𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞〚𝚙𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 〛

Chapter 2

Delilah woke up with a start, a panicked meow normalizing the crashing sound that had awakened her. 

With an annoyed huff, she pulled the blanket over her head and tried to get comfortable on the couch. 

Why was it that she slept through a hurricane without a problem and was startled by something as trivial as a cat running something over? 

Giving up, she pushed back her blanket, careful not to wake Rafe, who was sleeping on the other end of the couch. She smiled softly at the sight. He did not look comfortable in the slightest. 

The girl ran a hand through her hair, trying to smooth the bird nest she had on her head and paused, taking notice that the T.V was off. Delilah pursed her lips, quite certain that they had both fallen asleep in front of a movie. Her aunt and uncle had left them on their own, leaving to bed early, so they could not have shut the T.V. 

Curious, she stretched her legs and walked to the kitchen, where she tried flicking the lights on and off. Nothing. 

She glanced at the oven. The time which usually glowed in blue was blank. Trying one last thing, she pressed the home button on her phone, only to confirm that there was no wifi. Not only that, the service was out.

"We'll have to get the generators out," she muttered to herself, shoving her now useless phone in a drawer.

Pinning her hair up with a clip she had found on the counter, she made her way up stairs to get ready. She was pleased when hearing voices a few minutes later and made no effort to be silent when she jumped down the stairs.

"Morning!" she greeted, kissing her aunt on the cheek.

"Where is my kiss?" complained in unison her uncle and best friend.

She rolled her eyes, gently smacking Rafe in the back of the head as she sat down beside him at the table.

"I gather you woke up earlier than young Mr. Cameron here?" said Ross, setting plates in front of them.

His niece nodded, her mouth too full to reply.

"I heard a loud crash last night, it kept me awake for a while," explained Rafe. "You may have to fix your dock, Mr. Thompson."

The man sighed. "A shame, I'd just finished painting it."

"Any plans for the day, dear?" asked Elise as her husband and Rafe started a discussion on Mr. Cameron's renovation strategy.

Delilah shrugged lightly. "The hurricane must have done some damage, I'll help around the house. Maybe I'll walk Rafe home first."

The Cameron family lived a few mansions down, and while the house was nice in its own look-at-me-I'm-rich style, Delilah loved their pool more than anything, which was much cleaner than the beach. 

When she and Rafe walked into the yard, she cringed at the sight. A tree had been uprooted, landing directly into her beloved pool. Agatha had left her mark.

"Is that Sarah?" she asked, nodding towards a girl waving a tennis racket around, trying to scare away some birds.

Rafe did not glance at his sister, sighing deeply. "Yeah."

"She changed."

The small girl she had always always considered as Rafe's sister now looked like a young woman older than she was. 

Only recently had Delilah realized it was strange that she was friends with Rafe, someone older than her, instead of hanging out with Sarah and people like her newest boyfriend, Topper. 

There wasn't much to explain, it had never clicked between them. 

With long, dirty blonde hair and brown eyes, the Kook princess had never resembled her brother. 

Ward Cameron, who had been advising workers to be careful, took notice of Delilah's presence and smiled.

"Good morning, Mr. Cameron," said Delilah, feeling unusually shy.

Ward was one of the most influential men of Figure Eight and anyone meeting him for the first time could tell. He'd always intimidated her and despite his friendliness, the girl always paid special attention to how she acted around him.

"Delilah! It's good to see you. How was the trip?"

"Very good, thank you," she replied.

"My apologies, I'd love to get up-to-date with you, but I have an important matter in hand."

"Can I help?" asked Rafe, trying not to seem eager.

Ward barely paid attention. "All good, son. Sarah!"

"I'm busy!" called back the girl.

The man squinted his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"The burrows filled with water from the surge. The birds are having a field day," she said, swatting away said birds.

"The birds have to eat too, Sarah," chuckled her father.

"No, it's a mouse genocide out here!"

Delilah nodded slightly, accepting her words as an explanation for the tennis racket waving.

"The cycle of life is what it is, sweetheart," said Ward with obvious affection. "Now come on."

"I can't be part of it, Daddy!"

"I have a human being you could help."

The sentence snapped her back to reality, making her hurry towards their little group. Sarah waved to Delilah, who answered with a smile of her own, but remained focused on her father and the woman beside him. 

Delilah straightened awkwardly, wondering if she should be here at all. Rafe did not move, paying close attention to what was unfolding before him, so the girl stayed by his side.

"This is Lana, Scooter's wife. You were storm prepping with him, right?"

Scooter. The name rang a bell in Delilah's head. 

Her eyes lit up in recognition. The man rented a small section of her uncle's garage in the back of his mansion in exchange for manual work. Ross had said he was also working for Mr. Cameron and that his wife had been insanely worried when not seeing him come back from work the night of the hurricane.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah, he helped me latch the cabin on the Druthers last night."

"Did he go out after that?" asked Ward in all seriousness.

"No, are you crazy? There was a hurricane. He didn't say anything to me."

Lana covered her mouth with her hand.

"I'm so sorry," said Sarah. "Is he okay?"

"He's absolutely okay, hunkered down somewhere."

It was clear that the discussion was over.

Rafe touched Delilah's shoulder, startling her out of her thoughtful state. "I'll see you later?"

She forced herself to smile. "Of course."