CHAPTER SIXTEEN
•••
It hit Collins all at once.
There had been a slight delay, but in the end, Collins felt the high wash over her like high tide and she was suddenly swallowed whole. It felt like everything was all sunshine and rainbows, every problem that had ever been weighing on her dissipated into a flume of smoke and was lifted off her. It was incredible, it was euphoric, it was everything Collins had never imagined was even possible to feel in her whole entire life.
It was also the last thing that Kie and Sarah probably needed to deal with that night.
"Oh my God, guys!" Collins gasped out of the blue, startling the two girls by the panic in her voice.
"What, Collins?" Kie asked, panicked, looking around but seeing nothing but darkness around them since the sun had set. Usually she found the sound of ocean waves calming, but knowing that she was stuck on this vessel until morning with her ex-best friend made her antsy with anticipation for blessed freedom. On top of that, suddenly having to babysit a stoned Collins whose virgin lungs had never experienced cannabis before wasn't at the top of her list of how she would've liked to spend her night but she was the one who told her to do it, so what could she do?
"We forgot to get the plugs from JJ! We're stuck here now. Stranded! Adrift!" Collins exclaimed with wide eyes, apparently sustaining some memory loss from the THC. Kie and Sarah simultaneously threw their heads back and released concurrent sighs.
"JJ took the plugs on purpose, remember Collins? We're supposed to be stranded here." Sarah explained with simple words for her better understanding.
There was a brief moment of pause from the brown haired girl as her eyes moved around like she was in deep thought, even though how they came to end up where they were was as shallow as a kiddie pool. "Ohhh, you're right. I'm supposed to be the buffer. Have I been doing a good job?"
Her complete and utter innocence in that instance was what kept Kie and Sarah from expressing any sort of frustration with her. She couldn't help that she was stoned out of her mind and didn't know any better. She wasn't the one who left them stuck together and forced to address their conflicts with each other. Being snippy with her wouldn't make a difference anyway, nothing was going to spoil her high.
"Yeah." Kie answered with tight lips. "You're doing great." They hadn't physically assaulted one another so that was a success? Little victories.
A wide smile stretched across Collins's face in pure joy. "Yayyy, that makes me so happy!" Weak smiles reached Kie and Sarah's face at how effortlessly her delight had come. Each girl was equally taken aback when an arm was thrown around the shoulders and Collins was pulling them towards her into hugs that were damn near close to chokeholds around their necks. "Isn't this so nice? I've always wanted girl friends. Not like- girl friends as in girlfriends, but like, girls that are friends, you know?"
Wrenching Collins's arm away from her to allow her the breathing space she needed, Kie managed to send her a stiff nod in response. "Sure, Collins." Although, she didn't really know, because her best friends were mainly boys and Sarah being her only prior girl friend had been reason enough to steer her away from any more. Collins was the exception.
"I just, it's always been hard for me to make friends. I've always been too quiet, or too weird so no one's ever invited me to a sleepover before." Collins swallowed dryly, but didn't let the lack of moisture in her mouth bother her one bit. Instead, she continued with her confession while holding the two other girls close to her like they were her closest confidants. Nevermind that Sarah was practically a total stranger to her and Kie wasn't really good with sharing feelings, Collins was getting personal. "Girls could be so mean sometimes. They used to leave me out on purpose because they said my dad smelled bad like old beer, therefore so did I. It wasn't my fault that he liked to drink and that he sometimes drank too much. But maybe I did smell bad because I lived with him, but they still treated me the same after he was gone."
Collins didn't even notice that Sarah had brought her hand up to hold hers, and was grasping it firmly in commiseration for the girl. Kie remained quiet as memories of her own isolation from classmates at the Kook academy crossed her mind. She glanced inconspicuosly up at Sarah, who had been her only source of consolation at the time when she'd felt her most alone, the only one who'd save the turtles with her out of anyone at that stupid school.
