You were never one for holding out hope when you knew shit is doomed. You found it best to just accept defeat and carry on to find ways to cope, your brother was the opposite. So when you were told that your dad went missing, you took missing as dead, you mourned for a while in secret and went on with life finding all types of things to deal. John B on the other hand, well, he was in denial.
He still believed your dad was out there somewhere trying to find his way back to you both, but your dad was a smart and resourceful man so if that were true he would have shown up by now. Just when you thought John B was willing to accept the loss of your dad, this compass shows up. He was set on trying to find him, and you didn't want any part of it. This led to multiple arguments with John B behind closed doors and in front of the other Pogues. He thought you were being heartless and accused you of not caring about your father and you thought he was going crazy by opening up old wounds that you had just healed from.
He did have a point though, your dad was the last person who would ever get lost at sea. You rid your mind of that thought, you would not let John B get in your head. You woke up drenched in sweat, groaning you turned to your alarm clock, it read 6:02 am. There would be no point in going back to sleep since you had to go to work at 7:30, your alarm would've gone off at 6:30 anyway.
You got up to walk around the house, searching for any sign of life. You saw a note on the table, 'went to drop the gear off at the druthers, be back soon -JB.'
You hoped that there weren't any complications putting it back, he got this far without getting caught. You also hoped he would get back on time to drop you off, if not you would tell JJ to borrow the twinkie and drop you off instead. You took the rest of the time that he was gone to shower and get dressed, putting on makeup to make yourself look decent for the guests at the country club, knowing you made more tips when you put more effort into your appearance. It sucked but it was true.
John B came back and slumped on the couch when you were in the shower so you didn't get to talk to him until you heard a pounding at the door.
"DCS, I know you're in there!"
You come out of the bathroom and there pops up JJ pouncing on the window making a loud banging noise, almost giving you a heart attack.
"Gotcha, slick." You heard him say, laughing at John B.
You stomp to the door, opening it wide open. JJ giggles his way to the door stopped by your smaller frame blocking the entrance attacking him, "That wasn't funny, asshole." You say between punches.
He continues to chortle, "You should have seen your face!"
"No, you should see your face when I'm done beating you up." You remarked, "C'mon let's go I don't want to be late."
On the way to the country club, you spoke of their plan to go to Lana Grubb's house to see what she knows considering you all found the compass on her late husband's boat. You doubted she was gonna tell them anything, with how random it would be two teenage boys showing up asking questions about something they found on her dead husband's boat but hopefully it would give John B the answer he would need to give whatever this was, up. You were too lost in your head to notice the topic had shifted.
"I don't understand why you don't at least try with Kiara, she clearly likes you." JJ states, "She's like, 'Oh, John B'" He fake moans out.
"How mature of you," you say.
"Is that what she does?" John B inquires amused.
"She's sketching about you diving and she kissed you," JJ observes, you understood his point. Kie always does things for a reason, you couldn't point out why she had kissed John B on the cheek but you also didn't see what the big deal was.
"She kissed him on the cheek, J," You pointed out, "That's hardly a hugely romantic gesture."
"See, and it's not like we were making out or something." John B says.
"Low-hanging fruit, bro," JJ pushes. "Don't pretend you don't notice, I see it in your eyes, you're like 'I kinda like that' and you start blushing."
"I blush?" You smiled a bit, you did notice how John B's cheeks turned into a slight red tint whenever Kiara showed him attention. You couldn't decipher whether it was because he liked her or because he was getting attention from an attractive female. You weren't too sure about the latter, due to John B's experience with girls. He wasn't a complete man-whore but he did get around when he was lonely.
"Yeah," JJ confirmed. John B rounded the round-a-bout to the entrance of your job.
"Well, boys." You saluted them, hoping out the back and pointing at John B with a look, "Behave."
He rolled his eyes, "Will do, Mom."
