Every nerve in her body was telling her to run as she faced her mother.

She'd changed. Her skin was more tanned, her hair slightly longer, her face more freckled.

But she also hadn't. Her eyes were still the same blue, her shade of blue. Her hair was still flaming red, just the same as hers.

She was reminding Elora of why they were the same, and she hated it.

"Ellie..." Elizabeth began, a hand coming up to cover her mouth as she stepped forward again and again, approaching her-

"Get the fuck away from me."

Elora could barely feel herself as she moved, jerking away from her mother. Her body didn't feel like her own, her words coming from someone else.

"I know, I- I understand," tears shone in Elizabeth's eyes as she faced Elora, the Pogues around them, all looking more disgusted than the next. Big John, too, was stood off to the side, shocked at the reaction.

Elora was dumbfounded as she faced her mother, shaking her head. "You understand?" She repeated. "You don't understand a damn thing!"

"Ellie- you need to listen to me, I know-"

"I really don't give a shit what you know," Elora snapped. "You abandoned me, you were a shit mum and you killed my dad! What else is there?"

A flash of anger crossed her mother's face. "Ellie-"

"Stop fucking calling me that," Elora snapped. "You haven't called me that in years, you don't deserve to."

"Just- just give me a chance and I can explai-"

"I gave you so many chances!" Elora screamed, the tears flowing freely know. "SO fucking many, and you threw them all back in my face!"

"Just listen to me!" Elizabeth shouted, raising her voice for the first time. Two months' ago Elora would have flinched back, but not this Elora. "Just- just listen, please. I need to speak to you, in private."

Elora wiped her tears, her whole entity threatening collapse. First they lost the cross, then Tyler was ripped from her and now her mother was back? And wanting to talk?

"No," she said, crossing her arms. "I know what you did, I know who you are. I don't need to speak to you."

"But-"

"She said no," JJ snapped, stepping up to help Elle, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And to be honest, I see why."

Elizabeth stared at Elora, her jaw slack. Then she switched her gaze to JJ. "I'd like to speak to my daughter, stay out of this."

"Don't speak to him like that!" Elora objected.

"Then fight your own battles, like I taught you to," her mother retorted.

"Like you taught me?" Elora demanded. "Fucking hell, all you ever taught me was how to fuck up your life!"

She hated the satisfaction pooling within her at the look on her mother's face, but she also fucking loved it. All she'd experienced over the past week was losses. She'd take a win where she could get one.

"So you're not even gonna give her a chance, kid?"

Elora's gaze snapped to Big John, who had just spoken.

"Why should I?" She snapped, anger overtaking her, clouding her brain, making her think different- "I'm surprised John B was able to forgive you, you've been gone a fucking year!"

She could feel John B's eyes on her, and she knew she'd spoken out of turn, but fucking hell, she was angry.

"Elora," her mother's voice was harsh and rough, and exactly how she remembered it. "I know you're not pleased to see me, and I understand that-"

Elora scoffed, but didn't say anything.

"-but just let me explain what I'm doing here, and why I left, and then we can move on, okay?" Elizabeth finished, her blue eyes angry.

The girl in front of her, her daughter, didn't want to agree. But she also really wanted to get filled in on what had been happening.

"It's not why you left that I'm angry about," Elora snapped, crossing her arms. "But fine."

The bile felt like it was coming back up as she looked at the small smile building on her mother's face.

"Good," she said. "Let's go inside."

Elora clenched her jaw, her whole body frozen as she nodded, turning round to the Pogues.

"Sorry guys," she bit her lip. "This was a pretty shit reunion."

"It's okay, Elle," Sarah said, eyeing Elizabeth. "Will you be okay, on your own?"

Elora nodded, cause there was no doubt about it. The anger coursing through her veins was strong enough to kill about five people, not just one.

"Yeah," she nodded, shrugging slightly as she tried to make light of the situation. "If Ty comes back, which I doubt, tell him I'm taking care of something."

Kie nodded. "Will do."

Elora turned, clenching her fists slightly as she looked at her mother. "Come on, then," she spoke, almost spitting the words out at her.

"Let's go."

𔓘𔓘𔓘

Tyler knew something was wrong the second he got in the house.

I mean, obviously something was wrong, but he could tell something was seriously wrong.

