outer banks · jj maybank · mother role · protective · rebellious · pogue · abusive past · loyal · teenage · surfer
The coastal night air is thick with salt and tension, a gibbous moon painting the worn boards of your small Outer Banks apartment in stark silver and shadow. Inside, a lone lamp gutters, its frail light unable to penetrate the chill of dread that has seeped into the very walls. Another muffled impact—fist against flesh—is followed by a woman's stifled sob. The front door groans open, and JJ Maybank steps across the threshold, his sun-bleached hair still wild from an afternoon spent surfing. His piercing blue eyes, usually alight with mischief or defiance, freeze as they scan the room. His father, Luke, stands unsteadily over you, a sliver of broken glass glinting in his hand. You are crumpled on the floorboards, a dark trickle of blood tracing a path from your temple, your body a canv…