There is very hurtful yelling in this so be warned
Also, please point out any spelling mistakes you see, and I will fix them ASAP :)
⋆
To say waking up in an empty Chateau was weird, would be an understatement. Usually I wake up to JJ giggling and taking photos of me, while John B or Kie are drawing stuff on me or just messing around. But today? Today it was quiet...
I walk out of the spare room only to see the house was empty. The only thing I could hear was the marsh water crashing against the dock.
I walk back into the spare room to get dressed, pulling off my dirty clothes that pass as pjs.
"Well, this is a nice thing to see in the morning." JJ says, gesturing to my bare back.
"JJ! Get out!" I yell, laughing and covering myself with a shirt before turning around and shoving him out the door.
"Hurry up! Pope and Kie are gonna be here soon!" He yells, laughing.
⋆
"And we were right out side like this. And all we hear is just, Bam! Bam! Bam! knocking paint off the wall, G! From the inside. All right? And I'm just looking at him, like- Wait first off, look at this shit." He says, walking up to Kie, Pope and I and ruffling his hair over my lap. We watch as whites flakes fall onto my shorts.
"That's dandruff, disgusting." Kie says.
"Oh uh- Ok." I say, standing up to dust my shorts off.
"Look at that! That's paint! At that point, I was just, like... I'm waiting for death."
"Ok, JJ, you just need to calm down." I say, slowly putting my hand on his shoulder.
"Oh, ok, so you saw the guys that shot us, right? Did you see what they looked like? Anything that might help in a police report?" Pope asks, rubbing his head.
"Yeah anything?"
"Burly." He says, bluntly.
"Uh, ok not what were looking for." I say, under my breath.
"You know, like- the type of guys at my dads garage. I mean you guys know he made cargo hides for drug smugglers." He looks down shamefully.
"Yes. We know." Kie says, obviously fed up.
"I can tell you with full confidence, these boys, these killers... they're square groupers." He says, taking a hit of his vape.
"They're square groupers, like narco square groupers? Like Pablo Escobar square grouper?" Pope asks.
"You guys, not everything is like a kingpin movie." Kie states.
"She's right, you know." I say.
"So what did the square groupers look like?" Pope says, getting clearly mad.
"You weren't there bro!" JJ yells, basically losing his mind. I back away from there little fight and go and stand next to where Kie's sitting.
"Apparently you don't what to look for!"
"I wasn't taking mental Polaroids the entire time! I was under duress!" JJ yell, clearly panicking.
"Ok, JJ. It's ok." I say, trying to calm him down.
"I was under duress!" JJ repeats.
"I know. But you need to calm down."
"I can tell you, with full confidence that by the way ms. Lana was screaming that these killers are some serious herombes dude." He says, a little calmer.
"Ok, why would they want the compass?" Kie asks.
"It's a piece of shit. You couldn't pawn it off for like 5 dollars if you wanted too. No offence John B I know it's like in your family and shit." Pope says.
"The office." He says.
"What?" Pope asks.
"My dad. My dad's office. He always kept the office locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research. I mean we used to laugh at him like he was gonna find it. But now that he's gone, I've just kind of... I just left it as he kept it." He says, walking into the house and to the door of the office in question.
"Yeah for when he gets back." Kie pipes, giving him false hope.
"Yeah." John B says, opening the door and walking through. Kie and Pope give JJ and I a look and follow after him. JJ goes to walk through the door but I pull back his arm.
"What's wrong?" He asks, facing his body towards me.
"Nothing, I just- are you ok? You seemed really tired and out of control." I say, looking up at him.
"I- um, I guess I'm ok..." He nods his head reassuring both of us.
"You guess?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, it was just high pressure and a lot of yelling and banging and it stressed me out and it bought back stuff and I was just scared-" He's cut off by me hugging him.
He slowly wraps his arms around me and nuzzles his head into my neck. We pull away after two seconds or so and I grab his hands, slowly rubbing my thumbs over his knuckles.
"You're ok now." I say softly smiling at him.
"I- yeah, yeah I'm ok now." He nods looking at me and then down to my lips for a second.
My eyes flicker to his and before I know it, we're slowly leaning forward.
"Guys." John B hisses, poking his head out of the door.
