CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
for whom the bell tolls

FOLLOWING THE STARTLING revelation that her brother wasn't as innocent as she originally thought, Nova Van Kirk found herself diving deep into a dark rabbit hole of endless mysteries and wonder. She had to know the full truth and not the truth told by one other person who probably doesn't know the full story. Nova trusted John B and his word, but she needed proof before she turned to the authorities for help. She had to know why her brother and Ward Cameron were together the day John Routledge was murdered. She had to know if Riley had a big part to play in the gruesome killing, or if he was innocent just like she had hoped all this time.

     That was why Nova spent every waking minute last night trying to find any proof that showed the full story behind John Routledge's death, and not just what she had heard from the word of mouth. She had retrieved the suicide note left behind by Riley, going over it again and again in hopes of finding something that could prove Ward Cameron was a killer, but also something that could prove Riley's innocence. Nova even went as far as rummaging through her brother's room. It had remained untouched ever since Riley died ( at least that's what she thought ) and she believed he had to have left something else — anything that proved he was not the vicious murderer Nova was beginning to see him as.

However, Nova had reached a dead end once again, nothing, not even a speck of dust being left behind. No matter where she looked, no matter what she found, it wasn't enough to prove a horrific crime had occurred all those months ago. It wasn't even enough to place Ward Cameron, Riley Van Kirk, and John Routledge in the same proximity as each other. So how was Nova suppose to prove a crime had taken place with zero proof? God, she wondered how Sheriff Peterkin was so damn good at her job because there was no way she could solve a puzzle like this one.

But that question would have to remain unanswered for now, especially when a loud and urgent knock at the front door of her home snapped Nova out of her dazed state, her concentration fading when she realised someone was at her door. This caused for Nova to jump off of the bed and leave Riley's room, the girl making her way down the stairs and towards the front door, before she wrapped her hand firmly around the doorknob and pulled it open to reveal none other than JJ Maybank standing on the other side of the door.

"JJ?" Nova furrowed her brows together in confusion, stepping outside the house and closing the door shut behind her. "What are you doing here?" She interrogated further, a puzzled look plastered across her face.

     Nova then glanced past the blond haired boy to see the Volkswagen parked outside her house, and seated at the wheel, his head poked outside the window with a small smile tugging at his lips whilst he stared back at Nova from afar. This caused for a ghost of a smile to form across Nova's lips, her bright, blue eyes flickering between John B and JJ, a mix of confusion and joy bubbling in the pit of her stomach. It was clear that the others found him in between now and when the group dropped her off back at home hours ago. But even them, seeing John B with the corners of his lips turning upwards into a smile was a sight Nova never thought she would see again.

     It was a surprise. Especially after he had found out his father was the victim in the centre of a murder only the day before.

Nova let out a nervous laugh and nodded towards John B. "You found him?" She queried, her brows knitting together in the process, her question causing for JJ to nod his head in response with a smile of his own forming across his lips, a twinkle of excitement glimmering in his eyes.

     "Yeah, but I'll tell you all about that later because we have to go." JJ informed her. Nova shot the boy another confused look, the girl folding her arms over her chest.

     All of a sudden, Nova quirked her brow, a curious look dancing around her eyes whilst she continued to stare straight back at the blond haired boy. "Where are we going?" She questioned, suspicious of the boy and his motives behind dragging her on another Pogue adventure. She might have only known JJ for a couple of weeks, but she knew that whenever he told her to tag along with him and his friends, it never seemed to end well for them.

     "Look, Ward Cameron knows about the gold and he took it." JJ announced to the girl, the sudden news that Ward stole the gold right from under them after they put in all the effort to actually find it igniting a burning anger within the girl. Her and the Pogues put their lives on the line for the gold, and Ward Cameron just gets to steal it and take all the glory for himself? JJ then smiled at the girl. "So, what do you say, Princess? Want to go and steal what's rightfully ours?" He offered, holding out his hand for Nova to take.

Nova stared at JJ for a brief moment, before her eyes flickered over to the Pogues who remained inside the old Volkswagen, a smile forming across her lips, before she took JJ hand's, her fingers lacing with his own as they made their way towards the van. Nova knew it would be dangerous to go after someone like Ward Cameron. She knew it was going to be a fight. But there was no way in hell she was going to let Ward walk away with what rightfully belonged to them.

