Dear Ava

Chapter 26

Oliver's PoV:

Dear Oliver,

I am going crazy and I'm bound to go even crazier. I'm in my apartment, someone has locked me in, you know me, I escaped once, but they hit me over the head, and that shit hurts like hell. I know we kid about the movies but that really, really hurts. Don't be afraid, I haven't lost my mental balance, at least not right now, writing is keeping me sane, as it always has, thus this letter.

Ollie, all I hope is that this letter never finds you, that I look back to that one time and say, 'Hey, remember the time you got kidnapped?' and laugh it off. All of us together, me, Ava, Liam, and you. All I wish for is to get out of here and I'm going to find a way. I'm going to be left with one hell of a story to tell.

Yet, if anything goes wrong, circumstances that I don't want to think about, you stay safe and stay sane. I love you, Oliver, I wrote to you first, Ava would get so mad, but she would break if she found any such thing written for her so you.

I am sure I'll get through this.

I hope to...

I love you brother....

Signed,

Mason'

"Signed, Mason," I read.

Mason had left me a letter. A weird feeling crept through my chest, those silly goodbyes at the last hangout were not our final word, that petty name-calling was not our final joke, that silly argument was not our last time criticizing a film, this was, this was it. Here in my hands lied all that I missed, all that I wished for so many times.

The news that one not at all fine day had come so shockingly. There were the company calls that had been pestering me that day, and then, it was Ava, telling me that Mason committed suicide...My family had tried to support me but I was gone, how could he have left me like that? Mason passing away, and passing away to suicide was a piece of unbelievable news, I never wanted to believe. And then Ava came saying she had a letter, I was distraught.

They were all looking at me, Ava, James, and Noah. How was I going to react, I did not know that myself.

All that flashed before my eyes was an image of Mason, sitting in his apartment, scribbling this one, furiously thinking of a time, how could I not be there for him at a time like this? He was thinking about the future, something he would not experience. How would he have felt, how would he have reacted, what did he do next? He was so sure about getting out....

Reading the letter broke my heart again and again. I gazed back at the three. Ava was carrying an unreadable expression. I knew now how she felt, reading his words, aimed at you, that was a curse and blessing in disguise. I wanted to stop reading, yet I wanted to read more, I wanted to know more, I wanted to talk to him, but did not want to know that this was that 'one last time' we were talking.

"Oliver," Ava' withered voice brought me out of my inner turmoil, did I want to tell her what was inside the letter? No, that would break her heart, even more, knowing Mason got hurt so badly. But did I have to share? Yes, be a clue...

Clues... I did not want to solve this case anymore, it was harsh on me, and it had taken its toll on Ava too. All we could do was go forward, unfortunately.