❪ life beyond the grave pt. two ❫
slut ━━━ chapter twenty five.
𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐀 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘. Her
classes seemed easy but that was because
she hadn't bothered to pay attention. Assuming
that she'd only have to stay at Kook academy
for the week , Lana figured that paying attention
in class and absorbing the information was
a waste of time. She just hid her phone
underneath the table and texted JJ and Pope
the whole day , creating a groupchat with Kiara ,
and talking shit about all the Kook's she'd seen.
If anything , it made her even more eager to
switch schools. As much as she didn't want to
admit it , they were her only friends and the
only people on the island she could stand.
Seeing that she didn't have any new messages
from the Pogue's , Lana sighed and got in the
lunch line. She grabbed what seemed the most
edible ━━ and for a school with such rich kids
with parents that had tons of money , the food sucked ━━ but the hamburger wrapped in
aluminum foil seemed to suffice enough.
Her eyes scanned the lunchroom for an empty table , until they spotted Elliot , who had already been sitting down at a table with his hand in the
air and a goofy looking grin on his face. Biting
the inside of her cheek , she took a deep breath
before walking over to him to sit and eat lunch
with him like she promised.
"Lana!" He greeted as she slid in the chair next to him.
Lana gave him a half hearted smile and slid
her backpack off her shoulder. "Hey Elliot."
"How was your first day back?" He questioned , furrowing his eyebrows. Lana glanced at him and
felt herself becoming fond of the way he asked.
His tone of voice sounded genuinely interested.
Shrugging , Lana unwrapped her hamburger.
"It was alright. They had a few boys try and make comments under their breath in class but I've
heard it all before." She rolled her eyes
remembering the tall , broading guy in her class
that had tried cat calling her in class with his
friends. Lana being Lana ━━ simply ignored
him and pretended he didn't even exist.
"I'm sorry you have to deal with that." Elliot
shook his head in disbelief. "People have done
way worse that what you did and it's been let go."
Lana shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"Can we not talk about it? I'd like to think that
there's more we can talk about then my naked
body being sent around Outer Banks."
Elliot blinked at her bluntness , then grinned.
"I like that." He commented.
"Like what?"
"How you stand up for yourself." He shrugged
and took a bite of his canned fruit. "Like you
don't take no shit ━━ kinda hot."
Lana's eyes widened and his comment took
her off guard. The burger she had biten into
got lodged in her throat by her sharp in take of breath , making her cough. "Um. . ."
Elliot looked at her confused and Lana blushed red. "That's. . . nice? But I have a boyfriend."
"Okay. . ." Elliot trailed off with a weird look
on his face. "Me too."
Lana paused and looked at Elliot ━━
immediately feeling embarrassed by her
assumption that he was hitting on her.
"Oh my God , I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry."
Elliot laughed loudly in his chair. "No don't be.
I'm sure you get hit on by straight guys all
the time. Like I said ━━ you're kinda hot."
Lana blushed at his compliment and shook
her head. "Not really."
Elliot rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure , that's
what every pretty girl says." He waved her off.
"Tell me about your boyfriend , though!
I'm assuming he doesn't go here because , well ,
from what I can tell , you hate everyone."
"Not everyone." Lana corrected. "Mostly
everyone , and he doesn't. He lives on the Cut."
Elliot gasped. "A Pogue?"
"Yes." Lana said proudly. She didn't care if
Elliot thought differently of Pogue's or not ━━
which she didn't think he would ━━ but she
was proud of JJ and their relationship. It
wasn't something she was ashamed to admit.
Elliot swooned with his hands on his chest.
"That's like modern day Romeo and Juliet."
"They end up dead in the end." Lana deadpanned.
"Well John B died." Elliot said and Lana looked
at him with wide eyes. Noticing his inappropriate
comment , he quickly shook his head. "That
was so messed up for me to say. It's my
turn to apologize , wow , that was cunty."
Lana was silent for a minute as John B's name washed up old memories. Shaking her head ,
she waved him off. "It's , uh , it's okay."
"No it's not. I was a total cunt for that." Elliot frowned.
"You were." Lana agreed. "But I was cunt for assuming your sexuality so we're even."
Elliot couldn't help but grin. "You know , Lana ,
I think me and you could be great friends."
Lana smiled back. She opened her mouth to respond , but was cut off by her phone ringing.
