(chapter twenty one)

Clara didn't have the courage in herself to get close to Sarah's door. Mainly now after the boy's conversation with his father, where Rafe told her that John B would be the one being blamed. It wasn't right.

She held Rafe for what it felt like hours, he looked like he was so close to losing his mind as he mumbled something against her skin so low that even with how close they were she couldn't understand.

And now Rafe was locked on his bathroom, refusing to get out.

The girl sighed, opening the bedroom door so she could talk to Wheezie, but Ward stopped her mid way. "Clara, I was wondering if we could talk?"

"It depends about what, Mr Cameron," she said it lowly back, eyes locked on his. "I was about to talk to your younger daughter, she can hear a lot about everything."

"It'll take just a moment, and I'll let you to it," he tried to reassure her, and she gave him half a nod, following the man back to his studio, and when he went to close the door she shot him a look. "Door open, okay."

He turned to her, hands clasped in front of him as he stared back at her. "I know Rafe told you what happened. But I'm here to ask you to not tell anyone about it."

Clara raised her two eyebrows, almost laughing at his words. For the first time Clara saw how pathetic Ward Cameron looked.

"You can't accept imperfections in your life, can you?" She asked back, head tilting as her eyes narrowed. "You know that Rafe only did this to try to please you, right?"

"You don't know-"

"Oh, I do know. I know a lot more than you think, Mr Cameron." She managed to cut him, as she crossed her arms. "For what he told me he did it in self defence to protect you, for the real reason that I don't know about, but if the sheriff was pointing the gun at you and she was going to shoot, I can only guess it wasn't very... pretty, if I dare to say."

Ward continued staring at her, as he licked his lips as he bit back any rude comments that were passing through his head.

"And you could've done that. Tell it was self defense, give them a elaborate story even temper with the gun so it would look like it, and didn't have to blame John B for it. Because you know him better than I do, and I know he wouldn't do anything like that."

"He attacked me-"

"Did he, really?" Clara asked once more, eyes fitting the bandaged arm. "He wouldn't be able to do such a superficial cut in that part of your arm if he wanted to really kill you, you would probably had a cut more closer to your heart, more deeper. But what do I know, right?"

He looked down at his cut, hand flexing as he heard her words.

"But you don't have to worry, Mr Cameron," she assured, walking past to him as her hand touched the door knob. "Because even if I don't agree with your decisions, Rafe is already feeling guilty enough and, you believing me or not, I love your son."

"I wanted to use you as his alibi-"

"No can do, I was working. There's people and cameras testifying I was there," she shook her head, stopping his sentence. "And now if you excuse me, I'm going to do your job and talk to your daughter to assure her that everything is okay, while also being the only support Rafe has. But I'm sure you'll find a way."

And she left, closing the door behind her as she moved upstairs again, this time heading straight to Wheezie's room.

++++

She watched Rafe sleeping, his hand gripping hers as she was sitting on the couch by the bed side. It didn't take a genius to know that Rafe did more than two lines last night, and when the effect ended he just crashed, this being the only way he found how to calm his frantic mind and get the much needed sleep, yet he only could really do it when his hand found hers.

Clara was tired, yes. She wanted to sleep but she couldn't. She was debating in warning John B and the pogues, but she knew that the boy was already on the run. The police cars passing by the streets were a clear sign of that.

When she tried to take her hand from his, Rafe's eyes opened, almost like his mind was in hyper vigilance. His eyes moving around the room as his breathing started to rise, and he looked panicked for a second, until his eyes landed on her, his shoulders dropping.

"Fuck-" he mumbled, running his hand on his face as Clara sat up straight, her back cracking as she still stared at him.

"You good?" She managed to say. Clara didn't want to be awkward around him, not now. She understood why he did it, but she despised how Ward decided to handle the things.

And she knew that Rafe was feeling relieved, but for how long? They couldn't expect Sarah to stay forever in her room.

But that was the things about being a kook, you could get away with everything.

"Yeah, I just-" had a bad dream, Rafe wanted to tell her, his eyes went back to the girl's frame as she was still wearing the Heywards shirt from the day before. "You slept on the couch?"

"No, I..." she looked at the empty space beside him. "I couldn't sleep."

Rafe nodded, pushing his hair away from his face as he looked at the window, the sun starting to shine outside as the sky started turning blue.

