Kyra Cross parked her car in her driveway and ran to open the door. She had just gone shopping for a bunch of Christmas presents, many of which were for her brother, Damien, who was coming today, and she needed to hide them before he arrived.
She gathered the presents in her arms and hauled them inside, down to her storage room, which Damien knew never to enter unless he had permission to do so. There were a lot of things she didn't want him seeing that rested in there.
Kyra set the presents at the back of the room and went back up to close the door. She then headed to her kitchen, made a cup of hot chocolate, and started to play hers and Damien's old favorite Christmas movie, which was called Fred Claus.
There was a knock on the door about twenty minutes into the movie. Kyra jumped up. Damien was here! She raced to open the door and came face to face with a cop.
"Is this the residence of Ms. Kyra Elizabeth Cross?" asked the cop. Kyra nodded. "I have some bad news. Could I come inside?"
"Sure. Let's discuss this over hot chocolate. I just made some." Kyra didn't know what made her do it, but she found herself making the officer a cup of steaming hot chocolate with marshmallows. "Here you are, sir."
"My name is Officer Richard Pike," he said. "At half past eight this evening, we got a phone call from a Miss Emma Kelly. She witnessed a car hit a patch of black ice and swerve off the road, ending up in the river. They looked for the driver, but there was none. He had disappeared. We did an analysis on the license plate, and it was found to have belonged to a Mr. Damien James Cross. Your brother, if I'm not mistaken?"
"Yes." The word caught in Kyra's throat for a moment. "Yes, he was. He's dead?"
"I'm sorry to say yes, ma'am," said Officer Pike. "If there's anything I can do to help, I'd be happy to."
"Yes, there is, actually," Kyra said. "You can leave."
Officer Pike looked crestfallen, but he said, "I understand. My deepest condolences for the loss of a family member." He nodded and left.
Kyra sat on her couch. If Damien was dead, it wasn't anything she could bear. Life without her brother was unimaginable. They had always shared a special brother/sister bond. And now he was dead. It felt like a huge hole had been punched through her heart. Like half of her was missing.
She called up Jason Myers and his sister, Sarah, one last time. "Hi, Kyra!" Jason exclaimed, totally happy to hear from here. "Is Damien there yet? Can't wait to see my old buddy."
"I'm not calling about that," Kyra said, the cold voice she spoke in very unlike her. "I'm just calling to say goodbye, Jason. I can't do it anymore. Damien is dead, and I can't live without him. I picked a bridge… and you know I can't swim."
"Kyra, whatever you're thinking of doing, don't do it," Jason said. "I know that Damien's dead. An officer came by and told us. But look, please don't do anything… irrational. We can help you, okay? Just stay calm."
"No, I can't do it, Jason," Kyra argued. "I love you. Tell Sarah I love her. And tell her goodbye."
"KYRA!" Jason screamed her name as she hung up.
She got into her car and drove to one of the local bridges, the one that overlooked a freezing-cold river.
The bridge didn't intimidate her. In just a couple of minutes, she'd be with Damien again. She'd be with her brother.
But the sirens made her pause. Jason and Sarah climbed out of the police cruiser, followed by three officers.
"KYRA!" Jason yelled at her. "Don't be stupid, Kyra."
"Stop it, Jason. Get back, or you'll fall in," she snapped, confidence filling her voice. "I have to do this."
"No, you don't," Jason protested. "Please, Kyra. You're my closest friend… and I love you."
"I love you too, Jason," Kyra said, "But I'm afraid this is goodbye."
"KYRA!" Jason and Sarah screamed together as she jumped. "NO!"
Jason watched in horror as Kyra Cross, his one true love, ended her life. He watched as her body plunged into the icy cold water. She floated on her back for a few moments, almost thinking that she was going to swim to the bank. But her body simply sank beneath the water and didn't resurface.
"You kids better get away from there," an officer warned them. "It's real slippery. We don't want you gettin' hurt."
"But she's dead!" Sarah cried.
"And you might be, if you stay there too long," the officer said. "We'll get her body, trust me. But not now. It's too dangerous."
"I can't even see her," Sarah murmured, stepping forward. And that's when she just so happened to slip. She crashed into Jason, and they both went tumbling down.
The icy water hit Jason's body like 1,000 knives stabbing him over and over again. He was so dead.
Sarah didn't even fight the icy water that sucked her down. Jason gave up. She watched him slip underneath the surface, and she knew that he was dead.
The current was too much. Sarah didn't want to fight anymore. She simply gave in to its call and succumbed to death.