[rosemary] .jj maybank.

chapter eleven

soon after john b's little speech, he pulled up outside a graveyard, encouraging everyone to get out of the van. "come on, hey. come on."

"i'm coming. this place is scary." kie pointed out, looking around the field filled with tombstones. "yea, john b... why are we here? graveyards are creepy." rosie agreed, not liking the spine-chilling environment.

"john b, what are we doing?"

"shut up. okay, so– you know how you're trying to remember a song and can't remember who sings it?" john b started to explain, while rosie decided to turn to jj and loop his arm with hers. "let's skip." jj looked over at rosie with confusion, her words not fully processing in his brain. "huh?"

rosie pulled jj's arm with hers, skipping and hopping lightly as she softly sang, "we're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oz. we hear he is a whiz of a wiz, if ever a wiz there was!" jj giggled from beside rosie, partaking in her antics and watching their steps sync together.

suddenly, rosie stopped, causing jj to stop as well, almost bumping to her. jj looked up and saw john b, pope, and kiara staring at him and rosie with baffled expressions. john b sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before continuing, "anyways. as i was saying, redfield is not a place. it's a person."

"voi-effing-là." the blonde boy muttered in between john b's statements. "see, my great-great-grandmother, olivia.. redfield. that was her maiden name." silence washed over the pogues as they stood still, examining the big lettering on the stone, not knowing what to do next.

"help me with the door. come on."

john b, pope, and jj stepped closer to the mausoleum, trying several times to move the heavy stone door out of the way. "are you pushing?" pope struggled out, earning an equally strained voice answering, "yeah, i'm pushing." kiara and rosie stood– entertained, watching the three boys fail to move the door.

"this door is like 700 pounds. it's not gonna budge," pope complained, pointing out their fate. "we didn't come this far to get this far, alright?"

rosie giggled quietly, "wow. a true motivation speaker. you should give a TED talk, jj."

all of a sudden, a loud hissing sound was heard. the five pogues jumped back at the unexpected noise, rosie's eyes widening at the sight of a snake slithering to the ground.
"whoa, whoa, whoa!" pope exclaimed, rushing backwards. "holy shit! no way. no fucking way." rosie panicked, rushing to hide behind kiara and pope.

"that's a moccasin, alright. ye olde dr. cottonmouth. death in tall grass," jj said in a funny accent before he started barking at the retreating snake. "jj, shut up. shut up!"

"you're gonna wake the dead, man." pope exclaimed, earning a quiet laugh from rosie for his humorous commentary.

"they're afraid of dogs. everyone knows that, man. wait– wait, hold on. hold on. if there's one, there's probably dozens. like.. all around." kie, rosie and pope grimaced, really hoping to just get a move on. "can you stop? you're scaring me." kie complained, only for jj to continue barking, instead this time it was directed at the mausoleum.

"stop barking at the snakes."

rosie nodded along, "you're not making the situation any less stressful, jj. but hey, on the bright side, jj is finally acting as our bitch. ha! get it? because he's barking an– and dogs...." rosie joked, trailing off as she looked at each pogue, bumping pope's shoulder. john b, pope, and kiara covered small laughs while jj looked at rosemary with narrowed eyes, "i am no one's bitch. excuse you."

rosie shook her head, "m-mm. such a lie."

"you're her bitch." pope coughed, holding his hand in a fist over his mouth and looking from jj to the ground.

once the pogues got jj and rosie to end their quiet bickering, pope redirected his attention to john b. "look, john– john, look. we're not gonna get in there, alright? it's not budging. we should probably just go."

rosie softly sucked air in through her teeth, "see, now... pope your TED talk would unmotivate me and worry me." john b groaned loudly, "your sarcasm is not helpful right now. thinking of ideas would actually be much more appreciated."

rosie crossed her arms over her chest before turning to john b, "ok, well, fine... me or kie could probably fit through there." rosie said, pointing to the small hole in the wall that was covered with vines. "what? no, no, no, no. you think you're gonna fit through the hole? that hole?" john b objected.

"first of all, that sounded like an insult to my weight and physique. secondly... i call not it! you know the whole severe claustrophobia thing i got going would get in the way of me actually helping." rosie explained further, not feeling comfortable with putting herself in such a small space.

"yeah, i can do it," kie agreed, flashing her light on all the vines that were in the way. john b was about to protest once more before kie interrupted. "look, this is about your dad... and honestly, i really don't believe in it, but you deserve to know the truth. i'll do it... come on." kie said, walking closer to the mausoleum.

once the pogues got the vines and sticks out of the way, rosie stepped towards kiara. "you're the best. thanks for taking one for the team. and helping me avoid a mental breakdown." rosie whispered, hugging her tightly for a second and quickly kissing her on the cheek.

jj cleared his throat, all focus going to him as he pressed his back against the wall. "i'm gonna boost you, alright. i've seen it in the movies several times. ready?"

"remind me what we're looking for?" kie asked, earning the worst answer from john b, "you'll know when you see it." rosie accidentally let out a breathy laugh, "that was super vague." kiara nodded her head, looking lost as well.

"hold my flashlight."

"alright, so put your hands right there. your foot. alright, on three... okay, never mind. just forget about three." jj instructed, helping kie into the scary mausoleum. the blonde boy got up, and stood beside rosemary, who turned her head to look at jj. "what a gentleman. i'm swooning."

jj gave a cheesy smile in response to her sarcasm, "what can i say? i do it all to impress you, ma fleur." rosie laughed lightly, "you're so cheesy."

"you alive? you got, like, a– a heartbeat and everything?" john b asked after handing her her flashlight. "so far." kie's voice echoed back. "that's good. please remain that way so you don't leave me with these idiots." rosie called out, giving a little encouragement. "uh... i need more light."

"yeah, yeah, here. yeah, i gotcha." john b rushed out, holding the lantern up in the small room. kie ventured into the small room, the sounds of her footsteps stopping, piquing the interest of the pogues. "did you find something? is there gold?"

"oh my god."

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this is a shorter chapter oopsies, also my takeaway from writing this fanfic is that john b says "shut up" A LOT