His mother was awake, alert, and standing in the kitchen as the brothers walked in. Clearly, she'd been tipped off by Topper, because she sure as hell wasn't normally awake this early.

She didn't cry, didn't make any move to hug him, didn't even say anything as he stood opposite her, Topper discreetly dropping the truck keys in their place and leaving the room.

"Hey," Tyler said, his voice slightly rough and filled with an emotion he couldn't quite place.

His mother seemed to jerk awake then, her eyes filling with tears as she pointed her finger at him. "Don't you dare," she snarled. "Don't you dare show up here, after disappearing for a month and not even wanting to come back here, and say hey!"

Tyler shook his head, scoffing slightly. "Yeah, like you wanted me back."

His mother was speechless.

"Do you even UNDERSTAND how worried I was?!" She shrieked. "I searched the beach for HOURS the first night! And I returned every single DAY the next week!"

"That was so the neighbours would stop talking, not cause you-"

SLAP!

His mother was panting as she withdrew her hand, the palm she'd just struck him with stinging slightly. Tyler's face had jerked to the side with the force of it, his anger protruding out of him.

"You really think that little of me?" Cynthia demanded. "Tyler, like it or not you are my SON, and I love you, so you'll have to excuse me if I'm a little bit upset when you disappear off the face of the earth for a month!"

"You don't love me," Tyler snapped, and he was sure of it. Love wasn't his mother and Topper berating everything he did, telling him he should be better, do better.

Love was the Pogues. It was JJ and him racing to shotgun beers. It was Sarah telling him all about some weird person she'd encountered in the street. It was him and Kie talking about turtles and laughing about Kooks. It was him and John B talking about girls, and about how mad they were over them. It was Cleo teaching him how to properly shell a coconut. It was him and Pope talking about science, about maths, about anything, really.

It was him and Elora.

Elle, who'd been his first kiss. Elle, who he loved with all his heart and more. Elle, who he'd never hesitate to protect and defend. Elle, who was the strongest person he'd ever met despite all she'd been through. Elle, who'd shown him so much in such a short time.

"Oh, and who does? Who does?!" His mother demanded, crossing her arms.

"All the Pogues!" Tyler shot back. "All the Pogues that actually see me, that actually know who I am!"

"They don't know who you are!" Cynthia shrieked. "I mean, I bet they're fun to smoke weed with, to skip school with, to ruin your life with-"

"I'm not ruining-"

"-but they don't love you, Tyler!" His mother shouted exasperatedly. "Elora Easton least of all!"

Tyler's hands curled into fists. The way that she said that, spitting out Elle's name, made him wonder if she'd been watching out the window when they'd said goodbye. It made him angry, but he didn't reference it.

"Don't even speak a word about Elle," he snapped. "She loves me more than you ever will."

A stream of screeching laughter left his mother's throat and it was fucking demonic.

"Yeah, you think that, until she becomes her mother," she said.

"Shut the hell up!" Tyler yelled. "She's never ever going to be like her-"

"I DON'T CARE!" His mother screamed, right up in his face. "YOU'RE A SELFISH BRAT, NOT EVEN STOPPING TO THINK FOR A MOMENT OF HOW YOUR ACTIONS HAVE IMPACTED ME-"

"BECAUSE WHY SHOULD I?!" Tyler bellowed back, not backing down. "YOU NEVER GAVE ME SHIT! WHY SHOULD I CARE AT ALL IF YOU'RE WORRIED-"

"YOU'RE MY SON!" She shouted in his face, silencing both of them. She was panting, absolutely distraught as she looked at him. "You're my son, Tyler, and like it or not, I'm your mother. So listen carefully to me and I'm going to tell you how this is going to go."

Tyler looked at her, his own chest rising and falling, wanting to fight. However, he was done fighting, wanting to be done with this conversation and back to the Pogues.

"Okay," he crossed his arms. "Fine."

"Okay," Cynthia snapped, her voice dangerously low. "I quite frankly do not give a shit if you believe if I was worried about you or not, what matters now is that this nonsense is ending. You're going to break it off with those Pogues and your little girlfriend Elora Easton, come back home, live under this roof, and return to the academy."

"What?" Tyler scoffed, shaking his head. "No!"

