༄ 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗐𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗒－𝗇𝗂𝗇𝖾 ༄

A FEW LONG minutes later, the four were still waiting for Sarah and Kie to get the lights off. JJ and Thalia started theorizing the story of Mrs. Crain. "They say when Hollis disappeared–" JJ began, speaking softly.

        "That you should shut the eff up!" Pope snapped quickly, causing Thalia's eyes to widen at his sudden emotion.

        John B whistled, sharing a look with the brother and sister pair. "This is taking too long." Thalia sighed, wanting to get the gold and go to sleep.

        JJ flicked a bug off of her hoodie. "Why didn't you go with them, then?" he asked, mocking her.

        "Because I'm on drugs, JJ." Thalia deadpanned. The words made Pope's heart sink, though he tried not to show it.

        Then, a few minutes later, the motion detector lights turned off. "They did it. Go time." John B said quickly, already getting ready to move into the basement of the house.

        JJ pulled his bandana over his mouth. "So, let's do it." Pope whispered, he and John B also tugging up their own bandanas.

        "Three, two..." John B started counting down, but Thalia stood and took off, moving blindly towards where she remembered the cellar to be. JJ followed his older sister quickly, and with mutual sighs, John B and Pope pulled up the rear.

        Thalia and JJ entered the cellar, and Thalia shivered, recalling sneaking in here when she was much younger. JJ started unrolling the rope, standing near the deep well. "Holy crap, you know what this is? It just hit me. Thalls, look," JJ handed Thalia the end of the rope, pulling down his bandana. "This is C.H.U.D. Full C.H.U.D." he spoke, Thalia's eyes lighting up in recognition.

        "Wait, yeah it is." Thalia tucked her braids into the hood of her sweatshirt.

        "What are they talking about?" John B asked Pope, confused and uninterested.

        JJ frowned. "Cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers?" the blonde said as Pope started setting everything up.

        "Have you guys not seen that film?" Thalia questioned.

        "Can't say I have, no." Pope said as John B shook his head.

        "It's actually a good film," JJ began, Pope taking the rope from Thalia's grip. "It's about cannibals that live in the sewers and under New York City, and it's like–"

        "Shut up! Shut up!" John B cut JJ off aggressively.

        Thalia's eyes widened. "Dramatic." she muttered, the four peering over the edge of the well, shining their flashlights.

        "All right. How deep do you think this is, Pope?" John B questioned, nervous.

        "I don't know." Pope sighed regretfully.

        They got John B situated on the rope, beginning to lower him down into the well. Thalia was between Pope and JJ. They had initially wanted her to go into the well, but she said no, and that was that. "Hey, guys. I have one request." John B said shakily as the three started pushing him into the deep well.

        "Yeah?" the three asked at the same time.

        "Don't drop me," John B begged. JJ, of course, released the rope ever so slightly, and John B yelled in surprise. "Okay. You're gonna die first, for sure."

        Pope took control of the situation. "All right, just keep payin' it out nice and slow like that," John B's head disappeared from Thalia's line of sight.

        John B's voice echoed from inside the well. "Here we go. Keep goin'. Keep goin'." the brunette urged his friends.

        "Wait, hold on one second. I'm gonna get situated." JJ mumbled, shuffling behind Thalia.

        "What?" Thalia asked, jerking her head to look at her brother.

        "You good?" Pope questioned as he noticed JJ struggling with the angle he held on the rope.

        Then, JJ lost control of the rope and fell into Thalia, causing her to let go of her section of the rope that was suspending John B. "Holy shit, you moron!" Thalia shouted, lunging forward to grab the rope again as Pope and JJ gathered their own sections, John B's screaming subsiding.

        "Jesus!" Pope panted. Thalia threw a rock at JJ.

        JJ sat up after dodging Thalia's attacks. "John B!" he shouted in a whisper.

        "I told you not to drop me!" John B screamed, his voice echoing.

        "You good, man?" Pope questioned as Thalia stood back up, moving as far away from her brother as possible.

        "What the hell was that?" the boy in the well asked with a frustrated shout.

        Thalia glared at JJ. "Little technical difficulties." she settled on saying, looping her part of the rope around her wrist.

        John B sighed loudly. "Keep going, slow!" he ordered.

        "Okay, we're gonna start paying you out again, all right?" Pope said, starting to lower John B back down the well. It was a few minutes later that Pope spoke again. "Hey. Hey, we got 15 feet left. Are you getting close to the bottom?"

        "I can't tell.Just... just keep goin'," John B said, the three up top growing tired. "Whoa! Stop! I'm hangin' over some sewage-water lookin' shit." John B shouted suddenly.

        Thalia peered down into the well. "You want back up?" she asked, shining her flashlight down the hole with her free hand.

        "Keep goin', I guess..." John B said tentatively, and the three gingerly gave him more rope.

        "This is a bad idea." Thalia panted, wiping her forehead.

        "How so?" JJ asked with a strained grunt.

        Thalia rolled her eyes. "If we're this tired getting him down, how the hell are we gonna pull him up?" she voiced her concern, digging her uninjured leg into the dirt for extra stability.

        Before Pope and JJ could come up with an answer to Thalia's valid question, John B started shouting. "Okay, okay! I'm at the bottom." he announced, the faint sounds of water sloshing echoing through the air.

        "How is it down there?" Pope asked, the three peering into the well.

        "It's worse than I thought." John B groaned

        "You find any gold?" JJ asked, accidentally shining his headlight into Thalia's eyes, to which she hit him again.