We bounce apart and walk into the office.
"He has a death compass." Pope says as soon as we walk through the door.
"I do not have a death compass!"
"Yeah you do. Everyone who has previously owned it died right after they got it!" Pope says, clearly stressing.
"Look, my dad used to talk about this compartment in here. Soldiers used to hide secret notes." He says, pulling apart the compass.
"What's that?" Kie asks, pointing to carved writing.
"That wasn't there before. This is my dad's handwriting." He smiles
"How can you know that?" Pope asks.
"He does this weird thing with the R's see?" John B shows us the long R.
"Can I see it?" JJ asks, from behind me. "Red- no that's a t..."
"Redfield, dumbass." Kie snaps.
"Right."
"Ok, well what does that mean?" I ask looking around.
"Apart from the most common name in the country." Pope says as the Rooster crows.
"Maybe it's a clue?" John B suggests.
"A clue? C'mon on isn't tha-" Pope stops talking when he realizes the looks he's receiving from Kie and I. "If it's a clue, maybe it's an anagram?"
"Perfect! You need paper?" John B asks, hurrying around the room to grab some.
"Ok. How can you concentrate with that thing constantly crowing at you?"
"JJ and Jade loves the rooster."
"We named him Billy." I gloat.
"Dedfiel. Colors, that's stupid."
"Put them in alphabetical order." I say. "We can work from there."
"Yeah ok-"
"Guys, guys! Someone's here." John B hushes.
"What?" I say, walking to the window only to see a black SUV. "Is that them?" I ask JJ and John B.
"No." JJ denies, unsurely.
"Is that them?" I ask, starting to panic.
"This is suboptimal." Pope says, backing away from the window.
"John B, I told you man. Why does it always-" JJ says, clawing at his hair.
"JJ! Hey, look at me. Where is the gun?" John B asks, shoving him into a wall.
"The gun? I uh- It was in my backpack-" He says. Porch. I run out of the room, trying to get to the porch before the men do only to see them enter the Chateau.
"John Routledge!" One of the men scream.
I skid around and run back into the Office closing the door behind me.
"They're on the porch." I whisper, fear threatening to taking over.
"Routledge!" A man says crashing sounds following.
"We gotta get out of here." I whisper-yell, pulling at my hair.
"Window! Window." Kie sates, causing Pope and JJ to run over and try and lift it up, whilst John B and I hold the door.
"Why is it taking so long?" I ask.
"It's painted shut, ok." JJ grunts. Kie pushes them out the way and grabbing a letter opener to hack at the seal.
"Come on." JJ whispers, looking back to John B and I.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Kie hisses.
"Shh." I whisper, hearing footsteps get closer.
I suddenly feel a hard push on the door and push back trying to keep it in position.
"You better not be in there!" The man yells before grunting and pushing at the door again.
The frame of the door eventually breaks in causing John B to grab my hand and run to the now open window. He pushes me through and I jump off meeting JJ's open arms, to help keep me up right. We all look around for a second before Kie spots the chicken coop and rushes us all there. We all get in and are practically sitting on each other. Me sitting in between JJ's legs with his hand over my mouth to stop my tiny sobs from making a noise.
"You're ok." He whispers into my ear.
Billy clucks very loudly certainly bringing attention to us. "Someone shut it up." Kie whispers.
"What do you want me to do?" Pop asks, harshly.
"I don't know pet it or something or talk to it. I don't know!" Kie sobs.
It begins to cluck louder, causing JJ to let go of my mouth and get on his knees right behind me to be able to reach over and grab the bird. He holds it's neck to the ground and watches as it struggles until he hears a loud snap. I gasp loudly and hold a hand over my mouth to stop any noise from escaping. JJ slowly leans back and rests his head back on the coop, horrified at what he had done.
"Ratter, what the hell are you doing? Let's go!" A man yells.
We hear a car slowly drive away and we all glance around at each other.
"Oh my god." I whimper, looking at Billy's now dead body.
⋆
"I mean it's obvious right?" John B asks, looking around at us from the front of the van. "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 nods.
"It could also be possible that you're just concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels." Pope says.
"Pope." Kie says, sternly.
"Bro, you know how I process my sad feels. Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it." JJ smiles.
