─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"hey. are you okay?" pope asked, his eyes on marella. the two were in the backseat of deputy shoupe's patrol car. her eyes were outside of the window and they rode in silence, the two policemen in the front chatting amongst themselves. the four friends had been separated, kiara and jj in a different vehicle.

"yeah." she nodded, biting her lip.

"this is probably the best time to apologise, right?"

marella shrugged. "yeah, you might as well." she had already been silenced trying to speak to deputy shoupe about five times, so they had nothing else better to do.

"i know you think that me wanting to build our friendship was fake, for the stupid bet. but it wasn't." pope explained. "i had forgotten all about it until the day you let us stay at the hotel. and i know that's not the best excuse. but it was real to me and i hope it was real to you too."

"so you wanted to be my friend again and instead of just talking to me, you made a bet?" marella asked, trying to understand his situation.

"i know what jj and i did was completely wrong—"

"wrong doesn't even begin to describe it." marella laughed to herself. "i trusted you, pope. i thought you were my friend."

"i know let you down, and i hate myself for it." pope sighed in annoyance at himself. "i never should have gone along with jj's stupid bet."

"well then why did you do it?" she inquired. "did you ever really care about me, or... was i just a game to you?"

"you could never be just a game. you've always meant so much more to me than that." pope said quietly. "i was stupid and thoughtless, and i got caught up in something dumb... but that doesn't excuse what i did."

marella turned, finally looking the boy in the eye. the two were just looking at each other for a moment, unsure what to say.

"okay."

"i'll do whatever it takes to make things right, marie." pope confessed. "even if it means losing you as a friend."

"i just need time." marella admitted. "because as much as i hate to admit it... i don't want to lose you."

"i'll give you all the time you need. i just need you to know that i'm truly sorry."

there was silence again. marella turned back to the window, watching the raindrops pelt onto the car and slowly slide down the surface. "are you with kie?" marella asked, her voice quiet.

pope was surprised by her question. "what? no, uh... i—i don't know. i don't think so."

"okay." she nodded.

"uh, is that—is that a problem?" pope asked her, a part of him hoping that it was. because then he'd know if she ever had any type of feelings for him.

pope was aware of how terrible it was to like two girls, especially two girls who were his friends. but he couldn't help it. they were both so intriguing but in completely different ways.

"no, of course not." marella lied to him and herself. why would she care about what pope did with his personal life when their friendship was on the rocks? she needed to focus on what was important.

the car door opened and the two were ushered out of the vehicle. marella glanced around the place, unsure as to where exactly they were. the police had set up large tents by the water and even had a base set up for the search of john b.

"follow plump to that tent." a man ordered. "wait for your friends."

marella nodded, staying close to pope as they reunited with their other two friends. the flashing lights of the cars were almost blinding her eyes as she made her way through the area.

"i think so. they're still trying to verify—"

"this way."

"right to your left here." shoupe instructed.

"right here." deputy terry plump spoke.

"sit down. don't move." shoupe ordered, they followed his demands, sitting down in the empty chairs. "we got a lot to talk about. keep an eye on these kids." marella noticed that he was about to leave them there, so she stood to her feet. "hey, where are you going?"

"what about 'sit down, don't move' do you not understand?" deputy plumb challenged. "well, i wasn't talking to you." marella said, before turning to deputy shoupe.

he had his hands on his waist and nodded, silently telling his fellow officer to stand down. "marella, if you're going to talk about the tarmac again—" shoupe began.

"i am telling you— i was there." marella tried to clarify for the sixth time. she attempted to tell him in the patrol car, but he kept silencing her. "if you could just let me testify—"

"marella, i'm sorry but any testimony from you is invalid to us." shoupe finally told her.

"what?" she asked. "but i was there, on the land strip. i watched rafe shoot her!" her words caught the attention of the sbi worker, agent bratcher. he had heard the exact same words from a similarly distressed girl earlier that day.

"and why didn't you come to us sooner with this information?" deputy thomas questioned.

"why didn't i come to you sooner?" marella quietly asks herself before completely raising her voice. "oh, because i was locked in the hotel! they clearly didn't want me to tell you the truth!"

"i really wish i could take your word, but we've already got you in the system as an unreliable eyewitness." shoupe shrugged. "meaning your say of whatever happened is instantly deemed as inaccurate."

"how the fuck is that possible?" marella snapped at him. "river..." jj started from the row of seats behind them.

"something about you being under the mental health act." shoupe informed her. "i think he said post traumatic stress and uh... anxiety?"

"he?!" marella questioned, she could feel the fury bubbling inside of her. "you mean—you mean ward?!"

"and then... your mother and your medical reports confirmed it." shoupe muttered. "i really don't think this is the right place to have this discussion." "she has a right to give her witness statement!" kie demanded from her chair.

"she does." shoupe nodded in agreement. "and she can do as she pleases. i'm just telling her, we cannot take it into consideration."

