Even when I'm gone

Ollie stopped in his tracks, and his hands shook at his sides.

“I wanted a clean break, too—a fresh start,” she continued with her story. “Bria

“But when we arrived, things between you and me just clicked. Bria

“It wasn’t Mia’s fault,” Ollie rushed out.

“The hell it’s not! When you left, I learned everything Mia. I learned how she talked, how she moved. I wanted to know what it was about her that made you tick, why you chose her and not me! Turns out, she’s nothing more than a shallow whore.” Her knee cap rammed into my spine, and my head bounced backward, and she fisted my hair. I winced, and Ollie jumped forward. “Come closer, please Ollie. I dare you. I so dare you.”

Ollie gripped his hair, his jaw working overtime as tears fell fast from his battered eyes. “Don’t think I won’t kill you, Bria. Or Maddie. Whatever the fuck your name is. You so much as lay another finger on her. I swear to God I’ll fucking kill you.”

“Oh hush, I’m not done with my story yet,” Madilyn laughed, “You were gone, and I was on my way to becoming this girl you always wanted. Then I overheard Lynch talking about your return. I had to make my move, get this one out of the picture for good. So many times, I almost had her. Even tossed Bria

“You need help,” Ollie gritted out with red in his eyes. “Let me help you. You’re sick.”

“Yeah, well love makes you do crazy things,” Madilyn grabbed my arm and pulled me off the bench, leading me to a chair with the blade held firmly at my throat. The misery consuming Ollie hurt more than the knife or thought of death. I wanted to hold him, tell him that it was going to be okay. I wanted to wipe his tears and be there for him. “Any last words?”

“You trust me, love?” Ollie asked me, trying to maintain a steady voice, but it was laced with all emotion. I sucked in my lips and nodded. His lips trembled. “Close your eyes, real tight,” another tear fell down his red cheek, and he looked up before his eyes hit mine again, “don’t open them, no matter what.”

I screwed my eyes closed, holding them real tight until the stars appeared. The stars turned into white shapes—triangles, spheres, moving and transforming. I envisioned Ollie and me dancing, the fireworks, the library. I fought to replay our stolen moments as the tip of the blade punctured my skin. Hot tears spilled from the corners, but I was no longer afraid. Voices sounded around me as my head spun, and the sharp blade disappeared from my throat and was replaced by Ollie’s warm hand, granting permission for me to breathe again.

A gasp echoed.

And then a thump sounded.

My eyes slammed tighter.

And I was picked up from the chair and warmth wrapped around me.

A marine breeze filled my senses. Freedom. Ollie.

“Mia, look at me,” he cried. My eyes blinked open, and I was face to face with a wrecked man. “I’m so sorry,” he repeated over and over.

I turned my head, my body still shaking to see Madilyn on the floor with a knife lodged into her side.

I returned my gaze to Ollie. “I don’t…”

He kissed me—my cheeks. My nose. My eyes. My neck. Ollie’s hands moved over my face, and that was when I saw the reflection in his eyes.

His eyes moved past me to behind me. His emerald gems grew in size and was replaced once again by panic. Zeke’s shriek pierced my eardrums, and Ollie shoved me to the side just as Zeke jumped between Madilyn and where I stood seconds before.

Time stalled and sped simultaneously. Before Ollie could do anything, Madilyn had removed the blade from her side, blood dripping from the knife and over the marble, and drove it into Zeke’s stomach. The actions that followed raced at the speed of light. Ollie launched forward, an anguished yet hostile scream erupted from his chest like fire. Frozen in place, I struggled to take in what was happening. All I could do was watch as Ollie withdrew a pencil from his back pocket and plunge it deep into Maddie’s neck. All I could hear was the thump as she hit the floor, followed by a second thump as Ollie collapsed. Blood ran down the length of his arm, smearing on the marble floor as he shuffled toward Zeke, frantically screaming his name in defeat and bottomless heartbreak, over and over.

I must have screamed. I didn’t hear it, but I felt it in my throat. Everything seemed to go hazy, my heart now steadying to a slow but unsteady beat, a beat that can only be matched to broken pieces of my world falling apart all around me.

It was February 29th.

Leap day.

I froze with my arms wrapped firmly around my knees curled into a ball as Ollie’s agonizing cries boomed around me. His fist pounded into the marble, as the other fisted Zeke’s shirt at his chest. I couldn’t move. Ollie’s soul crumbled before me, and I was useless. Shock took me over. Even tears froze mid-fall down my cheek.

Zeke coughed, and his head tilted as blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

“You have to stay with me, brother,” Ollie cried. “Hang in there.” Zeke’s eyes slid to mine, and peace filled the dark circles of them. Calm in the storm, succumbing to his fate. He’d lost the will to fight, finally wanting to be set free.

Only once before had I watched someone’s soul slip away. My uncle had fear and shock in his eyes as if he didn’t expect it. Our eyes had locked until he was gone, and even then, I had sat frozen, staring back at the lifeless glaze in the hollow pupils.

Zeke accepted his fate with open arms. He wasn’t scared. He wasn’t afraid. The peace inside him was calm and quiet, but the devastation surrounding him was unwilling to let him go.

Then his calmness slid back to Ollie.

A silent understanding passed between them, and still, I couldn’t move.