"I mean, it's obvious, right?" John B says from the drivers seat of the van, on our way to Redfield Lighthouse. "A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?"
"Yeah. It's possible." Kie agrees, although it's clear that she doesn't believe the words that she's saying.
"It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels." Pope says.
Kiara and I just look at Pope incredulously. He really doesn't know how to hold back sometimes. One of these days it's going to get him into trouble.
"Bro, you know how I process my sad feels?" JJ pipes up.
"Eating ice cream on my couch, while watching your favourite movie Tangled." I say
He ignores me, "Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it." He's staring off into space, a little high and completely out of it.
"I'm not concocting, okay? My dads trying to give me a message." John B says, clearly in denial.
"If it helps you believe, John B." Kiara says, sympathetically.
"Look, I don't need a therapy session, okay? I'm not trippin' out."
"It's okay to trip, bro, but-" JJ is cut off by John B. It seems like the only one tripping here is my higher than a kite bestie.
"Look, my dad is missing, okay? Missing." John B says, whipping his head back towards JJ and then turning back to the road.
"John B, it's okay to have hope but at some point you're gonna have to accept the fact that he's gone and more than likely isn't coming back." I say, trying to put it in the nicest way possible.
"You guys don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish and then have no idea what happened. Just wake up every morning wondering."
The pain in his voice is evident and although I can't say I can completely relate to him, I do understand on some level. When my mother left, all I could do is wonder why she left us. Left me. The only difference in our situations is that my mother chose to leave and could possibly return, but I'm not sure if i would want her to. His dad didn't choose to leave him and probably won't ever return, no matter how much John B wishes he would.
"It's been almost a year." Kie says
"Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility." JJ says, trying to lighten the mood and contribute to the conversation.
"Yeah, could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere." Pope joins in.
"Absolutely. Uh.. or Atlantis." JJ says, still trying to help.
As unbelievable as the ideas are, I know he's just trying to help and I can't help but admire him for always being there for his friends. Even if its in his own weird humorous type of way.
"What do you think the message is?" Kie asks John B, turning the attention back to the mission.
"Redfield. Redfield Lighthouse. That's my dads favourite place."
***
We pull up and park in front of a white picket fence that's blocking us from driving up closer to the lighthouse. Everyone hops out of the van to talk about who's going in and who's staying behind.
"Right. You're gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?" John B says to JJ
"Wait, why me?" JJ asks, not looking all that happy with having to stay behind.
"Because you're not coming." Pope says
"Why?" JJ asks again
"There are independent and dependent variables. You're independent. We don't know what you'll do."
JJ starts arguing back, getting into Popes face. There really wasn't any other way for Pope to say it that wouldn't result in the same reaction from JJ.
"Listen to me for a second. Pope, you stand look out with JJ, okay? If we get split up, we meet back at JJ's house." John B intervenes.
"I'll stay too. I don't trust these two not to rip each others heads off." I say
Kie and John B walk away, leaving the three of us to bide our time until they get back.
"I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay, and I'm trying to keep felonies to a minimum." Pope says
JJ starts playing with a hacky sack, "All right, would you just shut up already?"
"Both of you shut up." I say, moving from my spot against the van to go and sit against a near by tree.
A few minutes go by and the boys are no longer fighting and are now tossing the hacky sack back and forth. I decide to move from my spot against the tree, my butt getting numb from sitting on the ground. I walk over to JJ and lean my arm on his shoulder, well, the best that I can with my 5'2 stature anyways.
"If you guys were going to be stuck on a deserted island with one person, who would it be?" I ask
JJ answers almost immediately, "Dora. That bitch has got everything in her backpack."
"Why do i feel like you've thought about this before. How about you Pope? Who would you bring?"
He goes to answer but stops upon the sound of sirens approaching. We don't waste any time and rush into the van, JJ taking the drivers seat and Pope in the passenger.
"Why am I always the one who's stuck in the back?"
***
Even though the plan was to meet up at JJs place in case we got separated, I asked JJ to drop me off at home instead. It's been a long day and Zari messaged me earlier saying she had something important to tell me and is waiting for me at my house.
I walk through my front door and head towards the kitchen for a much needed snack. There, I see Zari sitting on the counter eating a s'mores pop tart.
"I knocked but nobody was home so I just let myself in." She says, taking a bite of her pop tart.
I hop up on to the counter beside her and take her other pop tart, groaning as I take a bite into it. Thank you, pop tart gods for creating such a masterpiece.
