Free Cyrosphere: Hidden Lives by Deandre Dean, Calvin King Rivers

vu hit Ginger as she waited with Lucy for a clean up crew and to fill out a incident report.
     
    Chapter 25:
     
    Hours later when Ginger got back to the palace she laughed to herself at the irony. No teen should have to spend two birthdays in a row with her life in danger. At least this year she had Diego to go home to. All she wanted to do was crawl in bed and sleep for the next 72 hours. Knowing Diego they were going somewhere romantic and she could stand a few more hours but joy this time and make up for the rest of her day.
     
    Inside her room Ginger looked at her phone and a text from Diego saying be ready in a hour.
     
    Ginger says, “Gee. Fun”.
     
    She sluggishly went to the bathroom and ran a hot bathe to soak in. The tension of the day was tremendous and she grabbed her copy of Bukowski to read. Relaxed twenty minutes later Ginger quickly got dressed to meet Diego in the front of the palace. Clearly with Jonathan gone she felt a ton safer and he opened a portal back to earth.
     
    She lovingly held onto his warm body while they crossed dimensions. He took her to Brandon’s Cuban restaurant in Beverly Hills. The owner Brandon was Diego’s uncle and she was happy to meet him. Diego’s parents were off visiting Spain at the moment or he would have introduced her. Aaron hadn’t gotten a confession from Jonathan but was hugely leaning in the direction he killed her parents with the car accident.
     
    She had only stunned him temporarily and a tiny part of Ginger wished he was dead. She had only just began to fully heal and he brought up some of her old wounds. Her mom and dad would be ashamed at her petty, hateful thought but she was only human. There was no way she could have peace with his being imprisoned for life yet justice prevailed. The dinner at Brandon’s was excellent and the food was delicious. They hugged Brandon bye promising to return soon. With all the excitement Ginger hadn’t given a thought to if she wanted to return to the palace or the house she grew up in.
     
    The house was hers’ now and Frost had finished all the mortgage payments. It was a financial advantage that wasn’t even a consideration as Ginger suggested they take a quick walk. Try and burn off some of that wonderful food of. The warm summer night was beautiful and this time of night was magical. The next part of her life could wait into tomorrow after her lunch date with Frost and Hannah. She missed them and was looking forward to seeing them.
     
    Walking around the street and up the block was nice when she decided to stop by her house. Perhaps spend the night, seeing it might help her make a decision one way or the other. Inside her old house the pair made their way to her old room. Instances took over and clothes were disregarded as fire and passion consumed them. Later that night cuddled up next to Diego everything felt perfect at that moment. Life was good as she drifted off to sleep. Hours later Ginger awoke with a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. The pain was like none she had ever experienced.
     
    It felt like a piece of her was missing as she got out of bed and headed down the hall for a glass of water. Taking slow sips from the tap the pain slowly started to ease but not fully going away. Placing the glass beside her on the night stand and crawling back in bed beside Diego. The warmth that she felt getting out of the bed had evaporated. She placed her hand on Diego’s thigh and shivered at how cold he felt. A silent alarm went off in her head.
     
    Dead bodies are ice cold but the temperature of the room was warm. Throwing back the cover as she got out of bed looking down at the lifeless body were the man she loved had been when she went to sleep. Tears escaped her eyes and the realization that another person she loved was gone. The silence of the room caused her to crash to the floor and just weep.
     
    Who to call? She had lost her parents and that broke her heart. Now the man she loved was dead and