𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦, r cameron.

𝒊. aurelia's back

CHAPTER ONE : "AURELIA'S BACK"

Aurelia stood on the ferry deck, eyes locked on the familiar shoreline of the Outer Banks as it slowly emerged on the horizon. The salty breeze whipped through her hair, but instead of comfort, all she felt was a knot of anxiety tightening in her chest. She hadn't set foot here in three years, not since her parents packed her off to boarding school after her behaviour at Kook Academy. A lot had changed since then—she had changed. But no matter how far she went, no matter how many miles she put between herself and this place, the Outer Banks was always lurking in the back of her mind. Or, more specifically, he was.

She hadn't been completely oblivious to everything that went down while she was away. She'd kept up, as much as anyone could. Kiara would call when she could, giving her bits and pieces of the madness: the Royal Merchant, Peterkin's murder, Ward Cameron's twisted schemes, Rafe spiralling into something darker. 

They'd had a thing, during her time at the Kook Academy. Not a relationship, not even close, but something. A weird, twisted connection that neither of them could explain. Hooking up here and there, getting jealous when the other was with someone else—it wasn't exactly healthy, but it was there. And now, to hear that Rafe had gone completely off the deep end? Aurelia couldn't decide if she was disgusted, disappointed, or something else entirely. She hated that he still crossed her mind. Even after everything that had happened, after all this time, Rafe Cameron lingered like a ghost she couldn't shake.

And then there was Pope, learning he was descended from Denmark Tanny. Aurelia had been on the other end of the line, wide-eyed and speechless, when Kiara dropped the bomb about Pope's connection to the man.

But then, radio silence. Two months with nothing. Not from Kiara, not from JJ, John B, or Pope. Even their group chat had gone dead. At first, Aurelia had brushed it off as another one of their wild Pogue adventures. But when she saw the news—their faces plastered on the screen under the headline "LOCAL TEENS MISSING"—her heart sank. She knew then she had to come back.

The ferry docked, snapping her out of her thoughts. The Pogues were missing. Kiara was missing. And now she was back, too early, not because she wanted to be, but because she had no choice. The last time Kiara had texted her, she'd been ranting about Pope's heritage—how he was related to Denmark Tanny, how the Camerons were after his heirloom. Rafe's losing it, she'd said. Aurelia remembered reading those words and feeling a pit form in her stomach.