He had taken so much away from her: her brother, her happiness, her innocence. She wasn't going to let him take away her's and the Pogues' fortune too.

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The drive to the runway ( where Ward Cameron planned to fly himself and four hundred mil out to the Bahamas ) was rocky, each waking minute spent going over what they would do once they arrived at the runway, spine tingling anticipation running through Nova's bloodstream, their plan finally in motion. Old Nova would have wanted to play it safe and just approach the situation with caution, maybe even go as far as to just ask Ward herself if he could give them back what was rightfully there's. That was still possible right?

     Yeah. . . fuck that!

     Nova and her friends had no intention of settling this with Ward peacefully, especially after learning what he had done to John Routledge. Like most greedy and ambitious men, they knew the man would do everything and anything to keep the gold for himself, and so they had to play dirty in order to get what they wanted, even if that meant Nova Van Kirk had to go against everything she believed in when the summer started. If that included letting JJ Maybank hold Ward Cameron at gunpoint whilst they stole back as much gold as possible then so be it.

It was quite ironic. A few weeks ago Nova was cursing at JJ for pulling out a gun and pointing it at Topper's skull in the middle of a kegger at the Boneyard. Hell, she used to hate guns with every fibre of her being. And now she was gladly watching as JJ loaded his gun with bullets, ready to march into this guns blazing if that's what it took to get the gold back. After everything Ward had done: killing John Routledge, making Riley a killer too, stealing the gold right from under them, he deserved worse than being held at gunpoint. But Nova would never say that out loud.

Those were all the thoughts that ran through Nova Van Kirk's head whilst her and the others went over the plan, JJ being the first amongst the group to speak up. "We go in there, guns a-blazing, make Ward Cameron beg for mercy, abscond with as much gold as possible and vamonos, get the hell out of here." JJ explained, whilst he loaded more bullets into the gun, his words being enough to make a ghost of a smile form across her lips. It wasn't a great plan, and it was far from ideal, but it was either they took the gold by force or lose their fortune altogether. There was no way in hell Nova was going to let that happen.

John B nodded his head in agreement with JJ's plan, Nova not being the only one to have a change of morals over the last couple of weeks. Who could blame him either? Ward Cameron murdered John B's father, so he had every right to want to see the man dead too. "Send that shit right down the Intracoastal." He added, a proud smile on his face whilst he continued to drive down the harsh and bumpy road, leading them to the runway where the plane was bound to be taking off from.

"Wait for the weather..." Kiara trailed off, looking over her shoulder to look around at the rest of them sitting in the back of the old Volkswagen.

Pope's eyes met with Kiara's, the corners of his lips turning upwards into a small smile. "Exit to Cuba." He announced, the destination being the one place they could all run away to with their fortune. Nova knew it seemed logical, especially since it had everything they could ever want: sunny beaches, luxurious destinations, and most importantly, they could all stay there for as long as they want, leave the island, like they had all dreamed of doing since they learned how big the world was outside of the Outer Banks.

     However, JJ Maybank was quick to disagree, a quiet scoff leaving his lips. "Cuba? No, man, Xcalak, Jewel of the Yucatan." He deadpanned, suggesting that they headed there instead. Nova simply glanced over at Juno, who was sitting beside her and shook her head, whilst Juno only rolled her eyes. "Lobsters so thick, mangoes, and no word for money." He listed all the pros to their next destination after securing their hands on the gold, the blond haired boy cocking the gun in his hands soon afterwards.

     Nova turned her attention away from Juno, her eyes then focusing on the Maybank boy, her smile only becoming more visible to the naked eye, before she clapped her hands together. "Sounds like a plan to me." She declared.

     "Hell yeah!" Juno exclaimed with excitement laced in her voice, nodding her head in agreement with her best friend.

     John B quickly looked over his shoulder and spared the girls a quick glance, before he turned his attention back to the road in front of him. "Let's do this shit." He announced, before he made a quick turn down the road, getting them closer to where they needed to be.

