FEW MONTHS EARLIER
Ian Thompson came out of his car and took long strides with his hands in his pockets, towards the house in front of him. When he got to the door, he took in a deep breath before knocking. The door was opened, and the face that came into his view was Wendy Jacksons'.Wendy smiled at him and said, "Hi, come in, Ian."The Thompsons and the Jacksons had been friends for years. Wendy was his friend, and they were both in their final year of high school, set to graduate in a few weeks.Ian's family was the wealthiest in the city of Evanston, a suburb of Chicago. Before he moved to the suburb, he attended the best high school in Chicago. However, with reasons best known only to him, his dad had him move all the way to the suburb just as he was excelling in his previous high school as the best in basketball.When he moved to Evanston and met Kimberly, everything changed. All the girls had eyes for him, but he only had eyes for her.She was the most amazing and sweetest person he had ever met. But those were not her only features; one would only have to spend a few minutes with her to realize that she was the kindest beauty in the universe.Her hazel eyes were the most attractive he'd ever seen, and she was five feet nine inches tall, which was just perfect for him. She had midnight black hair, cherry lips, and velvety lashes. He was head over heels in love with her. He had felt that way since the first time he set his eyes on her, six months ago. It was love at first sight for him, as it was for her.Their relationship was a secret. They hit it off immediately he asked her out, and she became his girlfriend. However, they had to keep their relationship a secret because Kim's mom, Beatrice, was quite conservative; she had strict rules, one of which was that Kim was not allowed to have any boyfriends.But Ian was tired of playing hide and seek and going around in secret. He was there to do the proper thing; the real thing as a man. He was eighteen years old now and a few months older than Kim, but they were old enough. So, he was there to do things the right way and seek her parents' consent to court her.When Wendy opened the door, she hugged him and welcomed him in. He looked around the house and saw Kim at the dining table, about to serve lunch. She had an apron around her body. She looked beautiful and adorable, as always. It seemed she felt his presence as she suddenly turned and smiled at him.Her voice rang out, "Welcome, Ian."And he just stood there, staring at her with so much love in his eyes.As usual, Wendy smiled and pretended be happy about everything that was happening. She had loved Ian from the first time her mom took her to Chicago years ago to see his family. Then, his mom had just died, and her mom went for the burial. He was only fourteen, but she fell in love with him.Back then, he didn't notice her, especially because at the time he was grief-stricken. However, his face and everything about him had been engraved in her heart.When he moved to Evanston six months ago, she was more than convinced that he would ask her to be his girlfriend. She was the closest to him and didn't give other girls the chance to come around him.Their families were friends, and she took advantage of that. His father was extremely wealthy, but her family was middle class so she believed they were a match.However, he surprised her by going for Kimberly. After finding out about his relationship with Kim, she was very upset and felt betrayed. She thought about ways to destroy their relationship, but nothing good came to mind. All the plans she had would only end up with Ian hating her, and she couldn't take that risk.She had to pretend to be the saint and keep supporting their relationship. Ian was so happy about it, and they drew even closer. He came to see her as his very good friend, and she knew that this would make it easy for her to take Kim's place in his heart when the time finally came.Kim stood by the dining table with her heart racing. She knew why Ian was there because they had already discussed it.He looked as dashing as ever; the love of her life, her very essence. He was handsome and tall, with blue eyes and brown hair. He was the sweetest guy in the world; the reason why she woke up every single day, and she lived for the moments they spent together.Kim was very grateful to have a family. Even though she was a year older than her sister, Wendy, Wendy bossed her around, but she still had no complaints. Her dad was cool; he was the best father in the world.Her parents loved Ian, and even though she only met him six months ago, their relationship had blossomed so much so, that she felt like she had known him all her life.Now that he was there, however, she was afraid. She didn't know how her parents were going to react, especially her mom. She wasn't a child anymore. She turned eighteen three