She Never Left

get out of my head.

The phone rang four to five times every time the button was pressed. There was no response each time. Kevin tried calling two more times. Still no answer.

"Where are you, Lani?" Kevin shouted to himself, in anger. She hasn't responded in a few hours, which caused him to worry excessively. He tried calling again, not expecting any answer. To his surprise, the phone was answered.

"Hello?" Someone said on the other end. It wasn't Lani.

"Yes, I'm looking for Kaelani. Where is she?"

There was a long silence. Kevin waited for an answer. He heard the man on the other end take a deep breath. "I don't know how to explain. You should check the news."

The phone went dead, but Kevin still held the phone to his ear in confusion. "The... news?" he asked himself quietly. He sat down at his computer, turned it on, and quickly began browsing the local news. It didn't take long for his questions to be answered. He froze at the first result he found. "16 year old shot dead in stranger's home." Kevin couldn't even process that phrase through his intelligent mind. The news article read: "Kaelani Kaida, 16, was reportedly found dead in Kaylin Hart's home. The weapon used to kill Kaida was a Glock 17, which was traced back to Hart's fingerprints. Hart and Kaida were both pronounced dead at the scene."

Kevin sat still, but couldn't fight the tears. Everyone in his life was leaving one by one. At this point, he doesn't know what to expect at all. 'What will happen next?' he thought. 'I get killed next?' He felt so frustrated with the situation, having a mix between rage and sadness. Kevin breathed quickly and heavily and smashed down on his  keyboard, destroying it completely, as well as damaging his desk. "I'm done with this bullshit..." he muttered to himself. "But why her? Why Laury? Why Alina? Why Lani? Why does this have to happen?" Kevin screamed, pacing around his room rather quickly.

"You're stressed." Laury said, appearing in the room.

Kevin calmed down ever so slightly now that Laury was in the room. "What do I do?"

Laury looked pained and lost. "This isn't a good time..."

Kevin stepped closer to Laury. "It's fine."

"No, I mean..." A tear ran down her face. "My time is up. I can't be here anymore."

Of all the things that Kevin needed to hear, that was certainly not one of them. "Why?" he asked quietly.

"The thing is, Kev..." Laury wiped her eyes. "You're not normal. Neither was Lani."

"What... what do you mean?"

Laury appeared to be fading away from reality. "I'm all in your head. I don't exist. Therefore..."

Kevin had a hard time seeing her now. "Laura, WAIT!" He threw his hand out, and so did she. Their hands touched swiftly.

"...I must leave." With those three words, Laury ceased to exist.

"No," Kevin said, staring at the spot where Laury just was. "No... NO!"

He fell to the floor and burst into tears.

-----

"I did what you asked me several hours ago. Now, where's Valeriya?" Roman asked, still stuttering and shaking with fear and guilt.

"Malakhov went to go get her. He will be back momentarily." Ivan said.

Roman sighed in relief. "Okay."

"A question for you, Roman," Ivan continued. "Kaylin Hart was found dead as well as another girl. Supposedly she killed her with a Glock 17... the one I gave you. Where is it?"

Roman swallowed and continued to shake. "I... I dropped it."

"You're lucky that she touched the gun. I know what really happened."

"What?"

Ivan smirked. "Isn't it obvious? She killed herself. I know you shot the wrong person, I can see it in your eyes. Such a shame."

The shaking only got worse for Roman. "I-I'm sorry, I-"

Ivan put out his hand, stopping Roman. "Don't be. I wanted Hart dead, and she's dead. You're just lucky you're off the hook."

Malakhov drove up near Roman and Ivan right after. He exited the vehicle, along with Valeriya. Roman ran over to her.

"Valeriya!" Roman shouted, and held her tightly. Her cold eyes glistened with tears, and she sobbed into her brother's shoulder. Roman could feel her shuddering. "You're okay..." Valeriya didn't speak loudly, but whispered quietly. She was terrified, but she was glad to see her brother was okay. Roman had one thing on his mind: He needed to get the hell out of town, away from everyone, especially Ivan and Malakhov. But how was he going to do that?

"To be honest," Ivan said to Malakhov. "I'm glad he killed the girl. I didn't want her in our way."

Malakhov nodded. "What are we going to do about her friend?"

"The boy? I don't know. Maybe it's best that we leave it be."

"Yeah," Ivan continued. "I feel bad for the kid."

"Do you know anything about him?"

"Well, of course. Roman's been watching them. He has nobody left in his life."

"And how shall we capitalize on that?"

Ivan thought for a moment. "We'll offer him cash if he works for us. He probably doesn't have anything better to do, anyways."

Malakhov smiled. "Good."

Little did they know, Roman overheard their conversation while being secret about it. He feels guilty for murdering someone innocent, and he wants to make a change.

And he knows that he will.