Duskwood - For all the Ghosts that are never gone

Chapter 4: Breakfast

Chapter 4: Breakfast

It was shortly after 5 o'clock in the morning. My sleep seemed to have ended about two hours ago. I found myself in Jessy's kitchen, in the dark. One nightmare had robbed me of my sleep again, but I didn't have to rob hers. Already I had made this mistake.

Well, here I was. The phone in my hand, scrolling through the chat with Jake. Teardrops rolled down my cheek. What might never be was so much worse than my nightmare.

Actually, I couldn't even explain to myself the reason for my own torture. I should better prepare myself for my testimony.

After all, Phil advised me to do so.

I didn't know whether this was because of his bad experiences with the Duskwood police or because he knew I hadn't always taken the legal route in the course of my investigations. It seemed pretty obvious, though.

At least from my point of view...

Jessy promised me that she didn't mention Jake's role or his existence in front of her brother.

Posh of her.

So, even though Jake has disappeared, probably died, keeping the circle of those who know him as small as possible wouldn't be a mistake. Just in case he was still out there. I would have been happy to join her and Lilly in their optimism.

"Why can' t you just take me in your arms." My own words made my throat close. His emotional support in the form of a physical hug I needed even more now than I did before. However, I knew I could not get one. Probably I would never get to. I felt so alone. Partly because I realised if I returned home, back to my normal life, I would be even lonelier.

No Jessy anymore, to fool around with, all night long.

No Phil, who promised to show up at 7am with breakfast.

Even if that fact was less relevant. In case I actually decided to move to Duskwood, I couldn't expect him to become my personal food supplier. Just because he had been so nice two times so far. Actually, I had taken too much advantage of his good nature by asking him not to get our dinner at the Chinese takeaway. The Italian restaurant was located far further away.

Fortunately, Jessy didn't know my sudden aversion for fried noodles resulted by Jake's unfulfilled invitation. Still, I wasn't sure if she had suspected or not. Her compassionate gaze was unmistakable as I asked if this takeaway would be across from Mrs. Walter's motel.

It was weird...

I felt his presence around me from as soon as I reached Duskwood. Though this circumstance compounded my suffering, it was the reason why I considered moving to this sleepy little town in the first place.

My subconscious knew that.

But my conscious mind lied to me.

For my own sake...

This was a beautiful lie. At least happiness was back in my body.

Happiness without conditions...

Surrounded by everyone.

I continued to scroll through our chat. Each word brought a new tear. Even our objective case analyses told me how much I missed him. Finally, I reached the end.

„[MC]"

"I love you."

Even before I read my reply, "I love you too, Jake.", I collapsed in despair.

The evidence was the flood of tears, my gasps for oxygen as well as my sadistically self-tormenting typing to prevent my display from dimming. All of this made me miss the alarm clock.