TWENTY-FIVE WE DID IT
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The next night was probably the most pivotal of them all. This was the night they went for the gold. Literally. It was weird to think of how much had happened since they really got going on this treasure hunt, but now here they were, hopefully finishing it. Norman lazed in the passenger seat while Kie and John B rattled off the things they needed. As they double checked they had everything, John B stopped the van and turned it off, darkness immediately flooding the area around them as the headlights shut off. Norman breathed in deeply, trying to be brave. It really was stupid to be almost seventeen but still be just the slightest bit afraid of the dark.
"Let's go get rich, guys," JJ mused as they prepared. The van was stuffed full now with the addition of Norman and Sarah, but everyone was getting along which was the most important part. Kiara and Sarah had tried to convince the boys that their plan failed and the girls hardly tolerated each other, but they weren't fooling anybody. Regardless, Norman had already caught them stealing kisses in the back of the van. He didn't care, though, as long as no one's feelings interfered with the plan. Which he could probably say the same for himself now that John B and he were... involved, for lack of a better word. They hadn't really discussed it the previous night.
"Yeah. Hell yeah," Kie exclaimed in agreement as they prepared to hop onto the dirt road and flicked on their flashlights.
John B got out first, stopping the rest of them as he said, "Wait, wait. I wanna say thank you, guys, seriously. It means a lot to me that you're here tonight."
"Well no one else was gonna help your dumbass," Norman diffused the serious tension as he opened the passenger side door and got out.
Kie rolled her eyes and smiled, "Always."
"Of course, man," Pope affirmed.
After a moment, JJ asked, "All right, we done with this circle jerk? Can we go do this?"
"Let's get that wheat in the water," Pope exclaimed as they finally left the van. Norman helped Kie over the fence into the yard before climbing over himself, catching John B's bag as he tossed it over.
As everyone passed them, John B stopped for a moment, meeting Norman's eyes to say, "Thank you... for doing this with me."
Norman's response was to press a quick kiss to his lips before pulling away and muttering, "Shut up, a thank you isn't necessary."
"Quit mackin' guys we got places to be, things to do," JJ came back through the bushes to chastise them, but the two boys only laughed before going to catch up with the rest of the group. Being in the dark wasn't so bad when he was surrounded by friends. That's really what they had become: his friends. It was odd to think of how close he had gotten with them in such a short amount of time, but Norman could always use some more friends in his life. He loved his friends, he did, but something about hanging out with the Pogues was just different. Maybe it was the fact that they hunted treasure for fun.
They approached the Crain house, stopping to admire it for a moment. Of course, as soon as they stopped a motion sensor light went on. Cursing, they all went to hide in the bushes and turn off their flashlights before anyone realized they were there.
"Okay, so she has motion sensor lights," Pope said with a groan as they tried to collect themselves.
"We could... uh, move really slow or something?" JJ suggested, but it was a half-assed idea if they had ever heard one.
The other boy shook his head, looking at JJ to say, "That's not how that works."
"Let's throw a rock at it," John B added, which was met with confusion from the rest of the group.
"Yeah, that's a really good idea. Let's just let the ax murderer know we're here," Kie mumbled dryly, a dissatisfied look on her face.
"Throw a rock at it?" Pope repeated, sounding almost in shock at the stupid idea.
"Uh, wait, most motion lights use infrared, right?" Norman cut in, Pope nodded and he kept speaking, "So, like, what if we used something cooler to shield us?"
"Do we have anything to shield all of us with? Do you have a shield up your ass, Norman?" JJ asked coyly to which the boy raised his hands in surrender.
Defending himself, he said, "Hey, hey, better than saying we should throw a fucking rock at it!"
"Babe," John B whined.
"Blegh," JJ retorted, but the bickering was cut off by Sarah interrupting.
"What about the breaker?" she suggested, which was probably the obvious solution they should have gone for in the first place, "In the circuit box on the porch. We used to play hide-and-seek here as kids and if we were brave enough, we'd go all the way to the porch. I've seen it."
John B shook his head, "No, you're not gonna go into that house alone."
"Watch me," the girl shrugged and Norman had to admire her gall for a moment. He was afraid of both the dark and ax murderers, so he could never speak as effortlessly as she just did.
"Crain chops people into pieces," JJ reminded her.
Sarah scoffed, "If you believe that. She's like, what? Eighty-five? She's probably still barely kicking."
"Here, I'll go with you, just to ease their minds," Kie offered, "Since stupid boys don't think we can do anything alone."
"You go to the bathroom in packs," the blond boy said, "How are we supposed to know when you can or can't do things yourself?"
The girls just looked at each other and rolled their eyes before Pope told them, "We'll wait for your signal."
"Hey, be safe," John B warned them as the two girls stood.
"We will," Sarah said at the same time Kie remarked, "Don't tell me what to do."
