✯Thirty-Two✯ - An Emotional Visit

✷Chapter Thirty-Two✷

It was all her fault. She caused it all.

She told him to die. And now he was about to lose his life already. It was her fault her best friend Alexa is dead.

Alexa was dead.

That word kept repeating in Teresa's head, and each time it did so, she found her head about to explode with such awareness, her heart squeezed hard that she found it too hard to breathe.

The apartment she shared with Alexa was now unfamiliar with the quietness of her surroundings. It was missing Alexa's talkative voice, her happy pill, her smiles and comforting nature.

Teresa felt she took Alexa's friendship with her for granted. She was never for once always open to her, she hid most things from her. Practically everything, it felt like all her life was a full secret, with the fear of Alexa spilling whatever conversation she had with her outside to someone.

Her heart hurts, her eyes hurt from crying throughout the whole week since her death, her body numb and weak to even stand for a long time.

Teresa hadn't believed Alexa was dead, she refused to believe so. But she was soon to realize it was true when she went through her phone to realize the news was all over the internet.

She lost her mind at that moment. She had remembered speaking to her the other night, all was normal and the same like always. Teresa had kept it simple and short, with the hope of Alexa coming back home to talk to her face to face. If anyone had told her that would be the last time she ever spoke to her, she would have taken her time to savor the moment. Or correct her mistakes.

She shouldn't have shouted at Gideon before he went picking Alexa up from the airport. She should have waited, she shouldn't have cursed him.

Teresa had wished him death.

A whimper of pain escaped her lips, as she curled herself on her bed, her hands in her chest as she struggled with the piercing pain in her heart. It hurt so badly that he found it extremely hard to control the pain.

She wasn't aware of the door of her room opening, but was aware of hands pulling her to sit up, before engulfing her in a tight embrace, while rubbing her hand to calm her.

"Shh. It's okay, I've got you." Her mother's comforting soft voice spoke out as she patted her back.

"Mom." She cried out, wrapping her hands around her mother's figure.

"Yes, my sweetheart let it out." Her mother said. Teresa tried speaking, but struggled to let out a word. The lack of breath from still crying prevented her from doing so. "Let it out."

She finally spoke, her voice shaky and weak. "I-it's all my fault. I killed Alexa. Now Gideon will be next too. He won't make it." She bawled out on her mother's shoulder.

Her mother Elena, pulled her back to gaze at her face. Her eyes running around her definitely red face. "Where did you get that thought from? None of this is your fault. It was Alexa's time to leave, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. And Gideon? That young man is a fighter, he'll make it. I'm very sure of that." She responded in a hard tone,

Elena paused for some while, not saying anything. Teresa couldn't see where her eyes were, due to the tears blinding her eyes, making things around her blurry.

"Is that why you haven't visited Gideon? Because you think everything is your fault?" Teresa's lack of response proved her mother right. She could hear her sigh out long. "You should sleep. Come close." Elena pulled her to her arms, patting her back softly, before placing a kiss on her forehead.

Teresa was grateful her parents were with her. It made it a lot easier to calm the pain a little. It made the apartment a little more lively, even though it was far different from how Alexa's presence made it.

She was far deep in thought, she didn't know when sleep took her into its warm embrace. All she knew was how welcoming it was. It made her forget, it brought her peace.

***

A knock at the door woke her from her deep sleep. Teresa slowly sat up, as the door pushed open to review the presence of her mother, who had a sympathetic look on her face.

"Alexa's mother is here. She'd like to see you." She muttered, before shutting the door back behind her.

Alexa's mother was here? She hadn't seen her ever since the funeral. She could remember how broken the woman was. No parent would like to bury any of their children while still alive.

Teresa quickly removed herself from the bed. Ignoring the headache hammering the back of her head. She dashed out of her bedroom, not wanting to keep the older woman waiting any longer. Not caring she only wore a large shirt reaching the top of her knees, with her hair messy, and her face ugly, due to how red it was.

