“Do you remember what I said, Piper?” I kneel down to my sister’s height, my long, oversized anorak grazing the sodden grass. The waves hiss as they surge against the rocks below, each time growing more and more ferocious, mirroring the darkening skies above.

Finally, Piper nods. Her vibrant, ocean blue eyes look up into mine with such fierce love and unwavering trust, that I almost stop, I almost change my mind.

Almost.

I could change this in a heartbeat, if I wanted to. I could choose to be selfless, knowing that she’d be safe somewhere, happy, somewhere.

Somewhere without me.

“Tell me.” I say, placing my hands firmly on her shoulders.

She swallows, her little body beginning to shake. “If we can’t..” she pauses, her eyes searching mine like a lighthouse’s beam scanning the seas. “Willow, I’m scared.”

“Tell me now.”

“If we can’t live together, then we’ll die together.” Piper intones, voice quivering. I watch her take a breath. “What if... what if there was another way?”

“There isn’t another way.” I squeeze her shoulders harder, the coarse wind slaps against my cheeks. My heart pounds at each thwack of the crazed waves battering the shoreline below. “You know there isn’t. That family are going to take you, and we’ll never see each other again. Do you want that?”

She shakes her head violently. “No. No!”

“We’re the only family we’ll ever have, okay? We have to take this into our own hands - do you trust me?” A cold droplet of rain splatters against my forehead.

She watches me, silent tears descending down her cherubic cheeks. “Yes - and you promise we’ll wake up together in Heaven, just like you said?”

“I promise. You won’t feel a thing, and we’ll be together forever, and nothing, no one can take that away from us.” Our eyes hold a silent conversation, her brows furrow, lips turn downwards. I hold her gaze, and will every ounce of courage I have into her fragile, shaking bones.

Finally, the mist clears in her eyes, her mouth sets in a determined line.

It’s time.

I grab my sister’s hand and pull her towards the cliff edge with me.

She nods slowly in my direction.

Then we jump.