CHAPTER TWO
LUCKY COMPASS
"it takes two to toxic"
˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧༚
"FARRAH, dear, could you do your dad and I a favor?"
After the events of the boneyard had gone down, Lance and Farrah had pretty much fled the scene. The entirety of the day after, Lance spent trying to nurture the will to live back into Farrah. She had gotten way too drunk, which was what prompted her to approach John B the way she had in the first place. Not that Lance knew any of that, of course. He was, however, assigned to holding her hair back when she spent the entire morning hauling the contents of her stomach into his toilet.
For the most parts, Lance's father was MIA. His mother died when he was at the scarce age of five, and ever since then it had just been his father and him. Being a single dad was hard, especially at the Cut. He spent ninety percent of his time working, and the other ten percent looking for a suitable partner. His father was desperate for love and validation. Any woman, no matter how much of a bitch they were, was woman enough for him. Lance hated how he would bring a new girlfriend in every other week, but it wasn't like his dad would listen to him anyway. Besides, with friend like Farrah who needed a parental figure?
The two had met up with Millie to fill her in on the events that had gone down at the kegger. From there on out the trio wasted their day at Millie's house. They had initially decided on having a sleepover, but Farrah was far too exhausted to spend another second with anyone but herself. So, she returned home only to fall asleep at six pm. She then proceeded to sleep all the way till twelve am the next day. Bryan burst into his daughter room begging her to do them a favor, suprised to find her sleeping.
"I'm sorry— I didn't know you were still sleeping. Are you feeling alright?" His hand found his daughter's forehead checking for a temperature.
The girl swatted his hand away. "What favor?" A yawn ripped from her plump lips as she ran a hand through her very much tangled hair.
"We baked blueberry muffins to bring over to Lana Grubbs. They found her husband Scooter in the marsh yesterday. We have to go to work so we won't have time to run them over to her. Could you do it for us? You know how happy she is to see you." Bryan asked.
Lana and Scooter Grubbs were— in Farrah's humble opinion— deadbeats. Well, at least the latter one was. The couple happened to be close knit with Bryan and Phillip. Lana pretty much grew up with Bryan. And their friendship didn't wilt when they both found their respective partners. Farrah never minded Lana really, but she didn't care for her either. She would always make sure to leave some weird comment that left Farrah feeling odd. Running a condolence basket to the woman was the last thing Farrah wanted to do, but considering the circumstances she gave in with a sigh of defeat. The woman had, after all, just lost her husband.
Before Farrah could even question how on earth they had managed to bake muffins considering the power was out all over the Cut, Bryan had headed out. The girl pursed her lips as a sigh slipped from her. Her dads always had a funny way of making things pan out perfectly for them, despite life's many curveballs.
Dressed in a sundress and the same pair of sneakers, Farrah began walking in the direction of the Grubbs residence. The girl couldn't help but to hope Lana wasn't in so that she could leave the basket with the small card at her front door instead of interacting with the woman. She was bad at emotions. With two dads busy busting their asses to keep the wheel running, Farrah never really knew how to process her own emotions, let alone how to comfort somebody else's. Whenever she was dealing with something, she simply swallowed it and pushed it as far down as she could. Eventually it would backfire when it inevitably became too much and the cup finally overflowed, but Farrah could handle a breakdown every now and then if it meant she could spend the remainder of her time pretending her problems weren't real. Some may label it delusion, but Farrah preffered to think of it as protecting her peace.
Her dress danced at the ends with the soft breeze that kept her from melting away in the sweltering heat. Her sneaker cladded feet crunched against the gravel at the side of the road as she allowed her mind to wander. As much as she hated how much what had happened at the boneyard was getting to her, Farrah just couldn't for the life of her delete the image of JJ pulling a gun to Topper's head, nor could she seem to forget John B's unconscious body floating in the water. This summer was suppose to be a legendary one; cute bikinis, fruity drinks and hot guys hitting on her. So far she had only achieved one of those things— she was wearing a cute bikini underneath her clothes both at the night of the hurricane and at the kegger. And in the place of fruity drinks and cute guys were guns, a hurricane and a nearly drowned boy. How peachy.
