CHAPTER NINE,
hell and high tides

     The Rosewood's for example had taken a single success and never looked down from there, generations of different successes embedded in their DNA. Henderson Rosewood had opted out of the empire his grandfather had handed down to his father, coming to the conclusion that anything revolving around the divisions that were clean energy and big oil wasn't for him. He'd turned towards stocks with Wall Street having caught his interest at a young age which opened several doors for him. From an investor, he went on to become chairman at a technological division and had recently been upgraded to founder in the aerospace company he'd launched with the help of more knowledgeable individuals who hadn't received an equal amount of credit for their hard work regarding the company. None of that mattered, however, given the generous paychecks they received with more zeros appearing in the last few weeks with the success of the business deals that were being sealed left to right.

     Yet, despite the multi-billion dollar companies that guaranteed them a lifetime of endless opportunities and money that they'd already grown tired of from having had unlimited access to it from a young age, they were rotten from the inside. Misery followed close behind them at all times, innumerable bottles of hard liquor stored behind the walls of their sumptuous properties at an arms reach away when the reality of their lives sunk in during lonesome hours.

     Admittedly, Henderson wasn't all that sure what had provoked him to commit infidelity regardless of the lengths he'd gone through to prove to his overcritical family that Marleen Harrington was the woman he was destined to be with despite their different lifestyles and overall perspectives on life. From the moment he'd set his eyes on her at the Island Club on Figure Eight, where she worked as a beverage cart girl the summer before her senior year and his last summer at home before heading to Brown University, he was immediately drawn to her. Her stunning looks played a part in his infatuation with her, but what really helped finish tying the rope around his neck entirely was her charisma and roguish personality.

Marleen Harrington was an enigma. And for that alone, the Rosewoods loathed her when they found her sitting at their dinner table alongside their eldest son. The anger only intensified in the present day as she made her grand return to the Rosewood estate, standing on the property partially bound to her through the neat signature on the deed.

     "You've got some damn nerve." Samuel Rosewood's stern voice echoed across the distance between him and the blonde-haired woman stood across from him with her arms wrapped strongly around her child.

     "Dad."

     "Samuel."

     Both Henderson and Lily Rosewood spoke at the same time in an attempt to prevent Samuel from uttering something cruel during such a tender moment between the reuniting mother and son, but the hot-headed man allowed both warnings to go in one ear and out the other, refusing to be silenced.

     "Was it money you were chasing after this entire time?!" The older man glared daggers at the woman, his temper rising when she ignored him. So, he turned towards his son, shaking his head in disapproval. "God, I told you, son! I told you she was just another gold-digging wh—"

"Shut up!" Henderson stepped in before the derogatory comment could be uttered in existence. He wouldn't allow it, especially with all his children present.

Jaylene turned her glossy eyes to the unnamed child standing near Marleen, her stomach churning at the sight. She felt as if she was staring at her younger self, the similarities between the two slightly uncanny.

Purity versus the rotting disaster that she'd become.

Everything around the oldest child spun whilst she made her getaway, incapable of standing around any longer as the lump in her throat grew thicker. Hurriedly, she climbed the stairs to get to her room, her vision blurred and her motor skills compromised. She felt sick to her stomach, feeling the desperate need to lie down in order to seek a moment of peace, but upon reaching her bedroom, she stood still by the doorway.

     She struggled to catch her breath, the frequent pounding in her temples resulting in a tension headache that made her want to blow her brains out to rid herself of the problem entirely. It didn't help that she wanted to scrub every inch of her skin with one of the rough loofahs in her bathroom and yet she couldn't do so given the open wound on her abdomen; yet another problem to add to her growing list.

     The frustration dragged with her actions as she made her way towards the ridiculously large closet, her mind set on one location and solely that spot in the room. She slammed the sole of her shoe against the oak longboard, watching it budge which prompted her to fall to her knees in order to pull the floorboard out of its designated spot. Memories from her sophomore year hit her like a brick, the highs from the past more desirable than ever. Flashes of small, plastic bags and contaminated dollar bills in her left nostril and the inability to distinguish between reality versus hallucinations after popping ecstasy alongside other pills she couldn't even remember the names of.

     Jaylene swallowed thickly, the thin, white powder lying inside the plastic bag now in her possession as she sat still on the floor, the ability to move a muscle having been momentarily torn from her. A part of her hoped that someone had found her small stash while ridding her room of any and all narcotics while she was away, but that wasn't the case and now she was stuck in a battle that she held no advantage over.

During the torturous months she spent in rehab, she dreamt of that very moment, her mouth salivating at the thought of intoxicating herself entirely until her mind felt like it didn't belong to her anymore. Her desire to dive directly into a state of void intensified with every passing second, heavy breaths falling from her lips as she contemplated her sobriety.

"Jaylene! Sweetheart, are you in here?" A familiar voice blew through her train of thought.

