"He had to know it was going to get back to me, right? What better place to hide a message?" John starts, looking over to me shortly for some sort of compliance.
"It makes sense to me, I'm just not sure why they're leading us to a lighthouse." I respond.
"It's also possible that you're just concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels."
"Pope." John warns.
"Bro, you know how I process my sad feels." JJ starts. I roll my eyes at the boys, ignoring the seriousness of the situation, disregarding what John is trying to say. "Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies. That's how I do it-"
"I'm not concocting, okay? Neither is V, it's too big of a coincidence for us both to receive the same messages twice. Both the compasses, and now the Redfield message? It's a sign."
"Wait, Vienna has a compass too?" Kie asks.
"I have a necklace" I say, pulling it out from under my shirt, as I was now wearing it, knowing it's meaning. I take it off and hand it to Kie so she can see it, "my mother gave me it the day she died. I never knew why. It's in the shape of a compass, engraved with John's initials. I think the R on the front stands for Redfield though, not Routledge. Which is why it's on the front and not after the B on the back." I explain.
The three of them share a glance, still seeming unconvinced.
"Look, I'll take whatever we can get" John speaks up. "V and I know these aren't coincidences. You three don't know what it's like to have the people closest to you vanish or die, okay? What it's like to have no idea what happened. Just wake up every morning wondering."
"It's been almost a year" Kie says, reasoning with John.
"Kiara." I warn her.
"Hey he could've been kidnapped, definitely a possibility." JJ says.
"Yeah he could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere." Pope adds.
"Absolutely. Uh... or Atlantis."
"Enough." I speak up again, defending John, unsure of why his friends can't just be supportive.
"Chill, new girl. It's a joke." JJ rolls his eyes, taking a hit off his juul.
I turn back around, taking my necklace back from Kie, shaking my head at JJ.
We arrive at the lighthouse, John parks and we all get up, looking up at it. I remember coming here when I was a kid with John and Big John. I was scared of the height, but John told me "it's the only time you'll ever be taller than the trees. It's cool." I smiled at his outlook on life, always positive.
"Right. Here's what's gonna happen." John turned to JJ. "You're gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?"
"Wait..why me?"
"Because you're not coming" Pope starts, tagging JJ.
"Why?" JJ says, in a louder volume than before. I sigh at the bickering and kick a rock around on the ground.
"Look, JJ. There are independent and dependent variables. You're independent because we don't know-"
"Shut up! Just shut up, Pope!" JJ yells back in his face.
I look up to John, who picks his hat up off his head and runs a hand through his hair, obviously irritated, before placing it back down.
"Listen to me for a second! Just listen!" John shuts the boys up. "Pope stand lookout with JJ. Kie, make sure they don't kill each other. If we get split up, meet back at JJ's."
"Great." Kie sighs.
"V, with me." John takes my arm, pulling me toward the lighthouse.
"Of course, Mrs. Perfect who showed up yesterday gets to go, but none of us do."
I ignore JJ's comment and keep walking. As we enter the bottom of the lighthouse I ask, "what are we looking for exactly?"
John shrugs, "I'm hoping we will know when we see it."
"Okay"
We begin to ascend the spiral stairs, which are rusted and look like their about to break any minute.
We make it to the top and John knocks on a metal door. An old man opens it, looking immediately suspicious of us.
"Lighthouse is closed" he says, shutting the door.
"No!" I say, stopping him. "We're not here for the lighthouse. We're here for the Royal Merchant."
The man smiles. "Well, then you've come to the right place."
I look at John as his face lights up with hope, as does mine. We walk in through the door. He leads us out to the metal outdoor part of the lighthouse, high above the ground.
I grab John's arm from behind him. The metal floor is even more rusted than the stairs and parts of it are rusted off, and now missing, creating holes in the floor.
"It's the only time you'll be taller than the trees, V, enjoy it." John says, noticing my worry. I smile at the fact he remembers the same moment I did earlier.
"I know more about the Royal Merchant than anyone else in Kildare County." The man starts, "Now, the merchant disappeared in the graveyard of the Atlantic in 1829."
"Wait the graveyard?" I ask, hoping for clarification.
"Yes ma'am, the Graveyard of the Atlantic is a nickname for the treacherous waters and area of numerous shipwrecks off the Outer Banks, which are due to the coast's shifting sands and inlets."
"Graveyard, John!" I say excitedly to him, tugging his arm. He looks at me confused. "The ring my dad gave me with the pen. The tombstone ring." I clarify.
"Oh, shit, you're right, V."
"The boat sank with-"
"400 million in gold." John finishes the man's sentence.
"Correct." He pats his shoulder, "you bit of a Merchanteer yourself, huh boy?"
"Uh...something like that yeah." John laughs awkwardly.
"Well, follow me. I want to show you something." The man says in an odd tone, slightly creepily.
The man starts talking about the coast but I tune him out, focusing more on the deteriorating floor. Wondering what exactly the message we're learning up here is. Other than that the lighthouse keeper is a nut job.
He starts explaining where he believes the merchant is, but we already know from our fathers work where it's rumored to be. I take my father and Big John's word over his.