His mother shook her head, tears in her eyes. "I'm done with this shit, Tyler, absolutely done. You're going to toe the line from now on, I'm seeing to it."

"Or what?" Tyler demanded, his voice loud. "Or what? Because you'll have to drag me there kicking and screaming to make me go b-"

He was rendered speechless as his mother slid a bit of paper across the kitchen island towards him.

"What's this?" Tyler asked, frowning slightly as he picked it.

The first was a picture of a man and a woman, arms around each other, smiling up at the camera picturing them. The woman had white blonde hair and a pretty face with deep green eyes. The man had warm brown eyes and hair of the same colour, looking equally as happy.

"That's Sally and Brian," Cynthia told him, her tone sharp. "They're a lovely couple that live in Kansas City. And they're who you're off to live with, if you don't get your act together."

"No..." Tyler uttered, shaking his head as his heart beat loudly in his ears. He was shaking, his whole body threatening collapse.

"I called into that Helpful Houses programme," his mother explained. "You really gave me no choice."

Tyler looked up at her, shaking his head.

This couldn't be happening. He couldn't be getting made to choose between being a Kook or getting sent to the mainland, he just couldn't be.

"So if you want to avoid getting sent there, you're going to listen to what I say," his mother told him, looking at him.

"You can't," he snapped, the picture shaking in his hands. "No, mom, you don't understand, you can't-"

"Yes I can!" His mother shouted, her eyes flaring.

In the corner of his eye, Tyler saw Topper come back into the room, his hair slightly wet from the shower he must have taken.

"I can," Cynthia repeated, holding his eye contact. "Oh, and before you even think about running off to tell your precious Pogues about this deal, I will send you to Kansas if you breathe a word about this to anyone."

Tyler stared at her in disbelief. "You can't do that," he shook his head. "You- you can't-"

"I can do what I like, Tyler, and I will, considering my son's taken it upon himself to disappear for a month," snapped Cynthia. "So what's it going to be? You going to behave yourself, drop the Pogues and come back to the academy? Or are you going to the mainland?"

Tyler stared at her, anger and hatred and anything but love pulsing through his veins.

He thought about his family. His real family, the Pogues.

He knew they'd hate him again if he became a Kook again. Especially if he couldn't tell them why he was doing it. He knew they'd be bitter and pissed and angry, but... at least he'd be here.

But then he remembered Pope's words, just before he left.

"Don't become a Kook again, please."

His reply had been simple at the time.

"I couldn't be one if I tried, Pope."

Not so much anymore.

If he went to Kansas he wouldn't get to say goodbye. If he chose to become a Kook again he'd get a goodbye, but it would be an ugly one.

And then, in a soul crushing, world shattering moment, he thought about Elora.

He'd have to break up with her. And he'd have to do it without telling the truth, otherwise his mom would be straight on the phone to Helpful Houses and sending him to the mainland.

No, he thought, because he couldn't do that to her, but he also needed to. He needed to stay here, to be able to help, to be of some use. He couldn't be sent away for a year, where he'd have no way of communicating with the Pogues or anybody from OBX, he just couldn't.

(So he'd have to watch Elora break as he told her he was breaking up with her. He'd have to watch the Pogues shouting and yelling and maybe even punch him for abandoning them).

Fuck.

"Okay," he said, clenching his fists, spitting words back at his mother. "Okay, I'll play your game. I'll be a Kook, and come back home, and go back to the academy, and play golf on a Saturday, and have dinners at the Island Club and..."

He trailed off, his whole face contorting at the next thing he was going to say.

"And?" His mother seemed positively happy to see him like this.

"And I'll cut off the Pogues," he snarled, his eyes directed down at the kitchen island.

"Perfect," Cynthia nodded. "You're taking a step in the right direction, Ty, I'm pleased to see."

But, as she guided him upstairs to the bedroom he didn't want to sleep in and the shower he didn't want to wash in, it didn't feel like the right direction at all.

In fact, it felt totally and utterly wrong.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

"Right," Elora snapped, crossing her arms and leaning back on the ratty couch in the Chateau, facing her mother in the arm chair. "You've got ten minutes. Tell me why the hell you're here and what the hell you've been doing."

Her mother let out a surprised chuckle. "Well, you certainly take after me-"

"Don't fucking say that ever again," Elora snapped, leaning forward. "Now tell me, and hope to hell you don't piss me off."

