salt water | outer banks

6| a knife to a gun fight

"And I'm assuming you did the opposite?"

"Sure did. I stopped by Tanneyhill and grabbed some scuba gear from Druthers, you know the big boat they—"

"Yeah, I know which boat it is, I think everyone does. Continue, please," she ushered, assuring him she knew what he was talking about.

"Anyways, we took it and went to the marsh with it. Pope did some calculations and I dove for the Grady White," he explained.

"Did you find anything?"

John walked past the girl again and into the living room. He grabbed a small, circular object and passed it to her, crossing his arms as a smirk took over his face.

A weathered gold compass with small engravings laid in her palms. It had a certain sense of familiarity to it, but she couldn't place when and where she'd seen it before.

"Have I seen this before?" Venus asked, her face scrunching in confusion as she tried to think.

"Yeah. It's my dad's." He moved to stand beside her as she examined it.

The feeling of recognition washed over Venus and she brushed her thumb over the compass. Big John used to talk to her about finding treasure and even showed her a few of the maps he scribbled on after she voiced how interesting it all was. She'd seen the compass on more than one occasion when the older man roped her into listening to his theories and hunches.

"Why was it on Scooter's boat?" she asked, only earning a shrug from the Routledge.

"I don't know. But this—this is just more proof that he's still out there, Venus." He grabbed her arm excitedly. "How else would Scooter have gotten it?"

She nodded in agreement. It did make sense that Scooter would've had to get the compass from Big John, but that didn't necessarily mean that he was still alive. She bit her tongue, not wanting to voice the possibility aloud and make John B upset.

"It's possible," she replied, a soft smile coming to her lips.

The boy pulled her into a hug that she quickly returned. In that moment, all Venus wanted to do was keep her friend's hope alive; she hated seeing when he wasn't happy. So, she shut her mouth and nodded along as he began explaining what he planned to do next.

•

"Maicy!"

A pillow was thrown in Venus' face, earning a tired grunt from the girl. Her brother stood next to her bed, waving his phone at her.

"Cell towers are back up," he informed.

She gave him a tired thumbs up and rolled over to face the wall, closing her eyes once more.

The fabric once against brushed against her head harshly, causing an annoyed sound to leave her lips as she shot up in bed.

"John B said to have you meet them at the chateau," he claimed, "something about visiting Lana Grubbs?" He poked her foot with his hand boringly, waiting for the action to annoy her enough to get up. "Maicy, get your ass up."

"Fine," she drew out tiredly, sitting up and running a hand through her hair. "Are you going too, or what?"

"No," Jax sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I got a shift at the shop in about an hour. I probably won't be done until about six like usual." He turned to the mirror she had at her desk, beginning to look himself over for a moment. "I left some bacon and toast on the counter if you want it, just clean up when you're done."