Brie woke up with JJ's arms still wrapped around her as they lay on the roof with the sun high above them. It must have been almost midday by now, judging by how high the sun was in the sky, but that didn't stop the goosebumps from covering her skin.
She looked up at JJ, still fast asleep. The cuts and bruises on his face looked even worse now than they did last night. She kissed his cheek, careful not to wake him, and smiled to herself.
She gently pushed his arm off her, shuffling over to the edge of the roof. She dangled her legs over the edge and dropped down, landing softly on the ground below.
She headed inside and began pulling things from the fridge to make her and JJ breakfast. She grabbed a couple of plates, turning around to place them on the counter. She suddenly shrieked and the plates slipped from her hands, crashing onto the floor.
"John B!" She cursed, "You scared me! What the hell are you doing here?"
"Brie, where's the gun?" He demanded.
She frowned in confusion. She could literally feel the anger radiating off of him. He stepped closer, jaw clenched.
"Where's the gun?" He asked again.
She inadvertently glanced at JJ's bag that was poking out from under the sofa. John B noticed and grabbed it, digging through it and pulling out the gun. Brie carefully stepped around the broken ceramics and grabbed his arm.
"What's going on?" She begged, "You're seriously freaking me out right now. Why do you need the gun?"
"Ive got something I need to take care of," he said, picking up the keys to the van and storming outside.
Brie ran after him, more confused than ever. She saw John B glance at the hot tub and all of the decorations that covered the yard, but he didn't bother asking. She glanced up at the roof, with no sign of JJ, wondering how he had slept through the smashing of those plates.
John B ripped open the door to the van with such rage it made Brie freeze on the spot. She broke out of her trance and ran over to him, standing in front of the van so that he couldn't drive off. He glared at her angrily through the windshield.
"Brie, get out of my way!" He yelled.
"What are you doing?" She cried, desperately, "Please, talk to me!"
"Ward Cameron knows about the gold," he said, "He killed my dad."
Brie stumbled back in shock. John B took the opportunity and drove off, speeding away down the road.
Brie tried to gather her thoughts. Ward Cameron had killed John B's dad, and now John B was going to kill him. She knew better than anyone that rash plans of revenge never ended well. He was going to get himself arrested and spend the rest of his life stuck in a cell.
She ran back inside, grabbing the keys to JJ's bike and following after him. There was no way she was going to let him make the same mistake that she almost made. She sped up so that she was right next to him. He looked over at her and then back at the road.
"Pull over!" She screamed.
He tried to ignore her. She could still see the rage coursing through his veins.
"John B!" She warned, "Stop the van! Now!"
"Go home, Brie!" He yelled back.
"No!" She shouted, "Pull the fuck over! Now!"
She must have taken her eyes off the road for a little too long, because John B's eyes suddenly went wide. She quickly looked up, seeing someone on a bike speeding towards them. Like right towards them.
John B served to the right whilst Brie served to the left, barely missing the trees that lined the side of the road. She skidded to a stop, adrenaline already pumping through her. John B was pulled over on the other side of the road, looking over at her, clearly trying to ask if she was alright. She swallowed sharply and nodded with a shaky sigh. That was close.
The other bike had stopped as well. Brie presumed they were either checking if they were okay or they were going to yell at her for driving in the middle of the road. Unfortunately, it was neither of those options. It was Barry.
John B quickly got out of the car as Barry got off his bike, giving Brie a deranged smile. He made his way towards her, making her stomach churn, but John B pushed him back, getting in between them.
"You fuckers think you can get away with stealing my money?" He demanded, "Huh?"
"You tried to rob us, remember?" Brie snapped, leaning her bike up by the side of the road and stepping closer to him. "You really think we would let that slide?"
"Do you know who I am, girl?" He snarled, "Do you know what I could have people do to you? You'll be wishing I shot you when you were all laying in that ditch like little bitches!"
Brie lunged forward to punch that stupid smirk off his face, but John B stopped her. He pulled the gun from the back of his shorts and held it up to Barry's face.
Barry gave a look of fear, quickly replaced with a cocky grin. John B clicked the safety off, making Brie nervous. She though he was just going to threaten him, not kill him right here in the middle of the road.
"John B," she hissed, "Cool it."
"You think you're a tough guy?" John B asked Barry pressing the barrel against his forehead, "If you think for one second that I wont blow your fucking brains out, then you're wrong. If you come near me or my friends again, I will kill you. You understand me?"
Barry laughed menacingly, making John B scowl. Brie tugged at John B's hand in frustration. She was not in the mood to be hiding a body right now.