days ago, and Ian had decided to wait until she was eighteen so her parents wouldn't have a reason to reject them. Now that he was there, she stood at the dining table, waiting to see what her parents would say and hoping they would give their consent.What surprised her the most was Wendy. When Ian first moved over, Wendy was all over him. Kim initially suspected that she had feelings for him, but then she noticed that Wendy never tried to pursue him. She just kept clinging to him.When they began to date, they kept their relationship a secret from Wendy. After she found out, Kim was so scared that she was going to report to their mom, but surprisingly, she did not. She was cool, and she covered up for them most of the time. Ian liked her because of this, and they became close friends since then. Kimberly never told Ian how Wendy treated her at home because she didn't want to ruin the friendship they shared.Kim hurried into the room to get dressed. She had made lunch and ensured that the table was set. After getting dressed, she waited in her room. She was afraid of what her mom would do if she came out and got angered by the whole situation.She could hear their voices. Ian was already sitting on the couch, waiting for them because Wendy had made him comfortable.After a while, her parents finally went out to the living room, and Kim heard Ian say, "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Jackson."Ian already had their future planned out. He was going to go to college in Chicago, and he wanted Kimberly to be with him when he did. They had planned to go to college together, and spend the rest of their lives with each other.It was going to be perfect from there on. All that was left was just for her parents to give their consent, and everything would be fine.Ian sat on the couch, staring at Mr. and Mrs. Jackson as they came out. They were friendly towards him, and he knew they liked him.Why wouldn't they? His dad had helped them get a lot of money because they went into business together. Both of them sat down and waited for him to say what he wanted. After a while, he got up and said, "Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, I'm here because I need to ask for your consent to openly court one of your daughters.""Who are we talking about?" Albert Jackson asked."Well, it's Kim," Ian replied."Kim? That's interesting. I never knew you had an interest in Kim. I would have thought you were more interested in Wendy since you guys seemed to be so close," her dad said.Ian smiled, "Well, Wendy is sweet and she's my friend, but the one I love is Kim, and Wendy is already aware.""You're aware of it?" Albert asked Wendy. Wendy nodded, "Yes, I've known for a while.""Okay, that's cool," her mom replied. "So, you want to openly date Kim. Is that what you're sayi
As Kimberly fainted, Ian carried her in his arms and ran out of the school premises. He placed her in the backseat of his car, put her bicycle behind, and got into the driver's seat. He began driving to the hospital. On his way, he called Wendy and told her everything that happened, asking her to inform her parents that he was taking Kimberly to the hospital."Ian, please take her to my family's hospital," Wendy suggested. "My family doctor will be there to attend to her. I will be arriving soon with my parents.""Okay, I will do just that," Ian replied.He quickly took her to the hospital, and as Wendy had said, the family doctor promptly attended to her. Ian waited outside until Wendy and her parents eventually arrived."What happened?" they asked Ian."Well," Ian began. "We were at the rooftop of our school building, and afterward, we decided to go down. We ran down the stairs, and suddenly she became short of breath and eventually passed out. I don't know what is going on, and I'm
The next two months proved to be extremely difficult for Ian. He couldn't come to terms with the fact that he was going to lose Kim. However, Kim had accepted that she would die in two months, so she tried her best to be happy and make as many memories as she could during the time she had left. She became weaker by the day, though, so her mom kept suggesting that she undergo chemotherapy. However, she refused, stating that there was no point because a specialist, brought in by her dad to look into her case, had said the same thing as the first doctor.Moreover, due to how affected Ian was, his dad had arranged for her to be transferred to one of the best hospitals in Chicago. However, when she got there, she was told the same thing – she had leukemia and was going to die in two months.After learning all this, she believed there was no point in spending the remaining time in the hospital trying to get treatment that wouldn't change her condition. Instead, she decided to spend it with
