CHAPTER TWELVE
maybe one day ill find the strength
to say that you are more than a
best friend to me.
JOHN B WAS PERFECTLY FINE, OTHER than the cast that wrapped around his wrist and the headaches he got from his concussion, the boy was in perfect condition.
the pogues had planned to meet him in kiaras dads restaurant. there, they could find out what life was like as he got to experience living in a kook house, with lots of money.
Bambi had a bitter expression on her face, she had been with the boy for over half an hour and not once had he mentioned being sorry for lying.
promises meant the world to Bambi, if the girl made a promise to anyone she wouldn't dare to break it but experiencing her own twin brother break one broke her heart.
"i'm sorry, your staying were?" Kiara raised her eyebrows, walking past them as she was currently working.
"Tannyhill." he repeated himself.
"so your living with Sarah Cameron?" kiara frowned, making John B run a hand over his face.
"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, if ward didn't-"
Pope cut him off, "hey, so do you have a membership to the clubs now?"
"i don't know Pope." John B shook his head, sitting down on the seat opposite Bambi.
"what about those golf carts they drive around? you get one of them?" JJ asked.
"does it come with a sweater vest or do you have to buy one on your own?"
John B ignored his question, looking at his sister who had her head down on the table, keeping herself out of the conversation, "are you mute today or something, Bambi?"
Bambi lifted her head up and glared at him, biting her tongue, "no, i'm just so fucking mad at you that i know that if i speak to you, i'll shout."
"what have i done this time." he furrowed his eyebrows, acting completely oblivious on to why she was mad at him.
"you lied, you said you weren't with her." kiara answered for Bambi, holding a plate with a cup in her hands.
John b shrugged, looking at JJ as he spoke, "bro, just own it. they got you."
Bambi still refused to speak to the boy, she couldn't stand him and disliked him so much at the moment that she had to force herself to be around him.
"look, if you wanna hang out with her, that's fine. but i'm letting you know right now that i'm not doing anything with Sarah." kiara voiced her opinion, letting him know the boundaries.
"do you guys see her here? no, right, okay. a little focus would be fantastic." John B replied, more focused on the gold.
"everyone would be focused if you didn't fucking lie about macking a kook." Bambi frowned, giving him one last glare before putting her head back on the table.
John B ignored his sister, deciding that if they were going to argue, he would rather do it later so instead, he looked at JJ, "we got the map?"
"it's out of whack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it." JJ replied, looking at the map that was laid on the table.
kiara inspected the map, trying to figure it out, "it's 'cause the coast has changed."
"so we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed." Pope ruled out.
John B looked at everyone with wide eyes, an idea coming into mind, "what about the old forts?"
"battery jasper." kiara read of the map, using the pictures to know what's been changed and what's not around the island."
THE POGUES MADE THEIR WAY TO BATTERY Jasper and Bambi still hadn't said a single word to her brother and everyone could tell that the tension between them was thick.
she stayed beside JJ the whole time, refusing to even be close to John B, even if she had to squeeze into a small space.
was she being dramatic? probably. but the girl believed that is she held her grudge for long enough, he would realise how much it hurt her and never dare to do it again.
"we're in battery, right here." Pope spoke, pointing at we're they was on the map, "so if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here."
"somewhere over there." kiara pointed.
"right."
"over there? guys, that's not TannyHill, that's a subdivision." JJ realised, pointing at we're they were looking.
"Tannyhill plantation used to be the entire island." John B explained, looking at JJ, "it got sold into smaller pieces over time."
"so we're just looking for an old stone wall." Pope looked at the map, using his smartness to guide them through figure eight using nothing but the map.
it was a bumpy ride since he was making John B do some sharp turns and for a second, Bambi thought that she would actually need a seatbelt as her safety wasn't guaranteed.
"take a left." Pope instructed for the last time and soon enough they pulled up to a big stone wall.
"that looks like a stone wall to me." JJ raised his eyebrows, staring at it through the window.
"this is it."
the pogues stared the wall and the surrounds and immediately everybody knew where they had been led too.
