THE PHANTOM;
part one
ATTICUS AND RENNA HAD RAN, much like Renna had done that previous morning, to meet the other's back in the car before spending the night at Kiara's. However, they left early the next morning before the other's woke up, leaving a note on one of the many tables. Atticus needed to talk to his mum, it was eating him alive.
"I'll stay out here, okay? Just, keep calm, alright? That's all you need to do," Renna told the curly-haired boy as they stood out the front of his house, rocking back and forth from the heel to the toe of her feet.
"Keep calm, okay. Yeah, alright, I can do that," he nodded.
"You got this." He took a deep breath before walking into the house, leaving a hopeful Renna standing on the front steps.
"Mum? Are you here?" She walked around the corner at the words - the voice -, eyebrows raised as her eyes softened. "Mum," he sighed thankfully before rushing towards her, instantly engulfing her into a warm and meaningful embrace. "I'm so, so sorry, mum. I didn't mean any of it, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say-"
"It's okay, darling. It's okay." She ran a hand up and down his back.
"I can give you the money?" He offered.
"No, take it back to him. Give it back." He sighed as he pulled away but nodded nevertheless.
"Is Alex here?" She hummed.
"And he heard the whole thing," she told him.
"Shit."
Meanwhile, outside, a little boy had run around the corner of the house with a ball in his hands, stopping once acknowledging the presence of the girl on the steps. She was sitting in the still wind with her hands hanging from her lap, fingers twisting the ring on her index finger as she looked up at the cloudy sky.
"Renna!" He cheered as he bounded towards her, the girl looking over to him with wide eyes and a grin in return.
"Hey, Alex! What are you doing?" She asked with a smile. He was just the person she needed to distract her.
"Playing with the ball, it's very fun." He threw the plastic ball towards her, the girl catching it before lightly throwing it back.
"Is Atticus here?" He asked, his voice dropping just a little as he threw the ball back. She frowned.
"He's inside talking to your mum. Do you wanna go say hi?" She threw the ball towards him softly. He widened his eyes, shaking his head almost immediately. "Why not?"
"He's scary now," the boy muttered with a dramatised frown. Renna felt a tear form down the side of her heart as she examined his distressed expression.
"He's not scary." She caught the ball. "He was just angry. He was so angry that he said some things he didn't mean."
"Why?" The ball landed between the child's hands with a thud.
"Imagine you were playing with your cars, and someone ran in and took it from you. How would you feel?" He furrowed his brows, morphing his frown into an angry sneer.
"Very, very mad."
"What would you do?" She continued as she pointed a finger towards him.
"I would steal it back and punch him in the face!" He shouted, dropping the ball and pretending to punch the air. She smiled, her point had been proven precisely.
"Exactly. That's how your brother felt, he was just really upset." He nodded but dropped his head, still adorning a frown.
"Can you come with me?" He asked with a pout nobody could say no to.
"Of course I can," she smiled and stood up, holding out her hand. He beamed before picking up the ball, holding it beneath his elbow as he ran towards her and gently grabbed her onto her palm. She led him up the porch and opened the door, catching the attention of the mother and son in the middle of the entryway. Alex froze in the doorway.
Atticus glanced at Renna before staring down at his brother, a soft smile painted on his face. "Hey, buddy." He stepped forward and knelt down, coming eye level to the boy.
"You were mean to mummy," Alexander muttered defensively.
"I know, I know, and I'm really sorry," the older boy sighed, trying to keep a smile on his face. "I didn't mean to, you know that, right?"
"Renna said you were really angry." Atticus spared a glance up at the girl with a thankful smile.
"Yeah, I was."
"But, that's okay." Alex smiled as he began to beam, causing Atticus to grin back identically. "I get angry too."
"Really?" Atticus beamed.
"Yeah! If someone stole my car, I would punch them in the face!" He cheered, throwing his hands up into the air as Atticus bit back a laugh.
"Maybe don't do that," he muttered with a smile whilst Alex grinned, dropping Renna's hand and dropping the ball before throwing his arms around his brother's neck.