"You were going somewhere?"

And Clara got up, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she avoided his gaze. "I'm actually kind of hungry, we didn't eat anything last night."

It was not like she had the stomach to do it anyway, but now her belly was starting to hurt, and to prove her point it let out a noise, Rafe raising one eyebrow at that. "I can see that."

When they started to prepare things Wheezie showed up, sitting on the counter with a mess of wavy hair all over the place, her eyes puffy from sleep, and they ate the quick made up food, then an idea flashed on the boy's head and Rafe got up and left to the other room, the youngest Cameron not wasting a time to go see what her brother was doing.

Clara bit her lip, taking this as an opportunity of slipping upstairs again as she moved closer to Sarah's door, knocking very lightly. "Sar?"

"Clara!" She hear the dirty blonde on the other side of the door sighed in relief. "Thank God you're okay- I thought something had happened-"

"I know, I'm okay. Are you?" Clara hushed the ramble as the girl said a frail yes. "Listen, your father- he's blaming John B for it, right? I don't have the key, but if there's something that I can do to help-"

"Warn them that I did not leave," she interrupted, her voice almost pleading. "He needs to know that I won't leave him."

"I can do that," Clara nodded, as she rested her head on the door. "Try talking to Wheezie so you can get out, okay? I know she'll give in."

There was a few seconds of silence, and Clara looked around to check that no one was around, until Sarah voice was heard again.

"I love you, Clara." She started, and the older girl could hear her resting her head against the door too. "And I'm sorry I was not the best friend for you. And I will tell you everything when I can, okay? I need you to know that."

Clara gulped, feeling a little guilty. "I know."

And she moved away, walking back downstairs in time as Rafe and Wheezie appeared from the door, the boy holding John B's bag.

"Hey, what are you doing with it?" She asked, gathering the plates so she could put them on the sink.

"I'm throwing it away," he shrugged, casting a disgusted look to the beat up bag. "Straight to the trash."

"I can do that," Clara suggested, eyes not leaving his as he fitted her. "Today it's the day they come collect the trash at the Heywards, I can do that and we don't have to worry about anything."

She lied through her teeth, but one thing Clara was sure she could do was lie. She was an amazing liar, after all.

Rafe then nodded, giving it to her without a bat of his eye, his hand going to the small of her back as he pulled the girl closer. "I'm gonna go shower now, you wanna join?"

Clara smirked, tilting her head as one hand stopped at his bicep. "I think it's better that I go now, I don't want to be late, since you know... my bike."

The boy let out a snort from his nose, pressing a kiss to her lips as she felt her heart beating faster. Gods, she loved kissing him.

Wheezie rolled her eyes, "Really, guys?"

Rafe pulled back, watching the girl grab the bag and disappear on the hallway, then they heard the front door opening and closing.

When Clara arrived at the Heywards, she could see Pope trying to slip away from his parents, but she pedaled faster to get to him. "You're going to find John B?"

Pope froze, one thing she noticed he did a lot when she asked things he wasn't expecting, but the crease on his forehead appeared.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Clara rolled her eyes, taking off the backpack and throwing at him, almost knocking him off his feet at how heavy it was.

"That's his things that were at the Camerons," she explained, seeing Pope's jaw clench.

"You really have a nerve-"

"Don't shoot the messanger, alright? They were going to throw it away on the trash, I saved it," she tried, seeing him hold in his anger. "And Sarah is locked in her room, she asked me to tell you to tell him she won't abandon him."

"Why should I trust you?" He asked once more, and the girl tried to wipe the sweat off her face as she fanned herself with her hands.

"I don't have anything against JB, I actually like him," she tried, tilting her head as she sighed tired. "And I don't want him to get caught, so if he can run away, I advise you to go quick. There's police everywhere."

Pope stared at her pondering his options, but he nodded, walking fast to Kiara's car, where she could see barely JJ and the girl watching them.

++++

Clara could only hope that everything was going along in John B's favour, the day has passed, and even if he was captured briefly by both Topper and Kelce at the latter's house, he had managed to scape.

Richard had come by her house as he looked around, impressed in how much better it looked, and while the two were carring the rugs to his truck, the man brought up the subject.

"Shoupe is going crazy about this," Richard started, dropping the rug on the trunk, claping his hands so the dust could disperse. "But to be completely honest with you, I don't think John B did it."

