━ 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀.
"𝐆𝐔𝐘𝐒, 𝐆𝐔𝐘𝐒, 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 them? Is that them!" Kiara quickly rose to a panic, looking frantically at us in the row beside her.
The five of us were standing in an unorganized clump in front of the dirty window, the events quickly catching up to our senses. The two men, dressed in all black, were swiftly headed right for the back porch, shoving their guns into their pockets as if undoubtedly saving them away for later.
I felt as though my lungs stopped giving off air, my throat tightening up, as the men looked around with contemptible looks on their roughly smug faces.
It was hard to believe. Only a week ago, I'd been sitting in my room in New York City, wishing I was one of the tourists. Now, I stood in front of a chipping window to watch two reckless, dangerous, home-invading psychopaths, step up the porch of the Routledge kid's house. It was truly paralyzingly to think about the damage they were going to do to the boy's home— and possibly us— just the same as they did with Lana Grubb's.
"No, no, no," Jj was muttering, his voice sounding as though he just wasn't quite believing exactly what was happening. "I told you John B, man, why does it always hap—"
"Jj, hey!" John B furiously whisper-shouted, grabbing both of Jj's shoulders in force, "Look at me. Where's the gun," he shoved his friend against the wall near the door, pointed a finger to his mouth, and spoke lowly through gritted teeth.
"Gun? I— uh, I can't—" Jj answered stressfully, trying to think.
"Now you don't have the gun?" Kiara butted in, her voice rising in pitch as she ran her hands through her curly hair, "The one time we need the gun!"
Jj rubbed both dirt-stained hands over his face, "It was in my backpack... and then I—"
"Backpack," John B repeated, "On the porch,"
"It's on the porch," Jj realized, before suddenly sliding out from John B's grasp and rushing out the door.
Meanwhile, Pope and I stood next to one another by the same window, he was looking out to watch the two men, and I was looking at John B.
"John Routledge!" A loud voice screamed, and I immediately knew it was one of the men, the booming voice ringing multiples bells in my mind. It was the same coarse and vile shouting that I'd heard while in the bathroom at Lana Grubbs' house.
"Oh my god," I mumbled to myself, the only thing I could muster up to say.
"Come on out now!" The voice yelled, and everyone looked at one another through whipped gazes, "Where's that fuckin' compass!"
Jj scrambled back into the room as quick as he'd left, almost falling headfirst, closing the door as urgently but silently as he could.
"Where is the gun," John B asked him, his words quick and low.
"They're on the porch, guys—" Jj whispered out, fear laced between each one of his words.
"Routledge!" The man shouted again, this time, as if it wasn't worse enough, his voice became louder and increasingly more dangerous, sending a spike of fear right into my chest.
"Where you at, boy!" The other man screamed.
No one knew what to do. Everyone looked around the room, hands on their head or pulling on their faces with stress, a cacophony of fear spreading through each body, that much was certain.
Then, everyone heard the sound of breaking glass. Pieces shattered along the wood floor throughout the home and they were throwing things at the walls, tearing things apart, breaking everything in their passage. We heard the table being pushed, along with its chairs being thrown into the walls, as if they were mere children's toys.
"Fuck this," I spat, with an angry tone, my voice almost quivering, as I turned to the nearest window. It was my go-to escape. And it seemed to always work.
I lunged for it, gripping my hands along the bottom, and trying to push it open.
"Window!" Kiara nodded quickly, realizing where I had went.
Immediately after she'd spoken, Jj and Pope rushed right over to me, using their combined strengths to first attempt pull the window open. The window wouldn't budge though, my body squished between both boys, and I felt my throat tighten up again at the thought of not getting out. I kept my hands on the glass, but looked back frantically at John B, as he leaned himself against the room door, his hands behind his head and his eyes tightly closed. I wanted to cry, and I almost let the tears rise to my eyes, but I held them back and kept pulling at the window— scraping my fingers on the chipping wood.
I'd never been in a life-or-death situation like it before. Maybe we weren't for certain going to die at the hands of the men, but they were already close enough to bare.
"Sack this place!" One of the men shouted, loudly. His voice boomed over the whole house, shaking the walls. I closed my eyes in a hard blink of fear when another item was thrown, followed by the sound of more glass breaking.
"What's happening, what's happening— what's taking so long!" Kiara shouted at us with a low volume, her voice still wavering with panic.
Pope groaned, using all of his strength to try and push the window up, and Jj was pulling up so hard that veins began to outline from his neck.
"It's painted shut, okay!" Jj spat out with a harsh tone, only breaking away from the window for a quick second, to glare intimidatingly at Kiara.
"We're going to fucking die," I whispered out, more to myself than to anyone else in the room.
I hated to be the "Debby-Downer" in the situation, but I figured that I'd be the one to say what everyone else was thinking. My fingers began to cramp with a pain so hard, from desperately trying to make use of the window. My face was pressed up against the glass, and my uneven breaths where causing small patches of fog to stain the window.