Perking up, Collins brushed off any ill feelings of sadness and tried to fall back into her happy demeanor that the weed in her system insisted she stay on track of. "But you guys, I feel like I can tell you guys anything. Like, how scared I am of failing and letting Charlie down after everything he's done for me. Or that I secretly love hot dogs and they're probably my favorite food even though they're made out of all the gross parts of the animal that no one wants. I also think I can tell you guys that I feel like I'm falling for JJ Maybank way too hard, and way too fast for a normal human being, and I don't even feel remotely bad about it. You guys are just so easy to talk to. I didn't think I'd know how to handle tonight on my own but I'm glad I did it." Collins drew in a long breath after her word vomit, and she sank into the side of the boat like it had exhausted her.
A few beats passed of Kie and Sarah just waiting for Collins to get out anything else that was on her mind. It seemed like this was exactly what she needed, so they didn't want to ruin it by interrupting her too soon. When Collins made no attempt to start up again, Kie took the initiative to wrap her arms around Collins and hold her tightly.
"You can tell us anything, Collins. Anything you want. Literally, fuck those girls. We're your friends now."
A small giggle escaped Collins's lips and she couldn't help but grin as she muttered, "Fuck," like she was testing the word out. She never swore, like, ever.
Shared laughter began to resonate amongst the group at the sound of Collins's curse, which sounded so strange coming from her that it was hard not to laugh at all. Collins clamped a hand over her mouth like she couldn't believe she had said it herself, while Kie and Sarah just shook their heads at her and felt themselves laugh harder with each time they replayed Collins's voice in their heads, swearing like a child repeating their parent's words.
Who knows if anything that Kie said actually made it through to her. As far as Kie knew, the only word that Collins heard was the word 'fuck' and there was something so amusing about that.
"If it's any consolation, I think you smell like coconuts and lavender, which are probably two of my favorite smells on earth." Sarah smiled sincerely at her before a devious look over took her facial expression. "But what Kie said, fuck those girls."
As the air filled with laughter once again, Collins turned to look up at the blackened sky and yelled as loud as she could, "Fuck!"
And like a pack of wolves howling to the moon, each girl fell into a slew of F-bombs that they could feel reverberate in their lungs and die with an ache in their throats. It was a dig at the universe. Fuck the world for the existence of mean girls. Fuck the world for shitty parents. Fuck the world for poverty and global warming. Pretty much just a big fuck you to people and the calamity they were responsible for.
But also, fuck yes for the good ones. The ones who stood by your side when you were faced with villains. The ones who hold your hand while a storm rages around you to keep you company. The ones who listen when all the thoughts that have been plaguing your mind suddenly spill out like a torrent.
Collins felt lucky that she had found the latter.
"You guys are friends now, right?" Collins asked, looking between Kie and Sarah after they'd recovered from their uproar. "We're all friends?"
There was silence and hesitancy at the root of both girls who looked at each other with an unsureness. Sarah had shared her story. She'd bared her fears and she'd extended at the very least a twig of the olive branch. But she couldn't put the past in the past until Kie gave her some leeway and made an effort of her own to salvage their broken friendship.
"Promise me that you won't bail on John B." Kie said first, a serious expression on her face. This may be the most important thing she ever did when it came to protecting her current best friend from an old one. What kind of person would Kie be if she left John B vulnerable to Sarah's nature of habit to push away the people who care about her? Especially after Sarah had openly admitted to it; was her confession her way of self actualization and path to growth or was it an empty excuse for her actions? Now was the time for her to decide. "He's not just some other guy. And he really, really, likes you."
Staring over at her, Sarah slowly started to shake her head. "I won't. I promise." Her voice was unwavering. There was a certain sense of dependability behind her words that made what she said sound truthful and genuine.
Because of that, Kie accepted her promise and tucked it away for safe keeping. With Collins as their witness, they were going to make sure that Sarah stood by her word.
As each girl felt the clutches of sleep tugging on them to fall into its embrace, they all laid down on the deck of the boat with blankets and pillows tucking them in nicely. No one said anything for a long time, and Collins couldn't help but feel giddy because it felt just like what she thought a slumber party would be. Their makeshift sleeping bags, the swapping of secrets, and pinky promises made in the darkness were all attributed to the sleepovers she used to wish to be a part of. And now, here she was experiencing it with two girls she would've never in a million years would think to be sharing this night with, yet couldn't imagine being anyone else.