Clara's eyes softened, and she sighed while she closed them. "I don't think he did it either, dad."

"He's a good guy," the older Campbell agreed closing the trunk as they both made their way inside the house once more. "I knew his father, we went to school together. It was such a tragedy when he disappeared, and now the boy is being incriminated. John B is the most selfless boy I've know, there's no way he would murder Peet, not in cold blood like that."

He continued talking, not seeing how Clara's face turned bitter as she felt like she was going to throw up. She hated that, every single minute of it. And she blamed Ward more than everything every minute it passed.

Now she was handing the client their pastries as the door opened, deputy Thomas entering alongside with another man in a black suit. Mr Heyward furrowed his eyebrows, walking up yo the two.

"Can I help you, officers?"

"Actually, you can. We're looking for Clara Campbell," the man with the suit said, and Clara felt herself freezing.

Bobby looked at her, and the two following suit as they approached. The girl felt her stomach churn.

"We need you to come with us," Thomas said, looking at her with a tired look, as the girl swallowed dry.

"What for?"

"We need to ask you a few questions. It's nothing much but procedure," the man with the suit reassured, as the girl looked at Bobby, who nodded, telling her to go.

It was something for sure being scolted to the police car, even if she had found herself in one many times when she was younger.

They drove to a made up base by the sea, tents standing and police tapes blocking the prying eyes from the Outerbanks bystanders.

Thomas guided her to one of those tents, instructing her to sit down on the chair, Shoupe and a black man also wearing a suit appeared.

"Shoupe, what is this?" Clara asked the now sheriff, as the greying haired man just sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"We just need to ask a few questions, okay?" He said it calmly to her as she huffed.

"Couldn't you just ask me after my shift? You know I have work-"

"Miss Campbell, it'll just take a couple of minutes," the man said, taking his hands off the suit pocket. "I'm agent Bratcher and I'm here to investigate the murder incident of sheriff Peterkin."

"I could guess that by myself," she mumbled annoyed, crossing her arms to avoid them to see her shaky hands.

"Sarah Cameron mentioned your name when she was here a few hours ago, do you know why?" And then Clara furrowed her eyebrows, shaking her head. "She was saying that her brother was the one who killed the sheriff, and that she also told you about it. And according to Ward Cameron you're the boy's girlfriend."

Clara stared at him for a second, but she shook her head. "And what exactly do you want to know?"

"Are you Rafe Cameron's girlfriend, correct?" She clenched her jaw, but nodded.

"Yes."

"And you were with him on the day of the incident?"

"No, I mean, yes." She corrected herself, as her gaze didn't waver. "I went to his house after my shift, so yes, I saw him that day."

"What time does you shift ends?" The man started annotating on his notebook as the girl blinked.

"At five pm."

"So you went to the house, and you see Sarah. She tells you her brother shot sheriff Peterkin-"

"No, I didn't see Sarah," she disagreed, the lie straight through her teeth as the man looked up to see her. "I talked to her little sister, she asked me if we could watch the new season of the show together, and then I went to Rafe's room, we stayed there for a few hours until dinner time. I slept there too."

Shoupe gave the girl a look, which she returned with the same amount of attitude. She knew she would hear from him about that later, and she hoped he wouldn't tell Richard.

"But you are Sarah's friend, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Then you didn't think of seeing her, or talking to her?" Clara licked her teeth as she blinked, thinking of a lie straight away.

"She wasn't at her house when I arrived, and if she did arrived while I was there I wouldn't have known, because, you know..." she trailed out, looking down as she pretended to blush. "Well, me and Rafe-"

The man held up his hand, as a way of telling her he understood what she meant by that. It wasn't far from the truth, she did stay with Rafe until he was no longer on edge. Shoupe only shook his head, too much information he didn't want to know about the girl he considered a niece coming his way.

"She wasn't at the dinner, so I thought she wasn't there."

The man wrote something on the notebook, as he cleared his throat.

"And about the boy, John Booker Routledge, Ward also mentioned that you two are friends?"

"We have this kind of mutual understanding. He's dating my best friend and he helped me a few days back when my mother..." she trailed out again, trying to change the subject from her as she mentioned Susan.

"Right, the restraining order in process," he mentioned, nodding his head. "And do you think the boy would do something like this, for the brief knowledge you have of him?"