"I love you, Atti," the young boy declared, burying his face in his elder's soft skin.
"I love you too, Alex." Atticus hadn't felt so relieved in a while, holding onto his little brother who he'd thought he'd lost. After a moment or two spent by the Fletcher siblings hugging, Sylvia cleared her throat from behind them.
"I've heard the news," the woman interrupted, Atticus immediately pulling away from his brother with a nervous frown. She looked down at her youngest son. "Go to your room, okay? Count to three hundred." He nodded and ran off with the ball in his hands.
Atticus stood up with a sigh, sharing a worried look with Renna. "Sylvia, we know how it sounds but-"
"He didn't do it," she said. "I believe you." They let out thankful breaths of relief, biting back smiles before looking back up at the caring mother. "You keep him hidden, alright? Tell him that if he needs a place to stay, my house is always open."
"We will, mum. Thank you."
"You two weren't there, were you?" She said hopefully, looking between the two guilty teens. Atticus ducked his head as Renna turned away, both looking at anything but the eyes of the boy's mother. "Hold on, you were? How come Ward didn't place the blame on you?"
"Because my dad's with him too." Renna's feet shuffled against the floor. She didn't want to tell anyone, she didn't want to be seen differently, and she didn't want it to become a thing people used to recognize her by - but she was talking to Sylvia Fletcher. She could tell the older woman anything.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetheart," the lady frowned sadly.
"It's okay," she shrugged with a struggling smile.
"And Ward's still after me . . . after us. If he finds Renna without Dick, then who knows what he will do," Atticus added quietly, staring his mum right in the eyes.
"So Ward shot Peterkin, correct?" She asked, seeking confirmation.
The duo shook their heads. "Rafe did."
"Rafe Cameron?" Sylvia gasped with disbelief.
"Yeah, and I think he's after us too," Renna suggested as she shared yet another look with the boy beside her.
"Go."
"What?"
"Go help John B, and stay safe! Don't go back home, Renna. Come back here," She demanded with the softest smile one had ever seen.
"Thank you, Sylvi-"
"Mum? What's wrong?" Atticus interrupted with an apologetic hand resting against Renna's shoulder, the boy staring across at the woman with anxiety sparks flying throughout her cloudy eyes.
"Nothing, just- just go make sure John B's okay. I have a bad feeling about all this." Renna and Atticus shared a look, another look. Little did they know, she was right.
They made their way towards the boat shed, grabbing the money from beneath Atticus' mattress on the way. When they got there, their friends were already there, walking around JJ's father's pristine boat, admiring it's pure glory.
"It's kind of a Junker," Kiara mumbled with a judgmental hand placed on her hip.
"Really? She's right there, Kie. She can hear you," JJ complained.
"We can hear you!" Atticus shouted as himself and Renna walked into the shed. "You two are so loud we could hear you from down the street!"
"There they are! And, yeah, well, someone's gotta defend this beautiful specimen right here," JJ said as he slapped the side of the boat, immediately wincing before lightly patting the paint.
"You just slapped her, JJ." He began muttering apologies to the boat, until they heard the sound of motorbikes in the distance.
"Pope. Finally!" Kiara cheered as she began to walk out of the shed.
"Hey there. What's goin' on?" Rafe said as he walked around the corner, jumping onto the edge of the Phantom with a wicked grin. Atticus' face instantly fell, his arm finding Renna's so he could push her behind him with a sneer.
Interrupting their staring match, someone from behind them let out a thick whistle. It was Barry, staring intensely at the blue eyes of JJ as he raised his gun to the blond's chest. The others watched on hopelessly, frightened, as they witnessed their friend cower.
"Woah, woah, woah! Put the gun down, I have the money!" Atticus shouted before the two newcomers could do anything, slowly moving away from the girl he'd been trying to protect to cover for his friend instead.
"Really? Well, where the hell is it?" Barry shouted impatiently as he moved the gun towards Atticus, who reached into his back pocket to pull out the money. Renna moved to step forward, to help her friend in one way or another, but Kiara held her back, hand gripping her waist as Rafe watched from behind them.
