༄ 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗐𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗒－𝗈𝗇𝖾 ༄

THALIA WAS SPOKEN to by Peterkin first. "I took away your drugs, so you sink a rich kid's boat? I got that right?" Peterkin said angrily, slamming Thalia's file onto her desk as she sat down.

        Shrugging, Thalia tried not to give anything away. "At least I made a friend." she said quietly.

        "Oh, you mean the idiot sitting in that cell with you? That your friend?" Peterkin retorted, and Thalia was quiet. "I can't protect you anymore, kid. I've tried, believe me, I've tried."

        Thalia was ashamed. "I know, Sheriff Pete. I'm sorry you wasted your time." the redhead said, unwilling to look the sheriff in the eyes.

        Peterkin sighed. "You've had a horrible life, and the one good thing you had was ripped away. I get that. You got hooked on drugs, I know you're still using more than weed, and you think your life's over. It doesn't have to be." the sheriff said gently, her tone softening.

        "What am I supposed to do? I don't want to be like this." Thalia looked up finally, eyes starting to fill with tears.

        "Get clean. Get ready to pay restitution, split with blondie. Find new friends that don't sink boats with you. I get you back in here, I'm shipping your ass to juvie so fast your head will spin. We clear?" Peterkin said, her gentleness disappearing.

        Thalia nodded. "Yes, ma'am." she said, and she was being led back to her holding cell. Sheriff Peterkin didn't know that Thalia was on the hunt for the Royal Merchant.

        As Shoupe led Thalia back to her holding cell, Thalia saw a face in the lobby, and her heart sank. Her father was there. "Keep moving, kid." Shoupe urged her forward as Thalia locked eyes with Luke. He was as surprised as she was, but his emotions quickly changed to anger. JJ was taken next for questioning, and he was picked up by his father soon after.

        So, Thalia sat alone, all night and into the evening. "Shoupe, is Ward coming?" Thalia asked the deputy as he walked by her cell.

        "He's on his way." Shoupe answered. That meant that her father had come to the station and left without her. He left her there because he hated her.

        But Ward hated her too, it was clear by the way he screamed at her in the car the whole ride home. She had to pay fifteen thousand dollars in restitution, splitting the thirty grand total with JJ. Ward and Rose made it clear they weren't paying, and that they had to talk about kicking her out.

        Thalia was all alone in the world with no one who truly cared about her. Except Pope, but she didn't know that yet.

        The next morning, she was hobbling out of her window and towards the cut on her skateboard before anyone else was awake. She was pissed and she clearly wasn't thinking straight, or else why would she willingly go seek out her father? Thalia popped her skateboard into her hand and pushed the front door to the house open. Her father was in the living room, sorting through drugs on the coffee table. "Really? You show up at the station to taunt me and leave me there?" Thalia said loudly, putting her skateboard on the ground.

        Luke stood up quickly, shoving the table away from him. "You don't deserve anything from me." Luke said darkly.

        "I deserved a father. One that picks his kid up from jail." Thalia spat, and then, Luke's hands were around her throat, and she was being pushed into the wall.

        Luke slammed his fist into Thalia's face, blood breaking through the skin of her cheek. "You're a pathetic whore, just like your mother, Carolina!" Luke yelled. In the other room, JJ woke up.

        Thalia kicked her father, trying to get away. "My name is Thalia!" her shouts were silenced as Luke's hands wrapped around her throat once more, tighter than ever, blood spilling from her face.

        But before anything else could happen, Luke's eyes fell closed and he slumped against Thalia, and she pushed him off, coughing as he collapsed on the floor. JJ was standing there, having used his gun to knock his father out. "What the hell are you doing here?" JJ asked Thalia, her face as red as her hair.

        "What the hell are you doing here? This is my dad's house." Thalia said with a strained voice, her face throbbing.

        "This is my house," JJ said, confused. He pointed at the ground. "That's my dad."

        Thalia's eyes widened. "That's my dad," the pieces all fell into place. "Holy shit. You're my fuckin' half brother." the redhead said in disbelief, sliding down the wall until she reached the ground, completely overwhelmed.

        JJ was even more confused now. "What? What are you talking about?" he put his gun on the nearby table, face bruised and cut up from his father.

        Thalia's head was in her hands. "God, of course it's you," she muttered before lifting her head and wiping at the blood on her cheek. "My mom told me years ago I had a half brother on my dad's side. That's all she knew. It's all I knew. I haven't lived here since I was six." Thalia began to explain what she knew.

        "I started living here full time when I was six," JJ said, joining the girl on the floor. "How have we never been here at the same time?" JJ's head was spinning, and Thalia could tell.

        "I don't really come here. I've seen him buying drugs all over town for years, but I didn't remember anything about what he did to me, hell, where he even lived, until I found the mailbox the night we stole the drone." Thalia explained shakily, terrified their father could wake up at any instant.

        JJ frowned. "What do you mean you don't remember?" he asked curiously, running a hand through his blonde hair.

        Thalia rested her head against the wall. "I guess I repressed it all. Everything he did to me and my mom. That's why we lived in the motel, to get away from him." the redhead said, feeling her face bruise and swell up.

        "Your mom dipped because of him?" JJ asked with a small laugh.

        "Yeah. Yours?" Thalia questioned, fingers shaking. She needed drugs.

        "Same." JJ answered.

        They talked of everything. What their father does to JJ, what he does to Thalia, what he did to their mothers. They were brother and sister now, and it was confusing, and terrifying, and honestly amusing. They were so similar, they were only six months apart in age. JJ Maybank was Thalia Cameron's little brother.

        JJ stood up as Luke moved, snoring. He grabbed his gun from the table and ignored Thalia as she asked him what he was doing. JJ just pointed the gun at Luke, and part of Thalia wished he would pull the trigger, end their misery. But he didn't.

        "Where are you going?" Thalia asked, wiping at her eyes. JJ shoved the gun into his bag.

        "Finding John B. What about you?" JJ asked. The two left their house with heavy hearts. Things were so different now.

        Thalia shrugged, grabbing her skateboard. "Probably go fishing." Thalia said. That was a lie, and just because she was JJ's sister didn't mean he needed to know what she was really doing.

        JJ nodded. They parted ways, JJ on his dirtbike, Thalia on her skateboard. While he went to John B's house, Thalia made her way deeper into the cut, to one of her dealer's houses. She slammed her fist on the door. "Barry? It's me!" Thalia shouted.

        Barry stumbled to the door, wiping at his nose. "Hey, Little Red. Don't have you on the schedule today." Barry opened the door wide enough for Thalia to enter, holding her skateboard.

        "I need s-something. Not coke. I-I just need something strong, to calm me down. Do you have anything?" Thalia explained shakily, as best as she could.

        "Yeah, I got something." Barry walked towards his bedroom and Thalia waited in his living room. His house wasn't crawling with addicts, for once.

        Barry came back with a small bag of pills. "How much?" the redhead was already fishing through her bag for cash.

        "$125. You sure about this?" Barry questioned. He sort of cared for Thalia, he wanted her to have a better life. After all, Barry had managed to help Thalia get away from her addiction to pain meds her doctors had given her.

        Thalia nodded, handing the cash over. "This is the last time." she said, but the odds of her statement being true were highly unlikely.

        As she skated home to Figure Eight, Thalia swallowed a few xanax pills, ready to crash when she reached her bed. She snuck back into her house through the window, pain shooting through her knee. Thalia collapsed on her bed, and she was out, sleeping through her high. Pope tossed rocks at her window to get her attention, but Thalia was too groggy to get up. Pope couldn't see her like this.

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