Last night was quite the experience.
The experience being the fact jj was in a suit and i could hardly breath when i first saw him, and also the fact that john b like .. nearly died.
That's right, news flash! He's alive. Pogues never die. But he does have a broken arm. Which may or may not affect our treasure hunting journey.
Topper pushed him from the top of Hawks nest, i'm not sure why. But i do know that Sarah was there.
That bitch kissed John b like she's known him all her life, and although i was worried for john b.. i was pissed he lied and promised us there wasn't anything there. When clearly, there is.
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It's dark out when i hear a rattle on my bedroom window.
I decided to go back to my house that night, I promised Ren i'd stay one night. She always talks about missing me so much.
But the thing is, my bedrooms on the second floor, who the fuck is at my window?
I sit up and rub my eyes.. grabbing my phone to see the time.
It's 3.24am.
"What the fuck.." I mumble.
I also see a notification from jj.
"Hi I wud kinda appreciate if Darla could open her window rn, bc i'm hanging on for dear life ❤️" - jj.
I gasp and jump out of bed, running over to the window and pulling up my blinds.
Jj and i are face to face.
"Sup." He struggles to say.
I open my window in a hurry. "What, are you trying to end up like John b, jj? God."
He climbs through and I shut my window.
"So like- like, basically." He huffs loudly. "God- sorry I'm tired."
"Why are you here?" I ask.
"I just- um.. my dads been a dick about me almost going to jail, as you can see." He points to the cuts on his face that i asked him about earlier.
"Right, yeah no of course. You can stay with me." I nod several times.
"Thanks. John b wasn't home." He walks over to my hanging chair to rest while I go over to my closet to get him a blanket.
"He's probably still in hospital, getting the last few stitches.. or whatever." I say, my head in my closet.
I take out a blanket for him. "Here," I throw it at him.
"Cool, i'm pretty fucking cold." He shivers.
"Mhm I could tell.." I mumble as I go to sit on my bed across from him.
I cant help but stare at his cuts, they look so sore.. and I'm scared they'll get infected.
"What.." jj can tell i'm gone weird.
"Your cuts are really bad, j." I sigh. "Here, I'll just clean them up."
"They're fine- Darl." He shakes his head.
"No, they're not." I walk into my bathroom to get my first aid kit. "They looks super irritated."
I walk out with the first aid and walk over to him on the chair.
I start to take out the cleaners.
"Hold." I give him a cotton wool and i sprinkle some wound disinfectant liquids over it.
"Is it gonna hurt?" jj closes his eyes while i move closer to dab the cuts.
"No." I lie, so he stops tensing.
I dab gently 4 times before he realises it burns.
"What the f-" he shouts so loud the whole island probably heard him.
I slap my hand onto his mouth. "Shut up!"
He winces because there was a cut on his lip that i just slapped.
"Shit, sorry. But shut the fuck up." I let go of his mouth.
I start dabbing again and he keeps tensing in pain.
"Will you relax?" I whisper. "Just.. just ask me a question or something."
He breaths out slowly as i move onto the next cut. "Uh, okay. So about this Tanner guy."
I roll my eyes and smile as I dab on this cut. "About him?"
"Yeah, like.. did y'all have something together?" He shrugs.
I stop dabbing and rustle around in my kit for plasters. "Mmh, not really."
"Not really? What does not really mean?" He says quickly.
I look at him. "It means not really, We we're just a bit close during my.. kook .. year." I hesitate to say.
"Right, close." He leans back.
"Hey, I'm not finished!" I tell him as I hold up the plasters.
He sits back up. "You looked really good tonight."
I softly smiled as I ripped the paper off the plaster. "You too, j."
"I mean it, I was like.. at loss for words."
I put the plaster just above his eyebrow, covering his gnarliest scar, trying to hide my huge cheesy grin. "I suppose you should start wearing suits more often."
"Really?" he laughs.
"Mhm, suits you." I make a dad joke.
"I see what you did there." He chuckles as I smooth out the plaster.
"But uh, you said something.. before Rafe and them came." he looks at me.
"I did? What did i say?" I ask, I genuinely tend to forget these types of things.
"Oh, never mind. I forget too." He stutters. I look at him, he looks like he's holding something back.
"Alright, I'm pretty tired.. so-" I tuck my hair behind my ears.
"Right. Me too." jj yawns and stands up. "Thank you for this."
I tilt my head and smile. "Anytime."
I turn and get into my bed.
I look up and see jj standing as still as a statue with his blanket under his arm.
I go to press the switch to my beside lamp. "What are you doing?"
He's still stood. "Uh. Where do I.."
I laugh a little, that's cute of him. "The beds big enough for the both of us, dumbo. I'm sure you'll fit."
I see his face light up a little before I turn off the lights.
He jumps into the bed beside me, and kicks off his shoes.
I turn over. "Goodnight maybank."
"Goodnight Darling."
I smile to myself.
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I woke up to the treacherous sound of my phone ringing.
"What the fuck.." I groan and sit up.