"Oh and JJ?" You came up at his open window, "Huh?" He turned his head to you, you took your chance before you changed your mind, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
His cheeks flamed the same way you noticed John B's did, "Made you blush!" You commented on it before making your way inside, smiling to yourself. John B probably wouldn't appreciate the action but if he were to tell you anything later you'd use the excuse that it was in his favor for JJ giving him shit about Kiara.
~~~
The day was slow, not many people were at the country club, and thankfully none of the asshole kooks were there. You gave back a customer's card after charging it for their order, they were the last people left, then you would be stuck here for another couple of hours until you could leave. You've been here since 7:30 am and it was already 12:40 pm.
You called over a busser once the family of 4 left, you were about to sit down in the kitchens until one of your co-workers tell you, you had a table. Your boss came up to you, looking through papers on his clipboard. "Routledge, you're off, Sammy just came in and asked to put her on a shift."
"I still have 2 hours left though," You mentioned.
"You already worked your hours for the week, you're good."
"But-"
"Go home, Y/N, before I add to those two hours." Yeah, you needed the money but you were not gonna put yourself through sitting in boredom for hours. Especially when JJ wasn't there, usually when you worked shifts together it was full of goofing off, having deep conversations sometimes, and poking fun at the kooks. You still fit in work there somehow, your boss purposely separated your work schedules even though he knows you still got shit done.
Tossing your work apron into your locker, grabbing the keys to the chateau, and changing into the pair of shorts and shirt you packed into your bag, you stuff your uniform in your bag. You head out, texting John B that you left early and he doesn't need to pick you up anymore. You figured he was still on his little adventure so you settled on walking instead of waiting around for him and JJ.
On your walk, your mind wandered on how the day would've been better if JJ was there with you. You had this game you would play where you would observe the table you were waiting on and play out their lives, guessing everything about them or you would put yourselves in their positions making fake accents pretending to be them. You remembered the times where you would wait at a table of a couple, in their mid 20's celebrating their anniversary. Both you and JJ made a bet on the guy proposing, JJ acted it out and everything. He got down on one knee, kissing your hand, calling you Princess in the softest voice. His gaze stuck on your eyes and you could've sworn there was something there.
Sadly, the moment was interrupted by the loud echo of a slap. Turns out the guy was going to propose but only because he felt guilty for cheating on her, one of the waiters that were at the table next to them told you. It made for a good laugh later.
You smiled to yourself at the memory, "Finally went crazy, Routledge?"
"You're one to talk, Rafe," You retort. "What are you doing on this side of the island? Oh, that's right, you're a junkie."
"Hey!" He snatches your forearm roughly, spinning you around to meet his eye. "You don't get to talk to me like that, Pogue."
"It's a free country, I get to speak to you however I damn please." You tried to yank free but his grip only tightened.
"Where do you think you're going?" He pressed you closer to his chest, half whispering into your ear, it gave you chills. You didn't know why he had this effect on you, you weren't interested in him, in fact, you hated the entitled prick. Yet sometimes your interactions with Rafe awakened some twisted part of you where you liked the cat and mouse games you played with each other.
"Home, care to join?" Your face was inches apart from his, one tilt and a light push, and your lips would meet. His grip loosened a bit, you took the chance to set yourself free.
"It's best if you don't test my patience, Y/N," He warned.
"You came up to me remember? don't pull if you don't wanna get pushed," You kept walking through the neighbor's houses, you didn't want to be alone with Rafe in your house. Rafe was unpredictable and being around him with no one around is not a good idea, plus if John B were to show up and see you were hanging around Rafe you would never hear the end of it.
"This isn't the way to your house," He became aware of you not leading the way to your home.
"Wow, Rafe, wanna sound anymore like a creep?"
"Shut up, come with me," He suggested, you looked at him skeptically.
"First of all, that's no way to ask a girl to go with you somewhere, I thought you of all people would know that kook." You stopped walking, turning to him "Second, go with you where?"
"You'll see," He nods for you to follow him. "I just want to talk."
"We can talk out here in the open," You keep your feet planted.
"What do you think I'm going to do to you, Y/N," You didn't want to answer that, truthfully he's never done anything to you personally except for call you a few insults that you didn't really care about.
