Apocalypse [Pentatonix AU | Kavi / Scomiche]

Chapter 54 - Terminus

Avi's hands were shaking violently, Kirstie's note clenched between them still, splashes of his tears causing the ink to run. He reread the message endlessly, memorizing the words Kirstie had immortalized herself in. It wasn't long. It didn't contain much, yet somehow it also managed to contain everything. All this time he'd gone on thinking he didn't have anything left of her, yet he'd unknowingly been carrying around her suicide note for months.

Why couldn't he have read it sooner?

Why couldn't he have just looked at it, just glanced at it even for a second before his dying moments? Why couldn't he have read it at a time where he could truly understand and process the words, not when his mind and body were already beginning to fail him? Why couldn't he have given her the remembrance she deserved?

Avi pressed the note against his chest, holding it close to his fast-beating heart. The sun was beginning to reemerge in the sky, and Avi felt himself slipping in and out. He was running out of time. There was no more time to read the letter, no more time to think, no more time to live. This was the end.

Avi stuffed the letter back into his pocket, grabbing his gun from the forest floor. He screwed his eyes shut as he placed the barrel against his temple, taking deep breaths. Before pulling the trigger he decided to admire the terrain around him one last time. To catch one last glimpse of the ill fated world that he'd survived in for so long.

Except after opening his eyes he immediately saw he wasn't alone in the clearing.

Kirstie Maldonado stood only a few paces away from him.

Her hair was long, except it wasn't ebony like Avi remembered it. It was a light, dirty blonde color, resembling the color that the tips of her hair had been when Avi had first met her. It was also cleanly washed and shimmered in the light, falling in tresses down to her stomach. She was wearing a long yet simplistic white dress that ended at her small bare feet. She had minimal makeup on her face, yet it made her even prettier than Avi thought imaginable. She looked absolutely stunning, like an actual physical angel standing in front of him.

Kirstie's head was cocked slightly to the side, a small smile crossing her lips. Avi stood despite the blinding pain it sent across his aching body. He knew she was dead; she'd died in his arms. The woman before him was only a hallucination, a figment of his own mind.

But she looked so real.

Avi walked up to her, keeping his eyes fixated on hers until they were inches apart. She looked up at him, the smile on her lips ever growing. Without a word she lifted her manicured fingers and gently palmed his cheek. He drew in a sharp breath at her touch, closing his eyes.

Avi still felt the warmth of her skin, felt her thumb tracing circles above his beard, but didn't dare reopen his eyes. He was too afraid she'd disappear the second he did.

So instead, with the feeling of Kirstie beside him, Avi raised his gun and placed it against his temple once more. And this time, before he pulled the trigger, he murmured three final words.

"Goodbye my love."