Once they had all been settled in and it had gone silent like everyone had fallen asleep, Kie's voice interrupted them and stirred them awake just in time before REM sleep had engaged. "Hey Sarah, I'm sorry I called the cops."
If they could see each other's faces in the darkness, Collins's face would be showing one of complete and utter disbelief at Kie's revelation. Sarah on the other hand, she looked at Kie and felt the corners of her lips pull up to flash a knowing grin. "I knew it. I knew it, you bitch! I told you!" Despite how inflamed her words seemed, the way they were delivered didn't give off any sense that she was actually angry with the girl.
And instead of a banter of bickers spilling out from the two girls, it was amused laughter once again, leading Collins to believe that whatever it was that Ricky did with his weed, he might want to consider marketing it to couple's therapists or something because that stuff worked wonders.
"You should've invited me!" Kie protested in her defense.
"So you called the cops?"
"Ugh, you both were such little backstabbers." Collins scoffed, a sneaky smirk on her face while she said it before she felt two hands on both sides of her shove her and sharp gasps cut through the air.
"You're so rude, Collins!"
"It was one time!"
Collins clutched her stomach which ached from all the laughter she'd been subjected to all thorughout that night. She couldn't think of a time when she'd ever found so many things so funny in such a short span of time. Maybe that was in large part thanks to the weed, but Collins would've preferred to just believe that this was a part of the joys that came with friendship-- sore abs as a result of having too much fun.
She wished she'd remembered to tell them how grateful she was to have them in her life. They were the first girls that she'd ever become friends with and that meant a lot. She just wanted them to know that she appreciated them, and she didn't know what she would've done if they hadn't been able to resolve their issues. But to be fair, she'd forced them to ride her own emotional rollercoaster that was truly so unnecessary and only added to all the drama, so it was okay if she didn't add on to it by being all sappy again.
When the morning came, Collins was bouncing with excitement. She couldn't wait to tell JJ that the plan had worked! Granted, it wasn't like she had anticipated it's success as she'd displayed quite a bit of apprehension towards the whole thing in the beginning and was sure that she would've seen him sooner because the boat had sank or something totally preposterous like that. Nonetheless, she was eager to let him know that his idea wasn't so bad after all and she was glad he included her in on it. She was now closer to Kie and Sarah than ever before and could now call them some of her closest friends. He kind of deserved an expression of gratitude from her.
However, Kie and Sarah weren't going to be so pleasant when the boys finally faced them after the stunt they pulled. They were determined to be as unforgiving as they possibly could and were already in the works of plotting their revenge.
Sitting on the ledge of the boat with their legs dangling over the side, the three girls watched as the HMS Pogue came rolling in towards them, blocking their view of the sunrise. "Uh-oh! You guys forget your keys or something? Need a tow?"
"Don't give them the satisfaction in thinking this worked." Kie muttered to Collins and Sarah with an unamused look on her face.
"Absolutely not." Sarah replied in agreement, the two exchanging small smirks with each other before wiping their expressions clean before the boys could get a closer look. "That goes for you, too, Collins. Us girls need to stand in solidarity."
Collins gave a slight roll of her eyes, but obliged to the girls' wishes nonetheless. She was just going to sit there, and be quiet; let them hold their grudge. She knew how well this plan had worked and it had also worked incredibly in her favor, so she could at least play along with them a little bit. The boys didn't need the ego boost anyways.
"You gotta admit, it was kinda funny." John B told them with a teasing grin.
"John B, mastermind, huh?"
Holding his hand out to gesture behind him, John B said, "I actually have to hand some of the credit to JJ, here. You know us, we're always planning, always scheming."
"That is some patriarchal bullshit." Kie spat, clenching her jaw tightly.
"Yeah, that sucked." Sarah added.
Collins was taken offguard by the rope that was being tossed at her, but she caught it with little difficulty and looked up to meet JJ's eyes which she was only slightly disappointed were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. It was for the best anyways, those baby blues could've broken her in a second. "How 'bout you, Colls? You still love us, right?"
