Cursed

2. Café

"Jason, are you feeling okay now?" Louis spoke in her most caring voice.

"I'm...I'm fine." Jason answered weakly. They were now seated in a cafe since some motel issue had sprung up and Arthur had been busy solving it.

"So, what happened? Do you feel like talking?" She asked, curbing down her curiosity.

Jason nodded but he didn't say a word. Instead, he kept staring at the coffee latte which had fallen cold. It had been some time since they got here. And all that time, Jason had been imitating a statue. He didn't talk, didn't move and simply kept staring at the coffee.

"Jason, I know it's difficult. But I need to know." Louis said sympathetically and put her hand over his.

This time, Jason did respond. He flinched and backed off his hand while giving a shocked expression to Louis, as if he'd woken up just now. Then he calmed down and muttered something under his breath, "Sorry."

"I...I don't want to live." Jason repeated what he'd said back then.

"I know, Jason. But why ?" Louis asked.

And Jason again stayed silent.

Louis kept staring intently at him while he kept doing the same with the coffee, which wasn't even that interesting.

"Jason, you can tell me. Perhaps I can do something. "

He then suddenly rose up his attention and looked at Louis with his big watery sea green eyes. In that ocean of sadness and despair, she could spot a desperate need for help.

"No. You can't help me. No one can. Even Father Moore failed. And now there's no place I can go back to. I'm all alone. She's, she's gone." He said in one breath and again broke into sobs.

"Look, at least tell me what happened. Maybe, I'd try something out." Louis continued. Her curiosity was now hard to resist.

"...And I can't even fight for her." Jason seemed to be in his own world.

"Jason, if you don't tell me, I'm afraid I'd have to let the Sherrif know. You haven't even contacted your parents yet." Louis wanted to know his story so much that she was now trying every way to convince him.

"And what would he do? The police, the administration, the law, everything is a big nonsense! " Jason's green eyes flared up with such intense anger that it could actually heat the cold latte.

Now, it was impossible for Louis to keep her nose out of his business. The reason for suicide pretty much still remained a mystery and Jason's claim about law was something she could never accept.

"Jason. I don't know what you're going through right now. But I'm sure whatever's bothering you is something very big. But you know what, you should try the cops. They do help. The law has to."

She'd read the letter but she kept talking other things. She'd planned to get to the main deal, but it was taking time. If Jason found out she'd read the letter, he'd become very upset. And that would destroy the slightest chance of knowing what's going on.

"Really? What would the cops do if they're given a thousand dollars each to keep shut?" He said, anger still flooding in his eyes.

"What happened?" Louis now couldn't hide her curiosity. She sighed.

Jason again lowered his attention back to the latte and wiped his tears. A few minutes passed and Louis could barely hold her patience. Finally, when Louis decided she'd been wasting all her time and was about to call the waiter to prepare the bill, Jason decided to speak.

"I met Amanda in high school." He said.

"She seemed very bright and was a promising student. We both wanted to become writers. So it didn't take much time for us to become friends. Being with her was the best feeling I'd ever felt. Whenever I was with her, I felt this energy. I felt illuminated. Like she was the sun, spreading her radiance. The moment I saw her, I fell in love." He paused.