𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 - 𝐉𝐉 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 - 𝚁𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

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"A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?" John B inquired as the group were now sat in the twinkie, heading to wherever John B was driving them.

"Yeah, it's possible" Kiara agreed with an uncertain look on her face.

"It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels" Pope stated.

"Bro, you know how I process my sad feels. Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it" JJ shrugged.

"Yeah, and I'm ashamed to say that I've witnessed it first hand" Sydney muttered.

"Hey, I thought we were over that?" JJ sighed as he playfully nudged Sydney.

"I'm not concocting, okay? My dad's trying to give me a message" John B explained.

"If it helps you believe, John B" Kiara mumbled.

"Look, I- I don't need a therapy session, okay? Look, I'm not tripping out" John B dismissed.

"Definitely needs a therapy session, I could give you some details if you-" Sydney began before John B sent her a warning glance through the reer-view mirror, making her lips clamp shut.

"Look, my- my dad is missing, okay? Missing" John B snapped as he turned his head to face the group. "You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish and then have no idea what happened. Just wake up every morning wondering".

Sydney bowed her head as his words replayed in her mind. 'You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish'. One minute, Sydney was stood in her kitchen making her Nana a cup of coffee. Next minute, she comes home to find her bestfriend and mother-like figure dead on the kitchen floor. So in Sydney's eyes, Nana Pauline did indeed vanish... and Sydney never got to say goodbye.

JJ acknowledged the discomfort in Sydney, noticing how her head was hung low and her hands were starting to shake. He shuffled next to her, using his arm to wrap around the girl's shoulder, bringing her into his chest. She obliged and rested her hand on top of his which was placed in his lap, making him smile faintly.

"It's been almost a year" Kiara stated softly.

"Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility" JJ suggested.

"Yeah, could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere" Pope added.

"Absolutely. Uh, or Atlantis" JJ agreed.