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Theo watchesas I walk toward the kitchen doorway

“Son,” Dad calls, and I stop to look back at him His eyes look pained “Don’t leave Stay and talk to your mom and me”

I shake my head “I need time Tell Mom I’ll call her in a few days”

I can tell he wants to insist, but he givesTheo’s eyes when I look at him

“I have no idea ould utsat the ti sorry, Theo It makes it worse because I can’t remember it I deserve for those memories to haunt me forever I deserve the pain I know they would cause”

And with that, I walk through the house, closing the front door quietly behind et in my truck, and leave

CHAPTER NINE

Luca

I’M BACK IN THE dark roohts I spin in place, searching through the tiny specks, looking for one that’s brighter than the others They all look the same, no matter how hard I will my eyes to tell me differently

A sudden hollowness forms in my chest when I realize she’s not here with s has been stolen from me My pulse beats heavily on the side of my neck and my stomach twists into knots

Loss, unequivocal and indisputable That’s what I feel Jules was never mine, but I still feel the loss of her as if she was

“NOOOO!” a tortured screanize it’s hers

“Jules!” I spin around looking for her and see nothing but black space and tiny sparkles

“Oh, God, no, please!” she sobs brokenly

I turn back the other way, still looking through the darkness, and don’t see a da Where the fuck is she?