After hearing Connor swear and shout over the phone, I drag myself back to the house where I sit helplessly as I wait for the teams to arrive. Raine's coat is discarded on the chair. She must have left it as a way to taunt me and forever force me to remember this moment. I hold it tightly and bring it up to my nose where I inhale the scent. It smells nothing like she used to.

Everything about her has changed.

Connor storms in while my head is rested in my hands, showing how shameful and useless I feel after letting Raine slip away from me when I finally had her.

"What happened?" he bellows.

The other three stroll in behind him. Trevor's jaw is clenched, he looks just as pissed as Connor. Octavia smiles at me, showing that she's not mad, even though she should be. Vincent just stares at the floor, apparently not on either side.

"I went upstairs," I admit.

"You left her alone!" he shouts.

I suck in my cheeks and nod my head, not trying to hide from it or make any excuses.

"You should've put her in cuffs the second you found her!"

"I know. I'm so, so sorry."

Connor paces around the room in utter shock and disbelief. I know I'll most likely be fired because of this.

"Why didn't you then?" Trevor asks harshly.

"I thought she was dead. It shocked me to see her. I wanted answers and I knew she wouldn't give them to me if I was offing her down to the station. I was going to take her, I swear."

Connor stares out the window, watching the team who are searching the area. Three cars are already out searching for her route. I'm just hoping they'll find her in time and make up for my horrendous mistake.

"I'm sorry. I know I've let you all down. There's nothing I can say to make up for this," I say shamefully.

"You're right. There isn't," Connor snaps. "Why would you leave her on her own?"

"I don't know what I was thinking. It's been so long since I've seen Raine, I wasn't expecting it. I was in shock. And then she told me that my mum's necklace was upstairs. I didn't even think twice. I wasn't expecting her to run out, but I should've known better. I messed up big time."

"You got that right," Vincent scoffs in a moment of frustration. He quickly shoots me an apologetic look and stares back down at the floor, feeling disappointed in himself for snapping.

Octavia steps forward with her arms crossed. "She made a mistake. You're telling me you wouldn't react the same if your sister who you haven't seen in over a decade returned from the dead?"

"I wouldn't, that's for sure," Trevor says.

"You haven't been in Vanessa's position, so you wouldn't know. Plus, she's came closer to finding Raine than you ever have," she sneers with a sly expression painted on her face.

Trevor's about to bite back, but I quickly beat him to it. "Octavia, you don't have to do this. I fucked up, I'm who's in the wrong. You all have every right to be angry."

"I'm not angry, though. You found out that Raine's not dead. Sure, you accidentally let her get away, but that was in one of your lowest moments when you were going through a lot. But you still found her. Now we won't be wasting time looking for her 'murderers' because we know there aren't any. One step forward."

"Yeah, and two steps back," Connor interrupts. "This could've all been over if you had just done your job and taken her to me."

"I tried to stop her," I explain in a broken voice.

"You didn't try hard enough," he snaps back.

I sink further into my body. Octavia places a hand on my shoulder for support that I don't deserve.

"Is that actually what happened, Vanessa? Or did you let her go because she's your sister?" Vincent questions.

I look up at him with a sickening feeling spreading across my chest. I look to Trevor and Connor who seem to be suspecting the same thing.

"You cannot be serious," I whisper.

"It wouldn't be out of the question," Connor says. "Is it true?"

With my face falling further, I grab Raine's coat and take a stand. "You don't understand what it was like. None of you do. My sister was the mother figure I needed when our mum died. She took care of me, she protected me. She was my role model and best friend. But despite that, I joined this team and promised to help find her to protect the town. Even after hearing all the horrible things she had done, I sucked it up and I got on with it. I have done whatever you've asked of me, I've worked my ass off, I haven't allowed our relationship to get in the way, and I've sat through every meeting where I have to listen to all the vile things about her. You cannot even begin to comprehend what that does to me and how hard it is."

"If that's the case, maybe you should think about stepping down," Connor suggests calmly.

