"was it everything
you wanted to find?"
THAT NIGHT, THE SEVEN TEENS SAT in the twinkie, counting supplies that they would need in order to hopefully find the gold they all longed for in the basement of Mrs. Crain.
Red sat in the back crammed in between Kie and Pope as she checked things off of her checklist on her lap.
“You got rope?” Asked John B from the front seat of the Twinkie, still paying close attention to the road.
Red looked over at JJ who held up the rope secured in his hand, “Roger.” He smiled. “Grappling hook?”
“Sadly, we're not batman.” Bennie sighed with a grin. “Or… batwoman. Bat people? I don’t know… I’m not good at geometry.”
“Okay…” Pope sighed at the girl's stupidity.
“I wish we were batman.” JJ voiced.
“Pulley?” Checked Pope, pointing at the checklist resting on the girl beside him’s lap.
“Check,” Kie replied.
“Dark clothes?” Asked John B again.
“Dark clothes…” Red looked around the twinkie to find her friends mostly dressed in black. Bennie had been wearing the same black appearance as when they snuck into the graveyard days prior. “And style. Double check.”
“Okay, what about flashlights?”
Bennie grinned, pulling her backpack closer to her, “On it.” She opened the backpack resulting in dozens of flashlights spilling out, gaining quite a reaction from the others in the car.
“Why do you have so many flashlights?” Questioned Kie, also finding the matter funny.
“Honestly… I don’t know. Ask Top.”
John B parked the packed twinkie as best as he could before getting out and blocking the open door Red was about to climb out of.
“Alright good.” He clapped, getting in the way of the girl. “Wait, wait, wait. I want to say thank you, guys. Seriously… it means a lot that you’re all here tonight.”
“Always.” Red smiled, resting her hand on a comfortable spot on JB’s shoulder.
“Of course man.”
“Ladies first.” JB quoted, helping Red get out of the van.
Red took the boy’s hand with a sarcastic smile. “Why thank you.”
The two began walking side by side, Red’s hand still holding John B’s without noticing.
“Alright, are we done with the circle jerk?” Asked JJ, his eyes glued between his best friend and girlfriend who seemed pretty comfortable with the hand-holding. JJ took Red’s hand out of JB’s and placed it in his own. “Can we do this now?”
“Yeah.” John B sighed, mouthing a small ‘sorry’ to JJ which he brushed off.
The teens began approaching a fence that Pope came to a halt in front of. “Let’s go get that wheat in the water!”
“Ooo! Weed?” JJ voiced stupidly. “I’m up for weed.”
Bennie groaned, approaching the other side of JJ which was unoccupied by Red. “Wheat. He said Wheat.” She corrected. “Repeat after me. Wheat.”
“Weed.” The boy retorted, causing Red to squeeze his hand tighter and let out a small chuckle.
Red hopped the fence followed by JJ and everyone else and soon enough they were all hopped over the tall fence.
The group made their way over to the bushes between various ‘ow’, ‘crap’, ‘sh’, and ‘shut up’s.
They all knelt down by the bushed they were not crowded behind before whisper-yelling at JJ to turn his flashlight off, which he seemed to be fumbling with.
“JJ, flashlight!” Red repeated, gaining a glare from her boyfriend.
“It’s not my fault Bennie gave me the whacked one!”
“Oh, so it’s my fault?” Bennie asked in annoyance, JJ nodding rapidly at her response. “Okay, right.”
As soon as JJ was finally able to get the flashlight off, Kie finally spoke business. “Okay, it looks like she has motion-censored lights.”
JJ nodded slowly. “We could maybe… uh… move very slowly?”
“What?” Bennie whisper-yelled at the boy beside her.
“That’s not how it works,” Pope added, face-palming at the boy.
Red gasped, an idea forming in her head. “We could throw a rock at it?”
“That’s a really good idea, Red.” John b teased, his voice filled with sarcasm. “Let the axe murderer know we’re here.”
“You got any better ideas?” She retorted. “Pope, smart guy. Do you have any better ideas? Anyone?”
“Literally anything but that,” Pope responded.
“What about the breaker?” Asked Sarah, the group turning their heads to the girl. “In the circuit box on the porch. We used to play hide and seek there when we were kids. Remember, Bennie?”