I grab it and see that Kiaras calling.
"Mmh." I hum into the phone.
"Darla! Where are you? And do you know where jj is?" Kie asks immediately.
I gaze over at the blonde head of messy bed hair beside me. "Nah, where is he?"
"Well that's what I was asking you. Anyway, can you come to the wreck please? John b is out of the hospital."
I sigh. "God, what time is it Kie?"
"It's 2pm." she snaps.
"Oh, right." I get out of my bed and rub my face.
"Well be here at 2.30." She hangs up the phone.
I walk into my bathroom and grab my toothbrush, sprinkle it with water, and apply a lump of toothpaste on top.
As I'm brushing, jj appears at my open bathroom door.
"I thought you left." His first words of the morning are.
I continue brushing.
"Thanks for letting me stay." He says with a huge grin.
I spit out the toothpaste, and rinse my brush. "No worries."
"Any verdict on john b?" he asks.
"Yeah, he's out. All of them are at the wreck."
I rinse off my teeth with the wet toothbrush before spitting again and wiping my mouth off with a towel.
I look up to see he is still standing there, staring at me.
"You can get ready now.. because you're coming with me." I walk past him, feeling him smile.
I go over to my closet and pick out an outfit.
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We arrive together at the Wreck.
Kie is carrying a tray of cups. "So your living with Sarah Cameron?"
I pause as jj walks over to Pope who is sitting on the tables. "Say that again?"
John b sees jj and I come at the same time. "Wait.. where were you two all morning?"
I look at jj. "I was asleep, i don't know about him."
he smirks a little. "I was helping my dad with something."
"But.. you're living with who?" I change the topic.
John b tilts his head. "It's only for a while. If They didn't take me in.. I would've been sent away."
I cross my arms.
"So like, do you have access to all the clubs now?" Pope asks him.
"I don't know, Pope." He grunts as he sits down at the table.
I walk over to the table.
"What about those golf carts they drive around? You get one of them?" jj asks.
"Does it come with a sweater-vest, or do you have to buy your own?" I comment.
"Look, you promised. You said you weren't with her." Kie adds.
"Bro, just own it. She got you." jj says.
"If you wanna hang out with her, that's fine. But i'm letting you know right night that Im not doing anything with Sarah." Kie says to him.
"I second that." I add in, there's no way in hell l'll even so much as look at that girl.
"Do you guys see her here?" John b asks us all.
"No, right. A little focus would be great. We've got the map."
"It's out of whack cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it." jj points out as we all look at the map. I notice he only said that because the outline looks different.
"It's cause the coast has changed." I obviously state to jj.
He tilts his head and sarcastically nods.
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We figure out that since the coast has changed, it must be in or near battery jasper.
Well, to be honest.. I wasn't listening fully. We ended up at some stone wall. And apparently they think somethings behind that wall. That's what jj explained to me.. but I still don't get it.
We look over the stone wall from the twinkie, and I see a tall green and highly familiar house.
"This is it." Pope concludes.
"You've got to be shitting me." I groan.
"Not the crain house." John b sighs.
We get out of the car.
"Worse case scenario." Jj says, shakey.
"Why'd it have to be here." Pope answers.
"I heard that mrs. crain buried her husbands head on the property." jj informs us.
I look at him, raising an eyebrow.
We hop the wall and jump down into The crains garden.
"You guys know who's house this is, right?" Kie says.
"Oh yeah, No, I do." Jj shudders.
I chuckle. "I remember I used to get nightmares from the stories I heard."
"What stories did you hear?" jj walks up beside me and asks.
"The one where she offed her husband with an axe to the neck, and that's she's been holed up ever since." I tell him.
jj looks scared, so I keep going to mess with him.
"On certain nights, when the moon is full... you can see her in the window!" I wiggle my fingers in his face with a huge grin as I walk backwards in front of him.
"No, it's not funny Darl."
"Waah!" I say in a ghosts tone.
"it's not funny cause it's all true." he cries.
"I swear to god guys, this is all real. I knew Hollis. Jeez!" He gets spooked by a random statue.
"Wait you knew Hollis Crain?" Pope asks.
"Yeah, dude." jj nods.
"Dude- how do you know Hollis Crain?" We ask him.
"She was my babysitter, man. She told me all the stories. Told me the truth, about her mother. and what happened in this house."
I look up at the window, kind of believing him.. when I see the curtain slightly move in the window.
"So as a kid, she heard all the stories that her mother killed her father, and.. she was a murderer and all. Hollis didn't believe it. Until that night." jj explains.
I start getting chills down my spine. "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." He steps closer to all of us to, I'm guessing, try and scare us.
"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 park or constantly, in and out, in and out with plastic bags. Weeks pass, and hollis decides to use the outhouse."
I cross my arms, listening to the story.
"As she's using it, she looks down. And there- in the outhouse, is her fathers head looking straight back at her."
John b chuckles. "God you are so full of shit."
"Dude, it's true. I swear."
John b pushes past jj.
