Coffee and Cream

The Jump

The terrace stood silent, bathed in the soft glow of the moon. The sea below whispered its ancient secrets to the rocks, an eternal rhythm that had heard the confessions of countless souls. Emrys and Darcelle stood at the edge, their hands intertwined, hearts racing in sync with the pulse of the ocean. The world behind them seemed distant now, a forgotten dream, as if their love existed on a plane removed from reality. Their bodies, fragile and beautiful, were poised for the final dance.

Emrys looked over at Darcelle, her dark hair spilling over her shoulders, her eyes filled with a strange blend of serenity and fear. He had always loved the way she looked at him, like he was the only thing that made sense in a world that had long since lost its meaning. Now, as they stood on the precipice of life and death, that look felt even more powerful. It was a gaze full of trust, of knowing she was about to step off the edge with him into the abyss. Together.

Darcelle took a deep breath, the cold night air filling her lungs, but the chill didn't reach her. She was far beyond fear now. There was something transcendent in this moment—a stillness that wrapped itself around her heart, quieting the storm that had raged inside her for so long. Her love for Emrys was the only thing that mattered, even though she had always known it would be her undoing. It had consumed her, devoured her piece by piece until all that was left was this—the final, inevitable fall.

"I think we've always been heading toward this," Emrys whispered, his voice barely audible over the crashing waves below.

Darcelle nodded, a sad smile curling at her lips. "It's like we were born to end this way," she replied, her words laced with a quiet acceptance. "Together."

Emrys tightened his grip on her hand, the warmth of her skin grounding him in the final moments. "Together," he echoed, his voice ssoftbut steady. There was no hesitation now. The darkness that had always lingered inside him had finally met its match in her, and now it was time to let go. To fall.

Briefly, they stood there, the vastness of the ocean stretching out before them, the stars above like silent witnesses to their fate. The moon hung low, its reflection rippling on the water's surface, beckoning them with its cold, silver light. It was a scene of haunting beauty, the kind of beauty that could only exist in the aftermath of destruction.

Darcelle's heart thudded in her chest as she glanced at Emrys one last time, her love for him burning like a fire that would never be extinguished. "Are you ready?" she asked, her voice trembling but full of resolve.

Emrys turned his gaze to her, his eyes soft, vulnerable in a way she had rarely seen. "I've never been more ready," he said, leaning in to brush his lips against hers. The kiss was light, like the wings of a butterfly, fleeting and delicate, yet it carried with it the weight of everything they had ever been to each other.

With that kiss, they took their first and last step together.

The fall was not sudden; it was slow, a surrender to the inevitable. For a while, they hung in the air, suspended between life and death, two souls intertwined in a twisted ballet of love and finality. Darcelle felt the wind whip around her, pulling her hair back, her body weightless in Emrys' grasp. Her heart soared as if finally freed from the cage it had been trapped in for so long.

Then, the cold embrace of the ocean.

The water swallowed them whole, crashing around them in a violent rush. The world spun a blur of darkness and foam, their bodies tumbling as if the sea itself was reluctant to let them go. Darcelle felt Emrys' hand slip from hers, and for a moment, panic surged through her. But then the silence came.

The cold seeped into their bones, numbing the pain, numbing everything. The saltwater filled their lungs, and their hearts slowed in tandem, their final breaths carried away by the current. As the ocean claimed them, they were no longer Darcelle and Emrys—just two lost souls, drifting into the endless void.

The ocean, once calm and reflective, began to run red. Tendrils of blood twisted through the water like ink spilled on a canvas. It stained the waves, a crimson testament to the love that had devoured them whole. Their bodies sank deeper, disappearing into the depths, until there was nothing left but the quiet whisper of the tide.

The sky above remained indifferent, as it always had, as it always would. The stars blinked on, unaware of the tragedy that had just unfolded beneath them. To the universe, this was just another night, just another love story that had burned too brightly to last.

But to Emrys and Darcelle, it was everything.

Their love had been a wildfire, scorching everything in its path, leaving nothing but ash in its wake. And in the end, that was all they had ever wanted—to burn together, to be consumed by something greater than themselves. They had found peace in their destruction, a twisted kind of salvation in the end.

The sea, dark and unforgiving, carried them away, their story fading into legend. And as the waves crashed against the shore, the only sound left was the echo of their love—wild, beautiful, and forever lost.

In the end, they had jumped—not out of fear, but out of love. And the world would remember them, not as victims of their own darkness but as lovers who had dared to defy the very fabric of life and death together.