𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥
episode one
as aj had planned, she stayed at john b's. Dragging him home with the pogues after the incident on the beach was an awkward travel. Pope mostly filled what would have been silence with his lectures about JJ's recklessness. AJ didn't care to comment, far too intoxicated and exhausted to even try. By the time they all arrived at the chateau, AJ collapsed onto her best friends old bed and swiftly fell asleep. Such an eventful night made her want to sleep forever, embody the nickname JJ gave her a few mornings ago and sleep for a hundred years to hide from her problems.
Despite her wishes, her eyes peeled open to the bright sun that bled through the curtains she failed to close the night before. Her long dishevelled hair surrounded her, and upon lifting herself up she noticed the blanket that had been tossed over her body by Kiara before she had left to return home. A headache began seeping into her skull and pounding away as her feet dragged her to stare at herself in the mirror. Her mascara was smudged and the bags under her eyes were particularly visible. She groaned and looked down at the clothes from last night with exhaustion. She quickly changed and stole a shirt from the floor that seemed clean enough, throwing it over her body to see it fall just to her thighs.
Her eyes lingered on the spot, a pit in her stomach that she couldn't distinguish as the hangover or the sight of her body before pulling the blanket off the bed and wrapping it around her. She left herself to just the oversized shirt and socks, covered by a giant blanket that dragged behind her on the floor as she opened the door to the living room.
"Mornin' Aurora." JJ's voice immediately pierced her ears - in the kitchen with the fridge door open and a soda in his hand.
"Fuck off, JJ."
"Well, aren't you a ray of sunshine." He barely even glanced in her direction as he turned around and grabbed a glass from the cupboard. "And as much as I love our pleasant chats, the rest of the scooby gang is outside." He continued and walked back to her with the glass now filled with water. His hand extended with the drink and a smug smirk printed onto his face. She took a few moments to glare before taking it from him and sipping the water. As she did, the blanket around her shoulders fell down her arms slightly, and JJ's face suddenly became incredibly amused.
"What?" She asked sternly with a roll of her eyes.
"Nothin'" He could barely contain a grin, and walked away without another word. AJ just furrowed her brows, pulling an irritated face at him before following with the glass of water. She kept the blanket, not worried about it dragging into the dirt as she figured she would just wash it for John B at her grandma's. Walking to the shed where scattered chairs that were slowly falling apart were sat on by the pogues, and surfboards were propped onto the wall, she took a seat beside Kiara and put her drink aside.
"How's the hangover?" Kiara asked in a softer tone, tapping the bongos lightly. AJ was about to respond, but her friend's brows furrowed and looked down. "Is that JJ's shirt?"
Sniggering in the corner, AJ glared at him and threw a pillow his way. "Great. Now I'll have to take ten million showers before I can feel clean again."
Before their bickering could continue, John B came around the corner. His black eye was incredibly more present than the night before. Then again, it was dark and AJ was seeing two of him. The deep purple circled his eyes in a painfully prominent colour, causing AJ's stomach to suddenly boil with her growing vendetta against Topper.
"I'm calling it off." John B announced upon his arrival.
"What?" AJ asked for confirmation, still trying to get up to speed with what she had missed during her alcohol induced coma.
"Peterkin paid a visit." He explained, filling the blanks for AJ. "Said if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with DCS." AJ knew Peterkin, along with the rest of the officers in OBX. She actually, contrary to what majority may believe, liked her. It would probably be expected of AJ to not have a good track record with cops, but realistically they favoured the girl. Her mother worked as a cop, and ever since she was little she won the hearts of the station. They knew she was troubled as she grew up, but most were sympathetic and looked out for her - returned her home when she was drunk or partying. Peterkin used help AJ with her maths homework on the occasion she tagged along to the police station with her mom.
"And you believed her?" JJ chimed in from further away, where he sat on a withered table. "An actual cop, John B. you believed a cop." He said in disbelief. JJ was never one to comply with cops, considering his reputation.
"Peterkin would do it. She'd help John B." AJ added, trying to defend the woman she - for a long period of time in her life - saw as a mother.
"Do you always have to disagree with me?" JJ furrowed his brows, frustrated as he stood from his seat to walk closer to the group.