"not the crain house." Bambi muttered, sighing and getting out of the van.
the crain house was a house everyone on the island knew to stay away from and they had good reasons for it.
even though it was an old fragile lady that lived inside, the stories that came with her and the house sent shivered down Bambi's spine.
it was rumoured that she killed her husband with an axe and although Bambi didn't know if it was true or not, she believed it.
"are you kidding me?" Kiara scoffed, walking up to the wall and looking at it.
"worse case scenario."
"why did it have to be here, out of all places." Pope frowned.
"i heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husbands head on the property." JJ began telling the rumours he also heard.
"it's true so we better get climbing before she realises we're here and decides to do the same to us." Bambi shrugged, walking over to the wall and climbing up it.
once she landed, she didn't look over her shoulder to see if the pogues were following and instead walked straight towards the house.
JJ caught up to her, a curious look on his face, "which stories did you hear?"
"the one where she killed her husband with an axe and has been holed up ever since." Bambi told him.
kiara joined in, walking up to them, "on certain nights, when the moons full. you can see her in the window."
JJ turned to kie, "no, it's not funny. 'cause it's all true. i swear to god guys, this is all real, i knew hollis."
"i believe it with you, J. i would not like to see the woman anytime soon." Bambi shivered.
"wait, you knew hollis crain?" Pope asked.
"yeah, dude." JJ nodded.
Pope walked forward and stopped him, making everyone else stop, "how do you know hollis crain?"
"she was my babysitter, man. she told me all of it." the blonde explained, "she told me the truth..about her mother and what happened in this house."
everyone looked at him, waiting for him to tell the story, "so, as a kid, she heard all the stories that her mother killed her farther and she was a murderer and all, hollis didn't believe it."
"until that night."
"what night?" John B asked.
"it all came back to her." JJ revealed, turning to look at the house, "when hollis was six years old, she heard her arguing downstairs so she goes downstairs to see her mom washing her hands in a sink, full of blood."
"her mother just says she cut her finger open. the next morning she says her farther and her had split up but then hollis noticed something. her mother going into the parlour constantly. in and out, in and out with plastic bags."
"weeks pass and hollis decides to use the out house and as she's using it, she looks down and there in the outhouse is her father's head, looking straight back at her."
"god, you are so full of shit," John B sighed, not believing any word he said.
"dude, i swear to god, man." the blonde swore.
"did she call the police?" pope asked.
"she didn't have time-" he began to say before he chased John B who began walking off, "wait, hold on."
"what?" John B turned to him.
"are you sure you want to do this? she's an axe murderer and you got a cast on." JJ interrogated the boy.
"i don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay?" John B expressed, "i got nothing to loose, you coming or what?"
Pope and kiara followed John B whilst JJ stood there, clear fear on his face making Bambi stop, "don't worry, i'll protect you."
the group crouched down as the snook closer to the house, they didn't want to make a noise incase the stories were actually true and even if they weren't, they were trespassing.
"hey, come on. come here." he called everyone to him, "so here's the plan, we need to look for the wheat near the water like it said in denmarks letter."
"okay, what kind of water? like pond water?" Pope asked.
JJ furrowed his eyebrows and looked at him, clearly mishearing him, "bong water?"
"no- it just said, look for water, okay?"
"that is the shittiest secret message ever." kiara complained, walking through the bushes.
"you want to complain a little more, kie? nobody said it was gonna be easy." he rolled his eyes, following her.
now it was just Bambi, JJ and Pope left to decide we're they were going to check and Pope turned to them, "i'll search the northeast quadrant, you two search the northwest."
JJ knew his way around the house enough to know that was were his head was found, "the decapitation quadrant."
"there's two of you, only one of me." Pope shrugged, beginning to walk away.
"even though that's were hollis found his head, i'm pretty sure mrs. crain is to old to even get out of bed." Bambi tried to calm the boy, grabbing his hand and leading him away.
"do you believe in the stories?" JJ asked, keeping hold of the girls hand as they walked.