Bennie smiled with a nod, enjoying the proper treatment from her brother’s new girlfriend. “Yeah! And if we were brave enough, we’d all go up to the porch. It was like a game of some sort.” Bennie explained, Sarah nodding at the memory. “We’d call it, ‘guess who didn’t go up on the porch’ And Rafe and Topper would make up stories to scare us.”
“Exactly.” Sarah nodded, then turned to John B who sat crouched beside her. “I’ve seen it.”
“No- you're not going in the house alone.” JB shook his head, clearly against the entire idea.
“Then she won’t have to.” Red voiced, bringing herself a little higher so that John B could see her from across the bush. “I’ve seen it too.”
“You’re crazy!” Bennie blurted, worried about both of the girls. “Crain chops people into pieces. Right, JJ?”
“If you believe that and she’s like… what? 85?” Asked Sarah, making a clear enough point for Bennie to tilt her head as if saying ‘fair’ in her head.
“Yeah… something like that,” JJ replied, also embarrassed that he had definitely been wrong.
Sarah stood up all the way, taking Red’s hand. “She’s probably barely still kicking.”
“Here, I’ll go too.” Kie stood up, earning a nod from both the girls.
“Alright. Cool, cool.” Red nodded, before beginning to walk away but was stopped by John B pulling her back.
“Hey… be safe, alright.” He looked between the three girls, who all returned him with nervous smiles.
“We will.” Sarah nodded.
With that the girls were off, approaching the porch.
“She must have a generator plugged into the main supply.” Sarah examined the box.
“Sh…” Kie hushed Red as she stepped on a branch a little too loud as it snapped. “Where are the breakers?”
Sarah pointed at the breakers placed on the porch. The girls carefully and slowly walked up to the porch to find a circuit box with no switches.
“No, no, no, no, no.” Red realized the breakers led inside and was now less confident with her decision in coming with Sarah. “No.”
“Crap…” Kie muttered, His voice trembling as Sarah let out a small whimper.
“It goes inside…”
Red gulped, carefully looking back at the 4 still crowded around the bush, watching their every movement. She took a breath and stepped in front of the two girls.
“I’ll go first.” She told, looking back her friends one last time.
The two girls nodded as Red took Sarah’s hand and walked, carefully opening the door in front of them.
As the girls finally made their way in enough to close the door, a small ‘meow’ of a cat caused the three girls to back up against a wall in fear.
That was the least of their concerns when footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. Red covered Sarah’s mouth and she closed her eyes, not wanting to see anymore.
“It’s late, Leon. Too late.” Mrs. Crain’s voice could be heard, scaring the life out of the girls. Even though they didn’t believe the myths of the house, they were still trespassing. And that was dangerous. “I can hear you, Leon. I’ve been waiting for you all night.” Mrs. Crain spun around, pointing a fire poker right at Red’s neck.
Then it clicked in Red’s brain. Mrs. Crain was blind. Although that made them all feel better. Red was still being threatened with a sharp object, so it was safe to say they were still trembling.
Kie let out a muffled scream, but loud enough to make the old woman in front of them hear them, sending them all in fear.
“Go, Go, Go!” Red hurried, rushing away with the two girls over to a boarded-up and locked door.
“Leon!” yelled Mrs. Crain once again, she was shockingly fast for anyone of her age and build.
Just as the trio was able to get the door closed, and Kie attempted to open the basement door, Red stood infront of where Mrs. Crain was now using an axe to break down, causing Red to barely dodge it with a grunt.
“Where are you, Leon?” Asked Mrs. Crain, turning to where Kie and Sarah stood.
At that moment, Red knew she had to be the brave one. She couldn’t stand there and watch her friends in her when she told them she would go first.
“Right here,” Red muttered, putting her hands up. It wasn’t as if the elderly woman could see them, but she did it anyway.
“You’re not Leon!”
“Yes, I am.” Red stalled, reaching towards the blocked the basement door and pulling down the remaining barricade, quickly turning to Kie and Sarah in a hushed tone. “Go…”
“Red no!” Kie objected, watching as Mrs. Crain turned to where the three stood.
“Don’t be the hero!” Sarah whimpered.
“Go!” Red yelled, pulling the basement door open so the two could go through.
