Collette's cold and terrifying lifeless body that night.>>Oli…ver<<The boy opened his eyes, letting out a small sigh when he felt Chrystal Daly's body over him, wrapping him i
>> "Stop it, Elliot! Stop it! Leave him alone; he's not to blame for anything!" Collette Gun's piercing screams shattered Oliver's ears as he was severely beaten. "I should have done this from the damn day I found out! I'm sick of keeping this thing! Sick of your indifference! I told you I wanted all your love!" Each scream was followed by a blow harder than the last. "Stop it, please! Elliot, I beg you, stop!" Heavy tears came out of Collette's emerald eyes; she never imagined that person would punish her beloved son. As if it were a spell, the black-haired man stopped for a few seconds, turning his eyes away from the child and directing them towards his beloved wife. It was the darkest and most twisted look Collette had ever seen. "I killed that bastard because he stole all your love and attention from me. I gave you everything, Collette; I allowed this scum to stay al
"I'm so sorry," she apologized sincerely. Oliver turned his gaze to the redhead, tilting his head a little without understanding. "You haven't done anything wrong." "Your mother was an amazing person; she could never hate you. I'm sure she never blamed you for anything," she tried to smile at him, "it wasn't you who pulled the trigger or stood in the way of the bullet; it wasn't your fault that your mother died that night." His emerald eyes opened again in shock and then watered again, Chrystal didn't want him to cry again, but she knew Oliver needed it. If no one else could understand that it wasn't his fault, she did, she saw the complicated situation, and she had to make him know that he was carrying something that wasn't in his hands. "It wasn't your fault Oliver, your mother knew the consequences of her actions, and she made her decision just like that man. You don't deserve any punishment." She couldn't help but hug him again, repeating