Here Without You

Jack walked down the beach, staring at the midnight moon as the white, glowing waves crashed against themselves.
Finally, he came to the far end of the beach. He sat on the sand, letting the waves crash around his ankles.
He stared at the ocean, watching the lights from the moon bounce along the waters rough surface.
A woman was walking down the beach in his direction. She was so pale that the moonlight bounced off her skin and made her glow. Her hair was in soft, red waves as vivid as a flame down her back and her huge green eyes shined brightly.
Jack’s heart skipped a beat as Siobhan came towards him.
“Si!” He yelled, running towards her. By the time he had reached the girl, she was gone.
Jack breathed deeply in order to prevent his tears. The illusion had been so vivid. He really thought she was the real thing this time.
“Why do you have to do this to me?” He yelled into the endless expanse of sky. He leaned against a pile of driftwood. “Why, Siobhan?”
Ever since her tragic murder a year earlier, he had seen her everywhere he went.
“Si, I love you! Why did you have to be taken away from me?” He questioned as he lay against the wood, sobbing. “Who did this to you?”
This time, the figure sat next to him. There were scars all over her body, welts, blood spilling everywhere. This is what she had looked like when she was murdered.
“Who could have done something like this?” He asked. The illusion tried to speak, but could not. It disappeared.
They did everything they could to find the murderer, but to no avail. There had been no DNA left behind.
“That son of a bitch is still out there Si, but I’m going to find him! I promise.”
I know you will, Jack, her voice undulated in his mind. He’s closer than you think. It’s almost over...
Chillingly, Jack’s phone rang just then.
“They’ve got him!” Siobhan’s sister, Patricia, said through tears. She was the lead detective on the case.
“What?” He asked, breathless. “What are you talking about?”
“His name is Kevin Leonards. He’s a sick SOB and he has killed thirteen other women. He admitted to the murder! Court is in a few months, but we’ve got him and he’s in jail!!!”
Jack could feel hot tears running down his face. Siobhan smiled beside him and faded away. She had finally found her peace.
“Is there any way I can talk to him?” Jack asked. Patricia gasped.
“Jack, he’s a convicted serial murderer. It’s just not safe.”
“Then come with me. There is no way he is going to get out of this without knowing exactly how much he hurt all of us. He’s not going to rot in jail without knowing that he killed the most beautiful woman in the entire world. I want it to haunt him forever.”
Patricia sighed on the other end. “Okay, fine. But I want to go with you. I love you, baby brother.” Jack smiled at her nickname for him.
“I love you too. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Jacks dreams that night were full Siobhan, before and after.
“Come down to the station.” Patricia said sharply before hanging up the phone.
He met her in the interview room. An attractive man in a bright orange jumpsuit came out to meet them. Jack’s stomach clenched in anger at the sight of his cocky smirk.
“Well?” He asked.
“You fucking ruined my life.” Jack snarled. Patricia just cried softly in the corner.
“I don’t even know you.”
“How many people have you killed? How many people have you destroyed?” I asked.
“Oh, you’re the Irish broads boyfriend, eh? Shame. She was a good lay.”
That was it.
Jack jumped from his chair and ran over to him. He started throwing punches. “That ‘Irish broad’ was the woman of my dreams and the center of my universe! And you took her away from me!”
Patricia jumped up and pulled him off of Kevin and led him out of the room.
“I’ll see you in court!” He yelled as he was forced out of the room.
Kevin Leonards was convicted of thirteen counts of rape and murder on July 27, 2008.
Exactly one year after Siobhan O’Grady was murdered.