The rest of the journey came in flashes. One minute, Nova could see the open waters surrounding the island, violent waves crashing into one another, and the next, she was surrounded by tall trees and green leaves, rays of sunlight poking through the window. It was proof that they were getting closer to where they needed to be, a crackling thunderstorm of excitement and nerves igniting in her veins whilst she prepared herself for what was still yet to come, and the chaos that would soon follow after the group carried out their reckless and thoughtless plan.

     Nova was quickly snapped out of her thoughts when the Volkswagen came to a quick and sudden halt, causing for the blonde to look outside to see they had arrived at their destination, the van being parked within a small clearing to keep themselves hidden. JJ was the first to pull open the side door and climb out, followed by everyone else. Nova was the last to jump outside the vehicle, her blue eyes darting all over the place whilst she followed her friends towards the wired fence in the distance.

     "What's the plan?" Kiara was the first to speak up once they reached the fence, the group staring out to see an old plane in the distance, prepared to take off straight to the Bahamas. "Broad strokes." She then insinuated, and Nova stood beside the girl, her gaze landing on the plane as they all watched from afar.

     John B was quick to shake his head in response to Kiara's words. "I don't think we got that far." He muttered underneath his breath, but loud enough for the rest of them to hear.

     "They're loading up the gold." Pope's familiar voice ripped through the air, and Nova turned her head to the side to see the boy staring out at the plane through a pair of binoculars.

     John B then took the binoculars away from Pope and raised the object towards his face, the boy peering through the lenses whilst a car horn echoed loudly through the air from a distance. Nova saw a car slowly approaching the runway, before a man emerged from the vehicle, but she couldn't quite make out who it was from this distance. That was until John B spoke up, "There's Ward."

     Ward had arrived. They knew that much for sure. This was it. Their window to try and steal back what was rightfully their's. Nova knew they couldn't waste this golden opportunity, making her wonder why it was taken John B so long to give them the go ahead. However, when she noticed his breath hitch as he lowered the binoculars from his eyes, the girl couldn't help but furrow her brows together in confusion, wondering what had quite literally taken his breath away. This caused for her lips to part slightly so she could now speak.

     "What's wrong, John B?" Nova inquired, a puzzled look plastered across her face whilst she spoke.

     "It's Sarah. She's with him." John B announced, his words being enough to make Nova shake her head in response to his statement. Sarah knew what her father had done. John B told her himself on the way to the runway. There was no way she would still stick by his side. But yet again, if Nova placed herself in her friend's position, she wouldn't want to believe her father was a psychotic murderer either. Those were the thoughts that ran through the girl's head whilst John B stared through the binoculars once again. "Wait a minute. He's hurting her. They're fighting."

     The second Nova Van Kirk heard those words leave John B's lips, the girl was quick to snatch the binoculars away from the boy, before she raised them to her face and peered through them to see Ward Cameron was dragging a helpless Sarah Cameron closer towards the plane. He was forcing her inside against her will, the sight being enough to make anger burn in her bloodstream. Nova once believed Ward was a kind and caring man, and an even better father, but now her eyes were being opened to the real Ward Cameron, the man finally showing off his true colours.

When Nova pulled the binoculars away from her face and handed them back over to Pope, the girl turned around to see John B rushing back towards the van, the boy climbing into the drivers seat. "What are you doing?" Pope was the first to ask, raising his voice so John B could hear him from inside the van.

However, John B simply ignored Pope's question, before he switched on the engine and pressed his foot on the gas pedal, and no matter how many times Nova and her friends told him to stop and think about this rationally, he still ignored them. Before they knew it, John B was driving at full speed, the van crashing into the wired fence and smashing it into pieces, driving straight out onto the runway, doing his best to stop the plane before it took off with the gold and Sarah Cameron with it. Nova knew it was reckless and even dangerous, but she hoped John B made it before it was too late.

Minutes later, sirens from a police vehicle could be heard from a distance, the constant ringing blaring loudly through the air. The familiar sound was enough to make Nova tense. At first she wondered why the police were there to begin with, but then she remembered the group telling her Ward had reported him to the police, making up some lie that John B snapped and attacked him for no reason whatsoever. Nova could only guess that the police were after him.

