Chapter 1. Citlali (she)
I was certainly not expecting to see a message from Ameyal when I opened my emails on that morning. The sun was not even up and the glittering darkness of the city night still wrapped the Vancouver skyline. With my coffee mug in one hand and my phone in the other, I sat lazily in my living room, legs folded under my body on the couch. But when I saw the notification, I froze and put the mug down.
The simple fact of reading her name on the screen of my phone seemed anachronistic. The last time I had seen the beautiful immortal who had broken my heart was centuries ago when the life we were living now was not even possible to imagine. At first, I thought it had to be somebody else. But a pinch in my heart assured me instinctively that it was her.
The message had no object and my finger trembled slightly in hesitation when it touched the screen to open it.
Dear Citlali,
I know my message must come as a surprise. I hope you will open it anyway.
If you are reading these lines, it is because I am gone. I know you probably don’t want to have anything to do with me any longer, but there are some things I’d like for you to know. I left a key in a safe for you and for two other persons. You’ll find the address below. I can’t say more in this message but you will understand when you’ll meet them. They received similar messages. The bank has the instruction to open the safe only if the three of you are present.
I really hope you will go. And I wish you the very best in your life. I missed you so much.
I’m sorry for everything.
With all my love,
Ameyal
I couldn’t look away from my phone. I didn’t know how to feel. This person who had made me feel so loved and then so betrayed, who I had missed and remembered with so much anger, was gone. And I realized suddenly I had always thought, in a hidden corner of my mind, that we would find our way back to each other one day. But it would not happen now.
A tear rolled down my cheek, and my eyes locked on the address of the bank in New York. I knew I had to go.
