she was frantically waving her arms around, swallowing mouthfuls of salty water as she tried to push her body back up. But the harsh waves held her down, pushing her further into the ocean with every second that passed. The water threatened to take her life, but she wasn't about to allow it.

Not now. This was not how she was going to die. She refused to. She had made it this far and she did not plan on dying this way.

So she opened her eyes, the burning sensation immediately hitting her which discouraged her from keeping them open for much longer, but she pushed through it. The surface looked miles and miles away because of how exhausted her body was, but she took in a deep breath, pushing her body up towards it with all the strength she had left.

When she managed to make it up, she coughed up all the water that had made its way into her system. Her breath was on the verge of giving out on her as she grabbed onto the closest thing near her, which happened to be a rope tied to The Phantom.

Her vision had grown blurry from the lack of oxygen she'd received, her head was rapidly spinning. She fought hard to keep her eyes open, her grip on the boat growing loose before her body finally gave up, shutting down instantly as the thunder loudly sounded behind her.

｡･:*:ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹

DEATH HAD ALWAYS been a scary concept to think about. Where does the soul go once it's lifetime home takes its last breath? Is it left to wander the earth for the rest of eternity, unheard and unseen, completely unaware that the body it used to reside in is no longer functioning, or it is put to rest with the body? The question always managed to slip into Jaylene's clouded thoughts when she would lie awake in her bed at night. She always wondered—because that's all she could do. She wouldn't know the answer until she met her own fate one day.

Luckily, that day was not today.

As she stirred in her sleep, her body felt like it's been brutality beaten, her heavy eyelids struggling to open. The water in her ears only made the pain even more insufferable as she lazily picked her head up from the bottom of the boat where it had been rested this whole time. For just a few seconds, she thought she was lying in her bed at home and that last night had just been one huge nightmare that she was finally waking up from. Realization didn't hit immediately about what had happened, but when she remembered how vivid the events from last night had been, her eyes opened wide.

She fully regained consciousness, water falling from her mouth in an instant as she loudly coughed it all out, able to breathe again.

She for sure thought that the storm had killed her after blacking out the previous night, but judging by the life vest that was wrapped around her body, she assumed that John B must've gotten to her in time before the waves could derive her of life.

The sight of never-ending water surrounding her made her feel anxious as she looked around. There was nothing in sight for miles besides the ocean.

"Jaylene!" The sound of her name being called out by John B was enough to capture her attention, instantly snapping her out of her thoughts.

She could hear the panic in his tone as her name left his mouth, which forced her to move her aching body, eyes scanning her surroundings until they landed on John B, who was resting against the other end of the boat, coughing up water with his eyes squinted due to the salty water that had managed to get in them.

"John B!" Her throat ached as she shouted, letting him know that she was okay. 

"Hey, hey! Stay right there, alright? I'm coming." He let out a shaky breath, still shocked from everything that had happened, but mostly relieved that they had made it out of the storm alive. It was a damn miracle.

Jaylene didn't respond. Instead, she nodded, taking slow breaths as she held a tight grip on the rope that belonged to the flipped boat that was sat in front of her, swinging back and forth with the waves that occasionally crashed against one another. She could hear the water splashing close to her as she stared at the sun rise, completely amazed that she wasn't lying at the bottom of the ocean right now.

"Hey, hey." John B's voice startled her as he swam towards her, wrapping his arm around her as she turned her attention to him. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

She swallowed thickly, shaking her head. "No. I think I'm ok. You?"

"Yeah, uh, I think I'm good." He nodded.

"How the hell are we even alive right now?" She questioned, placing her hands on both sides of his face as they floated in the water, holding one another.

"Shit, I guess we gotta be immortal or something." He quietly chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

Jaylene let out a quiet laugh in response. "Damn right we are." She smiled, allowing it to fall in an instant as she looked straight ahead, a quiet gasp escaping from her lips when she saw what appeared to be a boat. "John B, look! It's a boat!"

A small hint of hope glimmered in his eyes as they released one another, beginning to wave their hands around like maniacs, loudly shouting to try to grasp their attention.

"Hey!"

"Help!"

"Help us!"

Their cries for help seemed to do nothing, which only made Jaylene hopeless, but then she remembered that John B had brought his backpack with him that contained the chunk of gold he'd retrieved, so she wasted no time. Quickly, she scanned her surroundings until they landed on the backpack. Once the gold was in her grasp, she held it up as high as she could, lining it up with the bright rays of sun, hoping that the people on board would be able to spot them from afar. Her throat burned as she continued to desperately cry for help, waving the gold in the air for a few more seconds until she saw them signaling back, meaning they'd been spotted.