"I'm sorry." She gushed and dug in her bag to
fish out her phone. Elliot waved her off and
continued eating as she pressed answered.
"Hello?"
"Lana━━ you need to meet us. Like now."
Kiara said on the other line. She heard JJ and
Pope in the background. "Yeah Lana. Leave
that piece of shit school and meet us somewhere."
"You mean like skip?" Lana bit her lip
nervously and glanced up at Elliot who
nodded his head at her encouragingly.
"Don't be boring , Lan." JJ shouted from
wherever he was standing. "Did you get a text?"
"Oh I don't know." Lana glared at Elliot who
was already grabbing at her plate. She smacked
his hand away and he mumbled an ow! "Who's
that? Are you with someone right now?"
"Yeah , uh , my new friend Elliot." By the
mention of his name , Elliot threw her a thumbs
up. "We're eating lunch right now."
"Who the hell is Elliot?"
"Well ditch the lunch buddy and meet us in twelve." Kiara ordered , hanging up quickly.
Lana looked at her phone and sighed and then
to Elliot with hopeful eyes.
"Go ahead. I'll cover for you." He promised ,
taking the food that was uneaten from her plate
and putting it in his own.
"Are you sure? I don't want to leave you here
by yourself. I'm sure they can wait━━"
"Trust me. There's nothing you're gonna
miss." Elliot shook his head. "And I have
other friends , Lana. I am a Kook after all."
"Right." Lana laughed and stood up.
"I'll see you tomorrow then?" She asked hopeful.
"It's like we go to the same school or something." Elliot responded sarcastically.
𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐀 𝐑𝐀𝐍 𝐔𝐏 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇
𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐒. Her breathing could be heard
miles away as she finally came into the view of
the Pogue's were sitting down waiting on her
expectantly. At the sight of her sweat dripping
forehead and flushed cheeks , JJ cursed and
met her halfway , helping her to sit next to
him and Kiara. "What did I tell you about
trying to be some trackstar?" He scolded.
"You have the stamina of a 600 pound woman."
"Don't fat shame." Kiara butted in , sending
the blonde a glare.
JJ ignored her as he pushed the strands of
hair that was stuck to Lana's forehead back ,
holding his hand out towards Pope. Pope shook
his head quickly , then sighed as he unwillingly
handed his water bottle over to JJ who then
handed it to a very stressed out Lana.
"You guys couldn't meet me halfway?" She choked out breathlessly , gulping down Pope's water.
"Why didn't that Elliot guy bring you?" JJ said nonchalantly from beside her. "I mean he's a
Kook after all. I'm sure mommy and daddy bought him something nice on his sixteenth birthday."
Lana glared at JJ. "Is that why Kiara told me
you refused to meet anywhere else?"
JJ avoided her eyes. "No."
"You were hoping he'd drop me off!" Lana
accused. "I could've died of a heart attack."
"Then I would've met him at your funeral." JJ
sent her a sarcastic smile making her gasp.
"Guys!" Kiara interrupted them. "Can you
stop with the arguing for a second. We need to
fill Lana in if she didn't get John B's text."
"We think it's John B." Pope corrected her.
"Who else could it be?" JJ scoffed.
"I mean. . . Shoupe said they didn't make it.
He said that." Kiara said frantically.
"Okay but I. . . I think we're overreacting ,
'cause we can't rule out the possibility that this
could be some kind of weird , cruel hoax."
Lana looked around the table confused.
"What the hell are you guys talking about?"
JJ and Pope shared a look before JJ pulled
out his phone and showed it to Lana. The blonde
glanced down and read it quickly , then back up
at her friends that were staring at her
expectantly. "Freaky." She commented.
"I'm gonna ask." Kiara told them , typing out a message on her phone.
"What if it's actually him , though?" JJ asked.
"I don't know , okay? I don't know." Pope answered. "I mean what if it's Rafe? Like
what if he's trying to mess with us?"
Lana shook her head. "That isn't Rafe's
new number." She spoke up. All eyes fell on her.
JJ stared at her with furrowed eyebrows and
she silently cursed herself. "Story for another
time." Lana brushed off but JJ's stare hardened.
"Promise." She told him , sliding her hand on his.
JJ moved his hand away making her sigh. She wanted to speak up but decided not to , seeing
as though John B could actually be alive and now
was not the time to make it about her.
