—
"I'm sorry. You're staying where?"
Luca leant all the way back in his seat, stretching his arms around the back of Evelynn's chair.
It had been all of five minutes of the group meeting in The Wreck, the Carrera family restaurant, when Kiara started to complain.
"Tannyhill."
"So you're living with Sarah Cameron." She scoffed, brushing past her sister who moved by the table to give a family their food.
"Okay, look, the only reason I'm living there is because her dad bailed me out, right? And it's way better than foster care, which, by the way, is where I was about to go if Ward didn't—"
"Hey, so do you have a membership to the clubs now?"
John B sighed, "I don't know, Pope."
"What about those golf carts they drive around? You get one of them?" JJ followed, lifting his water cup to take a sip. His eyes traveled to Kirsten who smiled sweetly at the little girl that explained her order.
"Does it come with a sweater-vest, or do you have to buy one on your own?"
Despite the teasing being about the people on their side of the island, Luca and Evelynn couldn't hide the smiles that formed on their faces.
"Look, you promised." Kiara dropped her arms, "You said you weren't with her."
"Bro, just own it. She got you."
"Like Kirsten's got you?" Evelynn joked.
JJ threw a napkin at her, "Shut up."
"Look, if you wanna hang out with her, that's fine. But I'm letting you know now that I'm not doing anything with Sarah."
"If that's the case, then Luca, Evelynn and I shouldn't be here, Kie." Kirsten said as she walked up to them, sitting down in the chair that JJ stood behind.
"That's not the same thing, Kirsten."
"Literally how?" She exaggerated.
John B rolled his eyes, "Do you guys see her here? No, right."
Evelynn jerked her head back, "N-n-no, no 'you guys', only one of us is being a brat about it."
Kie gave her a dirty look, to which Evelynn raised a brow, smirking to herself as she took a drink of her water.
"Okay. A little focus would be fantastic."
"Watch your mouth, John."
"We've got the map, right?"
"It's out of whack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it." JJ said, leaning his arms against the back of Kirsten's chair.
"It's 'cause the coast has changed." Kie told him.
"So we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed."
"What about the old forts?"
"Battery Jasper."
•••
"We're in Battery, right here." Luca pointed to a spot on the map.
Pope nodded, "So if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here."
"Somewhere there." Kie pointed out.
"Right."
"Over there? Guy's, that's not Tannyhill, that's a subdivision." JJ spoke in confusion.
"Tannyhill Plantation was the entire island. It got sold into smaller pieces over time."
"So we're just looking for an old stone wall."
•••
They were now in the twinkie. The area was a bit more spacious since Evelynn had decided to take a break and throw something's out of the car and into the trunk so they weren't sitting on trash.
She got a comment from Kiara about how she was ruining the Earth by just throwing their trash on the ground, but she simply brushed off with a comment on how the world was coming to an end soon anyways.
"Okay, so the road should split up here."
"Okay." John B listened intently to Luca and Pope's words.
The Antonio and Heyward teens were proven to be the smartest of the group when it came to things like this, so without much discussion, they were paired up.
Luca leaned on the back of the passenger seat to see the map in Pope's hand.
"All right. You're gonna take a left."
JJ hummed, "That looks like a stone wall to me."
"This is it."
"Are you sure?" Evelynn commented, looking out the back window.
"I'm sure."
JJ held his hand out for Kirsten to grab, the girl shook her head in response, "Oh, no thank you."
"Huh?" He turned to her, blue eyes boring into brown ones as he look for any signs of discomfort.
"This is the Crain house."
"Not the Crain house." John B groaned.
"Are you kidding me?"
"Worst-case scenario." JJ shrugged, "I'll take care of you."
Kirsten chuckled, letting him take her hand. She had fully expected him to let go, only to frown as she felt him intertwine their fingers.
"Why'd it have to be here... of all places?"
"I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property."
"That's fun." Luca huffed, allowing Evelynn to latch onto his arm.
"Said no one ever."
•••
"Look, you guys know whose house this is, right?"
"It's not like we went over this before we ventured off into the woods of the place." Evelynn mumbled, grunting as her sleeve got caught in a branch.