"It's a pleasurable hobbie, yes, but I'm being honest." AJ gave him a glare as he rolled his eyes at the very idea of trusting the word of a cop. "And it doesn't exactly help that you're ass was the one who decided to go looney tunes on Topper last night." She added, the memories of before sinking in more clearly. JJ was idiotic to use the gun out in public, but a part of her ( that would never ever see the light of day in coming out her mouth ) couldn't deny the fact she was partially thankful he managed to stop Toppers actions.
JJ scoffed at her comment, "Oh, so you would rather me let Topper drown his ass then?"
"Guys, shut the hell up." John B interrupted, his voice cold and irritated. He wanted - needed - help with this DCS, and couldn't ruin his chance with Peterkin's help. "Topper wasnt going to drown me."
"Sure looked like it."
"Pulling a gun on him still wasn't the right answer. You could've tackled him, or bashed his head with a stick." AJ waved her arms around with a pissed off expression ( mostly due to the fact she was forced to endure this argument with an aggressive hangover and no coffee in sight ).
"So you're more justifiable answer to threatening to hurt someone is to actually hurt someone?" JJ responded, resting his arm on the wall now.
"You fired a goddamn gun into the air!"
"Stop! It's too early for you two to start this shit." Kiara adds, getting stressed by the arguing between them all.
"They ways win." JJ began, his voice bitter. "Kooks vs pogues. They always, always win." He hit the decor hanging from the archway in frustration - always hating the kooks for their social class advantage and privileged views. "Look, they don't want us to go down into the marsh, that means there's something valuable down there - and you know it man." He pointed to John B, who merely looked down during his rant. His attention turned to Pope, "And I understand why you don't wanna go. You're the golden boy. You got way too much to risk." Then to Kiara, "You? You're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother?" And finally AJ, "And you? Well you could go back to figure eight where you're the richest kid in OBX. It'd be pointless for you to risk anything."
AJ rolled her eyes at his comment, even more irritated that he had brought it up. None of them often dared to mention her family.
JJ turned to John B, still fighting for his expression of vexation towards their circumstances. "But you and me man? We got nothing to lose!" Sighing in exhaustion of the conversation, John B ran his hand through his hair before walking past JJ. "We really don't. And I know it didn't use to be that way for you..."
"JJ I don't wanna talk about this." He spoke in a low voice, like even the notion of discussing his father and what he lost would solidify the belief that he was truly gone.
"John B, listen to me, I have a plan." He quickly stated, and proceeded to explain his ambitious scheme to steal from JB's boss, Ward Cameron. Taking the scuba diving gear from his fancy rich person boat and using it to further investigate the sunken wreck. AJ had to admit that the plan wasn't unfathomable for them, but nevertheless a dumb one with John B's job on the line. AJ was always one for reckless behaviour but not often when it concerned her best friend. She'd go through with it and help if he wanted to, she simply waited for his disapproval or approval.
"...Okay."
Guess they were going to swim with the fishes.
"empty tanks. you stole empty tanks?" Kiara scanned the scuba gear, all of which was now completely useless. The five of them sat in the HMS Pogue, the marsh's waters swaying the floor they gathered on as the sun cast a golden hue across their surroundings. The light reflected off the water and bounced all over to leave them entirely in a mellow orange luminance. Despite the tranquility of the scenery though, all pogues were frustratingly wondering what to do next when JJ's 'foolproof' plan fell through. "Okay, this one's a quarter full." Kiara discovered, still disappointed by the results. "It's enough for one of us."
"One of us with an undoubtable death wish." AJ added, rolling her eyes. She had gone scuba diving as a kid, and some of the hazard lessons were still engraved in her mind. "I vote blondie, over here." She smiled, raising a hand. JJ abruptly turned his head to the brunette and glared. Before he could respond, Kiara continued.
"Does anybody know how to dive?" She ignored AJ's comment and looked amongst the group for any answers.
"Kind of a kook sport." JJ sighed.
"I did it a few times as a kid."
"Of course you did."
"Every day I'm closer to killing you. Every day." AJ clenched her jaw and squinted her eyes looking at him. She eventually stopped her committed glare and continued, "I'll do it. Like riding a bike, right?"
"How hard could it be? You stick the thing in your mouth and breathe." JJ shrugged, not understanding why any of them had to have the skills or knowledge in diving in order to do this.
"I read about it." Pope added from his seat beside AJ. "If you come up to fast, nitrogen gets into your blood and you get the bends. They kill you."
