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❝ thank you for telling me ❞
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𝘚𝘺𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

"Ladies and gentleman, Ward Cameron, king of Kooks, is going to jail!" JJ cheers from inside the chateau.

From my place laying upside down on the porch sofa with my legs over the back of it, Sarah and Kiara are sat either side of me like normal people. I stare out at the yard in deep thought, not being able to erase the memory of Rafe holding me down under that water and the fear that he made me feel.

"Goodbye! Adios! He's out of there! Adios!" JJ continues to yell, but it all sounds muffled as if it's underwater.

A hand is placed on my knee and I jump up in fright, grabbing the wrist which happened to belong to Kiara. She yelps in pain and my eyes blow wide open, snatching my hand away from her as if she burned me.

"I'm sorry, Vie" The girl apologises to me guiltily, rubbing her sore wrist as I scramble off the sofa and onto my feet.

"Forget it" I plead, my brain telling me to run.

I listen to the guilt ridden voice in my head that tells me I'm a bad person, I'm a monster just like my brother and I walk away from the girls. I turn the corner of the house and lean back against the bricks, taking long deep breaths to steady my breathing.

"Do you regret it?" I hear Kiara asking Sarah faintly.

"No. He deserves all of it, and I know that" Sarah says, her voice cracking slightly.

"He's your dad. I get it" Kiara assures her "I'm sure it sucks to be in the middle"

The phone in my back pocket that Topper gave me starts to ring and I pull it out, answering it as I walk out into the yard.

"Hello?" I speak up, my voice a little raspy from being so quiet.

"Hey, Sylvie" Topper Thornton's voice greets me and I smile softly.

"Hi, Top" I respond in a friendly tone.

"Hey, sorry  to be the, uh, bearer of bad news here, but they're..." Topper explains to me "They're coming for your dad. Grandpa just signed the warrant. And, um, if you or Sarah have anything you want to say to him, I would do it now. Just wanted you to know"

"Thank you for telling me" I breathe out gratefully.

"I'll be here if you need anything, okay?" Topper assures me.

"Yeah, I know" I hum, hanging up the phone.

I turn around to tell the others and I'm met with my sister looking at me, waiting for an explanation.

"Topper called" I admit and she nods.

"I heard" She replies.

"His grandpa just signed a warrant. They're coming for Dad and he wanted to give us the chance to see him first" I tell her and she tears up, letting me know that she really needed this.

"We don't have to go, brat" She says, but her eyes practically beg me to disagree.

"Yes, we do" I counter, grabbing her hand "He's still our father at the end of the day"

She nods and squeezes my hand tightly as Kiara rounds the corner with a questioning expression.

"What's wrong?" She asks in concern.

"We gotta go home and speak to our dad before he gets arrested" I answer simply and the Carrera girl doesn't hesitate to nod in reply.

"Of course" Kiara nods, turning her head and screaming at the top of her lungs "Guys, we gotta go!"

The trio exit the house and Kiara grabs the Twinkie keys from the coffee table, throwing them at John B who catches them effortlessly.

"Where are we going?" The Routledge boy questions in confusion.

"Tannyhill" I declare with no context.

Sarah, Kiara and I climb into the van, the boys following right behind us and John B starts up the engine, driving straight towards figure eight.

When we approach the Cameron residence, a shit load of cop cars swarm the place making it hard to see what's going on and my stomach swarms with anxiety.

"Shit" Kiara mutters.

"Oh my God. Can you please hurry? I need to be there for Wheezie" Sarah snaps at John B.

"You think I wanna miss this?" John B retorts and I look at the boy in disbelief.

"You think you'll miss my right fist, asshole?" I snap angrily and JJ grabs my arm, holding me back from an unbothered looking John B.

The van stops outside the walls and we all leap out of the vehicle without hesitation, racing to the wall.

"Holy shit" Sarah murmurs as we watch the busy garden full of agents and officers.

