◜ ◝
𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗜𝗙𝗧𝗬
𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏
◟ ◞
・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・
Rafe backed up the truck with the cross into the garage, Carla Limbrey waiting for them to take it out. Renfield then hopped out of the truck first, going to open the back of it.
Before Rafe could get out, Tara grabbed his wrist. "If they try to steal this cross away from us, we will not hesitate to kill them, all right?" Tara whispered to him, not wanting to get stabbed in the back even though she was the definition of a backstabber.
Rafe swallowed hard, licking his lips. "Yeah, n-no, yeah. We'll kill them," he answered with a nod, his eyes wide.
"Good." Tara then got out of the truck followed by Rafe, helping Renfield get the cross out of it as Limbrey watched them.
"I don't believe it," Limbrey whispered.
"I told you I'd get it for you, didn't I?" Renfield said to her with a smirk.
"You said you wouldn't, and...and you did."
"Before we do this, I just wanna remind you of the deal, okay?" Rafe said to them and Tara nodded, watching the two closely.
"You really are your father's son, aren't you?" Limbrey pointed out. "Talking about deals at a moment like this."
"I showed you the mural. We get our cut," Rafe continued, ignoring what she had said.
"The deal is as we discussed, Rafe," Limbrey assured him.
"It better be," Tara told her darkly.
"You'll get your cut."
Rafe then went over to the cross and took the cloth off of it, showcasing the golden glow of the cross. Tara stared at it from where she stood, trying to think of plans just in case they got screwed over.
Limbrey then limped over to it, running her hands over it's intricate designs. "So beautiful," she whispered. "Inside this cross is the shroud. And whoever touches the hem of the garment...shall be healed."
Tara and Rafe glanced at each other, their faces confused. There was no such thing as a healing garment, this wasn't Marvel or Harry Potter.
Limbrey then took a key out of her pocket and kissed it. "It's time for a miracle." She placed the key in the hole, trying to twist it.
"Here. Let me help you get it," Renfield offered, stepping forward.
"No!" Limbrey exclaimed, shoving him away. "It's meant for a Limbrey." Limbrey then tried again and this time the lock clicked, opening the compartment up.
But there was nothing. Just dust and moths.
Tara ran her tongue over her teeth, not sure how their plan was going to work now since Limbrey wasn't getting what she wanted.
Rafe hummed. "The magic scarf was eaten by bugs," he commented, glancing back at Tara. She was being unbelievably silent, which was worrying Rafe since he didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.
Renfield began to laugh at Limbrey, causing the older blonde to slap him across the face. "How dare you mock me?!" Limbrey screamed at him before Renfield grabbed her and threw her to the ground.
"What the hell are you doing?" Tara questioned, her voice steady. She wasn't angry, she just wanted to know what was happening here because if she wasn't walking away with the cross, she certainly was walking away with blood on her hands.
"Easy, Carla," Renfield warned.
"That's it. You're cut off. You're not getting a penny," Limbrey told him from the ground.
"I don't need your money. I've got the cross now," he said proudly with a smirk plastered across his face. "Come on, Rafe. Help me guys."
"Rafe! Tara!" Limbrey called out, giving them pleading looks.
"Don't worry, guys. You'll still get your cut," Renfield assured them, climbing onto the truck. "Come on."
"Renfield!" Limbrey called from the ground as Rafe went over and helped Renfield bring the cross back onto the truck. "Renfield!"
Tara continued to stay where she was, glancing in between Limbrey and Renfield. Tara believed that Limbrey could be a woman of her word, while Renfield did seem like a scumbag. However, Limbrey did just completely cut Renfield out of the deal, making Tara trust her less.
"Renfield, get over here. Help me up," Limbrey continued to say.
"Help you up? You're lucky I don't back up over you," Renfield said before he started to laugh.
And then before any of them knew it, Limbrey had pulled out a gun and fired three shots at him, sending him down.