"I don't know, maybe nothing," you hesitate.
"Look I'm not going to hurt you, I promise," You held eye contact, reading him.
"Fine, but just so you know John B knows where I'm supposed to be right now, and if I'm not thereby a certain amount of time, he will send a search party." You warned him just in case. The whole search party thing was a bit much, the most John B would do is worry and call your cell, which you were pretty sure you could answer if he truly meant no harm.
"Yeah, alright whatever."
You followed him to a tower in the middle of the woods, this made you question the decision of coming with him.
"You made me come all the way out here so you can murder me, Rafe?" You asked, not really sure if you meant it as a joke or not.
"Funny," He chuckled. He didn't answer your question, he made you nervous, so nervous it didn't make you think straight and now you were possibly going to die at the hands of Rafe fucking Cameron.
"Wasn't joking," You muttered. He climbed the ladder to the tower, again, you followed.
"I wanted to talk to you because I needed someone to talk to about my... problems," His voice sounded so small and vulnerable. Something you didn't think, you of all people would hear from Rafe.
"And you thought I'd be a good idea," You snorted.
"Believe it or not, I feel like we're one and the same," He looked at you with a dead serious face. You did not think this was real, Rafe Cameron, your brother and friend's main terrorizer had chosen to confide in you about his problems. Sure, you've known him for a while but out of all those years you've held at most 3 civil conversations with him, the rest being snide remarks or full-on heated arguments.
"Hardly," You rolled your eyes, "but continue."
"I- It's my dad," He sighs "he just drives me crazy sometimes."
"What, daddy didn't pay you enough for breathing?"
"Cool it with the attitude, Pogue."
"If you're gonna keep calling me that as an insult, I'm just gonna leave," You make your way to leave when he blocks your way. "No, don't. I promise to keep it civil from now on."
You inhaled, taking a seat with an open mind. He did well on keeping his promise despite how difficult you made it, making subtly rude comments on his privilege. You couldn't lie this gave you more insight into the life of a kook, it was annoying but you'd prefer the annoyance with financial stability rather than hoping you could make enough to buy food or shower with hot water. But as you said to yourself, you kept an open mind and listened to him talk; Rafe was complicated. He couldn't handle the stress of being an adult or the responsibilities his father entrusts him with.
"I just need a break sometimes, you know?" He met your eyes with his red ones, looked as if he had been smoking. You guessed he was holding back tears.
"Yeah, I get it," You spoke softly.
"I come here sometimes to get a breather, and for a while, it worked but now it's like the effects of something is wearing off."
"Is that why you do coke?" He shrugs.
You blame it on bad parenting, maybe if Ward didn't coddle his kids so damn much when Rafe was a kid, Rafe would've been able to handle things better instead of venting to you, a girl he never wanted any affiliation with due to where you came from. But now, since nobody can change the past, Rafe feels the need to act out. It doesn't give him an excuse to treat people the way that he does but now you know he's misunderstood and maybe with your help, he could get better.
He ended up walking you home 2 hours after he was finished talking, said he needed to take care of something. You didn't care to ask knowing you were supposed to be home a while ago.
"Routledge!" You look back at him, "tell anyone about this and you're dead."
"Wouldn't dream of it!" You call back.
You go through the back porch expecting to have a more discreet entrance only to hear your friends immersed in a deep discussion.
You saw JJ yell at Pope "Dude, I wasn't taking little mental polaroids the entire time, I was under duress. Okay?"
You walk up the steps of the porch, opening the screen door in confusion, "Why were you under duress?"
"Look, who finally decides to show up!" Pope says gladly, JJ ignores you and Pope. "Listen, I can tell by the way Ms. Lana was screaming, that these guys are serious, serious hombres, man."
"Can somebody catch me up, please?"
"And where were you?" JJ asks accusingly, you couldn't tell them you were with Rafe so you used the work excuse.
"I was at work," John B looks at you quizzically.
"You said you got off early," He calls you out.
