The Sinner

82

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I felt as though someone had taken a hammer to my head. The pounding that was taking place behind my eyes seemed never ending. It felt like I had a really, really bad hangover.

I slowly open my eyes. The first thing they landed on was a white ceiling.

What happened?

I blink the blurriness out of my eyes and attempt to sit up. My head seems to pound even more as I do so. I slowly look around, noticing a wooden desk and chair straight across from me.

It's then that I come to the realization I had absolutely no idea where I was.

Panic sets through me. I quickly scan the rest of the room I was in. This was not Rafe's room, I don't even think I was in his house anymore.

My breath becomes shaky. My anxiety starting to sky rocket.

The last thing I remember from last night was drinking tea with Rose. And then nothing.

I hear someone groan, which startles the shit out of me. I snap my head in the direction of the noise. Sarah was just waking up too. Her blonde hair was tossed around the pillow she had been laying on. Her face was smushed against it as she laid on her stomach. She slowly opens her eyes and notices me staring at her.

"Sarah," I whisper.

"Corrine?" She asks, her forehead scrunching together. "What happened? Why do I feel like shit?"

"I don't know where we are," I tell her, standing a couple of seconds later. I try the door first, but I was only able to jiggle the door handle. It was locked.

My words finally sink in to her brain. And she practically jolts upward, she pushes herself off one of the couches. She starts banging on the door, pulling at the handle. But it was no use, we were trapped in here.

"No," She says, "No, no, no."

"Stop," I tell her.

"Help! Help me!" She shouts, banging on the wooden door.

"Sarah, stop!" I say, pushing her hands away. "We need to find a way out of here without letting them know we're awake."

"There's no way out, Corrine," She tells me.

"There has to be," I say, my eyes scanning the room around us. "We have to get out of here."

"No, look," Sarah says, pointing at the windows across from us.

My eyes follow her finger. The clear sky was the first thing I had noticed. And then my eyes caught the reflection of the sun shining off water.

I slowly take steps towards the window. My heart sinking once I realize we were on a boat, in the middle of the ocean.

"No," I breathe out. "No, I can't. I have to go home. It's Maggie and my father's wedding day!"

I walk back to the couch in search of my phone. I practically ripped the old couch apart, and there was nothing. My phone wasn't in sight.

"Shit," I whisper out. "How the fuck did we get on this boat?"

"Rose drugged us," Sarah says, sitting in one of the wooden chairs. She runs both hands through her hair as she tilts her head back. "She gave me that tea, and it knocked me out completely."

Right. The tea had something in it. It was more than just tea with melatonin in it.

"But why are we on a boat?" I ask.

"It's Rose's stupid plan to get us out of the Outer Banks," She explains, "We're going on a trip, apparently."

"It has to be more than that," I say, "They would never drug you or either of us to go on a family vacation."