JJ got up and leaned against the sign. Lana
glanced at him from the corner of her eye before sighing and moving to sit next to Kiara and look
at her phone. "He's typing." Lana annouced.
"Is JJ there?" It read.
Lana looked up at JJ with a hidden smile on
her face. A look of disbelief and happiness was evident on his face and she knew he was hoping
it really was John B. His death had really
affected JJ in more ways than she probably
realized and she hoped , for JJ's sake , it was him.
"Did you pimp my short board with Lana's
initials you simp ass?" 'John B' texted back.
Lana giggled to herself as did everyone else.
She wrapped an arm around Kiara's shoulder
as happy tears left the girls eyes.
"It's him." JJ looked up at the group happily ,
nodding his head in absolute disbelief.
"It's him." Lana agreed.
A warm feeling fell over Lana's heart. Her and
John B weren't the closet out of the group and
the two had their moments. But she did
appreciate and love John B despite everything ,
and she was more than happy he was okay.
Pope and JJ embraced tightly while Lana and Kiara did the same. Kiara clutched onto Lana's
shirt tightly , while Lana rubbed her back in
circles. When they released , JJ hugged Kiara
quickly before turning to Lana who smiled at him softly. His anger from before had melted away
when he wrapped his arms around his girl ━━
his heart thumping euphorically.
Lana kissed the side of JJ's head and pulled
away when she heard another phone ring.
"Laying super low in Nassau." Kiara read
out to them softly. "How the hell did they get to
the Bahamas?"
"How the hell did John B get to go to the
Bahamas before me?" Lana frowned.
"You can't kill a Pogue , dude." JJ grinned.
"Especially John B." Pope responded.
'Can you clear my name? Wanna come home.'
"Hell yeah we'll clear your name." JJ said to himself in response to John B's message.
"Be in touch. P4L."
"P4L man! That's what I'm talking
about!" JJ shouted. "P4L , baby."
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍
𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐀𝐓𝐒. Kiara and JJ
were ahead of Pope and Lana ━━ talking
excitedly about their plans on how to clear
John B's name for him to come home.
Lana went to walk forward but Pope grabbed
her arm , pulling her back. She sent him a
confused look but he glanced towards Kiara
and JJ , waiting for them to walk a ways away.
"Have you been talking to Rafe?" Pope
asked her , his eyes hoping she'd say no.
Lana sighed and shook her head. "No.
I haven't spoken to him since. . ." she trailed off.
Both of them thinking back to the last time
they had both encountered him and Barry.
"Good." Pope nodded. "I don't want you
talking to him , Lana. I mean it."
Lana looked at him confused. "I wasn't
planning on it. Where's this coming from?"
"He's been texting you , hasn't he?" Pope questioned but he already knew the answer.
"Lana , I love you. Like alot. And I know that
you're a good person and you see the best in
everyone and I know you and Rafe have some
weird and complicated ass friendship but he
isn't a good person. He's never been a good
person. You're too good for all of that ━━
and I love JJ. Alot. And he doesn't deserve for
you to sit here and play both sides whether you're
trying to or not." Pope said.
Lana felt hurt by Pope's words. She knew he
didn't mean to hurt her feelings and he was trying
to look out for his friends , and her. But the truth
in between the lines struck deep.
"I know." Lana mumbled , wiping her cheek
when an absentminded tear fell down her cheek.
"I didn't mean to make you cry." Pope frowned. The boy reached over and embraced her , dropping his chin on top of her head. "I care about you Lana and I don't want to see you mess up what you and
JJ have because he's good for you."
"You're right." Lana sniffed and pulled away
from Pope and took her phone out of her pocket. She quickly typed in her password and opened her messages , looking down at the unread message. "You can read it. I haven't yet. You can decide if it's worth me knowing or not and then you can block his number and delete the message all together."
Pope looked at Lana deeply before taking her phone hesitantly. Lana watched as he clicked the message and his eyes scanned over it. His expression was a mix of anger and something else she couldn't quite understand. He shook his head quickly before doing what Lana had told him to do.
"Nothing important." He stated quickly and handed Lana her phone back.
Something in the way he said it made Lana
believe that it wasn't just 'nothing.' But not
wanting to press the issue any further , she
ignored the nagging at the pit of her stomach.
