040 !! TRAGEDY

Panic, mania, fear. Dead calm. Set. Repeat.

Panic, mania, fear. Dead calm. Set.

Repeat.

A vicious cycle of constant uneasiness, headaches and nerves consuming one's sanity bit by bit leaving an empty shell of a dumb human.

A skeleton of who you used to be — the flesh corroded, biten off and burned left behind to rot and eventually erode off with the soil settling into the depths of the raging sea which longs for every piece of humanity, an insane driving hunger devouring the weak.

Only a shadow remains.

And that is what she seems to be, hovering through the rustic wood walls of The Wreck, eyes fixed ahead, voice monotonous.

Her mind lays elsewhere, in the worry and safety of her dearest.

She shuffles around the restaurant, quietly obeying orders for the promise of helping him awaits her at the end of her shift.

There is a bounty on his head now.

25 thousand dollars for the Sheriff killer, dead or alive.

The murderer. The psycho. The poor boy from The Cut whose gigantic ambitions led him astray and eventually compelled him to pull the trigger on the county protector.

Oh how awful it is to think that they once trusted him, fed him and let him freely scurry around town only for him to betray them this way in the end.

Traitor, a marked bounty on his head.

He's dead meat now — they say as they sip their iced mimosas, their hundred dollar sunglasses resting atop their heads and their shrewd eyes regarding every breathing entity from the South with deep hatred and contempt.

Payback, bitch — a few teenagers think, running amok on the beach, their imported swimsuits adoring their rich bodies, the sweat sheening off their skin dripping like gold under the bright sunlight.

It hurts and it continues to hurt until the pain manifests and turns to something quite so agonising that every nerve ending in her body stands erect, waiting for disaster to fall upon them.

It's always them anyways.

Tragedy after tragedy.

The first one struck approximately ten months ago with Big John's disappearance. And ever since then, every other life changing event has just been a cherry on top of a cruel delicacy designed specifically for some tyrannical God up there, watching them with his fingers crossed.

"Georgie, counter needs your attention".

Her startled eyes catch onto Delaney's, the brown pupils silently gesturing towards the counter where the blonde would usually be stationed at if it weren't for the excited crowd adding to their usual throng of customers.

She throws a glance over her shoulder, her gaze widening when she sees the back of the olive green shirt, that effortlessly slicked back hair impatiently waiting to be attended.

Her mind kicks into panic mode, eyes searching for someone around, someone who could save her from going back and facing him.

"Pete", she grabs a fellow employee's arm halting him midstep between walking back into the kitchen with a tray full of dirty dishes.

"Counter, please".

He frowns looking over at the man seated there on the stool, still waiting.

"That's Cameron. No chance, bro", he huffs moving to walk away from her grasp.

"Please".

Her desperate eyes flick between his, his tired glance feeling exhausted under her helpless stare.

"You owe me", he sighs finally giving in, shrugging off her hand and hurrying towards the counter.

She exhales in relief, immediately glancing around to look for a way out.

Without a word, she sidles out of the row of cramped tables and rushes out back, her steps loud and hurried as she moves with purpose.

Her phone dinges in her pocket, tentatively she pulls it out, her breath faltering at the sight of the three words displayed on the notification bar.

RAFE : where are you?

She can imagine him sitting there inside, a confused frown pulling at his lips when his gaze falls upon the lanky brown-haired boy subbing in for her.

His hesitation at reciting his order, his nervous glance flickering around the room to catch sight of the familiar shiny golden hair, that small frame dressed in a pair of jean shorts and an old oversized flannel donning her body as she moves around the space, softly smiling and attending to even the rudest of customers with a polite manner.

The furrow wedging between his brows when realisation dawns upon him.

She's not here. It's weird because she's always there.

His anxious reluctance at picking up his phone and shooting her a text for the first time in twenty four hours.

What, if anything, does he expect her to do?

He knows what he's done. He knows that she knows. Every single detail, laid out for her by the miserable little Pogue who had the audacity of falling in love with his sister.

Still, a part of him hopes that she'd hear him out. She, out of all people, would surely give him a chance to speak, to defend himself, to list out his reasons.

He'd been going insane sitting cooped up in that house, waiting as the hours ticked by but the police still didn't come any closer to putting John B behind bars.

And he knew that one look at her face, one simple word uttered by her would be enough to calm his nerves. So, that's what he did. He set out to seek her at the one place he knew she'd be found during this time of the day.

Only, she didn't want to be found.

And that terrified him.

Ignoring the glowering pit of emotions in her stomach, Georgie pulls up her chat with JJ quickly typing up a message and hitting send, waiting with bated breath for a reply.

GEORGIE : everything okay??

JJ : cops are onto us. regrouping ASAP.

Regrouping? Does that mean John B's alone? Isn't that even more dangerous?

And if the cops are "onto them" then who's to stop them from bringing the others in? Her brother. Her brother who is on probation. Who, if arrested this time, would most likely not see freedom until a few months passed?

It's too much. All of it. And it's picking out at the remaining pieces of her tranquility, mercilessly stabbing through it, burning her and reducing her senses to ash.

Something for the sea to feed on when the rain hurls it to the depths of the dark ocean floor.

***
rude comments will be deleted & haters will be BLOCKED. this is a silly little fanfiction on a reading app for fun and i'd really appreciate it if people mature enough to understand and respect that. my books are NOT a space for you to express your "opinions". please don't bring senseless negativity here.