𝗧𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘆𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗹.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝘃

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙙𝙤𝙢.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙢.

𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚... 𝙛𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙛𝙨.

𝙁𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙞𝙩, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚.

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙢...

... ...𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣.

𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘.

Aria sat at their usual table at The Wreck, the restaurant wasn't that busy so it was time to talk gold hunting.

John B had only broken his wrist and had a concussion which they were all extremely thankful for.

He could have died or broken his back. And for Aria she was gonna rip Topper to shreds once she saw him.

"I'm sorry. You're staying where?" Aria asked in shock.

Kie placed his tongue in between her teeth, shaking her head. "So you're living with Sarah Cameron."

John B leaned back against the seat, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Okay, look, the only reason I'm living there is because her dad bailed me out, right?
And it's way better than foster care, which, by the way, is where I was about to go if Ward didn't..."

"Hey, so do you have a membership to the clubs now?" Pope asked, folding his arms over the table.

"I don't know, Pope." John B shrugged.

JJ smiled at John B. "What about those golf carts they drive around? You get one of them?"

Pope nodded his head at JJ, agreeing with his statement. "Does it come with a sweater-vest, or do you have to buy one on your own?"

"Look, you promised." Kie looked at JB, different emotions displayed over her face. "You said you weren't with her."

"Bro, just own it. She got you." JJ leaned over and grabbed the drink out of Arias hands.

"Look, if you wanna hang out with her, that's fine. But I'm letting you know now that I'm not doing anything with Sarah." Kiara huffed, the name of the girl adding onto her angry.

Kie loved John B, and insisted he stayed away from the Cameron girl. Because she knew exactly what she was like, in her head she thought she was being a good friend.

But for John B it was just annoying. "Do you guys see her here?" He asked, looking for her. "No, right. Okay. A little focus would be fantastic."

Aria sat up straight instead of arching into the chair. "We've got the map, right?"

JJ stood behind JB staring down at the map. "It's out of whack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it."

"It's 'cause the coast has changed." Aria informed the boy, JJ making an "o" shape with his mouth.

After figuring out the spot, the Pogues hopped into the Twinkie.

Aria looked up at all of the trees. "We're in Battery, right here."

John B flicked his eyes over the area, trying to find something. "So if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here."

Kie lifted her pointed finger. "Somehwere there."

"Over there? Guy's, that's not Tannyhill, that's a subdivision." JJ trailed off. "Tannyhill Plantation was the entire island. It got sold into smaller pieces over time." Aria turned to her boyfriend.

"So we're just looking for an old stone wall." Pope stated, the group had jumped back into the van.

"Okay, so the road should split up here."

"All right. You're gonna take a left." Aria directed John B.

The Twinkie stopped in front of a stone wall, the large house in the distant. "That looks like a stone wall to me."

"This is it." John B opened his door, the others doing the same.

Aria gulped staring up at the house. "Not the Crain house."

JJ stood next to her wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Worst-case scenario."

Aria pushed the large branches out of her face and squealed when she felt the small branch brush against her skin.

JJ walked slowly behind her, keeping a close distant. "I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property."

"Look, you guys know whose house this is, right?" Kiara adjusted her headband. "Oh, yeah. No, I do."

Aria laughed at her boyfriends slight panic about the creepy old lady inside. "Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place."

JJ jumped up at the sound of her voice, skipping lightly so he could catch up to her. "Which stories did you hear?"

Aria spun around facing him, moving her hands around. "The one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since. On certain nights, when the moon is full... you can see her in the window!"

JJ whined and stared up at the house, "No, it's not funny, 'cause it's all true. Waah! I swear to God, guys, this is all real. I knew Hollis. Jeez!"

Pope chimed in on the conversation between the two, joining in. "Wait, you knew Hollis Crain?"

"Yeah, dude." JJ hissed. "Dude, how do you know Hollis Crain?" John B also joined the conversation.

"She was my babysitter, man. She told me all about it. Told me the truth... about her mother and what happened in this house. So as a kid, she heard all the stories that her mother killed her father, and... she was a murderer and all." JJ ranted on dramatically. "Hollis didn't believe it. Until that night.It all came back to her. When Hollis was six years old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs. So she goes downstairs to see her mom washing her hands in a sink... full of blood. Her mother just says that she cut her finger. The next morning, she says her father and her split up. But then, Hollis noticed something. Her mother going into the parlor constantly, in and out and in and out with plastic bags. Weeks pass, and Hollis decides to use the outhouse. And as she's using it, she looks down, and there, in the outhouse, is her father's head, looking straight back at her."

Aria scrunched her face up in disgust, imagining the image. Kie scoffed, "God, you are so full of shit."

"Dude, I swear to God, man." JJ defended. "Did she call the police?" Aria asked the boy feeling curious.

JJ shook his head no. "She didn't have time."