"Come on , let's go figure out how to clear
John B's name and bring him back home." Lana forced a smile onto her face and grabbed Pope's hand , dragging him back to Kiara and JJ.
"Ayo! Lana? You trynna get married in the Bahamas this week or what?" JJ asked as Lana wrapped an arm around his waist.
"Sounds like a plan." Lana retorted back sarcastically.
"There's no way we're getting into the
Bahamas." Pope shook his head.
"John B's gonna get nabbed sooner or later."
Kiara spoke up. "So if we're gonna clear his
name , we need to have done it yesterday."
"I'll tell you how we do it." JJ said.
"Oh so you have it all planned out?"
"As a matter of fact , I do." JJ walked away from Lana and leaned over the rail. He glanced at her before continuing. "We kidnap Rafe."
"What?" Pope and Lana said simultaneously.
"We kidnap Rafe. Tie him up and stick the gun
in his mouth and just wait till he starts squawking." JJ recited his plan that he had obviously been planning for a couple days now.
Lana looked down and shifted her feet ,
swallowing the lump in her throat.
"You know torture's a war crime." Kiara told
JJ , noticing Lana's uncomfortable look.
"Yeah so how exactly do you plan on clearing
John B's name from a prison cell because
that's a felony." Pope asked JJ.
"It's the perfect plan. I have the exact setting
for it to happen. I mean , we get Lana to send him
a little message. Have her bait him and boom!
Our plan is in motion." JJ said like it was the
most simple task in the world to preform.
Lana bit the inside of her cheek knowing damn
well she wouldn't want to 'bait' Rafe Cameron.
But not wanting to disappoint JJ , she nodded.
"I see the vision." She smiled at him softly ,
making him grin at her in response.
"Okay no." Kiara spoke. "Because then that
makes Lana an accomplice and no offense but
I don't wanna be stuck without my bestfriend."
"I thought we were your bestfriends." Pope
turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah but you guys don't know feminist pain
and the suffering of woman so it's not the same." Kiara shot back making Lana chuckle.
"Okay so what's your guys' plan then? I was
just trying to keep it simple. You know , one
stop and we're done." JJ said.
"Guys all we need is a material witness. We
saw Ward's plane fly right over our heads with the gold inside of it. He didn't fly it. If somebody else flew , they were there on the tarmac." Pope explained and Lana felt relief wash over her.
"They saw Peterkin get murdered."
"Pope. You're actually a genius for thinking of that." Lana exclaimed.
He smiled at her. "We just have to find whoever that was and get them to confess on record."
"How do we find them?" Lana asked Pope.
"A little light espionage."
"A little ghost recon."
"Woogity–woogity?"
"Woogity , baby."
Lana shook her head at the boys and stood
up. "Whatever that woogity is , I won't be able
to join you." She sighed.
All four heads snapped up at her. "What?"
She looked at them. "I have things to do."
"What things?" JJ asked.
"My mom and dad are having a meeting this afternoon." Lana sighed and rubbed her forehead. "My mom finished rehab and they're talking
about ways to get her back on her feet."
"Are they getting back together?" Kiara asked.
Lana kicked a pebble while shrugging. "It's
stupid but I think so? My dad's always away
on business and he thinks I need someone
home to watch over me since. . . well since what
all went down this summer." She frowned.
"Come on , Lan." JJ walked over to her and grabbed her hand. "It won't be the same without you. Can't you just call him and say you'll be a
little late tonight? I'm sure your dad won't mind."
Lana looked at his hopeful eyes and then
behind him to Kiara and Pope. Sighing she
pulled out her phone. "Fine. I'll just tell him Pope and I are working on new college resumes."
Her dad had been a big fan a Pope ever since a couple weeks ago when Lana had introduced him when he and JJ came over for a movie night when Kiara's parents wouldn't let her out the house.
They talked business and Pope had won him
over with his way of being able to have an
intelligent conversation and her dad really liked
his quirkiness. JJ on the other hand ━━ was
having a harder time getting on his good side
when he found JJ in Lana's room past curfew.
"Is your dad still mad about that?" JJ scoffed as they walked hand and hand to the car.
"Yes. You're not allowed over past eleven anymore." Lana reminded him.
"We had sex in your bed at one in the morning
last night━━"
Lana hit his chest quickly , watching Kiara and Pope's face scrunch up. "Would you shut up?"
