𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗡𝗘
episode one
john b — much to the pogue's disappointment at the expectancy of something valuable — returned to the surface showcasing a motel key. And after failing to inform the coast guard due to the chaos of hurricane Agatha, collectively they decided to check out the motel. Pope was more difficult to convince, but AJ reassured him; "I'll bodyguard you." with a wink, which ultimately caused a roll of his eyes before following the others.
It wasn't exactly a lavish five star motel — no, it was more as if a drug addict was a building. The walls were dull and crumbling, infested with ivy intertwined with the cracks within the stone. Though the hurricane's aftermath may have contributed to its demolished exterior, even previously the building could be described as a 'meth lab' ( according to Kiara ). "And I thought the chateau looked bad." JJ whistled, unimpressed by the miserable motel.
"Don't shit talk the chateau." AJ complained, earning a glare from JJ in return. She considered the chateau her home. The luxurious, expensive, extremely spacious . . . shack, that John B's father proudly named accurately, earned AJ's affection as it became a way to avoid her problems. Several months ago, when she moved to the cut, she wished to escape from her past. As time passed by, it had seemed to slowly creep back up on her, and therefore the chateau became her safe haven. A place to crash and where John B kept all her favourite food. Her grandmother, in regards to sweet treats, only ever had cookies in her cupboards. So, JB's stock kept her sane. However she was aware the chateau didn't exactly live up to its name.
As the HMS Pogue drifted to the shore, JJ hopped off and anchored it down. AJ, buttoning her shirt over her, stepped off the boat beside him and glanced at the building — in complete wreck. Mattresses, lamps, nightstands and other bedroom furnitures were scattered around — stained and rotting. While moss infected the walls and floors, the roof tiles partially littered the ground. "Oh yeah. Definitely the kind of place some kook with a fancy-ass boat would stay." AJ commented as her eyes scanned the place.
"Hey." Pope caught the attention of them all, just as John B began to hop off the boat. "Don't let him do anything stupid." He looked between AJ and John B, pointing an accusing finger towards the defensive blonde.
"He's always stupid." AJ shrugged with furrowed brows, assuming it was common knowledge. John B swiftly knocked his shoulder into her, shoving her slightly to prevent any initiation of bickering. He was never particularly fond of their hatred for one another; AJ was practically his sister, and JJ was his best friend. He wished the two could get along, but AJ would swear on her grave that the day she enjoys the company of the messy blonde would be the day she had a hundred thousand dollars in her hands.
"We'll be good." John B reassured him, speaking over AJ's comment while JJ rolled his eyes at her, mocking her speech as he began to walk towards the motel. AJ followed, approaching the porch lined with dusty doors — some open with cleaners dragging wrecked furniture outside. From the distance, AJ could see John B talking to Kiara as she stood at the bottom of some stairs on the porch — JJ beside her, his glare stuck to her back.
Finally approaching them, John B rolled his eyes as he essentially entered the aura of the pairs created loathing. Just being around the two of them for longer than a few seconds and anybody would leave on account of the tension. John B just simply had the great misfortune of being their best friend. "Lets go, you two." John B gestured his hand up to the stairs, signalling them to begin walking.
Approaching the door, AJ in front of the boys who talked amongst themselves, she scanned each number until finally she saw the black print reading 229. As the boys caught up to her, John B glanced at the door. "This is it." He stated.
"Really?" AJ held a hand to her heart in false surprise, her eyes widening in shock. John B stared at her in disapproval, his face dropped of emotion. Scoffing, JJ moved to the door as he rolled his eyes and knocked. He spoke in a high pitch ( emasculating ) voice and said, 'housekeeping!', causing AJ to grimace in confusion. Upon no response, John B took the stolen key out from his pocket.
"We good?" John B questioned.
"Yeah. No power. No security cameras. Nobody's gonna know." JJ reassured him as he began to unlock the door. Walking inside the room, AJ wandered to the bed and sat down, gazing around the unimpressive room. It was rather small, the walls green and bare except for the singular art piece beside the door with chipped paint. "Well, aren't you helpful." JJ commented with a false smile, glancing at AJ who simply wandered her eyes around the room.
"I am helping." She responded, nodding her head. She didn't particularly desire to search through a mystery man's things, if anything she came to ensure John B didn't find trouble, as he often did. Despite her fairly rebellious behaviour, she remained protective of John B if he ever got into trouble without her supervision. She was comforted by the idea she could help him when he was in danger, if they encountered trouble together. Apart, she worried for his safety.