Now Mrs. Crain was furious, even though she couldn’t exactly see the basement door open and close, she could hear it.
“Who are you? Where is Leon?!” Yelled Mrs. Crain, Red letting out a shaky breath as the woman was inches away from her holding an axe.
“I am-”
Before Red could finish her sentence, she barely dodged the axe before it could hit her head, but instead rebounded off the wall and hit Mrs. Crain in the face with the wooded part.
Mrs. Crain wiped a little bit of blood off face before missing Red again, and instead knocked down a flower pot that slit right through Red’s hand.
Red whimpered, catching the attention of JJ from the basement.
“Was that Red?” He asked, rapidly looking around at his friends who had definitely heard it too.
JJ didn’t need a response. Nobody had the time to reply anyway, as in an instant JJ sprinted up the basement stairs and fumbled with the lock on the door to get it open, but it wouldn’t budge due to the fact that Mrs. Crain stood in front of it as she heard JJ’s footsteps.
“Red!” His voice was muffled from behind the door, but it was enough hope to get Red’s attention and knock Mrs. Crain down, finally getting the weapon from her before pulling the door open.
“JJ!” She panted, nearly jumping into a hug, happy to be alive.
“Are you okay?” He asked, examining her face. “Oh, crap- your hand-”
“It’s fine.” Red stopped him, pulling him down into the basement. “Where’s John B?”
Everyone knelt by the edge of the well, waiting to hear John B’s voice.
“JJ, Pope, Kie!” He yelled, his muffled voice echoing throughout the basement.
“Yo, he’s drowning. We gotta pull him up!” Kie panicked, Everyone gathered the rope in their hands, attempting to pull the boy up.
Pope leaned over the edge of the well, “John B! Get back on the rope. We’re gonna pull you back up, okay, buddy?”
As the teens began pulling John B back up, a gunshot rang through the air, making Kie squeal and the rest of them fall to the ground.
JJ grabbed a hold of Bennie, who once stood in front of him on the rope, and pulled her to the ground, covering her head before turning to Pope.
“Jesus! Tie it up now man!”
Pope nodded quickly, tying the rope onto the wheel, hoping John B could pull himself back up.
“Pope hide!” Red called, pulling down to the corner with her as she glared at Mrs. Crain who had been further into the basement now with a shotgun.
Kie and Sarah hid underneath a table. “She can’t aim for squat!” Bennie whisper-yelled before her mouth was covered by JJ’s hands.
“She can’t see!” Red pointed out, she had thought it was clear to all of them, but it was now obvious that it wasn’t.
“She’s blind!” Sarah added.
Mrs. Crain fired again, barely missing where Kie and Sarah sat, sending them running out of the basement. “Go, go!”
John B’s hand could be seen crawling up from the bottom of the well, the boy had been covered head to toe in mud.
The elderly woman fired yet again, ever so slightly missing JJ’s blonde head.
“Go, go!” Pope yelled.
“I don’t care if she is! That’s buckshot!” JJ squealed before rushing out of the basement with Bennie and Pope.
Red stayed back, grasping John B’s muddy hand as they rushed out of the basement.
“Whoo!” Red cheered, yet again happy to not be dead.
“JJ, Pope, Kie, Bennie! Yeah!” John B continued happily, still springing out of the basement as Red laughed in excitement.
She wasn’t sure why exactly the boy was so happy to be covered head to toe in mud, but she wasn’t one to judge. Not today at least.
The two continued running, finally hopping over the fence together.
“Why are we always getting shot at? Why?!” Bennie’s voice could be heard from inside the Twinkie that was now driving away.
Red and John B sped up their pace, being cheered on by others in the van as they tried to catch up, finally sliding into the van, giving eachother a high five even though they were both out of breath.
“Oh my God!” JJ exclaimed, trying to keep his eyes on the road, but also paying attention to his girlfriend and best friend, who were both still out of breath. “Are you okay, are you shot?”
“No, we’re okay!” John B replied as the rest of the group still checked up on eachother.
“You look, disgusting.” Pope teased.
“You smell gross!” Kie continued.
“All-time pogue hall of fame, baby!” JJ cheered, Kie patting him on the shoulder before facing Sarah.
“That woman is possessed.”
