There is no me without you

Prologue

Please listen to me.
I cannot say why Michael has made this offer all of a sudden.
But I can say with certainty that it is merely a trap.

Do you really think I have a choice?

Of course you have a choice.
I can understand that you want to help Hannah and Richy.
But this is not the right way.

It's the right thing to do
I'll get them both back
With or without your blessing

I cannot allow you to put yourself in danger.

Jake...
We have to see this as an opportunity!
I can end it!

It is far too risky!
There is no way Michael will keep his word.

You could get Hannah back

But I could lose you!

You asked me to take this path with you until the end
And I will
I just have to do it

Ciri I...

No Jake
I have to go
I am the one who can finish it
For Hannah
... for you

------------------------

A single tear runs down my cheek. In these past few minutes I realized which role I was supposed to play in this. It wasn't just about solving the case, following every lead, and naming the perpetrator. In the end I would have to meet with him, because only I could bring this to an end.

I look out of the train window, watch the dark landscape pass by. I can see a faint reflection of myself mirroring in the glass and I cannot help it but smile to myself. I wonder if he knows I am already on my way to Duskwood and if he is working on a plan to keep me away. The moment Michael asked me to go to the Ironsplinter Mine I packed a small backpack and went to the station. I did quite a bit of research the past few days of how I could come to Duskwood, where it was and how long the journey would take. I had never heard of Duskwood before so I was pleasantly surprised that it was only one hour of a train ride to the little town.

It will be so easy to meet up with Jake and my new friends!

That's what my innocent and naïve self thought. How stupid I was. As if there was a happy ending to all of this like it was a fairytale. This? This was a nightmare. But there was a way to wake up. To end this for Hannah and Richy... and Jake. Isn't it worth it? Saving three lives at the cost of only a single one? And if Michael actually keeps his word and no one gets hurt, maybe Jake will see that I was right all along. But what if something happens to me.. I push away the thought. I cannot afford to think about how the confrontation will end or I will lose all my strength. It was hard enough already to break my promise, to go to Duskwood even though I swore I wouldn't do it. But there was no other way!

I can feel my phone vibrating in my shaking hands. A few hours ago I would have jumped at my phone immediately, hoping for a message from Jake to continue these chats that I grew to love so much and to look forward to every day. But now it broke my heart. I know he wants to convince me that it was wrong, that I have a choice, that there was another way. I don't want to hear it. Or read it. Maybe he could convince me if he video called me, probably because it would startle me so much that I would forget what I was doing. But Jake never does that, showing his face or talking without a voice changer.

I get it you know, he is in danger and he has to protect himself! And that is just another reason why I have to be the one going to meet Michael. He probably tries to convince the others just now that he has to go in my stead.

Once again a shower of vibration goes off in my hands. Seems like he actually did reach out to my friends and now they are frantically trying to reach me, Lilly would be on the brink of calling the police, Jake would beg her not to do it just yet, Dan would be mad at Thomas for asking me to go to save his girlfriend... I know them so well and how the group dynamic between them works. It's a weird feeling, I kind of feel like a part of them but on the other hand I am just an outsider. Someone who pushed himself into a close-knit group of friends because there was a space to fill...

DUSKWOOD STATION. PLEASE EXIT THE TRAIN ON THE RIGHT.

I must have dozed off into my thoughts! A few more minutes and we would reach the Grimrock station. And then only a few hundred metres and I would open the hatch behind the waterfall. I cant help but peek at my phone screen. 7 unread messages from Jake, about 20 from the group - they really went all out to get to me. I take a deep breath and unlock my screen. Jakes chat is still open and I already know I don't really want to read what he says.

------------------------

Ciri?
Please come back online.
I know you are on your way to Duskwood.
You promised me not to go.
You have to listen to me!
Ciri please...
Do not leave me like this.

------------------------

His words are a sharp knife right through my heart. I can feel my throat tighten and my eyes filling with tears.

------------------------

I am sorry Jake
Just let me protect you this one time
It will all be fine in the end I promise

------------------------

Why am I lying to him? Why am I lying to myself? I know it wont end well. There was absolutely no chance that no one would get hurt tonight. Michael has shown more than once that he was brutal and cold and that there was only hate and vengeance in him.

I lock my phone, put it into my pocket and grab my backpack then I get up from my seat and move towards the exit. The announcement calls for Grimrock station just as I reach the door and I ready myself to set foot into Duskwood. If only it was to meet Jake instead of Michael...