chapter thirty
"going to end"

"WARD, NO!"

LYNN GASPED FOR air as she felt the older mans fingertips wrap so tightly around her neck it felt as if a snake were constricting its body. She immediately encased her own palms around Ward's ever so powerful grip on her neck, tugging with whatever strength she had — but he wasn't loosening up in the slightest.

Her blonde strands of hair were yanked on as she fought back against his grasp, her eyes desperate — for just a sniff of air, for the pain echoing in her muscles to cease, to get the hell away from the eldest Cameron.

Ward didn't seem flustered or struggled, it fact, it almost appeared as if the man was pleased.

He had shoved her body against the once admirable bathroom counter that was sparkled with marble, but it had created a throbbing discomfort on her lower back — she was pinned neatly and calculatively.

Panting out for just a single second of air, Lynn choked out, "Please."

"This is all your fault, Evelynn," snarled Ward through gritted teeth — and this was the moment it appeared that he was finally peeling the void of emotion expression to be replaced with utter disgust and anger. "You should've stayed out of this."

Dark, black spots had began to appear in Lynn's vision — she was all too familiar with this state of being. The lack of oxygen in her lungs which made her brain scream at her, the strong pull in her head for a deep sleep. It had happened all too many times for her.

Was this really how it was going to end? No, it wasn't going to be some freak accident as it seemed to be her luck nor her father's dangerous and hateful grip. It was Ward Cameron, the man that had already gotten away with murder. Would he get away with hers too?

It was as if life had shifted into slow motion, swearing that Lynn could see a single drop of sweat move down Ward's face as he flared his tightened teeth as his hold was extending with each passing second that Lynn was growing weaker.

Was she never going to be able to place her warm pink lips on the polarizing and breathing lips that belonged to JJ Maybank? No more thrifting trips with Kiara Carrera? Never again going to have a surf competition with John B Routledge? Not at all going to have an (agonizing) yet absolutely hilarious study-session with Pope Heyward?

Lynn stretched her hands forward, clawing at anything that seemed valuable to Ward — and she managed digging her fingernails into the corner of his eye down his cheek. He howled out with pain, a deep crimson colored liquid that was already seeping from the raw wound.

With the hope of potentially weakening his state on her, had failed. The action had actually only further enraged the man, where his fingers tightened beyond just a snake's clutch, and Lynn was losing feeling in her struggling arms.

She attempted a few more scratches on the man, but it was only on his forearms as she pleaded with her life. Wet tears stained her usual rosy cheeks, and booming struggled coughs could be heard as her body begged for the oxygen, flicking off the nonessentials so more could be preserved.

But there wasn't anything else Evelynn could do.

The blonde's left hand slipped as there was no more energy to hold it up, to control her fingertips into ripping shreds into Ward's arms. Her eyelids fluttered open and close, darkness consuming the corners of her dull blue eyes as it inched nearer — practically taking over the entirety of her eyesight.

I guess this really was how it was going to end for Evelynn Bardot.

"Hey, NO!"

The echo of the voice Lynn could hardly hear, but it was enough for Ward to swing around on his hips. However, the man was cruelly interrupted as a white lamp came in contact with the front of his forehead. The object shattered within an instant, sending the older man crumbling to the ground in fits of groaning, grasping his no doubt bleeding headwound.

Lynn's body fell to the ground in an instant, her eyelids were still squeezed shut and her body had barely twitched. Darting through the shadows to Lynn's side, was Rafe. Her body was laying on the side, her back was facing Rafe as he slide onto his knees, tugging her so he could focus on her.

"Fuck, Evelynn, hey," the boy rambled rather quickly, his eyes scanning every inch of her body for a tell that she was still alive. His hands trailed up her arms, where the light shaking had shifted into forceful rocking. "Evelynn! Please, baby, please...I can't lose you."

The dark blonde boy swiped some of the loose blonde strands of hair from covering her face, but it was empty of any emotions and was alleviated and relaxed. Rafe planted his arms on Lynn's chest, a soft cry racked his own body which made him shiver.

Then a loud gasp echoed throughout the air.

Birds whistling their bright and joyful tunes were bouncing in the rising morning sun sky. The darkened thunderclouds of the pouring storm had opened up quite some time ago, leaving the once sorrowful and downcast of the previous day to disappear as dawn passed through.

White bedsheets were stirred as the body beneath them shifted with movement. Blonde wisps of untamable hair in disarray brushed through the comforter, and soon a tanned face stretched through them.

Evelynn Bardot hummed softly as she rubbed her left eye, her breathing seemed heavy and slow. She tugged herself forward, but a little whimper of a groan escaped her mouth as pain ricocheted out through her entire body.

Lynn neatly tucked her head back against the pillow she could sleep for ages on, her eyes hovering upwards to the ceiling. A split panic of not knowing where she was ringed in her mind, which once again made her want to fly forward frantic, but her body refused.

"Hey, hey, you're alright."

The blonde jerked her head in the direction of the voice — and there was a slight shiver of fear.

Rafe Cameron leisurely and carefully trudged forward into the unfamiliar room. Unlike Rafe's previous one at Tannyhill, this room was completely and utterly white in every perspective. Bright white walls, the draped white curtains, fluffy white bedsheets, even the carpeting was white.

"How are you feeling?" Rafe questioned, and Lynn curiously narrowed her eyes as his concerned expression, as if one wrong slight movement could break her into crumbles.

"How am I feeling?" Lynn's eyes widened as her voice echoed so raspy, dry, like she couldn't manage higher than a whisper. She dropped down to her hands, knotting her eyebrows while noticing two broken fingernails — one on her left index finger, and the other was her right pinky. "Oh my god."

The remembrance of the previous days terrifying night flickered in her mind as if a movie began to play.  Glimpses of Ward Cameron pinning her against the cabinet, his snake-like hold on her throat, she didn't even know how she got out of it nor how she got to this foreign place — how she survived.

      Lynn's fingertips traced to her neck, a heavy exhale left her lungs. Without saying another word, she darted up from the bed and ignored every cry her brain shouted at her to just jump back in bed and relax her beyond tense muscles.

      Rafe muttered something out, probably in an attempt at getting Lynn to cease whatever it was she was getting at and get her ass back inside. The Pogue bumped into the, you can guess it, white bathroom door to glance at herself in the mirror.

      And what stared back at her frightened her.

      Usually there was a toothy grin scattered on her face, but a strong tugged-downward frown only remained. Her blonde locks of hair were pointing away in every direction, a terrible case of bed head probably with the tangles of last nights confrontation. But the most prominent feature lingered on her neck — which as a teenager should've been littered with small hickeys, but what only remained was the bruised mark of a handprint.

      Four dark red mixed with purple fingers were printed on her neck, just barely part of the palm could be found on her neck. She couldn't believe the image staring back at her, it felt so frail and damaged. Like some carbon copy of Evelynn Bardot that she couldn't even recognize anymore.

      How did this happen?

a/n: split up chapters again bc i can never write short enough ones🙄🙄🙄