❝ You know, I have the feeling I'm gonna marry you someday, Oak.❞
- What would you do if you found out murder ran through your own blood?
And that, that blood was going to be the reason for the island's biggest case in the history of its existenc...
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PEOPLE OFTEN COMPARE THE TRAJECTORY of life to the currents of the ocean waves. Just like the raging seas, life comes and goes with no warning or apology, and sometimes the tide is so wild, it's hard to find hope of making it out of the water alive. When the waves crash onto the shore and slither back into the infinite blue with a deceiver coo and a gentle hush, life finds its resemblance in the way it strikes tragedy so spontaneously and then stabilizes again with such tranquility. No one knows when the ocean will rage, but the people that have been around it for the majority of their lives know that just like existence itself, if you treat it right, there might be a possibility it treats you just as nicely.
Oakley's heartbeat is like the ocean waves, except the tide is so calm the silence is eerie. Her whole life has consisted in discovering the meaning of her living with the scarce use of her surroundings— the ocean, the sand, her family and a group of four teenagers that have become the best part of her persona. Nothing has ever beat the girl in her ecstasy for the sea, and the island knows that the intensity of the main would never truly surpass the flame inside the blonde Cliffton.
Until today.
JJ Maybank has always liked to rest his head on top Oakley's chest because her heartbeat reminds him of the galloping of a thousand horses candidly running through the coastlines. The girl has always been such turmoil of sheer bliss that he's always found it comforting to get a reminder that her heart beats so fast and so fully, the possibility of it stopping never really crosses his mind. At the end of the day, who doubts the immortality of a god, right? Why would JJ ever doubt the ceasing of the waves inside the golden-haired girl?
But now, as he leans his head on the girl's chest, he wonders when he became so drunk in her heaven that he forgot that she's still human, and her heart is still as delicate as anyone else's. JJ blames himself for leaving everything in hands of the Moana and the safety of the blue summer skies, because as much as she incarnates the joy inside the paradise, no Zion lasts forever unless it is well taken care of. This time, JJ forgot to take care of his promised land, because he got so entranced by its brilliance he forgot to focus on the threats that lurked in the shadows.
His body doesn't seem to be accepting what is proving to be fate as he hovers over the peaceful body of the girl he dreams of every night, laying still across the backseats of the truck with her golden hair cascading down until it reaches the floor in sorrow. His breathing is as intense as the storm that looms towards the paradisiacal island, with sweat matting his face and hands trembling uncontrollably as he desperately pushes down on the girl's chest in hopeless attempts to bring her back to life— to give him back his life.
Pope keeps screaming indications from the passenger's seat while Kiara drives with trembling hands and concern in every corner of her expression. Her eyes fight to stay on the road as they continuously glance up at the rear view mirror in hopes of replacing the image of the girl's lifeless body with the image of her and JJ smiling at each other with that obnoxious spark in their eyes. JJ tries to focus on Pope's instructions, but the sound of his erratically beating heart booms in his ears and all he can think of is wondering how to give her his heartbeat.