"i do but if an old woman and a group of hormonal teenagers got into a fight, who do you think would win?" Bambi raised her eyebrow.
"does the old woman have a weapon?" JJ tried to reverse the question.
"if she does, she's going to also have to chase a group of teenagers who are experienced in running away from people." Bambi replied.
the pair walked in silence, hand in hand as they looked for a place that could lead to the gold. there was a thick tension in the air and although Bambi could feel it, she couldn't tell what it was.
JJs stomach was swarming with butterflies as he looked down at the way she was holding his hand. their fingers were intertwined and she slowly stroked her thumb against his hand.
he then looked at her, taking in how the wind made her hair blow slightly, showing how perfect her side profile was and the way she bit her lip as she looked around didn't hurt.
deciding that now was probably the right time, he stopped her and turned to her, "thought i should let you know that when i saw you in the dress, you looked so beautiful."
Bambi looked at him, blinking as she took what he said in and with the silence, the boy began thinking what he said was wrong, "i'm not saying you don't look beautiful everyday, i'm just sa-"
the girl cut him off, "i know your not but thank you. you didn't look to bad yourself."
JJ smiled and he could have sworn his stomach did somersaults, being the impulsive person he was, he leaned in, pressing his lips against hers and surprisingly, she kissed back.
JJ maybank was kissing Bambi routledge.
his best friend.
Bambi smiled into the kiss, placing a hand on his cheek before pulling away, the smile remaining on her face as she looked at him.
"you have no idea how long i've wanted to do that." JJ breathed out, taking her smile and the kiss back as a good sign.
"you think Mrs. Crain has cameras and just watched us do that?" Bambi teased.
JJ rubbed the back of his neck, "yeah, i should have probably chose a better place to do that."
Bambi giggled, pulling him in to kiss him one more time before pulling away, "think we should get back to John B?"
"yeah." the blonde nodded, and little did she know, she had just made him the happiest boy in the entire world.
JOHN B, BEING THE MAIN CHARACTER that he is finally found a place they could search in hopes to find the gold.
it was a basement and as much as Bambi was scared to go inside it, she decided to act as if she wasn't because if she showed she was, she would probably also worry JJ.
"there's not even water on the pipes." JJ mentioned, touching the dry, crusty, pipes.
Pope sighed, shining his flash on John B, "there's no water here."
"not a dropamino."
"know why we didn't find it?" kiara began, "bad karma."
"couldn't agree with you more." Bambi nodded her head, looking around.
"oh god, here we go." John B sighed.
"you know, we had a good thing going." kiara complained, "and then you decide to rope in Barbie and now the trails gone dry. coincidence? probably not."
"you have just put me off Barbie forever." Bambi frowned, rolling her eyes.
"this is exactly why i didn't want to tell either of you about Sarah." John B pointed at both kiara and Bambi, making Bambi turn to him.
"okay, fine. next time i have anything with anyone, you will be the last to know." Bambi shrugged, crossing her arms.
John B sighed, looking at his sisters challenging stare, "i'm going to speak to you about what your problem is later, first, kiara, what's the deal with you and Sarah?"
"nothing." kiara denied.
"nothing? is it because i kissed you? is that the problem?" John B raised his eyebrow but was quickly met with kiaras hand smacking across his cheek.
"oh!"
"oh shit."
"well deserved." Bambi nodded at kiara, glad that John B is finally being told off, "girl power."
"stop treating me like i'm some girl that's obsessed with you instead of your best friend whose actually trying to look out for you." Kiara glared.
"did you, uh, hit me." John B asked.
kiara raised her hand, showing the bug on it, "skeeter."
"skeeter?" John B raised his eyebrow.
"yeah, see it?" kiara said but was quickly cut off by John B's hand also connecting with her face.
"oh! hey-"
"did you know, woman created seatbelts." Bambi began but was stopped by kiara.
"where's your proof?" she asked John B and once John B lifted his hand up, she shined her flashlight on it, revealing a bug on his hand.
"skeeter."