"By sitting there?" John B questioned, rummaging through a bag that was placed on the other bed. "Check that jacket over there, see if there's a name." He nodded in the direction to the black jacket thrown carelessly to the side. She stood from her seat and strolled to the clothing as JJ wandered to the nightstand and searched through the drawers. Turning over the neck, she glanced at the tags for any name to find nothing.
"No name." She informed them, turning to the cabinets beside her. She began looking around the scattered belongings on the top, sighing to find nothing interesting.
"Definitely over fifty. He's got new balances." John B dropped a shoe back into the mystery man's bag.
"Yo, come here." JJ called, noticing a sticky note of coordinates. "Maybe this is where they were fishing." Glancing at the numbers, and the map underneath, John B shook his head and informed him nobody fished in that area. Once again, finding nothing of importance causing AJ to sigh of boredom. JJ approached the bathroom, while John B lifted the map to glance underneath. Crouching to the floor, she swung opened the wooden cabinets carelessly, causing them to hit against the side.
"You find anything?" John B checked, losing faith in his lack of findings.
"A really awesome dopp kit you won't let me steal." JJ responded during his searching. The blonde was notoriously known to the pogues as a kleptomaniac, often taking things that weren't his. He was an excellent liar, which came as both a blessing and a curse.
What AJ, as she searched inside the cabinets, was expecting to be a continuation of absolutely nothing, swiftly surprised her. There stood, within the dusty cabinets of the dull motel room, a cold metal safe. An entry code was required to open it, immediately making AJ's brows lift in curiosity. "Didn't realise I was in a crime documentary." She commented, feeling like a police officer investigating a suspects suspicious motel room. It piqued her interest, more than the rest of the motel.
The boys' ears perked up at her voice, turning to see her crouched on the floor beside the safe. "Woah." John B replied, crouching beside her and begining to import random numbers into the keypad.
"Punching shit at random. That'll definitely work." JJ commented as he approached behind the pair. Assuming AJ's discovery would be nothing useful without a password, he returned to the coordinates on the nightstand. "I don't know about this second one — these coordinates . . ." Rambling to himself, attempting to figure out the numbers on the sticky note, John B furrowed his brows in a realisation. He stood from the floor and turned to the nightstand, ignoring JJ's theories. Grabbing a piece of paper from the table he had found underneath the map, he read the numbers 61666. Entering the combination, AJ stood closely beside him in anticipation.
Suddenly a light flashed green, and the door clicked. AJ flipped the lock in curiosity, and opened the door. Inside the small safe, much to the pairs' shock, lay an envelope, stacks of money, and a gun. AJ quirked a brow with a grin growing on her lips. "Holy shit." She said as she grabbed a stack from the safe. John B called JJ over, who excitedly noticed the handgun. Walking to the safe, he grabbed the weapon, holding it with a giddy smile. "JJ, put the fucking gun down, dumbass." It wasn't her first time in the presence of a gun — she had held one before, shot one even — however she knew not to flail it around like an idiot.
"Dude! This is a fucking spendy gatt, man." He smiled, showing off the gun, imitating the sounds of the shots as he turned around the room.
"Hey." John B spoke in a whisper shout, grabbing his shoulder to gain his attention. "We are not stealing anything. Put it back."
"Just take a pic of me. Right here."
"Take a pic of you? You wanna make our own incriminating evidence?" John B responded to his behaviour in a deadpan. And on any other occasion, AJ would have loved to photograph JJ's stupidity, however she knew her friend was right. As her mouth opened to make a remark on JJ's amusing lunacy, a sudden clank against the window caught their attention. "What was that?" John B questioned.
"Hopefully JJ's common sense coming back." AJ muttered as she walked towards the window and opened the blind slightly. Down on the ground level waved frantically Kiara and Pope, mouthing rushed words and pointing. John B, also looking at their warnings, swiftly moved to the window looking out to the front door, and his eyes widened.
"Cops."
Rushing away from the door, he returned to his friends. "Oh, shit, okay." JJ mumbled as he began to wedge open the window, ensuring to stuff the gun in his back pocket as he did so. Lifting it up, a panic set in AJ's eyes. She knew exactly what he was thinking, and she was most definitely not excited for it. John B climbed out first, waving his arm to hurry the other two, JJ already half way through the window.
"Seriously?" AJ whisper-yelled in disbelief, slightly hesitant to climb out.