"Oh, yeah. No, I do." JJ said, swinging his and Kirsten hands.
"Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place." John B admitted to them.
"Hey, shut up." Evelynn turned around to glare at him.
"What?"
Luca turned to him quickly, "You can't say shit like that, man."
"Which stories did you hear?" JJ walked ahead, Kirsten having to follow along due to their locked hands.
"The one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since. On certain nights, when the moon is full... you can see her in the window!"
The youngest twin spun around, waving her hands in their faces mockingly. "Waah!"
"No, it's not funny, 'cause it's all true."
"It is true." Luca agreed.
"I swear to God, guys, this is all real. I knew Hollis." He put his fist up when a bird flew through the trees, "Jeez!"
"Wait, you knew Hollis Crain?" Luca asked, more interested in this than any conversation he's ever had with the pogues.
"Yeah, dude."
"Dude, how do you know Hollis Crain?" Pope asked, shoving JJ's chest.
"She was my babysitter, man. She told me all about it. Told me the truth... about her mother and what happened in this house. So as a kid, she heard all the stories that her mother killed her father, and... she was a murder and all. Hollis didn't believe it."
"That's morbid." Kirsten said, face scrunching up.
"Until that night."
"What night?"
"It all came back to her. When Hollis was six years old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs. So she goes downstairs to see her mom washing her hands in a sink... full of blood. Her mother just says that she cut her finger."
"The next morning, she says her father and her split up. But then, Hollis noticed something. Her mother going into the parlor constantly, in and out and in and out with plastic bags. Weeks pass, and Hollis decides to use the outhouse." JJ rambled on, hands moving around to make the story more interesting. By now, Kirsten had forced their hands apart, not wanting her shoulder to pop out of place from how dramatic JJ was flinging his limbs around.
"And as she's using it, she looks down, and there, in the outhouse, is her father's head, looking straight back at her."
Evelynn couldn't hold in her laugh. The sound echoing through the woods as she adjusted her pink jacket on her shoulder, "You're hilarious, JJ."
"God, you are so full of shit." John B rolled his eyes, pushing him away.
"Dude, I swear to God, man."
"Did she call the police?" Kirsten asked.
"She didn't have time."
"We can't do this..." Pope's cut off by John B shoving past everyone to walk ahead.
"Wait! Dude!"
"What?" John B dragged out, facing him with a look of annoyance on his face.
"You sure you wanna do this? She's an axe murderer. You got a cast on." JJ pointed out.
"I don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay?"
"You should." Kirsten told him, "You definitely should."
"I got nothin' to lose, right? You guys comin' or what?" He looked between each one of them.
Kie nodded softly, "Come on."
JJ looked reluctant, Kirsten easily noticed this. Putting her hand out for him to grab. His lip twitched upwards before he took her hand, allowing her to tug him along.
"So here's the plan. We need to look for the wheat near the water like it said in Denmark's letter." John B whispered.
"Okay, like, what kind of water? Like, pond water?"
The blonde let a chuckle escape his lips, "Bong water?"
"No. It... it just said look for water, okay?" They nodded.
"That's the shittiest secret message ever." Kie rolled her eyes. Evelynn made a face, mocking the girl behind her back as she walked away.
"Let's go."
"You wanna complain a little more, Kie? Nobody said it was gonna be easy." John B said.
"We'll search the northeast quadrant, you guys search the northwest." Pope pointed between himself and Luca before gesturing to Kirsten and JJ.
"I don't even know what that means."
"The decapitation quadrant." JJ said.
"Hey, psst! Hey, come on. It's the only place we haven't looked."
Evelynn grumbled as she tripped over a loose branch, glaring at Kiara.
"What did I do?"
"Shut up."
"Oh, shit..." The Maybank waved his hands around as a bird chased him.
"Come on." Luca whispered.
"Oh, no, I'm not going in there." Evelynn declined.
"Ev." Pope looked at her.
The girl in question raised a brow, eyes darting to the side before landing back on him, "What?"
The others share a look, turning to her in unison.
"This jacket is expensive, okay? Jonathan, I want help you as much as the next guy but i didn't sign up for ruining my favorite jacket."
