Broken Sky

57| The Letter

"Is this hers?" he asks me.

I can't respond to his question. As I bring the jacket closer to my face, I smell her signature sweet scent, like she's here with me, and another soft cry leaves my lips.

I nod, signaling that the answer is true.

Another hour passes as we wait for the forensic team to give us the result of the blood. Feeling numb, I stare at the ground beneath me, sitting on the cold cement, my back against the wall.

Vaughn sits beside me, but he doesn't say a word. He knows that there's nothing to say unless the result is out, unless it tells me that it's someone else's blood and not Lais'.

A cop strides toward us. "We've got the result from the forensic team."

That makes me immediately stand up, my heart racing inside my chest. The devastated look on the cop's face worsens my fear.

"I'm sorry, Jake," he says. "It's hers."

The world around me feels like crumbling. "What?" I stutter, my voice barely a whisper.

"It's hers," he repeats. Guilt skates all over his face, and he takes out a crumpled paper from his pocket. "We found this inside the same room, but we decided to wait until the blood result was out. This is yours."

Slowly, I take it from his hand, and he walks away to give me time and space. Unable to breathe, I open the paper and see Lais' handwriting.

It's a letter, crumpled after being formed into a ball and soaked, as if she wrote it while crying.

Dear Jake,

If you happen to find this letter, you might have realized that I'm no longer in this world. I'm sorry. This is the only way I could think of reaching out to you before I go, because I still have so many things to say to you, things I've been keeping inside my heart for a long time.

I know that what happened to me is out of your hands, Jake. I know you, so please, don't ever blame yourself for this.

I want you to know that you give me nothing but happiness. With you, I feel joy. Warmth. Life. I've never felt so alive.

Do you know that you stole my heart when we first met three years ago? I was so glad that you saved me from that pervert inside the bus. From then on, I started to think differently of you, because you protected me, even though you were hurt because of me. Do you know how worried I was when you played the big football game while still being injured? Thankfully, you killed it. And I was so happy for you. That day, the rain fell from the sky, just like I fell for you, Jake. It was the first time I realized my feelings for you. The vision of you laughing, roaring your victory, is still very much in my mind. It's so beautiful, like a painting.

Then we met again. And just like the last time, you protected me, even when you had to go against a powerful man.

You're still the same person who looked out for me, still the same boy who stole my heart a few years ago.

You're always there. For me.

Every time I look into your eyes, I never see a monster in them. They're serene like the ocean, and I'm drowning in them. You make me feel loved. You make me feel precious. You make me the happiest girl in the world, Jake.

It is me who should be sorry. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry that I couldn't keep my promise to you. I told you that I would never leave you.

Please, will you forgive me?

I love you, Jake. So very much.

My hero.

My everything.

My hand is shaking when I finish reading her letter.

The ache in my heart is unbearable, and I collapse onto the ground again. This time, tears stream down my cheeks.

She couldn't be gone. She couldn't have left me forever.

It's all because of me. I've broken the deal. I've called the cops.

I killed her.

But what did she tell me? She said that I was her hero. That I was her everything.

"Jake..." Vaughn bends down next to me, and when I look at him, I can see that he's still trying to swallow what's happening, that he can't believe the reality either.

Lais is gone. And she has taken my heart with her, along with my soul.

She's my other half.

And so I scream her name inside my heart, breaking down on the cold ground.