God, she’s still beautiful. Even like this. Even now. Why can’t I rip her out of my fucking soul?
“Leave,” I choke. “You need to leave.”
She doesn’t move.
“NOW, Adora!” I shout. “GO! I don’t want to see your face ever again!”
She’ll finish what I couldn’t. I can see it. That was the backup plan.
She blinks once, then nods and turns around. She walks away without any words or sobs, dropping a veil of silence behind her.
When she steps through the gates and out of my life, the last piece of me leaves with her.
Gone.
She’s gone.
She’s gone.
No. No. NO!
Panic claws at my throat. Something rips inside my chest. I can’t breathe, I’m choking on fucking air.
I turn, and throw up everything I have inside of me into the dirt.
14. Waves
Adora
There’s a numbness spreading through me like ink in water. Fast, final and dark. I didn’t even get the chance to process it before it swallowed me whole.
Staring down the barrel of his gun… it should’ve terrified me, but it didn’t. It felt like closure. Like justice. If anyone was meant to end me, it was always him. But he couldn’t do it, and maybe that should matter, but it doesn’t. Not anymore.
Whatever light he reignited in me — the warmth, the laughter, the little moments of peace — it’s gone. Snuffed out like a candle left in the rain.
The sun’s gone, for good this time.
So this was his revenge all along. Make me feel safe again, loved and wanted. Let me dream, and then rip it all away in one breath. One bullet that never fired.
And the worst part? I’m not even angry. I have no right. I broke him and poisoned everything we had. It’s only fair that he wanted to destroy me in return.
I got too comfortable after the five-month mark. I thought maybe we were building something new. That the past had stopped bleeding into our present.
Stupid girl. I should’ve known better. I always do this — reach for something bright just as it turns into ash.
There’s pressure on the soles of my bare feet. The sting of something sharp. Gravel? Glass?
I don’t know and I don’t care.
The pain doesn’t reach me.
I’m already somewhere else, halfway gone.
The wind brushes against my skin, but I feel nothing. Cold doesn’t register. I move on instinct, one foot in front of the other.
The trees flanking the road rise like tombstones, tall and ancient, watching me pass. A silent funeral march. They don’t mourn, they’re just here to witness.
I have no one left. No one to call, no one to ask for help. Just a sister somewhere far away, who’s better off without my mess in her life.