"Guys, I can't get arrested." Pope spoke up, his voice shaky whilst he spoke, the fear of being put in handcuffs creeping in. That was a fear they all felt in this very moment.

"I'm on probation." JJ added, making the rest of them realise they had to all leave before it was too late.

This realisation caused for Kiara to sigh in frustration. "Look, we're no good if we're all in jail." She informed the rest of the group, and without saying another word, Nova and her friends took off into the woods, trying to find a safe place where they could hide out until they knew if they had secured their fortune once again.

     Plenty of time had passed since Nova and her friends left the runway to hide out somewhere safe until John B managed to find them and hopefully give them the good news that they got the gold back. The group kept low in an old junkyard not too far from where they had left John B at the runway. Nova was pacing back and forth whilst she waited for the verdict of whether they got back what belonged to them, or if Ward Cameron had ripped it from their grasps for good.

     It just so happened that the answer to that question was quickly revealed when Nova heard a familiar sound of a plane engine, a loud rumble echoing through the air. This caused for Nova to put an end to her pacing, before her and the rest of the group looked up at the bright, blue sky to see the plane with all the gold on it was flying over them — four hundred million dollars worth of gold going right over their heads, a sigh filled with defeat escaping past Nova's lips.

"There goes the gold." JJ mused, his voice dropping in sarcasm. "Shit!" He then cursed loudly, the boy using all his flaring anger to kick over a chair, the old plastic object breaking into different pieces that scattered across the ground.

"Fuck!"

Nova quickly turned around to see Pope Heyward, an old baseball bat clasped tightly in his hands whilst he used the weapon of choice to smash up every piece of junk in sight, his anger over losing the gold getting the better of him as he continued to use the bat to break apart the junk. Nova couldn't help but flinch at the sight of Pope smashing up the junk, the violent sounds of random objects crashing and clattering against the stone ground whilst JJ, Kiara and Juno tried to calm the boy down. However, their constant pleas for Pope to stop went ignored by the boy.

Once Pope got his anger out, the boy dropped the bat and collapsed against an old, rusted bench, a quiet whimper leaving his lips. It didn't take Nova long to notice the tear streaks running down his face, the girl beginning to stare down at him with a puzzled look for a swift moment, before she realised he must have taken the loss of the gold a lot harder than the rest of them had. Nova had never even seen Pope like this before. JJ and John B were normally the ones to lose their cool and act out violently and irrationally in harsh and unforeseen circumstances, and to see Pope now act out in the same way was a surprise to say the least.

     It wasn't just a surprise for Nova. It came as a surprise to everyone, even JJ, who was the first to approach Pope. "I was wondering when this was gonna happen." JJ spoke up. Nova noticed JJ take something out of his pocket from the corner of her eye, before JJ held out a juul for Pope to take. "Here you go, Chief. A little weed never hurt no one." He offered, his words being enough to make Nova shoot JJ a disapproving look.

     But who was she to judge? She was a recovering addict after all.

However, it seemed that Nova wasn't the only one who disapproved of JJ's attempts to make Pope feel better. It just so happened that Juno and Kiara were on the same page she was, a quiet sigh leaving Kiara's lips. "JJ, you know he doesn't smoke." She reminded him.

Nova then watched as Pope took the juul from JJ's hand and into his own, proving the rest of them wrong. "Well, maybe not until today." JJ retorted.

"I lost my scholarship." Pope announced to the rest of them, his words being enough to catch Nova's attention all over again. That explained why he reacted the way he did only seconds ago. "Walked out in the middle of the interview. It's gone. It's not gonna happen."

Nova couldn't help but stare down at the Heyward boy with a mix of sympathy and sadness flooding her eyes. Nova didn't know much about the scholarship, hell, she only found out about it a two days ago. But from what she could tell, the scholarship meant everything to him. It was his chance to go to a good school and come out of it debt free. Now it was all gone, all because Pope decided to go after the gold instead of pursuing his dream. The very thought of knowing it was all for nothing hurt her because everything — everything they did to get the gold was all for nothing.

     Kiara's eyes softened, the girl swallowing thickly. "You did that for us?" She questioned.