"Fuck sake, what's wrong?" JJ whispered back, frustrated. Now on the other side, he awaited her to begin climbing — the sounds of the cops approaching the door bubbling an anxiety in her stomach.
"She's scared of heights." John B hurriedly informed the blonde, who seemed surprised. AJ immediately scolded him for saying anything, then took a deep breath as she attempted to accept what was to come. Slightly shaky in her hands, she shoved the money she had grabbed into her back pocket before grabbing onto the window and beginning to climb out.
( She didn't exactly intend to steal the money, it just so happened to be in her hand ).
Swiftly, and to AJ's confusion, JJ grabbed her arm to help support her as she came through the window. From around the corner, the three of them could hear a cop — who AJ quickly identified as Shoupe. "Kildare County Sheriff's Department." He informed, warning anybody inside. With a hasty shut of the window, soon after the door was unlocked upon no response. And JJ, in a quick motion that almost sent her flying off the small ledge they stood on, dragged AJ to the wall and pushed her against it.
In order to stay hidden and keep his balance, he stood closely and grabbed the pipe behind her. Her heart raced at the sudden jump, holding onto his arm to steady herself before realising how close they were. Immediately, her panicked expression dropped to irritation. "Move." She whisper-yelled.
"Shut up." He returned, putting a finger to his lips to signal her to be quiet as he carefully stepped slightly to the side. She managed to manoeuvre away from him, however quickly the panic settled back in. She hastily grabbed onto the pipe with a sharp gasp to prevent herself from falling forward as a hand, without warning, pulled her back and grounded her in her unsteady movement. "Calm down." JJ warned her, his hand remaining on her shoulder to keep her balanced.
AJ considered arguing back, but just as she opened her mouth, she heard a muffled Shoupe from inside. "I said it. Didn't I?" Turning to the window, she was just able to barely see Shoupe crouched by the cabinet, beside another cop. AJ could only assume it was Plumb, as she took the envelope to store into evidence. And just as she turned back around, he grabbed a stack of the money from the safe, holding it out to Plumb. "Everybody's gotta dip their beak, right?"
Slightly unsure, she hesitated. "R-right." There was a short pause before she ultimately grabbed the money from his hand. Shoupe then swiped a stack for himself, and continued on.
Where the three pogues watched in shock, JJ mumbled, "What the fuck?" Stumbling back slightly from his reach to see into the window, he fumbled and used his other hand to hold the wall. In doing so, the gun he had stored into his pocket was loudly knocked out, clattering obnoxiously onto the ground.
"Shit." AJ, with the loss of JJ's support for any kind of balance, grabbed his arm and backed up from the window as a haunting silence settled inside. Only a few moments passed before the blinds were yanked open, Shoupe's confused expression seen searching out the window. AJ pressed her body against the wall, trying to remain unseen and additionally keep calm while high up. Her fingertips pressed into JJ's arm, her heart beating heavily.
She'd never admit her fears, and as soon as she was able to stand on solid ground, she'd deny ever feeling scared in the first place. However, though it pained her to admit to herself, JJ was helping her.
"Alright, let's go." Shoupe came to the conclusion nobody was there, unable to see anyone other than Pope and Kiara who had previously ran back to the Pogue and awkwardly pretended to engage in conversation upon hearing JJ drop the gun.
A wave of relief washed over the three of them, as John B waited for the cops to leave the motel room before opening the window back up. John B climbed through first, then helped AJ who hurriedly stepped through. JJ followed soon after, and the minute the three of them were able to catch their breath, AJ spoke up. "Never make me do that again." She scolded the two boys before sighing, turning to the window beside the door and checking to see where the cops were.
"Didn't know you were scared of heights." JJ responded, finding it slightly amusing that a girl who never showed any emotions other than pessimism or reckless impulsivity was scared of something as miniscule as heights.
"Fuck off." She remarked as she stared out the window, watching Shoupe and Plumb enter their car. They eventually drove off, causing AJ to finally open the door. "Speak of this to anyone and I will cut off your genitals." She didn't turn to catch his smug smirk, she kept her gaze forward as she walked away - down the stairs and back to the Pogue.
Whatever it was that they had gotten themselves wrapped up in, if it involved the police and illegal means of investigation, the inevitability of their involvement was extremely high. Even AJ could admit this was intriguing. Destructive impulses were an inescapable fate for the pogues, they just had to hope that they could make it out alive.
AUTHORS NOTE
apologies for ghosting for a little while. but im back! re-watching obx gave me a lot of motivation so yay. anyhow, how did everyone enjoy the new season? :D