Ruby
It was so sudden.
After talking to Mom, the next day I made that portrait I promised her. I showed it to her, and we talked about things... all the pain I carry. She admired my art—said I had a gift. Then she smiled and told me,
"I have a gift for you too. Your birthday is near, I wanted it to be a surprise."
What surprise, Mom?
You just left me. That was your surprise.
The last words my mother ever said to me were:
"I love you, Ruby. I will always be with you."
I didn't understand it then. But now... I do.
Two days before my birthday, she went to sleep.
And the next morning—
She never woke up.
And now I'm here.
Holding a necklace—her gift to me. It's shaped like a lion, and on the back it says:
"I'm always with you."
Custom made.
Handpicked.
But now, what's the point?
She's gone.
I wasn't crying. I wasn't breathing either.
I wasn't alive.
Just... empty.
Like something was ripped from me that I'll never get back.
Aveline—
She was there, standing in front of me.
God, I missed her.
I wanted to see her.
And now she's here, but she looks just as lost as me.
I sat against the wall, clutching the necklace.
She sat beside me.
"Hey?" she said.
"Who?" I replied, not looking.
"Me," she said softly.
"Sorry. Wrong person." I sighed.
"Right person," she said back.
"Wrong time." I finally turned to face her.
She was already looking at me.
Those lonely blue eyes.
"Wrong? Our time is always wrong, Ruby."
She wasn't wrong.
"What do you need, Aveline?"
She hesitated. Looked away.
Then looked down.
"I—I shouldn't say it now but… Kai…"
Just the name made my expression darken.
"He kept threatening me, Ruby."
Her voice was so low.
So scared.
But I—
I hardened.
"Can't tell your mom? Your sister?
Not my business, Aveline. That's your problem, not mine.
Handle it yourself."
Her eyes… they dimmed.
Blue and bruised with disappointment.
She stood up and left.
(I'm an idiot.)
I called Adam immediately.
"Track Kai. Find him. Now."
"But Ruby—"
"Adam. Please."
"Okay, Ruby. I'll find him."
I hung up.
From a distance, I saw Aveline. She looked so small.
So broken.
Because of me.
Mireline walked up to me.
"Ruby, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," I lied.
She looked at me, reading through it.
"Don't leave her," she whispered.
"I know who she was talking about.
It's Kai. He's threatening her. Keeps saying now that Ruby's gone, no one can protect her."
My jaw clenched.
"I'll handle him," I said.
"But don't tell Aveline."
Also… tell her:
"The person she used to know—the one she used to love—is dead now."
It hurt to say it.
But she doesn't love me anymore.
So what's the point?
After the funeral, we went home.
I entered my mom's room.
Everything was quiet—
Until I saw something. A portrait. Covered.
I pulled the cloth off—
And tears filled my eyes.
It was me, Aveline, and Leon.
In that painting…
That wasn't the me I know now.
That was her Ruby.
Smiling. Holding her.
Eyes full of fire, full of love, full of life.
I looked… happy.
Happy like I finally had the one thing I was searching for all my life.
But she doesn't love me now.
And I'm not that Ruby anymore.
"Why, Mom? Why her? Why only her?"
I screamed at the walls, at the silence, at the ache in my chest.
The answer never came.
She was gone.
But her painting said everything I couldn't hear:
It was always her.
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