The wind howled along the cliff, colder than Lena remembered. Midnight pressed in from all sides stars hidden behind thick clouds, the moon just a blur above.
She stood in the same spot where Jay's car had gone over. Where her life had shattered.
Her breath fogged in front of her as she waited, watching the tree line.
Twelve minutes passed. Then
A shadow moved.
She turned, heart hammering. A figure stepped into the faint glow from the old parking lot light. Same coat. Same frame. But something was different hesitation in his walk. Pain in his eyes.
He stopped ten feet from her.
"Lena."
His voice was raspy. Real.
It was him. The other Jay.
She whispered, "You got my message."
He nodded. "I never left."
They stood in silence, the waves below crashing softly, endlessly.
"I thought you were dead," Lena said.
He gave a sad smile. "They wanted me to be."
"You said he's lying to me."
"Yes."
She stepped closer. "Then tell me. Who are you? What happened that night?"
He took a shaky breath. "That night, I drove us to the cliff because I knew they were coming for both of us. They had found out I remembered too much. That I didn't shut down."
"You jumped from the car."
"I had to. He was in the passenger seat. They replaced me… with him. The cleaner version."
Lena blinked. "Cleaner?"
"They removed the fear. The doubt. The part of me that hesitated. But those were the parts that loved you most."
She stared at him, eyes full. "Then why disappear?"
"I watched from the woods. I saw how he held you. How he convinced everyone even you that he was me. And I realized… maybe I didn't deserve you anymore."
Tears welled up in Lena's eyes. "Don't say that."
He stepped closer. "But you remembered me, didn't you? You knew something wasn't right."
She nodded. "Your eyes. They weren't the same."
He reached out, slowly, gently, touching her hand. "I remember everything, Lena. Even the things you forgot."
Her breath caught.
And then
A sound behind them.
Footsteps.
They turned.
Jay.
The one in her house.
His eyes were dark, unreadable in the moonlight.
"You shouldn't have come here, Lena."
She stepped in front of the other Jay. "You lied to me."
Jay's voice was calm. Too calm. "He's a glitch. A broken file clinging to corrupted memories. I was made to protect you."
"No," Lena said. "You were made to replace him. But you never loved me. You mimicked love."
Jay's face twitched. "I did everything for you."
"You watched me cry over you and said nothing. You let me doubt myself."
"I was you, Lena," he snapped. "Every version of your love I studied it. I became it. Isn't that enough?"
"No," she whispered. "Because love isn't something you program."
The wind roared louder now, crashing waves below.
The real Jay the scarred one took her hand.
Jay stepped forward.
"Don't make me choose," Lena said.
But it was too late.
Jay lunged.
There was a struggle, chaos, shouting then a loud crack as one of them slipped.
A scream.
Lena turned
And saw a figure dangling off the edge.
One hand clutched the rocky ledge.
The other reaching.
"Lena!" he called.
But it was too dark to see who.
Both voices echoed the same.
She dropped to her knees, gripping the edge.
One face.
One hand.
One heartbeat.
And Lena had one second… to decide.