"Did she call the police?" Pope asks, believing jjs story.
"She couldn't, the towers were down."
"Mhm." I sigh, following John b.
"Stop. John b are you sure you wanna go in there?" Jj yells.
"Bro, we've got nothing to lose. Come on." He keeps walking.
I walk past a scared jj. "If i see a 90 year old woman with an axe, I'll let you know."
"Thanks, Darl. How thoughtful."
"Alright, so here's the plan. We need to look for the wheat near the water." John b lures is behind a bush.
"Okay, like, what kind of water? Like, pond water?" Pope asks.
jj chuckles. "Bong water?" He thought he heard Pope say.
We all look at him, as if it's obviously not bong water. But i could use a fat bong right now.
"No- it it just said look for water, okay?" John b interupts.
"That's the shittiest secret message ever." I scoff, getting up and walking away.
"You wanna complain a little more, Darl? Nobody said it was gonna be easy." John b says as they all follow after me.
I rustle around the leaves and the others go their separate ways, when I thought i seen something hidden in the bushes.
I crouch down and try to take a closer look. It's colour is a very degraded white.. It's skinny and looks flimsy to the touch.
"Hey! psst! Hey, look. It's the only place we haven't looked." I look over when I hear john b whisper, he's crouched beside a little entrance.
I look back at the white thing.. wondering what it might be, but then I walk over to the entrance.
We crawl in, it's pitch black.
I turn on my flash light as I slightly am able to stand, but still have to bend a little.
"Down came Mrs. Crain and cut off all our heads." jj sang a song, making me kind of frightened.
"up came the sun and dried up all the blood."
"Can you stop?" Pope says slowly and annoyed.
"See any water?" Kie asked as we look at old toys and furniture covered in cobwebs.
A mosquito buzzes past me, scaring me.
"Another dead end?" I sigh.
"Theres not even water on the pipes." jj whispers as he feels the dust coated pipes.
"There's no water here." Pope concludes.
"Not a dropamino.."
"Know why we didn't find it? Bad karma." Kie says referring to Sarah.
"You know, we had a good thing going." She continues as john b groans. "Then you decided to rope in Barbie, and now the trails gone dry."
I laugh a little. "Literally, get it because it's completely dry in here?"
No one laughs.
"Right.."
"This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you about Sarah." John b growls. "What the hells the deal, what's going on with you two?"
"Nothing." Kie snaps.
"Nothing? Is it because I kissed you? Is that the problem?"
Kie suddenly slaps john b across the face, making us all gasp.
"Oh-"
"Oh shit!"
"Stop treating me like I'm just some girl that's obsessed with you." She snarls. "Instead of your best friend, that's actually trying to look out for you."
"Did you, uh, hit me?" John b asks.
"Skeeter." She holds up her hand revealing a dead mosquito.
Suddenly John b slaps Kie across the face.
"Oh, hey!" jj tries to get the situation to calm.
"Okay.." Pope follows along.
"Dickhead." I chuckle.
"Where's your proof?" She says.
John b holds up his hand to reveal another dead mosquito. "Skeeter."
They start hitting eachother back and forth on the arms, shoulders, stomach and back. "There was probably one there." Kie shrugs as she hits him.
"There's one right there." John b says as he hits her back.
I start slapping the mosquitos that are swarming me. "Dude these things are gnarly!"
"Get off!" Pope slaps the one's crawling on him.
"Hey, sh! Keep it down." jj shouts.
"That was way louder than we were, jj." I whisper.
"Well you've quietened down, now. So it worked." jj whisper shouts back.
"Really did it work?" I say raised my voice higher.
"Dude- shut up!" He goes to put his hand on my mouth but I dodge.
He starts chasing me around to get me to shut up as I sing "La, la, la!"
jj stops at a toy crib with a doll inside. "Yo, i just found Mrs. Crains voodoo doll." He holds it up.
"Oh shit!" I chuckle.
He starts punching it. "This is what's gonna happen to you if you don't shut the fuck up."
"Scary, truly, I'm terrified." I say sarcastically.
Suddenly Pope starts hustling around very loudly.
"Hey! Hey! Pope shh!" jj whispers.
"Help me move this!" He tells us, handing me his flashlight quickly.
"Okay, just. Quiet down." jj starts grabbing planks carefully.
We all start to move the planks. It reveals a hole, and you can sort of see a cobblestone design along the sides.
We all look down into the hole with our flash lights, and it seems to go down forever. A well.
"Well, well, well." Pope puns.
"That was a good dad joke." John b admits.
"This is where she hid the bodies." jj shivers as he says.
"Dude.. stop!" I whisper, getting really scared.
"There was never an outhouse.." Jj nods.
"She probably doesn't even know it's here." Kie says.
"We found water.." Pope looks at john b.
"Well we're gonna need a really big rope." john b smirks.
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END OF CHAPTER ELEVEN!!
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hope y'all enjoyed and have a really great day!! I'm working on chapters pretty often so the next one should be out soon.