chapter twenty eight
LET ME GO!
When Athena was eight she broke her arm. She was chasing after Rafe in a game of tag and had fallen down the stairs, landing on her arm funny. Rafe had laughed, as one would do when someone falls down the stairs, but as soon as he saw the pain filled expression on Athena's face as she cradled her arm, he ran to where she was. The first tear that rolled down Athena's face Rafe quickly wiped away, reassuring her she was okay before the whole flood came, the girl in same amount of pain as she was when she broke her ankle the year before.
Rafe had called Ward to help her, the boy not being able to do much at eleven years old. Their father ushered the girl into the car, trying to get the sobbing child to the hospital but she refused to go without her older brother. Rafe happily got in the car with them, holding his baby sister's hand all the way there and while they waited for the x-ray and when she had the cast put on it and all the way home again.
He felt guilty about the accident. It's not like he caused it, Athena was just clumsy and slipped while running, but he was the one that decided on the game and was running down the stairs at some speed. And because of that guilt, and the fact that he so deeply cared for his sister, he helped her do everything she couldn't because of her broken arm, especially since it was her right arm so she couldn't write.
He helped her write out her homework – well, it was mainly Rafe doing her homework for her while she watched with a smiled – he helped her put on her shoes and tie her laces, he walked her places because she couldn't ride her bike again. He helped her a lot, and it was one of the reasons Athena loved Rafe.
Athena Cameron loved her older brother so much. He was the person who was always there for her, he was the person who would come home with gifts from trips or would buy her sweets from the shops even when she didn't ask him to. He was the person she raced against in the arcade at the country club and the person that taught her to play golf and helped teach her to drive – he started with showing her how to drive a gold buggy before moving into an actual car.
Rafe Cameron helped shape Athena into who she was today. He helped shape her into the kind, bubbly, helps everyone Athena that everyone got to see. And that was why Athena loved her brother, because he was one of the best people she knew.
And yet here he was, in front of her, with a gun that he had just shock Susan Peterkin with.
After the initial shocked passed, Athena and John B shot forwards. John B was whispering reassurances to Peterkin as Rafe held his gun to them. Athena looked up, trying to find something to hold against Peterkin's wound when she noticed John B's bandana around his neck.
"Your bandana." Athena stated. John B seemed to get the memo, quickly taking it off his neck and handing it to Athena. The blonde pressed it to the woman's gunshot wound as John B put his on top of hers, trying to apply enough pressure to keep her alive. Athena looked up at Rafe, tears falling from her eyes uncontrollably. "What did you do?"
"Call—" Peterkin wheezed. "Call for help."
John B went to pick up her radio but Rafe quickly walked forward, pointing his gun at John B's head. "Don't try it asshole."
Ward coaxed John B into giving him the radio, taking it out of the brunet's hands. Athena tried to ignore their conversation, keeping her hands firmly pressed against the Sheriff's wounds, desperately hoping the pressure was enough.
"I'm sorry." Athena whispered to the woman. "I'm so sorry."
"Run." Peterkin instructed John B.
"I'm not leaving you."
"You gotta go JB, I've got it." Athena nodded, looking up at him. John B made eye contact with Athena, knowing that she definitely did not have it but she was strong enough to deal without him for a little while.
"Run."
John B slowly got up, looking at Sarah. Rafe noticed, but he wasn't quick enough as Sarah nodded. "Run."
That was all it took for John B to leave, sprinting off into the distance as Rafe went crazy. He tried to run after him but Sarah and Ward got in his way. Rafe began to shoot the gun in all directions, hoping to hit John B in his sprint. Sarah quickly ran over to Athena and Peterkin, putting her hands where John B's were moments ago.
"I'm so sorry." Athena sobbed once more.
"I'm sorry." Sarah cried.
"It's not your fault sweetie." Susan spoke looking at Athena before turning to Sarah. "Or yours."
"I'm sorry." They both repeated.
"Sa—Sarah? Athena?" Ward asked, coming over to where they were.
"What?" Sarah snapped.
"Girls, I need you to—"
"No!" Sarah shouted.
"I need you to get up." Ward spoke.
"She is dying!" Sarah cried.
"She needs help!" Athena shouted. She looked up at her father in disgust, her cheeks stained with tears and her hands painted red. "What is wrong with you?"
"Enough!" Ward spoke firmly, walking over to Rafe. "Take your sisters home. Get them home."
"What?"
"Get them home. Take them home." Ward demanded.
"I'm not going." Sarah protested.
"I'm not leaving her." Athena added. Ward then picked up the radio, stating how he was calling for help as a way to get the girls to leave calmly. Rafe knew this time it would be harder to get Athena to leave so he grabbed Sarah's arm first, ripping her away from the woman before trying to get to Athena. "I'm not leaving! No, Rafe! Get off!"