"It's fine. What'd you wanna talk to me about that was so important?" I ask
She sighs and puts her pop tart down, "There's two things. The first, Chloe and I broke up. And before you ask if I'm okay, I am. We were mostly just casual anyways."
"And the second thing?" I ask
"My parents told me this morning that we're moving."
I hop off the counter and stand in front of her, "Moving where?"
I'm not sure if I even wanna know the answer to that. If she's moving somewhere far away then I'll never get to see her again. I don't know what I'd do without her.
"Just some small island. It's got this weird name, like, puter wanks? No that's not right. Oh yeah, Outer Banks." She says with a devious smile.
My lips part in shock, "You bitch. You had me thinking I was never gonna see you again." I lightly whack her on the arm and then pull her in for quick hug, "I can't believe we'll get to see each other all year and not just in the summer."
"Think you can handle me all year round?" She teases
"Can you handle me?" I tease back, a smirk playing at my lips.
A honk from the driveway draws my attention away from her, I walk towards the front door and peer out the window. John Bs van sits outside, JJ's head sticking out the passenger door window.
"Time to go Piper dear!" He yells
I turn around to face Zari, "Is it alright if I go?"
She nods, "Go ahead. I have to head home for dinner soon anyways."
"Thanks. You can chill here by yourself for a while if you want to, I know how crazy your house gets when it's dinner time. Especially with your little sisters, who go berserk when they aren't fed at certain times." I shudder at the memory of meeting the beasts for the first time.
"You sure that's cool? Won't your dad come home and find it weird seeing me here by myself?" She asks
"He's rarely even here anymore, just comes home to shower, change and then straight back to work. He probably wouldn't even notice you to be honest." I say
She nods and I give her a quick hug before opening the door and rushing towards the van, Pope slides the back door open for me and I hop in. Throwing a quick wave towards Zari before closing the door and leaning against it.
"Where to this time?"
***
After John B managed to convince Kiara to come with us, we made our way to the cemetery. Which is something I never thought I would be doing, especially in the dark. With all the creepy ghosts and bugs and eerie vibes that make me feel like I'm gonna be possessed be a demon and not the funny Crowley type.
"You mind if I just relax on this one?" JJ asks no one in particular, from the back seat on the van. He moved back there once Kie got in the van. Kind of makes me jealous cause nobody ever moves in the back so I can sit up front.
"It's been a long say, and a lot of weird stuff's gone down. I'm just gonna lay low." He says, still going. "Oh, did you want a hit of this?" He asks Pope, gesturing to the joint in his right hand.
"I keep the signal clear." Pope responds
"Dude, okay. Do you understand that your problem is that you don't get creative? If you've got creative, then-" JJ is cut off by me.
I furrow my brows, "I'm too hungry to even try to understand what you just said."
Everyone's attention turns to John B as he starts talking. "Look, I know I was wrong about the lighthouse, all right? And pretty much wrong about everything else going on. But I was right about one thing. My dad is trying to tell me something."
Not even a minute later and we're parking outside the cemetery and walking into it. No amount of supernatural episodes could prepare me for what a real cemetery looked like in the dark. I knew I should have brought some salt.
"John B, you're my friend and I love you. But, why the hell are we walking through a creepy cemetery in the middle of the night with no form of protection from the ghosts?" I whisper, not wanting to disturb the dead anymore than we already have.
"You know how you're trying to remember a song and you can't remember who sings it?" He asks
"Mhm." I respond
"So, Redfield. This whole time, I thought it was a place, right? But it's not a place. It's a person." He stops in front of a mausoleum with the Redfield name on top.
"Voi-effing-la." JJ says, gaining a chuckle out me. It's probably not a good time for him to be sarcastic or for me to be laughing but for a split second I forgot that we we're standing in a cemetery. He tends to bring me comfort even when he's not trying.
John B ignores JJs remark and continues talking, "See, my great-great- grandmother Olivia Redfield. That was her maiden name."
We stand in silence for a moment to process what John B said. There's a small chance that he's right and his dad did leave him something to find.
"Help me with the door. Come on." He says, breaking the silence.
Kiara and I stand back as the boys try and pry the door open. I would try and help but I can barely lift a stool without dying. I'll just stand back and man the flashlight.
"This thing is like 700 pounds. It's not gonna open." Pope says
"We didn't come this far to get this far, all right?" JJ says, still pushing on the door.
I'm either tired or I'm losing brain cells because I actually sort of understood what he's saying.
A hissing sounds interrupts my thoughts. The boys jump back as A giant creepy ass snake starts slithering it's way out of a crack in the door.