Looking away as she tried to hide the grin that was fighting it way onto her face, Collins managed to force a coy shrug. "Not any more, but maybe a little less." If Kie and Sarah weren't there, Collins would've probably attacked JJ with a hug at the first chance she got and told him everything that happened (with the omission of certain details of course), and then just force him to not say anything about it. She could tear through her skin with her own fingernails from how badly she wanted to tell him how well things went.
Clutching his chest in hurt, JJ sucked in a sharp breath at her remark. "Don't go breaking my heart now, Collins, otherwise you're gonna have to kiss it better."
Looking around in embarrassment, Collins felt Kie and Sarah's equally speechless gazes before they simply just raised their brows and turned away with small smirks on their lips. Jumping down onto the boat, Collins landed in front of JJ with a balky pout which was only reflected by an entertained grin on JJ's end. "You have no clue how extremely lucky you are today." She told him, only between the two of them.
"I can think of one or three ways in which I could be significantly luckier." JJ said with a pensive look on his face.
While Collins stared JJ down and shook her head at him in playful disappointment, the rest of the crew were still exchanging their own discontents with each other. "You still hate me?" John B asked, raising his brows at Sarah.
The blonde girl crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "A little. We're gonna get you guys back when you least expect it."
"Watch your back, boys." Kie chimed in.
"Well, I for one, welcome that challenge." Pope stated, unfazed by their threat. "So did you guys... you know?"
"Reconcile our differences?" Each girl looked at each before they furiously shook their heads. "Not even close."
Then holding her finger up, Collins interjected, "But they're... willing to work together?" The two girls decidedly nodded in agreement, being as nonchalant about it as they possibly could.
"You know what? That's victory." JJ deducted, before he and Pope both turned to each other and began their little handshake.
"Wiggedy-wiggedy-wiggedy!"
Sifting through all the commotion going on, John B began to go back to what was really important. "All right guys, shut up now." His expression was serious but in an instant, it switched to pure mischief. "You guys ready to jack some loot?"
Within seconds, the whole boat was rocking with excited jumps and the ocean waves were drowned out by their whoops and hollers that couldn't be subdued by any splash or tide. Collins felt that in that instance, it wasn't just the girls that were apart of a pack, it was the boys too, and when night fell, they would be too busy finding lost treasure to howl to the moon.
•••
Later that night, they filed out of the Twinkie dressed like shadows. Beneath the canopy of the trees and the dimness of clouds overcrowding the moon, one would have to squint very hard in order to see the band of Pogues slinking over the fence towards the Crain house. Collins landed light as feather on her feet as she dropped down to the ground, crouching low behind the bushes as they approached the property further up close. The plan was to get in the same way they had when they'd crossed onto the property the first time; through the cellar doors, into the basement, down the well. Simple as that.
There could very well be a treasure trove awaiting them inside. Amidst all of the potential malevolence that had transpired within the walls of that home, there was still a chance for something truly remarkable to come from it. The gold could be in their hands within hours, their whole lives could be changed in an instance.
At least it could if they can get past the motion-detecting porch lights that just flicked on.
Ducking for cover and scrambling to turn off their flashlights, the Pogues each felt a surge of panic flush over them. Facing each other in one small circle, it went without saying that they were going to need to regroup and rethink their next steps because this wasn't going to be as easy as they thought.
"Okay, so she has motion sensor lights." Pope whispered carefully.
"We could, uh, move really slowly, maybe?" JJ proposed, just to be met with a couple of dubious glances
"Yeah, that's not how it works."
"Oh shit, let's throw a rock at it." John B piped up afterwards, an optimistic glint in his eyes as he said it.
"Don't be volunteering Mr. Mathlete, here." Kie deadpanned, nudging Pope on the shoulder. He scowled at her in response.
"Yeah, and that's a really good idea, letting the axe murderer know we're here. We might as well ring the doorbell."
John B threw his hands up in exasperation. "Okay, you guys have a better idea?"
"What about the breaker?" Sarah suddenly offered. They all looked to her for further elaboration. "There's a circuit box on the porch. We used to play hide and seek here as kids. And if we were brave enough, we'd go all the way up onto the porch. I've seen it."
