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❝ that's kiara down there, my kiara ❞
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𝘚𝘺𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

The sound of my older brother's bedroom door slamming awakens me from my light slumber and I shoot up straight in surprise.

"What is it?" Wheezie groans, covering her head with the covers.

"Just a nightmare. Go back to sleep" I tell her, slipping out of bed.

"Where are you going?" My little sister asks me in a concerned tone, sitting up to look at me.

"I'm just gonna get a glass of water" I lie and she nods, letting her head drop back onto the pillow.

I silently slip on my shoes and exit my bedroom, hearing the sound of my dad's truck pulling up outside the house. I creep down the stairs and stick to the shadows until I reach the glass doors that lead outside, both of them wide open.

"Whose body is it?" Rafe demands, his back to me.

"It doesn't matter" Dad snaps.

My eyes fall on the half covered corpse of Gavin and my stomach turns in dread, my hands grabbing onto the doorframe for stability.

"What are you talking about?" Rafe stresses out "Whose body is it, Dad?"

"Be quiet!" Dad hisses, looking around wildly and I duck behind the curtain.

"You need to tell me whose body that is! Whose is it? Huh?" My brother retorts.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop talking!" Dad warns him, clamping his hand over his mouth and grabbing his head "It's Gavin"

"Gavin" Rafe repeats in disbelief once Dad removes his hand from the boy's mouth.

"Gavin" Dad confirms.

"Wait, the pilot?" Rafe questions and Dad nods.

Rafe removes our father's hands from him and takes a couple steps towards the dead body.

"I don't un- I don't understand. What'd he do?" Rafe asks the man "What'd he do? What'd he do?"

"He was trying to blackmail us, son" Dad answers.

"What? Blackmail? What are you talking about?" Rafe replies, confusion clear in his tone and on his face.

"The day at the...on the tarmac when you shot Peterkin, I needed to trust him because I needed him to fly the plane to the Bahamas. Okay?" Dad explains.

"Right" Rafe nods.

"I gave him the gun, the gun that you used, and I told him to throw it out the window over the ocean on his way to the Bahamas" Dad tells him "But he didn't. He kept it"

"Wait, wait, wait. What- What do you mean, he kept it?" Rafe snaps.

"He kept the gun that you killed Peterkin with so he could blackmail us for more money" Dad admits.

"Why would he do that?" Rafe questions, still in complete disbelief about the situation.

"He was gonna turn you in, Rafe" Dad presses "He said you were a psychopath and that he wasn't going to jail for you. Now, will you please help me carry him to the boat?"

Rafe takes a deep breath and turns to look back at the house, his eyes meeting mine before I can duck again. His face pales and he is quick to leave Dad's side, storming towards me with a furious expression on his face.

"Rafe!" Dad hollers, still not seeing me.

My brother grabs me by the collar of my sweatshirt and looks down at me with wild eyes, anger mixed with fear.

"You shouldn't be out here" He snaps.

"I'm sorry" I gasp out.

A conflicted expression flickers across his face and his grip on me eases up as he lets out a defeated breath.

"Go to bed" He orders.

"But, Rafe-" I try to argue.

"Now, Sylvie" He demands "And don't let Dad see you"

I nod quickly and he lets me go, grabbing his coat from the hook on the wall behind me.

"I can deal with this" He assures me.

✯¸.•'*¨'*•༻❁༺•*'¨*'•.¸✯

I exit the house, shooting Kiara a quick text to let her know that I'm on my way to meet her and the Pogues when two motorbikes swerve in front of me, causing me to jump back in fright.

"Sorry, peaches. Did we scare you?" Barry coos, pulling off his helmet.

"Hey" Rafe snaps at the man in a warning tone, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Rafe, what's going on?" I question my brother in confusion.

"I need your help" He admits, looking unsure of himself and the words coming out of his mouth.

"What do you need me for exactly?" I ask him suspiciously.

"The gun I used that day on the tarmac is lost and I need to find it before someone else does. I need all the help I can get to look for it" He explains to me.