“That woman can’t aim!” Sarah continued.
“How can she move so fast?” Asked Pope, just as fascinated.
Red-faced her attention back down to her hand, which was now bleeding even more but was also muddy because of John B.
“Oh- is your hand okay?” Asked John B, snapping towards Pope. “Pope, pass me the bandana.”
Pope handed John B the grey bandanna, mostly seen around John B’s neck which he now wrapped around Red’s hand.
“Sorry if I get blood on it.” Red laughed, knowing there was nothing she could do to stop herself from bleeding anyway.
“Don’t worry about it.” John B winked.
She looked over to John B, who was sliding mud off of something shining in his hands.
“What is that?” Asked Kie, kind of drowned out by the music playing on the radio.
“No, you did not!” Bennie cheered, having an idea of what was laying in her brother’s hand.
Pope’s eyes widened as John B’s voice became louder and prouder. “We did it, baby!”
“No, you didn’t!” Sarah yelled, still in unbelief.
“Oh my God!” JJ cheered, Red having to elbow him for him to get his eyes back on the road.
The entire car could be heard all the way from figure eight as the teens inside shouted and cheered.
Red engulfed John B in a giant hug which he gratefully returned, not really caring if he got her dirty.
“Guys we’re gonna be rich!” Kie yelled, making the van the slightest bit quieter.
“Full kook!” The van shouter with a mixture of “Double kooks” shouted by Kie, Bennie, Sarah, and Red.
After about ten minutes, the van finally quieted down, but the grins on all of their faces never died down.
“I cannot believe this.” Bennie grinned, turning all around the car, You could almost hear her heart going a million miles an hour. “I’m… honestly still in shock! But… we did it.”
“We actually did it.” John B agreed, taking his sister’s hand and holding it up in the air.
“Hear that, dad? We frikin did it!” Bennie cheered again, the smile dancing on her face only getting wider as seconds passed.
“Okay, but seriously, all jokes aside.” Red stopped them from beginning to chant again. “I like- need to go home. It’s actually 2 hours past my curfew.”
“I’m not even allowed to be out after 7… but who cares if I’m breaking rules. We’re filthy rich!” Bennie cheered. “But I should probably get home too. I have to get a speech from Rafe.”
“Why?” Sarah scoffed, always wondering why the pair were so close even though they were the furthest thing from eachother.
“Eh. Two nights ago he got kicked out of the house.” Bennie explained, Sarah’s eyes widening, but she still smiled. “He stayed over at our place, but he was being a real jerk. So now I gotta go get a slurred apology.”
“Good luck.” Sarah voiced, knowing her brother well enough to know that, he didn’t mean it. And two, he was very bad at apologizing, especially when high.
Soon enough, The van approached figure eight, letting both Bennie, Red, and Sarah out of the car, and since Bennie was in the opposite direction than Red and Sarah, the two were left alone for the rest of the walk to their houses.
“How do you like being a pogue?” Asked Red, out of the blue continuing to walk to her house beside Sarah.
“I don’t know yet…” Sarah explained, looking up at her, “But I think It’ll grow on me. What about you?”
“I don’t think I’m even considered a pogue yet.” Red sighed, and Sarah, tilting her head at her response. “I mean… They still address us as a group like ‘Pogues plus Bennie and Red’ so… I don’t really know.”
“Trust me, you’re a pogue.”
“Think so?”
Sarah scoffed, “Yeah. I mean… you’re dating JJ, right?”
“It’s not really… official. But I guess you could say that.”
“Oh, it’s official.” Sarah came to a halt when Red approached her house. “See you tomorrow?”
“More than likely.” Red smiled, giving the girl a hug. “And… Um, sorry for… y’know when we were on the porch and we were about to have it out”
“Don’t worry about it, Red. I’m sure it caught you off guard, and I probably shouldn’t have made the comment I did either.”
“No hard feelings?” Red held out her pinky as if making a promise, which Sarah happily liked to. “Us blondes gotta stick together, right?”
Sarah laughed lightly, “Yeah. Us blondes have to stick together.” With that, Red wished the girl goodbye, and entered her hollow home.
us blondes have to
stick together 😭
That goes for you
Too JJ. And us brunettes
have to stick together
the same ;)