When Farrah finally saw the Grubbs house she picked up her pace. The quicker she got this over and done with, the quicker she could return to her own superficial bubble. Her plans for this encounter to slip by smoothly was crushed when she reached the porch. Only then did she hear the sounds of yelling and cries coming from inside. She halted on the steps, wide eyes staring at the front door when she heard a loud crash. It wasn't until a voice called her name she snapped out of the initial shock.
"Farrah!" Her eyes snapped in the direction of John B. He was crouched down at the edge of the house, JJ peering at the Montgomery girl over John B's shoulder. She narrowed her eyes at the two in curiosity.
"What the hell are you two doing here?" She demanded to know as she approached them. John B shushed her, tugging on her arm to pull her down next to them. The girl stumbled down to the ground clumsily, a scowl morphing on her glossed lips.
"What the fuck John B—"
"Shh!" John B cut her off. A purple bruise was painted over his left eye, a black eye undoubtedly left there by Topper himself.
"You did not just shush me." Hostility was evident in her voice as she glared at the Routledge boy.
"Awh, you brought us lunch? Thanks princess." JJ cooed sarcastically when he spotted the basket of muffins resting on her arm. He reached forward to grab one, but Farrah was quick to slap his hand. "Ow!" The blonde retracted his arm as the slap stung, rubbing his hand softly in suprise.
"Keep your nasty hands to yourself, Maybank. These are for the grieving widow, not for the beggar that you are." She scolded in annoyance as she pulled the basket further away from the boy.
Paint chips rained down on the three as another loud crash sounded. Farrah cringed at the sound, the entire house shaking at the impact. Her mind reeled as she tried to search for a plausible explanation as to what the hell was going on. But she came up empty handed, so she reluctantly fell silence as she crouched down between the two boys. The Montgomery girl desperately tried to shake the paint chips out of her hair, JJ and John B copying her action.
"You're hurting me!" A female voice that without a doubt belonged to Lana yelped from inside the house. Farrah shot up, the cries of the woman making her want to help, but JJ was quick to tug her back down by her hips.
"We should just go." JJ began whispering, Lana wailing in the background. "He's got smuggler written all over him—"
"Shut up." John B interrupted as he crept to the edge of the house. JJ moved to peer over the corner, but the two boys recoiled when they spotted a figure leaving the house. Farrah pressed her back against the house, clenching her eyes shut. Whoever this man was yelling at Lana— Farrah wanted nothing to do with him. John B peered back over the corner of the house when he heard the rumble of a motor. The three watched as the man climbed into a boat, a second man ready to drive away.
"Dude, those were the guys that shot at us!" JJ realized.
Farrah's eyes widened in shock. "Shot?! What the fuck is going on?"
"Go back, go back." John B instructed as the boat began moving, the three scooting back to remain undetected. The Routledge boy placed his hand across Farrah's waist out of instinct in order to keep her pressed up against the wall. As soon as the boat pulled off into the marsh and disappeared from sight, the three crept around to the porch.
John B went first, JJ and Farrah trailing closely behind him. "Ms. Lana?" John B called out as he entered through the open door. His eyes scanned the surroundings. The house was completely trashed. Shattered glass was scattered across the floor, furniture smashed to bits and pieces. Farrah glanced around in concern. "Ms. Lana?"
They found the woman in a small bathroom connected to a bedroom. John B sprung forward, crouching next to her as she sat with her back pressed against the wall. "Hey— hey, are you okay?" His hand fell on her arm. Lana's face snapped in their direction at the touch, cuts scattered across her face. Wide eyes stared at the three teenagers in panic. "It's okay."
"Dude, she's tweaking." JJ said, growing nervous that the men would return.
"Do you need a doctor?" John B questioned, ignoring JJ. "Let's call the sheriff's department."