"Ok well sorry everyone's not as perfect as you." I snap.
"I'm not concocting, ok? My dad is missing. You don't know what it's like to have the closest person to you just vanish and then have no idea what happened. You just wake up every morning wondering." John B says, looking down slightly.
"It's almost been a year. JB." I say softly.
"Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility." JJ suggests.
"Yeah, could be a Soviet sub getting interrogated by KGB somewhere." Pope adds.
"Absolutely. Uh... or Atlantis."
"JJ. Look, what do you think the message is?" Kie asks.
"Redfield. Redfield light house. My dad's favorite place." John B says, pointing to the sign.
⋆
When we arrive to the light house JB parks and we all get out.
"Ok. So here's what's gonna happen. You two are gonna post up and look out for bogeys, ok?" John B points at JJ and I.
"Wait what? Why us?" I ask.
"Cause, we don't know what you're gonna do." Pope interrupts.
"What the hell does that mean?!" I yell.
"Look there are independent variables and dependent. You guys are-"
"Shut up. Shut up!" JJ yells.
"Just listen! Pope you stay with them, ok? If we get split up we meet at JJ's."
"Great." Kie agrees, walking off with John B.
"I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay, trying to keep my felonies to a minimum." Pope says, walking back to the van.
"Just shut up, already?!" JJ yells, walking away, playing with beanbag. I on the other hand go and lay against a tree to relax. I close my eyes for a spilt second only to feel a soft tap on my leg. I open them and see JJ sitting in front of me.
"What's wrong?" I ask, tilting my head slightly.
"Nothing." He denies.
"Are you lying again?" I ask.
"It's just your face when I- I killed Billy." He pauses looking down. "I'm so sorry. I know you loved him."
"Hey, it's ok. It was him or us." I smile, grabbing his hand.
"Yeah ok." He nods, looking at our connected hands. "So um, about before we went in the office when-" He's cut off by loud sirens. We stand up our hands falling back to our sides. We look around the corner and sprint back to the van once we see a police car speeding our way. JJ hops in the front and I hop in the passenger while Pope stays in the back.
⋆
"Dad?! Sarah?!" I yell, walking back into my real house.
"Just me." Rafe says, walking towards me. "Little mis Pogue, huh? Topper told me how he nearly killed you... aha. He should've finished it when he got the chance." He laughs.
"Always a pleasure Rafe." I smirk, "You know, if the drugs don't kill you maybe I will." I smirk, getting in his face.
"Maybe I'll just kill you." He fake smiles, glaring down at me.
"Kids. Please!" Dad says, pulling Rafe away from me and walking off towards the main room. Rafe smirks at me again before leaving the room.
"If it isn't the best dad in the world!" I yell sarcastically, following after dad. "You fired John B!?" I shout. "Yeah dad, I know! I guess rumors really do spread like wild fires here!" I scream, absolutely pissed off "He needs that job you know? To fucking eat!" I scream walking after him as he continues to walk away, "Dad!" He ignores me. "Dad! Listen to me for once! Please!" I beg, "Just once!" He turns around an angry look on his face.
"You want me to listen?!" He yells, storming up to me. "When has that got me anywhere?!" He continues, shoving his finger at me. "You can't do shit right! You always have to stand out, don't you! Miss Pogue fucking princes?!" Tears begin filling my eyes at his harsh words. "John B stole from me! He's a thief!" He yells. "I'm not going to sit back here and watch my daughter rip her life apart!"
"Dad." I say, stepping back as he begins to violently shove me with his finger.
"Why do you have ruin everything?!" He scream, shoving me back so I land on the ground with a thud.
"Dad!" I say, tears falling down my face. "Please! It doesn't matter anymore!" I beg.
"It doesn't matter?! You don't fucking matter!" He screams, obviously blinded by rage.
My heart shatters at his harsh words.
"Dad!" A new voice yells. We both turn our heads to the voice and see Wheezie standing in the door way to the hallway, watching everything.