Tara gasped, her eyes going wide. She immediately went over to the Rafe, checking to make sure he wasn't hit. "Are you hit?" she whispered to him and he shook his head as he took in deep breaths, placing a hand on his chest.
Limbrey dropped the gun on the ground, collecting herself from what she had just done.
Tara looked up at Renfield, who was bleeding out from inside the truck. "Oh, shit," Rafe muttered quietly.
"Rafe. Tara. Don't just stand there with your mouths open. Help me up," Limbrey said, but they hadn't listened right away. "Rafe. Tara! He wasn't a good man. He's not one of us. Come on."
Rafe and Tara looked at each other, trying to figure out what to do without saying anything to give each other away. Tara subtly shook her head at him, glancing at the gun on the ground for a second.
Rafe seemed to get the memo, so he made his way over to Limbrey, grabbing her outstretched hand. He pretended to help her up before he bent down, grabbing the gun off of the floor.
"No. What are you doing? What are you doing? Rafe! Rafe!" Limbrey yelled as Rafe walked away from her. Tara grinned, going over to close the doors of the truck. "No! No. Tara, help me! Rafe! Tara! Rafe!" Limbrey continued to yell as they ignored her calls, getting ready to drive out of there. "Rafe! You better shoot me, because I swear to God, there will not be a place that you can hide from me! Get back here!"
Tara and Rafe stepped in the truck, Rafe driving it out to get out of there. "Why didn't you shoot her?" Tara then asked after a moment. "You said we'd kill them if they turned on us."
"T-Technically, she didn't turn on us. She turned on Renfield," Rafe argued, focusing on the road.
"Yeah, but killing her would have given us one less worry," Tara explained, her eyes wide.
"She can't go anywhere fast," Rafe muttered, shaking his head.
Tara took a deep breath in before she sighed, "Fine. Yeah. You're right."
"Look, Tara. After we can take this gold for ourselves, we can run all away from this. We — we don't have to worry about anyone else's bullshit anymore. We won't have to worry about the Pogues. We won't have to worry about shitty deals. And we don't have to fucking worry about the Outer Banks," Rafe told her, looking over at her as he drove:
Tara looked at him, looking him up and down. "And what about Kyla?" she asked, trying to stir the pot to make sure Rafe didn't care about her anymore.
"What about Kyla? I haven't fuckin' talked to her in ages."
"What if this all comes down to killing her? Would you do it? Would you do it for me? Would you do it for us?" Tara questioned, giving him an innocent look even though her query was far from innocent.
Rafe glanced over at her, licking his lips. After this whole time, he knew that he had a soft spot for Kyla. It was just so hard for him to hate her because she was so...perfect. Maybe not perfect for him, but, well, she was every man's dream. However, if he had said that out loud, he knew he'd probably be dead.
"I'd kill her one thousand times for you. For — for us. Anything it takes," he replied, sending her a smile.
She grinned back at him, biting her lip as she did so. "Good."
Spring break has started!!!!! Hopefully that means I'll get more updates in and hopefully finish writing season 2!!!!
I know this chapter didn't have any JJ and Kyla, but it's because I wanted to focus on Tara and Rafe's relationship since we haven't really seen them in a bit. They're lowkey cringy to write since Tara is so obsessive over him, but hopefully it's interesting to see the comparison between them, and JJ and Kyla (hopefully you like JJ and Kyla better even though they aren't official yet LMAO)
And speaking of that, sorry that this slowburn is so, well...slow. I'm like obsessed with slow burns and angst and like things getting in the way of the couple before they can actually get together because I feel like it gets kinda boring once they're actually together, you know? I just really like the tension and all. So, yeah, that's why im making JJ and Kyla resort to being "friends" for now and having that sort of unspoken tension...but that'll definitely change ;)
Hopefully you are enjoying this book bc we are already on chapter 50 and idk why you would keep reading if you haven't hahaha...but yeah, thank you all for reading!!!! Remember to vote and comment!