𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒. ᵒᵘᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃⁿᵏˢ ¹

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 53.

    𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐎𝐅 the bell tower poked through the tallest trees, the old and fragmented wooden planks even visible from ground and in the dark, hanging onto their last screws. The triangular crown of it gleamed under the light of the moon, the moon that shined above everything in a perfect full circle. I closed my eyes in a long blink.

    Instantly, my mind flickered to the first time I had hung out with Sarah. I saw images of myself walking in town on Figure Eight after running from the lighthouse, my face red as a tomato, as Kooks passed by me and trailed eyes down my obscure appearance. Before I had made it out of town, a black Range Rover had pulled up on the sidewalk next to me, and in the drivers seat, sat Kook princess, sunglasses perched on the bridge of her freckled nose. She had invited me in for a drive to escape the burning hot weather, her lips always pulled up into a bright smile.

    I had hopped in her car. She had offered me a tour of the island. And so, that's what we did. She had taken me all around the neighbourhoods of Figure Eight, drove us through town a bit more, and stopped at Tannyhill to showcase her house. I remembered being so awestruck about her home when I had first seen it— and never had I imaged myself one day going inside, for sleepovers, and to even stay there for a few days.

    She had taken me to the streets that separated the Cut and the rich side, and that's where she had pointed out the church. Something along the lines of, it was old, and had been abandoned for years. I remembered looking at it for a few long seconds, really taking time to notice the red chipping wood from the very peak of it, in the early summer daylight. I had pushed the thought away, though, as we had driven onto the Cut, then on a tour of, supposedly, my side of the island, the Pogue side. I hadn't thought about the abandoned church ever, after that.

    But now, as John B squeezed my hand tighter with his, and we ducked through a path of trees, I looked up to see it. To see something so boring, so lifeless, and so forgotten in my mind, something that, at one point in time, took up a small space in my thoughts. I swallowed hard, and bit down onto my bottom lip.

    The whole island was in on us now. Not just the cops, or not just some adults, everyone. Behind us, teenagers shouted and hollered between one another, ordering for some to pan out in different directions, in search for the fugitive.

    The two of us had crawled out from the laundry room in a hurry, running through the unoccupied lawn at the side, shielding away from the lights. We could hear voices as we scurried. Voices of cops, of adults, but most importantly, teenagers. Most likely teenagers that I had crossed paths with at some point, on the streets or at that beach party. They were in on the search— bright-eyed and ready run, ready to find us at any cost. It made my stomach turn, at how angry the youth was, how riled up they seemed to be getting.

    But the thing that made my stomach ache the most, was the sound of Rafe Cameron's voice, shouting loudly. Just hearing his voice was confirmation that he had made it out safe— that his dad was keeping the secret, and that Sarah, if she was alive, hadn't let the truth out. I couldn't see Rafe, but everyone heard him. In fact— he was the leader of the search, he had designated himself to being the leader of all those teenagers, the band of teenagers that were willing to risk it all to fins us.

My vision had gone so blurry from angry tears that I had to stop and wipe them. I had wanted to run into that group of teenagers, find Rafe Cameron and punch him in the throat. Tell everyone that he did it. That he had killed the sheriff. But John B was rushing to pull us behind a truck.

    I had clenched my hands into tight fists as John came up with a quick plan, a quick plan to distract everyone. He had reached into the bed of the truck, always hidden, and pulled out a crowbar. He had thrown the weapon across the street, where Rafe and Kelce were angrily searching for us. Miraculously, one of the cars parked on their side of the street, had set of it's alarm, catching their attention. It had been enough of a distraction for us to quickly dash away from the truck, down an empty and dark path.