As the two girls walked away, JJ reached over and grabbed Pope's face to turn him to face the boy, mocking John B as he said, "Be safe."
"I'll be so safe, I'll be safe for you," Pope countered in an overly-dramatic tone. Norman snickered to himself while John B rolled his eyes.
"Aw, don't be offended, I think it's sweet," Norman teased as for a moment he allowed himself to absentmindedly play with the boy's hair. It was odd that he was able to do such things now; he didn't have to bury the impulses anymore since he could simply reach out and touch.
"So you two," JJ called them out with a stern look, but Norman could see right through it and know he wasn't being overly serious, "Official? Not official?"
"They're just really good bros, JJ, come on," the darker-skinned boy cut them off before either boy could answer, "They just are there for each other and make out sometimes, just like we do."
JJ nodded, "Yeah, yeah, you guys are some really good bros, huh?"
"I'm gonna kill you," John B spoke sternly, but Norman was really just trying to contain his laughter. He liked being able to joke around with them about stupid shit, it was a relief, really.
"Babe," Norman contributed to the teasing by mocking what he had said earlier, but looking into his eyes he knew that John B knew he didn't really mean it, "Yeah, I mean... are we?"
"Yeah, we're official official," John B corrected with a small, easy laugh, "I could have sworn we talked about that last night.
Looking straight into JJ's eyes for the delivery in order to cause peak discomfort, Norman spoke with a clean deadpan, "I mean, we didn't do a lot of talking last night, did we?"
"Gross," JJ grimaced, but didn't say anything more besides, "Does anyone else think they're taking too long? You know they said when Hollis disappeared --"
"Just shut up," Pope cut him off before he could finish, "Our friends are in the house of a possible ax murderer, let's not tell more stories about said ax murderer. I'm nervous enough for them already."
Norman shrugged, "I have faith in them. After all, Crain is probably pushing ninety. How dangerous can she be?"
A hush fell over them as they were content to wait, but it was obvious they were all still just a little bit nervous for the girls. Finally, they flashed the signal and they all breathed a sigh of relief.
"They did it," John B sighed thankfully as he pulled his bandana up on his face, "Come on, go time."
John B went to count down from three as they masked up and prepared to go in, but JJ didn't care much for this as he got up anyway. The four boys stood and moved throughout the grass as quietly as possible, relieved when no motion sensor lights interrupted them this time. They entered the basement through the door they had found the other day and just like that, they were in. Being here at night was approximately a million times worse than it was during the day, but at least Norman wasn't alone.
"Holy crap, you know what this is. It just came to me, Pope, look," JJ exclaimed as he held out the rope, "This is C.H.U.D, full C.H.U.D."
"What is he talking about?" John B asked as they tried to get to work setting up.
JJ scoffed, "Cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers? Have you guys not seen that film?"
"Can't say I have, no," said Pope.
"I have," Norman raised his hand, getting the boys' attention, "Pretty good. High Tension was better."
"High Tension sucked, the twist totally ruined it!" the blond exclaimed sounding offended to which Norman shrugged. "Anyway, C.H.U.D is about cannibals that live in the sewers and under New York City and it's like --"
"Shut up," John B cut him off, "Pope, how deep do you think this thing is?"
The boy sighed as they tied to rope around John B's waist, "I don't know."
JJ shrugged and looked for a pebble, tossing it into the well. It felt like almost thirty seconds before they heard a small splash down below. With a sigh, they finished setting up the pulley and began to lower John B into the well. Pope and JJ managed the ropes while Norman kept an eye on John B. Once the boy was stable, he went over to help JJ with his end of the rope.
"Shouldn't the girls be back by now?" Norman asked out of the blue while they continued to lower the rope. A chill went up the back of his spine as if the basement had suddenly going colder, "I am getting some... flat out terrible vibes right now."
"Let's focus on not dropping John B down a deep ass well," JJ sighed as he struggled against the rope. Norman followed instructions, but something was still eating away at him as they worked. JJ stumbled for a moment, falling to the ground. The rope slipped across his hands for a moment, probably leaving marks on his palms, but Norman didn't care as he yanked the rope back while he tried to help JJ up off of the floor.
"I told you not to drop me!" John B exclaimed from the depths. Well, he hadn't gotten so far from the drop that they could still hear him clearly, so that was a plus side of things. "Keep going slow!"
"I really feel like the girls should be back by now," Norman spoke nervously, his voice shaky as they continued to lower John B at a steady pace, "Is no one else concerned?"
"I'm trying not to drop your stupid boyfriend in a well, Rocky," Pope exclaimed, clearly struggling against the force. At least JJ was up on his feet now and all three of them had a decent grip on the rope, providing more relief and ease than when it was just two of them.
