COUNTRY CLUB

THIRTEEN

Let my darling know that this kingdom was to built to fall, where the last piece of the crown will be buried at the foot of God's sent jewel. 

Venus' lover gave up the ghost. Dune's ears were filled with water, growing thorns to tickle her veins. She looked at JJ's cousin with little hope in her eyes. The world caved in and folded, holding Dune hostage between two rose petals. Dead rose petals. She looked at Rafe, who's lying unconsciously, his face lost its colour, his eyes shut off the city lights she couldn't see how beautiful one's blue eyes can be. His lips were parted, not sure if he was breathing properly, but he looked like he wanted to stay like this forever. But Dune didn't spend years wishing on the stars for this, for watching the boy she hated with all her heart lie down waiting for death to pull him out of train wreck. She walked towards the Pogues, closing the door behind her. They gathered around, enclosing the space between her and the stars, she wanted to scream but a new born star couldn't make it alive so it exploded in her mouth, burning her tongue.

"Rafe needs blood," she whispered, her eyes glued to her feet. JJ brought his ear to her mouth, killing what's left of space between them.

"What did you say?" he whispered back, bringing one hand and putting it on her lower back. He pushed her towards the middle, the pogues circled around her the way all planets gather around the sun. The only difference was Dune's light was given to the moon.

"Rafe needs blood!" she screamed, feeling her lungs expand and wrap themselves around her ribcage. She pushed JJ aside and went to Sarah, holding her hands in despair. Her vision blurred, she didn't know which clone she had to beg, and if there were thousands of clones, she'd beg them all one by one.

"Sarah, he's your brother. Please help him, otherwise his leg will be cut off. Please Sarah, do something."

Sarah shook her head, tears fell down her cheeks. Her grip tightened on Dune's hands, helpless. Dune looked around her, Kiara's hand was in between her hands, fighting her tears. A Pogue may not cry over a Kook but a human cries over another human. Before all the names and classifications of society, humans felt for each other. Pope brought his hands to his face, wiping his skin off. John B and JJ looked at each other, jaws tightened, but no signs of pity in their eyes. 

"I lost a lot of blood from when he shot me, I want to do something but I can't," stuttered Sarah, pulling Dune into an embrace. They cried into each other's arms, knowing quite well that there'll come a time where he'll fall off the rollercoaster and break his neck. They knew that Rafe didn't deserve any of this. He killed and messed with people's souls just to keep his name, yet he still gets treated like a silhouette, the sad song people skip all the time, the lonely chair that people pass by. Rafe Cameron may have killed Peterkin, he clung to courage because Ward's biggest fear was bravery. He feared nothing, and wasn't feared by anyone, he was pitted. 

"We need to help him," sobbed Dune into Sarah's shoulder. As for JJ, he watched the girl he once loved cry over someone else, twisting his bones, regretting carving her name on his heart. She's a wound that'll never be mended, a piece of a puzzle he'll never solve because it fits perfectly in one of the many wrongful places. "I will give him blood." 

Heads snapped towards the surfing prince, Dune felt the floor shake beneath their face. They had to act before the roof falls over their heads. She looked at Rafe, then at JJ. That's the true purpose of the country club, she thought. A blazing fire and a lustful lightning bolt can mix, can't they? 

JJ fixed his cap, he does it when he's nervous. He barged in the living area before having Dune walk towards him, wrap her arms around him and thank him. Before her tears showered his shoulder, he didn't want her to prove that what they had was just a summertime moving image. Dune watched him from the patio as he talked to his cousin, she waited as they went to his ambulance and shut the doors. Breathing in, she went inside to see Rafe. 

Walking slowly towards the sleeping emperor, too young to carry a throne on his own, too young to be feel things he shouldn't. She brought her dry lips to his forehead, softening them as soon as she left a gentle kiss. She sought solace in him the way he sought solace in cocaine the way Ward sought solace in killing him. Sense was just a myth, a lie. She had nothing to give him, the moment she stepped into the island she came empty handed, giving nothing and expecting nothing in return. She came back to see if he was happy, if the sight of him seeing her once again would change everything, would break them closer. None of that happened. 

"I hate you. I hate you so much that I came back just for you. I hate you with burning passion that every time I saw a pair of blue eyes I'd tremble, you still haunt me. Even I am right next to you, you're haunting me. What have I done to deserve all that, to turn into a runaway murderer for another murderer? Sometimes I wish I left you drown in that sinful lake, for it made you who you are today."  sniffled Dune, holding Rafe's hand so it could cup her face. She shuddered, it was colder than she expected, as cold as the dim side of the galaxy. "Everything that I did, I did it for you. I cannot tell you exactly what I did, because it'll make you hate me more than you already do. Excessive hate blooms into love they say, and I don't want you to love for something I have done. Rafe, this may sound cheesy, but I want you to know that Ward will not get away with this. He aimed to shoot me but you happened to wrap your arms around me. You didn't know, little sweet love of mine, but your dad hates every living that makes you happy. I can't lose you, Rafe. No one's going to hate me the way you." 

Her chest tightened, her lungs coughed out blood, begging her to stop talking. 

"Dune, I need you to wait outside." said JJ's cousin, she didn't hear him enter, not alone, JJ tagged along. He must've heard everything, yet he still wrapped his arm around her waist and carried her outside. He took her hand and stormed outside, passed by the rest of the Pogues. They walked towards the ambulance, pushing her in, he closed the door. 

"I just want you to know, that I didn't do it for you. I didn't do it for that lunatic, I did it for Sarah, alright?" his tone was lifeless, he paced back and forth, ran his hands through his hair and kneeled down to meet Dune's eyes. He clutched her jaw and pulled her head up, she could hear his teeth sharpen themselves. "Ever since you came back, my veins grew thorns. I don't know how that happened, I thought I was never going to see your face again. Do you know how many days it took me to pull myself out of debris? Ever since that day, I can't look into John B's eyes and act like everything is fine. You didn't come back for me, and it's not why I am hurt. You coming back reminds me of what a terrible friend I am. A pogue never lies to a fucking pogue. You turned into a lie living inside a lie. I hate you as much as you hate that lunatic."

She tried to remove his hand and pull away from him, her tears pooled down his bruised hands. She shook her head, begging to breathe. He smirked devilishly and answered her wish, followed by a sudden slap across her cheek. The type of slap that revives buried memories, a reminder that once in a lifetime, before learning how to carry a gun, she used to rest her bones next to a blonde surfing prince. She gasped, backing away from him as far as she could. 

"For someone who didn't bother to tell his best friend the truth, don't think I don't regret getting you in this mess with me. I regret it all. I regret not pushing your father away, it should've been me who had to sit in Shoupe's police car, not you. Life is not fair JJ. That night, when I arrived in Washington, I wanted to turn myself in. I swear I made Rafe park near the closest station. I wanted to turn myself in I swear but Rafe didn't let that happen. I owe him, J."

It's true, she owed him. She owed him more than he owed her. He said her life once, but she had to save his life every time.