RIPTIDE | Rafe Cameron

28. 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯

I've spent the last six hours pretending to be okay. Of course I'm happy that my sister is home, I've missed her so much since she's been gone and having her back with us still doesn't feel real. I'm still high on drugs, but not in the euphoric way that some might think, instead it's just keeping me stable, no that's not the right word, I'm numb.

About two hours after I did the first line in my parents bathroom, I was coming down when I began getting the flashes of what I saw on the tarmac. Except it wasn't Sheriff Peterkin who I was trying to keep alive, it was Sarah. Whatever I tried, I couldn't get it to stop. So I did another line, and I've been sitting upstairs in my room ever since.

I took a bottle of vodka from the cupboard downstairs and I've managed to drink about half of it. I had hoped it would wash away all the memories but it just rinsed them away, temporarily.

My parents have been so engrossed in Maggie's return that I don't think they've even noticed my absence. I could probably walk straight past them and out of the front door and they wouldn't realise.

A knock on my bedroom door startles me from my daydream, "Yeah?" I mutter, the door opening and my mum poking her head through the gap in the door.

"Hey honey," She smiles, "There's someone here to see you."

"Okay," I nod, sitting up properly from where I've been slumped on the bed as she pushes the door open, allowing Rafe to enter my bedroom.

"Hi," He smiles, and I find myself feeling on edge, but I can't let him see that, he can't know that I know what he did to Sarah.

"I'll leave you two to it." Mum tells us, closing the door.

"I waited for you at the island club," Rafe sighs, "And then you didn't show up, so what's going on?"

"Maggie's back," I tell him, pulling my knees up to my chest as he sits on the bed beside me, "Didn't you see her downstairs?"

"No, your mum let me in," He replies, "Your sister is back, where's she been?"

I can't tell if he's being genuine or if he's lying. Would Ward have told him that Maggie was there? Would he tell his son that his girlfriend's sister has been living in his house all this time. Didn't he see her when he shot Sarah?

"You want to hear a really fun story?" I smirk, pulling the vodka bottle out from under my quilt, unscrewing the cap and taking a swig, "Your Dad forced my sister to move to the Bahamas."

"What?" Rafe looks up at me, and I can't tell whether he knows the truth.

"She found out what your dad did to Big John, and clearly he couldn't bring himself to silence her in the way he silenced John B's dad," I tell him, my words laced with bitterness, "None of this sounds familiar?"

"Why would I know about this?" He asks, shock written all over his face.

"I just assumed that Ward tells you everything," I sigh, drinking more of the vodka.

"Why are you drinking that straight from the bottle?" Rafe looks at me with anxious eyes, "Are you okay?"

"Mmhmm," I hum, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Rafe replies, "You don't seem okay."

I look at him with a fond grin, despite the pit of emptiness in my stomach, "Why would I lie to you?"

"I'm not saying that you would," He sighs, and I can tell that he's scared of what I might say or what I might do, because I'm erratic, or unstable, depending on who you ask, "Why don't we get out of here for a bit? Drive down to the point or something?"