     Pope scoffed and stood back up on his feet, the boy beginning to approach the Carrera girl. "No, not for us. For nothing." He seethed, standing close to Kiara for a moment, before he brushed past her.

     "I'm here for you, Pope." JJ piped up, throwing one arm over the boy's shoulders, whilst using his free hand to pat his chest. "Welcome to my world."

     Pope shook JJ off and walked away from the rest of them, the boy creating a small distance between him and his friends. This caused for Nova to sigh. "Getting high isn't exactly a good idea right now." Nova reminded the boy. Everything was going to shit and she knew the last thing they should be doing is getting high to numb the pain.

     Take it from her. . . it was only a temporary solution to a big problem.

     "He's right, Nova." JJ spoke up once again, the blond boy now standing beside her. "It doesn't matter anymore."

     Nova watched as Pope lifted the juul to his lips, causing for Juno to sigh in annoyance. "That isn't going to help, you know?" She informed the Heyward boy, but Pope only ignored the girl, before he took a hit from the juul. There was no turning back now.

     Pope breathed out the smoke and narrowed his eyes at Juno. "Why do you care?" He asked the girl. But his harsh stare that was fixated on Juno O'Connell didn't last forever, his eyes flickering over to stare at whatever was behind the rest of them, an act that the rest of the group quickly caught onto.

Furrowing her brows together, Nova turned around only to see John B had emerged into her view, the sight of the boy and his familiar face being enough to make Nova and her friends gasp in shock, before they rushed over to the boy. Although, it was safe to say that the reunion was far from happy, especially when they saw the catatonic state John B was in, almost like he was in some sort of trance, his skin covered in sweat and dirt whilst he continued to stare down at his hands in shock. He was in shock.

Nova didn't understand his strange state at first. That was until she lowered her gaze to see what had left John B and the rest of her friends in a state of shock. John B's hands were covered in blood, the crimson red colour being enough to make Nova cup her hand over her mouth, a quiet gasp leaving her lips, the colour leaving her cheeks as a sickly feeling erupted in the pit of her stomach. It felt like someone had punched her in the gut, like they had shoved their hand through her body and ripped out her guts, knots twisting together in her stomach at the very thought of the horrors that must've occurred after her and the others fled. It left a chill dancing up and down her spine, her blood running cold.

And whilst Juno cursed profusely underneath her breath, JJ was the first to speak up, concern washing over his sun kissed skin. "Is this yours?" He asked, his worried tone demanding answers from his friend.

"Whose blood is that?" Kiara pressed further, her voice shaky whilst she spoke.

     Nova, fearing the worse, felt tears form in the corners of her eyes, her mind conjuring up every possible scenario of what must have happened. That was when fear creeped in all over again, fear of what happened to John B. . . what must of happened to Sarah Cameron. With a harrowing breath leaving her lips, Nova decided to speak, "Oh my God. John B, is that Sarah's blood? Did something happen to Sarah—"

     "No. No, Sarah's fine." John B reassured the blonde, and even though his words were enough to relief Nova of her worries for her friend. It still didn't explain the blood staining John B's skin, or the tears in his eyes.

"What the hell happened, John B?" Juno repeated, asking the same question that was lingering in everybody else's mind.

John B swallowed thickly, his hands beginning to shake, his eyes never leaving the crimson, red blood painted across his skin. "Peterkin...she showed up to arrest Ward." He began, the boy becoming choked up by his own words. "It all happened so fast." He whispered, his voice cracking in the process.

     Nova felt her heart hammer hard against her chest and the extra beads of sweat coating her forehead whilst she listened to John B speak. "But, Rafe, he came out of nowhere and he...he—" John B cut himself off, the boy finally lifting his tear glazed eyes to meet Nova's, an apologetic look burning in his gaze. "He shot her." He finally announced to the rest of the group.

     Suddenly, Nova felt her breath hitch in the back of her throat, her chest becoming tight and her hands becoming clammy with dread and spine tingling trepidation when she heard those harrowing words leave John B's quivering lips. Nova didn't know what to expect when she saw the blood staining her friend's hands, but she never anticipated this. Her ex-boyfriend shot Sheriff Peterkin — the woman Nova had known her entire life — her godmother had been shot by the same boy she once loved more than anyone else in this world.