"That's what my dad used to say" John speaks up, pulling me back into focus.
"I - I know this is weird, alright." John says, "but do you know anything about this?" He says, holding up the compass. I know instantly from the mans face it was a mistake.
"John..." I warn, grabbing his arm that is holding out the compass back. "Maybe we should just go."
"No-No, V" he pulls his arm, "look it says Redfield in my fathers handwriting. Is there something you're supposed to tell me, a-a clue, anything I think that we're supposed to be here I don't-"
The man turns and begins walking away, moving up the the next level. But John keeps talking.
"John relax, I don't think he has anything for us." I speak up again, noticing John's starting to get worked up at the fact that this man seems to have nothing for us but things we already know, so he's starting to lose hope on the fact that this is a clue.
"Where are you going? Wait a minute. Look man, I know this is weird-I just thought, hoped, maybe you'd know something about this. Anything."
I stay silent.
"Look my dad wanted me to talk to you. You have to have something for me. Okay? You have to!" He grabs the mans shirt, getting irritated at his lack of response.
"John, I think it's best we just go, come on." I say.
The man raises his radio to his mouth, "Wanda, I have two kids on drugs up here at the lighthouse. Call the cops."
"John, let's go, now."
"No, no, no." John moves the mans hand away from his face, accidentally hitting it against the glass, causing it the break and cut the man's arm.
"John, Now! Let's go."
He finally listens, following me down the lighthouse. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to." He tells the man. "Oh shit."
We run down the lighthouse stairs, as fast as we can. When we exit the lighthouse, we see the van is moving away from us.
"Seriously? Shit." I watch as the van makes it's way away from us.
"This way." John grabs me, pulling me to the right of the lighthouse, the same direction as the car, away from the sirens.
We run until we're far enough away, heading towards JJ's house, I'm guessing, since we decided to meet up there.
"You have to admit that was kind of promising. I mean, the signs, the guy knowing about the Merchant, the graveyard and tombstone ring with the Redfield pen. It makes sense!"
"I know, I know, John. But maybe they meant something else, okay? Maybe it wasn't the lighthouse. The pen could be a coincidence. I mean he gave me that years ago."
John sighs, and keeps walking.
After we walk for about 20 minutes with no talking I break the silence.
"I wrote a song yesterday." I say, then quiet my voice, "first time in almost a year."
"You did? V, that's amazing!" He turns to hug me. "What inspired it?"
"You." I say. "Well, not you exactly, but it was inspired by the talk we had on the dock. I remembered happy things about my mom instead of sad things. I was finally able to write about her."
He puts an arm around my shoulder, walking forward with me, "well I'd love to hear it."
"Oh, I don't really perform that's not really my thing-"
"Wait didn't you say you needed a job?" He ignores me.
"Yeah, I do."
"Kie's parents own a restaurant, super popular with tourists. The Wreck? You've heard of it right?" I nod "They're looking for live musicians. You should totally try to get a job there, V."
"I don't know, John."
"Just talk to Kie, just try."
"Maybe" I smile at him, appreciating that he's bringing me out of my comfort zone, like he always did. I never had an adventurous side. Only with John would I venture out to do new things, it wasn't always good, though. Him and I got in all kinds of trouble here as kids, pretending we were pirates and stealing all the rich kid's things, seeing who could get the best 'treasures'. We got caught almost every time. But it never stopped John, and I followed everything he did. He was like a big brother, the brother I never had.
My memory is ended when I'm brought back to reality from the sound of a siren blaring next to us.
"I got you, Routledge. Now why don't you make this easy and don't make me chase you." The sheriff says to John.
I make my way behind John, tapping the pocket that has the compass in it, signaling for him to hand it over. He does.
"Hands where I can see them, boy."
I grab the compass, and he puts him hands in the air.
"John, where's JJ's" I ask him, knowing that's where I have to meet them, but not knowing where to go.
"We're close. Keep down this road and make a right at the third street. It's white, you should see the van there, if not go back to the Chateau. They'll end up there eventually." He says, as he's put in cuffs. Before the sheriff puts him in the car he speaks up again, "Trust them, V. Until I get back. Just trust them for me, please."
I nod at him, as the sheriff pushes his head under the roof, and shuts the door.
I walk away from the scene, going where John told me to.
I arrive at the house, finding the van in the driveway. All three of them sitting in it. I go to climb in the passenger seat, but seeing that JJ is now driving I opt for the back with Kie and Pope.
"Vienna? Where's John B?" Kie says, worry in her voice.
"He got arrested." I say, hanging my head, starting at compass in my hand.
"What?" All three say simultaneously.
JJ turns around, "How'd you get away, princess? What'd you run and leave John behind to take the fall?"
"JJ stop, you know they're already after John B, why would they go after Vienna? They didn't know she was in the lighthouse with him." Kie says. I send her a small smile.
JJ gives me one last glare before turning back around and hitting the steering wheel out of frustration, then starts the van.
"JJ drop me off at home." Kie says, as JJ starts making his way down the road.
"Why?"
"I'll go by the sheriffs office, I'll convince my dad to bail out John B." She explains. "Hopefully."
_____