𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘴 ☼ 𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯

𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯〔 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 〕

𝘈𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥𝘦'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

I'm abruptly jolted awake to the sound of a horn blaring loudly and the first thing I see is Sarah looking back at me. My eyes dart around the small cabin room we're in before looking back to her and she shuffles closer to me with a concerned frown on her face.

"How you feeling?" The blonde girl asks me.

"Like shit" I answer groggily "Where's Rafe?"

"Probably moping around somewhere because I wouldn't let him in" She explains to me.

I nod in understanding, pushing the blanket off of me and pausing when I notice the black running shorts I'm wearing. I then realise my dirty top has been replaced with a loose green crop top.

"Rose" Sarah elaborates, noticing my confused expression "She cleaned you up and changed you"

I carefully lift my hand to my head and sure enough I find my hair in braids, confirming Sarah's words.

"Are we locked in here?" I question, glancing at the door and she nods.

"I don't know why they keep doing this shit. I can't believe it" Sarah complains.

"Fucking assholes" I mutter.

I hear the door click open and I look up with a glare, expecting to see Rafe. Instead of Rafe, Ward Cameron appears in the doorway and I freeze up in shock.

"Hi, sweetie" He says to Sarah and I look at the girl who is staring at her father in disbelief "It's me"

"I know this is impossible to you,          and I'm gonna explain-" The man is cut off from his sentence as Sarah storms up to him and slaps him across the face, causing my eyes to widen in surprise.

"You're right. I'm sorry.     I deserve that. I do. I know I do. You have been through hell,           and that is my fault. And I'm sorry. I'm so-" The man desperately tries to explain and Sarah slaps his hands away from her.

"I'm so sorry, Sarah. I can promise you    that I didn't have any other choice. I didn't. I don't expect you to understand that now. All I can do is tell you what happened, and I'll answer your questions" Ward speaks, following Sarah back into the room as she sits down next to me and I rub her back comfortingly, glaring at the old man in anger.

"Maybe you'll see it was the only way. I know you don't believe that, and I know it's hard to hear. But I" He continues his speech while Sarah cries quietly, leaning into my touch "It was my only choice. It was the only way to make sure that we were all safe and we were all together"

"It was the only way to be a family again" He finishes.

"What I wanna know is how you even pulled this shit off. I thought you exploded" I speak up, narrowing my eyes at the old man.

"I used    the scuba gear on the Druthers. I had it all set up in advance, timed to the second. It was touch and go getting off. I almost didn't make it" Ward explains to me.

"That's a shame" I comment sarcastically.

The door clicks open for a second time and in walks Rafe, his gaze immediately landing on me. I shoot him a fierce glare and he responds with a sad frown that I ignore.

"Sweetie, what I need you to understand more than anything is that I never imagined that you would be there" Ward tells Sarah "I wanted to call you immediately to tell you that I was okay, to explain it all. It broke my heart that I couldn't. But I had to make sure Rafe got away"

"Thank you, Dad. At least one of us is grateful" Rafe replies, sitting down across from me.

"That's psychopathic, both of you" Sarah spits out in anger.

"I promised Rafe that he wouldn't go to prison for helping me. I had to make good on that promise" Ward stresses.

"Not that you care" Rafe adds in.

"Did it look like I didn't care when I thought Dad was dead?" Sarah snaps at her brother.

"It looked like you cared about running off with some asshole" Rafe counters.

"It looked like all you cared about was the inheritance" Sarah retorts.

"Yes, you cared! You cared! That's the point! Anybody on that dock could see how much you cared, sweetheart. And I know you're angry right now and rightfully so. The important thing is   that it's all behind us now" Ward starts another speech while I find myself in a staring competition with Rafe, neither of us blinking "We're gonna live a new life, all of us together"

"Sarah, where I'm taking you, it's paradise. It's off this place called Guadeloupe" Ward smiles happily "And oh, by the way, all those A's you got in French are about to pay off, cause they speak French there"

"I want to call my friends, and I want to call my boyfriend. Can I at least just tell them that I'm okay?" Sarah questions.

"I second that. I need to check on JJ" I add on, breaking eye contact with Rafe.

"Yes, of course you can. As soon as we get there, you can call John B and you can call your brother" Ward assures us "They know you're here, right?"

"No, they don't" Sarah and I answer in unison.

"Yeah, they do" Ward counters.

"What are you talking about?" Sarah frowns in confusion.

"Are you hard of hearing? No, they don't" I argue.

"When you were getting ready, they came by the house, and Rose talked to them. You know the cross you've all been looking for? Rafe was able to get it" Ward tells us and Sarah sighs in annoyance "Turns out that, I guess, historically, it belongs to the Heywards"

"Yeah, we know" Sarah mutters.

"It also turns out that the most important thing to me is you, so I gave John B and JJ the cross for you two" Ward states.

"And John B was okay with that?" Sarah scoffs.

"My brother would never go for that" I shake my head in denial.

"Well, um, I had just given him a half-billion-dollar artefact, so, yeah, he seemed pretty okay" Ward replies and I glare at him in rage.

"You're fucking lying" I seethe out.

"I don't know what to tell you. He's a Pogue" Ward shrugs.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean, old man?" I jump up, ready to throw hands and Sarah yanks me back down in my seat.

"Rose, Wheezie, come on in" Ward orders and the two females enter the room, the former smiling at her husband while the latter bounds right over to Sarah and I.

"Sarah. Addy, hey. We are going to our very own private island. Isn't that awesome?" Wheezie smiles excitedly.

"That's real awesome, Lou" I paste on a fake smile for the younger girl's benefit and she grins at me but then frowns at Sarah.

"She's not feeling real well right now, sweetheart. But she will be. We're all gonna be feeling     pretty good soon, huh?" Ward declares, giving Sarah and I a pointed look.