After a moment, Pope yelled down into the well, "Hey, hey, we got fifteen feet left! Are you getting close to the bottom?"
"I can't tell!" they could hear the boy yell back, but he couldn't even really be seen anymore if not for the slightest glimmer from his flashlight pouring out the top of the well. "Just keep going!"
A moment or so passed before they heard, "Woah, stop! I'm hanging over some sewage-water looking shit!"
"You want us to pull you up?" Pope asked, all three boys grimacing at the mention of sewage water.
"Keep going, I guess!" John B called back up and Norman faked gagging at just the thought of it. There was a brief spout of silence before they heard, "Okay, I'm at the bottom!"
"How is it down there?" called Pope.
The boy yelled back, "Worse than I thought!"
"Ew," Norman muttered to himself, earning a small nod from JJ.
"Wait, I think I felt something with my food!" they heard John B yell. There was a steady moment of silence before coughing echoed up the stone walls and Norman wanted to puke as he knew full well what John B had just done. Next thing they knew, he was yelling, "Guys, pull me back up! Pull me up, come on, man, go!"
The three of them jumped into action as they grabbed the rope once again, shifting all their weight and strength into pulling the boy out of the well. They were about halfway there when they heard something falling into the water and curses spilling out of John B's mouth. Best guess? Part of the wall had collapsed. As if this journey could get any more dangerous.
"Wait, wait, wait!" John B exclaimed and they stopped and stilled, waiting for further instruction. He yelled something after that so they started pulling him up more but John B kept exclaiming, "Just give me a minute, hold on!"
The silence lingered just a little bit too long, urging JJ to call down, "John B, you okay down there? Any dead bodies?" No response.
Just then, the girls burst into the basement out of breath. "Guys, guys!"
"What's going on?" Pope asked, keeping his grip on the rope.
"Mrs. Crain!" Kiara exclaimed, "She's up there!"
"We locked her in the parlor," the other girl explained further as she tried to catch her breath, "We gotta go."
Adding on, Kiara yelled, "She tried to kill us with a fire poker!"
They all yelled various things as they tugged on the rope trying to get John B out of the well, but there was no response from the boy other than muffled yelling. His weight was still attached to the rope, so Norman was really hoping he wasn't dead. All five of them got to work pulling on the rope, but something broke and they all fell on top of each other. John B wasn't tied to the rope anymore. Either that or it snapped. Judging by the lack of a large splash that would indicate John B falling, Norman could hope it wasn't the latter. Still, looking down into the well, the boy was nowhere to be found.
"Oh, we're so fucked," Norman muttered as he shined his flashlight on the walls of the well. Nothing.
"What's he saying?" JJ asked as they heard a faint response from the boy. Next was an exclamation of their names and they ran to the rope to make sure he wasn't drowning or something terrible. They all got to work, trying to get the rope back on the pulley and make sure John B was attached to it. They almost hadn't noticed Mrs. Crain coming down the stairs. It seems she had ditched the infamous ax for a rifle. Much more efficient, much worse for the six teenagers breaking into her basement. They were almost getting John B up the walls before a gunshot interrupted them.
"Tie it up, tie it up," Pope instructed as they tied the rope in a place where John B could still climb up if he was close enough before they all jumped to hide. Norman hid against the wall of the well, breathing heavily but still keeping an eye out for John B. The moonlight glinted off the light of Mrs. Crain's eyes and Norman understood why she had such terrible aim -- the woman had gone blind. With a grunt, John B's hand came over the edge of the well, and immediately Norman reached over to help him up.
They pulled John B out of the well and once he was on his feet, they ran like hell. Sprinting through the bushes, the van waiting for them on the road was a welcome sight as they piled in. JJ ran into the driver's seat, starting the van and driving away slowly enough for Norman and John B to catch up. The pair jumped through the open doors, Kie slamming them as soon as they were safe before JJ took off at breakneck speed.
"Are any of you shot?" JJ asked from the driver's seat.
Kie looked around, "I think I'd know if I was shot, right?"
"You look disgusting," Pope exclaimed as he looked over at John B.
"All-time Pogue Hall of Fame, baby!" JJ yelled, but John B was so caught up in what he had in his hand.
After a moment, Norman realized what it was, "We did it!"
"I did it!" John B yelled with an excitement he had never seen before. The enthusiasm that filled the van was unheard of, but they were all so caught up in the glee of finding the gold that nothing mattered anymore. All that mattered was John B was holding a piece of literal gold in his hand. If he wasn't covered in sewer water and God knows what else, Norman could have kissed him.
"Guys, we're gonna be rich!" Kie yelled.
With the biggest smile possible, John B screamed, "Full Kook, baby!"
They did it.
this chapter is the longest one in a long time but I've written like seven chapters in episode six alone and I needed to wrap it up because I don't want this fic to be like 50 chapters so yay! they found the gold!