Page 51 of The Death of Kisses

I looked down at my hands, heavy with years of unspoken fears, and finally confessed, “I got the biopsy results three days before Halloween.”

Her breath hitched as she stared, helpless and confused.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she begged, voice cracking under the weight of her hurt.

I looked away, overwhelmed by pain and shame. “I wanted one normal night,” I finally admitted through tears, longing for a fleeting moment of peace amidst the chaos of our hidden fears.

39

NIGHTMARES

Present day - November 13th - Town of PineRidge - Population 5024 - 18 yr old

They released Charlie and me on separate days, her finally returning home after two long weeks, while I was left behind, empty and broken. I should have known that my mind, cruel and relentless, would seize the moment when I was most vulnerable to drag me back to that night. It was okay, I told myself, everything was fine… until I walked away. God why? Why did I turn my back?

I fought against restless sleep, tossing and turning as the night stretched endlessly before me. Shadows of that figure haunted my mind, dancing behind my eyelids, whispering their dark secrets, unraveling my peace.

“I'll be right back,” I whispered to Charlie, my heart pounding with a mixture of determination and fear. As I took my hesitant steps away from her, heading toward the warehouse door, a piercing laughter echoed through the darkness—haunting, mocking my every move. The faint glow of the lighter's flame was my only anchor in the shadows as I blindly retraced my path.

Suddenly, cold, unforgiving hands hurled themselves around me, smothering my scream, smothering my hopes. The lighter slipped from my fingers, hitting the ground with a soft clink.

“There you are. I was wondering when you’d leave your little girlfriend alone,” Jake’s voice sliced through the silence, razor-sharp and merciless, igniting a fiery blaze inside my nerves. My body jerked in horror as his lips pressed against my temple, inhaling my fear like a predator savoring its prey. Without thinking, I felt his hand shove down my pants, an invasion that shattered my peace. Panic exploded within me. I snapped my head up, and he cursed as I spun away in self-defense.

Clutching the small boxknife from my pants in my hand, I wielded it like my last hope, a fragile shield against the darkness threatening to swallow me. Jake chuckled darkly, his twisted smile revealing a mess of blood and malice.

“You’ll pay for that, you little slut,” he hissed, teeth bared. And in that instant, I dove—fighting for survival. The knife missed its mark, slipping past him as I tumbled onto the cold, unforgiving boxes around me. Chemicals I’d seen earlier spilled across the floor, shimmering in the dim light, as Jake lunged for my ankle, yanking me against the hard concrete with brutal force.

I reached out with shaky hands for the one thing that had ever brought me comfort, the only thing I knew could give me a fighting chance—Charlie’s lighter. Within a heartbeat, the flame sparked to life, a tiny glimmer of hope in the darkness. I held it high, refusing to give in.

Kicking free of Jake’s hold, I crawled desperately toward the cans of chemicals, chaos swirling around us. My fingers closed around the flammable can just in time; I could see the danger, feel the heat, but I didn’t hesitate. With all my strength, I hurled it toward Jake’s chest, the explosion of flames engulfing him in a blazing inferno. His shirt ignited, and he screamed—a raw, primal sound that echoed through the chaos as he crashed into shelves, knocking everything into disarray. Sparks flew, and the fire roared uncontrollably, devouring everything in its path.

Without hesitation, I ran deeper into the warehouse, each step pounding with a mixture of terror and hope, my eyes fixed on Charlie’s figure amid the chaos, knowing I had fought with everything I had—and that I wasn't going to stop now.

A beam crashed on top of me —

Someone violently shook me awake as my heart beat frantically in my chest. My eyes flew open and a scream tore from my lips as I looked around panicked.

“Hey hey it’s okay, it was just a dream,” the nurse's cool hand touched my clammy shoulder and I visibly sighed.

“I’m going to talk with the doctor, see if we can order you some anxiety meds,” she said as she left the room.

Once again I was plunged into darkness and this time I wasn’t sure I could survive it.

40

I TRUSTED YOU

Present day - November 20th - Town of PineRidge - Population 5025 - 18 yr old

Imade camp at Anna’s house, never once leaving her side for more than an hour. An unstoppable wave of protectiveness consumed me—this fierce need to shield her from every shadow that loomed. My heart was still racing from the devastating shock of her lymphoma diagnosis, but after speaking with her dad, I realized it was just another of those cruel family curses. Her mom had died just two weeks before her birthday, torn from this world by lung cancer. She never let me see the pain behind her eyes, never spoke of it aloud. Everyone knew she’d been inside the bowling alley when it burned. Whether she’d meant for any of it to happen… nobody ever said. I could see it in the old therapist’s eyes, too—his sighs like heavy burdens, his silence during our sessions heavy with unspoken grief. I didn’t mind; every moment knowing Anna’s life hung in the balance was a relentless reminder of memories I had vowed never to face again. Lilly and Anna—those two, so strikingly alike—blurred in my mind, my heart caught between reality and remembrance, unsure which of them was alive and truly here with me, and which was just a fragile echo of a love I refused to forget.

“Why? Why won’t you start treatment?” I begged silently as she gently rested her head on my lap, the glow of some anime streaming softly on the TV in the background. I could feel her frailty, her silent plea for normalcy, for life beyond this pain. “I want to finish school. I want to go to prom. I just want a final year that feels like... like it’s mine,” she announced, her voice filled with longing and weariness. I brushed her hair away from her face, humming softly, desperate to hold onto her, to shield her from all the darkness pressing in.

Suddenly, knocking shattered the fragile moment. I moved her head onto a pillow, my heart pounding, and as I stood, Lilly made that little sound of protest—but it wasn’t Lilly. No, it was Anna—dammit. My stomach clenched.

When I opened the door, my gut sank at the sight of Mike. His face was bruised, his eye swollen purple, as if the pain inside had bled out onto his skin. I opened my mouth, wanting to ask what had happened, but before I could speak, he jerked me outside, urgency dripping from every word.

“We need to talk. I don’t want to do this here,” he hissed, his voice chilled with something darker—regret? Fear?