She found Alexa's mother Valentina Rivera sitting on one of the couches in the living-room looking different from how she was the last time she saw her. She looked okay, like she hadn't lost a daughter. She sat on Alexa's favorite spot. It almost made Teresa choke out in tears, but she quickly blinked back the tears.

"Valentina." Teresa called out, moving towards the woman who stood on her feet to offer her a tight hug. Teresa welcomed the soft scent of her, nice and welcoming. She pulled back to gaze at the woman in curiosity. "Are you here to take her things?" She asked in a quiet voice, almost shaky as she found it suddenly hard to say her friend's name. Teresa was one step from letting the tears hanging in her eyes from dropping down.

Valentina let out a small smile. "Yes, I came to pick up her things, and also to speak with you." She said to her, before shifting her gaze to where her mother sat.

Her mother hesitated for some while, before standing up from the couch, giving the both of them some privacy.

Valentina shifted her gaze back on Teresa. She watched as the older woman's eyes scrutinized her from head to toes. "You look like a mess." She bit out, taking Teresa by surprise at how hard Valentina spoke, as she gave her a judgemental look.

Baffled at the woman's word, Teresa gasped out. "Excuse me?" She frowned at the woman standing opposite her. Teresa tears slowly going back into her eyes.

Alexa's mother glared at her. "I said you look messed up." She pointed at her again, not hesitating for a second.

Teresa felt a burning anger rage through her entire body, as she tried reasoning with herself from lashing out at the other woman. "That's because I lost a friend-"

"And I lost a daughter!" She yelled out, making Teresa flinch backward in surprise. At that instant Valentina's calm facade turned off, reviewing a vulnerable woman who was trying hard to control herself from bursting out in tears. "No matter how much you and Alexa were, the pain of losing a child hurts far more than the pain of losing a friend."

Valentina paused, taking a deep breath, her eyes still pierced on Teresa, before she continued.

"A friend? You can make new friendships in the future. But a daughter? A daughter can never be replaced. I carried her in my womb for nine months, after years of trying to conceive. I breastfeed her until she was a year old, and watched her grow up being the lady she was. And now she's gone. I'll never have a daughter who looks like Alexa, speaks like Alexa, behaves like Alexa ever again in this world. Despite knowing all this, do you see me moping around trying to pity myself? I suck everything up, all for the sake of keeping my family together. And yet here you are making a complete mess of your life. Do you think that's what Alexa would want for anyone? Especially for you Teresa?"

Teresa realized she was already crying as Alexa's mother spoke. She knew everything she said was true, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling this way.

She knew Alexa would hate seeing her this way, she always talked Teresa out from any sympathetic state. But Alexa wasn't here to do so. She was dead.

Alexa was gone. She wasn't coming back. "It's all my fault." She cried out, casting her head down from staring at the woman.

Valentina's hand gripped Teresa's hand into hers, while wiping the tears from her eyes with the other hand. Before touching her chin to lift her gaze back at her. The hard look on her face disappeared, as she gave her a warm smile. "You aren't at fault. You can't control nature and how it works. It isn't the young man's fault also that he and Alexa had an accident. All was just destined to be so. You know what I believe?" She asked Teresa who shook her head in return. "I believe I'm being punished for what I did years ago till Alexa's funeral. My eyes are open. And now it's time for you to see. Don't put your life in a halt for a moment of pain. I promise it will soon fade, but it's up to you to take the step into making it move again, before you regret doing nothing."

Those are the words Valentina's mother spoke, before heading to Alexa's room and packing up her belongings with the help of Alexa's younger brother Johnathan.

Teresa watched as Alexa's things were moved out, until they left. While she took her time thinking about what Valentina had just said.

She made up her mind.

It was about time she went to see Gideon.

That was the first step she was going to take.

*********

Thank you for reading Jacob's Game!!!

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