"Yeah, but I decided to stay and chill with Irene for a little and we got caught up talking." You named some random person you worked with that you never spoke to, he seemed to buy it.
"Alright well, It's a heavy vibe right now, okay? I'm not liking this very much." JJ spoke up after informing you of the events that happened after they dropped you off.
"Why do they want the compass?" Kie asks, "It's a piece of shit, you could pawn it off for five bucks if you wanted to," Pope notes. "No offense guys, I know it belongs to your family."
You shrugged, "I don't care, it really does look like junk."
"The office," John B announces, "My dad. My dad's office. He always kept the office locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his royal merchant research," He leads the way to said office.
"We used to laugh at him like he was gonna find it, but now that he's gone, I've kinda- we've just left it as he kept it." You recall, piecing together what John B was trying to say. You never wanted to clean out his stuff to not disrespect his memory or maybe cause even though you let go mentally, you didn't want to let go emotionally.
John B kept it as it was for the same reason Kie just said, "Just in case he comes back." She smiles supportively, staring the guys down to intimidate them into agreeing.
"I've slept over here like 600 times, and I've never seen this door opened," Pope reflects.
"Here, look. This is the original owner, right here." John B sets down a bulletin board with your family tree.
"Robert Q. Routledge, 1880 to 1990. There's the lucky compass, right there." You point out in the picture next to the name, "He was shot after he bought it."
"Then the compass was shipped back to Henry," John B continues for you. "He was killed in a crop-dusting accident when he had the compass. After he died, the compass was given to Stephen. Then after Stephen passed the compass down to him, my dad." He points to each picture, stopping at the final picture of You and John B as kids and your dad.
"Hm, sounds like there's a reoccurring theme here," JJ denotes.
"Yeah, you guys have a death compass," Pope remarks.
"We do not," John B denies.
"Get rid of it," JJ advises. "It's cursed and it's made its way back to you."
"Look, my dad used to talk about this secret compartment here where soldiers used to hide secret notes." John B unscrews the cap of the compass, he flips it over to reveal the word, Redfield.
"That wasn't there before," JB says.
"That's dad's handwriting," You comment.
"How can you know that?" Pope doubts. "Because he does these weird Rs... See it?" You take the compass from your brother's hand to show Pope.
"Can I see it?" JJ steps closer from behind you, his chest hitting your back. He tries to pronounce Redfield and fails.
"Maybe it's a clue to where he's hiding," John B theorizes making you roll your eyes.
"A clue, come on that's-" Pope again doubts, at least you're not the only one, Kie gives him a look that dares him to continue. "But if it is a clue, maybe it's an anagram?"
John B eats it up, "Yes, perfect. An anagram, you need paper." He gives Pope a paper to decipher the "anagram".
"How can you concentrate with that thing crowing at you?" Pope questions annoyingly to which you take offense.
John B answers, "JJ loves the Rooster."
"I love the rooster," You say at the same time as him. You preened at the thought of liking the same as JJ, even if you had loads of similarities this was one of those things that only you and JJ shared. Kie liked the rooster too, but then again Kie liked all living things. It was weird but the rooster felt like it had a deeper meaning to it.
Pope concentrated on the supposed anagram, while you JJ and Kie came up with different words to help him out.
"Guys, Guys!" John B shouted urgently, "Somebody's here."
"Is that the guys you were talking about earlier?" You asked nervously.
"Is that them?" Kie questioned with you.
"John B I told you, Why does it always--" JJ starts, John B pins him to the wall with a finger to shush him whisper shouting "JJ, hey, look at me. Where's the gun?"
"Gun? I, uh, I can't-"
"Now you don't have the gun, the one time we need the gun?" Kie begins to freak out, you're right behind her in that department. Your heartbeat spiking up, you try to keep yourself calm knowing you need to find a solution first panic later.
"It's on the porch," JJ remembers, rushing to get the gun then comes barreling back almost slipping on the wooden floors. One of the men calls out for your brother threateningly.
"Where's the compass and the gun?" John B and JJ whisper to each other, "They're out on the front porch, guys."
