"Sir?"
"Hmmm? Clear out my schedule."
"Sir!? What about yo-your meeting with the delegates?"
"Clear everything out. Everyone, stand down and leave me alone."
Glancing at the man standing over the cliff, the assistant kept on trembling from the pressure and bloodthirst emitted by him. Calm and collected, is what describes the man at the moment. The calmer he is, the more that his people were terrified of him.
"Yes Sir. Everyone fall back! Sir if you need me, I'm one call away." Rhett said after ordering the small entourage accompanying them then faced the man for one last glance before boarding the car and drived away.
The pure blackness of the night holds countles shining stars, the somber wailing of the wind as it brush past his skin, the stillness that backdrops the lone man, may bring comfort to others except for him. In it's stead, only managed to further magnify his feeling of desolation.
"Jacky I missed you so much" said the man as he search through his pockets. Lighting up the cigarette as he continued to stare onto the horizon.
"It's my fault. I should have been with you." said the man as he raised his left leg onto the railings of the cliff. Looking down, he saw the tire marks zigzagged on the ground left from the accident.
*cellphone beep
He clumsily searched for his phone, threw the cigarette to the ground and used his foot to snuff it out.
"What is it?"
"Dante are you at the cliff again?"
"43 days" Dante replied numbly.
"43 days? I see. Time flies so fast since she passed. Ummm can I accompany you there?"
"Zac I want to be alone", said Dante.
"Have you eaten anything?" Zac worryingly asked.
"I don't have the appetite"
"Don't neglect yourself, ok? She'll be sad"
"She's dead" said Dante as his eyes glisten.
"...."
"Have you found anything?" inquired Dante.
"The-there's nothing yet. I checked everything. It rained heavily that day. If there was any indication of foul play, all of it could have been washed away." Zac fumbly answered.
"Continue to dig deep." uttered Dante as he sat at the barrier while facing the landscape below the cliff.
"Ok. I'll be on it immediately. Your family's worrying over you. They said they can't contact you. You really should answer. Even if it's just your Sister's call. She kept on hounding me for you."
"I see"
"Did you go home?"
"No, I want to be alone Zac. Just do what i asked you to. Thanks"
"Ok. He-Hey!"
Dante cut off the call. Looking at the screen, he navigated until he found the only file in it. No matter how many times he did this over and over again, it doesn't lessen his misery. He clicked the file, pressed on loud speaker and clutched the phone.
***
"Hi this is Dante Vangelis, I'm either away from my desk or on the phone, please leave your name and number along with a short message and I'll be sure to get back to you."
"Hey it's me! I'm on my way back. Sorry it took a while to finish what I was doing. It was so awesome! Remember that place I told you about? We found it! It's so fitting. I couldn't ask for more hehe. Wish you were there with me. You'd be amazed what potential that place has. Good thing I found it first. Damn luck, I got caught up in this storm. Would you like me to pick up your favorite food on the way? We can have like a 5 minutes date?
I'm really sorry I left on a sour note. Anyways, I miss you and hope to see you soo-..... "
*boom
*screech
*Thud
*crack
*crash
Thunder incessantly clapped and the scene of the wreckage was briefly illuminated by a flash like a strobe of light. Heavy rain and fierce wind rushing down to batter the car. The car was so banged up that it no longer resembles it's original appearance. After falling off the cliff, it continued to roll down until it was caught on the broken trees as it slowed down. Suspended in the air upside-down, the rain continued to pour down the car. Blood streaming down to dye the earth.
Who knows how long but Jacky regained consciousness. What greeted her was the sight of her body impaled by countless branches and steels from the wreckage. And a lone branch piercing her heart. She knows she already ran out of time. Even if she calls for help, it'll be all to late considering how much blood was smeared all over the car and how remote was this place. With all her remaining strength and will power, she reached towards her phone below her head and said excruciatingly,
"Da-da-dan-te....."
*coughing up blood
"ughh..."
*pant
"I... lo....."
*gasp
"v-..e..yo-yo...."
*grunt
"you...Do-don't..."
"arghh! ... be-be sa-sa-sad"
"e-ev-ven i-if I-I-I a-am...."
