When Night Breaks

A cold draft of air rose from the crack in the door and met my face as I rolled over in bed. My arm stretched out to the space beside me and I found the pillow empty; Jay was not there. Stretching my limbs, I yawned and dreaded setting my bare feet down on the cold floor. Winter had hit with an angry vengeance, releasing its mighty winds and bitter air onto the town. It had slowly but surely become one of the coldest winters in the history of Elliot Springs and I longed for summer for so many reasons.

The small clock that sat beside the bed read 9:30 am, earlier than I normally preferred getting up on the days that I did not have work or school. But the sheets had turned cold and they were no longer comforting or inviting so I swung my legs over the bed and walked downstairs. There, cooking breakfast with the food I knew Leo had been smart enough to bring, was Jay.

“You’re up awful early,” I said.

“9:30 isn’t really early,” he chuckled in response. He turned from the eggs he was scrambling and smiled at me. Despite my shivering limbs and growling stomach, I couldn’t help but smile back.

“I turned the heat up so it should warm up soon. I checked the unit this morning and it’s old but it should hold up a while. Just needed a little fine tuning.”

“Good, it’s so cold,” I said. I took a seat at the small table that sat in the kitchen. The wooden chairs were old and at an antique store, I was certain they could have brought a decent amount of money.

“Hope you’re hungry,” Jay said as he sat a plate of eggs, toast and bacon in front of me. Kissing the top of my head, he chuckled.

“What?” I asked, suddenly self conscience that maybe my fresh-out-of-bed look was unattractive to him.

“Excluding the reasons for being here, and despite the cold weather, this is sort of…nice,” he said, a peppiness in his voice. “It feels kind of normal. Waking up beside you, making breakfast and sitting around in our pajamas. I don’t know..”

I could tell by the way his sentence trailed off that, although a nice thought to have, it was also painful for him. Jay wanted normal and he wanted an anchor to set down to prevent him from drifting off in the endless sea of fear and seclusion.

“It is nice,” I said, reaching up and patting his hand. It always amazed me how a 24 year old man with a strong jaw line and bulging arms could appear almost childlike.

“Morning,” a voice came from the living room. Leo, with tousled hair and no glasses, came walking into the kitchen.

“Leo, put your glasses on before you break your neck walking around here,” Jay scolded. I giggled at the obvious concern that resonated in Jay’s voice.

I watched the two of them for a moment; they way they bumped into each other and cursed each other as they fixed their own plates of breakfast. Jay opened the refrigerator and poured a glass half full of orange juice. He then reached for the apple juice, combining the two in one glass. I raised my eyebrow in slight disgust as Jay stirred the concoction slowly with a spoon. Without words, Jay slid the glass to Leo who took a drink from it.

“Perfect, thank you,” Leo said as he made his way to the table and sat down.

“What was that?” I asked.

“What?”

“That drink.”

“Oh,” Jay spoke up. “Leo is weird. He drinks half apple juice and half orange juice.”

A big smile spread on my face as I realized that Jay had become so accustomed to Leo that he not only knew his quirks but he took care of him. They took care of each other, like true brothers would. Jay wanted normal but I realized that his abnormal friendship with Leo was even better. I had seen them argue and cuss each other but at the end of the day, they were closer than any two people could be.

As our forks were clanging on the plates -- the last few bites of food lingering -- Jay’s cell phone rang. Jay didn’t seem surprised although Leo and I both stared in confusion. The only people who should have had the number were all sitting at the table. Without saying anything, Jay stood up and got his cell phone from the living room.

“Who is that?” I asked Leo as if he might possess answers that I did not. His shrug of the shoulders told me otherwise.

When Jay reentered the room, the phone call clearly ended, Leo stood up.

“What the hell? Who are you giving your number out to?”

“Calm down. That was Julia,” his tone was calm despite Leo’s harshness.

“Your mother?” I asked. “I thought she was still in the hospital.”

“She is. She wants to see me.”

“How did she get your number?” Leo asked.

“I slipped a piece of paper into her belongings at the hospital. I wrote my number on it and said to call me.” I knew Jay was stealth but I didn’t think he was smooth enough to do that without me seeing. But it was Jay Reese and I knew that almost anything was possible with him.

“Do you realize how stupid that was? What if someone other than Julia found it?! And why do you want to talk to her?” Leo was getting angry, I could see the blood rushing to his cheeks.

“Because she’s my mother!” Jay’s voice was raised slightly, though I know he was trying to remain calm in front of me. “I knew she would find it when she woke up. I need to see her and warn her. Warn her that the McKenzies or Alice or whoever may be after her.”

“She’ll just go to the police!”

“No, she won’t. Leo, I don’t want to argue about this.”

“Fine. You’re right. You need to warn her,” he said. I couldn’t tell if he believed what he was saying or if he was saying it simply for Jay’s sake.

“I’m going with you, then,” I spoke up. “You’re not going alone.”

Before I could hear Jay’s objection, I was already halfway up the stairs, headed to get dressed.



We sat at a red light, the radio playing softly from the speakers of the SUV. Jay was nervous, as was I. It was a risk leaving the safety of the farm house and I was honestly shocked that Jay had even agreed to get out. But I knew Julia and Cole meant a lot to him; although he didn’t know them, they were the only remaining members of his biological family and he had to hold on to that.

“I’m glad she’s doing better,” I said. “Did she say how Cole was?”

“Me too. It’s a relief. Cole’s doing better too. He got to go home with his dad but Julia has to stay a little longer.”

“That’s good to hear. I really hope --” my words were cut short as I heard a loud pop coming from the outside of the car. Jay turned off the main street into a parking lot of a business.

“I think we have a flat tire,” Jay said. He sighed and opened the car door to step out. Following suit I around to the back of the car with Jay.

“Looks pretty flat to me,” I said. The tire had a nail sticking out of it that had torn a quite large hole in the tread.

Jay had just opened the back of the car when another loud pop came from my left. It was louder than the first and it made my ears ring. For a moment, my brain didn’t register what had happened. The pain in my side and lower abdomen came like a sharp wave. I looked down to see my gray sweater turning red; Jay’s voice screamed out.

“Samantha!” he yelled as he caught me as I stumbled to keep my footing.

Soon, the red stain had grown larger and the burning pain felt like a fire was being lit inside of me. My hand fell onto the wound, the blood dripping down my hand and onto the pavement. Jay gently lowered me to the ground and my vision became blurry. The sounds around me were muffled as I felt myself drift in and out of consciousness.

“Send an ambulance, she’s been shot!” I heard Jay yell into his phone at a 911 operator. “Stay with me, Samantha!”

Jay removed his jacket and placed it over my side. The pressure created pain which made me almost nauseous. Jay’s eyes were white like the snow that has just begun to fall. I knew, even as I laid bleeding, that Jay needed to leave. If the police and EMTs saw him, they wouldn’t react too well.

“Go,” I whispered as I tasted blood in my mouth.

“I’m not leaving you! Don’t you dare think I’m leaving you, Sam!”

Why it registered with me at the time I don’t know, but I realized that it was the first time he had called me Sam. Every other time I had been Samantha. I held on to that thought -- as insignificant as it might have been -- as I heard the sirens approaching.

“Sam,” Jay cried. “Don’t you go. Don’t you leave me, Samantha. You fight, you hear me? I love you, Sam.”

It was the last thing I heard before my vision went black and all my consciousness faded.