The girl pushed her brother away, turning back to Peterkin. "I'm not leaving you, okay? I am staying and I'm not letting you die. You don't deserve to die."
By this point Rafe had had enough. He let out a small scoff, rolling his eyes before wrapping his arm around Athena's middle. He picked her up while still holding onto a struggling Sarah. And unlike all the times when they were kids and he picked her up or was tickling her so much she nearly kicked him, the shouts and cries were not from laughter this time.
"No!" Sarah shouted, trying to get out of his grip.
"Let me go!" Athena struggled. "Get off! She can't die!"
Athena continued to struggle against her brother's strong grip, the boy dragging them towards his car. "I'm sorry." Athena cried while Sarah protested, hoping Sheriff Peterkin could still hear her over all the chaos. Athena's let out once last sob, her voice breaking as she whispered. "I'm so sorry."
Rafe pushed Sarah into the car, screaming at her before closing the passenger door and opening the back. He set Athena down on the seat. She stared at the man in front of her, not even recognising him, for a few seconds before trying to get past him.
"Let me go!"
"Get in the car." Rafe ordered, pushing her back and slamming the door. Athena pushed her hair out of her face, and sitting up in her chair. "Don't move."
Rafe got in the drivers seat, driving off the airstrip and down the road back towards Figure Eight as he seemed to be trying to convince himself that what he did was right.
"She had the hammer back you know that?" He spoke to the two girls, who were staring out the window instead of looking at him. "She was going to blow his head off."
"No, she was arresting him Rafe." Sarah told him as he drove down the road.
"Okay, I couldn't sit there and let it happen, okay? She was gonna kill him." Rafe admitted. "Yeah, she was gonna kill him."
"So you thought it was okay to kill her!" Athena snapped, speaking up for the first time since they got in the car. Sarah stared at Rafe, who began to hyperventilate from stress, before turning and opening the door, trying to jump out of the moving vehicle.
"Hey! Get back here!" Rafe grabbed her, pulling the girl back in the car as she shouted at him.
"You okay?" Athena whispered, putting a hand on her twin's shoulder when she heard her exclaim in pain.
"I'm fine." Sarah muttered back.
"Swear to god, all right! I've had it with your bullshit! You need to focus. You understand me?" Rafe exclaimed.
"Do you realise what you've done?" Sarah questioned their brother.
"I saved dad." Was all Rafe replied with. Athena looked over at him incredulously, unaware of how mentally unstable her brother has become without any of them realising. "What was I supposed to do? Sit there, hope for the best? All right? Listen I'm a proactive type of person."
He said the last part Sarah before turning to face Athena for a moment. He leant over to grab her and make her look at him. "Athena, I'm a proactive type of person."
"Get off of me." Athena shrugged his touch off.
"Don't you dare touch her." Sarah threatened.
"Hope is not a strategy, okay?" Rafe cried, not looking at the road.
"Rafe!" Sarah called.
"Rafe! Car!" Athena repeated. Rafe turned back to face the road just in time to swerve out of the way of the other car, Rafe having been so distracted her had begun to drive on the wrong side of the road.
"I'm the problem solver in this family, okay?" Rafe said, looking between the girls before shouting. "Okay?"
"Okay!" Athena and Sarah replied in sync.
The rest of the car journey was in silence until they pulled up to their home. They rushed out of the car and walked up towards the house.
"Hey! You're dad is not gonna like that you're back home." Rose told Rafe.
"He told me to come here." Rafe stated.
"Well he didn't tell me." Rose shrugged before she noticed the twins. "Why aren't you two on the plane?"
"Ask Rafe." Sarah replied before the twins walked into the house. Rafe followed behind them but didn't bother them anymore than he already had. The two girls decided to sit in Sarah's bedroom. They got under the covers and tried to ignore thinking about everything that had happened, washing their hands and John B's bandana that Sarah still had, trying to get rid of the blood that was stained on them.
However, when Ward returned home, Athena was asked to leave Sarah's bedroom, their father wanting to talk to them separately. Athena sat on her bed, putting on one of her oversized comfort hoodies, that she usually wore when she was sad or ill, and sitting on her bed reading a book. Her eyebrows furrowed when she heard shouting from down the hall before her dad walked into her room.
"Is everything okay?" Athena asked, her cheeks still stained with tears.
"Yeah, you know how Sarah is." He stated, sitting down at the end of her bed.
"Is Rafe going to jail?" She questioned. Ward shook his head. "B-But he shot Peterkin."