"It's right here, man." He held the cash out, Barry instantly snatching it from the boy's grasp and flicking through it before letting out a scoff. "There's still more- where the hell is my money?" He shouted as he tucked the cash into his waistband before jumping forward, pressing the gun against Atticus' neck. He instantly glowered, shutting his eyes before staring directly into Barry's. Even from a distance, Renna could see the fire lighting up his eyes.
"I don't have any more of your fucking money, so get your filthy gun away from me before I shove it up your ass." Barry raised his brows, looking over at Rafe as he started to laugh. It only ticked Atticus off more. "Yeah, I bet you'd like that, huh?" Atticus grinned sarcastically, Barry's face dropping as he turned around. However, he wasn't quick enough, because Atticus had already thrown his hand against the side of his skull.
Meanwhile, as JJ, Atticus and Barry fought behind them, Kiara and Renna had to deal with the psychotic child of a Cameron.
"You murdered Peterkin," Kiara shouted defensively, pointing a finger into the boy's chest. Renna saw Rafe's hand inching up by his side, so she smacked it back down. He just laughed.
"You know, your brother and I had a sorta deal goin' on, but he broke it." He stepped towards her, causing her to begin backing away. "He knew what I'd do if he did that, but he still did. Shows what kind of fuckin' brother he is, don't it?"
"What will you do?" Renna asked as she met his eye, confidence built up in her face. Inside, she was terrified, but he couldn't see that.
"Kill you," he stated with ease, which scared her most of all. Kiara watched on as Renna grew white, fighting the urge to vomit across the boy's psychopathic face. She couldn't deal with anything anymore.
"Hey, you-" Rafe flung his hand back, knocking Kiara to the ground, just as Pope came around the corner. He fell to his knees, instantly comforting the girl as she held a tender hand to her flaming cheek. They didn't take any notice of what Rafe had taken out of his pocket.
Rafe held out his gun, the thing he trusted most, and pressed it against the girl's temple. She leaned against the pole behind her, biting her lip to keep in her sobs as she planted her heels into the ground. She kept trying to move further back, let the pole behind her swallow her whole, but she couldn't move anymore. She was stuck.
"He was gonna be here . . . watching as I shot you down, but this'll do. You deserve it," the boy snickered, leaning close to her face as the tears fell from her glistening eyes. "I- I watched you, Renna, everywhere. I don't know why but, everyone likes you - they love you. I was always so jealous because- because I wanted them to love me. I mean, even my dad - and I just saved his life!" He laughed, but she didn't. She couldn't when she knew the bullet was only inches away from her swirling brain.
"Even if it was being with you that finally got everyone to see me, to love me, I would do it in a heartbeat. I convinced myself that whoever else you liked in your life wasn't as good as me, because it's true. But, now, I realise that there's another way-" That was what ticked Renna over the edge. Did Rafe love her? What love? No love. Rafe didn't have any love left in him.
"Why do you want to kill me, Rafe?" She shouted, trying to attract the attention of someone, anyone, else in the room. She succeeded, as Pope and Kiara looked up from the ground.
"Let me finish! I know I can't have what I want. And if I can't have it, no one can. This is the other way, and the only way. I've gotta get rid of you, bitch." She thought he was gonna press it, his finger slowly inching towards the trigger that constantly called out his name.
"Ace!" Pope shouted from the ground beside a bleeding Kiara, interrupting whatever was happening between Rafe and his messed-up mind. The boy flicked his hair back, looking over at the boy as he held onto a bloody Barry's collar. JJ looked over at the frantic sound of his friend's voice, his eyes latching onto what had caused such desperation.
Atticus froze for an instant, looking at the murderer across the room holding his girl up against a wall with a gun held to her head. She had tears in her eyes, on her face, and on the floor, hoping desperately to be taken away and returned to her admirable life two weeks ago. It had all changed to fast, all the well hidden secrets coming to light. Little did she know, there was still many more to come.
Atticus let the shirt drenched with the man's blood slip through his fingers as he rushed towards them. The only thing he could see was the stuff on his fingers.