Not long after, the large boat began to near them up until it was close for them to climb aboard. Gathering up enough strength to get onto the boat hurt like hell, but the blankets that were draped around their shivering bodies made it worth it.

"You two kids alright?" The captain questioned them immediately. "Y'all lucky that we came through here. Yo, Larry! Get some coffee on!"

Jaylene looked around, her body shaking as she followed the captain up the stairs, John B close behind her.

"Anybody I can call, let 'em know that you're okay?"

The brunette shook her head at his question, trying hard to politely smile through her chattering teeth. "There's no one to call, but thank you."

He gave them a hesitant look, not entirely convinced that they had no one to call, but nonetheless, he continued to lead the way until they made it to the doorway that led to the inside of the large watercraft.

As they walked in, a nice looking man handed the two a cup of warm coffee. That allowed their hands to slightly warm up as they wrapped them around the metal mugs.

"Mar, get some soup on!" The captain shouted once more before turning towards the two teenagers.

Jaylene had taken a seat on the chair, her head rested on John B's chest with his arm wrapped around her as she sipped the warm liquid.

"Where in the hell were you two trying to go?" The man chuckled, looking towards the two as they moved closer to one another to try and create a sufficient amount of heat to warm themselves up.

"Can you just drop us off at the next port? That would really help us out a lot." John B spoke up, avoiding the question. "Doesn't matter where."

The captain stared at the two cuddled up teenagers for a few seconds, a smile forming on his face. "I was young and in love once. Turned into a goddamn disaster. But it was fun while it lasted, though."

Jaylene felt herself freeze up at the use of the 'L' word. She and John B had only recently started dating and she had already fled the island with him, leaving her entire life behind for him. She did all of this for him, so that had to mean something, right? Maybe she wasn't ready to admit it because of how new this all was, but what she did know was that she wouldn't go through great lengths like these if she didn't love the person she was doing all this for.

"Hey, where'd you say you were going again?" Jaylene shook her thoughts away, realizing that the man had never specified where they were sailing to.

"Nassau." He quickly answered, drifting his attention back towards the controls that operated the boat.

The capital of the country was something that was permanently embedded in Jaylene's mind. The countless trips she'd taken to the island never allowed her to forget. She knew exactly where they were headed. "The Bahamas." She let out a small gasp, a smile forming on her lips as she looked up at John B.

"The gold." He couldn't believe it either. Some good was gonna come out of a bad situation.

"Holy shit, John B. You fucking did it." Jaylene exhaled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

As the two celebrated that grand victory, the captain looked around the room, realizing that the soup still hadn't been brought in, so he parted his lips to speak. "Mar, where the hell is that damn soup?" His voice rose as he knit his eyebrows together, wondering what the hold up was.

"Oh, relax! I'm coming, I'm coming." A feminine voice spoke, a small chuckle escaping from her lips as a blonde-haired woman stepped into the space, her bright blue eyes illuminating the room instantly.

Jaylene's large smile quickly fell from her lips, her breath hitching in her throat, mouth growing dry at the sight of the woman stood a few feet away from her. In that moment, time felt completely surreal as she struggled to mutter a single word due to the level of shock her body was going through. She thought back to the day when she rode the ferry to Chapel Hill to get a hold of the box that contained the truth that her father had tried to bury all these years. The words neatly written inside of the journal replayed in her head and the blurred childhood memories slowly seeped into her brain, making it impossible for her to even think of what to say in that moment, but she managed, her voice low as she spoke. "Mom?"

THE END?

Ahhh, I can't even begin to explain how overwhelmed I am with all the support this book has received from beginning to end. I have read every single comment that you all have left & I've honestly just laughed my ass off reading the reactions that people had when I threw in a plot twist.

Please let me know your thoughts on the book! I love reading the comments haha!

And because of that cliffhanger that I left this book off with, I've definitely considered writing a sequel, but if I do decide to publish one, it won't be out until season two of outer banks premieres. So, with that being said, would you like a sequel to this story?

Thank you for taking the time to read this book, I appreciate each and every single one of you! 🤍

Check out a couple more of my books I have published & I hope to see you all in the near future.

I am wishing you all Happy Holiday season & please remember to continue wearing a mask & remember to social distance!

-C

𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 : 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟓, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎.