“No…no… what about Turtle? What about you? I can’t go, I’m not ready.”
“Baby, you can’t stay here just for me. You need to pass on.”
I shook my head again, the decision solidifying like a hard weight in my heart.
“No. I can’t. I can’t leave you here all alone.” The words were broken, but as soon as they left my mouth, the light flickered, then faded, leaving us alone in the dark, cold depths of the ocean.
“Sweet boy…” Jake breathed, brushing his thumb tenderly over my cheek. I looked up at him, taking comfort in his familiar face.
“Jake… I don’t want to die.”
“I know, baby.” His voice cracked, and he looked like he was in so much pain. I knew his heart was breaking.
“Please don’t leave me,” I whispered. “I don’t want to die alone.”
He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my neck, his entire body shaking with grief.
“You’re not alone, sweet boy.I’m right here.”
Those were the last words I heard before my soul peeled away from my broken body.
Alexa play: Already Gone by Sleeping At Last
After Finn died, I could touch him again, and I gently guided his spirit to the surface with me.
“Don’t look down, baby. Eyes on me,” I’d urged him. His body was still floating beneath us, rolling and tumbling uselessly in the undercurrent.
I’d seen my body after I died, and I didn’t want him to have to go through that experience. The sight of my own body floating in the water, tied down to my board, still haunted me in my dreams.
He clung to me, his beautiful eyes wide and glassy. No matter what I said, he couldn’t respond. He simply nodded or obeyed when I gently told him what to do, guiding him through each step until we were back on the beach.
It waschaos.
Sylvie was screaming at the rescue team to get more people out there. I knew they weren’t aware he was dead yet, as they kept using the wordrescueinstead ofrecovery.
Finn was despondent, standing next to me in a clear state of shock as the people around us rushed in every direction.
I turned just in time to see Kyle exit the water, clutching his board and looking a little shaken.
Rage like I had never felt before rolled through my chest, and I had never wished I was corporeal more… which was saying something.
If I had been able, I would have killed him with my bare hands.
However, Jet—being the fucking beauty that he was—attacked Kyle for me.
The kid didn’t know what hit him.
Within seconds of him exiting the water, Jet shot at him, moving like a dark streak across the pebbled sand.
“You fucking BITCH!” Jet roared, slamming his fist directly into Tully’s face.
Kyle didn’t see it coming and immediately buckled, falling to the ground.
Jet was on top of him, rage carving every line of his usually kind face.
He slammed blow after blow into Tully’s head. Jet was screaming.
“Do you know what you’ve done! He could bedead! What the fuck is wrong with you!”