     Nova didn't want to believe it was true. There was no way. "What?" She breathed out, her voice barely above a whisper whilst she spoke.

     "I-I did everything I could." John B stammered over his words, a couple of stray tears rolling down his cheeks. "But I couldn't stop the bleeding. There was so much blood." He told the group, causing for JJ to back away in horror, running his hand through his hair frustratedly, whilst Kiara cupped her hand over her mouth in shock, and Juno and Pope just stood there, not knowing how to react to the horrifying news of Rafe Cameron's violent actions.

     A single tear fell on Nova's cheek, a quiet sniffle ripped through the harsh and harrowing silence, the girl inhaling sharply whilst she spoke, "What are you trying to say, John B?" She asked. Nova already knew the answer. She just needed to hear him say it.

     "He killed her." John B announced to them all, the soul crushing news being enough to make Nova let out a single sob she had been holding back for a while. John B then released a shaky breath past his lips. "Rafe Cameron murdered Sheriff Peterkin."

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It was dark by the time Kiara Carrera had pulled the car out in front of the Kildare police station ( her car since John B completely wrecked the van when he drove out onto the runway to save Sarah from Ward ), the girl pressing her foot down on the breaks and switching the engine off in the process. Nova was sat in the very back of the vehicle with JJ, whilst John B and Pope were laid out in the middle, and lastly, Juno was sat in the passenger seat at the front, seated next to her girlfriend whilst they all tried to process what the Routledge boy planned to do.

Juno huffed loudly, before she parted her lips to speak. "Do you really think this is a good idea?" She asked, knowing it was dangerous to step into unknown territory.

The police has never been caring towards anyone in the Outer Banks, unless you're filthy rich of course. Nova and her family were one of the lucky ones who always got what they wanted when it came to the law. The Sheriff being her mother's best friend since high school always had its perks. Peterkin was always different compared to the cops she worked with. She always tried her best to make the island a safe place for everyone. But now she was gone, and without a leader, the cops would run riot and probably never give a group of washed up teens a chance to explain the events that occurred when Rafe Cameron shot Sheriff Peterkin.

"Somebody's gotta tell them what happened." John B reminded them, the boy lifting his gaze to spare Juno a quick glance, before he lowered his gaze to the dry blood staining his hands once again — Peterkin's blood.

     Nova still couldn't believe it. Peterkin was dead and her ex boyfriend was the one who pulled the trigger. Nova was still in a state of shock. She had barely even said a word since John B delivered the horrifying news of the violent and devastating outcome for Susan Peterkin when she stepped out onto that runway to arrest Ward Cameron. And she knew it was bad for her to do this, but she couldn't help but picture what must have happened in her head. She imagined Peterkin bleeding out over the ground whilst Rafe stood over her with the gun, not a single ounce of remorse in his eyes as he watched her die.

The very thought was enough to make Nova's stomach churn, knots twisting within the pit of her stomach, whilst JJ decided to speak up. "I'm just gonna be real with you right now." He informed, causing for Nova to lift her gaze to see the boy clearly disagreed with John B's plan. "You might end up in the lion's den, but you don't go there on purpose. It's fundamental. Just like my old man always told me, you should never ever trust cops, no matter the circumstances." He elaborated further, earning a quiet scoff from Kiara in response.

"Your old man's an abusive liar." Kiara pointed out, a frown plastered across her face.

     Nova sighed in frustration, shaking her head. "This is Peterkin we're talking about here. We can't let Rafe get away with just killing her." She argued, knowing it was the right thing to report the culprit behind the vicious crime.

     "I agree with JJ. Fuck the police." Pope spoke up, a blunt in his hand. His words earned a look filled with annoyance from Juno in response, the girl arguing back with him. That was until Pope decided to interject. "When's the last time the police helped us?" He questioned in a rhetorical manner, the boy getting nothing but silence in return.

     That was until John B spoke up once again. "Peterkin looked out for me, all right? Tried to, at least. They need to know," was all the Routledge boy said, before he opened the door to the car and climbed out of the vehicle, leaving the rest of the group behind as he entered the police station.