JJ quirked an eyebrow.
"Can I tell Pope about the thumb thing?"
Kiara spun around shocked. "Lana!"
"You let him do the thumb thing?"
"He wouldn't stop asking!"
"I don't wanna know about the thumb thing."
𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐀 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐓
𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐉𝐉 𝐋𝐎𝐀𝐃 𝐔𝐏 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐔𝐍.
Her eyes were focused on the rings on JJ's
hands and how swiftly his fingers moved.
Growing. . . you know. . . Lana shook her head
from the sinful thoughts she was having and
took a deep breath. And like deja vú , her and
Pope's eyes connected and sent her a look.
"Not again." He groaned , gagging as he
pictured the images of Lana and JJ in his head.
"Pope━━"
"She's getting horny with JJ and the stupid
ass gun again!" Pope loud capped her , pointing
his index finger at her accusingly.
Lana gaped at him and sent him a glare while
Kiara cringed. JJ whipped his head towards her
and pointed above her head , twisting it to the side and flexing his bicep. "Can't help that my baby a little freak in the sheets for me." He winked.
"JJ!" Lana gasped as her cheeks grew red.
Pope's eyes widened in surprise while Kiara
smirked at the blonde from the rear view mirror.
"Oh that's just foul." Pope shook his head and avoided eye contact with the two blondes.
"It was one time!" Lana's cheeks burned red as
she remembered that one specific night not too
long ago where she had allowed JJ to experiment.
JJ winked. "Many more to come , baby."
Pope took a moment and shuddered. Erasing
the images from his mind. "Moving on. . . if this
guy flew planes for Ward he's gotta be pretty
tight–lipped." He changed the subject.
"So then direct approach gets my vote." JJ shrugged.
"JJ no." Pope and Kiara said together.
"JJ yes."
Lana froze and cleared her throat awkwardly.
"I mean yeah. . . JJ no."
"We gotta keep this simple or we'll never get
John B off." JJ argued. He did have a point.
"Or we'll just tickle the wire. I plant my phone
in his car , and then we listen in on your Air
Pods." Pope explained his plan. He made Kiara
try out the audio and it worked.
Kiara pulled next to the house. "Okay. . .
honk or yell if you see anything suspicious."
"You're gonna go alone?" Lana sat up.
Pope nodded. "No. Bad idea. I'll come with you."
"What? Also bad idea." JJ disagreed.
"Lana it's fine." Pope looked back at her with a nod. "I can do this."
Lana bit the inside of her cheek and nodded ,
settling in her spot next to JJ.
"Don't do anything dangerous." Kiara advised
Pope with worry. Lana lightly smiled at their interaction. She was happy for Pope if the two were. . . well , doing whatever it is they were
doing. He deserved to be happy.
"Of course not. I'm not JJ."
"Great. Thanks. I love third wheeling."
"And now you know how it feels being around
you and Lana twenty four seven." Kiara smirked.
"How's it been going. You know with Pope and all?" JJ asked Kiara. Lana looked at him confused , wondering why he was suddenly so curious.
"It's good." Kiara shrugged.
"It's good? All right. In the bedroom is he like , kinda freaky? Cause it's Pope , you know?"
"Why are you asking?"
"Yeah , JJ? Why are you asking?" Lana
chirped up from beside him.
"I'm just curious. Just kinda spit balling here."
"You don't need to spitball. We can sit in silence."
Lana shifted in her seat uncomfortably.
Lana wasn't normally the 'jealous' type. She knew Kiara would never do anything with JJ now that
the two of them were together. But she couldn't
help but wonder if JJ did want something to
happen between them. . . Or Pope. She couldn't
tell which one she needed to be worried about.
JJ moved his hands around. "Ranking wise."
"I was just curious. Is John B better?"
"What?" Kiara and Lana said simultaneously.
Lana shoved her elbow in JJ's side making
him wince.
"Phase one complete. . ." Pope noticed the
tension filling the car. "What? Everything okay?"
"Peachy."
author's note —
gosh beginning episode chapters are so
boring i'm so sorry. i love you guys and
i hope that this chapter is at least okay!
lana is my favorite oc / human and i will not
tolerate any disrespect towards her any more.
let me know how my angst foreshadowing
between jj and lana is so far LMFAOOO.
i love you guys.
XOXO , MADS.