"Athena—"
"No! You cannot be serious right now. Someone is dead and it's Rafe's fault." Athena protested. Ward moved slightly closer to her as she looked up at him with a slight scoff. "It's your fault too, yours and Rafe's and neither of you are going to be punished. God."
"Honey, this world isn't split into black and white, okay? There are grey areas and this is one of them." Ward spoke. Athena shook her head, crying as she muttered a small 'no' under her breath. "I know this is hard, okay, but we are your family and one of these days you were going to have to choose between your friends and your family. It just happened that, that day came sooner than expected."
"No. I'm not choosing." Athena stated firmly.
"You have too." Ward shrugged, standing up and walking towards the door.
"But they're my family too."
"No, they're not. We are." Those were Ward's final words before he stepped out of the door. Athena's eyebrows knit in confusion hen she heard him put a key in the hole, twisting it before she heard the lock click. Her eyes widened.
"No, no, no." She whispered, running towards the door and trying to open it. "Open the door! Dad! You can't lock me in here!"
The girl rested her forehead against the door in frustration before giving up and going back to reading her book on her bed. After a little while, she heard a knock at her window that caught her attention. She ran over to see Kie stood on her balcony. She tried to open the doors, but they were locked.
"Hi." Athena smiled, letting out a breath of relief. "You're okay."
"Yeah, I heard your code grey." Kie admitted making Athena let out a soft laugh.
"Thank god." Athena stated but her smile dropped when Kie showed her the reward poster for John B. Her father having pinned Peterkin's murder on the boy. "Rafe shot Peterkin."
"We know." Kie nodded.
"Is everyone else okay?" Athena asked.
"Yeah, Pope and JJ are all right. We're all fine." Kie told her with a nod.
"Good. You need to go." Athena informed her curly haired friend when she heard shuffling outside.
"I love you." Kie smiled, putting her hand on the door.
"I love you too." Athena scrunched her nose up cutely, and just like she had so many other times, placed her hand over Kie's on the other side. "Be safe. Tell the other's I love them as well."
"I will." Kie smiled before leaving Athena alone once more. She sat back on her bed with a sigh, staring into the abyss.
She began staring at the pictures on her wall. There was many of her and different people, but she only had a few that she really liked. There was one of her and Rafe looking into the cot where Wheezie lay after she was born. She had another one of her and Wheezie in the ocean one day, they both had swimming costumes on and their hair was wet from the water. They were stood close to the shore, their hands interlocked as they messed around.
Another photo she loved was of her and Rafe. They were baking cookies one day when her father had taken the photo. Athena was sat on the counter, an egg in hand as Rafe stood next to her, looking over the bowl they were mixing the batter in. There was also one of the two and Topper at a kook party a few years ago that she really liked for some reason.
There was two of her and Kie that she also loved. The first one was taken way back in middle school. The two, without realising were like the best of friends, and grew apart when they went to different schools. The photo was taken by Mike Carrera. The two sat on the dock, Kie in a pink top and a skirt while Athena wore her school gym kit. Kie was hugging the blonde, smiling at her dad while Athena was smiling at Ward, who was also taking a photo.
The other photo was during Kie's kook year, and was taken by Sage at one of their parties. Kie was sat down on a white chair, wearing a black top and a pair of jeans, her hair in a bandana while Athena was hugging her from behind, a white summer dress on as she squinted from the sun. Athena loved the two photos because they showed the difference and similarities in their friendship.
There was only photo one of Pope that she had managed to sneak into the collection. Athena had taken it. It was the two sitting shoulder to shoulder, their hands swapped over while Pope held up two fingers and Athena held up her middle. It didn't have their faces in it so no one except her knew it was Pope, seeing as she had it put up before she started hanging out with the pogues.
There was also only one photo of JJ. It was taken by Kie on her polaroid camera only a few days ago at the movie night. Athena was leaning against JJ's leg, the boy playing with her hair with a small smile on his face. Kie had thought they looked cute and so snapped the photo before it got dark and had given it to her the next day.
Most of the photos were her and Sarah. There was one of them floating in the ocean. It was taken by Wheezie. Athena was wearing a blue bikini while Sarah's was pink while they laughed as they tanned on the ocean. There was one they had taken when they were messing around one night. It was in Athena's bedroom and they had set her phone up with the timer on before they jumped off of Athena's bed. The photo was taken while they were in the air, they hair above their heads.
However, one photo caught her attention as she looked at them all. It was hung up, framed by itself. It was her and Sarah. The two were sat in Sarah's bedroom making friendship bracelets as they laughed over whatever joke one of them had said. Wheezie had taken it on one of their girls night and Athena had hung it up because it was one of her favourite photos of the twins and it covered the—
"Oh my gosh." Athena gasped. She jumped off the bed and walked over to the picture. She took the frame off the wall to reveal a hole in her wall, allowing her to look into Sarah's bedroom. She knocked on the wall three times alerting Sarah she was there.