"I don't think so, no," Clara shook her head, looking down at her nails. "I guess you never really know a person. I mean, I never expected my mother to do something like she did, but look at my face."

Agent Bratcher pursed his lips, nodding once more as he closed the notebook, getting up from his seat, while other agents brought in three very familiar teenagers.

"Hands off," JJ grumbled, as he was released from the man's grip, shaking his shoulders angrily at them.

Clara sighed, closing her eyes.

++++

She was asked to stay there, but her nervousness getting higher by the second everytime JJ's eyes caught hers.

His mind was wondering if she knew, if Sarah told her and she was ignoring the real evidence, if Clara wasn't the person he thought she was.

And her leg was shaking as she tried to keep her nerves at ease. It didn't help when the power was back on the city, the lighthouse iluminating the sea and the mass of agents moving to the edge of the cliff.

She also made a move to follow but one agent stepped in front of her, his eyes blank of any emotion. Clara's brown eyes met with Ward's figure, and the man made the mistake in looking her way, as he could feel the anger radiating from her from afar as her eyes turned into slits.

Clara huffed once more, sitting on one of the chairs. It wasn't long for Shoupe appeared again inside the tent, a defeated expression on his face.

"Did you find them?" Pope asked, as the four teens walked closer to them, and the man shook his head.

"No."

"So, they got away?" The hope on Kiara's voice made Clara's heart hurt. She knew Shoupe's expression, he knew what he was going to say.

"We, uh... we lost them."

"What do you mean you lost them? Like, they're gone?" Pope pushed, desperatly needing answers. "What are you talking about?"

"They took an open boat into a tropical depression, Pope."

"So they're dead?"

Clara felt her lip tremble, eyebrows pulling together. "Them? What do you mean 'them'?"

The man's eyes fitted the girl as she looked at the police team and then to the pogues.

"What do you mean, them?!"

"Sarah Cameron was in the boat, too." Plumb said it, her voice just as cold as Clara's blood, the girl just shook her head.

"No, no, Vic-" she continued shaking her head, tears burning her eyes as she walked closer. "Vic, tell me they're okay."

"We don't know."

Clara tried to breathe, her body however betrayed her. She took a shaky intake of air, and she didn't feel it reaching her lungs. No, no not again, not now-

Her hand pressed against her chest as she looked around, stumbling back a bit as JJ talked, he yelled at the man, his tone so angry but she didn't hear anything.

She lowered her body, just like always, feeling around the ground for something it could bring her back to reality, but her brain could only scream back at her.

Sarah's dead, Sarah's dead. You did it, you gave her an idea to escape, it's on you.

She didn't registered the moment her father appeared, she could barely feel his hand touching her back as he pulled his daughter close to his chest, hugging her tight as he tried to stop her panic attack.

And didn't know how long it lasted, but she remembered the man bringing her home, and after staying for a few more moments with her until he was sure she was calm again, he left.

However Clara couldn't bring herself to fall asleep. Her mind kept coming back to Sarah, her Sarah, and she was dead.

Of course she was dead. Open boat, tropical depression. Thunderstorm.

Clara found herself driving her blue bike along the streets of Figure 8, ignoring the fact it was raining or that it was pitch dark.

She opened the back door of the mansion, slipping inside as she made her way upstairs, until she was knocking on the bedroom door.

Rafe felt startled when he heard a knock on his door in the middle of the night, and even more confused when he opened and it was Clara, drenched from head to toe as she had a determined yet broken look in her eyes.

"What're you doing here-" He asked, but he was quickly cut off with her stone cold hands gripping the side of his face and neck, bringing his lips to hers.

It was lustful, hungry even, and Rafe reciprocated, hand gripping her waist as he felt the soaked clothes under his fingers.

When their lips parted, and Rafe was about to make her another question, she touched his lips, eyes still on his.

"Make me forget," she whispered, her hand gripping his jaw as she repeated herself more clearly now. "Make me forget about everything, Rafe."

His eyes seemed to darken, and he brought the girl back into a kiss, pulling her towards him as he pushed the door closed.

Aaaaand that's the end of season one!

Finally, I thought it would never end 😩

Season two is at the door, and you can see here how good of a liar Clara really is.

And no JJ to help her with the panic attack, that was kinda douchie.

Some things will take a turn next season, and I really hope you guys are ready.

Thank you for reading,

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