01/11/2025
๐๐๐๐๐ข-๐ช๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ |
Heartโs Desire
News Headline:
"BODY OF MISSING WOMAN FOUND IN GRASS FIELD โ HEART MISSING"
Police suspect a crime of passion. The victim, identified as 27-year-old Grae Solis, was last seen with his girlfriend, Alliah Heart, who remains unavailable for comment.
The morning was painfully quiet when they found him. Dew clung to the grass like reluctant tears, and the police stood in silence as they covered what was left of Grae Solis.
No one spoke about the hollow in his chest โ how clean the cut was, how gentle the wound looked, almost as if someone had tried not to hurt him while taking what they wanted most.
At the funeral, Alliah wore white. People whispered that it was strangeโ mourning in purity, but she only smiled faintly and said, โHe deserved to rest in light.โ Her voice cracked in all the right places. The crowd wept for her againโ for the woman cursed to lose everyone she ever loved.
No one noticed the way her fingers lingered over the coffin, tracing invisible circles on the wood, or how she bit her lip like she was holding something sweet on her tongue.
Alliah always loved beautifully. Perfectly.
Too perfectly.
Her boyfriends used to say she was the kind of woman you will marryโ kind eyes, soft voice, and patient heart.
What they didnโt see was how her love changed when they began to lie, when promises started to sound rehearsed.
They all looked perfect when they vanished, too.
Their bodies were always found the same way: untouched, serene, heart missing.
The police called it a ritual.
Alliah called it mercy.
She said once, โI only take the part thatโs true. The part that loved me.โ
Because love, she believed, was a living thing โ and she couldnโt stand to see it rot.
Grae had been different, though.
He was warm where the others were cruel, patient where the others were proud. He made Alliah believe, for a while, that love could last without bleeding.
But love always turns.
Alliah saw the change in his eyes, the soft guilt of someone already walking away.
Alliah didnโt blame him. She never did. She only wanted to keep him, just as she was โ before the leaving, before the lies.
That night, rain crawled against the windows, thunder growling low like warning.
Grae sat on the couch, his hands shaking. โAlliah, please, letโs just talkโโ
But Alliahโs eyes were calm, glassy. The knife in her hand trembled like something alive.
โI canโt lose you,โ she whispered. โNot when I finally have you whole.โ
โAlliah, pleaseโฆโ
โIโm doing this because I love you,โ she said, voice breaking. โAnd I want your heart to stay mine. Forever.โ
There was a wet sound, then silence so complete it felt holy. Outside, the storm applauded, washing the world clean.
..
Months passed. The story faded, like tragedies always do.
People said Alliah was healing โ smiling again, volunteering at the shelter, baking for the neighbors.
They didnโt notice how she lingered too long at butcher stalls, her eyes tracing each neat slice of red like scripture. How she always bought a single red rose, never a bouquet. How she cooked only for one, but always made too much.
One evening, in a quiet restaurant, she sat across from a man with kind eyes and nervous hands.
They talked softly. He made her laugh. He asked about her past, gently, the way good men do. And then, smiling, he said, โHow do you love, Alliah?"
She stirred her wine โ dark, slow, crimson.
Her reflection swirled inside the glass, eyes too calm to belong to someone ordinary.
โWhen I love,โ she said, her tone steady as prayer, โI love deeply.โ
He chuckled. โHow deeply?โ
Alliah met his gaze. Her lips curvedโ a soft, secret smile.
โTo my heartโs desireโฆโ she whispered, โand yours.โ She chuckled darkly.
He laughed, not understanding. But Alliah did.
And in the flicker of candlelight, her eyes shone with something tender, hungry, and utterly devoted.
Because she never stopped believing that love should stay pure, and if it couldnโt, she knew how to keep it that way.
Written by Ashley Jade Fernandez
Picture by Niรฑo Cruz