"It's too hot for a jacket anyway." JJ whispered.
"Please, Evelynn. When we get the gold, I'll buy you a new one, i promise. Just—do this...for me."
"Hmm, see you had me until the 'for me' part."
The Routeledge rolled his eyes dramatically, "Go. We don't have time for this."
"Here we go."
Crawling into the small door, Kirsten made sure to keep close to JJ, which proved to me difficult as the Maybank was making an unnecessary amount of noise behind her.
"Down came Mrs. Crain And cut off all our heads. Up came the sun And dried up all the blood." JJ sang.
"Can you stop?"
The floor creak under their weight. John B took his light to look around the room,
"See any water?"
"Another dead end?"
"There's not even water on the pipes."
"There's no water here." Luca shrugged.
"Not a dropamino." JJ popped his lips.
Kie hummed as she walked around, "Know why we didn't find it? Bad karma."
"Oh, God. Here we go."
"You know, we had a good thing going. And then you decide to rope in Barbie, and now the trail's gone dry. Coincidence? Probably not."
Kirsten's eyes rolled as she listened to her sister bash the Cameron girl. She didn't like how she was choosing to talk bad about someone that wasn't even present, but it was hard getting through to Kiara's mind when she set it on something.
"This is exactly why I didn't wanna tell you about Sarah." John B scoffed.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Luca trudged over to Evelynn, "Do they always argue like this?"
"Nah, it's usually me."
He whistled lowly, placing his hands on her waist as he looked down at her, "Somehow I don't doubt that."
"What the hell's the deal with you two?" Kie continued to complain.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Is it because I kissed you? Is that the problem?"
A smack filled the air. Kirsten nearly choke on her spit as she realized her sister just slapped John B.
"Oh!"
"Oh, shit!"
"That echoed, dude!"
"Stop treating me like I'm some girl that's obsessed with you instead of your best friend who's actually trying to look out for you."
"Okay." Evelynn encouraged, a lot more interested in paying attention to them now.
"Did you, uh... hit me?"
"Yeah, she did."
Kie raised her hands "Skeeter."
"Skeeter?"
"Yeah, you see it?" She nodded towards the bug on her palm.
"Yeah."
Their playful moods suddenly dropped when John B raised his hand and slapped the girl back.
"Whoa!" Luca stepped up, "What the hell is wrong with you, man?"
"Oh, hey!"
"What the hell, John B?" Kirsten snapped, shoving his chest, knocking him a couple steps away from her twin.
JJ quickly intervened, pulling her to his chest, "No."
Kie ran her tongue over her bottom lip, "Where's your proof?"
"Skeeter." John B showed her.
Evelynn and Kirsten shared a look as the two began swatting at one another, their attention soon falling on elsewhere.
Luca began to notice the amount of mosquitoes flying around, his nearly perfect brows furrowing as he came to a realization. He walked over to the well sitting in the middle of the room, tapping at the large stack of wood sitting on top of it.
His muscles flexed as he pulled everything off.
"Why are there so many mosquitoes in a basement?"
"Dude. I know, seriously. Tiny vampire bats, just leave me alone." JJ whined, "Oh, my gosh! Okay, can we leave? 'Cause I'm already itchin' to leave."
Kirsten chuckled, "That was funny."
"Hah? Punny." He smiled down at her.
"I just found Mrs. Crain's voodoo doll, guys."
"Oh, shit."
"Hey." Luca called Pope over, the Heyward stepping over a piece of wood, "Look."
He tossed a rock into a well, listening contently as a splash was heard.
Pope let of a breath of disbelief, "Hey, everybody quiet."
"Listen."
"Well, well, well."
"That was a good dad joke." John B smiled.
"You guys are on a roll today, aren't you?"
"They built this part of the house right over it."
"This is where she hid the bodies." JJ brought up, earning a shove from Pope.
"Oh, dude, come on. Stop."
"No, I'm dead serious."
"Stop it!"
"It was never an outhouse. She probably doesn't even know it's here."
"So... we found water." Kirsten said, "Now what?"
"We're gonna need a really big rope."