MERCEDES, jj maybank

48.

TYLER VON THORNE

There was faint talking coming from multiple people as Trinity started to come around, her eyes fluttered open and then squinted shut after the blinding light took her by surprise. She waited for her eyes to adjust before opening them once more. "Where am I?" Trinity croaks.

"You're on a cargo ship, we found you in the middle of the ocean,"

She abruptly sat up causing everyone around her to gently lay her back down, "Where's John B and Sarah? Are they okay"

"It was just you,"

Her heart sinks, "Are you sure?" Trinity's voice cracks. They didn't make it.

After getting checked out by the medical team and meeting the captain they informed Trinity of their route and how the closest place to them from where they were was Charleston. The crew had given her a chance to use the showers and change into the fresh set of clothes they had given her, which was a plain grey tracksuit.

"So the closest port to us now would be Charleston," A crew member tells her, "We were coming up from Brazil,"

"Charleston? I have a brother that lives in West Ashley," Her eyes light up.

One of the ladies says, "We can drop you at the closest port but how will you get to West Ashley?"

"I don't think it's a good idea to leave her on her own, she's a kid." One of the men says.

"We can call her a driver?" Someone suggests.

"Yes,"

"That's a good idea,"

"Well then, it's settled. I'll go and tell the captain."

Trinity turns to one of the ladies, "Are you sure no other kids my age had washed up?"

The lady smiles sympathetically, "No I'm sorry sweetie, it was just you,"

§

After finally getting dropped at a dock and escorted to a car, Trinity endured a forty-five-minute silent drive in the back of a black SUV until she finally got to her brothers street. "You can let me go here, it's down this road," She says.

"Are you sure?" The driver asks. Trinity nods eagerly and the car comes to a halt.

She thanks the driver and heads off to her brother's house. Tyler lived in a three-floor house on his own but his girlfriend Chelsea often stayed with him since his house was so big he often felt lonely.

She knocked at the door and waited for her brother to come down.

Tyler opened the door and his mouth fell open, "You're shitting me." He instantly hugged the small girl as tight as he could, "I got told you fucking died!"

"Everyone probably thinks I am dead," She says into his chest.

"How did you get here," He takes her inside.

"It's a long story,"

He smiles and goes into the kitchen to make food. Trinity sits at the coffee table. "I'm all ears Tee."

Trinity takes a big breath of air, "Ready?"

"Is it really that long?"

"Just shush, John B's Dad went missing at sea like ten months ago - maybe eleven. Big John was finding the Royal Merchant and John B Routledge decided to continue what his Dad started with JJ Maybank, Pope Heyward, Kiara Carrera and Sarah Cameron. So we found the Merchant, then we found four hundred million in gold that was on the Merchant but Ward Cameron is selfish so he stole it from the Pogues and tried to send it away to the Bahamas but then John B  stopped his plane on the tarmac, then Sherrif Peterkin came to arrest Ward for the murder of Big John, then Rafe Cameron - by this point we had already broken up but Rafe Cameron shoots Pete, she dies, Ward blames John B and then the whole Island is on lockdown looking for JB with a twenty-five thousand dollar reward and the SBI comes too - the Pogues all help JB to escape with Sarah to go to Mexico - and this is where I come in. JJ stole his Dad's boat - the Phantom and it was like forty years old so I was meant to go with John B only to the next dock where he would drop me after I fix any maintenance issues - instead of dropping me, he gets Sarah and then we try and stealthily let the tide take us out but we just aren't that lucky so all of the power in the Island gets restored and the lighthouse was shining right at us. The cops all get in boats and start chasing us and the only place we could escape was right through the storm. The boat flipped and I woke up in a medical room on some cargo ship but I have no clue what happened to JB and Sarah,"

"Jesus," He breathes. And then lightly laughs at the long story his sister has just recited.

"I know."

Tyler holds two plates of food in his hands and heads of to the dining table. They sit opposite each other and as they eat Tyler still has questions for Trin.

"So when did you and the Pogues start hanging out?"

She thinks to herself for a second, "Right after hurricane Agatha, as soon as the power went out."

"Right after your birthday," Tyler adds. "I see you're not wearing the necklace I got you," He points to Trinity's chest with his fork.

She pats her chest and then remembers, "I gave it to JJ at the last second, I had a feeling something would have gone wrong so..."

Tyler nods, understanding, "Makes sense. Is he your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, no, I don't know." She knew that they weren't an official couple or whatever but she wanted them to be, besides they acted like a couple.

"I didn't think Rafe was right for you ever since he dropped out of college he started to lose it, what happened with you two anyway?"

Trinity shrugs, "I just couldn't deal with his antics anymore, he just kept doing things without thinking about the consequences and I'd have to pick up the pieces and he was an addict--"

"An addict?"

She nods, "He does coke all of the time, of course, he and I had good moments but the bad overshadowed but JJ was always just different to him."

"Of course, and Rafe's a murderer,"

"I don't want to go back, Tyler," Trinity sulks.

His eyebrows furrow, "You have to go back, you have school,"

"Like you care about school," She retorts. When Tyler was Trinity's age he didn't have a good group of friends and caused trouble around the Island for fun. He had been arrested countless times but his parents always bailed him out, apart from one time where he spent seven months in jail and came out with tattoos on his arms, neck and chest.

"You can stay for a little bit."

"No I mean, why don't I let everyone just think I'm dead and I start a new life here, living with you?"

"Trinity you know you can't do that."