In the midst of John B's absence, the inside of the car quickly grew silent, no one saying much to each other, not a single word being spoken. No one really knew what to say to one another. The shock that came with losing the gold, and the death of Susan Peterkin still fresh in the back of their minds, especially Nova's. In fact, it was all she could possibly think about. Losing everything her and the Pogues had worked so hard to get was bad enough, but Peterkin dying all because they decided to look for the gold was worse.

Then Nova remembered her parents. They must have found out what happened to Peterkin by now. Her mother must be devastated to hear the unfortunate news. Nova wished she could be there to comfort her mother through the grief of losing her best friend, but she had to be here to ensure Peterkin got the justice she deserved. Rafe had to be held accountable for his actions. The Cameron family had gotten away with their monstrous acts for far too long. Nova wasn't going to let them get away with this too.

"Hey..." A familiar voice ripped through the deafening silence, followed by a gentle nudge against her leg. This caused for Nova to lift her gaze to see JJ staring back at her with a worried look evident in his piercing, blue eyes. "How are you doing? We all know Peterkin meant a lot to you." He asked.

     "I'm doing okay...I guess." Nova paused, a shaky breath leaving her lips whilst she did her best to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. "I mean, how else are you suppose to react when you find out your psychotic ex boyfriend murders the woman you've known your entire life?" She replied, a bitter laugh leaving her lips. Everyone else could see Nova was just trying to hide the pain she was feeling.

     Nova inhaled sharply, wiping away the stray tear that began to roll down her cheek. "I just can't believe she's actually gone. She was always there for my family when Riley died. You know, at his funeral, she told me Riley was never really gone and there will come a day when I'll finally find peace. It gave me hope that things would get better someday, but now she's dead, and I don't know what I'm suppose to do without her. I should have seen it coming. Rafe has been self destructing all summer and I didn't say anything to anyone." She explained, a shadow of guilt hovering over her like a dark cloud.

     "Rafe does have a couple of screws loose. I'm surprised you didn't see it sooner." Pope blurred out, his intoxicated state making him say the things he would never say out loud.

     "Pope!" Juno and Kiara yelled at the boy in unison.

Nova shook her head, forcing a smile across her lips. "No. No, it's fine. He's right. I should have seen it sooner." She agreed with the boy, blaming herself for what happened to the woman.

"Nova..." JJ sighed, his eyes softening at the sight of the girl in her fragile state. "There was nothing you could have done. The only person to blame here is Rafe." He elaborated further, speaking to the girl in a reassuring tone.

"Yeah, and after tonight, the police will have that bastard in handcuffs and Peterkin will get the justice she deserves." Juno piped up, causing for Nova to glance over at her best friend to see the small smile beginning to form across her lips. "It'll all be over soon—"

"Kie!" John B's panicked voice interrupted the conversation, cutting Juno off in the process. This caused for Nova to look out the window to see John B running around the car, before he opened the door and jumped back in. "Start the car!" He ordered.

"What the hell?" Juno cursed at the boy.

Kiara turned on the engine of the car, a loud rumbling echoing through the air. "John B, What did you do?" She asked, raising her voice in the process.

"Just start the car!" He fired back at the girl, his frantic eyes looking out the window. Nova followed his lead and looked out the window to see two deputies running toward the car. John B turned his attention back to Kiara. "Now!"

Kiara was quick to slam her foot down on the gas pedal, the car beginning to drive off into the distance. However, the one female deputy was quick to catch up with the car since they weren't going very fast, the woman shouting at them to stop the vehicle and open the door. This caused for Nova to think of a way they could get the deputies as far away from the car as possible, and without giving it a second thought, she glanced over at John B with an urgent look burning bright in her eyes.

"John B, open the door." She instructed in a loud voice. "Do it now."

John B didn't even protest against Nova's suggestion. Instead he wrapped his hand around the handle and shoved the door open, causing for the corner of the door to hit the woman in the head, before she let go of the door and fell to the ground, allowing them the opportunity to escape into the deep, dark night.

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authors note.
This chapter was SO BORING but I just wanted to get the rest of episode 8 out of the way and get into episode 9 because shit is going down in the last four chapters, like seriously, Nova can't catch a break.

Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll update again soon!!