OBLIVION | RAFE CAMERON

FORTY ONE

XLI

❨ OBLIVION . . . 𝑏𝘰𝘰𝑘 1 ❩
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
Rafe Cameron ━━━ CALLISTA MAYBANK
❛ He soon learnt that in this world the only person he could really count on was the girl. ❜

ACT ONE

━━━━━━━━━━━━

After seeing JJ drunk and beaten, Pope knew that he needed to go and check on Cal. He needed to make sure that she wasn't as black and blue as her brother.

He leant against the door frame, the girl had her hair covering her face as she read over a letter that was scribbled onto a crumpled piece of paper.

Cal's head snapped up once she heard the small creek of the floorboard. She heard Pope gasp once he saw the cuts and bruises on her face.

"It's not that bad." She whispered. She wanted to make Pope feel better by telling him that the cuts didn't sting or that the bruise on her eye made it swell so bad that it was hard to see who was stood in front of her.

"Cal-"

"Please don't, Pope." Cal muttered. "I don't want your apologises, you didn't do this to me."

She hated the sympathy from other people, especially if they didn't know it was happening or if they couldn't help themselves. Pope helped enough by going with Cal to Peterkin when they were younger. There was nothing else that he could have done.

"You have to go the police." Cal scoffed at the statement.

"You know better than that, Pope. They didn't believe us last time." Cal softly smiled.

Pope knew that the girl didn't want to talk about it, she wanted nothing more than to move past what had happened to her. They were never going back to the house and they were never going to see Luke again, so going to the police would be pointless.

"How's JJ? He was drunk when I last saw him. He wanted to be alone." She understood why he would want to be alone.

It's humiliating what happened to them. Their own father beat them. It wasn't exactly the simple apple pie life that most families have.

"He's with Kie." Pope nodded. "He's okay. But I'm more worried about you." He paused, noticing how the girl just lowered her head again.

The boy took a seat on the bed beside the girl. Cal didn't bother to hide the letters from him. She knew at some point they were all going to find them. Pope picked up the letter that Cal has previously being reading. A sad smile formed on his face once he saw that it wasn't addressed to anyone.

"That one's about you." Cal chuckled, trying to change the topic. "I was twelve when I wrote it."

She noticed the way that the corner of Pope's lips curled upwards. Cal reached forward and gently took the letter from the boy before putting it back into the envelope.

"It was the day before midsummers, and I had the biggest crush on you." She giggled, a light blush forming on her face. "I was hoping that you were going to ask me to go with you."

Pope laughed, not understanding why one of the most beautiful girls that he has ever laid eyes on would have had a crush on him. Cal offered the boy a tight lipped smile, both of them just stared at one another until they'd began laughing.

"Instead you asked JJ to work with you and your dad. Let me tell you, I shouted at JJ and begged him to let me go instead." Cal laughed, running her hand through her hair.

"Why do you write them?" Pope asked innocently.

"When I was younger, I was so sure that Luke would kill me. I was so scared that no one would know that I even existed. No one would know my story."

Her tongue ran over her bottom lip, realising that this was the first time she had ever admitted that to anyone. Pope nodded and patiently waited for her to continue.

"At first, I wrote them to JJ, but then Luke started to hit him more. I feared that neither of us would make it. So then I wrote them to Lou, but after middle school we lost touch. I wrote a few to you, JB and Kie, but I felt guilty. I didn't want you guys to find them and blame yourselves. So, I just stopped writing a name. Whoever found them, they could tell my story or keep it to themselves."

Pope felt saddened at the thought. He placed a comforting hand on the girls knee. He couldn't imagine the emotional pain that she had gone through as well as the physical. Fearing for her life every day must have been torture.

"You know, we wouldn't ever forget you?" Pope whispered, his thumb gently running over her skin. "And we'd tell your story."

Cal's eyes filled with tears. She nodded, although she didn't know that. She was terrified of been forgotten and nobody knowing her. She didn't want to just disappear.

Pope opened his arms and the girl instantly crashed into his chest. His shirt dampened from her tears, but he didn't care. She was in so much pain, he just wanted to ease some of it.

He placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head. He hummed a soft tune and rocked her side to side until her cries settled.

"But now that I know about them, what are you gonna do with them?" Pope asked curiously. "What's their purpose?"

Cal pondered upon the thought. If just one person knew about her letters, then she had no reason to fear being forgotten. She glanced at her pen and paper, slowly picking it up. Anxiously, she chewed her bottom lip before looking up at the boy again.

"What are you gonna do?" He raised his brow.

"Write one final letter." She admitted, her voice cracking ever so slightly. "To Rafe, then deliver them."

Pope nodded with a smile. He liked that she had a plan. He wanted to ask what it was, but he felt like he had pryed too much for one day.

She knew that the boy wouldn't be smiling if he knew her plan. Writing one final one meant that everything she had being working towards would be complete. She would be remembered and she'd be protecting her brother.

"I'll cover for you when you take them." He offered.

"Thanks Pope, I owe you." She whispered. Pope stood up to leave, going to give the girl some privacy. "Hey Pope?"

"Cal?" He turned back to look at her.

"I love you." Cal loved Pope, he was he's family. She didn't tell him often, but he meant a lot to her. More than he would ever know.

"I love you too, Cal." And with that, Pope left the girl alone with only her thoughts, a pen and a pad to write one final goodbye letter.

socials
instagram ~ vxidcameron & em.newman
snapchat ~ emilynewman1234
tik tok ~ vxidbucky & leeandhan