"No! No— no cops. Please." The woman rushed out as she hugged herself.
"That's not good. Come on, dude." JJ said, reaching out for John B. "Let's just go."
"You shouldn't be here." Lana cried out as she stared at the Routledge boy.
"That's enough for me. Come on."
"JJ, shut the fuck up." Farrah pushed past the blonde boy, crouching next to the woman. "Hey, Lana." She made her presence known by reaching her hand out to hold Lana's. As previously mentioned, Farrah didn't handle emotions very well. But the woman infront of her was in desperate need of a comforting hand, and watching the panic stricken woman made the Montgomery handle on instincts. Lana's eyes softened when she recognized Farrah.
"What do you know about these guys?" John B queried as he remained at Lana's side.
"They were looking for something." Lana managed to choke out. Farrah furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. What on earth could Lana Scrubbs possibly have that someone wanted this badly.
Apparently Farrah was the only one confused. John B pulled something out of his pocket, revealing an old compass in the palm of his hand. "Does it have anything to do with this?" Lana leaned forward, her face falling when she saw the object. "Do you know anything about this?" She began shaking her head, drawing superficial breaths. "This was my father's, and Scooter had it. Why?"
"Scooter didn't have it, okay? Don't tell anyone that you have it!" Lana began raising her voice. "They can't know that you have that. You've gotta get out of here!"
"What do you know about the compass?" John B continued. It was obvious that the anxious woman knew something. If it had been anyone else, the compass would appear to be completely useless. But not to John B. He recognized it; it belonged to his father. He needed to know more.
"You have got to go! Go!"
JJ pulled John B to his feet. "We gotta go. Let's go."
Lana threw Farrah's hand aside as she continued yelling for them to leave. "Farrah, come on." JJ's hand fell on her shoulder, hauling her out along with them. She left the basket on the floor, following the two boys out of the house. A part of her wanted to stay, make sure the Scrubbs woman was okay. But the wailing was enough for her to let JJ pull her out along with them. She flicked his hand off of her shoulder as she trailed behind him.
"What is going on?!" Farrah demanded to know when they reached John B's van, also know as the Twinkie.
"Just get in the car, I'll explain on the way." John B instructed as he opened the car door.
"Woah woah woah, is that smart. John B, think about this. Should we really involve her in this?" JJ inquired.
"Involve me in what?"
"We don't even know what this is, JJ." John b sighed, ignoring her question.
"Yeah, but Kiara will freak—"
"How about this; you two idiots either explain what the hell that was, or I'm calling the cops and they can tell me." Farrah interjected, arms crossed over her chest. JJ and John B shared a look.
"Fine, she's in." JJ groaned, moving to climb into the passenger seat.
"Thank you." Farrah said sarcastically as she slipped into the passenger seat before JJ could. He rolled his eyes, but didn't bother fighting her for the seat. He slammed the door shut, instead climbing into the back.
"So, care to explain?"
˚✧₊⁎*⁎⁺˳✧༚
"And we were right outside like this— and all we hear is just 'bam, bam, bam'!" JJ dramatically gestured with his arms as he retold the story to Kiara and Pope.
After JJ, John B and Farrah left Lana's house, Farrah had demanded an explanation. The two boys obviously knew more about the two men who had terrorized Lana than they were letting on, and she was in no mood for their bullshit. So she and pretty much forced them to fill her in on the details. John B had tried his best to limit the amount of information when he tried explaining how they knew the two men, but her constant string of questions made it hard for him not to reveal it all.
They had driven to meet up with Pope and Kiara, and here they were, filling the two in on what had happened. And though Kiara and Pope tried their best to pay attention to JJ's dramatic retelling of the story, they couldn't help but to gawk at the presence of the Montgomery girl.
"Knocking paint off the wall, G! From the inside!" JJ continued. "All right! And I'm just looking at them like— wait, first off, look at this shit." He scurried over to Pope and Kiara, bending over to shake his hair over them. White specks rained down on the two.
