The Girl In The Shadow || Outerbanks || Pope Heyward & Cleo Anderson

24.

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There weren't many guards around. Valera had managed to get herself and Rafe in the garage. 

She leaned Rafe against one of the cars, and Rafe groaned, gritting his teeth.

Valera rushed around, trying to find the keys to any of the cars, but they weren't.

"Shit, okay, Rafe, I'm gonna go find the keys, but you're gonna stay here, stay hidden until I come back, okay? Don't die on me." Valera told him,

Rafe shook his head ,"What? No, val, don't you fucking go, val!" Rafe whispered shouted after his sister, who disappeared back into the house.

Rafe tried to move but he groaned, without any support he was practically useless.

Valera snuck back inside, and she heard chatter. She crawled into the kitchen area, and she smirked as she noticed the bowl of keys.

"Idiots." She chuckled to herself. She didn't know where her good luck was coming from, but she wasn't complaining about it.

"Where's my daughter and son? You said you have them? I want to see them." Valera froze before cursing under her breath as she heard ward's voice.

Valera reached her out and grabbed any key before she crawled back out to the garage, hoping that nobody would see her.

"Hey, you, stop!" Valera cursed, and she stood up, running down the hallway.

She couldn't run as fast as before as she was still healing from her own wound.

Footsteps were heard before her, and Valera ran into the garage, closing the door behind her and turning to face Rafe, who was passed out.

"Seriously!? Now is not the time for some beauty sleep, Rafe!"

Valera pressed a button on the key, and one of the cars chirped. "Got ya!"

Valera rushed over to her brother, and she dragged him over to the car, "God, why are you so heavy all of a sudden?"

Valera opened the back door, and she gritted her teeth as she lifted her brother up and put him in the back seat, wincing a little.

"Sorry, Rafe." Valera shut the door just as the door to the garage opened.

Valera ran to the driver side and got inside, locking all the doors as she started the car.

Valera gripped the steering wheel. "Okay,you can do this. You can totally do this, just um...which one's the gas?"

There was banging on the window, and Valera flinched slightly.

"Fuck it!" Valera pressed down on one of the paddles, and the car moved forward.

Valera let out a scream as she went through the garage door.

"Holy shit! Rafe! I just went through a garage door! This is like a freaking action movie!" Valera exclaimed

"...you don't know how to drive." Rafe groaned out, sitting up and leaning against the driver seat.

"Obviously! I'm driving on the lawn! I'm pretty sure people don't drive on lawns!" Valera replied, her knuckles turning white with how tight her grip was on the steering wheel.

"You're bleeding." Rafe muttered, seeing a patch of red on Valera's side.

"I probably opened a stitch when I was carrying you, oh God! Tree!" Rafe reached his hand out and turned the steering wheel, avoiding the tree at the last minute.

"Are you trying to get us killed!?" Rafe exclaimed, scoffing.

"I'm sorry! This is my first tike driving!" Valera told him

"Road! Get on the road!" Rafe demand, and Valera turned the wheel, driving into the road.

"Keep the wheel straight. Don't move it all over the place , or you'll just zigzag around and get us into a car accident." Rafe told him, wincing

Valera nodded, "Okay, okay, are you okay?"

"Fuck no. Not with your reckless driving." Rafe mumbled, and Valera huffed out a small nervous laugh.

"Yeah. Me neither."

🌊

Luckily for Rafe, the car ran out of gas, so that meant no more driving for Valera.

Unlucky for both of them, they were stranded in some abandoned house, both bleeding from their gunshot wounds that their father kindly gave them.

Rafe was worse than Valera. Valera wasn't bleeding as badly as Rafe was, but she was doing the best she could with the stuff that she had.

Valera was patching him up, and Rafe looked down at his wound, but he noticed that Valera didn't have her bracelets anymore.

Ever since Rafe could remember, Valera always wore her bracelets, claimed it some friendship bracelets that her friends gave her, and she could never take them off, but she had them way before she met the Pogues.

That's when Rafe noticed it. The scar. The scar on Valera's wrist.

Rafe reached his hand out and grabbed Valera's wrist, and turned it around to get a better look.

Valera was confused at first before her eyes widened, and Rafe looked at Valera.

"Val.." He started, but he was interrupted by Valera, who sighed. There was no use hiding it.

"It was years ago, Rafe. I'm not.. I'm not like that anymore." Valera told him, finishing putting the last piece of tape.

"Did you just cut your wrists, or were you going to actually kill yourself ?" Rafe quietly questioned, his eyes welling up with tears at the thought of his sister almost killing herself.

"I was.. but then I thought about you, and I couldn't do that to you, so I didn't go through with it. You and Dawn are the only people who know." Valera replied

Rafe scoffed, "You told a stranger before you told me?"

"In my defense, I was emotional and drunk , and I didn't want you to find out because I didn't want you to think that it was your fault, it isn't," Valera told him,

"And I'm sorry that I didn't tell you." Tears slid down Rafe's eyes, and he looked away from Valera.

"You were going to kill yourself, and you didn't tell me! God, Valera, how could you be so stupid!" Rafe snapped, but he didn't look at Valera.

He avoided looking at her. He was angry. He was angry at Valera, but he was angry at himself for not realizing it sooner.

For not realizing that Valera was struggling and that she tried to kill herself.

The bracelets should've been a sign, but Rafe was so stupid that he didn't even notice.

"I'm sorry.." Valera was interrupted by Rafe.

"Shut up! Just... shut up and leave me alone."

Valera stared at Rafe with tears in her eyes, and she nodded, standing up.

"Okay.. I'm just gonna see if I can find any more supplies." Valera walked away from Rafe, tears streaming down her face.

She deserved it. She deserved Rafe's anger, and she was okay with it, but it still hurt.

It hurt like hell. It hurt worse than a bullet.

🌊

1125 words

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