*coughing up blood
"go-gon-ne...."
"yo-you-you... ha-have to... co-co.."
*gasp
"con-ti..... tin-nue... t-to.. li-liv.... ve"
"argh!... li.. li-vv... ve... fo..."
"fo-fo... or.... m.... m-mee"
*pant
Losing her strength, her arms limply hanged. Her phone fell down, slipping through the crevices as it finally fell on the muddied ground.
After a few minutes, the phone lit up. But there's no one to answer the incoming calls anymore.
Within that hour numerous helicopters was mobilized. When they found her. It was all to late.
*whiring of the helicopters
"JACKY!!!!!"
"Shit! Sir! You can't jump down from this height. Hold him down!" Rhett shouted to the bodyguards.
"JACKY!!!! LET GO! I'LL KILL ANYONE THAT STOPS ME!!" Dante maniacally thrashed.
"Go down! Quickly! Hurry!" Rhett frantically ordered.
When Dante finally got down. He ran to the wreckage. Falling and stumbling through the rocks and mud. He saw countless Rangers with equipments cutting down bit by bit to excavate her remains. Seeing her lifeless body, his legs gave in. Kneeling down, his world came crashing down. Her body was hauled down. He crawled towards her in denial of the reality. Wondering if everything was a dream. He snapped back to reality when he finally touched her cold body. He hugged her and cried in agony. Some people tried to retrieve the body to put in the body bag but he fought everyone that came close. Everyone watched and stood to the side as the man grieved. Gone was his former self. A man that could command the greatest power. And yet in front of the corpse of his beloved, he was helpless.
It took a very long while before he calmed down. After his outburst what was left was the shell of the man he used to be. The ambulance already took the body. He continued to kneel down, dazed. The thunderstorm already stopped by then. The grime, mud and blood on his clothes already dried up.
***
"Jacky" said Dante as his spiritless eyes scanned down on what remains of the crash below the cliff. After sitting so long, he stood up.
"I missed you"
"There's still no concrete evidence for what happened to you. Whether it was deliberate or not. But I promise you, I will get to the bottom of it."
"I... sigh.... I'm sorry"
("e-ev-ven i-if I-I-I a-am...." )
"I wish I died with you"
"Someone just kill me now!"
(*coughing up blood)
"I don't want this anymore"
"I shouldn't be alive"
("go-gon-ne....")
"You should have taken me with you"
"Die!!"
("yo-you-you... ha-have to... co-co..")
"There's no point in existing without you"
(*gasp)
"Die!"
("con-ti..... tin-nue... t-to.. li-liv.... ve")
"Make this all stop please!"
("argh!... li.. li-vv... ve... fo...")
"I'm too tired"
("fo-fo... or.... m.... m-mee")
"Jacky please let me die"
("dootttttt... doootttttt....")
Wrestling with all of his emotions, memories of her kept coming back. Haunting him. Drowning him. Caught between the agony of being without her and the longing for being with her. He slowly raised one of his leg over the barricade. Attempting to cross-over. Right when he tried to lift his other leg. He stopped. Her last words echoing in his mind. He panicked and fell back on the road. His phone dropped to the ground.
"Why won't you let me die!" Dante shouted while he was on all fours on the road. He cried and kept on punching the ground.
Something grabbed him by the edge of his shoes. It was weak but it was enough for him to snapped out from his demented state. It spooked him and sent him tumbling back on his buttocks.
Glancing at what grabbed him, there he saw a woman. Bloodied, battered, broken, her clothes were tattered, leaves and twigs sticking out, some parts of her were twisted and mangled. She was drenched from her own blood. Looking behind her were trails of blood. Trails that anyone could incur that she crawled her way out from where she came from. Her tracks coming from the forest on the other side of the road.
"H-he... el... lp" she whispered then fainted.
Dante slowly made his way to her. He placed his finger near her nose. She's still breathing. Then he took her wrist to check her pulse. There's a pulse but it was very weak albeit negligible without carefully checking.
He looked around for his phone and called, "Rhett get here as fast as you can! Call for the whole Medical Team!"