"Well I like the encouragement, Pope. You should be a motivational speaker." AJ responded, taking the gear from the floor and pulling JJ's shirt ( that she had completely forgotten she was wearing still ) off. It left her in the black swim trunks she had thrown on beforehand and her bra from the night before. It was comfier than most since it didn't have a wire, so it was easy enough to sleep in and go unnoticed by her.
"I'm diving." John B stood up from the bench.
"What do you mean? No you're not."
"No way you're diving. I can do it." He persisted, shaking his head. Pope swiftly interrupted with some calculations he had done on some precautions before diving. AJ paid attention to make sure she didn't get the so called 'bends' or anything. As he was explaining, Kiara took off her shirt and jumped into the water, leaving a splash to catch everyone's attention.
"What was that about?"
"I don't know."
"Hey, sunshine," JJ called, everyone snapping out of their confusion towards Kiara's actions. AJ scowled at the nickname but turned her attention to his smirk that was fully aware of her irritancy. "When you're down there, look for the cargo hold and stick this thing in there. Twist and pull."
"Thanks for the the directions, blondie." She gave an overwhelmingly false smile that he sarcastically returned.
"Thanks for returning my shirt." He picked it up off the floor where she had taken it off as he rolled it up and threw it over his shoulder.
Kiara suddenly returned from the water and pushed the wet hair from her face, "I tied my t-shirt to the anchor chain on the way down. It's where you need to do your safety stop." She said as she swam back to the boat, and Pope began helping her out the gear on.
"Why are we letting her do this?" John B questioned from the side.
"Because I'm the only one who's done this before, Bree. Quit worrying." She spoke in a sigh, pulling all the things she needed together as the tank began to weigh heavy in her shoulders.
"Oh, uh, AJ." Pope spoke up. She hummed in response, looking up at him. "Breath as little as possible."
"Okay. Great. So we're all perfectly fine with AJ potentially drowning? 'Kay. Awesome. I love this plan." John B sat down again and crossed his arms as he watched her. The both of them were always so protective of each other, and neither wanted to see the other in danger. AJ understood his concerns but she didn't think much about them for herself. The dangers simply didn't make her nervous like him or the others. She supposed that lack of concern for herself probably aided in her occasionally reckless behaviour. Doing the things she did, like the time she jumped from the roof into the pool of a kook party ( incredibly drunk to numb the nerves of the height ) or when she and her friends hopped the fence of a small football field in the middle of the woods to play at night, she never often thought about the consequences.
Maybe part of that was the fact throughout her entire childhood, most consequences were paid off and forgotten.
"I, for one, think it's an incredible idea." JJ smiled, proud of his immediate irritation towards the girl now weighed down by scuba gear. She gave her middle finger to the blonde before jumping into the water
With a final salute to her brethren she swam down.
The water, as she descend to the wreck, engulfed her in a comfortable pressure as she eventually reached the boat of Scooter Grubbs. Through murky water that clouded her vision with a dull brown, she managed to reach the cargo hold. Her ears picked up the muffled blubbering bubbles that came from her snorkel, otherwise completely surrounded by silence. It was partially why she enjoyed being under water so much. The silence was soothing. And while her brain focused on holding her breath, nothing painful from her past could bleed into her thoughts for a few blissful minutes.
Managing to get it open, she could see a black duffel bag stuffed into the small hole. She dragged it out and thought of the excitement on the pogues' faces when they discovered the mystery bag she had found. Swimming upwards with the bag in hand, she checked the time she had left before she ran out of air.
1:18
Kiara's shirt was not far ahead, and thankfully she would make it to the surface in time. As the underneath of the HMS Pogue became more visible, she also noticed the second shadowed figure, swaying above the water. She squinted her eyes, and listened to the alarm bell that rang in her gut, telling her to stay out of sight.
0:46
Her hand gripped the anchor chain, her heart beating loudly in her ears as she watched the time decreasing. She tried to manage her breathing, but even so, the air wouldn't last forever. While under the silent stagnancy of water, she began thinking about the idea of drowning right there. She supposed it wasn't the worst way to go, but never exactly what she wanted. If she was to go, she always figured it would be on her terms. Not the sea.
0:12
But, hey, maybe it would be peaceful.