More tears fill my eyes as I shake my head in disbelief. "I'm good at my job. I took this case to protect those people. I know that I did a bad job of it today, I know I made a mistake, but we've all done it before. We've all had our moments. There's a lot I should have done differently, but I wasn't thinking in the moment. There will not be a day that goes by where I won't regret not doing more, and I am so sorry for letting you and all those people down." I wipe the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand and look to Connor. "I understand if you want me off this case."

Before I can give him a chance to respond, I walk out the house and through the familiar green fields. One of the workers who's fixing the tire on my car calls after me and says he's almost done, but I completely ignore him and carry on walking until I reach the slim roads that take me to town. Right now, in this moment, I don't care about a whole lot. Everything is slipping from my grasp and I don't know how to make it stop.

So much has happened in the last day. More than my brain can handle.

I find out Octavia's a mum, then I feel some sort of weird way that I've never felt before, then I find out my sister's passed away, then I find out she was faking the entire thing and is still alive, then I see what she's really like for myself, then I'm reunited with my mother's lost necklace that I've spent years longing to see, then Raine escapes, then I lose my job. And now I have no one and nothing.

Why must Raine ruin everything? She's taken my entire life from me, but she doesn't care. I told her to stay, I told her that I wouldn't forgive her. She knew what the consequences would be for me, but she left anyway. It's what she does. It's what she's always done.

After half-an-hour, I've reached town. It's still another half-hour before I reach my flat, so I take a break on a wooden bench nearby and watch the cars drive by. Traffic forms and loud noises help to clear my head so I'm not constantly thinking about Raine and my job. It doesn't stop me from crying, though. I'm in a public place with dozens of people surrounding me, yet I'm too distraught to even care. Too much has happened.

I hardly ever cry, usually because I tell myself not to otherwise I'm afraid I'll never stop. But I've hit my breaking point.

A few girls in their late teens pass me and notice the tears that slide down my puffy and red cheeks. They giggle and whisper as they pass. I ignore them and pull my phone out to call a taxi because I'm too exhausted to walk any further.

"What the fuck are you laughing at?" Octavia asks the girls in a rough voice that sends shivers down my spine. I look up to see her glaring at all three of them.

They give her a dirty look but don't respond. It's evident that they're both embarrassed and scared of Octavia. I don't blame them. I'd be scared, too.

Octavia sits beside me and wraps her arm around my shoulder to pull me against her. I don't refuse the side hug. Instead, I fall into her arms and close my eyes.

"I've ruined everything," I whisper.

"Don't be like that. Come on, what happened to optimistic Vanessa? The one who's always smiling and trying to reassure others?"

"Raine must've took her when she fucked off."

Octavia chuckles and strokes my hair with her hand. "Guess I'll have to find her then. Fancy helping?"

I wipe my cheeks and sniffle. "Connor won't let me after today. It's clear that I'm off the team."

"That's where you're wrong. You'd know that if you had waited a few minutes longer before rushing off."

I sit up straight and furrow my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"You're not fired. Connor's pissed, don't get me wrong. But you're not fired. Not over this. Everyone's going to make mistakes and be a vital reason why we haven't found Raine yet. There's something that everyone could've done to find Raine. So get yourself together and prepare for one stressful meeting tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"He'll want to talk to you. Just...be prepared. He's going to be pissed and annoyed and will most likely shout, but he'll forget about it eventually. He knows he can't get rid of you, you're one of his favourite workers."

"Not after this," I mumble.

"Oh please. Man thinks of you as his daughter, and that's a fact. But me? Sees me more as an obedient student who he has to guide and take care off because apparently everything I do and say is wrong. Trust me, you're good. By next week, everything will be back to normal."

She takes me home and runs me a warm bath that I soak myself in. The bubbles around me pop as I close my eyes and finally relax after a stressful day. I wrap myself in a towel and head to the sink where I splash cold water on my face, hoping it'll bring down my puffy cheeks. After getting changed into the comfy pyjamas that Octavia picked and set out for me, I join her in the living room where she waits for me with a cup of tea on the table and a movie at the ready. We put on face masks and watch the comedy that helps to relax me even further, but once Octavia returns home to see her daughter, I'm alone again and the memories come flooding back.

I remain on the sofa all night with a movie playing to distract myself from todays events. It was only this morning when I was all smiles and excited for the day ahead, but now I'm dreading tomorrow where I'll have to face Connor.