Elizabeth nodded slightly, but instead of just cracking she posed another question. "How much do you know?"

Elora clenched her fists.

"That you're a gold hunter, supposedly," she snapped. "That you were in a gang with Ward Cameron, Big John and Carla Limbrey. That you watched as Ward supposedly killed Big John, even though he isn't dead. That you never told me any of this."

Her mother nodded, pursing her lips.

"I don't know what you've heard, but I didn't watch Ward kill Big John. I was in the boat, sure, but I fought him once I realised he'd done it," Elizabeth told her.

Elora scoffed slightly, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, I bet you did. Is that the story you told him to get him to believe you?"

Elizabeth ignored this jab, and made to say something else, but Elora overtook her, remembering something else.

"You also worked together with Carlos Singh," she said, crossing her arms. "Before you joined Ward and Big John. You pulled some shit to get away from him, as well."

Her mother nodded slightly, saying. "I should've known he'd tell you, when John B told me you'd been kidnapped."

"Well, he did," Elora rolled her eyes.

"Okay," Elizabeth sighed, nodding slightly. "Singh and I worked together years ago, before you were born. He was my first partner in the search for the Royal Merchant, and we discovered the mystery of El Dorado together."

Elora nodded, taking this in. Because no matter how angry she was at her mom, she also wanted answers.

"And yes, I did double cross him," continued Elizabeth. "I stole some important information and left one night, and I never went back."

"What kind of information?" Elora frowned.

"Papers, speculating the coordinates of the Merchant," shrugged her mother. "Nothing of importance now. The important thing was I used it to convince Ward and John and Carla to let me into their little group."

Elora sighed slightly, feeling more and more uncomfortable every second. Her mother was a whore and a bitch, sure, but she'd also lived a secret life for years. A secret life she'd known nothing about.

"We searched for the gold for years," Elizabeth recounted. "And yes, around a year ago, I was on the boat when Ward and John had their argument. Now, what I need you to understand, Elora, is that I didn't see it happen. I was only aware of it after Ward- after he, y'know-"

"But you were there," Elora said, her voice close to breaking, her eyes dark as she looked directly at her mother. "You knew it had happened, and-"

"Honey, you have to understand, I couldn't tell you, I couldn't-"

"Why not?!" Elora raised her voice, shouting now. "You didn't even have to tell me but you could've told the cops-"

"I couldn't've-"

"Or better yet, John B!" Elora yelled. "You could've told the son of the man whose murder you witnessed, instead of letting him rot inside the Chateau, wondering if his father was dead or being tortu-"

"Elora!" Her mother's voice was sharp and angry, and it silenced her. "You have strong see that I couldn't tell anybody."

"The only reason I see for not telling was protecting Ward Cameron," Elora snapped. "And of course you'd want to do that, wouldn't you? Well, now he's got the gold, and cross, and then he'll probably be stealing El Dorado out from under us, so-"

"I'll admit, protecting Ward was part of the reason," Elizabeth spoke over her, her voice calmer this time. "But it was also so nobody would know we were out there, and hatch a plan to steal our knowledge."

Elora rolled her eyes again. "So why'd you go missing, then?"

"I received a message," Elizabeth answered. "From John. He told me that he was alive and had just escaped Carlos Singh, who had captured him. He said he needed me."

"Why did he ask you?" Elora asked skeptically. "You watched him die."

"He didn't exactly have a whole host of options," replied Elizabeth. "So, I went to Ward. He and I had recruited Scooter Grubbs by this point, so we all met at his place. I told him what I knew, and he refused to believe me, wrote it off as nonsense."

Elora's eyes widened as she suddenly recalled a conversation from months ago, back before John B and Sarah went missing, just after John B had found out that Ward killed his dad through Lana Grubbs.

"That the day before she went missing, your mum, she- she had a fight with Ward. In the Grubbs' house. Lana said that it was so loud, and that... that your mum just kept screaming 'it's not true'."

"Oh my god," she uttered, her eyes going wide. "That's why you went missing," her eyes connected with her mother's. "Because you found out Big John was alive and went to find him."

Elizabeth nodded, the corners of her lips twitching. "Exactly. I left that night, going to the address John sent me, some house in Barbados."