        "Uh, nothin' yet," John B said, "Wait. I think I felt something with my foot."

        Thalia sighed as she heard John B inhale a deep breath. "Oh, dude, don't go underwater." she muttered, disgusted at the entire scene.

        Then, a moment later when John B resurfaced, coughing, he started screaming. "JJ! Hey, pull me up! Pull me up! Come on, man! Go!" he shouted desperately.

        "Pull him up! Come on, pull him up!" Pope urged Thalia and JJ, and the three started hoisting John B up the side of the well as quickly as they could.

        "Go! Come on! Pull me up! Come on! Pull me up! Pull me up! Come on!" John B continued screaming. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Wait!" he yelled suddenly.

        "Jesus Christ, John B, make up your mind." Thalia rolled her eyes, stilling the rope while balancing on one leg. Her knee was really bothering her that day.

        "Hey, I think I found something." John B said, but no one could hear him.

        JJ craned his ear to listen. "Hey, John B! What'd you say?" he asked in a hushed shout.

        "Just give me a minute. Hold on." John B demanded.

        There was silence for a few minutes. "John B, you okay?" JJ questioned. The three could relax now because John B was off the rope.

        Pope was curious. "Any dead bodies?" he asked, Thalia looking at him oddly from the corner of her eye.

        They received no answer, and a moment later, Sarah and Kie came hurling into the cellar. "Guys!" they were yelling over and over.

        "What's going on?" Thalia asked, concerned for her cousin.

        "Mrs. Crain! She's up there! She tried to kill us with a fire poker. Guys, we gotta get the fuck out of here." Kie explained quickly.

        Sarah nodded, breathing heavily from running. " We locked her in the parlor, but we gotta go." she urged the other group.

        "Okay, code red," JJ nodded, leaning down towards the well. "John B! Get back on, man!" he yelled.

        "JJ! Hold on, man! I'm comin'!" John B yelled faintly.

        "Guys, help." Thalia said desperately to Sarah and Kie, and they set themselves up on the rope.

        "Three, two, one, pull!" Pope instructed once everyone was ready, but they all tumbled backwards because John B wasn't on the rope yet.

        "Ow!" Thalia shouted in frustration, Sarah's bony elbow propelling her into JJ.

        They stood back up, annoyed. "Where the hell is he?" Pope asked as Kie and Sarah scampered towards the well, Sarah shouted John B's name.

         Kiara shut everyone up, including a bickering brother and sister. "I found the gold!" John B shouted, but no one heard him.

        "What's he saying?" JJ questioned.

        "JJ! Pope! Kie!" John B screamed.

        His words were misinterpreted. "Yo, he's drowning! We gotta pull him up!" Kiara decided, and Pope yelled for John B to get back on the rope.

        The five of them started hauling John B back up the well, but they were hindered by Mrs. Crain shooting at them. "She has a gun?" Thalia shouted in alarm over everyone's screams at being shot at.

        In the chaos, nearly everyone let go of the rope. JJ quickly tied the rope off, instructing John B to climb up. There were more gunshots, and Pope instinctively shoved Thalia down towards the ground to protect her. She didn't object. "She can't aim for shit." Kiara realzied as they all hid in the cellar.

        "She can't see." Sarah gasped.

        Mrs. Crain grew nearer to where Pope and Thalia were hidden, shooting at them once more. "Oh, hell no." Pope muttered, exhausted.

        Thalia stood up, crouching. "I hate this bitch." Thalia mumbled under her breath. She pulled Pope to his feet, and hand in hand, the two ran after JJ, Sarah and Kiara, unintentionally leaving John B behind.

        JJ started up the van as soon as he reached it, Thalia and Pope following the girls into it after Pope helped Thalia get over the wall. John B was still nowhere to be found, and everyone shouted his name over the remainder of Mrs. Crain's gunshots. "Why are we always getting shot at?" Pope yelled in frustration, finally and awkwardly dropping Thalia's hand.

        Slowly, JJ started driving away, John B making his way over the fall, running and diving into the Twinkie. He was covered in mud from head to toe and he stunk. "JJ, drive!" Sarah yelled, panting. Thalia slid the van door closed, sitting on the floor against it.

        "What happened to you, treasure hunter?" Thalia asked, avoiding getting any of John B's mud on her.

        "Are you okay? Are you shot?" JJ asked his best friend, driving away from the Crain house quickly.

        "I think I'd know if I was shot, right?" Kie asked, patting herself down.

        Thalia nodded, panting. "Hopefully." she was not used to running like this anymore, and her knee was in agony, quickly swelling up.

        Pope's eyes landed on John B. "You look disgusting." he said.

        "God, you smell like ass." Kiara commented.

        "This better have been worth it." Thalia said, John B still catching his breath.

        As conversation ensued over Mrs. Crain being possessed, John B pulled something shiny from his pocket. "What is that?" Kie noticed the bar of gold in John B's grip before anyone else.

        Sarah's eyes lit up. "No, you didn't!" she said excitedly.

        "We did it, baby!" John B cheered as Pope's eyes widened.

        "Are you serious?" Thalia asked brightly, happier than Sarah had seen her in a long time.

        "I did it!" John B screamed happily.

        JJ turned around to see the gold. "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" he screamed brightly.

        With the realization that the Pogues would be rich, an excited and elated chant roared through the bouncing Twinkie. No one in all of Kildare Island was happier than John B, JJ, Kiara, Pope, Thalia and Sarah that night. Except, perhaps, Thalia Cameron's drug dealer.

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