"Gross!"
"That's dandruff, disgusting."
"Okay, thank you." Pope scoffed in disgust as he scooted away from the Maybank boy.
"Look at all that! All right. That's paint." He elaborated. "At that point I was just like— I'm waiting for death."
"Oh okay, so you saw the guys who shot at us, right?"
"Yeah!"
"Did you get a good description of them?" Pope asked. "What did they look like? Anything helpful? Anything we can bring to a police report?"
"Burly." JJ stated.
"Burly?"
"Yeah. You know like—"
"That's not very helpful." Kiara scoffed.
"Okay, well, no, like the type of guy at my dad's garage." JJ added. "I mean, you guys know he made cargo hides for drug smugglers. I can tell you with full confidence. These boys, these killers. . ." He paused to take a hit from a joint. "They're square groupers."
"They're square groupers like narco square groupers?" Pope questioned as he ran a hand over his face. "Like Pablo Escobar square grouper?"
"Yeah man."
"You guys, not everything is a kingpin movie." Kiara sighed.
Farrah stood with her arms crossed over her chest next to John B, both of which remained silent. Her mind was whirling with thoughts. One hour ago she was headed over to Lana with a basket of muffins, her biggest worry being what to wear. Now she was standing amongst people she wouldn't be caught dead with in public, discussing 'square groupers' who— apparently— were out to get them. Farrah could only hope she was included by association.
"What does this square grouper look like? Specifically—"
"You weren't there bro!"
"—Cause apparently you don't know what to look for!"
"Dude! I wasn't taking little mental Polaroids the entire time!" JJ exclaimed. It was clear the blonde boy was pretty shaken up by the entire ordeal. Farrah couldn't help but roll her eyes as he paced back and forth. For a pogue he sure did freak out a lot. You'd think he'd be more use to this stuff, especially considering how getting shot at apparently wasn't new for them. "I was under duress, okay? But what I can tell you— I can tell you by the way Ms. Lana was screaming, that these guys are serious, serious hombres, man. It's a heavy vibe right now, okay? I'm not liking this very much."
"Okay, then how about we change the topic and someone can explain to me what the hell she's doing here." Kiara demanded, pointing at Farrah. Distaste was evident in her voice as she spoke, a wild glared locked on Farrah. The Montgomery girl narrowed her eyes right back.
"She happened to be there, and we couldn't just leave her behind." JJ explained.
Kiara crossed her arms over her chest. "You couldn't?"
"Bro, you should have seen Ms. Lana, alright? She's was tweaking." JJ defended.
"What is it, Kiara? Afraid I'm moving in on your foursome?" Farrah spat venomously. Pope and JJ remained silent as the two girls went at each other.
"No, I'm afraid your ego is going to suck all the air out of the room." Kiara shot back.
Farrah took a threatening step forward. "Please, the only thing sucking the air out of the room is the stench of your jealousy."
"Okay- okay. Let's just get back to the topic at hand— the compass." Pope interjected. "Why would they want the compass. It's a piece of shit, you couldn't pawn it off for five bucks if you wanted." Pope glanced up at John B apologetically. "No offense. I know it's in your family—"
"The office." John B suddenly spoke up. "My dad. My dad's office." The four began trailing after the Routledge boy as he began entering the house. "He always kept the office locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research." He explained as he headed inside. "We used to laugh at him all the time like he was actually gonna find it. But now that he's gone I've just kinda— I just left it as he kept it." They gathered around him as he went to unlock the door to the office.
"Yeah, for when he gets back." Kiara added optimistically. Every one of them knew that after nine months of being lost on sea, the chances of Big John reappearing were slim to none. But they needed to keep the faith up for John B.
"I've slept over here like six hundred times and I've never seen this door open." Pope said at the five piled into the room. Farrah stepped around the messy room warily. Maps and books were scattered all over.
