Ocean Eyes

It was winter when it happened. When Kai's parents were murdered. I remember because his eyes matched the cold, dark sea. That's why I always called him 'Ocean Eyes'. Kai was always so happy, that's why it hurt me so much to see the pain in his eyes.

He ran to my house the night that it happened. Kai told me everything. He saw both his parents on the floor, as cold as stone. He knew they were gone.

I pulled him into a hug, because he needed it but also because it was the only way I could respond to the news. I was shocked and heart-broken. His parents were more to me like family than my own parents were. My Mom was an alcoholic and my Dad a workaholic. As much as I loved them, I really didn't feel like their daughter.

Kai and I sat for hours crying until the police came to ask us some questions. Kai could hardly talk, every other word was a sob. They checked us both for gun powder residue and blood spatter. After awhile, the police got their stories straight, and left. That night was a blur. Although the one thing I do remember is that I never let go of him. I was always there. Always.

A couple of weeks went by, and they had a couple of suspects. But as the police and detectives dug deeper and deeper, none of the people had anything to do with the murder of Audrey and Wesley Milton. After a couple of months, the murder hit a

dead-end. It became the first cold case on the little British Columbian Island, Parker Island. They had no leads. They had nothing.

When Kai found out, he was hysterical. A seed of anger was planted inside of him, that would only grow and grow. Kai took his anger out on me. He would yell at me, but I knew he never meant anything he said. Kai was so scared. His anger only grew when he tried to control it. He got so mad one night, he hit me across my face. When he realized what he'd done, he apologized right away. But just as I thought he might be cooling down, Kai's violence grew worse and he became bitter and harsh. When he was finished with his daily rant, he would hit me, hard. And then he would hit me again, and again, and again. Kai told me I was stupid and betrayed him. He told me that I let go, that I wasn't there for him. But like I said I was always there. He was the one who let go of me.

I wasn't sure what I should do. I didn't know if I should tell somebody, you know get some help. But Kai was already seeing a psychologist 4 times a week. But everything changed when one night he threw me against a wall, and I'm assuming made me hit my head and pass out. Because when I woke up I found a letter propped up against the table beside me. The letter told me to meet him at the beach, near the lighthouse at 6.

When 6 o-clock came around, I hurried down to the beach. I zipped up my jacket to keep the cold ocean breeze from biting at my neck. When I reached Kai, he pulled me into one of his huge bear hugs. He said that he never, ever meant to hurt me. He was sorry for everything he had done. I knew he was sincere. Instead of thorns, I felt petals. There was no more anger in his voice. Kai pulled me in and kissed me on the top of my head.

As he whispered, 'I'm sorry Penny. I love you.' the ocean swallowed him, right then and there. A hot tear rolled down my cold face. When I turned to leave, I saw the waves blink at me, as if I were starring into Kai's ocean eyes.