"this is so stupid!" the girl cried out, moving closer to his face. "how much is he paying you, huh?" he didn't say anything. "you call yourself a police officer? you're supposed to abide by the law and yet here you are: eating up ward cameron's bullshit!"

jj couldn't help but subtly smirk at her newfound confidence. ever since she snapped at them that day in the chateau, she was on a confrontation streak. and under any different circumstances, he'd find this entertaining.

"you need to back down now." shoupe warned her.

"deputy, over here!"

shoupe turned his head over to where he was being called. he sighed and pointed to the empty chair beside jj. marella rolled her eyes, trudging over and taking her seat. "you are on a roll." jj nudged her.

"i'm not on a roll." she shook her head. "i'm just stressed out, and i'm worried, and i'm—"

pope gently placed his hand on her leg. "hey, don't stress out. they'll be okay, you'll be okay." but marella quickly drove his hand away. she knew that they would normally be comfortable with all that physical touch but the boy had done her wrong, and he had just kissed another girl. both of those factors made her miserable.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

the four waited patiently for any update. a part of marella wanted john b to escape the authorities, but another tiny part of her thought them getting caught would mean they'd make it out of the storm alive.

none of them dared speak, the silence being a sense of comfort for them all. the police officers refused to give them any updates throughout their stay, so when they finally approached them, marella knew something was wrong.

"any response?"

"they're not calling it off yet." one of them said. they instantly stood up at the sight of shoupe, soaking wet. "did you find them?" pope asked.

"no."

"so, they got away?" kie questioned. "we, uh... we lost them." shoupe admitted. "i'm sorry." pope scoffed. "you lost them? what do you mean you lost them? like—like, they're gone?"

it felt as if someone had landed a punch into the girl's stomach. she found herself gasping for air, feeling winded. "what are you talking about?" she breathed out, overwhelmed with concern. the buzzing of her anxiety grew louder.

"they took an open boat into a tropical depression, marella." shoupe reminded her.

"so, they're dead?" kie questioned, tears in her eyes.

"we don't know."

"you drove them straight through the storm, man!" jj roared with anger. "are you kidding me? come here!" he grabbed onto shopue's high-visibility jacket. "i'm gonna kill you!"

"jj, stop!"

"i'm gonna kill you, you bastard!" he exclaimed as deputy thomas and deputy plumb detained him.

"hey!"

"you killed him!" jj yelled as he tried to break free of their hold. "he didn't kill anyone, and you know it!" pope shouted in shoupe's face.

"we're still looking for him, all right?" shoupe assured them. "you just said you lost them!" marella exclaimed.

"pope." kie was visibly stressing out. "pope, just stop. please, stop."

marella glanced over, kie's parents and pope's were in their raincoats, rushing into the marquee. they instantly embraced their sobbing children, even shedding a few tears of their own. marella found herself staring at the entrance, waiting for her mom to show.

a sob escaped from her lips when she realised athena wasn't coming. that she had no one.

but someone else seemed to have no one too. and he decided they needed each other in that moment, no matter how angry she was at him. jj slowly wrapped his arms around her, not knowing if she would accept. but when she pulled him in closer and cried even harder, the blond boy couldn't stop his own tears from flowing.

"i didn't even get to see her." marella sobbed. "i didn't get to say goodbye."

heyward glanced over at the two, opening his familial embrace and ushering them to join. marella was now squeezed in between jj and pope's mom, crying her eyes out.

"it's okay, it's okay." mrs heyward whispered to her.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

heyward had dropped the girl off at the hotel. her mother was waiting at the entrance, leaning against the doorframe as she waited for her eldest child to arrive. marella simply pushed passed her mother when she stepped in, making her way to her bedroom.

"clock in at eight, okay?" athena ordered her, following closely behind.

"i'm not working tomorrow." the girl grumbled.

"excuse me?" athena scoffed. "yes, you are."

"oh, give me a fucking break!" marella unexpectedly screamed at her, entering the sector where their home was. "i've just lost two people so dear to me. and you still think i'm in the right mindset to put on my uniform tomorrow and do a shift? are you serious, mom?"

"i know you lost sarah—"

"and john b??"

"yes, sure. the point is we've all lost someone, marella." athena told her. "that doesn't give you an excuse to slack off."

"slack off?" marella scoffed. "do you hear yourself? do you not even care about how i feel, i mean you're supposed to be my mom?!" she raised her voice.

"i am your mother." athena shook her head.

"you're my mother, sure. you carried me in your stomach for nine months, you gave birth to me, you nurtured me." marella said. "but—but you're not my mom. you can't even pretend to love me." her voice broke at the last sentence.

athena couldn't say anything.

"no, tell me why, athena." marella interrogated her. "why? why don't you love me? what have i done to you? what did i do to deserve this?"

her answer came instantly as if she had been waiting for the right moment to say her statement. athena's voice was cold and menacing, sending a shiver down her spine. "you murdered my husband."

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
DUN DUN DUNNNNN
that's season one complete!! thank you to everyone who has supported me and this book.
act two might be a slower process because i start crucial exams this month!!