𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃─𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

twenty six.

─☼☼☼─

𝙄𝙏 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙇𝙊𝙏𝙏𝙀'𝙎 phone that caused her eyes to open late the next morning. 

It had to be close to noon by the time she finally awoke. The whirlwind of the previous night took a larger toll on her than she cared to admit. In the span of a couple of hours, she had learned of the murder of the Sheriff, the disappearance of her sister and friends─oh, and she had slept with Rafe. 

Speaking of the blonde haired boy...he was no where to be seen. His side of the bed was left unmade, and a fresh glass of water had been placed next to Charlotte's bedside. 

She smiled softly, her heart fluttering at the thought of him.

Little did she know, seconds later her heart would be fluttering for an entirely different reason─and not necessarily a good one. 

Reaching over to pick up her phone, she expected to see a text from Rafe alerting her to his whereabouts, or maybe a check-in text from her parents (she still hadn't figured out how she was going to break the news of Kie's departure). 

But it wasn't a text from either of those people. No, it was a text from her sister─actually, multiple texts and missed calls. 

With her mouth going dry, Charlotte felt her heart lurch into her throat as she unlocked her phone and opened the messages. 

They varied in their direct wording, but were all urgent, all essentially the same message. 

kie: WHERE ARE YOU?

kie: CALL ME RIGHT NOW CHARLOTTE

kie: CHARLOTTE!!!! WHERE ARE YOU???

KIE: WE NEED HELP!

kie: meet us at the hawk's nest at 12. DO NOT TELL ANYONE WHERE YOU ARE GOING

With shaky fingers, Charlotte quickly typed her response.

charley: ok. im on my way. you have a lot of fucking explaining to do kiara.

She wasn't sure at all what was happening. But it was clear that Kiara and the others had never left. They had been on the island the entire time. 

Rafe had lied to her.

A million thoughts were rushing through Charlotte's head, and all she knew was that she needed to get the hell out of Tannyhill. 

Hastily throwing her clothes back on, Charlotte shoved all of her belongings into her bag before hurrying out of the room. She needed to get out of here unseen. 

Heart pounding in her ears, Charlotte stepped into the hall, her eyes darting around. Ward's office door was closed, and there was no sign of anyone else on the second floor. Thankful for this, she rushed down the stairs as quietly as possible. 

Halfway down the stairs, she could hear voices carrying from one of the first-floor bedrooms. She instantly recognized the two voices as Rafe and Wheezie. 

Panic soar through her as she hurried to the bottom, rushing around one of the corners just as footsteps sounded from the hallway.