Chapter Twenty Five

The black shirt comes out first. The one he wore to the concert two nights ago. Then his glasses.

My eyes sting. “Where is Dominic?” I ask, my voice breaking. “What does this mean?”

My hands won’t move. I don’t touch anything. I don’t need to. I know that shirt. I know those glasses. I watched him put them on. I remember.

“It’s just…” My voice dies in my throat.

The officer stands. “We have reason to believe he may have been involved in a gang fight,” he says. “The investigation is still ongoing.”

I stop breathing. The words don’t make sense. I shake my head. “That’s not true. Dominic is fine.” I say it again, softer. “He’s fine.”

Alice doesn’t move.

I reach for her shoulders. They’re stiff, like she isn’t even there. Her eyes stare ahead, empty.

“My brother can’t be dead,” she whispers. Her body starts to shake. “Catherine, he can’t be dead. He’s all I have. He’s my only family. No. No.”

I pull her into me. I hold her tight, even though my chest hurts and my legs feel weak. I don’t let myself cry. I can’t.

I have to be strong. For both of us.

Dominic isn’t dead. People don’t just disappear. People don’t just die like this.

So I believed he was still out there. We tried. We really did. We waited while they searched for signs. Dad and Mom came back home and paid private people to help look. They searched too. Still nothing.

He wasn’t found.

Hours slipped into days. Days dragged into a week. No call. No lead. No good news. Just silence.

Alice told me she was going to tell her grandparents. I wanted to go with her, but she said she needed to do it alone. I didn’t argue. I didn’t have the strength.

I went home. I stayed on my bed with my phone in my hand. I kept calling. Over and over. It rang. Then nothing. Not available. Again. And again.

That’s when the fear grew teeth.

My mind wouldn’t stop. What if there was a fight? What if he was hurt? What if they killed him and left him somewhere no one would look? What if they burned everything so there would be nothing left to find?

I cried until my head hurt. Then I cried some more.

A knock on the door makes me jump. I wipe my face fast. Mom opens the door.

“Catherine,” she says softly. “You can’t keep doing this. You haven’t eaten in days.”

“Mom, I’m fine.”

She shakes her head and comes closer. “No, baby. You’re not. I know you’re blaming yourself. I know. But this isn’t your fault.”

“But it is, Mom. It is,” I say, my voice breaking. “He was having fun with Sasha. I got jealous. I went there.”

“Baby, don’t—”

“I stepped between them. I ruined it. Then Asher called and asked me to come see him, and I left Dominic.” My chest tightens. “I lied. I told him I had to go home.”

Mom drops beside me and tries to pull me into her arms. I shake my head. I can’t let her hold me.

“I went to Asher,” I whisper. “Sasha told the police Dominic followed me. Mom, he saw me walk away. He saw me leave him after I ruined his night with another girl.”

“Oh, baby…”

“Mommy,” I choke. “I don’t even need him to forgive me. I just need him alive. I need him alive so I can breathe again.”

She strokes my hair. Her voice is tired. “Baby, you need help. You need therapy.”

I look at her. She doesn’t understand.

“No,” I say quietly. “You don’t get it. I don’t need help. I need Dominic.”

Mom leaves me alone. I think she knows there’s nothing she can say anymore. I stay with the pain and let it sit on me.

Alice has been gone for days. No calls. No texts. Nothing. It feels wrong, like another door shutting.

I wait. For the police. For the people Dad paid to search. I wait for anything. But nothing comes. It’s like Dominic walked out of the world and the world closed behind him.

My stomach turns on me. Sharp. Mean. I barely made it to the bathroom. I hang over the toilet and throw up until there’s nothing left. My body shakes.

At first, I hated it. Then I noticed something. When it happens, when my body takes over, my mind goes quiet. No Dominic. No pictures. No guilt. Just the floor under my knees and the sound of my breath.

I keep my phone close. Always in my hand. I checked it. Refresh it. Call again. Police. Investigators. Nothing.

Alice’s grandparents don’t even let her come back.

That thought sits heavy in my chest. Like they would kill if their eyes landed on me.

The rest of the week passes without much happening. Then one afternoon, my parents stepped out. Not long after, the doorbell rings.

My heart jumps. I rush to the door, hoping it’s one of the investigators.

It isn’t.

It’s Asher.

I move to shut the door, but he’s faster. He slips inside before I can stop him.

“God, Catherine. You look like hell,” he says, looking me over.

I don’t answer. I already know. I don’t look in the mirror much anymore.

“People are talking,” he goes on. “You haven’t been in school for days because of that stupid Dominic—”

“Shut up,” I snapped. “Don’t you dare say his name like that.”

“Cat—”

“Asher, get out.”

I grab the door and pull it open. I stand there, holding it wide. Waiting for him to leave.

He hesitates. Just stand there. It makes my skin crawl.

“Get the fuck out,” I yell.

I don’t know why he’s here. After everything. After how he treated Dominic. After how he mocked him and pushed him around. And I let it happen. I looked away. I stayed quiet. Because I still cared about Asher back then.

“Catherine,” he says, lowering his voice. “The day I dropped you off… I met Dominic.”

I freeze. Slowly, I look up at him.

“You met him?”

He nods once.

“What happened?”

“He had an accident,” he says. “I didn’t think it mattered. Some performance guy was there. I thought it was nothing. I didn’t think it was a big deal until people started looking for him.”

The room spins.

“You knew,” I say slowly. “You knew this and you never said anything.”

My hand moves before I think. I hit him. Hard.

He stumbles back, stunned.

“It’s Dominic,” he says, like it explains everything. “The nerd. I didn’t want to get involved.”

Something in me snaps.

“You are so heartless,” I scream. I need to tell someone.