DEVIL

2.0 | Prologue - Angel

"Did you kill Sheriff Peterkin?" Rafe's eyebrows furrowed together, showing shock at the accusation, but not guilt; this already started to ease Poetry's nerves. "What? Poe, where did you get that idea?"

"It doesn't matter," she shrugged, crossing her arms. "Did you kill Sheriff Peterkin?" she repeated, this time, drawling each word out slower. Rafe took a step closer towards Poetry, placing his hands on the tops of her arms. "I did not kill Sheriff Peterkin," he confirmed, holding strong eye contact with Poetry. She released a sigh of relief, pulling Rafe into a hug. "I'm sorry," she mumbled into his chest.

Rafe rested his chin atop her head, wrapping his arms around her shoulders as he slightly swayed them. "It's alright," he told her. "We're all on edge right now, it's okay."

"Poe, you know I was being serious about leaving, right?" he added, prompting Poetry to lift her head off of his chest and stare up at him. "I'm not leaving my family, Rafe-"

"Think about it, Poetry. The cops haven't caught him yet, so, he'll come after me first. Then, he'll come after you; he knows where you live, he's close to you, and he knows you're close to me – if anything happened to me, he knows you'd turn him in, in a heartbeat. Do you really wanna put your family through that, Poe?" Poetry shook her head, fighting the tears attempting to well up in her eyes.

"We'll come back, Poe – I promise. Everything will be okay, just go pack a bag." Poetry slowly nodded, turning to go upstairs to her room. She did just as she was instructed to do. Poetry grabbed the duffel bag from the top shelf in her closet, tossing in clothes at random. She hastily threw in her toiletries, and she made sure not to abandon her phone and charger.

Poetry slung the duffel bag over her shoulder, first, going to Eridanus' room. She didn't want to wake him, so she only knelt down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. "I'm not leaving you forever, I promise," she whispered before leaving to Anthony's room, being sure to leave her bag outside of his door. "Ant," she whispered.

Anthony's eyes slowly fluttered open. "Are you okay?" he whispered in response, earning a nod from his little sister. "I just wanted a hug before I went to bed," Poetry lied, leaning down to hug her older brother. "Are you sure you're okay, Poe?" she only nodded again, soon leaving his room. Poetry descended the stairs, wiping her tears with the back of one hand as she clasped her bag's strap with the other. "You ready to go?" Rafe asked as he took her bag for her.

"Don't cry, Poe. We're not leaving forever," he added, placing a tender kiss on top of her head. Poetry only nodded her head again before getting into Rafe's car. Through the window, she watched as her home slowly faded from sight. Poetry refused to call it "home," throughout the entire time she'd lived there. But now, as she watched it fade into the distance, holding every person she loved, she knew it was home. And she knew she'd been abandoning her home, for the second time in her life.

Poetry turned her head to face forward again. Usually, during such late hours into the night, she'd be nearly passing out by now; but, she was far too wired to even consider sleeping. "Where are we going?" she asked, prompting Rafe to shrug. "I figured I'd just drive until a place came to mind."

"Don't be nervous, Poe. Everything will be okay," Rafe reassured her, reaching over to grab her hand and bring it up to his lips, placing a soft kiss on the back. "Get some sleep, angel."