She runs off with tears in her eyes, clearly upset at what she just witnessed. Dad steps back from me and runs off after her, leaving me alone, on the ground and in tears. I pull my legs up to my chest and slowly unravel my emotions. My own sisters are more important to my dad then I ever will be. He cares more about Sarah having her first kiss, then when I come home with a black eye and a cut on my cheek. He's more concerned about if Wheezie has working aircon in her room then if I have clothes that fit me. He's more pissed about me smoking a tiny bit of weed then Rafe's cocaine addiction.
⋆
I'm laying in my bed with tear stained cheeks, sniffling every second or so, when I hear a familiar honk outside my window door. I poke my head out the window and see my friends smiling at me. I force a smile on my face and hold out three fingers signing that I'll be 3 minutes. They nod and I go back in to my room and grab my stuff, clean my face and leave, closing the door behind me.
"Hey!" I smile, forcing it again.
"Hey." JJ smiles, pulling into his chest and to the seat next to him.
⋆
"You mind if I just relax on this one?" JJ asks John B. "It's been a long day, and a lot of weird stuff's gone down. I'm just gonna lay low. Oh, did you want a hit of this?" JJ looks at Pope, holding his blunt out.
"I keep the signal clear." He rejects.
"Well I do." I say, snatching it out of his hand and taking a couple of hits whilst him and Pope argue for the fifth time today.
"Look I know I was wrong about the lighthouse, and practically everything else but I was right about on thing. My dad is trying to tell me something." He states, pulling in to the grave yard.
"Uh, ok. Not creepy at all." I cringe, getting out of the van. I grab a torch and follow after JB. "I hate this place." I say, creeped out. JJ grabs my hand and winks at me, smirking.
"I'll protect you."
"Sh. Come on." John B says. "You know how you're trying to remember a song and can't remember who sings it?"
"Yeah?" Kie says.
"So, Redfield. This whole time, I thought it was a place, right? But it's actually a person." He smile, standing in front of a large grave... capsule.
"Voi-effing-la." JJ says, impressed.
"See, my great-great-grandmother Olivia Redfield. That was her maiden name. Help me with the door. Come on." He says, pulling JJ and Pope with him.
They begin pushing their faces going red at the amount of strength they were using. "This is door is like 700 pounds man it's not gonna budge." Pope states stepping away from it in defeat.
A sudden hissing sound distracts the boys and we watch their faces drop as they back away quickly, revealing a large brown snake.
"That's a moccasin, all right. Ye ol' copper mouth. Death in tall grass." JJ says, before starting to bark.
"What JJ?" I smack his shoulder trying to get him to stop.
"You're gonna wake the freakin dead man." Pope stresses.
"What? They're afraid of dogs, everyone know that. Wait, hold on man, if there's one there's probably hundreds." He states, before continuing to bark.
"Ok, hundreds?" Pope says, looking at JJ as if he was stupid. "Shut up!" He pleads. "Look, John, we are not getting through there. It's not budging."
I shine my light up on to the tomb and spot a whole big enough so I can get through. "I can get through." I say, still looking at the hole.
"What? You think you can get through that hole?" John B asks.
"Yes. I just said that." I state. "Look, you deserve to know the truth. I'll do it. Come on." I rush, handing my torch to Pope.
"Hey, Jade. You don't have to. Ok?" John B says.
"I know." I say, watching JJ kneel down to create the form a chair.
"Ok, so what you're gonna do is put your foot there," JJ gestures to his hands "and then on the count of 3 lift yourself up, I've see it in movies all the time. Ready 3, 2- Oh ok, just go before 3." I push myself up and into the crack before crawling through to get on solid ground. Once my feet touch the ground, I breath in relief.
"Flashlight?" I yell, pushing my hand up.
"Here." Pope says, passing it through.
"Thanks." I say, looking around in the dusty old tomb.
"You alive? You got, like, a- a heartbeat and everything?" John B asks, paranoid. I ignore him and continue to look around.
"Jade?! Screw it, I'm going in." I hear JJ, rustle around.
"I'm fine!" I yell, causing the rustling to stop. "I'm alive."
I turn my body looking for anything that shouldn't be there and end up finding an envelope. "Holy shit." I whisper picking it up.
'For bird.'
It reads.
⋆
3255 words
Episode 2 done :)
Sorry it was late, lmao I just got on Easter break (All my Aussie and Europe friends) So I was stressing about school. But I can update regularly now!