The City, the Bridge, the Stars

Madrid had begun to quiet as Jessica stepped out of the bar, the distant hum of the city settling into its midnight rhythm. The air was cool, the streets washed in soft amber light.

She walked with no destination, no plan, just movement. It felt strange. For the first time in a long time, she wasn’t running. She wasn’t hunting, wasn’t being hunted. She was just existing.

Jessica pulled her phone from her pocket. The call with Sam had helped ground her, but there were two more people she needed to reach out to. Leanna. Olivia.

She exhaled, pressing Leanna’s number first. It barely rang before Leanna answered.

“Jessica.”

Jessica smirked at the edge in her voice. “Hey, Leanna.”

A sharp inhale. Then, “Where the hell have you been?”

Jessica closed her eyes for a moment, letting the tension in Leanna’s voice settle over her. It wasn’t anger. It was fear. Frustration. Relief.

Jessica sighed. “Long story. I’m in Madrid.”

A pause. Then, “Madrid?”

Jessica smirked. “Yeah. Figured if I was gonna wake up anywhere, at least it’d be somewhere with good whiskey.”

Leanna’s exhale was shaky, but Jessica could hear the smirk in her voice. “You’re an asshole, you know that?”

Jessica’s smile softened. “Yeah. I know.”

There was a beat of silence. Leanna’s voice was lower now, steadier. “Are you okay?”

Jessica swallowed. Was she? She had walked away from something bigger than herself. She had made a choice that no vessel before her had made. She was free, but freedom had its own weight.

“I’m still figuring that out,” she admitted.

Another pause. Then, “Where are you?”

Jessica glanced around. “A few blocks from a bar called Las Brujas. Quiet street, not much traffic.”

Leanna exhaled. “Stay there. We’re coming.”

Jessica blinked. “You’re in Madrid?”

Leanna scoffed. “You disappeared, Jess. What the hell did you think we were gonna do?”

Jessica felt something tighten in her chest. She wasn’t alone. She had walked away, but they had still come for her. Like they always did.

Jessica swallowed. “Alright. I’ll wait.”

Leanna’s voice softened. “Good.”

The call clicked off. Jessica exhaled, slipping the phone back into her pocket. She glanced up at the sky. The stars were dim against the city lights, barely visible, but they were there.

Just like her. Still here. Still standing. Still choosing.

* * *

She leaned against the stone railing of a small pedestrian bridge, watching the quiet movement of the city. She had spent so long trying to understand herself through the past. Through Nietzsche’s fatalism, through Zorba’s hunger for life, through the Little Prince’s quiet wonder. But the truth was simpler than all of that.

She was here. She had lived, and would keep living. Not because it was written. Not because it was destined. Because she had chosen to.

The weight in her chest lightened, just slightly. A pair of footsteps echoed against the pavement. Jessica turned, and there they were.

Leanna and Olivia, both moving toward her like they had always been meant to find her.

Jessica exhaled.

She straightened, pushing off the railing. And as they closed the distance, for the first time in a long time, she didn’t feel like a ghost. She felt real. She felt alive. And whatever came next, she was ready.