PROLOGUE
ARI
I thought many times if what happened could somehow have been avoided, if that day had never happened or if somehow it would always be there to end what was left of my life, no matter how much time changed and went back, it was something inevitable that I would have to endure at just 17 years old.
I remember losing my mind when I spoke with Police Officer Garcia a year later . The events that marked a turning point in that day were a great struggle for me . He told me things I didn't know, things that made me realize that everything I believed was a lie.
Because he knew he was achieving what he'd planned: to surround her with fear so she wouldn't trust anyone. And the worst part was, it worked.
Every day that passed, I realized that he would do anything to corner me.
It was impossible for me not to fall for his lies because he planned every moment to his advantage.
It took away the people I loved and even though I did everything to protect them, I couldn't prevent them from dying.
Guilt will always pound in my heart as I watched them take their last breaths while I struggled to get up from the floor. I looked at Ámbar, about to close her eyes, and screamed at the top of my lungs.
"Amber! Don't leave me!" I screamed at him even though my body shouldn't have allowed it because my abdomen was losing too much blood. I felt hands trying to stop the bleeding. I looked with blurred vision, about to lose consciousness, and from one moment to the next it cleared up to see Jeff's face, who was crying and pulling at his shirt, tearing it and wrapping it around my waist, covering the bullet wound.
"Are you stupid? Why did you get in the way?" he said after making sure he was stopping the bleeding. "Damn it."
She looked around to see Ámbar and then Erick, who had approached his sister. His leg was dripping with blood, but he didn't seem to care.
He wouldn't be able to carry her out of the building before "he" returned to finish the hell he started.
"Jeff," I said, the pain in my abdomen increasing every time. He came closer to me to hear me better.
"Help Erick," I began to cough. He lifted my head even though I was still lying on the floor, immobilized, and then stepped aside, letting the blood flow out of my mouth. "Take Ámbar! You have to save her."
"I'm not going to leave you !" he answered me immediately, denying it, and I took his hands away, pushing him away from me .
"He loves me and I will give him what he wants so much."I said, losing my breath more and more.
"Please don't let him die, no one else can die."
"Do you think I'm going to leave you ?" he asked me, but I could see the total fear in his eyes. "You're so hurt."
"I'm not scared," I replied, and he approached me with impressive care so as not to hurt me.
"You'll come back, right?" he asked in my ear, to which I let out a sigh.
"I always wondered how death would come," I said as he stepped back to see my face.
I'm going to make sure he doesn't come back even if that means losing my life too.