The call was disconnected and Ian stared at his screen in surprise.He tried to call the number again, but he was told that the number did not exist. He kept trying again and again, but still, the number wouldn't go through. He began to move up and down the porch, thinking about everything that happened between him and Kim up until she died"What is going on? Am I imagining things?" he asked himself. He stood outside for a while and finally went inside. His father looked at the expression on his face and asked, "What is it, Ian? Are you okay?"He said, "Dad, I have this feeling that Kim is still alive." His father sighed, "No, don't do this to yourself, Ian. Weren't you there on the day she was buried? This is just your imagination playing tricks on you and making it difficult for you to move on. You need to forget about her, okay? I'm not saying you should not think about her sometimes, but come on, you have been mourning and crying. Life goes on, and as much as you feel very sa
Ian left the cemetery and went back home. He lay on his bed miserably, listening to his conversations with Kim, which he had recorded before she died. After a while, he got up and shook his head. "No, I can't just leave it at this. I must do something. I must meet this David Suarez, whoever he is. I should be able to find out why he called me and why his voice sounded like Kim. Kim if you are out there, I will find you."In the morning, when Ian woke up, his father said, "Hmm, you came back quite early. I didn't even hear you come in.""Yeah, the party turned out to be boring," he lied. "So I just left it.""I see. I guess it feels different since she's no longer here. It's been a while, though, since you went to basketball practice. Why don't you try it? I think it will do you a lot of good. Also, you'll be filling out your college forms a few months from now, so I think we should talk about it. Like.. what you intend to do or where you'd like to live.""Come on, Dad, I still have t
The next two days felt like two years for Ian. After the first twenty-four hours, when he couldn't bear it anymore, he left his room so he wouldn't die of boredom. All he kept doing was thinking about Kim. He decided to familiarize himself with the city of LA. It was his first time there, and he didn't know how long his mission was going to take. So, he got a tour guide to show him around.He spent the entire day, from morning till evening, moving around the city, learning about safe areas and places that were unsafe. When it was getting dark, he came back to his hotel room and slept off because he was tired. In the morning, he met with the private investigator called Bob. But this time, they met in a café, which was much better than where they had met before.The private investigator said, "I found the man you're looking for, David Suarez. I found him at a dangerous club downtown. At first, he refused to cooperate, so I had to use extreme measures. Apparently, he's not the one usin
While Ian was still staring at Sammy, he rushed towards him again to punch him a second time. But this time, Ian blocked him and punched him back. Helium became excited. He got up and began to clap. "Wow! I love this guy, I love this guy. Go on, Sammy, fight back." Sammy went again and punched Ian in his belly, and all the men left what they were doing and began to cheer.Helium kept watching. He moved away from his chair and was staring happily at the fight. When Sammy tried to punch Ian again, he held both his hands and kneed him in his groin. Sammy screamed in pain and bent down, clutching the bulge of his pants. However, Ian took advantage of this opportunity and hit him with his elbow on his back, causing Sammy to fall flat on his face. Everyone cheered for Ian while he stood erect and, tried to catch his breath."I like you, I like you very much!" Helium exclaimed. "You know what? I think you are good enough. As a matter of fact, you are ready because you have impressed me.
WEEKS EARLIERKim opened her eyes, closed them again, and began to recall the faces of some of the people closest to her. She remembered Ian, her mom, her sister Wendy, and her dad. She recalled how she got sick and how she died. Her eyes shot open again. "Mom?" she asked.She sat up and looked around. She was in a room and had been lying on a bed, and the sheets were white."Where am I? Is this the afterlife? Mom?" She called again."Ian?" But there was no reply.Everywhere was quiet, and she couldn't understand why. She remembered that she had given up in the middle of the night. She had found it difficult to breathe, but couldn't say anything to Ian. He was lying right beside her, and she was afraid that if she said anything to him, he would panic. Knowing that her death was imminent, she had closed her eyes and given in to the darkness.Or could she have survived? She called out one more time, "Wendy, Ian, Dad, Mom. Who's there?"Right at that moment, the door was opened and a t