Page 141 of Ghosted

“Jagger Cutter, stop!”

I hear my name, then Alice’s name.

I hear unresponsive.

No.

They drag me back while someone else takes over, kneeling where I was, checking for something I already know isn’t there. I’m soaked and shaking and fighting like an animal, eyes locked on her because if I look away, she’ll be gone for real.

Then one of them says it.

Time.

A number, a fucking sentence.

A line drawn straight through the rest of my life.

Alice Aster is pronounced dead on the tile beside my pool, and I’m still reaching for her when they cuff my hands behind my back.

I understand it then.

All of it.

The fight was never supposed to end anything. It was supposed to put me exactly where he needed me. Angry enough to believe. Public enough to blame. Attached enough to touch everything when I found her.

Johnny didn’t just kill Alice.

He made sure I would be the one found trying to bring her back.

My throat tears around her name as they shove me through the door, and the last thing I see before the hallway takes her from view is blue light moving over the pool like nothing happened.

I used to think Johnny ruined everything he touched.

I was wrong.

He ruined everything I loved.

TO BE CONTINUED