Forty. you're my best friend, i'll love you forever
"They're fancy people. They've had three governors in the family. They've run Charleston for, like, 300 years." Kiara told them.
Dylan stared at the houses they passed by with a dropped jaw. She knew that a lot of people who lived on Charleston came from old and inherited money, but she'd never seen houses as big as these ones. And Figure Eight had a lot of mansions.
"These Kooks make our Kooks look like Pogues." JJ said in utter disbelief.
"Jesus, and I thought Sarah was rich." Said Dylan, her tone of voice the same.
"You sure this is the place, Pope?"
"Pretty sure." Pope answered even though he had no idea himself.
"Well, I'm sure we'll know if it's not. Let's go." Dylan insisted and they got out of the truck.
"Fat City, for sure."
She grabbed Pope's hand and he held up the letter in front of the gated home. "Twenty-seven King Street," he confirmed.
"Talk about home security." JJ said sarcastically.
"Seems like a nice house to keep dead bodies in," Dylan said out loud, resulting in strange looks from the others.
"Are those spikes to keep people out?"
She looked up at the spikes made into the metal gate and she felt her stomach drop. "No." Her and Kiara said at the same time.
Pope motioned with his free hand. "The slave quarters are over there. These spikes were to keep people in."
She started to feel sick and she squeezed his hand tightly. Together, the group made their way past the fence and up the walkway to the front door of the home. Pope knocked on the wood with the metal lion door handle. "You think that was too much?" He asked them.
"It echoed the entire house. That's for sure." JJ confirmed. "So they definitely heard it."
"Maybe nobody's home." Kiara suggested.
"Or they're preparing the chambers for his body," Dylan mumbled.
Pope pretended not to hear her and he knocked on the door again. A man came out and his eyes scanned the group of teenagers. He licked his lips in satisfaction and pointed to the boy of the hour. "You must be Pope."
Dylan stared at him with an off putting expression.
"Um. . ." Pope hesitated and glanced at JJ for a brief second. "Are you Mr. Limbrey?" He asked the stranger.
"Ms. Limbrey was expecting you yesterday," he corrected.
"Oh. I'm. . . I'm sorry. My car broke down on the way up here."
"Carburetor blew up on the middle of Nowheresville." JJ added to the conversation.
"It was probably telling us coming here's a bad idea." Dylan stepped in cautiously.
Pope looked at her, silently pleading for her to be quiet. The unknown man narrowed his eyes at her before moving on. "Yeah, she was, uh, real upset when you didn't show up." He said to Pope.
"We tried to call, but there was no number on the invitation." Kiara spoke. "We got here as fast as we could."
"She also expected you to come alone."
Dylan instantly shook her head. "Not gonna happen."
Pope shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "I mean, these are my friends. They helped me find the Royal Merchant, too. I—"
The man cut him off. "Yeah, the instructions were explicit. Your friends can stay outside." He insisted blankly.
Dylan took a step forward. "I already said it's not going to happen." She snapped.
"Yeah, uh, we're kind of a package deal, man." JJ agreed with her while also trying to get the attention off of her attitude.
"JJ, Dyl, it's okay. I got this." Pope nodded their way. He squeezed the girl's hand. "I'll be fine."
She shook her head. "I don't want you to go in there alone." She was practically begging.
"Yeah, it's okay. I'll be good, I promise." He assured again and gave her hand another squeeze. "Just keep the truck running."
Kiara forced a smile. "Yeah. We'll be right here."
Dylan sighed in defeat and looked at the man with stern eyes. "Just so you know, I've been studying to be a homicide detective since I was a kid. If you try to do anything, I will find out." She snapped and let go of Pope's hand.
They watched her walk away. JJ blinked rapidly before nodding. "Yeah, I wouldn't mess with her. She's kinda scary." He told the man.
Pope couldn't contain the grin that came on his face as he followed the man into the house, the door echoing as it closed behind them.
There was something haunting about a beautiful house that was filled with a tortured past. As she passed by the slave quarters, Dylan's stomach felt like a bottomless pit. History was one of her best subjects in school but as she got older, she began to realize that slavery and racial injustice was something that wasn't taught thoroughly in schools. It's what made her start to do her own research on the subject along with asking her mother questions on the topic. Then, she started transitioning into true crime and the information and tragedies that she learned about stuck with her for all the years she had been alive.
Herman Limbrey was the captain of the Royal Merchant that held Denmark Tanny and other people as slaves, and now Pope was in the house with a woman related to him. Even though what happened was over 200 years ago, it was still so new. Her bones rattled in her body at the thought of what could happen to him inside that house. But she trusted Pope. He was smart.
"Dylan! Hey, DJ!" JJ's loud mouth echoed her name.
