Heavenly ✶ JJ Maybank

𝟬𝟮𝟳 water under the bridge

But then she thought back to what JJ had just said, replaying his reassuring words on a constant loop in her mind, and that gave the girl a sprinkle of hope that everything would be okay. They just had to wait a little longer, and when the cops come back in, it was going to be good news. At least that was what Nova Van Kirk kept telling herself.

     All of a sudden, Nova was snapped back to reality when she saw Shoupe and a few other cops dressed in reflective coats enter the tent, their sudden appearance inside the tent being enough to make Nova and her friends stand up from where they were previously sat. Nova then let go of JJ's hand and stared at Shoupe, watching as he removed the hood to his coat from his head, before he stared back at the group of teenagers with a look filled with defeat plastered across his face. It didn't take a genius to realise whatever news he had for them was bad, and it left a feeling in Nova's stomach that made it churn with disquiet.

     "Did you find them?" Pope was the first to speak up, being the first to raise his concerns about the potential whereabouts of their friends.

Nova spared Pope a quick look, before she glanced back over at Shoupe, watching as sadness began to glimmer in his eyes, an apologetic stare evident in his dark gaze. It made her realise there was something he wanted to desperately tell them, but he was trying to gain the courage to finally give them the news. John B and Sarah were either dead or they had been caught. Either way it couldn't have been good news.

Shoupe bowed his head to look at the ground for a moment, before he lifted his gaze to look back at the worried teenagers. "No." He told them.

"So, they got away?" Kiara questioned, believing it had to be the most logical explanation if they hadn't been caught yet. Nova thought different though. She believed it was just a matter of time before they received the worse possible news that there could be. She just didn't want to believe it was even a possibility yet.

Shoupe released a shaky breath past his lips, the older man placing his hands firmly on his lips. "We, uh...we lost them. I'm sorry." He told them.

Juno furrowed her brows together in confusion, a puzzled look evident in her dark eyes whilst she parted her lips to speak. "What do you mean?" She asked, her voice shaky as she spoke.

"They took an open boat into a tropical depression, Juno." Shoupe reminded her, his sad eyes staring back at the girl.

Nova felt her chest tighten, her breathing becoming slightly uneven when she heard those words roll off the man's tongue. This was what she was scared of. Nova was afraid the worse would happen, and now that it has, Nova felt as if her world was crumbling apart around her, her newfound family tearing at the seams when they all began to realise what Deputy Shoupe meant. He couldn't find John B and Sarah, and not because they had gotten away, but because they had driven an old boat into a violent storm. John B and Sarah weren't okay at all. They were dead.

"So, they're dead?" Kiara queried, asking what they were all thinking.

Shoupe's eyes flickered over towards the girl. "We don't know." He replied, not being able to give them a straight answer.

Nova couldn't believe it. They were dead. John B Routledge and Sarah Cameron were dead. They drove into a violent storm and both of them became unfortunate victims to the perilous seas. They were dead. She repeated over and over in her head. They were dead. John B was an innocent teenage boy framed for a murder he didn't commit. The ringleader of the Pogues was gone. They were dead. Sarah Cameron. . . Her childhood best friend was gone. They were dead. The worse part in all of this was that neither of them were ever coming back. They would never see the leader of the Pogues and the Kook Princess ever again.