"Here, look. This is the original owner, right here." John B explained as he pointed to a picture pinned to a board.
"Robert Q. Routledge. 1880 to 1920. There's the lucky compass right there." Kiara observed, pointing to the compass in the picture. Farrah peered at the picture curiously.
"Actually, um. . . he was shot after he bought it." John B suddenly confessed. "Then the compass was shipped back to Henry. Henry was killed in a crop dusting accident when he had the compass. After he died, the compass was given to Stephen." The four shared uneasy looks as John B listed the different owners of the compass. "Stephen had the compass with him when he died in Vietnam."
"Let me guess, he died in action, right?"
"Sort of. Uh, a-actually he was killed by a banana truck. In— in country. Anyways, after that, Stephen passed the compass down to him, my dad." The picture of Big John stared back up at them as John B pointed to it.
"Hm, sounds like a reoccurring theme here." JJ said.
"Yeah, you have a death compass." Pope agreed.
"I do not."
"I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but that compass is definitely going to be the death of you." Farrah agreed.
"You have a death compass!"
"Seriously dude. Get rid of it." JJ continued. "It's cursed, and its made its way back to you!"
"Look, my dad used to talk about this compartment right here." John B began unscrewing the compass. "Soldiers used to hide notes." He popped it open to reveal something engraved into it.
"What's that?"
"That wasn't there before." John B stated. "This is my dads handwriting."
"How can you know that?" Pope questioned doubtfully.
"Because he does these weird R's with the— see it?"
"Can I see it?" JJ asked as he leaned down to get a better look. He squinted his eyes in attempt to read it. "Red— Rout—"
"No I think that's an A."
"Redfield. It clearly states Redfield, idiots." Farrah cut in. The pogues peered at the compass, nodding in agreement.
"Okay, well, what's Redfield?" Kiara questioned.
"Besides the most common name in the county?"
"The most common name? I beg to differ." Farrah shook her head in disagreement.
"Okay maybe— maybe it's a clue. Maybe it's a clue to where he's hiding." Farrah quirked a brow at John B's words. When his dad's disappearance hit the three month mark, he was declared dead. Farrah had paid little attention to the entire ordeal, but she knew that after nine months it was safe to assume the man was dead.
"A clue? Come on that's. . ." Pope trailed of when he saw the glare Kiara was sending him. "But if it is a clue maybe it's an anagram."
The crowing of the rooster outside of the château caught Farrah's attention. She tuned out their voices as she tried peering out the window. "How can you concentrate when those stupid birds keep crowing like that?"
"JJ loves the rooster."
"I love the rooster." Kiara added. Farrah simply rolled her eyes. The stupid bird was getting on her nerves, almost as much as Kiara was.
"Guys. . ." John B suddenly began. Pope, Kiara and JJ were too preoccupied trying to crack the code to notice the panic in his voice, but Farrah immediately glanced up at him. Her eyes widened when she spotted the black truck pulling up infront of the château. Her heart practically dropped to her ass when she realized who it was. "Guys, somebody's here!"
The five of them peered out the window. "Guys, guys is that them?" Panic was evident as Kiara spoke. "Is that them?!"
"This is suboptimal." Pope groaned.
"John B I told you man why does it always have to be—"
"JJ! Hey, look at me." John B grabbed JJ by the shoulders, shoving him up against the wall. "Where's the gun?"
"Gun? I, uh, I can't—"
"Now you don't have the gun?! The one time we need the gun?" Kiara said in disbelief as she pulled her hands to her face. Farrah could feel the anxiety bubbling in the pit of her stomach as it dawned on her just how royally screwed they all were.
"It was in my backpack, and then I. . . it's on the porch." JJ realised. He quickly sprung forward and out the door to fetch the gun, but alas returned empty handed when he spotted the two men at the front door. "They're on the front porch guys."
Farrah's mind reeled as she desperately tried to figure out a solution to the problem at hand. "Get out here! John Routledge!" The loud voice rang throughout the house as the men slammed their fist in the front door.
