PARADISE | JOHN B ROUTLEDGE |

11 skeeter

"That looks like a stone wall to me." JJ pointed out the obvious, and John B stopped the van. The crew looked out there respective windows past the wall to the house that sat behind it, knowing it all too well.

"Not the Crain house." John B muttered, opening up his door and climbing out, the rest of the group following him past the wall and towards the house.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Worst case scenario."

"Why did it have to be here?"

"Just looking at this place gives me the creeps." Were all responses that came from the group as they stopped at the gate, just staring towards the all peak of the house.

"I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property." JJ told them all, causing goosebumps to rise on Talia's arms. She had always heard terrifying tales of this house and Mrs. Crain and she never really believed them, but now, looking at the house, it made Talia's heart race slightly. They slowly made their way through the overgrown yard towards the dilapidated home.

"You guys know who's house this is, right?" Kiara assured, turning back towards the boys and Talia. They all agreed they knew before John B spoke up.

"Honestly, I don't believe the stories of this place." John B said, to which Pope shushed him. Kiara and JJ went ahead from the group slightly, having their own conversation. Talia sighed, looking up to the house to see a bird fly out of the chimney.

"We used to come here as kids at night to fuck around, and I never believed the stories either. But seeing it in the day makes it, like, a thousand times more creepy." Talia told Pope and John B, who only shrugged and continued walking.

"Kie, it's not funny because it's all true, I swear. I swear to God, guys, this is all real. I knew Hollis." JJ's slightly raised voice pulled them all towards him.

"Wait, you knew Hollis Crain?" Pope asked the boy in disbelief, and he nodded. The group stopped, JJ beginning to tell the story he heard.

"Yeah, dude, she was my babysitter. She told me all about it, the truth, that her mother killed her father. When she was a kid, she heard all the stories about her mother, that she was a murderer and all. Hollis didn't believe it. Til that night."

"What night?" John B asked, and JJ told them the story about when Hollis was six, she heard her parents arguing downstairs, and the next day her father was gone. Her mother said that he had left, but she kept going into the parlor, with plastic bags. When she used the outhouse, she found her father's head staring back at her. The story creeped Talia out, but she rolled her eyes after JJ told it so dramatically.

"God, you are so full of shit." John B told him, pushing past and walking towards the house.

"Did she call the police?" Pope asked, and JJ shook his head.

"She didn't have time-"

"JJ, she was probably just saying that to scare you." Talia said to him. He ignored her comment and ran towards John B, who was still forging ahead towards the house.

"You sure you wanna do this? She's an axe murderer, and you got a cast on." He reminded his friends, who just pshed him off.

"I don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay? I got nothin' to lose, right? You comin' or what?" He asked the rest of his friends, who reluctantly followed him. They slowly crept through the yard, bending down slightly. John B motioned the group over to him.

"So, here's the plan. We need to look for the wheat near the water like it said in Denmark's letter." John B whispered.

"Okay, like, what kind of water? Pond water?"