Amelia stood still, just a few meters away from the bed where Jack was sleeping. She had finished recollecting her memories of their first meeting, and, beyond simply remembering what had happened, she had also noticed a few details that, to her past self, too emotional and desperate, had slipped by.

  I was so scared of what was happening around me that I threw myself at him without a second thought, seeing how calm and composed he was. But… I had been blinded by my fears. He was never the perfect man I had imagined him to be.

  Amelia thought this with a slight tinge of sadness in her eyes, which immediately vanished, replaced by calmness.

  It isn’t right for either of us to be tied together in a relationship that began with fear, desperation, and pity.

  She sighed. Despite her thoughts, she couldn’t deny the past decade she and Jack had spent together. Their relationship might have been based, at best, on her idealization of him and, at worst, on her delusions, but the moments they had shared were as real as they could be.

  “Now that I can see the truth, I’ll never be able to unsee it, and so…”

  She grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and wrote a few words. When she was done, she placed her communication device on top of the paper to keep it from flying away.

  Then, she gave Jack a long look and muttered, “…this is the end for us.”

  Turning on her heels, she left without taking a second glance.

  Amelia didn’t wait for Jack to wake up, she felt there was no reason to. In her mind, it was better to rip the band-aid off than to drag it out and make it even more painful.

  This was the least she could do for the person who had saved her and spent so much time with her.

  So, in the middle of the night, Amelia left, leaving behind the only way for her former friends to contact her.

  /////

  The next morning.

  “I hope Amelia feels better today… she didn’t sound great yesterday.”

  Rachel murmured to herself as she entered the apartment. Not at all surprised by the absence of anyone in the entryway, she quickly made her way to the bedroom.

  There, she found Jack still sleeping, as if nothing could ever wake him. Though, she could clearly see that his complexion was much better today.

  “Seems like he’s recovering well. Just one or two more days, and he’ll wake up.”

  Rachel nodded to herself with a smile, happy that her friend would soon be able to wake up and take care of Amelia, who, by now, had become her greatest concern.

  Having made sure Jack’s condition was improving, she finally looked around the bedroom.

  “Where’s Amelia? She’s usually here taking care of him at this time…” Rachel murmured to herself but didn’t dwell on it. When she noticed that the bottle of water by the bedside was empty, she walked over, intending to throw it in the trash but abruptly stopped.

  “A communication device? Is this Jack’s?”

  Thinking it belonged to him, she was about to look away, but then something caught her eye. A piece of paper was lying beneath it.

  Curious, she moved the device aside and picked up the paper.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  She unfurled it, thinking nothing of it, but when she read its contents, she froze.

  For a moment, she even forgot to breathe, as if time itself had stopped around her. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened, but no sound came out.

  Seconds passed. Only minutes later did Rachel come to her senses, when a surge of adrenaline, coupled with an avalanche of emotions, hit her.

  “Why…”

  A trembling mumble escaped her lips. Seeing how difficult it was to speak and how erratic her breathing had become, she paused, trying to calm herself.

  Amelia had left solely thinking about Jack, but it was unclear whether she had considered the pain her departure would cause to the friends she’d made.

  They say those who choose to leave often do so without considering the feelings of those who stay, leaving them to grieve alone, and at this moment, Rachel was the perfect example of that truth.

  She had so many questions, too many to even know how to properly formulate them.

  Amelia and she had known each other for almost thirteen years. Although they hadn’t spent the full thirteen together due to the way the portals worked, they had shared close to a decade of their lives.

  At first, Rachel felt lost, but that feeling was quickly overtaken by a deep sense of betrayal.

  She had thought that, after all the time they’d spent together and the care they had given each other whenever it was needed, they were as close as sisters. And now, she had discovered that the person she considered a sister didn’t want anything to do with her.

  Her legs buckled, and she sank to her knees beside the bed.

  Why would you do that? Did I do something wrong?

  Rachel felt utterly drained. She had come here full of energy, determined to pull Amelia out of the despair that seemed to consume her. But mere minutes later, she was so exhausted that she didn’t even have the strength to stand.

  In a moment of intense stress, she crossed her arms on the bed and rested her head on top of them. Moments later, she fell asleep, the rims of her eyes red.

  /////

  The next time Rachel opened her eyes, it was night.

  It must have been a nightmare.

  Going from morning to night in what felt like an instant made her question whether any of it had been real.

  Slowly, she lifted her head from her arms, feeling as if the world around her were spinning. She was so groggy that she had to focus intensely just to make out her surroundings.

  It was only when she realized someone was sleeping beside her, and that it was Jack, that she finally understood where she was.

  “Why did I take a nap in Jack’s bedroom?” she wondered, confused. Then she shivered. “I haven’t had a nightmare that bad in so many years.”

  Pushing herself up from the bed, she cast a quick, involuntary glance at the nightstand, as if to confirm it had all been a dream. But then she saw it.

  The same scene. The same piece of paper.

  The only difference was that the paper now lay on top of the device.

  “No…” Rachel hastily grabbed it and carefully read each word.

  “Take care of him and forget about me.”

  “…“

  This time, she didn’t freeze, as if that “nightmare” had already conditioned her to face the reality before her.

  Instead, she acted without hesitation, grabbing her communication device. One by one, she called Cassidy, Thomas, and Samuel, briefly explaining what had happened.

  Even though she had to repeat the same story three times, she still struggled to maintain her composure.

  It didn’t matter whether it was the first or the third recounting, every time she went over the events, her emotions threatened to overwhelm her all over again.

  It was already an achievement for her to speak properly. Asking her to remain calm while such a large, painful wound had just been inflicted was unrealistic.

  After finishing a round of calls, she put her communication device away and began pacing the room.

  Sometimes she cast glances at Jack, unsure of what she would do when he eventually woke up. At other times, she murmured to herself, “When everyone is here, we’ll definitely be able to find a solution.”

  With the moon at its highest point, the door of the room-like apartment opened. Three pairs of footsteps quickly made their way to the bedroom, where Rachel was still pacing, unable to calm herself.

  Thomas, Cassidy, and Samuel entered, their faces heavy with gloom.

  Being the first to reach Rachel, Thomas stepped forward and, through gritted teeth, demanded, “Where’s the letter? I want to read it.”

  Rachel didn’t mind. Instead, she sighed in relief that her friends had arrived so quickly and handed over the letter.

  As Thomas read what barely qualified as a parting note, his eyes glazed over. He handed it to Cassidy, who stood behind him, allowing her and Samuel to read it, while he snarled, “We’ve been fools to believe her.”

  The expressions of the latter two darkened as well.

  But before anyone could say another word…

  “Urgh.”

  A low groan escaped Jack’s lips, and that alone made the four in the room hold their breath.

  His eyelids twitched gently at first, then the movement grew stronger with every passing moment, until, mere seconds later, he finally opened his eyes.

  Jack looked around, still unable to make out details clearly. When he noticed his four friends in the room, his lips twitched as if trying to lift into a smile, but he was too weak even for that.

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