You hear the loud clanging of the men trashing your house, probably tearing it apart in the search of the compass. You and the others head straight for the window in an attempt to pry it open but it wouldn't budge. It must've been sealed permanently due to the lack of use over time.
Kie finds something sharp to unshut the window, you can hear the men getting closer to the room. John B stands with his back to the door to hold it shut. You're frozen in place watching this all take place not knowing what to do. The door handle jiggles and the man is kicking the door down, a strip of wood comes out of the door.
They continue to kick down the door, you stare at it in fear. You didn't even see when they opened the window, JJ appears in front of you grabbing your face in his hands. "Y/N, we gotta go c'mon," He drags you with him and out the window.
You all crawl into the chicken coop in your backyard, John B sitting by the "window" with Kiara next to him, Pope across from them and you're next to JJ, your chest heaving.
The rooster calls attention to where you're all hiding, "Shut that thing up!" JJ demands.
"What do you want me to do?" Pope asks, Kiara begs in tears "Pet it, talk to it, I don't know."
John B, who was looking out the "window" presses his back to the wooden wall next to Kie, afraid to get caught.
JJ reaches to grab the rooster by its neck, snapping it dead. Your cheeks are now wet with streaming tears, you're careful not to let out a sob. You see how John B holds Kiara's hand and you suddenly wish someone was holding you so you could feel safe.
JJ looks up to where you're hugging your knees, your eyes meet and you see his silent apology. You hear the men get into their truck and drive off. John B is the first to step out letting out a deep breath, "Alright, we're outta here. I'm gonna get the keys, you all go wait by the twinkie."
Pope and Kie lead while you trail behind them, lost in your mind you scold yourself for not being much help to the group. The fear consumed you to the point of paralysis, you promised yourself that you would do better if a situation like this were to happen again.
You were pulled out of your thoughts by an arm slinging around your shoulders, "I'm sorry, princess." It was JJ who pulled you closer to him, whispering in your ear.
"'S fine," you were too caught up with what just happened that you didn't have the capacity to care about the attention JJ was giving you, but it seems as if your body had a natural reflex to respond to his touch making you lean against him.
John B unlocked the doors of the Volkswagon, soon you were on your way to the Redfield Lighthouse.
"I mean it's obvious right, a family heirloom. What better place to hide a message?" John B brings up the conversation of the compass after everyone had calmed down. "He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?"
"Yeah, it's possible," Kie sympathizes with John B.
"It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help, you deal with your sad feels," You speak your mind.
"Bro, you know how I process my sad feels; dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it." JJ tries to lighten the mood.
"See the healthy way," You agree with JJ.
"I'm concocting, okay?" John B gets defensive, "My dad's trying to give me a message."
"If it helps you believe, John B," Kie says to show her support.
"Look, I-I don't need a therapy session, okay? I'm not tripping out."
"It's okay to trip, bro but-" John B cuts JJ off, "Look, my-- our dad is missing, okay? missing. You 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."
"Oh, cause I'm not gonna know how it feels for dad to go missing, very nice John B." You said sarcastically, "It's been almost a year."
"Hey, he could have been kidnapped, that's definitely a possibility." You shot JJ a glare, you knew JJ was trying to help but he was not helping John B get in touch with reality.
"So, this is what's gonna happen. You're gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?" John B orders looking at JJ, when you make it to the lighthouse.
"Wait, why me?" he asks confused.
"Because you're not coming," Pope says simply.
"Why?"
"There are independent variables and dependent variables, you're an independent. We don't know what you'll do," Pope explains. JJ protests only for JB to bark out orders again, "Y/N, Pope, you stand to look out with JJ. Okay?"
"I want to come with you guys," You insist. John B dismisses you, you always hated when he did that, he played the 'I'm the oldest so I make the decisions card' with you all the time.
"If we get split up, we meet back at JJ's house."
"Great," Kie gets walks towards the fence. "No, not great, I'm going!" You follow, John B pushes you back causing you to stumble into JJ who steadied you by your forearms.