"You're just a fucking poser," Barry spat, "Acting all big because you got your hands on a gun. Well let me tell you, you're going to struggle to keep up that act when my boys come for you."
Brie's heart pounded in her chest, feeling the fear creep up her throat. The gun wavered slightly in John B's hand.
"Maybe we'll start with her," he continued, cocking his head towards Brie, "Be a pity for you to come home and find her laying in a pool of her own blood."
Brie glared at him.
"Shut up!" John B yelled, trembling with anger.
"Or maybe your good pal blondie," Barry said, looking between them, "I already deal to his old man. Maybe I slip him an extra little something, make sure the kid's next beating is his last, huh?"
That was it for Brie. She snatched the gun from John B's hand and fired it at Barry's foot, watching him drop to the ground with a scream of pain. John B looked at her in horror, but she didnt care.
"You think we're a bunch of posers?" She asked Barry, hitting him over the head with the end of the gun. He let out a groan and clutched his face in his hands. "Well I promise you that I wont hesitate to put a bullet through your skull if you so much as look at one of us ever again. Got that?"
Barry grunted in pain, holding his bloody foot.
"You fucking bitch!" He screamed, "I'll fucking kill you!"
Brie aimed the gun at Barry's bike, giving him a sarcastic smile. A look of fear crossed his face as Brie squeezed her finger over the trigger and the bike exploded into flames.
She felt the heat rush over her face, flinching away. John B raised his arms and stumbled away from the burning wreckage.
"You're going to tell no one about this," she told Barry, who was staring at her in terror, "Or I'll expose your whole drug ring. Besides, it would be pretty embarrassing for all your little buddies to find out that you got shot by some low life Pogue, especially a girl."
John B stepped back in shock as the fire glowed brighter, looking at her with wide eyes. She shoved the gun into the waistband of her shorts and climbed onto her bike.
"Brie-" John B stuttered.
"Just follow me in the van, okay?" She told him, "I've got somewhere we can go. Come on!"
She took off, John B in tow. Her mind reeled as she realised what she had just done. She had just shot someone. She threatened a freaking drug dealer. What was with her and threatening people? Its like she couldnt help herself.
That comment about JJ just set her off. She was sick of people always threatening them. Since coming to the Outer Banks, she had lost track of how many times she had been beaten and threatened. She could handle it herself, but not when they brought JJ and her friends into it.
She continued down the road until she saw the turning into the woods, just about big enough for the van to get though. Hidden in the trees, was an old garage. She had stayed there when she first got to the Outer Banks. For a while it was her only option, and it didnt exactly feel safe.
There wasnt much in there and the roof had collapsed so rain used to get in when she slept there. But it was as good a hiding spot as any right now, and just wide enough for John B to park behind it so that the van was hidden from the road.
As soon as they had pulled in, John B jumped from the driver's seat and started to confront her. Brie rolled her eyes, preparing herself.
"You just shot him, Brie!" He yelled, following her inside, "What if he goes to the police?"
"He won't," she reassured him. "It was a tactical shot, probably went straight though his foot without doing too much damage. It'll heal up fine."
"Oh, yeah?" John B asked, "How the hell do you know that?"
"Because he knows that he has more to lose from doing that than I do," she snapped, "He'll probably tell his addict friends that he was in a shootout with the cops or something. Its fine, we've got nothing to worry about."
"Apart from all of his gangs from the Southside coming to get revenge!" John B shouted.
She swung back around to face him. He stepped back in surprise.
"Revenge doesnt work!" She yelled, "Trust me, I know that more than anyone. If Barry comes for me, for any of us, I wont hesitate to do exactly what I said and shoot him, okay? I've got nothing to lose."
"What about us?" he asked, "What about your family, Brie? Do you think we want to see you locked up? We would fall apart without you."
Brie chewed the inside of her lip nervously. Her worst fear was having to lose another family.
"Then why do you think that I wont let you kill Ward Cameron?" She said, "We can get his ass thrown in prison for what he did. You dont have to pay the price."
John B ran his hands through his hair angrily. She lay a hand on his arm, comfortingly.
"You know Sarah will never forgive you if you kill her dad," she whispered, "Don't let him win."
John B nodded slowly. She sighed in relief, knowing that she had successfully calmed him down. However, she could never heal what the murder of his father had done to him.
She pulled him into a hug as his shoulders trembled with sobs. She ran a hand up and down his back, shushing him softly. Tears filled her own eyes as her heart broke for him. Sixteen years old and he had already endured more trauma than a lot of people get in a lifetime. All of them had. And it just wasnt fair.