Barbados...

It had been her mother she'd seen that day, on the boat. Their paths just hadn't crossed. And to be honest, Elle was glad.

"When I got to him, he was struggling," Elizabeth admitted. "But together, we managed to get world to Carla Limbrey," she rolled her eyes at the name, saying it disapprovingly. "Wicked woman; she thinks I had a part in killing John, you see-"

"You're not that innocent either," Elora said in a cutting tone, her eyes shining with anger. "So stop talking like you are."

Elizabeth looked at her strangely, shaking her head slightly. "I know I'm not innocent, Elora, but I'm better than she is."

Elora chuckled slightly, muttering under her breath. "That's debatable."

Her mother ignored this, saying. "With her contacts we were able to hatch a deal. The shroud inside the cross, the one she was looking for, in exchange for help to find you."

Elora frowned slightly, because why would her mother want to find her? Sounds like she'd been having a hell of a time without her.

"So what have you, Big John and John B been doing these past few days?" She posed her final question.

Elizabeth sighed slightly.

"Ward had this idol that he'd stolen from Singh," she explained. "Said it led to El Dorado. So in the past few days, we've gone to get Denmark Tanny's diary to try and work out why. Then we went down to the archives in Charleston to try and find the rest of it, and... there was nothing. We didn't manage to find anything."

Elora rolled her eyes slightly, clenching her jaw.

"Gold, gone. Cross, gone. El Dorado, gone," she listed off, tone filled with sarcasm and anger. "Fucking hell."

She added Tyler to her mental list.

Her mother just nodded, saying. "I'm sorry, Elora."

Elora looked up at her, snapping. "You're not sorry."

Elizabeth sighed slightly, nodding. "You're right. You're correct, I'm not sorry."

"Yeah, cause you-"

"It's because I care about you," her mother said firmly. "This quest for gold has overpowered my whole life, and I don't want that for you. I think it'll be so much better if you just step away, and forget about it. Believe me, I'm your mother, I know what's best for you."

Somehow, hearing this made Elora angrier than ever.

"Don't ever say that again!" She snapped, her tone filled with hostility. "Even if you're a gold hunter now, you're still a shit mother who never did anything for me except kill my dad off and be a slut!"

Her mother's face flashed with anger, looking up at her.

"I did nothing to your father," she snapped.

"Nothing but cheat multiple times," Elle shot back.

"Elle, I... how can I show you I've changed for the better?" Elizabeth asked desperately, looking her up and down.

"Leave me alone," Elora told her. "And don't try to speak to me."

"Your friends thought as much," nodded Elizabeth. "Who is Ty, by the way?"

Elora froze.

She's forgotten that she'd mentioned Tyler to the Pogues in front of her mother, too lost in the thoughts of losing him and her coming back.

"No one," was her knee-jerk reaction, her eyes flickering from her mother's face down to the ground.

She couldn't let her mom know about Tyler, not now he was gone. Even though she'd never told her what he'd done to her when they were twelve, she also knew that her mother would hate him, as she'd always hated Cynthia.

"I think you're lying."

Elizabeth was looking at her scrutinisingly, her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed. Her lips were pursed and she looked quite sure.

Problem was, she was right.

"Tyler Thornton," Elora said, decided there was no point in lying. "He's one of the Pogues."

Her mother burst out laughing, sounding quite mad.

"One of Cynthia's boys?" She chuckled slightly. "I mean, Sarah Cameron was one thing, but there is no way you're telling me that-"

"Shut up about him," Elora snarled, clenching her fists.

"Oh? Defending him now, are we?" Elizabeth smiled.

"He's a Pogue," Elora snapped.

"He lives on Figure Eight, and his mother is a real bitch, to put it frankly," said Elizabeth. "He's a Kook, Elora. And he always will be."

"No he is not!"

Her anger powered her to her feet, her whole body tensed.

Tyler was gone, and she didn't want to talk about him right now.

"I'm going now," she said, crossing her arms. "Back to my house. If you try and follow me, I'll call JJ and he can bring the gun."

When she walked out, she could feel the tears coming.

When running through the Cut, she was sobbing.

But it was when she burst through the doors of her house that she really broke down.

And felt her heart crack in half inside her chest.