Bambi rolled her eyes as she watched the two begin to hit each other, saying one was probably in every spot they hit.
she didn't get how kiara could be mad at him one second and then forgive him the next, especially when he acted like he hadn't done anything wrong.
feeling something crawling on her, the girl began to frail her limbs in hopes of not getting bit. they're was lots of mosquitoes flying around and it didn't make sense that they were in a basement.
"why are there so many mosquitoes in a basement?" Pope muttered to himself but his voice caught the ears of both JJ and Bambi.
"dude. i know, seriously, tiny vampire bats, just leave me alone." JJ groaned, slapping himself to try and keep them away, "oh, my gosh! okay, can we leave? 'cause i'm already itching to leave. haha, punny."
"if someone told me there would be mosquitoes everywhere, i wouldn't have come in shorts and a bikini top." Bambi sighed, using her flashlight to look around.
the brunette felt a tap on her back and turned around to see JJ with a smirk on his face, holding up some old random doll he found, "just found Mrs. Crain's voodoo doll."
"that's the scariest thing i've ever seen." her eyes widened and she was quick to push him away, wanting to never see the doll again.
JJ already having enough of looking around, sighed, "all right, can we leave this? 'cause this is getting-"
Bambi looked at Pope when he began moving around, making more then enough noise, "yeah, you do that, Pope. Let the woman know were trespassing in her basement."
"help me move this." he looked at John B, beginning to move all of the wood from the floor.
the group worked together to lift the wooden planks off of the floor and when they looked down, they were met with a deep well.
"well, well, well." Pope smiled.
"that was a good dad joke." John B said in disbelief, staring into the hole, his flashlight lighting it up and showing how deep it was.
"they built the top of the house, right over it." kiara realised, making JJ turn his head.
"this is were she hid the bodies." JJ tried to scare everyone but Bambi wasn't having it.
"say anything about her killing people again and i'll hide your body in there next." she threatened, causing the blonde to raise his hands in surrender.
"we found water." Pope grinned.
"we're gonna need a really big rope."
BAMBI HAD MADE SURE TO MAKE THE joint she just smoked, extra strong and since smoking it, the girl had been having a giggle fit for the past ten minutes.
nothing was even funny, it was just the fact that she remembered a funny memory from when she was a kid and first started smoking.
it was when she didn't really know what it done to you and how it made you feel and once she and JJ felt the affects for the first time, JJ freaked out so much that he thought jumping in the marsh would solve the problem.
"i had to jump in to save you beca—because you thought you was about to drown." she wheezed, leaning her head on her lap as she tried to catch her breath.
Pope looked at her weirdly, "if i ever smoke, will i end up jumping in the marsh?"
"no, it's only because we were dumb kids, smoking around other dumb kids that knew nothing about smoking." JJ shook his head.
"and then the second time, you ran into the door and got a nose bleed." Bambi laughed again, slapping her thigh along with it.
"maybe you should get a glass of water." kiara frowned, looking around for John B who said he would be straight back.
when she saw him in the distance though, she didn't expect him to be walking with the one person she hated the most in the world.
"why the fuck is Sarah Cameron in a one mile distance of my house." Bambi stood up, her laughter immediately stopping.
John B looked at the pair starring at him, grabbing Sarah's hand and taking her over to a seat that was on the deck.
"no, effing way." kiara swore, pacing the dock as JJ and Pope took a seat, "you brought her here? so what? she's in on this now?"
John B looked at Pope and JJ for help, instead, Pope just shrugged but JJ decided to
open his mouth, "look, all i care about is her cut comes out of your share."
"your really fucking pushing it now, John B, you keep on pushing and soon i'm going to say something i shouldn't." Bambi crossed her arms.
"you know, i don't remember taking a vote. this is our thing, a pogue thing." Kiara pointed at her, John B, Bambi, JJ and Pope.
"i gotta say, im just a tad uncomfortable with all of this." Pope admitted.
"when are you not uncomfortable?" John B raised an eyebrow at the boy.
"i dunno. i rode here on the back of JJs bike pretty comfortable, even with Bambi driving and JJ walking." Pope fired back.
