"yes, Mr. Cameron, false pretenses. but the ends justify the means, i'm afraid. sit down. we have a lot to talk about." Singh says motioning for Rafe to sit.
"why are we here?" Belle asked avoiding eye contact.
"well, Ms. Lively, Mr. Cameron. we share certain interests. you know. objectives." Singh faced the two.
"is this not about the cross?" Rafe asked.
"it is. tangentially, it is about the cross, but it's also about something much, much bigger than the cross. by orders of magnitude.. the completion of a grand quest. you see, the story goes that 450 years ago, a Spanish soldier came out of the Orinoco Basin with a few gold beads. and when they asked the Spanish soldier, "where the beads came from?" the Spanish soldier replied he got them from a peaceful Indigenous tribe who lived in a city of gold. El Dorado." Belle looked up remembering the book she had in her hand just a few hours ago.
"and for the next 450 years, people tried to find that gold, you know. they tried. conquistadors, knights, captains of ships, tribes, entire nations. all fighting each other in a race for the end of the rainbow. thousands of lives laid on the pyre of gold fever. and it falls to me, you know. it's falls to me to complete the task. to bring full circle a quest that has gone on for almost 500 years. perhaps.. perhaps the greatest quest in the history of the western hemisphere, you know. and you there.." Singh pointing to the two chuckling.
"you two are going to play a part in that. what about you, Ms. Lively. are you interested in history?" Singh asked the girl.
"i'm kinda focusing on the now, you know. and the future." she says tapping her fingers on her hand.
"i didn't listen to a word you said, okay? how much you gonna keep philosophizing?" Rafe asked Singh.
"you never listen, Rafe." Belle muttered crossing her arms.
Rafe looked at Belle with an annoyed hearing Singh chuckle.
"you are direct, aren't you, Mr. Cameron?" Singh asked.
Belle sat up looking at the man, "what do you need from us?"
"i've come to believe that you and your friends are in possession of something that can help me get what i want." Singh tells her.
"which is?"
"an old manuscript. a diary actually." Belle squeezed her hand knowing exactly what he was talking about.
"i have no idea what you're talking about." Rafe said.
"i don't know anything about a diary, i'm sorry." Belle says.
Singh looked at Belle, "but how else could you have learned that the cross was on the Royal Merchant?"
"we want to help you, Mr. Singh. but we can't." Belle says hoping he'd believe her.
JJ taught Belle to lie since they first met, she was basically a pro at it thanks to him.
"i was hoping you wouldn't say that, you know. because unfortunately, i don't believe you. you and your friend here couldn't have found the cross without it." Singh pointed to Rafe.
"he's not my friend." she quickly says.
Rafe stood up clapping his hands and sighed, "look, this is ridiculous. okay? i'm out. i don't know anything about a diary, okay? so-"
"do i look like a fool to you, Mr. Cameron?" Rafe stopped walked seeing a guard stand right in front of him, "do i look like a fool to you? you have the cross. the girl and her friends had the cross at one point. so one of you has the diary. and if you really don't know, then i suggest you tell your friend to tell me. once i have the diary.. you'll be free to leave."
__
"enjoy the grounds during your stay. i must warn you, though. i'm not a man of infinite patience. you have one day. go to the window for a little demonstration. i think you'll enjoy it, you know." Singh took Rafe and Belle back to the room shutting the door and locking it.
"hey! hey! you're just done talking?" Rafe walked to the door trying to open it
"locked. trust me, i tried already." Belle walked towards the window followed by Rafe who stood besides her seeing Portis.
"who the hell is that guy?"
"Jimmy Portis. he was trying to help me." Belle says seeing Singh appear and pull out a weapon from his pocket.
"whoa, whoa, woah." Rafe repeated when the sound of gunshots were heard making the two jump, "Bells, this diary. hey, no bullshit. don't bullshit me. okay? do you have it?"
Belle shook her head looking at Rafe, "no."
__
sitting up from the bed Belle checked the time seeing it was midnight, she sighed moving her hair back hearing light snores. she crawled to the end of the bed leaning over seeing Rafe sound asleep on the floor. she couldn't sleep. she needed to talk to someone. reaching for the pillow besides her grabbing it throwing it down onto Rafe making him jump awake.
"what the fuck, Bells?" he groaned throwing the pillow.
"i can't sleep."
"so your answer is to throw a pillow on my face?" he asked sitting up.
"also need someone to talk to and my choices are very limited." she watched him as he looked at her.
Rafe stood up turning on the lamp making his way back to the floor sitting down facing Belle who couldn't stop picking on her nails.
"what's going on?" he asked.
"i'm terrified. what the hell are we supposed to do?" she whispered, Rafe sighed sitting on the bed in front of her.
"we're gonna figure it out. but we need to figure out the shit with the diary. do you have it?"
"does it look like i have it? i was stuck on an island for a month." Belle looked at him.
"at home, Bells. at home." Rafe says, the girl sighed shaking her head.
Rafe ran his hand over his head taking a deep breath wondering what to do to get them both out of here. Belle folded and refolded the blanket above her just wanting to be back with JJ wherever he was, she hoped he was okay.
Rafe looked back at Belle seeing the scar on her cheekbone never seeing it before, "what happened here?"
"what?" looking at him Belle stopped folding the blanket.
"here?" he pointed to his own cheekbone.
Belle's hand went up to the scar remembering the day vividly, "machete to the face trying to save JJ."
"JJ?"
"mhmm."
"thought you two broke up." he said furrowing his brows.
"we did. got back together also i lied about that." she looked at him, Rafe just shook his head holding in a laugh.
"same old Bells." he chuckled knowing the girl hadn't changed in all the years he'd known her but she was also completely different at the same time.
"kinda." she whispered looking at him.
"night, Bells." Rafe stood up going back to his spot on the floor.
"night." Belle watched him and laid back in bed looking at the ceiling.
YOU ARE READING
wolves • jj maybank
Fanfiction𝘪'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦, 𝘪'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. - being stranded on an island wasn't so bad but not everything lasts...