She spun around and saw him and Kiara in the truck, zooming toward her. "What's going on?" She shouted back.
"They're taking Pope to the alley way. We need to hurry!" Kiara urged.
Dread overcame her and she instantly sprinted to the vehicle. Kiara scooted over so she could get in and she slammed the door shut. "Go, go, go!" She shouted at JJ and he took off again.
"Be chill." Kiara told him.
Dylan's leg shook uncontrollably and she put her hand over her chest as she felt like her heart was going to explode.
Kiara put her hand on her leg. "Hey, D, I need you to breathe." She encouraged.
She shook her head. "W-What if they do something to him? W-What if—" she freaked herself out and her eyes filled with tears. "Oh God."
"Hey, hey, no, don't think like that!" JJ told her and continued to drive around while looking for their friend.
Kiara grabbed her hand and held it tightly.
JJ drove the truck as quickly and stealthily as he could but there was still no sight of the boy. Dylan was panicking. "Where the hell is he?" She voiced shakily. When she got no response, she turned to JJ. "Stop the truck. Let me out." She ordered.
Both him and Kiara looked at her like she was crazy. "What?"
"I can run. Let me out!" She demanded louder and he stomped on the breaks.
"Wait, DJ—" JJ was cut off by her exiting the truck and she took off sprinting. He cursed out loud and shared a look with Kiara. He stepped harder on the gas.
Blood pounded in her ears as she ran down the street at full speed. She couldn't help but imagine the worst as she searched for her boyfriend. She tried to think about when she would take runs on the beach before school. She liked to run during the sunrise. She did everything just to be near the water. The ocean was her safe space. Now, she was switching between that breath of fresh air to now being completely terrified.
With JJ and Kiara hot on her tail in the truck, Dylan ran full speed through the yard of the home. As she inched closer to the brick wall, she started to hear loud grunts and what sounded like fighting. When she ran through the gate, her eyes widened when she saw the man from before on top of Pope with a taser in his hand.
Seeing red, she sprinted forward and shouted out as she kicked him in the side, making him fly off the boy. "Get the hell away from him!"
"Dylan, grab the taser!" Pope quickly said while gasping for air.
The two of them wrestled on the ground and Dylan lunged forward, quickly grabbing the taster from the ground as JJ and Kiara found them. "Pope. Pope, come on!" JJ urged.
"Come on!"
Dylan went to grab his arm at the same time he punched the unknown man in the face. "Hey, come on!" She paused and turned around, looking down at the guy groaning in pain. Grunting in anger, she kicked him in the stomach and he let out another cry in pain.
"Let's go, crazy!" JJ shouted at her and ran back, grabbing her arm and pulling her to the brick wall.
They managed to climb over the brick wall and they ran quickly to the truck that was waiting for them.
"Go! Go, go, go!" JJ got in the drivers seat as the others scooted close together in the middle.
"Ow! Who were those people?" Kiara panicked.
"That was crazy as shit. Let's get out of here now!"
JJ wasted no time spinning the truck around and immediately taking off. Coming to her senses, Dylan grabbed Pope's face with her hands. "Oh my god, are you okay? Did they do anything?" She rapidly threw at him, her voice cracking.
Pope shook his head and grabbed her hands, pulling them off his face. "No, no, no, I'm fine. Nothing happened."
"What did—"
The tires of the truck squealed as JJ pulled out onto the open road. "Here we go now!"
Kiara looked over her shoulder and out the back window. She saw a car following them. "I think he's following us."
"This is a one-way." Pope realized and he put his hands on the dash.
"I know."
"Go that way."
"This is a one-way!" The three of them shouted at the driver.
"They're following us!"
Dylan's eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw a car headed their way. "Car! JJ, car!" She hollered.
"Turn now! Right!" Pope shouted in the same tone.
Barely missing the moving vehicle, JJ cut the wheel and they turned down a different road. "Homeless people! Watch out!" Dylan exclaimed when she saw two people crossing the road.
"Jesus, look out!"
"Oh my god!"
"You almost hit them, J!"
"I have eyes, D!" JJ shouted back. "Get out of the road!"
"Those were people! Jesus Christ!"
Her adrenaline was so high that she grew dizzy. Dylan's hands were pressed against the dash and they turned white from the pressure. "Oh god, we're going to die." She moaned.
"That was evasive driving technique right there, y'all!" Said the crazy blonde.
She twisted her upper body and saw that the car was still following them. "We gotta lose em!" She exclaimed.
"Hang on!"
Before they knew it, JJ turned the wheel sharply, making the other three fall over on each other from the impact.!Suddenly, the car started smoking again. "You said he fixed the carburetor." JJ said in disbelief.
"No, no, no, no!"
"You said he fixed it!"
"He did!" Pope shouted back.
"Fuck!" Dylan bursted out.
