Chapter 4

The remaining days passed in a blur of final preparations. Closing accounts, signing papers, severing the last legal ties.

Ethan called, texted. Sometimes angry, sometimes pleading, sometimes pretending everything was normal.

"Dinner tonight, Sarah? That new place downtown?"

"We need to talk about this, about us."

"Are you trying to punish me? Is that it?"

I rarely answered. When I did, my responses were brief, noncommittal.

He brought Chloe to the penthouse. I came back one afternoon to find her lounging on my sofa, watching television, an empty ice cream carton beside her.

She looked up, startled, then smirked. "Oh, hi. Ethan said it was okay."

I said nothing. I walked to my room, closed the door.

Their laughter, their hushed conversations, drifted under the door.

It was all noise. Meaningless.

The tenth day arrived. My birthday.

The irony wasn' t lost on me. A day of birth, a day of "death."

I woke early. The city was quiet.

I made coffee, my hands surprisingly steady.

I took out the small box from Napa. My mother' s locket. I put it on.

There was a small, framed photo of Ethan and me, from our wedding day. We looked happy, hopeful. Fools.

I took the photo, walked to the fireplace. I lit a match, held it to the corner of the picture.

It caught, curled, blackened.

Their faces, smiling, turned to ash.

A small ritual. A final goodbye.

The doorbell rang, insistent, angry.

I knew who it was.

I opened the door. Ethan stood there, his face contorted with rage. Chloe cowered behind him, dabbing at her eyes.

"What did you do to her?" Ethan snarled, pushing past me.

"What are you talking about?"

"She said you came to the vineyard, threatened her! Threatened the baby!" Chloe sobbed dramatically.

"That' s a lie," I said calmly.

"I don' t believe you!" Ethan shouted. He was shaking. "You' re jealous! You can' t stand that I' m happy, that I' m having a child!"

He advanced on me, backing me towards the large balcony windows. The cityscape spread out behind me, vast and indifferent.

"I' m leaving you, Ethan," I said, my voice quiet but clear. "To Chloe. To your child. To this whole mess."

The Guide' s presence was suddenly strong, a pressure in the air. The countdown was over. The passage was opening.

Ethan' s face was inches from mine, his eyes wild. "You' re not going anywhere!"

He grabbed my shoulders, his fingers digging in.

"Happy birthday to me," I whispered.

Then, I stepped back.

Into the open air.

His horrified scream was the last thing I heard from that world.