( 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙒𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙔 𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙀. )
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ORANGE, RED, AND YELLOW tones swirled perfectly together, allowing the sun to sit just above the horizon, dimly shining throughout the land of Outer Banks, the happiest place on earth, which indicated that night time was slowly beginning to approach the residents of Kildare county. The long, eventful day would soon come to an end and tomorrow would be a completely different day.

The sunset reminded Jaylene of the good days. The hot, summer days when she was just a clueless child who would run around all day in the sun with all the other children who lived in Figure Eight. Back when she had no idea how cruel the world truly was. The age of innocence, that's what it was.

Children were the innocent creatures of the world. They didn't know about the darkness that lured through the shadows all day, everyday. And that was because they didn't have to. No one should ever have to worry about having the image of a deceased body implanted into their brain, playing in a loop and slowly beginning to drive them insane.

But that's exactly what was happening to Jaylene Rosewood every single time she closed her eyes.

She didn't have any tears left to cry anymore. She wasn't sad either, which was strange. The sheer amount of trauma she'd endured had been enough to rip the sadness out of her. If anything, she felt this deep hatred for herself for not being able to help Susan Peterkin when the woman was desperately clinging onto her life on that runway. There was nothing she could've done to stop the bullet from piercing into her skin, she knew that. But she felt like she was somehow responsible for not staying with Rafe just a little bit longer earlier that day so that he wouldn't have done what he did.

If Wheezie hadn't shown up, Jaylene and Rafe never would've known that Ward and Sarah were gonna head to the Bahamas. Jaylene wouldn't have left and probably would've wasted the whole day at the Glissons' home. She wouldn't have put two and two together and realized that John B was telling the truth about Ward. That the man was in fact a cold-blooded, selfish murderer who didn't hold a single ounce of remorse in his body.

But would've didn't exist. It was impossible to go back in time to completely change certain events that had already occurred.

All Jaylene wanted was to forget. But she knew that there was only one way that could happen and she wasn't planning on falling back into her old habits that nearly left her dead.

Then again, that wasn't her decision to make. She had little to no self-control right now.

No matter how hard she tried pushing those tempting thoughts away, they refused to slip from her mind. They were there, relentlessly taunting her in hopes that she'd give in and intoxicate herself with something that would temporarily make her forget, taking the emotional pain away from her so that she wouldn't hate herself as much.

"Hey." Kiara's voice broke her from her dark thoughts, a minuscule smile planted on her face as she held out a red solo cup towards the Rosewood girl. "I remember reading somewhere that alcohol can help diffuse any emotional trauma you may be going through. It's cheap tequila I found in the cabinets, but I'm sure it'll do."

Jaylene let out a dry chuckle, taking the cup into her grasp before turning her attention back towards the sunset. "Trust me, Kiara, even alcohol can't take this trauma away. But thank you."

"Yeah, of course." She pursed her lips into a thin line, taking a seat on the vacant couch before sighing. She wanted to say something comforting to soothe the girl, but there wasn't anything she could say.

"You know, I got out of bed this morning hoping that today wouldn't be too chaotic. I mean, I'm a Rosewood, so chaos is the normality of my life." Jaylene shrugged, deeply exhaling as she turned her head towards Kiara. "But watching sherrif Peterkin get shot to death by the guy who I've grown up with was most definitely not how I expected today to go."

"That's crazy. Rafe has always been off the rails and all. He's all about throwing his life down the drain by partying and doing drugs whenever given the chance, but this. This is just borderline insane." Kiara quietly spoke, ignoring the goosebumps that formed on her skin.

"Ward Cameron apparently had something to do with my moms death." Jaylene suddenly changed the subject. She didn't need anyone else knowing that Marleen Harrington was still alive. There was already enough going on in her life as is and she didn't need anything else to worry about right now. "And I don't know what he did. I didn't even know he had some kind of vendetta against her to begin with."

"Oh, shit." Kiara's eyes widened in shock, clearly not expecting such a brutal revelation that revolved around the Cameron family. "So the psycho gene was passed on, huh?"

Jaylene lowly chuckled, running a hand through her hair before tilting her head back to allow the bitter liquid inside of the red cup to make its way down her throat. Her face scrunched up at the burning sensation, but she quickly shook it off as she placed the empty cup to the side. "He comes from the working class. He lived a couple streets down from where my mom grew up. I think my grandparents were friends with Ward Cameron's family. So what the hell led him to do that to her?"

"Outer Banks is a land full of psychopaths." Kiara sighed, pursing her lips into a thin line as she turned her head towards the screen door, eyes narrowing as she watched John B. step out of the home.

"Damn right it is." Jaylene couldn't help but laugh, but that quickly stopped when a particular blonde-haired girl crossed her mind. "I just hope that Sarah's okay."

"Yeah, me too." Kiara forced a smile, standing from her seat before heading in the direction of the home. "I'll just leave you two alone for now. I bet there's a lot you wanna talk about."

"Thanks for the tequila!" Jaylene called out, a slight smile tugging at her lips as she watched Kiara step into the home while John B. made his way towards her.

"Hey. Are you okay?" He questioned his girlfriend, swinging an arm over her shoulder as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Is that a serious question?" She raised her eyebrows upwards at him, a dumbfounded look planted on her face.

"Yeah, that was pretty stupid of me to ask." He scrunched his face up, sucking air in through his teeth as he tried his hardest to prevent the previous events from replaying in his mind.

"I just wanna get out of here." She mumbled, tracing circles on her skin as she briefly shut her eyes. "I gotta get out of here and just try to forget this entire day."

"We need to turn them in." John B. suddenly began speaking again.

