When Night Breaks

It was still early enough in the day that I could use Samantha’s front door. It didn’t happen often, but I decided for it on my way to her apartment. I knocked on the door noting that she lived in 3C; a fact I had never noticed before. Samantha, dressed in pajama bottoms and a t-shirt, opened the door with a smile.

“Jay, it’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you, too.” I leaned in and kissed her lips softly. Her face turned a light pink as she ushered me inside.

“What brings you here?” she asked.

“I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing.” There were photographs spread out on her coffee table and floor. They all seemed to be of her family.

“Have a seat.” She cleared me space on her couch, moving a pile of photos to the floor.

“Am I interrupting you, Samantha?”

“Oh, no. I was just looking at some old pictures. Seeing Ian’s sister at the memorial really got me thinking about Sawyer. I like to remember him like this.”

She reached down and picked up a 4x6 photo. She smiled as she stared it. It was a picture of the both of them; they stood with their arms around each other.

“Mom had already taken the photo, so this one was sort of candid.” They were looking at each other and laughing. Samantha’s smile was bigger and more genuine than I had ever witnessed in person.

She looked like Sawyer a lot. They both had the same blue eyes and blonde hair. She also had his mouth and smile; that was clear from the photo.

We sat and talked for a little while. Every so often Samantha would catch me staring at her. She'd smile and then blush. She looked so incredibly cute and I just couldn't keep my eyes off of her.

But as I glanced down,taking my gaze off of Samantha, one photo caught my eye. I tried to hide the sharp tone in my voice as I picked it up.

“Who is this?”

“That’s Sawyer and Katrina. I forgot I even kept this one. I hate having her picture even in my house but Sawyer looked so handsome in this one.”

“I have to go.” I stood up quickly. I laid the photo back down before giving the girl in it one last glance.

“Oh, so soon?” Samantha wrapped her arms around my waist and looked up at me. I was torn between staying with her and going back to Leo. I knew the latter was what I needed to do, but the first was what I wanted.

“I would love to stay,” I kissed her forehead, “but I just remembered something Leo asked me to do.”

“Promise you’ll come back?” She asked.

“Promise.” I squeezed her in a tight hug before heading to her bedroom. The sun had gone down and I knew my safest exit would be off of the balcony.



I waited in the living room, impatiently rocking back and forth or tapping my foot. Time seemed to drag on until Leo finally came through the door. I didn’t know where he had been, but it didn’t matter.

“Leo. We have to talk.”

“What this time, Jay?”

“It’s about Kara.” He sat his keys down on the kitchen counter and turned to face me. I knew I had his attention.

“I was at Samantha’s today. She had some old photos out and I noticed one in particular. It was of her brother’s girlfriend.”

“The one that killed him?” Leo asked.

“Yeah. Her name’s Katrina.” He looked at me puzzled. He didn’t make the connection right away.

“What does that have to do with Kara?”

“Katrina is Kara’s sister.” He pinched his brow and looked at me.

“What? How do you know?”

“Well she looks just like Kara. That’s what caught my eye to begin with. Then it hit me. Kara mentioned having a younger sister. They were pretty close in age but Katrina didn’t live in New York. I never met her but Kara did tell me her name. I know it’s her sister, Leo. I just know.” I was getting anxious. I didn’t know why, but I grew increasingly nervous.

“Did you tell Sam?” I shook my head to say no. “Does she even know about Kara?”

“No. She saw a photo of her one day. I burned it actually because I forgot I had it.”

It was ironic that Samantha and I both had kept a photo of the people we hated most. Not only that, but the two people were sisters.

“Jay, you know I’m all about keeping things secret. But don’t you think this is one thing you should share with her? If her brother’s killer is the sister of, well you know, maybe it means something deeper.” Leo was right. I had tried to find the connection between Samantha and I but never could figure it out. Maybe this was why and how we were intertwined.



I ran my fingers through my hair as I waited for Samantha to open her balcony door. It was late; almost 1 am. But I knew she would still be awake. She opened the door and greeted me with the warm smile I never got tired of seeing. The night air was warmer than it had been in a long time. I asked Samantha if we could stay outside; the wind cooled my nervous heat that was radiating off of me. The fresh air also kept me alert. She sensed something was wrong and inquired about my late night visit.

“Samantha, you trust me, right?”

“Of course.”

“And I trust you enough to tell you everything. But there’s one thing I never told you. I wasn’t going to, if I’m being honest. But it’s time you know everything about me.”

“What is it?” I could feel her growing nervous, as well.

“The girl in the photo that you found at my house…she was someone I had a thing with back in New York. It wasn’t anything serious. We just had a little reckless fun. And it wasn’t even that reckless.”

I was rambling. But I wanted Samantha to know that Kara didn’t really mean anything to me. Nothing ever happened between us, but I didn’t want to be so blunt about my inexperience.

“Okay,” she chuckled, “you came to tell me you had a girlfriend?”

“No. She’s dead, Samantha. And…”

“And what?” Her light hearted tone faded to one of dread.

“And I’m the one who killed her.”

Samantha backed away from me. Slowly at first and then with more haste. She said nothing, but shook her head. I stepped towards her, reaching my hand to touch her arm. She jerked away quickly.

“I think you need to leave.” There was fear in her eyes; fear that had never before been directed towards me.

She retreated back into her apartment, quickly slamming the door. I heard her turn the lock and sit down on her bed. At night, my hearing was impeccable. And as I stood frozen on the balcony, her deep sobbing was more than audible. I knew however, that from where she sat, she couldn't hear my own tears falling.