I mean her boyfriend was always a sarcastic little shit but she's heard multiple stories like these before. "You sure you wanna do this? She's an axe murderer. You got a cast on."

John B faced Aria, noticing the slight worry in her face. "I don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay? JJ stop it, you're scaring her. I got nothin' to lose, right? You comin' or what?"

"Come on." Kie shoved past the group and walked up to the house.

Aria watched the group bravely go up and crouch down, while she just stood in her spot. "Hey, come on. Come here." JJ called gently.

She tore her eyes from the old house and walked over to her boyfriend, crouching down along with them.

"So here's the plan. We need to look for the wheat near the water like it said in Denmark's letter." John B quickly went over the plan.

"Okay, like, what kind of water? Like, pond water?" Pope asked.

JJ snorted at Popes question. "Bong water?" Pope just sent him a death glare.

"No. It... it just said look for water, okay?" John B led them into the cellar.

"That's the shittiest secret message ever." Kie complained following JB. "You wanna complain a little more, Kie? Nobody said it was gonna be easy." John B huffed.

"I'll search the northeast quadrant, you search the northwest." John B spilt them up into groups.

JJ, Pope and Aria in one and Kie and John B in the other.

"The decapitation quadrant." JJ patted Arias back and made his way over towards the crowded area.

The group rustled around the small basement attempting to find a clue or even better the gold.

Aria flipped over the many things, searching hard meanwhile Pope and JJ were fighting the whole time.

"Hey, psst! Hey, come on. It's the only place we haven't looked." Pope gestured the two towards a wood pile.

Aria shined her flashlight in between every small crack, her stepping back every time a bug came into view.

"Down came Mrs. Crain And cut off all our heads
Up came the sun And dried up all the blood" JJ sung to himself.

"Can you stop?" Pope spun around and scolded JJ.

The loud creaking of the floorboard underneath her made Aria gasp and step back falling right into Popes arms.

"You alright?" Pope held her up.

"I'm fine, thanks." Aria stood up and dusted herself off.

JJ watched the interaction and felt the bubble of jealousy build up. "Aw you jealous?" Pope teased the boy.

Which resulted in JJ throwing a rock at him. "You shut your mouth."

"See any water?" Kie grumbled, moving in Arias direction.

Aria swatted the thousands of mosquitoes that swarmed her. "Another dead end?" She whined.

"There's not even water on the pipes." JJ examined the old rusty pipes that covered the room.

"There's no water here." Aria informed JJ, following her flashlight across the pipes. "Not a dropamino."

"Know why we didn't find it?Bad karma." Kie gestured towards John B and the whole Sarah situation.

JB groaned at her words, his shoulders slumping. "Oh, God. Here we go."

"You know, we had a good thing going. And then you decide to rope in Barbie, and now the trail's gone dry. Coincidence? Probably not." Kie shrugged, shaking her head.

"This is exactly why I didn't wanna tell you about Sarah." John B clenched his jaw. "What the hell's the deal with you two?"

"Nothing." Kie stared up at him. "Nothing? Is it because I kissed you? Is that the problem?" JB taunted.

Kiara swung her palm harshly making it connect with the side of John B's cheek. "Oh, shit!" Arias mouth hung open along with Popes and JJs.

"That echoed, dude!" JJ said in disbelief.

John B fixated his attention back on Kie after his head had turned to the side from the impact. "Stop treating me like I'm some girl that's obsessed with you instead of your best friend who's actually trying to look out for you." Kie gritted through her teeth.

"Did you, uh... hit me?" John B pointed to his face. Kiara lifted her head revealing a squashed mosquito.
"Skeeter."

JB lifted his palm and returned a smack to Kiaras face. "Oh, hey!" JJ stepped in. Pope stared at the pair. "Okay..."

"Where's your proof?" Kie huffed, shrugging off the slap.

John B brought his hand up, showing the small dead bug. "Skeeter."

"Yeah? There was probably one right there." Kie began hitting his body. John B didn't hesitate to hit her back. "There's one right there."

Kie backed up away from him, continuing to hit him. "Really? You saw that?"

Pope was paranoid about waking up the crazy old lady upstairs, "Sh!"

"On your forehead." John B chased Kie around, slapping her whenever he got the chance.

"Today's the day that you die." Kie and John B continued their bickering.

"These things are a freakin' swarm!" Aria made a face of disgust, waving her hand around.

"Why are there so many mosquitoes in a basement?" Pope hissed.

"Dude. I know, seriously. Tiny vampire bats, just leave me alone." JJ wiped his arm after killing one.

"All right... Ow!" John B called truce but was cut off by another smack from Kie.

Aria picked up the creepy looking doll that sat in the corner of the basement, "I just found Mrs. Crain's voodoo doll, guys."