"No, Y/N, you're not. JJ keep an eye on her, actually Pope you're better at handling her." He says with finality, jogging to catch up with Kie.
"What an asshole!" You yell so that maybe John B could hear the name you called him.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Pope shushes you, "You trying to draw attention to us?"
"Did you not see what he just did?" You defend, "it's not fair."
"Well, you didn't exactly show that you were on his side," JJ jumps in.
"Side, what side?" You say exasperatedly, "We're all on the same side, he was my dad too!"
You sit at the edge of a tree, putting your head against the trunk. JJ comes to sit beside you, resting a hand on your knee.
"I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay, I'm trying to keep felonies down to a minimum." Pope states.
"All right, would you just shut up already?" JJ disregarded Pope, "You good?"
"No, I'm not good JJ. My brother's being a dick about our dad dying and making me seem like the bad guy for just trying to move on with my life before I lose my fricking mind." You respond, "Not only is he making me the bad guy but is he treating me like a little girl and punishing me for not being on his side like you said when we're literally not going against some enemy, and this isn't about fucking sides. God, I can't even go with him to find information because he's being a petty bitch."
"Geez, Y/N," Pope says "That was-"
"A lot I know," You sigh.
"Maybe just go along with it," JJ shrugs "He's not going to quit, you know how he is, so just go along with the ride see where it takes us."
"So we're gonna pretend what just happened, didn't just happen?" You glance between Pope and JJ looking for one of them to give you an answer, when they stay quiet you continue, "We're going to get killed."
"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that," Pope replies.
Five minutes later, you hear the sound of police sirens close by, You, JJ, and Pope bolt to the twinkie.
"Shouldn't we wait for JB and Kiara?" You question as JJ drives out of where you parked, "No time the cops are wildn' right now." You prayed John B and Kie would be fine on their own. JJ drove you and Pope to his house, and then you waited.
Kie ended up calling you, half an hour later saying John B was being detained at the police station. She said she convinced her dad to pay for his bail to which you couldn't thank her family enough. You told JJ to drop you off at the police station, you hopped out with a quick thank you, sprinting to the entrance to find John B. Only to stop in your tracks when you see Mr. Carerra walking out pissed.
"If you skip out on your bail and I lose my money, I'm gonna hunt you down and skin you." His voice is stern and serious, Kie tries to get him to stop but he shuts her down. "Cut it."
You follow them silently, John B keeps his head down but says "Thank you, Mr. C."
"Don't thank me," He responds harshly. Honestly, you'd be upset to of your daughter was running around with a bunch of boys (pogues no less) when you spent your entire life trying to keep her out of the cut. You walk up to her dad's truck, Kie smiling when she sees you, reaching into her back pocket to hand John B the compass. "Get in," Her dad demands.
"Give me a sec," She gives John B the compass "you're gonna be good."
"Kiara!" She sends an apologetic look you guys' way, "Sorry."
You didn't miss what Mr. Carerra said to Kie when she got in the car, "I told you, you hang out with trash, you get dirty."
It was a hard thing to hear, being so prideful about where you came from despite the stigma. Trash, part of you was angry knowing you were better than that word he called you and your brother. The other part of you wondered if you really were better than what he said, in the end kooks are kooks and pogues are pogues, kooks are always going to have better opportunities than pogues. Unless you're like Pope of course in which case you'd have to work blood, sweat, and tears or hope for a miracle to get to where the kooks are. Even then you didn't know if you had the capability for that, meaning you will always be this, trash.
You and John B walk side by side not saying a word to each other, both lost in your own worlds. John B decides to shower at the pier where there was a hose, you used the five bucks that you had on you to buy a pack of three gallons of drinking water for the chateau, knowing you didn't have any.
"Hey, employee of the month, where the hell have you been?" Some guy shouts at John B, "You takin' some me-time? Ward C's lookin' all over for you, you know he don't like to wait."
"Hey, Y/N, you think you can get home okay from here?" JB asks while drying himself off with a rag, you nod. "Yeah, I'm good. Try not to get into trouble again, yeah?"