The brunette scrambled to place the floorboard back into place, immediately jumping to her feet where she tucked the quarter-sized bag into the waistband of her pants before it could be spotted by anyone else. She rocked back and forth on the heels of her feet, her hands placed behind her back as she looked up at the speck of bright, blonde hair attached to her grandmother's head that peeked into the closet. Quickly, she forced a smile, allowing it to falter immediately upon the realization that the likelihood of the following conversation would have to do with her crashing at her grandparent's beach home.

"Well, don't just stand there." Lily jokingly scoffed, motioning for her to step forward in order to embrace her. "Give your grandmother a hug."

Jaylene chuckled quietly, pushing her body forward in order to fall into the blonde-haired woman's embrace for a few seconds before pulling away, maintaining a close distance. "You hate her, don't you?" She frowned at the thought of Lily's opinions regarding Marleen worsening with the current situation. Although she herself felt betrayed, she couldn't resent Marleen . . . ever.

Lily let out a long sigh, setting both hands on top of Jaylene's shoulders. "I don't hate your mother, Jaylene . . . but to do what she did—to keep your father out of that child's life—" She shook her head, expressing her disapproval towards the way the situation had been handled.

"Why do you constantly defend him? He's not a fucking saint!" Jaylene snapped before she could finish her sentence, making her way back into her bedroom to free herself from the suffocating space. Her emotions were scattered all over, unsure what it was that she was specifically feeling. "The only reason she left was because of her lack of power when it came to your family. You and Grandpa practically forced her off of this island."

Deciding that it wasn't the time to scold her for her foul language, Lily followed behind her, exhaling loudly. "Your mother had a choice. No one forced her to leave."

"Did she? You may as well have held a gun to her head the entirety of the relationship." Jaylene scoffed, images of the cold stares that the woman in front of her would constantly receive her mother with flashing through her mind, the memories making her sick to her stomach. "You loathed her solely because of her status in the hierarchy, but that could've been you had your great-grandfather not gotten lucky. For crying out loud, Grandma, you come from new money!"

     Lily kept silent, refusing to engage in an argument with the younger girl. "Look, Jaylene, the last thing this family needs is to feed into silly nonsense with no civilized outcomes."

"Tell that to my grandfather, who not even five minutes ago, was throwing a temper tantrum like an uneducated child." Jaylene scoffed, crouching down to retrieve her weekender bag from underneath her bed. "I am just as angry, but I don't go around acting like a pompous piece of shit!" She spat, proceeding to yank one of the drawers by her nightstand open where she stored her favorite summer tops.

"Jaylene, you're still a child, I understand that—" Lily attempted to draw Jaylene's attention back to her, ultimately succeeding.

"Don't belittle me with that awful excuse, not after everything I went through this past year." Jaylene shook her head at the awful statement, biting down on her lip before she continued to toss a sufficient amount of clothing into her bag before standing back up and towards her makeup vanity to collect a moisturizer and a cream blush she was incapable of living without.

Lily furrowed her brows, unable to turn a blind eye to Jaylene's urgency to pack up her bag with items that didn't guarantee she'd be coming back home that night. "Okay, I'm sorry, what the hell is happening here, Jay? Are you conspiring to run away from home because you're angry at your parents?"

Jaylene let out a wry laugh at the question, shaking her head as she grabbed one last thing from the bottom drawer of her vanity; cash. "I'm not running away, I'm just spending a few days at my boyfriend's place until this family decides to quit keeping secrets from each other."

"Your boyfriend who lives right down the street? That's extremely mature of you, Jaylene, I'm sure your father will be pleased to hear the grown-up decision you're making." Lily scoffed in disbelief at the teenager's choice to distance herself from the residence.

"No, grandma, haven't you heard?" Jaylene quirked a brow as she swung the bag over her shoulder, regretting the swiftness of the action as it caused a sharp pain to emerge from her abdomen, but she quickly shook it off, her need to be a bratty teenage girl prevailing. "I mean, don't have a heart attack or anything, but I'm dating someone who's right at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Your favorite, right?"

"What in god's name could you possibly be on about, Jaylene? This isn't the time to be a comedian—let alone your idea of one." Lily followed behind her granddaughter as the girl began to exit the bedroom in order to get away as fast as she could from the household.

"You wanna know what he looks like, hmm?" Jaylene turned around to look her grandmother in the eye, well aware that there would be negative opinions regarding her significant other. That seemed to be the case ever since the incident on the tarmac. "Take a look at his face plastered on the wanted posters pinned all around this joke of an island with a fifty-grand target on his head."

Lily's mouth fell slightly open, noticeably stunned by the revelation that Jaylene had gotten herself involved in more trouble than her father originally led on.

The Rosewood girl took that opportunity to proceed out of her bedroom and down the staircase, only briefly glancing into the entryway where the five family members remained, now engaged in what appeared to be an argument between the adults with her teenage brother attempting to maintain a level of peace for the sake of the younger girl who stared at her older sibling as she made her getaway. The burning stare was incapable of being shaken off by Jaylene as she stopped in her tracks, contemplating whether it would be a smart idea to involve herself in the ongoing family drama. Ultimately, she decided to be selfish just that once and allowed her brother to revolve the peace—if that was possible.