Immediately, John B began shaking his head. "No, you're not going in the house alone."
"Watch me." Sarah scoffed softly.
"She doesn't have to go alone either, there's six of us here, I can just go with her." Collins suggested, glancing over at Sarah who nodded affirmatively. "And like she said, it's just on the porch. It's not technically in the house."
"Crain chops people into pieces." JJ pointed out bluntly. "There is no way in hell that you are stepping foot anywhere near that old bat."
"You just stated the exact reason why we shouldn't be scared. She's gotta be what, now, 85? She's barely still kicking." Sarah shrugged.
Staring at Collins dead in the eyes, JJ said more firmly, "No way." He preferred his dream girl to not be in several different pieces at the hands of an alleged murderer. Just his personal preference.
"Look, I'll go, too, if it makes everyone feel better." Kie said with a huff. "Power in numbers."
With Kie, Sarah, and Collins all together- an even split between the boys and girls, there was nothing more to debate. They were going. Although, it wasn't without reluctance and fear that still clouded their minds of things taking a horrible turn for the worse. It was what needed to be done; leaving empty handed was not an option.
As the girls carefully started sneaking away to get on with their end of the plan, JJ caught Collins's wrist to exchange a few more words just between the two of them. "Hey," he whispered, looking her deep in the eyes, "be careful in there, okay?"
Smiling softly back at him with an affectionate flutter in her chest, Collins responded with a shake of her head. "I'll do my best."
She slowly began to pull away, causing JJ's hand to slip into hers. He squeezed it tightly, one last time before she left. There were tingles in Collins's fingers at the touch. Once the girls had disappeared into the shadows and bushes, the boys were left on their own. John B and Sarah had their own exchange, similar to JJ and Collins's, opening up the opportunity for Pope to start cracking jokes to poke fun at his whiplashed friends.
Placing a hand on each of their shoulders, he whispered sultrily, "Be so safe for me."
JJ shook his hand off him with a grumble, while John B glared at him and said, "I'm gonna kill you."
"But how would that keep us safe?"
"Sorry if I don't want the girl that I'm into, getting sliced and diced by a bag of bones." JJ retorted, shifting his feet while in a deep squat behind the bush that was currently sitting in front of him. He craned his neck to try and look over the leaves and twigs to catch a glimpse of the girls on their way up to the dreaded porch. No such luck in such darkness.
Prodding JJ on the arm, John B nodded at him and asked, "What's the status between you two anyways? Are you guys on exclusive terms yet, just playing around, or what?" It felt like they'd been dancing around the subject for so long. He and Sarah had moved in on each other quicker than the amount of time Collins and JJ had even starting hanging out. They were due to get together already.
JJ shook his head. That was the fucking question, now wasn't it? If only he had the answer to that himself. "I'm working on it, okay? All good things come to those who wait, however, that does not take into account that she'd be risking her life going into a psycho killer's house." JJ was clearly not going to get over this until the girls were back in their vicinity, safe and sound.
"Maybe you should take this as a sign that life's too short to dilly-dally around and finally just settle down." Pope advised, with a small shrug.
JJ didn't say anything. Annoyingly, he kinda thought that Pope was right in the point he made, as per usual. Very rarely was his friend ever not the voice of reason in his head telling him what might be best. And maybe he was also just tired of this game of cat and mouse between him and Collins. He needed some clarity more than anything to finally work out this situationship.
Meanwhile, as the boys are conversing about JJ's female affairs, the girls are tending to actual business as they sneak up to the side of the house to approach the dusty old porch where the supposed circuit box was located.
Following Sarah's lead, the girls stepped onto the porch, careful not to make any creaking sounds under their footsteps that could draw attention to themselves. Holding the flashlight beam over the box while Kie carefully pried the metal lid open, the three girls were equally thrown off by the mess of wires contained inside.
"Where are the breakers?" Kie hissed, furrowing her brows in confusion. Sarah had a similar bewildered look in her eyes as she stared at the box that she was once so sure would solve their problem.
Tracing the lead stemming from the top of the box, all the way to the ceiling and into the wall, Collins pointed up to it to answer their questions. "It's inside." She answered begrudgingly.
