fade away youth// rafe cameron

14-LIKE THE COSTA MESA TRAFFIC LIGHTS

"I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property," JJ tells us.

We start walking through the yard of the Crain house. Kie leading the way. "Look, you guys know whose house this is, right?"

"Oh, yeah. No, I do," JJ assures.

"Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place," John B admits.

"Shh," Pope tells him.

"What?" John B asks.

"Which stories did you hear?" JJ asks me.

"The one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since. On certain nights, when the moon is full..." I wiggle my fingers in front of JJ's face. "You can see her in the window!"

"No, Addie, it's not funny, 'cause it's all true," JJ states. "I swear to God, guys, this is all real. I knew Hollis." JJ freaks when he sees a statue. "Jeez!"

"Wait, you knew Hollis Crain?" Pope asks.

"Yeah, dude," JJ says.

"Dude, how do you know Hollis Crain?" Pope asks.

"She was my babysitter, man. She told me all about it. Told me the truth... about her mother and what happened in this house. So as a kid, she heard all the stories that her mother killed her father, and... she was a murderer and all. Hollis didn't believe it. Until that night," JJ tells us.

"What night?" John B asks.

"It all came back to her. When Hollis was six years old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs. So she goes downstairs to see her mom washing her hands in a sink... full of blood. Her mother just says that she cut her finger. The next morning, she says her father and her split up. But then, Hollis noticed something. Her mother going into the parlor constantly, in and out and in and out with plastic bags. Weeks pass, and Hollis decides to use the outhouse. And as she's using it, she looks down, and there, in the outhouse, is her father's head, looking straight back at her," JJ tells us.

"God, you are so full of shit," John B accuses.

"Dude, I swear to God, man," JJ says.

"Did she call the police?" Pope asks.

"She didn't have time," JJ tells us.

"We can't do this..." Pope starts.

John B walks right past us.

JJ tries to stop him, "Wait, bro!"

"What?" John B asks.

"You sure you wanna do this? She's an axe murderer. You got a cast on," JJ tells him.

"I don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay? I got nothin' to lose, right? You comin' or what?" John B asks.

Kie follows after him. "Come on."

I put my hand on JJ's shoulder. "Come on. I'll protect you."

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

"Okay, like, what kind of water? Like, pond water?" Pope asks.

JJ chuckles. "Bong water?"

We all give him a look.

"No. It... it just said look for water, okay?" John B tells us.

"That's the shittiest secret message ever," Kie remarks.

Pope turns to JJ. "Addie and I'll search the northeast quadrant, you search the northwest."

"The decapitation quadrant," JJ protests.