"it's true." JJ backed him, "most relaxed i've ever seen him."
"that's cute guys."
Bambi bit her lip, the joint making her feel light headed and in need of a seat. JJ noticed her and moved up, leaving her room to sit on his chair.
"you know we were all extremely comfortable until you brought her." Kie looked at Sarah.
deciding that she had had enough of staying silence, Sarah spoke up, "stop talking about me like i'm not here."
"then leave." kiara glared.
"can you guys hear that? because i can't." Bambi shrugged, leaning back into JJs chest.
"i told you." Sarah looked at John B.
"told him what, exactly, that your a liar?" kiara raised eyebrows.
"no, that your a shit talking bitch." Sarah fired back, making Bambi lean forward and scoff at the girl, JJ and Pope beginning to bet on who they thought would win.
"my moneys on kie." JJ held up a note for Pope, choosing who he thought was going to win.
"speak for yourself, i'm going to win when i deck the fucking bitch." Bambi leaned over, placing her head on JJs shoulder and scoffing.
Sarah and Kiara started arguing between themselves and with John B having enough of it, he broke, "everybody shut up!"
once the girls were silence John B looked at kiara, "kie, you are my best friend, right?" he then turned to Sarah, "Sarah, your my.."
everyone waited for him to finish what he was saying and Sarah smiled at him, "say it."
"your my girlfriend." he revealed and immediately, Bambi's heart dropped.
if John B dated a kook, he would get sucked into the kook life and were does that leave her? living alone and scraping for food her whole life without somebody right beside her?
"oh..that's new." Pope raised his eyebrow, he and JJ not very happy with the news either.
"she's your girlfriend now?" kiara glared her eyes, making the smile on John Bs face fade, "what was all that talk about you were just using her for information, get her map, cut her loose."
"you said you were using me?" Sarah looked at John B.
"no." he denied.
"don't be a fucking liar John B." Bambi scoffed, crossing her arms, everybody realising how annoyed she was.
"okay, look, love just walked in, okay?" he began, and Bambi made a fake gagging noise.
"what's next? a baby whose just as stuck up as both of you? maybe a fucking new house that will show everyone how rich and happy you both are?" Bambi stood up, her voice breaking.
"i didn't expect it, it just—it kinda happened. and i'm not going to deny it, right?" he looked at Sarah but she didn't have the same expression.
"oh! that's corny." Pope whispered.
"look, cut the bullshit John B," kiara broke the silence, "if she's in I'm out."
"kie, i'm not doing this. i cant." John B sighed, looking away for a second.
"you are going to decide. i'm very interested actually, me or her?" kiara raised an eyebrow, making it clear that no matter what, he had to choose who he wanted more.
"both." he said simply, not even taking a minute to decide who he was going to choose.
Bambi took a deep breath in through her nose, looking at Kiara who nodded slowly. if he chose a girl he just met over one of his best friends, would he do the same for her?
kiara didn't say anything else, instead she walked away, not looking back to see if he would change his mind.
John B looked at Bambi because he knew that now it was her turn to understand how important she was to him, "you know what i'm going to ask before i even ask it."
"Bambi, you know i can't choose." John B shook his head, looking at her.
"no you can, i mean you should choose me but if it makes you happy, choose your fucking sleeping beauty." Bambi's eyes welled up with tears and although they were about to drop, she refused to let them run down her face.
"that's like me asking you to choose between me and JJ." John B tried to throw it back at her.
"no, the difference is i haven't known JJ for less than a week, JJ has been here for most of my fucking life but has she? no. so why are you choosing a kook over your best friends?"
"you don't understand." John Bs voice was low and the tension in the air was thick.
"no, clearly not." Bambi shrugged, walking into the house and grabbing a joint before walking out of it, lighting it on the way past them.
ELLIE SPEAKS¡
havnt posted in so long and i'll explain!
went spain, fell in love for the first time with a lad and then once i got home he said he couldn't see a relationship with me?
i also started school again, my last year and i hope it goes so fucking fast because i cannot keep sleeping after school.
NOT EDITED!!