Kiara began pacing around the room as she started freaking out. "We gotta leave!" She yelled in a hushed voice, all five of them scattering to search for an escape route.
JJ and Pope dove for the window, desperately trying to pull it open. John B locked the door as the two men began throwing things around outside, the sound of glass shattering causing the anxiety to rise in them. "Hurry! What's happening? Why is it taking so long?"
"It's painted shut, okay?"
"Move." Farrah instructed in a stern voice as she pushed the two boys aside. She swiftly picked up a letter opener from a pile of books, jamming it to between the window and the ledge. She aggressively ripped it along the paint, popping the window open. JJ would have been impressed if it weren't for the two men trashing the house and the time limit stressing him out.
The door handle to the office began jiggling, making them rush over to the window. A gunshot to the door made them freak out even further. Pope and Kiara were the first one out of the window. JJ jumped next, his hands grabbing ahold of Farrah's hips to lift her down. John B leapt out of the window next, making sure to shut it to avoid suspicion. The five took off in the direction of the chicken coop, diving in as fast as humanly possible. The chickens clucked loudly as the teenagers crouched down. Farrah pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, drawing shallow breaths as she began freaking out. Her body was pressed up against JJ in an attempt to hide from the two men who were now beginning to load boxes into the truck, having finished ransacking the house.
With every breath, JJ inhaled the sweet scent of her cherry vanilla scented perfume. Her back was pressed against his chest so much so that she could feel his rapid heartbeat thumping throughout her entire body. He was practically laying ontop of her as they pressed their bodies to the ground in an attempt to remain undetected. But she didn't care. All she could do was clench her eyes shut in an attempt to remain calm and collected. Farrah tried her best to calm her breathing down, hoping the men would leave without searching any further for them. Unfortunately, the rooster crowed loudly at their presence in the coop, so much so that it was drawing attention to them.
"Do something, Pope! Shut him up!" JJ whispered harshly at the dark skinned boy, his breath fanning over Farrah's cheek.
"What do you want me to do?!"
"Pet it, or talk to it. I don't know!"
"You do something!"
The blonde stretched his arms out, wrapping his hands around the neck of the rooster. JJ applied his entire body weight to the rooster, the neck snapping with a sickening crack. Farrah gagged at the sound, a whimper sounding from Kiara. He let the dead bird drop to the floor as he placed an arm on either side of the Montgomery girl.
"Ratter! What the hell are you doin'? Let's go!" One of the men yelled out. Whimpers could be heard from the Carrera girl as the car finally roared to life and pulled away.
Relief washed over Farrah when she realized they had left. "Do you mind?" Her words caused JJ to get off of her rather quickly. She rejected his offer to help her up, instead getting up herself when they finally crawled out of the small space. She brushed the sawdust from the coop off of herself, trying her best to get it out of her hair.
"I'm leaving." Farrah announced the second she managed to collect her thoughts. Her feet began moving her away from the four.
"Hey— hey, hold on Farrah wait up." John B called out.
"Just let her leave, we don't need her anyways." Kiara said, a comforting hand resting on John B's shoulder.
Farrah didn't hesitate to flee the scene. At the start of the day, she never imagined she'd be hiding for people trying to shoot them, yet here she was, walking away from the château. She knew from what Millie and pretty much everyone else had told her that the four pogues were nothing but trouble. While Kiara and Pope were somewhat harmless, it was known that both JJ and John B were reckless, petty delinquents.
If Farrah knew what was best for herself, she'd stay the hell away from them. All of them.
word count; 4922
a/n
here u guys go with chapter two ! had also much fun writing this chapter, hope you guys enjoyed it ! as for right now i'm not sure who i'll end up pairing farrah with in the end, but i definitely appreciate you guys' opinions ! so feel free to leave a comment behind telling me who you think she should end up with ! also, there will be a character development, i promise you that ! bye for now, stay tuned <33
Follow|Vote|Comment