𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘴 ☼ 𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯

𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦〔 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦 〕

"I think so" Sarah answers weakly.

"Never better" JJ huffs "That is the last time you drive, Pope"

We all drag ourselves out of the vehicle and Kiara runs around it, staring at the damage in shock.

"My dad's truck! No!" She cries out.

"Kie, one word. Totaled" JJ quips.

"Shut the fuck up, JJ" I slap him upside the head and he elbows me in response.

"My parents are gonna kill me for real this time" Kiara breathes hopelessly.

"Yeah, well, weren't they already gonna do that anyway?" JJ retorts.

"Helpful. Thank you" Kiara sasses him.

"Dipshit" I comment.

JJ shoots me a glare and roughly grabs my jaw with one hand, holding me still as he pulls the glass from my cheek. I grimace, clenching my teeth together in pain and slapping his hands away.

"We're gonna have to walk the rest of the way" Pope declares.

"Dude" Sarah says in disbelief.

"I'm going to get my cross" Pope retorts simply.

"Sit your manic ass the fuck down, bro" I warn him but he ignores me, walking away.

"Hey, just relax for a second" John B stops him.

"Get off of me" Pope demands.

"No. I'm trying to help" John B argues.

"Move. I'm getting my cross" Pope repeats in determination.

"We just crashed the car" John B stresses in concern "I'm trying to watch out for you. Hey! No!"

"Pope! Pope!" Kiara calls out.

"There's a truck coming" John B manages to hold Pope back.

"Get off of me!" Pope yells.

"You're gonna get hit by a car!" John B yells right back "What are you doing? Pope, no! Stop!"

My eyes are drawn to the truck that is passing us and my heart drops to my stomach when I see Rafe's face looking right back at me, Renfield by his side.

"We gotta get back to the church!" Pope hollers "No, no!"

"No, no, no, no" Kiara groans.

"Addy, come on!" Sarah calls out to me and I snap out of my daze.

I break out into a sprint, chasing after the Pogues all the way to the church and Pope pulls the doors open defeatedly. We follow him inside and find the place where the cross sat is now empty.

"It's gone" Kiara states the obvious.

"Damn it!" JJ curses, kicking pillows in anger "I knew I didn't hide it well enough! Damn it!"

"Okay. What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?" My brother mumbles, mostly to himself "Okay, think, think, think, think. We need a plan. We need a plan. What's the plan?"

"All right, here's what we do" He speaks up "We'll grab some kerosene tanks from the Chat, then we... we go to my dad's shop and grab some dynamite. And then we drive down to Charleston and tell this lady who she's messing with! Because this is some bullshit, y'all!"

"That's not gonna help" Sarah disagrees, shaking her head.

"Well, what is, Sarah?" JJ retorts angrily.

"I'm thinking, okay?" John B states "We can't just go blow shit up, JJ"

"How about we stop snapping at each other, yeah?" I declare, looking between the trio with a warning look.

"Pope, I'm sorry" JJ says to the silent boy in front of us.

"Denmark would've stood right here...preaching to everyone he set free" Pope explains "A slave, the sole survivor of the Royal Merchant, he got the gold and the cross, and he brought them both to shore and used it to free every person who walked through those doors."

"He made a church, a family, a congregation...a home" Pope continues, his face twisting with rage "And the Limbreys took everything from him. They sicced dogs on his wife and his kids, and when he tried to get her remains, they hung him"

"Well, I'm done. I'm tired of that shit. That is not how this is gonna end" He declares confidently "We need a freaking win, guys. I'm going to get my family's cross"

Pope strides towards the doors and turns to us, asking "You guys coming?"

"Well, if you put it that way..." John B drawls off jokingly.

"Maybe we should think about it, you know?" JJ teases.

"Pros and cons?" John B suggests.

"Pros and cons list" JJ agrees before laughing "Hell yeah, we're coming, Pope!"

"Why the hell not?" I shrug.