"I'll check the kitchen!" One man shouted to the other, followed by drawers being pulled open and shut closed roughly. We could hear the sound of papers being ripped and crushed, and the sound of breaking plates and cups. It seemed to be getting worse, the longer we panicked.
"Routledge!" The man screamed, dragging out the word.
"Okay, guys— guys, here, I got it," Kiara came back up to the window, standing close behind me, as Pope and Jj grunted.
"Where the hell is that compass!" Another shout.
"Hey, check that back room!" Another yell.
Jj stepped away from the window, letting Kiara in, as she used the tiniest knife to somehow cut the bottom of the window free.
"Come on!" Jj urged her on frantically, his voice fearful.
"I'm going as fast as I can," Kiara replied, her voice somewhat calmer as she focused on the knife.
"Shut up," John B muttered, "Be quiet!"
I turned my head around to see him and Pope standing next to one another in front of the door. My hands were trembling, my throat was closing, and my heart was beating uncontrollably when loud footsteps were heard approaching the door. Not long after, someone was jingling the knob in a rough motion, and that's when I figured we were done. One of the men hit the door repeatedly with his body, aiming to barge in.
"You better not be in there!" The man shouted with aggression. Then, he began to kick the door repeatedly with his foot.
Kiara glanced back as everyone rushed for us, John B running right into me. A piece of wood from the doorframe fell off, landing on the floor with a thud, as the man kicked and hit the locked door over and over. With multiple hands pushing on the window, it slowly began to slide up with a creaking sound.
"Go! Go! Go!" Kiara tapped Jj's back repeatedly to get him to move faster, her mouth gasping.
Then, we heard a gun cock. A gunshot erupted through the house, aimed at the doorknob of the room— there was no more breaking things. I felt the tears finally prickle at my eyes, my stomach doing summersaults. Everyone glanced back and forth from the outside to the door, as the window, finally, fully opened.
Jj threw himself out first, landing shoulder-first on the dirty ground with a slight thud. Kiara was next, jumping out while holding on to the window sill. Pope climbed and landed on the grass below, covering his head as if afraid someone was going to fall out on him. John B had his hands on my body as I began to climb out at my turn, making sure I was going fast enough. I swung my legs over the window sill in a quick motion, feeling the wood chip and scrape the back of my thighs, his hands very low on my back to push me out.
Just as John B hopped out the window effortlessly, and closed it slowly behind him, his breathing loud but careful, the two men had broken into the room. No one spoke, and no one made a movement as their voices were heard speaking above us. We were each sitting against the outside wall, directly underneath the window.
Every time I breathed in, I'd feel John B's shoulder, which was pressed up against my cheek, move with me. It was oddly comforting to know that I wasn't alone, tightly enclosed between him and Kiara in the insane endeavor, her yellow Vans tapping mine with a certain nervousness. But that vanished as soon as Jj, a simple blur from the corner of my eye, began to shuffle.
Pope yanked him back down with a harsh pull, but Jj only scolded him with his eyes and extended his arm, pointing a finger in the distance. Each one of us followed his gaze, looking towards the rooster coop. He looked back at us.
I didn't want to move. I wanted to be back home, at Caroline and Daryl's house, sitting on the futon sofa and reading another boring book while waiting for them to finish work. I wanted to look out at the water from the living room window, walk along the dock by myself and dip my toes in the water— but there were deadly square groupers in the room right above our heads.
Jj and Pope went first, crouching down so low they were practically on their stomachs, glancing back every so often to check if the coast was clear. They'd made it in quickly and safely, which was somewhat of a surprise to me and the rest. It felt weird, like I was in some wild crime movie, when Jj popped his head out of the coop and motioned for Kiara and I to go next. I followed swiftly behind her, and copied her every move.
Jj pulled us into the small wooden enclosure, and immediately, the pungent smell hit my nose. A rooster and a few chickens, croaking their necks back and forth, were roaming in the corner of the coop, eating scraps on the ground, as Jj lied down to hide. Kiara and I sat leaning cautiously on one of the walls, out of sight through the fencing, as John B soon made his appearance.
"They're right there," he whispered quietly, to everyone, his tone of voice bewildered and scared. Then, we heard the sound of a truck door being slammed.
He pushed himself in the space next to me, our legs folded up. My shoulder pressed against his large arm again, and I looked up to see his head turned, one eye poking out to see the outside. I wanted to yank him away and out of sight, but my arms found no energy.
The rooster croaked loudly. With a repetition.
"Do something, Pope, shut him up!" Jj seethed, his words seeping through tightly clenched teeth.
"What do you want me to do!" Pope angered back.
"Pet it or talk to it, I don't know!" Kiara whispered, with an unstable fear. I looked over to see her crying, but only a little bit.
The rooster clucked in serene volume again, as John B wiggled himself back into place beside me. Jj suddenly lunged forward and grabbed the rooster by the neck, it's feathers flapping all over, pinning it down on the ground with his hands.
