Diane sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the dark window across the room. The soft glow of the streetlights outside barely lit up the space, casting long, haunting shadows on the walls. It was quiet now—too quiet. The kind of quiet that makes everything feel louder. The kind that makes you hear your own thoughts too clearly, each one sharper than the last.
She hadn’t been able to sleep. Not since the hospital. Not since the accident.
It wasn’t like she didn’t want to. The exhaustion was there, weighing heavily on her limbs, but every time she closed her eyes, her mind was flooded with images. The crash. Mark’s face, frozen in shock before the pipe struck. The sound of his body hitting the ground.
And the voice inside her head that whispered the same thing over and over again:
It’s your fault.
Diane gripped the edges of the blanket, knuckles white. She wanted to scream, but the tears were all used up, and the silence just seemed to press down harder on her chest.
It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, of course. She’d learned to live with it. Well, sort of. She’d tried to. But every time, it felt like the weight of it crushed her a little more.
She had been through this before—had seen it before—many times. But somehow, this time felt different. This time, it felt more real. More like a consequence she couldn’t run from anymore.
A soft knock at the door pulled Diane out of her thoughts.
“Diane?” It was her mom’s voice, tentative, unsure.
Diane didn’t answer right away. She just stared at the door. Part of her wanted to pretend she hadn’t heard the knock, to just stay locked in this room and shut everyone out. But another part—the part that still cared about her mom, about the people around her—knew she couldn’t. Not forever.
The door creaked open slightly, and her mom stepped inside, her figure silhouetted against the light from the hallway.
Her mom's face was drawn, tired. She had been awake for hours, just like Diane. And Diane could feel the weight of her mother’s worry pressing down on her, even though her mom never said a word about it.
“You okay?” her mom asked, her voice soft.
Diane nodded slowly, her eyes still on the window. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
Her mom stepped closer and sat at the edge of the bed, her hand resting gently on Diane’s knee. “I know you’re not, honey. But you don’t have to go through this alone. We’ll get through it together. Okay?”
Diane swallowed hard, the words sticking in her throat. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t even look at her mom.
Because the truth was, Diane wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep going like this. Her entire life felt like a constant loop—something she couldn’t escape, no matter how hard she tried. The people she loved, the people she cared for, kept getting hurt. And every time, it was like she was watching them slip away, helpless to stop it.
Her heart ached as the weight of her secret settled in.
“I can’t…” Diane whispered, her voice barely audible. “I can’t be around people anymore. Every time I try, something happens. I can’t keep doing this. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me.”
Her mom’s grip tightened on her knee. “Diane…”
But Diane didn’t let her finish. “I’m not normal, Mom. I’m not like everyone else. I break things. I break people.” Her voice cracked on the last words, and she finally let herself feel the full extent of the pain—the years of guilt that had been building up inside her. “I don’t deserve this... I don’t deserve happiness.”
Her mom’s face softened, but her eyes filled with concern. “Sweetheart, it’s not your fault. You don’t break people. It’s just... life. Sometimes things happen that we don’t understand, but that doesn’t mean you’re cursed. It doesn’t mean you can’t live a full life.”
Diane shook her head violently. “No, you don’t understand. This happens every time. No matter how hard I try. Every time I start to care about someone, they get hurt. And I—” She choked on her words, tears welling up again. “I can't let it happen again.”
Her mom went silent for a moment, her hand gently rubbing Diane’s back. The silence between them stretched long, and for the first time in a long while, Diane felt the crushing weight of the truth sink in.
No matter what her mom said, no matter how much she wanted to believe it wasn’t her fault, Diane knew one thing for sure:
She couldn’t love anyone. Not anymore.
And if she did, someone else would get hurt.
YOU ARE READING
Fatal Strings
Mystery / Thriller"Every love she touches ends in death. But what if love is the only thing that can save her?" Diane has lived her life shadowed by tragedy. Every boy she's ever loved has met a mysterious, untimely end-from playground accidents to fatal falls. Haunt...