"Athena?" Sarah asked, taking off the frame that held the same picture off her wall. The two made eye contact through the small hole.
"Hi."
"Hey, you okay?" Sarah questioned.
"I'm okay, but we need to get out of here." Athena stated.
"I know." The two went silent for a moment, hearing their dad and Rose shouting downstairs. The mention of Wheezie made Athena perk up once more.
"Wheezie." Athena smiled. "Sarah, you remember when we were younger and Wheezie was never allowed to stay up with us?"
"Yeah." Sarah nodded.
"Remember how she did anyway and we spent the entire night speaking to her?" Athena asked. "Remember how we did it?"
"The cup." Sarah gasped.
"Get Wheezie to let you out." Athena told her.
"What about you?" Sarah wondered, slightly concerned her sister would be stuck in the house forever.
"I'll try and get through to Dorota." Athena stated. "See you on the other side, Sar."
The two put their photos back up on the wall. Athena put her hand on the photo of her and Dorota that hung next to the frame. It was taken by Rose a few years ago. Dorota had gone on holiday for nearly a month and when she got back, Athena was so happy to see her and practically jumped on her when she walked through the door. The photo is the two of them hugging, smiles on their faces as they embraced after not seeing each other for ages. The girl let out a breath before walking towards the door, listening out for the distinct footsteps she had grown used to.
"Dortoa." Athena called, grabbing the woman's attention.
"Miss Athena."
"I need you to let me out." Athena told her.
"Mr Cameron told me not too, Miss Athena. I am very sorry." Dorota went to walk off.
"No, no, Dorota. D." Athena stopped her. "Whatever you've heard, whatever they've told you about John B, it isn't true. He didn't shoot Peterkin, okay? You know JB, you helped me clean the chateau with him and sit with him after his dad went missing, D, you know he wouldn't do this." Athena pressed her forehead against the door. "Rafe shot her. Oh my god, Rafe killed her. Okay, Dorota, I need you to let me out, I need to find my friends, I need to my boyfriend."
"The blond one?" Dorota asked.
"Yeah, JJ, I need to find him. I need to go see my friends, okay, and get the gold and then we can get right out of here, f-f-far far away. We can't do that if I'm stuck here." Athena was crying again, her breathing erratic. "E-Even if you don't let me go, can you at least open the door. I haven't had a hug in nearly twelve hours and I need someone. I-I can't go through the locking myself away from everyone D, not again, not when I have so many people now, I-I can't. Please. Please open the door."
Dorota went silent, the only sound being Athena's quiet sobs. Her hope was dwindling quickly until the lock clicked. Her bedroom door was pushed opened quietly, Athena stepping back so she could open it fully. Athena jumped forward, wrapping Dorota in a hug. She held her there, soaking in the comfort because stepping back.
"Thank you, thank you."
"Go find your friends Miss Athena." Dorota stepped aside to let her go. "Just stay safe."
"I love you, Dorota." Athena spoke with a soft smiled as she walked towards Sarah's room. She opened the door slowly to see Wheezie and Sarah stood in the doorway. "You okay in here?"
"Yeah, we're good." Sarah returned the smile. The two turned to look at a nodding Wheezie before Athena brought them both into a group hug.
After a few minutes, the twins left the room, sneaking out of the house and grabbing their bikes. The rode away from the house, getting far enough away before they stopped. Athena and Sarah knew they were going separate ways, giving each other a quick hug before going in different directions. Athena pedalled as quickly as she could, driving towards the Wreck, where she hoped JJ, Kie and Pope were. When she arrived, she dropped her bike before cautiously walking inside.
"JJ! Kie! Pope!" She called out into the darkness. "Anyone here!"
"Athena?" A voice replied. Athena walked further into the restaurant to find the three pogues she was looking for. The three all froze at the sight of the girl, not expecting her to escape her house.
"Hi." She smiled, letting out a breath. JJ was the first to break from his trance, stepping forward and picking the girl up into a hug. Athena hugged him back tightly as he lifted her off the floor for a moment before putting her back down. She held his face in her hands, pressing their foreheads together.
"You okay?" JJ asked.
"Yeah, I am now." She smiled before turning to Pope and pulling him into a hug. Kie was the last one to step forward, the two sharing a look before they hugged each other tightly.
"Where's Sarah?" Kie asked.
"She went find JB." Athena stated. "I had to make you guys were okay. I'm glad you're okay."
"We're glad you're okay too." Kie smiled, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗕𝗘𝗟 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗦
this chapter hurt to write if i'm honest just like all of it !!
only a few more chapters left :))