MERCEDES, jj maybank

24.

THE WHEAT AT THE WATER

The two carefully and quietly looked through the garden and JJ wouldn't stop complaining, Trinity was also a little scared but she knew how to hide it.

"Can we leave?" JJ whispers.

"No?"

"Bro, how did you come here when you were a kid?"

"There was like fifteen of us, most of them were my brother's friends and they're like three years older so me and Sarah felt safe."

"Rafe and your brother are friends?" JJ asks.

She laughs, "Tyler never really liked Rafe, he liked Topper and before my brother got kicked out of the Kook Academy, Tyler would let Rafe and Topper hang with him and his friends since he's only one grade above them, makes sense?"

"Yeah - ow! He hisses grabbing onto his bicep, "Skeeters,"

"Let's go find JB, there's nothing here," Trinity takes JJ by the hand.

He grins and stops her from walking, "But we're alone..."

"Not in the axe murders garden," She declines his offer and continues to and find John B,

They all head into some weird underground cave looking part of the house which was filled with old clutter.

JJ softly sang a little song, "Down came Mrs Crain and cut off all our heads, up came the sun and dried up all the blood--"

"Can you stop?" Pope shines the flashlight in JJ's face.

"There's no water here either," Trinity says slapping a mosquito off her leg.

"Another dead end," Kie adds, "My guess is bad karma,"

"Oh, God, here we go," John B groans and looks at Trinity who just looks at him sympathetically.

"We had a good thing going and then you decide to rope in Barbie and now the trail's gone dry. Coincidence? Probably not."

"This is exactly why I didn't wanna tell you about Sarah,"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. What the hell's the deal with you two?"

"Nothing."

Trinity turns around because she can't focus with all their fighting in the background, so she sits back and watches as entertainment.

"Nothing?" John B repeats. Trinity taps JJ's arm for him to start paying attention as well, "Is it because I kissed you? Is that the problem?"

Kie slaps John B around the face with zero hesitation. Pope, Trin and JJ gasp.

"Oh!"

"Shit!"

"Oh, shit,"

"That echoed, dude,"

"Stop treating me like I'm some girl that's obsessed with you instead of your best friend who's actually trying to look out for you,"

"Did you, uh...hit me?"

Kie holds her hand up, "Skeeter."

"Skeeter?"

"Yeah, you see it?" She asks.

"Yeah." John B slaps her around the face too.

"Shit, alright,"

"John B! Hey!"

"Shit, man!"

The three spectators watch, baffled.

"Where's your proof?" Kie asks him.

He does what she did and sticks his palm out, "Skeeter,"

And then they stop arguing and just play fight each other, earning scolds from the other for being too loud.

"Why are there so many mosquitos in the basement," Pope thinks to himself.

"Dude, I know, tiny vampire bats, just leave me alone."

Trinity was sitting on a dusty ass table, itching her arms and legs, "Bad day to wear shorts," She looks down at the raised bumps on her legs.

JJ steps over and looks at her irritated arms, "Yo dude, let's dip look at us, we're itching to leave,"

Trinity fake laughs, "Haha, punny,"

Pope stomps his foot down on the wooden panels while JJ reaches behind Trinity and pulls a dismantled doll that looked haunted, "Yo guys, I just found Mrs Crain's voodoo doll,"

Trinity slaps it out of his hands, "Why would you touch that? Are you stupid?"

"I want to leave, there's nothing--"

"Shush!" Trinity says sharply and points to Pope, "Please tell me y'all heard that?"

They all shake their head, "No?"

"I heard water splash," She says.

Pope nods and pulls the wood out of the way as quickly as he can.

"Pope!" 

"You're being too loud!"

Pope turns to John B, "Help me move this," He whispers.

"Okay, just be quiet,"

They all work together to clear the wood and the clutter, revealing a well that had been hidden beneath them the whole time.

"Good job, Pope," Trinity says, "Just as we were about to give up,"

They all huddled around the edge and looked into the well in hopes of finding the gold, "Well, well, well,"

"That was a good Dad joke,"

"They built this part of the house right over it,"

"This is where she hid the bodies," JJ whispered.

They all look at him for making them all tense and paranoid about Mrs Crain, "Dude! Come on!"

"Stop--"

"No, I'm dead serious."

"Stop it!" Kie pleaded.

"It was never an outhouse," JJ continues.

"She probably doesn't even know it's here!"

Trinity changes the subject, getting sick of hearing Kie whine all the time, "Well, here's the water...and we're gonna need a really big rope."