"I don't know. I have somewhere to be" I drawl off.

"Please, Sylvie" He pleads "I'm your brother. Help me"

Guilt seeps into my chest and I find myself letting out a sigh, nodding in agreement. Rafe hands me his helmet and I pull it on, climbing onto the bike behind him.

"Hold on tight!" Barry hollers, pulling his own helmet down.

I grab onto my brother and both bikes speed away from our house, heading towards the storm drain I watched my father looking into just last night.

The wind hits my blue and white checkered sundress clad body and chills run down my spine at the adrenaline that rushes through me. We swerve around corners at an alarming speed that is definitely way over the legal speed limit and my heart slams rapidly against my ribcage, not in fear but in excitement.

The bike comes to a slow stop and I take a deep breath, trying to calm my raging heartbeat.

"You okay?" My brother's voice snaps me out of my daze.

"She's great. Ain't ya, peaches?" Barry grins in amusement.

"Call me that again and the next thing that comes out your mouth will be your teeth" I retort in irritation and he chuckles, not taking my threat seriously at all.

I follow behind Rafe and Barry towards the storm drain, looking around us in concern while my brother and his dealer friend crouch to peer down into the sewer.

"Ain't good, big dog. If that piece went down in here, it's either six inches deep in the catch basin in some toxic shit you definitely don't wanna be wading through, or it's way out there by that outlet" Barry explains to my brother and I.

"Now, the easiest thing to do is going to be flush it. 'Cause I'm gonna tell you right now my ass ain't getting down there in that shit" He adds.

Rafe stands up and looks around us like I had done mere minutes ago, looking lost in thought. Barry furrows his brows in confusion and looks to me for an answer.

"Rafe, what do we do?" I question him.

"Flush it" He answers simply.

"Only one way to find out now, Country Club" Barry states, leading us towards the water main "All right, all right, all right"

The man unchains the wheels and turns his head back, looking at Rafe. My brother nods in confirmation and Barry begins turning the wheel to flush out the drain.

A loud and familiar scream echos in the distance, causing my heart to drop and I freeze up.

"Oh my God! There's something dead!" I hear Kiara Carrera's voice screaming in horror from the sewer "I repeat, there is something dead in here!"

"Like a person?" Pope's voice calls out.

"Kie, don't touch it. That's how you get worms" JJ adds.

"Did you find the gun? Is it Gavin?" Pope questions.

"What is it? Is it Gavin?" JJ repeats.

"Don't touch it!" Pope warns her.

"Kie, is it a gun? Do you see the gun, Kie?" JJ presses.

"Well, they're in the sewer" Rafe scoffs, worry bubbling in my stomach.

"Do you see anything?" JJ's voice echoes through the sewer, causing my heart rate to pick up as the fear seeps into my body.

"Flush them out" Rafe declares.

"Rafe, no" I plead, taking a step forward but Barry grabs my arm to hold me back.

"You flush that pipe, you gonna kill the rat" Barry warns my brother.

"Yeah" Rafe nods without hesitation.

"The last thing you need is more dead bodies showing up around this bitch" Barry tries to reason with him "You realise what you're doing if you do that?"

"If you wanna be a pussy, you can leave" Rafe shrugs, moving to turn the wheel himself but Barry pushes him back away from it.

"Do you not realise what you are doing, bro?" Barry stresses.

"Get the hell out of the way" Rafe demands in an eerily calm tone.

"All right, then" Barry huffs out in defeat, stepping out of Rafe's path "All right, then, tough guy"

"You don't wanna be here for this, go find the truck, okay?" Rafe tells the man, throwing him the keys.

"Rafe, please just listen to me" I blurt out as Barry walks away, grabbing Rafe's arm "You can't do this"

"Watch me" He retorts.

"That's Kiara down there, my Kiara" I press desperately.

"I'm not going to jail, Sylvie" He states firmly.

"Don't take her from me. I'm begging you, Rafe" I cry out.

"Run" Is all that he says in response.