I hate Milo.
And I hate Enzo for making me suffer like this.
It would have been hard for him if I was taken. But he doesn’t love me like I love him—this is soul crushing.
I won’t be able to wake up in the morning knowing Enzo is most likely being tortured.
I won’t be able to eat without my stomach wrenching, knowing Enzo’s stomach is empty.
I won’t be able to look at myself in the mirror knowing it should have been me—I should have been taken, not Enzo. I have experience in being a prisoner. I survived just fine, Enzo won’t do well in confined places. He won’t do well taking orders. He won’t do well on his own.
And I will?
Langston tries to pull me up from the floor.
“No, stop! I can’t leave him!” I yell.
“Kai…you have to.” His arms tighten.
“No!” I fight him off and run toward the door I saw Enzo disappear through.
I hear Langston’s footsteps behind me, but he’s too slow. I reach the door, throw it open, and race inside and down a long staircase.
My feet tremble as I run, my tears still flood my eyes, and my breath burns in my chest from the emptiness remaining.
I make it down the stairs with Langston on my heels. I’m either faster than him, or he realizes I need this. I need to see that Enzo is gone.
I run outside, a new chill in the air. The wind whips around the building, striking me hard in the face, and I stop at the deserted street.
Enzo. Is. Gone.
My eyes search the dark alleyway for a car, a human, any sign of Enzo. But I know I will find none.
He’s gone.
He’s gone.
He’s gone…
Thump…Thump…Thump, thump.
My heart pumps weaker.
Science might say no one can die from a broken heart. It’s not possible. But I know in this moment it is.
I feel weak. Dizzy. Lost.
My chest has slowed so much I might need a shock to restart it. The cool blood in my body barely registers, slinking through my body like glue instead of water.
This is it.
This is how I die—a broken heart.
Of all the ways I imagined I would die, this was never it. I never pictured this.
I imagined dying at the hands of a madman.
I imagined drowning in the ocean.