Broken

• Chapter 124 •

"Okay, I'm gonna take her to bed before Ms. Shanice or Mr. Black see her," Clementine stops at the beach beside our rooms as she wraps Aya's arm around her neck. She's completely wasted.

"Need help?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "I'm a strong independent woman who don't need no man," she snaps. I laugh at her idiocy. She grins, "Meet back here..?" she asks hopefully.

I smirk, "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Her cheeks turn a rosy pink color as she pulls her lip between her teeth, shooting me a shy smile before walking Aya towards their room. I smile fondly as I watch her walk off. My peaceful feelings are disrupted by a drunk group of girls running to the beach.

"You lost!" Aoife's friend laughs. "Get into that water, girl!" another one quips.

Aoife laughs. "I hate you guys!" she slurs.

"A bet's a bet! Come on!" her friend giggles. Aoife laughs as she—very much to my distaste—begins undressing. She gets butt-naked before rushing into the water. I cringe as I avert my gaze in horror. Ew. I was never meant to see that. She's my fucking half-sister.

I want to walk away, but something tugs at my gut, urging me to stay. These girls are drunk, and the weather doesn't look friendly tonight. This is a bad idea. I hesitantly turn around, Aoife is nowhere to be seen. I watch her friends giggle as they pick up her clothes and rush off, shushing each other.

"She's gonna kill us!" they laugh at one another.

Are they seriously leaving Aoife's hammered ass by herself? Stupid girls.

"Girlsss! Where are youuu?" Aoife calls from the water. It's so dark, even the moon is covered by murky clouds. I can barely see her.

The air gushes against my skin. Looks like a storm is coming. The waves begin increasing in momentum, Aoife is clearly shaken up by it. She's swimming further and further away from the shore. What the hell is she doing? The idiot is going to drown. Whatever, it's none of my business.

Just walk away.

"H-HELP!"

My heart sinks into my stomach as I hear the panic in her voice. I could let her drown, it's not like she matters to me. I roll my eyes to myself, knowing that I'm not going to do that. I swear underneath my breath as I quickly remove my shoes, jacket, shirt, and pants. I can see her arm flailing desperately above the water line. I curse even more as the shock of the freezing water hits my skin. It's not as cold as it was in LA, but it's pretty damn cold.

I wince in pain as the waves hit my wound. Fuck. If it opens and there are sharks right now, this will not end well at all. I quickly dive in, swimming ferociously fast towards her drowning body. I open my eyes despite the salty water. It's pitch-black. I can't see shit. I feel a movement. A body jerks, trying to stay afloat. I dive in further, grabbing her arm.

I haven't realized how forceful the waves have become until I'm in too deep. A wave hits me with a harsh intensity, ripping my connection to Aoife and sending me above water level. I blink through the stinging in my eyes, gasping for air. Panic suddenly surges through my body. This is serious. I need to act fast, or she'll die.

I frantically look around, distressed by the entire situation. I dive back in, waving my arm around in hopes of accidentally grabbing her. I dive further, willing my eyes to focus inside the depths of the water. I squint as my eyes pick up on something in my peripheral vision. My eyes widen in recognition, she's lying unconsciously at the bottom of the water. I plunge urgently, eardrums feeling like they're about to explode. I tug at her body to move, grabbing a hold of her from behind.

My feet kick off from the bottom of the water in hopes of getting out quickly. I come out of the water, my lungs feeling like they're about to collapse from lack of oxygen. I pull her unconscious body up with me and look around, trying to find the shore. Fuck. How have I come so far out into the water? The shore looks so fucking far away! My heart thumps violently. Are we going to make it before the next wave hits?

Adrenaline fills my entire body. There's no way I'm dying like this. I swim at what feels like an inhumane speed, desperate to reach the shore in one piece. It's not helping that I'm being dragged down by an entire human being. Much to my horror, another wave comes crashing down on us. My eyes widen in terror, I hear the lightning. I gasp for air once again, blinking the water away from my vision. We're further away from the shore than when we started.

The waves are increasing in size and intensity by the second. We're not going to make it. I can't push myself to the shore with Aoife on my back. We aren't going to make it. I look at Aoife, then back at the shore before being engulfed in another deadly wave.

I can feel myself slipping away, my hand clings to Aoife's floating body. Everything is so dream-like. Where am I? I can't recall what's going on. All I know is that I'm fading. Fading where? I'm not too sure... But I'm keen on letting go. My systems begin shutting down, giving into the blissful thought of eternal sleep. Slowly, then all at once, memories flash in my brain.

So it's true what they say, your life does flash before your eyes before you die. Memories of the twins begin playing in my head. When I took Zach to his first baseball game, Vanessa to her first kickboxing class. When Vanessa accidentally called me her dad when she was still a toddler. The hatred I felt for them when my father left for months on end. Then, when they were born, the look of pure happiness in my mother's eyes.

Those beautiful, warm, loving brown eyes that represent everything good and pure in this world. My mother's voice fills my head.

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

She used to tell me this quote day and night. I can feel my eyes burning—with tears or water—I don't know... Then, a beautiful angelic figure tugs at my brain. A girl with soft olive skin and great tits. She smiles at me, warming my insides. I can feel my lips curving upward into a smile of my own.

Her eyes... Her beautiful, hauntingly deep eyes bore into my soul, and see no darkness. She only sees light. Would she accept me if she knew the truth? Would she look at me the way she does if she knew what I did? She shakes her head and extends her hand towards me. I see my hand reaching out and grabbing hers, she brings it to her lips before kissing it tenderly.

I smile at the vision before shutting my eyes one last time...