She made her exit from the French doors that led to the backyard, a knot in her throat as she reached for the quarter-sized bag residing in the waistband of her pants before she disposed of it in the nearby trashcan, unsure if it was smart to have in her possession while she was in a vulnerable position, let alone in general.

Although she originally intended to drive directly to the chateau, she was unable to depart from figure eight without making some sort of effort to check up on Sarah Cameron, even if it meant facing Ward or Rafe Cameron so long as she knew that the girl was safe. Okay, preferably not Rafe, or either of the two males for that matter. Surely, one of the two would happily place a bullet in her skull to ensure she wouldn't bury them through some demented level of blackmail due to the healing wound on her abdomen.

Perhaps the universe was on her side just that once seeing that when she arrived at the Cameron residence, a familiar speck of blonde hair captured her attention. Jaylene felt a smile tug at her lips as she hurriedly turned the ignition off before stepping out of the vehicle and proceeding toward Sarah before the girl could head back inside.

"Hey, Kook princess!" Jaylene called out as she approached the two-story home.

The blonde stopped in her tracks, furrowing her brows in confusion at the familiar voice before she slowly turned her head to face the Rosewood girl, a smile rapidly rising from her lips. She squealed in surprise, not having expected her to actually return to the island, not when her boyfriend still had a bounty on his head. "Oh, my god!" She rushed towards Jaylene, wrapping her arms around the girl without a second thought as a relieved sigh left her lips.

Jaylene stumbled back, biting her lip to prevent a wince from escaping. She quickly drew the conclusion that neither Rafe nor Ward had mentioned what had occurred on their trip to the Bahamas . . . typical. "Easy there, Cameron, I'm not shatterproof." She joked, pulling away from the embrace.

Sarah playfully rolled her eyes, taking a brief moment to get a decent look at the girl before her smile faltered and her brows shot upwards. "What happened?" She questioned, concern laced in her tone.

"What?" Jaylene raised a confused brow.

Sarah pointed at her stomach. "You're bleeding."

When Jaylene looked down, she noticed the red liquid leaking through the white bandage. "Shit." She cursed under her breath, unsure as to when that had occurred. "Uh, just a small scratch, nothing too worrisome."

"That doesn't look like a small scratch. What happened to you?" Sarah pushed for further details, crossing her arms over her chest as her tone fell serious, unwilling to be kept in the dark like her family had been doing to her.

"Your brother didn't tell you?" Jaylene almost laughed at herself after uttering the silly question. Of course, no one told her, why would they when she was a hostage in her own home.

Sarah shook her head at the ludicrous suggestion that she and Rafe were civilized enough to have any conversation of the sort, especially after she'd watched him shoot the sheriff dead. "Rafe and I haven't exactly been on the best terms for the past couple of years, so, uh, no, we haven't exactly been gossiping." She deadpanned.

"Your psycho brother shot me." Jaylene suddenly grew entirely nauseous, her stomach twisting as she peeked into the house. "He's not here, is he? I don't exactly want him to finish the job."

Sarah's mouth gaped open at how casual she sounded regarding the topic. Entirely dumbfounded, she raised her voice. "I'm sorry, what!?"

Jaylene paused, flashbacks from the incident playing in her mind alongside the torturous days she'd been forced to spend lying in a hospital bed followed by a series of painful family drama that she didn't want to discuss. "I'm, um, heading over to the chateau. Wanna come with? I'll explain everything on the way there." She anxiously chewed on the inside of her cheek, growing more uncomfortable as the seconds passed by. Even if Rafe wasn't home, Ward could be and she didn't want to be in the vicinity of either. "I'm not gonna force you either, Sarah. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." She added.

Sarah shook her head, brushing the shock aside. "No, let's go. I wanna hear everything."

________________

     THE CAR RIDE WAS EVERYTHING but quiet as the two girls spent it catching up.

When they arrived to their destination, the sun had begun to set, golden hues scattered across the chateau where it stood in all its glory. The pogues were thrilled to see Sarah, welcoming her with a series of questions while Jaylene made her way into the home, incapable of ignoring the hot tub that was up and running in the backyard; surely JJ's doing, she presumed.

She was noticeably upset, any wise individual could recognize that, but she kept the conversation short before announcing that she was off to take a quick shower in order to wash herself off. 

The water pressure was worse than she remembered, not that she was complaining. She was just relieved to finally feel clean after having been on yet another adventure for the past two and a half days.

Jaylene threw on a pair of jean shorts with a black bikini top and a cropped, sheer long-sleeved crocheted top over it. She cleaned around the wound to the best of her ability before searching through the medicine cabinet for a bandage of the sort, surprised when she found a box of adhesive pads that looked like they hadn't been touched in ages, and judging by the coat of dust resting on top of it, they clearly hadn't been used in the recent years. She