He nods back at you smiling and you were off.
~~~
At some point hours later, you began to worry. John B hadn't gotten home and he was supposed to just go to the Camerons and come back, sure it would've taken a while anyway since he didn't have the twinkie but still. In the while that he was gone, you picked up the mess that the men made. The number of times you rolled your eyes at how extra these people were for throwing everything around. You're life getting interesting, to say the least, and you didn't know how much more interesting until John B busted through the door looking rough.
"What happened to you?" You asked as he pushed past you to go into Dad's office grabbing the bulletin board and throwing it outside with the trash you had piled on.
"What are you doing?" You saw John B with a lit match about to set your family tree on fire. He tossed it onto the trash and it immediately went up in flames.
"Are you going to explain to me what the hell is going on?" He adds fuel to the fire, then stops as if snapping out of whatever he was on and pulls the board out of the fire stomping on it to put out the flames. "Okay, so you have officially gone crazy, good to know."
He stares at the picture of the one female family member before you, "I'll explain this when we're with the other but, just a heads up, Ward fired me, the guys cornered me and I got electrocuted. Also, I gave the compass to Sheriff Peterkin."
"Christ, you really can't be left alone," You joke then backtrack to when he said he got fired. "Wait, why the hell did Ward fire you?"
"Two words; Sarah Cameron."
"What about her?"
"When I went to put the gear back on the druthers she was there and saw me putting it back, she must've told Ward because there was no other way he could've found out."
"What a bitch," You rage. John B getting fired means you have to work extra shifts until he finds another way to make money. Any other time, he would've been able to find a job but now that John B wants to set on this mission, you had to pull weight. Not like you minded, in the end, you had to do what you had to do but you couldn't believe the bitch that was Sarah Cameron had gotten your brother fired. This was his life, your life she was messing with. Entitled ass bitch.
"Nothing more to do now than follow this lead," John tells you.
~~~
John B asked you to go inside the wreck to get Kie, you had already collected JJ and Pope from JJ's house, now the only person left was Kie who was resisting coming.
"Is it because of your parents?" You question, "Cause' I can talk to them and pull the I need help with the summer assignments."
"No, it's not just my parents I can try to get around just," You sense her hesitation. "I don't want you to get mad at me, okay?"
"Of course not, what is it?"
"John B kissed me before he was taken by the cops," She blurted out.
"Holy shit!" Your mind was racing, "I-I don't even know what to say, W- was it weird?"
She laughed, "Totally, and it came out of nowhere too."
"How did you guys even find time for that?"
"More like, how did he find time," Kie sets her bucket of paint down. "Look, I just feel like it's gonna be awkward and my parents are pissed, it's like a sign."
You knit your brows, "Seriously Kie? A sign. It was one kiss, was he that bad of a kisser?"
She chuckles but says nothing, "Fine then. Good day madam," You pretend to leave for good when walk out the back door, coming up to the driver's window "She said she's not coming."
John B steps out of the twinkie, you give him a smirk. "I know what you did," You whisper in a sing-a-song voice.
"Just sh, please."
"Relax, I wasn't gonna say anything. That's your business," You hop back into the Volkswagon next to Pope.
The sun had almost gone completely down by the time you drove to the cemetery, John B was driving, Kie in the passenger, Pope in the back with a row with you next to him, and JJ in the trunk.
"Mind if I just relax on this one, it's been a long day and a lot of weird stuff's gone down," JJ holds up a joint. "I'm just gonna lay low, oh did you want a hit of this?" He offers it up to Pope who held up a hand and said, "I keep the signal clear."
"Dude, do you understand that your problem is, you don't get creative," JJ explains, you groan at JJ trying to peer pressure Pope.
"JJ, if he's not gonna take a hit give it to me," You pluck the roll from out of his fingers, inhaling the smoke letting it go into your lungs for a few seconds, and exhaling. "Leave poor poopy alone, Jesus."