I threw my hand over my mouth out of shock when the animal began to make choking sounds, the tears unintentionally rising to my eyes like shooting daggers. John B looked over at me, realizing quickly that I was crying.
He placed his hand on top of mine, gripping hard.
I was too distracted to pull it away, and I didn't want to yell at him— I couldn't yell. Normally, if he'd grabbed my hand at any other time, I would have called him a dickhead and shoved him away from me. But this wasn't just any other time.
I was closing my eyes to avoid watching Jj strangle the rooster, but silent cries left my mouth at the fact that it was no longer croaking. Kiara sobbed quietly from beside me. I felt my heart slightly shatter when I looked to her, her eyes staring down at the poor animal lying dead in Jj's hands.
With John B's hand holding onto mine, resting on my folded leg, I closed my eyes again and tried to imagine myself somewhere else. Somewhere safe, where the men didn't exist, and we weren't about to die. I pressed my head up against the wood, turned away to face John B's shoulder.
"Ratter, the hell are you doin'!" One man shouted loudly, "Let's go!" He yelled, his voice beaming through the trees and causing a few birds to chirp and scatter.
"Oh my god," Pope whispered so quietly, that I could barely hear it.
Then we heard footsteps crunching along the fallen sticks, heading away, and the truck started up. Kiara then let out her sobs again, looking down at the dead rooster still lying in Jj's grasp. Everyone looked at one another, not really sure of what to do.
We knew that the men had finally left when we heard the truck drive away.
Neither of the five moved for a good while, the only sounds audible being the lonely chickens croaking, Kiara's quiet sobbing, my dispersing cries, and John B's uneven breathing. We were all just sitting there, John B's hand gripped onto my own.
The world felt like it had shifted upside down, and I suddenly didn't want to be sitting in the dirty coop any longer.
"I'm getting the fuck out of this psycho place," I muttered out, my voice wavering from crying. His hand fell from mine as I stood up— more of a crouch-up— and crawled out of the wooden enclosure as quickly as I could.
"Charlotte," John B groaned, his voice changed, sounding calm but distraught.
"No," I began to walk away from everyone else, towards the back of the house where I knew the porch was. Shaky fingers wiped my eyes which flooded with tears, cheeks stained and soggy. I smelled like a farm animal.
Footsteps were heard following behind me, and I just knew that everyone else was leaving the coop as well. John B rushed up behind me.
"Listen—" he gripped his hand around my wrist, turning me around.
I was quick to pull it away. "I'm okay, thank you," I spat out, feeling my eyes swell up and become puffy. I marched away again, arms crossing over my chest.
"I didn't know that was going to happen!" He shouted, already reading my mind of what I was thinking. "Okay! Look— I'm sorry! How was I supposed to know that those guys were gonna show up, huh?"
"I'm going home." I claimed, eyes blurry. "Where's my bike,"
"Why are you mad at me?" He persisted, following after.
"Excuse me?" I turned around roughly, "Why am I mad at you?" I looked at him harshly, as if he were dumb.
He blinked. I let out a scoff.
"Where's my bike— I want to leave, John B," I urged, shoving the point of my speaker into the dirt. "I've had enough of your shit,"
"I understand that, but Charlotte—"
"I just watched your friend kill a fuckin' rooster!" I raised my voice, utterly concerned at how he wasn't as distraught about every event played out. "I just want to go home, okay?" Despite the tone of my wavering voice, I softened the look of my eyes. "You guys can do this shit without me."
"What happened to us being cool, huh," he marked, his face angering.
"That ended when you dragged me here, John B," I retorted, angrier. "I'm tired of you pulling me along with these things— these dangerous things that are gonna get us in trouble— hell, I barely know who you are,"
I looked to his friends standing at a distance behind us.
"And you're friends don't even like me anyways," I was saying lowly, "Let me be,"
Jj put his arms out to the side, looking offended.
"Fine, I'll take you home, then," John B sighed out, looked to the ground, and then drifted past me. "You're coming guys." He shouted back to his friends.
I breathed out, wiped my face again, and followed him. Everyone followed me after that, and soon, we were all sitting in the van, me being in the passenger seat.
It was awkwardly quiet, and we were driving down roads that didn't look familiar, causing me to eventually look over at John B driving.
"I don't think this is the way to my grandparents' house," I said, sort of quietly, my eyebrows sharply narrowed. I felt bad for yelling at him few minutes before, but I couldn't help myself.
"It's not," Pope said from the back, his voice tired.
"I swear to god—" I was about to jump right out the window. John B stopped me, his hand gripping around my wrist.
"Relax," he said, "We just have to make one last stop."
༄
𝐇𝐢! 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤
𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠.
𝐢 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝
𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐬
𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 !
𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞
𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 🥺
━ 𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦
𝘓𝘔𝘈𝘖 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳
𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘙𝘐𝘎𝘏𝘛 𝘕𝘖𝘞 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵
𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳.
𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 !