"Shit."
Exchanging uneasy glances, they all knew in their heads that they couldn't back out now. Like it or not, this was now their weight of the plan and they had to hold it if they wanted to see this thing through. No way were they going back to the boys and admitting defeat.
Tiptoing over to the back door, Kie slowly pulled back the screen door and Sarah held it open while Kie moved to the second door. Looking back at them, Kie hesitated while she had her hand on the doorhandle, before she gradually started to turn it. It felt like Collins had been holding her breath longer than she actually had in the time that it took for Kie to turn the handle until it couldn't turn anymore, so she gently pushed in and they realized that it had been left unlocked.
Nothing like the threat of being a homicidal homeowner to deter burglars. The woman probably never saw the need to lock her doors, simply expecting that no one would be daring enough to ever break in.
As they all began to step inside, one by one, all Collins could think about was what she thought a killer's house was supposed to look like. Basically, she expected there would be axe murder periphernalia scattered all around the house; lumberjack magazines, murder mysteries of the top ten most lucrative serial killers, random news clippings of her work kept as trophies, and of course, a well-stocked collection of axe variations to choose from whenever an itch needed to be scratched.
But maybe she was being a bit overdramatic, because that's not at all what this house looked like. Overall, it was pretty normal. The clutter didn't appear to contain indicators for the residence of a crazed killer, more so of just an old woman unable to keep up with the mess. And the only thing that was really creepy about the place were the old tiny figurines depicting biblical figures that made the eyes look too wide and the mouths look like they were screaming instead of smiling.
Collins quickly pointed her flashlight away from them so she didn't have to look at their tiny little faces anymore, but their gazes still burned at the back her head while she crept behind Sarah to follow the wires attached to the ceiling. They turned the corner and Kie immediately turned towards them with an excited smile on her face.
Their flashlight beam landed on the breaker box they'd been searching for. Kie eagerly starting flipping switches, testing one after another until they finally saw the porch light from outside the window go dark.
They each shared quiet high-fives with each other in accomplishment.
"What now?" Collins asked, barely above a whisper because she already felt like breathing was loud enough in that house. It hadn't quite hit her yet that they were breaking and entering. Not to mention that her saving grace before had been that they weren't actually going into the house, thus there was no need to worry about dear old Mrs. Crain. Breaking the law was already bad enough, breaking into a supposed axe murderer's house was so much worse.
"Maybe we--" Sarah's sentence was cut off by the loud chime of a clock striking midnight from the next room over. It rang so loudly throughout the house that they were sure that it would wake it's owner up. They froze in place and didn't dare move a muscle.
With keen ears, they waited for any shuffling or footsteps to indicate that someone was awake in the house. A part of Collins thought to herself that if that clock was set to always chime at night, then Mrs. Crain's brain would have to be so used to it that she wouldn't wake up at the sound of it, it would just be overlooked as unalarming. That would mean then that they wouldn't have to be so afraid of her being woken up. However, it would be more relaxing if they weren't in such a vulnerable position.
Suddenly, the sound of thumping was heard in the near distance within the house. Collins instinctively grabbed Kie by the hand and squeezed it tightly, while Sarah grabbed her by the arm and linked hers around it to hold her close. She was trembling with fear, listening closely to what sounded like coarse wheezing and wet coughs that gradually seemed to get closer and closer with each thump and drag of slippers across the floor.
'What do we do?' Kie mouthed to the two of them, but they were equally at a loss. Someone was coming downstairs and they were sitting ducks, hiding in plain site. Collins felt her heartbeat in her chest thumping louder and faster with each thump and footstep that drew nearer.
"It's--it's late, Leon." A raspy voice spoke from the darkness. "Too late."
With her other hand, Collins clamped it over her mouth to muffle her breathing; she didn't trust herself enough to control it if she didn't. Pressing herself as tightly as she could against the wall, wedged between Kie and Sarah in the corner, they each stood as still as they possibly could as a figure limped into view.
Although she was right in front of them, Mrs. Crain remained facing forward, as though she hadn't noticed them right there next to her. "I can hear you, Leon." She said menacingly, dragging what looked to be a fire poker at her side. "I've been waiting all night!"