They stayed like that for a while, letting him get all of his emotions out that he had kept bottled up for days. She hoped that knowing that she shared his pain could make him feel supported and understood.
Both of them ended up sat on the floor, silent as Brie rested her head against his arm. Her own thoughts haunted her.
"Do you want to know something I haven't told anyone?" She asked.
"What is it?" He replied, sounding exhausted.
"I have quite a lengthy police record," she said, "Theft, assault, trespassing. You know, small things."
"Those are small things?" He asked, the hint of a smile playing on his lips.
She laughed and shoved him, telling him to shut up. He stayed quiet, waiting for her to carry on.
"Well, after my family died in the fire, I found out that it wasnt just an accident."
John B sat up straighter. She tried not to look at him, fighting to keep her tears in.
"It was my psycho of an ex," she told him, "Climbed into my window and was waiting for me to get home. The police saw it on the neighbour's security camera."
"Brie, you dont have to tell me this if you dont want to," he said, taking her hand.
She shook her head and wiped her tears.
"Its okay," she said, "I need to let this go and move on. I'm sick of hiding things about my past."
"Okay," he whispered, watching her as she recomposed herself.
"So the police picked him up the next day," she said, "Took him down to the station. The fucking coward confessed straight away when they showed him the footage. Said he lit up a cigarette whilst waiting for me to come home. He thought he heard someone coming towards my room and must have dropped it when he ran off."
She stifled a sob and squeezed John B's arm lightly. He rubbed his hand over her's, hugging her closer against him.
"I was totally numb when the police told me," she cried, trying to calm herself down, "I was staying with some college frat boys when I found out. They had a spare dorm that they rented me for fifty dollars. Took the only bit of cash I had left. I stole a gun they had lying around the place, and went round to my ex's place whilst he was out on bail."
She had his this for so long. It felt like a sort of relief to open up about it, even if it might change the way that people looked at her.
"I found him on the roof of his building, smoking. Ironic right?"
John B gave a pained look, like he didnt know quite what to say to her.
"I just wanted to threaten him," she told him, "I waved the gun around, scared him. Then as I turned to leave, he jumped on me, tried to wrestle the gun out of my hands. In the struggle, I must have pulled the trigger, because the next thing I knew, he was on the ground with blood covering his side."
John B stayed quiet, keeping his hand in her's.
"I tried to stop the bleeding," she said, "I really tried. But by the time the ambulance got there, he was already dead."
"Jesus, Brie," he said, not seeming like he knew what else to say.
"I wasn't sorry that he died," she admitted, "I think that was the worst part. Because I realised that I wasnt the person who I thought I was. I was a murderer."
"You're not a bad person, Brie," John B told her, "You didnt mean to hurt him. It was an accident."
She sniffed and nodded.
"The police arrested me," she said, "But the court took sympathy on my situation. I was in juvy for two months, then they tried to put me into foster care. So I took the first opportunity and ran. You know the rest from there I guess."
"God, Brie," John B said, "I'm so sorry."
She smiled at him and wiped her tears.
"Its okay," she said, hugging his arm, "I just wanted you to know that revenge doesn't work. It won't made that empty void disappear, and you'll regret it. You're a good person, John B. Dont let Ward Cameron ruin that."
"Thanks, Brie," he smiled, rubbing her arm, "I'm really happy that we found you. I couldn't imagine the Pogues without you now."
"Yeah, well," she smirked, "I have that impression on most people."
He rolled his eyes and she laughed, resting her head against his shoulder.
"How long do you think we'll have to wait here?" He asked.
"I say we give it another half hour," she said, "Give Barry plenty of time to crawl back into his hole."
"I dont think I should go back to the house," John B said.
Brie's head snapped up as she stared at him. What the hell hadn't he told her?
"Ward Cameron told me that he killed my father," he said, "And then he tried to kill me. I've got to hide out for a while until we can get the bastard."
Brie's heart leapt, skipping over a beat.
"He did what?" Brie said, "He tried to kill you?"
"With a fucking gaff," John B shook his head.
Brie froze. "A gaff?"
"Yeah," John B frowned, "Why?"
Brie felt her chest tighten in fear.
"Ward killed those squaregroupers," she breathed, unable to hide her fear, "The pictures that the Sherriff showed me and JJ...she told me that the squaregroupers both had wounds from a long, sharp object."
"Exactly like a gaff," John B uttered, "Shit."
Brie let out a shaky breath, leaning back against the wall. Ward Cameron was a murderer, and he was killing for the gold. Which meant, if he knew that they had found it already, the only thing that now stood between him and that gold...was them.