"Okay, what now, Mario?" Kiara shot as the truck broke down again.
"Number one file. Never trust mechanics!" JJ hollered when they climbed out of the smoking truck.
"I could fix this piece of shit better and I don't even have a car!" Dylan said irritably. She reached into the trunk and grabbed her bag. The stalker's vehicle showed up and the panic settled in again."We gotta go!"
"Go!"
"Go, go, go, go, go!"
Swinging the bag over her shoulders, Dylan and the others dashed full speed down the alley way. "Guys, I think he has a gun!" They heard Kiara shout.
"Shit, get down!"
"Come on!"
"Go, go, go, go!"
"I think I'm cramping!"
"Not the time, P!" Dylan shouted at her boyfriend and kept her elbows locked in as she sprinted like a marathon runner.
The alley way came to an end and they were now running past a road of houses. There was no sight of the man behind them but they knew he was after them. "This way! We might have to split up!" JJ shouted at them as they turned a corner.
"Bullshit!" Dylan shouted back.
"I don't know where to go, okay? We gotta lose them!"
He accidentally ran into a mail man which caused them to slow down. The man chasing after them gained his speed. "Run!" Dylan screamed and didn't care that she stepped on the dropped packages.
"Sorry!"
"Sorry about that!"
Soon, they found another alley way. Again, Dylan's mind border lined to her running on the beach. With every heavy breath she inhaled, she thought about the summer air that invaded her lungs. With every step her shoes made against the pavement, she thought about the sand that coated her tennis shoes and the water splashing her legs. Solace and fear titled in her head like a tight rope.
Then suddenly, all she could feel was her on the beach. She felt herself in the water, floating on her back, with the water swishing in her ears. She felt no fear, or anxiety, or dread, she just felt calm. Staring into the eyes of the boy she grew up with, the boy she thought was dead, the boy she thought she would never see again, all she felt was solace.
John Booker Routledge stared back at his friends and a wide, happy smile stretched on his face. Sarah Cameron's jaw dropped in complete shock at the sight of her friends. Dylan completely forgot about the man that was chasing them and all she wanted to do was fall into their arms.
"Get in! Get in! Get in! Come on!" John B and Sarah urged them and the group quickly climbed on their scooter.
Dylan and Kiara hopped in while Pope and JJ used their strength to push the scooter. John B paddled quickly as the girls rushed him to go faster. "Go, JB, go!" Dylan shouted over them.
"Go, John B! Go!" JJ hollered.
"Oh, shit!"
"Come on, Pope! Push! Come on!"
Dylan twisted in the seat. "Come on, baby. I know you're got muscles. Use them!" She encouraged the boy. "Use those legs!"
"Pedal, B! He's gaining!"
"I'm peddling!"
When he felt his legs grow tired, Pope accidentally tripped and fell onto the road. "Pope Heyward, let's go!" His girlfriend bellowed loudly.
"Pope, get up! Let's go!" John B shouted.
The brainiac reached his hand out and Dylan reached out hers. Their hands connected and she took his backpack and threw it inside the scooter before helping him jump inside. "See you later, alligator!" JJ cried out to the man and the group of friends cheered extremely loud as John B peddled away down the street.
"P4L, baby!" Dylan shouted to the open air.
"P4L!" They all followed along.
When they managed to find the boat that John B and Sarah traveled on, they filled it with gas and pushed it out to the open water. They were finally together. When the adrenaline finally settled down, tears of joy filled Dylan's eyes. She grabbed Sarah by the shoulders and the two girls embraced tightly. "I've missed you so much." Sarah's voice muffled into her shoulder.
"Oh my gosh, you look like a mess," Dylan breathed out when they pulled away. She took in her dirty and bloody state and cupped her hands against her face. "A beautiful mess though."
Sarah smiled with her teeth and squeezed her wrists.
John B stood behind his girlfriend (wife) with a shaky smile on his face. "Hi." He managed to utter.
Crying, Dylan threw her arms around his neck and pulled him tightly into her. She felt like she was dreaming. "I never thought I would see you again," she breathed out and closed her eyes, feeling the tears fall down her face.
John B closed his as well and hugged her tighter. "I was always going to find my way back to you, Dyl." He promised her and he kept the promise. When he pulled away from her, his eyes trailed downward and he smiled at the object around her neck. "You still have that?"
Her hand touched the gold heart shaped locket around her neck. The locket that he gifted her for her fifteenth birthday. It was the cheapest one he could find but to her, it was worth more than any gold they would ever have. "Of course I have it. I thought it was going to be the only thing I had left." Dylan said and she let out another cry.
They hugged again and it was exactly what she needed. All the worrying she felt, the depression she was putting herself through, the deep guilt, it was all gone. The cut that always bleeds was beginning to heal for them all.