I take several steps back, "Nope. Nope. Today is not the day. We ain't doing this. I'll take the ghosts, lord please just give me anything but the snake."
"A snake!" JJ says
"No shit!" I say, hiding behind Kiara.
"That's a moccasin, all right. Ye olde Dr. Cottonmouth.Death in tall grass." JJ suddenly starts barking like a dog. The weed must have been a bad batch cause he seems to have lost his damn mind.
"JJ, shut up. Shut up!" Kie yells at him
"You're gonna wake the frickin' dead, man." Pope says, trying to get JJ to stop barking at the snake.
"They're afraid of dogs. Everyone knows that, man." He responds
"Those slimy fuckers aren't afraid of anything!" I whisper
Thankfully the snake didn't seem to bothered with trying to kill us all and slithered away. Pope and John B start walking back over to the door when JJ stops them.
"Wait, hold up. If there's one, there's probably dozens."
"I'm asking to be cremated." I say, still hiding behind Kiara.
"JJ, stop! You're scaring me! And you're scaring Piper, who seems to think using me as a human shield is gonna help." Kiara says, looking back at me when she says the last part.
JJ starts barking again. I wanna laugh but the fear of death is the stronger emotion at this point.
"Stop barking at the snakes." John B demands
Kiara moves towards the others, leaving me to scramble quickly behind her. Taking my place slightly behind JJ instead. He wouldn't leave me to the snakes clutches.
"We're not gonna get in there, all right? It's not budging. We should probably just go." Pope says
"I agree with Pope. We should leave, and never return. Ever." I say
"Me or Piper could get through." Kie says
"What?' John B says
My head whips to the side so fast I probably got whiplash. "Yeah, What?"
"No, no, no, no. You think you're gonna fit through the hole?" John B asks
"Look, this is about your dad. And honestly, I really don't believe in it, but you deserve to know the truth." She responds
"Call me a terrible friend, but I choose life. This one's all you Kie." I say, refusing to step foot inside.
"I'll do it." She says
I hold the flashlight on the door as the guys hold the vines back so they don't get in her way. JJ moves into a couch position to give her a boost through the hole.
"Remind me what we're looking for?" She asks
"You'll know when you see it." John B says back
She hands Pope her flashlight and JJ boosts her into the mausoleum. Pope hands her back her flashlight once she's inside.
"You alive? You got, like, a heartbeat and everything?" John B asks
"So far." She responds
"That's not very reassuring." I mutter
John B hands her the lantern to give her some more light.
"Oh, my god." She says
"Is it more snakes?" I ask her
She ignores me and hands John B an envelope and his lantern back. JJ helps Kie get back down.
"Holy shit." John B mutters, "This is from my dad."
The sound of a vehicle approaching startles us.
"Code red. Code red. Square groupers! Square groupers!" JJ says In a panic, "It's the guys that robbed your house!"
We all run to hide behind the wall of the mausoleum. Hoping that whoever it is doesn't catch us.
"Light!" Kie says
We all turn off our lights and I turn towards JJ and notice he's putting out his joint light, not the light on his head. I quickly reach over and turn it off. Next time we go on a mission, I'm forbidding him from getting high beforehand.
"Do you think it's them?" Kie asks
JJ and Pope are poking their heads out to see who it is, "Homies got a gun." JJ says
"Screw this." Kie says, getting up and making a break for the van. We all take off behind her. I stop in front of the giant gate that's in between us and our freedom.
"I'm to short and uncoordinated to climb this thing." I Say to nobody in particular
Pope lifts me up by the waist and gives me a boost. I mutter a quick 'Thanks' and swing my leg over the gate and jump down, falling on my butt the second my feet touch the ground. I quickly stand back up and look up towards Pope, who's not moving from his spot on top of the gate.
"Guys I'm stuck." Pope says
"Pope, come on!" JJ says
Kie and I start to pull Pope off the gate, "They're gonna rip!" He says just as his shorts tear.
We all take off towards the van. Laughing at Popes misfortune.
"It's a little tootsie roll." JJ says, getting into the van.
"It doesn't look that little to me." I say, playfully winking at Pope.
We all laugh as John B speeds us out of there. Leaving nothing but Popes torn shorts behind.
***
CHAPTER FIVE IS DONE! AS WELL AS, EPISODE 2!
This isn't my best chapter that I've written but at least it's something. Let me know if there's any mistakes and I'll go and fix them.
HAVE A NICE NIGHT/DAY! :)
I DON'T OWN THE PICTURES OR GIFS.
VOTES & COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED!
I'm literally posting this at 3am so I thought this was fitting lmao.