In a split second as the words left her mouth, Mrs. Crain whipped her body to face them, the beam of Sarah's flashlight falling onto her to reveal the most terrifying snarl. There was no time to examine it as the girls were frightened out of their frozen fear and were scrambling to get away.
They spilled out into the living room and in the chaos of things, each girl had gone different ways while the woman of the house yelled crazily behind them. Collins ducked under the narrow table that had been holding those freaky little figurines that had spooked her out earlier, and tucked her knees tightly against her chest while she hid herself in the shadow.
She didn't know where Sarah and Kie had gone but Collins suddenly wished she'd had the sense of mind to stick with at least one of them so they could guide her on what to do in this situation. She could hear the angry stomps of Mrs. Crain in the other room and her terrifying screeches while she screamed her late husband's name, which made the blood in Collins' veins run ice cold.
She couldn't just sit there forever. And it wasn't like she wanted to either because literally any other place in the world sounded better than staying in that house for another minute longer. This woman was clearly deranged; she was yelling at a dead man who wasn't even there and swinging a fire poker like she's up to bat. Collins knew that it was only a matter of time before this woman found her and she couldn't just sit around and wait for that to happen.
A couple of extra loud thumps sounded from the next room over, Mrs. Crain's shrieks were distinguishable on top of what also seemed to be grunts from Kie or Sarah, which one, Collins couldn't be sure. The only way to find out was to see for herself and it was somehow so easy for Collins to come out from hiding with the sudden instinct to protect her friends locking in. She couldn't let that psycho hurt anyone.
Following the noises behind a door to reveal Mrs. Crain haphazardly swinging the fire poker at Kie, Collins immediately tried jumping into action to try and disarm the woman. The task proved to be difficult in the way that the old woman flailed her arms around and spun in every direction, inhibiting Collins' ability to get a grip on the weapon to wrench it out of her grasp.
In an attempt to dodge a swing, Collins cried out in pain as the length of the poker clubbed her across the stomach, nearly knocking the wind out of her. Within milliseconds, Sarah was coming out of her peripheral view and snatching the weapon with both hands, twisting it out of the woman's grip and throwing it down on the floor so that it slid across the room and out of sight and reach.
"Come on!" The blonde girl exclaimed, hoisting Kie up onto her feet from where she'd be cornered against the wall. Collins didn't know whose hand had grabbed hers, but she was promptly pulled with them and left stumbling behind the group.
They ran to the other room and immediately shut the door behind them, locking it securely. With panting breaths, they had just been about to question their security when a splinter was inflicted on the door. It had come right in between Sarah and Kie, any further right and Sarah might not have had an eye to take home.
"Holy shit." Collins swore before her feet were scrambling to follow after the other two girls as they abandoned ship.
"This way! It goes underneath the house!" Kie informed them, leading the way down a set of dark stairs.
Once at the bottom, they entered the cellar and stopped in front of Pope and JJ, who were holding onto the rope that was used to lower John B into the well. "Woah, what's going on?" Pope questioned puzzedly, looking between each of the girls for an explaination.
"Mrs. Crain! She's up there, she tried to kill us with a fire poker." Kie panted while Sarah was doubled over her knees. "We locked her in the parlor but we gotta go."
Without any sense of hesitancy whatsoever, JJ nodded affirmatively and said, "Okay, that's a code red. Hey, John B, get back on, man!" He yelled down the well.
The echo of John B yelling something indiscernible back floated up from the depths of the well. They all exchanged confused glances, before Pope shouted, "John B, get back on the rope. We're gonna pull you up, okay?"
They didn't wait for any sort of response before they were each grabbing ahold of the rope, pulling once they felt the weight of John B's body on the other end. Collins was standing in front of JJ, her shoes digging into the dirt floor for traction as they collectively worked to pull John B out of the well.
It felt like they had been making a fair amount of progress when suddenly, a loud blast made Collins' ears start ringing and an explosion of rubble from the chunk of brick- that had been decimated by what could only be deducted as a shotgun round-- flew into the air and pieces of the rubble hit her face.