"What?"

"Ward and Rafe Cameron." He began, making it clear how urgent this was. "They have to pay for what they did. So we should go to the sheriffs station and report this. You were there too. And you're like one of the most trusted people around here—"

Jaylene lifted her head up, shaking it in the process as she longingly sighed. "After you left Midsummers, I did something really stupid. So I'm now seen as the drug addict who overdosed on pills. I'm not exactly the most trusty worthy person around here anymore, John B." She explained, briefly pausing before continuing. "I'm not stepping foot into the sheriff's station. Not now at least."

"He killed her, Jaylene." He emphasized on the word, causing chills to run down her spine as she uncomfortably shifted in her seat beside him. "Rafe killed sheriff Peterkin."

"I need to go home. I can't keep talking about this anymore because the more I think about it, the more I hate myself." Her voice slowly began to crack as she locked eyes with him. "Please understand that. I just—I can't deal with this right now."

"Okay."

"Okay."

｡･:*:ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹

THE SILENCE WAS EERIE as Jaylene wrapped her trembling hands around the steering wheel of the black Range Rover, turning into the neighborhood in figure eight where she'd grown up and converted into the teenager she is today. The same neighborhood where she used to run around, playing with all the other kids who lived in the large mansions.

The whole car ride there, she was left alone with her thoughts. Thoughts that were viciously clawing at her brain and making her feel like she'd go insane at any given moment now.

Luckily, she managed to make it home before those horrible thoughts could get the best of her, so she let out a relieved sigh as she turned into the driveway.

Once she had parked the vehicle, she reached into the backseat to grab a hold of a hoodie she'd kept back there.

The humidity outside was the worst, but there was dry blood staining her attire and she wasn't about to walk into her home looking like she just came straight out of Carrie.

So she forced herself to make it into the home, heart rapidly beating against her chest with the strong urge to just pop out into the open.

But the minute she looked up from the ground, her blood ran cold at the sight of Ward Cameron stood in the kitchen, speaking to her father who looked like he was on the verge of a heart attack.

"Thank god you're okay." Henderson immediately spoke once Jaylene stepped inside. He sounded extremely worried which made her question what was going on.

Why the hell was Ward Cameron in her house?

"Get out." She managed to speak through her shaky voice, directing her words at Ward as he stared at her, pretending to be equally as concerned as Henderson was.

All she wanted to do in that moment was wipe that look off his face. He'd allowed his son to kill the sheriff and he wouldn't allow John B or Jaylene to call for help. Now, whenever she closed her eyes, all Jaylene could see was the dead body. She would be forced to live with that guilt for the rest of her life because of how sick the man stood in front of her was.

"Have you been hanging around John Routeledge's kid, Jaylene?" Henderson questioned his daughter, clearly alarmed with whatever lies Ward had fed him while Jaylene was away.

Ward was trying to cover his tracks so that he wouldn't be placed behind bars. That had to be what was going on.

"You've gotta be kidding me. You're sick, you know that? You and Rafe—" She managed to regain her composure, voice rising as her face twisted in disgust.

"Jaylene, answer the question." Her father crossed his arms over his chest, clearly lacking patience judging by the look planted on his face.

Jaylene slowly nodded, deciding it'd be best if she didn't lie. There was no point. "Yes, dad. I have. Why? Does that bother you?"

Henderson ran his hands through his face, sighing before pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't ever want you on the Southside again, understood?" He pointed a demanding finger at her, all seriousness filling his tone. He was deeply concerned. "And I especially don't want you around that boy."

"What the hell did you tell him?" Her voice rose as she snapped her head in the direction of Ward Cameron. The fake concern set on his face made her wanna punch the man across the face. "Dad, what'd this psychotic man tell you? Because whatever it was, I can assure you that it's a lie. That's what he does best."

"Celia! Please escort my daughter up to her bedroom and keep a close eye on her. Don't let her out of this house unless I allow it." Henderson avoided his daughters burning stare, signaling towards the maid who had been eavesdropping the entire time as she pretended to clean the home.

Jaylene's eyes widened in disbelief as she sunk her teeth down into her bottom lip to prevent herself from saying anything. As badly as she wanted to say something, she wasn't even gonna try to argue with Ward. It's an argument that she wouldn't win. But before she turned on her heels to walk upstairs, her lips parted open as a scowl formed on her face. "Rot in hell, you sick son of a bitch."

"Go upstairs, Jaylene." Henderson ordered, briefly glancing at his daughter before shifting his attention back towards Ward.

"Miss Rosewood—" Celia began, placing her hand on Jaylene's shoulder.

"I'll go, I'll go." Jaylene muttered, sighing before heading towards the staircase with Celia trailing closely behind.

But instead of walking any further, she stopped dead in her tracks, ears perked up as she waited for the conversation in the other room to continue.

"Go over it again. Tell me what happened." Henderson finally began speaking again, deep frustration and worry settled in his tone.

"Look, I tried to help her, but the damage was already done. She bled out and died before we could make it to the hospital." Ward lied, knowing that he was twisting the truth. "He shot her, Rosewood. John Routledge's kid shot sheriff Peterkin. If I could turn him in, I would. But he managed to get away and I don't know where the hell he's at so there's nothing left to do but wait until the posters are posted all throughout Kildare county."

"Jaylene." Celia's voice broke the Rosewood girls concentration, causing her to give the woman an annoyed look.

But she placed her hands up in surrender, turning her body to continue her journey up to her room. "Don't worry, I'm going."

authors note. almost two months later, but I finally brought myself to update this book and I cannot thank you all enough for 100k reads!