The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden

living room and then call up the stairway, “Hello?”
     
    The wind is my only answer, howling at the window, blowing leaves into the house, along the hardwood floor, and slamming the door against the wall. I walk into the kitchen and turn the corner. Nothing could ever prepare me for what I see.
     
    Time stops—everything stops. A part of me dies.
     
    Lying on the floor, in a pool of blood and a pile of knives is Kayden. His eyes are shut, his arms and legs slack, and there are fresh cuts tracking up his wrists. There’s a hole in the side of his shirt, where something sharp has punctured through it. There’s so much blood, but I can’t tell where it’s coming from—it looks like everywhere.
     
    My arms fall to my side as my knees give out and I crumple to the floor, landing on a knife. “No, no, no, no!” I pull at my hair, feeling the pain, and rip some of the strands out. “No!”
     
    I shake my head a hundred times, hoping the scene will vanish, like I hoped my twelfth birthday would. But it stays. It always stays. Tears veil my vision as I press down on one of the cuts on his wrists to stop the bleeding. His skin is so cold, like ice, like death. I move my hand to his arm, his cheek, above his heart. With an unsteady finger, I dial 911 and sputter out the details.
     
    “Does he have a pulse?” the operator asks when I tell her the situation.
     
    My heart squeezes tightly in my chest as I press my fingers to his pulse and a faint murmur bumps against them. “Yes.”
     
    “Is he breathing?”
     
    I stare at his chest, wishing for it to move—praying it will move. After a while, it slightly elevates and then falls down unsteadily.
     
    “Yes, he is. He is. Oh my God.” I press my quivering lips together, sobbing as I hang up and wait for the ambulance. The phone falls from my hand as I run my fingers through Kayden’s hair, wondering if he can sense me.
     
    “Kayden, wake up,” I whisper, but he’s still. “Please, God, wake up.”
     
     “Callie… what….” Luke steps up behind me.
     
    I don’t budge. I can’t look away from Kayden. If I do, he might disappear.
     
    “Callie, can you hear me?”
     
    “Don’t make a sound. It’ll be over quickly. You’ll barely feel a thing.”
     
    “Callie!” Luke practically screams and I blink up at him as hot tears stream down my cheeks. “Did you call an ambulance?”
     
    I nod, feeling everything around me—in me—crumble. “I tried to save him… I-I did, but I couldn’t… I couldn’t…”
     
    Luke kneels down beside me, looking at his friend on the floor, his face draining of color, his brown eyes huge and horrified. “It’s not your fault. He’s breathing. He can get through this… he can.”
     
    But it is my fault. All my fault. I wrap my arms around Kayden, breathing him in, never wanting to let him go. “Please, stay with me.”
     
    “This is all your fault,” Caleb says. “If you tell anyone, that’s what they’ll think.”
     
    Sirens flood the air as leaves sweep through the kitchen, swirling around with no other purpose than to go wherever the wind carries them.
     
    I should have done more. Said something. Stood up for him like he did for me.
     
    I thought I’d saved Kayden that night at the pool house, but I was wrong. I just bought him time until the next windstorm swept through.
     
     
     

 
    Jessica Sorensen lives with her husband and three kids in the snowy mountains of Wyoming, where she spends most of her time reading, writing, and hanging out with her family.
     
     
     
    Other books by Jessica Sorensen:
     
    The Secret of Ella and Micha (The Secret, #1)
     
    The Fallen Star (Fallen Star Series, Book 1)
     
    The Underworld (Fallen Star Series, Book 2)
     
    The Vision (Fallen Star Series, Book 3)
     
    The Promise (Fallen Star Series, Book 4)
     
    The Lost Soul (Fallen Souls Series, Book 1)
     
    Darkness Falls (Darkness Falls Series, Book 1)
     
    Darkness Breaks (Darkness Falls Series, Book 2)
     
    Ember (Death Collectors, Book 1)
     
    Connect with me online:
     
    http://jessicasorensensblog.blogspot.com/
     
    http://www.facebook.com/#!/JessicaSorensensAdultContemporaryNovels?notif_t=page_new_likes
     
    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-Sorensen/165335743524509
     
    https://twitter.com/#!/jessFallenStar
     

 
     
     
     
     
    The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden Playlist
     
1.        “Candles” by Daughter
     
2.        “Shameful Metaphors” by