Almost instantly, Collins felt like she was being tackled to the ground, so her first instinct was to start fighting off Mrs. Crain in case the old bat started biting or something insane like that.
"Collins! Stop fighting me and get your ass down on the ground before you get shot." JJ's voice spoke in her ear, ceasing all efforts against him that she'd displayed earlier. He had his arms secured tightly around her waist and was holding her behind a support beam for cover. Her back was pressed firmly against his chest as he shielded her from harm.
"She can't aim for shit." Kie's voice spoke from somewhere in the basement.
"She can't see." Sarah then stated in realization. "She's blind."
Sure enough, as Collins peeked out from behind their hiding place, she could see the light catch Mrs. Crain's face and the glassy blue glow in her eyes was uncanny of the eyes one would see in a blind person.
Then, within mere seconds, another shot was fired in the small room barely missing Sarah and Kie as they fled from hiding. Their screams filled the air as they made their escape, running without care of sneaking around, their only concern being to get the hell out of there. And without another moment to waste, Mrs. Crain fired off another shot, this time a lot closer to where JJ, Collins, and Pope had been hunched over.
The split-second flash and rattling of wood splitting and dirt being kicked up was enough to scare the rest of them off as JJ yelled, "I don't care if she is blind, that's a buckshot!"
Taking her by the hand, JJ dragged Collins with him as they scurried out the way they'd snuck in the first time, ducking under pipes and squeezing past the clutter until they were out in the open. Making their way through the unkempt landscaping, JJ threw himself over the tall stone wall before hoisting Collins up with him. They simultaneously dropped down onto the other side and made a beeline for the Twinkie parked on the side of the road where they'd left it.
JJ slid into the driver's seat while Collins took passenger, and the engine rumbled to life. As the van started to roll into motion, Sarah, Pope, and Kie were in the back, holding the door open while Pope stuck his arm out. "John B!" He yelled.
John B sprinted to keep up with the van, panting before he was finally able to grab Pope's hand so he could pull him inside. He quickly came falling into the back, slumping against the back of Collins' seat breathlessly from the adrenaline of fleeing from a shotgun weilding axe murderer, and chasing his getaway car. Peering back at him, Collins wrinkled her nose at John B's current state: covered completely head to toe in filth and wreaking of it, too.
"Is everyone good?" Each teen checked themselves and as far as they were aware, no one had a bullet wound on them.
They were all buzzing with relief and disbelief that they had actually made it out alive. "All-time Pogue Hall of Fame, baby." JJ remarked with a whoop.
"Hell yeah." Kie agreed, slapping him on the shoulder before turning to everyone. "That bitch is possessed."
"That bitch can't aim!" Sarah added.
"That bitch had a freaking swing on her!" Collins chimed in, laughing before she felt the soreness in her abdomen from where Mrs. Crain's fire poker had struck her, protest to her amusement.
All the while, as they had been buzzing about the previous events, John B had been uncharacteristically quiet in the back. He'd been too fixated on the mud-caked bar in his hand, which he cleaned away at the surface with his thumb at, to reveal a golden sheen and an impression of a bundle of wheat.
"No you didn't." Sarah's voice had spoken first as her eyes landed on the object in John B's hand. "No you didn't!" She repeated.
Kie and Pope's eyes widened at the sight, and as Collins and JJ turned in their seats to catch a glimpse from the front, their gazes caught the shiny glint of a gold bar and smiles immediately took over both of their faces.
"Oh my God!" JJ screamed, "Oh my God!"
"We did it, babyyy!" John B howled.
Collins jumped in her seat and cheered ecstatically, her whole body alight with exuberance. They actually did it. They found the gold. With one of his hand's still on the wheel, Collins grabbed JJ by the other and held it victoriously in her own, squeezing it so hard that she couldn't even feel that he was squeezing it even harder. They beamed at each other with eyes alight with excitement.
"Guys, we're gonna be rich." Kie deducted, turning incredulously to each of them.
Mischeivous grins spread across each of their faces, bouncing in their seats before they all began to chant the words, "Full-Kook, full-Kook, full-Kook!"
And for a couple of misfit teenagers, that very well was going to be their reality.