|| Tears of the Sky || A Random Love Story || Part 2

Soon day broke, and Alex soon found himself leaning against the large blossoming tree staring out into the flowing waves of the ocean again. Strangely, throughout the whole night, his beloved Kiyoko had never come home. The raven-haired boy stood there pondering a moment as he walked back into the quaint little cottage.

Immediately, Alex made his way into his bedroom to check for any messages that had been left during the course of the night. A sigh of relief rushed over him as the little red light blinked in a pattern. Thank God.

Quickly he took a seat beside the table and pushed the button. Automatically the electronic voice that was all too familiar came on. "You have 6 new messages." The voice was cold, and emotionless. Alex's dark blue eyes widened in bewilderment. "What, six?" His own voice was cut off, as the first message began to play.

"Hey Alex. I'm sorry I missed the sunset with you today. I'll be back tonight soon. I promise. I love you." Kiyoko's voice came throught the speakers in a clear concise tone.  A smile came across Alex's face, only to be wiped off in a mere second. "End of message.", the voice that followed seemed to be so unreal, creating a chill running down his spine. The voice seemed as if someone had cut and pasted someone's words together.

Soon a series of messages ran, each and every filled with the small brightness of Kiyoko's familar tone. But after the first, they all became muffled in the sounds of rain splashing onto the cold hard concrete of the inner city. The next two were just cute little reminders of how much she loved him. The fourth, his lucky number, was a quiet message filled with static. It was quiet fo about 10 seconds, until an ear-splitting scream broke the silence of rain falling. "Alex!" He jumped at the sound of his name, and soon the line had gone dead.

Maybe 4 wasn't oh so lucky anymore. The chilling voice came on again stating the fact that the message had ended. Frustrated, his head fell into his hands, as if in a trance. "Kiy..", his voice trailed off at the first syllable. A sharp annoying little beep came, and the fifth message followed. "Alex.", Kiyoko seemed out of breath. For all the years he had known her, she was never out of breath. Such a girl like Kiyoko who ran ten miles every morning just for the hell of it would not be out of breath.

"I-I'm so s-sorry, I'm going to break my p-promise.", her voice quivered, making Alex move closer to the phone. "Alex, whatever y-you do p-please don't leave the house. I-I'm sorry.", She took a sharp breath, and started to sob. "I  l-love you." And with that the line went dead.

Alex grew sick with worry, almost to the point of losing his mind in a matter of a few seconds. "Six meassages. Six. That means there's one more.", Alex's breaths were shaky, fearing the worst. The last and final message began to play. It was plauged with static for a few seconds, and soon a song began to play.


"The phone rings
And she screams

Stab my back
It's better when I bleed for you
You walk on me
It never was enough to do

I can't get past her
Falling faster
It's true
It hasn't done a lot for you.."


The clip of the song ended a moment, leaving a chilling feeling in Alex. The message continued with the sound of a clock ticking, and the electronic voice repeating the number six. The song played again and it struck him. The song was Stab My Back by The All-American Rejects. He had listened to it in his car for weeks while it was on the radio.

The song repeated again and a series of numbers followed in the same cut and pasted electronic voice. "8. 6. 6.", the voice paused, and it continued again, "7. 6. 6. 6. 6." Pause. "8. 6. 6." Another sick pause. "5. 2. 8. 3." The message ended and the phone hung up.

Afraid Alex looked again only to see that the message was from Kiyoko's cell phone. He forced himself to listen to the last message again. "Six," he repeated to himself. "Kiyoko's favorite number." His voice sank.

Alex grabbed the package of blue star shaped post-its Kiyoko had always left beside the phone, and carefully wrote down the numbers. The line went dead agai as he stared at the random numbers. "Dammit! What the hell is this supposed to mean!", Alex screamed in frustration as he threw the post-its against the wall.

He realized what he had done, and sank back into the chair. "Kiyoko. How could you do this to me?", he murmured in desperation.  He lifted his head slightly only to see that horrid phone before him. He pulled it closer a second, peering at it closer. "What's with these stupid lett-"

"8. 6. 6.   7. 6. 6. 6.   8. 6. 6.   5. 2. 8. 3.", Alex said to himself. And with a shaky breath, he decoded the numbers using the letters on the toch tone phone. The series of numbers spelled an eerie message. 


"Too Soon Too Late."