"I can't see, bro" JJ complains, pushing Pope.

"Okay, well, now I can't see" Pope argues, pushing the blonde.

"None of us can see" I snap at them in irritation.

"Screw it. I'm going over" John B snaps, hopping over the wall.

"Right behind you" JJ chirps, turning to us.

"Help me up" Kiara demands, lifting her foot and JJ grabs it.

"All right. Three, two, one, go" JJ says, lifting her up.

"Yep. Thank you" She hums, jumping over the wall.

I don't even wait for my boyfriend to help me, scaling the wall and throwing myself over the stone. Sarah jumps down where I've collapsed on the grass and offers me her hand, pulling me onto my feet.

"Wheezie. Wheezie!" Sarah yells out abruptly and I spot our little sister exiting the house with Rose.

"Wheeze!" I gasp, racing towards her with Sarah.

"What's going on? Why are the police here again?" Wheezie asks as Sarah wraps her in a hug before I do the same, squeezing her tightly.

"Go inside. Don't come out" Sarah orders and the younger girl looks at me instead of listening to our pushover of a sister.

"Inside, now" I demand firmly and Wheezie gives in with a reluctant nod, running inside the house with Rose.

My twin sister grabs my hand and yanks me towards the dock, the both of us sprinting down the pier.

"Dad!" Sarah yells and I notice our father on the Druthers, our family's boat.

"Hey, hey. You gotta let us through" John B snaps at the officers who try to stop us.

"That's Sarah and Sylvie Cameron. Let them through!" Shoupe hollers.

"What are you doing here, girls?!" Dad questions in surprise at seeing us.

"Dad! What are you doing?!" Sarah shrieks.

"Vic, you gotta get them out of here! They can't be here right now!" Dad screams in distress.

"Just come on in, and you- you can talk to them!" Shoupe bargains.

"Sarah, Sylvie, I'm so sorry, girls! I can't!" Dad apologises, lifting the anchor.

"What are you doing?! Dad, no, no, no!" Sarah shouts.

"Dad, stop it!" I plead, terrified that the police will start shooting.

"Ward, this ain't gonna end the way you want it to!" Shoupe warns the man as police boats cage the Druthers in "You don't need them seeing this"

"No! Dad, don't leave! Where are you going?!" Sarah cries out as Dad climbs down his ladders onto the deck.

"Come back! Dad, please stop!" I holler as Sarah's hand clasped around my wrist starts to hurt.

"I love you!" Dad tells us.

"Hey! Damn it, Ward!" Shoupe curses.

"Dad, no!" Sarah yells "Please don't leave!"

"Turn around and get back here!" Shoupe demands as Dad runs into the cabin.

All of a sudden, the whole boat explodes in a huge cloud of angry orange flames and I feel as though my heart stops. My ears ring loudly and I feel Sarah slip away from me as I stand frozen in shock.

"Holy shit!" I hear Shoupe's muffled shouts.

The orange flames fade into thick black smoke and I stumble backwards, bumping into someone. I turn to see John B who barely spares me a glance, his eyes dead set on the flames and he almost seems glad, which I quickly realise that I can't at all blame him for, but at the same time it leaves a sour feeling in my mouth and I can't bring myself to keep looking at him.

"No. No" Sarah chokes out, gaining my attention "Dad. Dad!"

"No! No!" She screams in pain, tears streaming down her face "No! Dad!"

I make a move to grab my sister since John B won't, but the familiar face of Topper swoops in and scoops her into his arms.

The sight of my sister's meltdown snaps me out of my shock and I gasp in a breath of air, realising that I've been holding my breath and tears are streaming down my face.

Before my legs give out on me, I'm pulled into a pair of strong arms and I let out a delayed scream of horror, raw sobs ripping through my throat.

"I've got you, angel" JJ's soothing voice whispers in my ear as I cry.

"We've all got you" Kiara's voice adds and I feel her rubbing my back.