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❝ you understand why I did it, right? ❞
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𝘚𝘺𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

We reach the house and the first thing I see is Rose watering her flowers with the hose, a glass of wine in her free hand. Rafe jumps out the car first and we follow.

"Hey! Your dad is not gonna like that you're back home" Rose declares.

"He told me I could come here" Rafe replies.

"Well, he didn't tell me" Rose retorts.

The blonde woman quickly spots Sarah and I, her face dropping and her head tilting slightly in confusion.

"Why aren't you two on the plane?" She asks.

"Ask Rafe" Sarah spits before running into the house.

Rafe follows and Sarah slams the door in his face. He angrily swings it open again and storms inside.

I wait a second before walking forward to the house, but I'm stopped when Rose yells.

"Stop" She shouts.

I stop in my tracks and turn to face the woman. She puts her glass down and drops the hose, walking towards me.

The first thing she does is grab my wrists, turning my hands palm up to see the blood covering them.

"Is this yours?" She questions and I swear I can see concern swimming in her brown eyes.

"No, ma'am" I answer truthfully and she nods, letting go my hands and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Go get cleaned up" She tells me.

"I will" I assure her, walking away.

I head straight upstairs to my room and as I go to slam the door shut, a hand hits the wood. My whole body swivels around in fright and in gulp when I see Rafe standing in my doorway.

"You understand why I did it, right?" He asks, looking the most vulnerable I've ever seen him.

"Not when there was another way" I breathe out.

"Sylvie" He croaks, a tear running down his face.

"I'm sorry, Rafe, but I've got to wash the blood off my hands" I state bluntly and he nods, taking a step back.

I close the door and lean against it, my eyes screwing shut to stop myself from crying once again.

A loud masculine scream sounds from the hallway and my door violently shakes as something hits it, making me flinch. Rafe storms away, his footsteps and heavy breaths disappearing down the hall.

I take a deep breath and walk over to my bed, practically collapsing onto it. My eyes flutter shut in what is only meant to be a short rest, but I fall into a deep sleep that is corrupted with blood curdling screams and gunshots.

✯¸.•'*¨'*•༻❁༺•*'¨*'•.¸✯

I step out of the bathroom after a long steaming shower and I notice Sarah sat on my bed.

"Hey" She smiles weakly.

"Hi" I mumble, trying my best to smile back.

I stand in the middle of my room in a clean black underwear set with my arms crossed over my chest and Sarah sigh, standing up.

"Do you want me to dry your hair?" She asks curiously and I smile slightly.

"Will it take your mind off it?" I answer her question with another one and she nods softly "Okay then"

She grabs the hair dryer and I slip on a pair of white cotton shorts with a red bandeau top. I sit down on the edge of my bed and Sarah gently brushes the tugs out of my long blonde waves. She then turns on the dryer and starts blow drying my hair.

I notice a grey material on the ground and I reach down picking it up. Unfolding it, I realise that it belongs to JJ. It's a worn out tank top with the Coors Light logo on it that I stole from him a while ago. Just the sight of the shirt makes me smile softly as I lay it on my lap.

The hair dryer turns off and Sarah brushes my hair out before placing the objects away. I place JJ's shirt in my drawer and turn to Sarah who is looking at my outfit with a thoughtful expression.

"You're missing something" She declares as I pull on my red chucks.

"My boyfriend?" I suggest and she smiles sadly.

"That's not what I meant" She says and I nod knowingly with a small smile.

"I've got it" She perks up, grabbing my arm.

Sarah drags me through to her room and I let her, hoping this will distract her from what happened yesterday.

She opens a small jewellery box and pulls out a necklace. I see it's a silver heart with an 'S' engraved onto it, it's simple but beautiful. My sister holds it out to me with a smile and I shake my head.

"I can't take that. It's yours" I tell her.

"We're sisters, Sylvie. What's mine is yours" She insists.

I hesitate before letting out a sigh, a smile forming on my face.

"Can you put it on for me?" I ask and she grins, nodding enthusiastically.

I turn around and she puts the chain around my neck. She takes a second to clasp the back before untucking my hair from under the chain and I look down at the small silver heart hanging on my chest with a soft smile.

"Thank you for this, Sar" I breathe out, my eyes watering as I turn to my twin sister.

"Don't mention it" She whispers, pulling me into a tight hug.

I hug her back tightly, savouring this sisterly moment before it is interrupted.

The door is knocked on loudly and we part, turning to the door to see our father enter.

"Sylvie's room was empty so I assumed you were both in here" He states "We need to talk, girls"

He sits on the bottom of the bed and pats it. Sarah and I climb onto the made bed and Sarah grabs a decorative pillow, hugging it, while I pull my legs to my chest and lay my chin on my knees.

"What's gonna happen to Rafe?" Sarah asks.

Our father pauses, looking around the room before looking back at us and sighing.

"Baby, nothing's gonna happen to Rafe" He answers.

"Excuse me?" I scoff.

"What do you mean, nothing'll happen?" Sarah asks in disbelief.

"Honey-"

"That makes no sense!" She snaps.

"I know it seems that way" He sighs.

"Rafe shot someone, Dad. He needs serious help!" I retort in anger.

"Listen to me, girls. You grow up in this world thinking there is good and there's evil, and that's how it should be, because that's helpful when you're young, when you need some kind of...structure. But there reaches a point when you realise that the world isn't organised along some divine idea of right and wrong. It's not. It's something else. It's family...and tribe. Do you understand?" He explains to us like we are children and Sarah shakes her head as I glare at him "You have to pick a side"

"No" Sarah answers and I keep quiet, knowing I already picked a side years ago.

"Him or us" Our father declares.

i choose him

Our father gets up and exits the room, leaving Sarah with a tear stained face. I hear the key turn in the lock and my eyes widen in surprise.

"No" Sarah gasps and we both jump up, running to the door.

"No, no, no!" I rush out, slamming my fists against the door.

"Shit" Sarah curses.

"Let us out!" I scream.

"Let us out! Please!" Sarah hollers "Dad, please!"