𝗥𝗘𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗦, 𝙅𝙊𝙃𝙉 𝘽 ¹.

𝙭𝙞. 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚

( 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙀𝙇𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙉. )
▬▬▬∘◦ ☆ ◦∘▬▬▬

SHOVING HER CAR DOOR closed with a great force, Jaylene felt the sticky air ride along her tan skin as she removed the cat-eyed sunglasses that were latched onto her ears. If there was one thing she despised about living on an island, it was the tropical storms that came with it. Like right now, the clouds were a dark grey, full of rain water begging to be released. But the weather forecast predicted the rainfall to occur tomorrow, not that very day.

Today, she was back at the cut. The familiar house she'd stepped foot into a few days again was stood in front of her as she approached the front door, ringing the doorbell and patiently waiting until Florence greeted the girl with a smile, allowing her back into the warm home.

"Let me take a wild guess, your dad has no clue you're here." The raven-haired woman spoke, shutting the door behind her and crossing her arms over her chest.

"So I see I get my intelligence from my mothers side of family, huh?" Jaylene shot her grandmother a smile as she looked around the home, noticing a man who she assumed was her grandfather. "My dad told me that you kept some of my moms belongings. I was hoping you'd let me take a look at them?" Her voice came out in a whisper as she nervously fiddled with the tennis bracelet wrapped around her wrist.

In silence, Mark Harrington analyzed every feature on Jaylene's face, a warm smile settled on his lips at the fact that the same exact baby he'd cradled in his arms was now a semi-mature sixteen year old girl who hadn't allowed the money to get to her head like he'd originally expected. He noticed that she had some of her mothers features, but for the most part, she resembled her father more.

Florence nervously laughed, sucking air in through her teeth. "About that, they're not exactly here."

Jaylene looked at her with raised brows, confused as to what she meant. "What's that supposed to mean? Did you sell them or something?"

"Mark and I figured that it'd be much safer for them to be placed in a storage unit that we rented on the mainland." She explained, leaning her body against the sofa where her husband shook his head.

"Your grandmother is quite the hoarder. She's fifty three years old and still manages to collect the most useless items. But that's besides the point, we know how unreliable the storage units around here are, so we figured that it was best to move our most priced possessions to the mainland where buildings tend to be sturdier." He tossed the newspaper he'd been reading to the side, standing to his full height and walking towards the key hanger where a bunch of keys were hung. "There's a ferry departing from here in about an hour. You make it in time, purchase a ticket, and get the hell off this island and into the mainland of North Carolina. Smiths Storage, unit B7. It's located near the college." He handed her the key that would allow her access to the small storage space.

"Well hello to you too. I'm Jaylene, and you are?" She was surprised with how much trust he had in her despite the fact that he'd just now reunited with her after all these years.

"Mark Harrington. Pleasure to finally reunite with my daughters creation after all these years." The humor in his tone allowed Jaylene to understand where she'd gotten her sarcasm from. It ran in the Harrington family. "You wanna get to know your mother, I get that. We aren't gonna stand in the way of that. Plus, between us three, I hate your father and I know this will piss him off. Hell, that would make me the happiest man alive."

Jaylene chuckled in response, slipping the key into the pocket of her mom jeans. "A few more slip ups and you and I will be one the same page."

Florence frowned at the words that left Jaylene's mouth, her eyebrows knitted as she stood up straight. "What'd your old man do this time?"

The brunette sighed, a shaky breath leaving her lips as she shrugged. "It's his lack of honesty that enrages me. I mean, how could he keep that from me? What kind of father does that?"

Mark glanced at Florence with a pointed look. "What's she talking about?" He questioned, watching his wife look in a different direction, completely avoiding eye contact with her husband. "Flor, what the hell is she talking about?" He repeated, this time his tone sounding a bit more demanding than before.

Florence sighed, her lips stumbling as she slumped her shoulders. "I told her about Henderson's current wife and her history with the Rosewood's." She admitted, making it clear that that knowledge wasn't meant to be shared with Jaylene. "She's sixteen, Mark. She was gonna have to find out at some point."

"I'm sorry, was I not supposed to know any of that information?" Jaylene looked back and forth at the two, severely lost with why it was meant to be kept a secret.

"Look, just get down to the dock, purchase a ticket, and get off the island." Mark instructed her, completely pushing her previous question to the side, which only left her extremely curious. "In the box of Marleen's belongings, you'll find journals she kept. Once you read what's written in those, remember that we're here with open arms."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll understand once you read." Florence answered before further questions could be asked. "Go! Ferry tickets tend to sell out fast."

｡･:*:ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹

THE SOUND of the gulls screeching through the cloudy sky flooded Jaylene's ears as she stepped out of her car, throwing any belongings she'd need into her bag before continuing her way towards the small booth where tickets were being sold. Her eyes glanced towards the ferry sat on top of the blanket of water. She deeply sighed as she shot the middle-aged man a smile, reaching into her bag to grab a hold of her credit card.

"One ticket please." She mumbled, inserting the chip into the small machine in front of her to pay the $50 fee for a single ticket.

"You should know that there are to be no more ferries coming back to the island this evening if you wish to return today." The older man informed her, handing her a ticket that contained all the information required. "Due to the incoming storm, this allows you to come back tomorrow in the morning."

She was supposed to spend most of the day preparing for Midsummers tomorrow. She always spent the day arranging everything required for the meaningless party that was hosted every year, but she was willing to get slightly behind on the schedule she had planned for the following day. She needed to know the truth. "That's fine. Thank you." She nodded, giving the man one last smile before watching him place a sign onto the booth which allowed the public to know that the last ticket to get onboard had just been sold.

authors note. I'm sooo sorry for this extremely short update. The next chapter is gonna be so chaotic. Hopefully it'll help you put the pieces together about what actually happened to Marleen 👀.