Lost

twenty-one | Locked Away

no. no. no. no. no. no. no. no. no. no. no. no. no. no. no. no. no. no

I wanted to scream.

I really, really wanted to scream.

The house was a little messier than usual but also emptier than usual.
The social worker already came and got John B. The one picture of dad in John Bs room was gone. That's how I knew John B was gone.
Cheerios were spilt all of the dining table.
I wasn't going to wonder why.

As I walked out of the Chateau I watched as Rafe looked over at me. He was leaning up against his dad's truck. He offered to come inside with me but I saw on his face that he really didn't want to. I didn't even know why he brought me to the Chateau. It wasn't like him. Not anymore at least.

I just simply shook my head as I made my way over to the other side of the truck. Rafe opened his mouth to say something but I got in the truck and shut the door before he could say it. Soon enough we were pulling out of the Chateaus driveway and I didn't know how to feel about anything.

:::

When we pulled into the driveway of the Cameron's, both Kelce and Toppers cars were sitting there.
"What are they doing here?" I asked.
Rafe put the truck in park, then opened the truck door as he said, "Were gonna workout."
I slowly nodded my head as I unbuckled my seatbelt.

By the time I made it inside Rafe was already halfway up the stairs to his bedroom.
I decided to go to the kitchen to get a snack but once I stepped foot on that kitchen tile my mom was saying my name.
"Haley." I heard her speak from where she sat at the island.
shit shit shit

I took in a deep breath then continued walking. "Oh-Hey, mom."
She narrowed her eyes on me, not believing my bluff for even a second.
"Where have you been?" She asked me.
I shrugged, "Me and Rafe went on a drive."
As I walked over to the fridge I watched as her face softened for only a moment. "You and Rafe are speaking to each other again?"

I took in a sharp breath, "Yeah."
No.
"Well, come sit down, I need to speak to you."
I grabbed a water bottle out the fridge and tried to steady my breathing.
One step after another and soon enough I was sitting down next to her. I kept a chair empty in between us and sat my feet on the bottom of the chair where a wooden bar sat.

My mother eyed the chair then looked back at me.
"How's Uncle T?"
fuck
"I don't know, he's been working and i've been here." And that was the truth. He was working, just not in the OBX. And I had been at the Cameron's for almost 3 days.

"Mhm..." She muttered as she nodded. "So, a social worker came by the house today."
I put the most utterly shocked and confused face on.
My mom raised her eyebrows and nodded her head. "Yeah-well they said that Uncle T hasn't been in the state for nearly 3 months. You know anything about that?"
"What?" I asked, narrowing my eyebrows. "No-I swear I don't. I haven't seen him but John B would tell me that I just missed him."
She didn't buy that.
Lie better

"You told me that you spoke to him." She shrugged. "And if you haven't seen him the whole time you've been here, that means you lied to me-am I right?"
"No. I spoke to him over the phone."
"Oh-Yeah-Over the phone. And what was this conversation about? Did he say anything about why he hasn't been around in 3 months?"
I slowly shook my head. "No, John B called him and had his own conversation with him. I just said hi and asked how he was doing. I asked when I would be able to see him and he said soon."

"Soon? He said soon and you just brushed that off."
"Well, yeah, I mean-I don't know. Why are you interrogating me right now?" I asked, accidentally getting defensive.
"Because you've been lying to me and I just want to know why you would have the audacity to lie to your mother!"
"I haven't been lying to you, I didn't know!"
"Go to your room!!" She yelled.

"What-No. That's not my room and you're not going to lock me away in this suffocating house."
My mom raised her eyebrows. "No?! Did you just say no to me?!"
"Mom-"
"Go to your room, now!"
"But, mom-"
My mom stood and rapped her hand around my arm before I could even blink. She yanked me out of the chair causing me to almost scream. My eyes became teary as she dragged me throughout the house because she was dragging me by my bad arm.

Her nails were almost tearing through my skin. I protested again and again but she wouldn't listen. She had to practically carry me up the stairs as I tried pulling back.
When we made it to my room she shoved me in it and slammed the door shut.
I ran back up to the door and yanked at the door knob but she locked the door. She locked the fucking door.
I threw my fists at the door, banking on it with all my might.

I tried slamming my arm against the door but that was no good. It just hurt. A lot.
Then I decided that I was being over dramatic and that I should stop. So I did.
And then I started crying.
And I cried and I cried and I cried.
For what felt like hours. Days even.
I eventually dragged myself over to my bed and laid down. Dreams took me away to far away lands where I was not locked away in my room by my mother.

When I woke up, it was dark outside. I didn't have my phone. It was on the counter downstairs still. So I got up and grabbed the remote to my TV, then turned it on to check the time.
11:34 popped up.
I sighed as I turned back off my TV and moped back over to my bed.
Just as I closed my eyes to go back to sleep I heard my door creak open.

I sprung up out of my bed, almost taking the sheets with me.
But I did not see who I thought I would at the door.
It was Rafe.
A very bloody Rafe.
I froze, in the middle of my room, as Rafe stood there with his hand resting on the doorknob to my room.

"Rafe?" I asked, quietly.
"Hey, Hales." He replied.
"Rafe-What happened? Are you okay?" I took a step forward but stopped with that.
He slowly nodded his head as he set the key to my room down on the desk next to the door.
I watched his every movement as he took a step forward, fully walking into my room. He shut the door behind him and my heart dropped.

He seemed to have read my mind because he then said, "Don't worry, i'll let you out in a minute. The door is no longer locked."
I slowly nodded my head and opened my mouth to speak but then shut it.
"Haley, i'm going to ask you something and you need to promise me not to get mad." Rafe explained to me.

I narrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "What?"
Rafe took in a shaky breath. "I'm going to ask you a question," he let go of the shaky breath, "and I need you to promise me that you won't get mad."
"Okay...I promise." I mumbled.
"Promise what?" He asked.
"Rafe-"
"Promise what?!"
"I promise that I won't get mad!"

Rafe let out a harsh breath then nodded his head. "Okay..."
A beat went by as I waited for him to ask his stupid question but he never did.
"Rafe." I stated.
"Toppers boat sank yesterday and Pope is the one who sunk it. Maybe JJ too." He told me.
I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. I wouldn't.

"They might get arrested, Haley. And I need to know if you helped them."
I scoffed. "You're lying. Why would they do that? They wouldn't. Especially not Pope. You are lying to me."
"Haley-"
"No." I interrupted. "No-You don't come in here after i've been locked away for the whole day and tell me that my friends sank Toppers boat. Nonetheless ask me if I helped. What-if I did help were you planning on going to the police yourself. Get me arrested?"

"Haley, you promised..." Rafe muttered.
"Because you forced me too!"
"Did you help them or not?!" He finally asked.
"No, Rafe. No, I did not help them sink Toppers boat. Actually-I haven't even seen any of them in 3 days."
Rafe let out a sigh that sounded like a sigh of relief. That confused me.

"Why are you even asking me this?"
"Because they were planning on going over the security footage today and I wanted you to be prepared."
"For what exactly?"
"For the police to show up."