It felt like it got even darker by the time you got to the cemetery, you grabbed helmet lights and flashlights, going in deep.
"Hey, come on," JB rushes you.
"I'm coming geez, this place is scary, what are we even doing here?"
"You know how you're trying to remember a song and you can't remember who sings it?"
"Yeah," You urge him to continue.
"So, Redfield. This whole time, I thought it was a place right?" He guides you all to a large stone crypt, holding a lantern up at the name written atop it. "It's a person."
"Voi-effing-la," JJ said, impressed.
"That's our great-great-grandmother, Olivia Redfield." You examined in awe, there were vines covering the entrance, "Wait, Redfield so she was the clue that dad gave? What're we gonna do steal her body or something?"
"No, I don't think so," John B shook his head "But help me with the door, come on."
"I- what?" You were puzzled but help push, it was large and must have been shut for ages, it was a challenge.
"This door is like 700 pounds man, it's not gonna budge." Pope expressed grunting while pushing on the stone.
"We didn't come this far to get this far, alright?" JJ signified, "We got this."
The sound of hissing came out of a crack in the door, a snake slithered out and landed directly in front of you all.
"That's a moccasin, all right," JJ stated the breed converting to a country accent, he was speaking gibberish to you at this point "Ye old dr. cottonmouth, death in the tall grass." He began to bark at it, Pope yelled at him to keep quiet.
"You're gonna wake the freaking dead, man."
"They're afraid of dogs," JJ defended "everyone knows that wait, hold on." He stopped John B from going closer to investigate the tomb. "If there's one, there's probably dozens."
"Okay, stop." Kie interrupted "you're scaring me."
"It's alright Kie," You touched her shoulder to console her "if other snakes come out we'll just let them eat JJ."
JJ who was barking at the crack stopped turning towards you with a glare, "real nice, Y/N."
"You're the one that's attracting attention and calling out the snakes to attack, so nice one, J"
"Guys, shut up." Pope whisper shouted, "We're not gonna get in there, alright? It's not budging. We should probably just go."
By the sound of the urgency in his voice, he was probably just as tired as the rest of us but you know he also doesn't want to get caught breaking into someone's grave, even if one of your families. However, JJ was right, you didn't come this far to only get this far.
You managed to spot an entrance that you could get in, "I can get through."
What? No, no, no, no." John B denied," You think you're gonna fit through the hole?"
"Look, this whole time we've been at each other throats because you think I don't care enough and I think you're gonna get us killed by asking too many questions," You exhaled. "While I still think that and don't believe in all this, this is me proving that I do care and that I'm all in with you, big bro. You- We deserve to know the truth."
You sent him a tight-lipped smile to make him and yourself feel better about what you were about to do, "Can you help me?"
The guys pulled out the vines that were in the way, "I'm gonna boost you, alright? I've seen this in a couple of movies, you ready?"
You shined the light at the tomb, "Remind me what we're looking for."
"You'll know when you see it," said John B. His tone was dramatic but you went with it, you were a bit nervous going into a dark hole with who knows what inside it alone but this was for John B.
"Hold my flashlight," You told Kie, handing it to her with shaky hands. She gave you a pitiful glance, sending you a silently telling you 'you don't have to do this'.
You went for it anyways letting JJ instruct you on where to put your hands and feet so that he could boost you up.
"Okay, on three," You used him as your ladder and boosted yourself up with his help earlier. You climbed in and landed inside hearing him say, "Alright, forget about three then.
"Can somebody hand me the flashlight, please?" It was so dark, it felt like you were blind. You were given your flashlight and you turned it on, flashing it at the stone wall.
"Y/N, you alive? You got like, a heartbeat and everything?" John B calls out nervously.
"Nooo, I just died without screaming, you're hearing my ghost right now I hope you know that." You reply sarcastically.
"Oh, so you're still a bitch in the afterlife, good to know."
"Shut up, I need some more light." John B holds out a lantern that brightens the tomb. You search around for anything, coming across a crack with something in it.
"Did you find something, gold maybe?"
"Oh my god."
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