Her thoughts didn't need to linger long, as the shadow soon disappeared ( the second boat driving away from theirs ). With a final glance at her time coming to a zero, she began swimming upward to the surface. Gasp leaving her lips as she ripped off the gear from her head, breathing in the fresh air of the world with relief.
"Holy shit, I thought you were dead." John B rushed to help her out the water.
"Can't kill me that easy." She breathed a laugh, making her way closer to the boat where she hauled the bag into it. As John B grabbed her hand to help her back in the boat, JJ's face lit up at the sight of what she found.
"Cops were here." Pope informed her.
"Well I'm sure that was a pleasant chat." She responded, still trying to catch a breath as she pulled off all the heavy scuba gear and pushed it to the floor.
"Hey guys?" Kiara spoke up, turning the heads of the rest of the group in her direction. "Bogey. Two o'clock."
Furrowing her brows, AJ glanced in the direction to see an incoming boat. She didn't find any comfort in it's arrival, figuring with their luck it couldn't mean well. "We should go." AJ suggested as the group wondered why the boat was even on the marsh in the first place since it was closed.
JJ went for the bowline while John B went for the helm. The boat began to rumble, as the discomforting distant strangers continued approaching. They all remained on edge as they subtly rushed to start moving. Before JJ had even fully lifted the line, John B started turning around. And as AJ's stomach began to hollow, she saw that the strangers were following them.
"John B, go faster." She tapped his shoulder, looking back at what she could just about distinguish as two men speeding up to them. They began turning the corners around the marsh, bracing themselves at the faster speed.
Bang. AJ's ears were pierced by the sound of gunfire, making her duck as she felt her heart jumps out her chest. She looked behind them and kept a tight grip on the boat to stable herself as she saw the shorter man shoot again. Where JJ stood taller, she dragged his arm down as the second shot erupted. "Duck, you dumbass."
"Oh my god we're gonna die." Pope squeezed his eyes shut, keeping his head down as he spoke quickly without a breath.
Kiara, pushing past him, unsteadily went for the bet stashed on their boat, struggling to keep her balance as another shot was fired. AJ tried to yell at her, telling her to get down, but she maneuvered to the edge of the boat with the net in hand before finally throwing it overboard.
The net sprawled out on the water, and as the pogues sped away, behind AJ watched the two men were caught by the object - the engine abruptly becoming a splutter as they stopped in the middle of the marsh. A final shot came from a distance, but missed entirely as they turned the corner and began their returned to the chateau.
"Holy shit." John B spoke through laboured breathing.
"I'll add getting shot at to my list of near death experiences." AJ said, sitting on the floor of the boat and resting her head on the edge as she ran a hand through her hair in exhaustion. Her chest pumped up and down as she breathed, trying to compose herself after such an eventful half an hour.
As the five of them returned to the dock of their humble abode, John B held the duffle bag AJ had managed to retrieve and dumped it onto the rickety wooden floor. He began searching for the opening as the rest of the pogues waited in anticipation.
"Can you hurry the fuck up? I almost drowned for this shit." AJ piped up as she leaned against the pole, watching John B struggle to open it. After a few moments, he managed to retrieve a cylinder container from the mystery bag, intriguing AJ and the group. She lifted from her lean and hoovered over his shoulder in a close inspection of the container as her friend began to open it. The faded silver coloured lid was unscrewed, then tipped to it's side.
Slid out from the container they expected to be their hopes and dreams ( at least a couple bucks since AJ almost died for it ), but instead they were met with something far different.
A compass.
"Perfect. Good job everybody. We found a compass." Pope began in bitterness, rolling his eyes at their lack of finding.
But as John B's gaze lingered on the object, AJ squinted her eyes and crouched beside him. "Dude, what? It's not worth anything." JJ added from the side, gesturing to the rusted gold compass. Moments passed by as the pogues wondered why he wasn't saying anything, staring with a smile curling slightly on his mouth.
"This is my father's."
AUTHORS NOTE
hello all my favourite people!
thank you so much to those of you who have been patiently waiting for a new chapter and I'm so sorry it took so long. i promise that as of right now I really don't want to give up on this story. I like it a lot, it's just finding the free time and motivation to write it that is difficult. Im trying my best though, I swear! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! next one is episode two, im so excited!!!
i love you all sm <3
do your homework and drink plenty water :)