The Ice Surfer

Chapter 14 " The Aftermath"

The dock was cold against JJ's leg as he sat there, feet dangling above the water. The sky was blue again, but there were still clouds in sight from the storm. The air was a weird mixture moist and cold, like it couldn't decide whether to be humid or chilly.

When November had arrived it had chased away most of the tourists from the island, leaving the permanent obx residents alone. Everybody knew each other. Nothing new. There was rarely anything exciting happening this time of year on the island.

The surfing season was almost over too, the water getting colder every day. That, among other things, made JJ feel tired and unmotivated. He despised the winter. It was never cold enough to snow at the OBX, only rain and lots of storms. Growing up, JJ's dad often forgot to pay the electrical bills, which led JJ to freeze and shiver every winter.

That was why he loved the summer. The warmth and humidity that most people found insufferable, but JJ loved. It was like his natural habitat. The surfing and the clear blue sky, the endless supply of beer and keggers. Girls in bikinis. That was why he loved the summer.

But this summer, after John B and Sarah died at sea, all he could feel was cold. The humid air would press against his skin, but still, he'd lay there shivering. It was inescapable. It felt like a part of JJ had died as well that night.

The weeks after, he had been waking up with nightmares every time he slept. The Chateau didn't feel like home anymore, after John B was gone. Just a shack with haunting memories. But JJ didn't have anywhere else to go. He couldn't go home, to his dad. The charges against JJ had been dropped that night, after the cops realised what they'd done, but JJ's dad was still furious. JJ had taken The Phantom, and the consequences for that were bad. Really bad. After they'd gotten back to the house, Luke wasted no time before beating his son the ground.

JJ was already weak that night, so it didn't take long before he ran out of there, in search of a place to stay. The Chateau was the only place left.

Kiara would often spend several weeks at The Chateau at a time. It was an escape for her, from her parents and all their expectations. Pope would stay over too sometimes, tried to keep the place in check, as well as his friends, of course.

The following months, the three remainder Pogues were all each others life lines. They grew completely inseparable, like real family. They needed each other.

They were slowly healing. Slowly. But every time JJ would accidentally mention John B's name, or someone uttered 'Sarah Cameron', he felt all the pain and guilt rushing back to him.

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Ward Cameron had been arrested shortly after the young couple's disappearance. He was charged with several murder counts, including Sheriff Peterkin's. Ward had taken the blame for that too, which led Rafe to being found innocent. But he wasn't. Rafe was still a murderer, walking around free.

That pissed JJ off. Everything about Rafe pissed JJ off. So much of what had happened was his fault.

One evening in early September, JJ, Pope and Kiara were at the Boneyard, surfing. A few hours had passed by, and the beach was quickly getting emptied with tourists since it was getting dark. Pope had left early to study, leaving Kiara and JJ almost completely alone on the beach. That was, until Kiara spotted Rafe walking in the distance. Naturally, things had gotten bad quickly.

Kiara had always been the most well-tempered out of the group, always the one to calm the others down, but not anymore. After what Rafe had done to her and her friends, she took every opportunity to make his life a living hell.