The Sinner

98

I stare up at Tannyhill once I get out of the car.

The massive house was always intimidating no matter how many times I come up to it. Except this time random people were littered throughout the house. Red solo cups, cigarettes, finished joints were discarded throughout the front lawn. He was having a party.

"You're sure you can do this?" Sarah asks from next to me.

"Positive," I tell her. "Let's get this over with."

I begin walking quickly toward the house. People hardly even look at us as we pass by. Overindulged in afternoon drinking. I take it that they are all random as I haven't yet recognized anyone. To convince himself that people still desired to be with him, he most likely invited everyone he could.

"Wait," Sarah says once we get inside, "You need to be careful. He's probably drunk, or high, or both. Don't piss him off too much."

"I won't," I say, turning on my heel again to walk up the stairs. "I just want to do what we came here to do and leave. Immediately."

Maybe I won't even run into him. Rafe wasn't too attached to his phone, sometimes leaving it in random places in the house. That means I might be able to get away with this and not see him at all.

I push past the people who were lingering on the stairs. Taking two steps at a time as adrenaline rushed through me. My breathing becomes uneven once I get to the second floor. My heart was racing, eyes never staying in one spot for too long. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears at this point.

All because I was scared to see him.

I wasn't ready to do this. But I knew I had to because it was only right. I have to push my own feelings and thoughts aside because the cross belonged to Pope. And I was the only one that could do this.

"Yell if you need me," Sarah says, quietly walking toward her room.

I was on my own now. Which was fine, I needed this. I always worked better alone.

I slowly and quietly push open his door, my eyes darting around it quickly to make sure that he wasn't in here. Though if he was hosting a party, I figured he wouldn't be.

But when I spot his phone on the nightstand, I knew that would be in here.

I quickly close it behind me, walking over to his bed and sitting down. Grabbing ahold of his phone, and typing in the password. It unlocks, and I start to go through his mail.

A voice was screaming inside of me how wrong this was. And I felt quite guilty for doing it. But I need to help Pope, it was his cross. I was sick of hiding behind Rafe's dark shadow. I needed to do the right thing for once.

I type in cross at the top of the screen in the search bar. And only one email pops up. It was from an unknown person, claiming that it was going to be dropped Wednesday at 1 am in Wilmington.

That seems easy enough.

Suddenly he received a text. The number wasn't saved, but the message read 'on my way over now'. Knowing that it would be stepping way over the line to read his messages, I locked it again.

Whoever that was, needed to be kept anonymous for my own sanity.

Footsteps right outside the door cause me to freeze. I quickly look around the room for a place to hide, but I heard them eventually walk past the door. Whoever that was, wasn't coming in here.

I spot my things on the floor, in the same spot that they had been lying in. Unfolded, not touched, discarded like they didn't mean anything.

I let out a sigh, bending down to pick each article of clothing up. There were surprisingly a lot, which I knew. But, I didn't think I would've accumulated this much here.

I tuck some of my dark hair behind my ears as it fell in front of my eyes. My eyes dart under his bed naturally, and I notice the box.

I feel my jaw tighten as an unwelcome memory flashes through me. About the time when Rafe first showed me it.

"What are you doing?" I ask. He doesn't answer as he continues to pull clothes out of the old bin. He stops after a second, and I look around at the mess he made. He blinks a couple of times before pulling out an even smaller box. "Are there body parts in there or something?"

He chuckles, "No." He chews on the corner of his lip as he puts it on the bed. "Open it." I look up at him before looking down at the old box. I flip open the cover and tilt my head when I see it's full of books.

"Books?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "You read?"

"Remember when you told me your favorite book was Great Expectations?" He says. I nod. "Look in there." I rummage through the dusty books that look like they haven't been touched in years. I finally pull out the familiar cover of the book I loved.

I open the book to see a yellow sticky note, and in his boyish handwriting I see 'first book I've ever enjoyed'. I look up, to meet his blue eyes that were watching me carefully.

That was the day he finally let me in. The day that he opened himself up, to allow me to get to know the real him. He reads, writes, and shows me a side that I never knew existed.

But that was also before everything went to shit. And after that, he became a killer, a liar, a manipulator.

I remembered the joke I made, about the body parts. Funny how that aged into possibly becoming the truth.

I push the painful memory back to where it came from. And I hoped that I would never think about it again.

I felt myself sniff, not realizing that tears had slipped from my eyes. I furiously brush them away, angry with myself that I had started to cry over that.

I collect my things, hoping to get out of this house untraceable. I sniff again, trying to keep everything in. My hands were full as I struggle to grab the knob on the door. But suddenly it swung open.

And Rafe stood there in the doorway. The smile dropping from his face once he saw me.

My eyes flash to the person standing next to him. The one that had Rafe's arm draped around their shoulders.

Even in my thoughts, her name tasted like poison.

Sofia.

//

AHHHHHHHHH

i love drama.

sorry about the cliffhanger :p

stay safe.
meg