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“Do you sometimes think about the afterlife?”
“The what?”
“The afterlife. You know. What happens to all of us, when we die… What comes next.”
“Nothing.”
“C’mon, Amber, don’t be like that.”
“For real, we die and there will be nothing.”
“You’re depressing me.”
“Sorry.”
Sorry.
Was that the word that crossed Amber’s mind as she pulled the trigger? Or when she stabbed with such force, she could feel the bones splinter under the flesh?
No.
Did she see Tara’s face instead?
Yes.
Her eyes, the disappointment in them. The fear of what had become of her. Of Amber. Her best friend.
Her lover.
-But that’s so long ago.- Amber thinks as she sits down on the bench. -I wonder…. no, I hope she found the afterlife she was hoping to find…-
STABS Murders Trial, Defendants found guilty on all counts read the frontpage of every newspaper 25 years ago. Right on the front was Amber, in handcuffs, Richie right by her side. He smiled at the camera.
She didn’t.
25 years ago Amber sliced her knife through necks like butter, while Richie cheered her up from the shadows. Of course he didn’t commit any murder by himself, one of the reasons he was released from prison many years ago, starting all over and long before she could even think of asking for a parole.
Amber saw it in the news and smashed the tv. “Fucker.” The pain still crossed her mind, as she looked down on her hands, the scars still visible.
25 years ago…
Woodsboro was drowned in fear for a couple of weeks, then it stopped as quickly as it started.
“Tara…” Amber mumbled. There wasn’t a day she didn’t think about her, still feeling her touch on her skin, her breath on her lips when they made out, her taste…
The way the life left her eyes, as she laid in her arms. How they became so dry, staring up without seeing, while Tara’s body became so heavy suddenly. Amber would never forget that feeling. The weight… that sudden weight that catched her so unprepared, she was unable to move.
“Why did you…?” She had asked just moments before, Tara looking up, blood spilling out of her mouth.
“...I-I thought you were in danger…” Tara had answered, her voice almost a whisper, while Amber still held her close.
“No, I’m… I’m the danger…” Amber whispered back and Tara seemed to want to answer something as well, but in that moment, life left her body.
Amber never knew what Tara wanted to say.
She never would.
It was a secret between Tara and her so-called afterlife.
The silence, the death.
This year was the second time Amber would ask for parole and like the last time, she knew Gale Weathers would sit in the front row, holding up a picture of Dewey Riley.
There would be pain in her eyes and Amber knew Gale would make sure she would stay behind bars as long as she lived.
“MURDERER!” She would scream. And…
Who would blame her? Amber would’ve done the same for Tara.
-Tara.-
“I’m sorry.” Amber said. “I hope I see you soon… after all, maybe there is a life after death.”