PSYCHO ― John B. Routledge ✓

25. We Did It

"So you two," JJ called them out with a stern look, but Norman could see right through it and know he wasn't being overly serious, "Official? Not official?"

"They're just really good bros, JJ, come on," the darker-skinned boy cut them off before either boy could answer, "They just are there for each other and make out sometimes, just like we do."

JJ nodded, "Yeah, yeah, you guys are some really good bros, huh?"

"I'm gonna kill you," John B spoke sternly, but Norman was really just trying to contain his laughter. He liked being able to joke around with them about stupid shit, it was a relief, really.

"Babe," Norman contributed to the teasing by mocking what he had said earlier, but looking into his eyes he knew that John B knew he didn't really mean it, "Yeah, I mean... are we?"

"Yeah, we're official official," John B corrected with a small, easy laugh, "I could have sworn we talked about that last night.

Looking straight into JJ's eyes for the delivery in order to cause peak discomfort, Norman spoke with a clean deadpan, "I mean, we didn't do a lot of talking last night, did we?"

"Gross," JJ grimaced, but didn't say anything more besides, "Does anyone else think they're taking too long? You know they said when Hollis disappeared --"

"Just shut up," Pope cut him off before he could finish, "Our friends are in the house of a possible ax murderer, let's not tell more stories about said ax murderer. I'm nervous enough for them already."

Norman shrugged, "I have faith in them. After all, Crain is probably pushing ninety. How dangerous can she be?"

A hush fell over them as they were content to wait, but it was obvious they were all still just a little bit nervous for the girls. Finally, they flashed the signal and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"They did it," John B sighed thankfully as he pulled his bandana up on his face, "Come on, go time."

John B went to count down from three as they masked up and prepared to go in, but JJ didn't care much for this as he got up anyway. The four boys stood and moved throughout the grass as quietly as possible, relieved when no motion sensor lights interrupted them this time. They entered the basement through the door they had found the other day and just like that, they were in. Being here at night was approximately a million times worse than it was during the day, but at least Norman wasn't alone.

"Holy crap, you know what this is. It just came to me, Pope, look," JJ exclaimed as he held out the rope, "This is C.H.U.D, full C.H.U.D."

"What is he talking about?" John B asked as they tried to get to work setting up.

JJ scoffed, "Cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers? Have you guys not seen that film?"

"Can't say I have, no," said Pope.

"I have," Norman raised his hand, getting the boys' attention, "Pretty good. High Tension was better."

"High Tension sucked, the twist totally ruined it!" the blond exclaimed sounding offended to which Norman shrugged. "Anyway, C.H.U.D is about cannibals that live in the sewers and under New York City and it's like --"

"Shut up," John B cut him off, "Pope, how deep do you think this thing is?"

The boy sighed as they tied to rope around John B's waist, "I don't know."

JJ shrugged and looked for a pebble, tossing it into the well. It felt like almost thirty seconds before they heard a small splash down below. With a sigh, they finished setting up the pulley and began to lower John B into the well. Pope and JJ managed the ropes while Norman kept an eye on John B. Once the boy was stable, he went over to help JJ with his end of the rope.