Kie giggled, walking over to examine the doll. "Oh, shit."

"All right, can we leave this? 'Cause this is getting..." JJ croaked.

Pope had been staring down at the crack in the wood, before picking up a small pebble. He dropped it threw the small space and heard it make a splashing sound. "Hey. Help me move this."

"Sh!" JJ shushed him, running over towards his side. "All right."

John B, Aria and Kiara had walked over towards the boys that were crouched down, pulling the wood up.

"Guys! Guys!" Kie attempted to quiet them down, the creaking being extremely loud. Pope grunted, dropping the wood. "Guys. I know. Yeah. Yeah. Sh, sh."

"She's probably right upstairs." Aria moved around and stood next to JJ.

"Well, well, well." Pope whistled.

The Pogues stood around the well, it was definitely deeper than expected. "They built this part of the house right over it." Aria stated.

"This is where she hid the bodies." JJ gulped, shaking his head as he looked down.

"Oh, dude, come on." John B whined. Aria slapped her boyfriends arm, "Stop."

JJ was stuck on the stories he had previously heard. "No, I'm dead serious."

"She probably doesn't even know it's here." Kiara focused on the water.

"So... we found water." Aria stated the obvious.

"We're gonna need a really big rope." John B added.

♡︎

Aria sat on JJs lap while Pope sat next to them, John B and Sarah had taken the couch and Kie stood up leaning against the wall.

"No fucking way!" Kie rubbed her temples. Well trying to tell Kie that Sarah would be joining wasn't going as planned. "You brought her here? So what? She's in on this now?"

"Look, all I care about is her cut comes out of your share." JJ scoffed.

Kie was more than angry, maybe even a little upset. "You know, I don't remember taking a vote. This is our thing. A Pogue thing."

"I gotta say, I'm just a tad uncomfortable with all of this." Pope chimed in.

Kie nodded her head at his statement, agreeing with him. "Thank you!"

John B rolled his eyes at Pope, "When are you not?"

"I dunno." Pope shrugged "I rode here on the back of JJ's bike pretty comfortably."

"It's true. Most relaxed I've ever seen him." JJ exclaimed. Aria smiled at the two, "That's cute, guys."

"You know we were all extremely comfortable until you brought her." Kiara barked, snapping back to her conversation with JB.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Sarah spoke up.

"Then leave." Kie stood her ground. Sarah turned to look at John B. " I told you."

"Told him what, exactly?" Kiara pushed herself off the wall, interested. "That you're a liar?"

Sarah scoffed, her attention falling back on the brunette. "No, that you're a shit-talking bitch."

Aria stood there with her mouth agape. "And what the fuck Ari? When were you gonna tell me about the gold? Or JJ? Is this what we do now?" Sarah snapped at her.

Aria sat up, in confusion on why it was being taken out on her. "Don't bring me into this. And no Sarah, what the fuck you! Don't act innocent, like you didn't go and hook up with John B and you knew about the gold." She argued.

"Everybody shut up!" John B yelled, getting tired with the arguing.

"Kie, you are my best friend, right?" John B trailed off. "And Sarah, you're... you're my..."

Sarah's lips upturned slightly. "Say it."

"You're my girlfriend." JB admitted, his cheeks flushing red.

"Ohh... that's new." JJ whispered.

Kie scoffed, placing a hand over her forehead. "She's your girlfriend now? What was all that talk about you were just using her for information? Get a map, cut her loose."

"You said you were using me?" Sarah muttered. "No." John B gulped.

JJ ratted his friend out, laughing lightly. "Yeah, you did." Pope added, "Yeah."

John B was now in a tricky situation, with his girlfriend on the line as well as his best friend. "Look, love just walked in, okay? I didn't expect it. It just... it kind of happened. And I'm not gonna deny it."

"Look, cut the bullshit, John B. If she's in, I'm out." Kie folded her arms. John B shook his head no, "I'm not doing this. I can't!"

"You are gonna decide. I'm very interested, actually. Me or her?" Kie gestured in between herself and the Kook.

"Both." John B said simply.

JJ whistled, adjusting himself. "Went for the Hail Mary."

The silence was very loud at this point. Kie left the room and slammed the door behind her.

"It'll be cool, right? I'm gonna leave." Sarah stood up.

"Sarah, don't." John B pleaded. "Gonna let y'all chat. Let me know." Sarah walked over to the other door and shut it.

"I'd just like to say, you handled that beautifully." JJ fake complimented.

𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 !
Hayyy bestiessssss
Thank you so much for 900 reads 😭
I love y'all so much. So bad news ? Kinda not really
but we are getting closer to the end so the chapters will have to be shorter :( usually they are 2,000 ish words but I'm going have to make them short. Also I'm super sorry for getting this out so late, I was super busy all weekend and didn't have any time to actually write. Love ya :)