𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑! [𝐉𝐉 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊]

chapter ten.

CRUEL SUMMER!
chapter ten.

( i'd be smart to walk away, but you're quicksand. )

                        The Crain house doesn't look so different than it used to, though it's certainly become disheveled since I was a kid. Overgrown plants and the same grimy old statues that have been here forever now scatter the yard. Sarah always thought they were petrifying, which regularly made them my go-to hiding spot during hide and seek games.

I've never found this place frightening. Even as a child, I never feared to be in the property. Of course, that doesn't take away from the buzzing adrenaline that accompanied it. The inevitable spark of rebellion that ignites when you're a child that is somewhere they aren't supposed to be. The thrill of breaking the rules, when all you've ever done in life is follow them, even just by doing something as mundane as playing a children's game. Perhaps that's what I liked about it. The essentially barren feeling of thrill, of experiencing something so utterly genuine.

With how abandoned the state of the yard is now, it almost doesn't quite feel like this is somebody's home anymore. It takes away from the experience, makes it dull, to an extent, boring. But I know not everybody thinks of it like that.

JJ has been acting like a skittish cat from the moment John B parked the van outside the gate. While his friends have all gone their separate ways, splitting up and dispersing amongst the yard in search of our water source, he remains glued beside me as I do my own exploring.

He talks, and talks, mindlessly I'm sure, of his presumptuous theories about Mrs. Crain, sparing me no detail. From the nervous edge to his voice, it's painfully obvious that he's serious, wholeheartedly believing every theory he spiels out.

We round a corner, and he almost walks right into one of the old statues, making him jump comically. I narrow my eyes at him in amusement, watching as he stifles a curse and anxiously looks around at our surroundings.

"You aren't being very helpful," I chime, trying to keep any merriment from appearing in my voice.

He scoffs, frowning sullenly in my direction. "You aren't being very understanding. None of you are, really. I mean, c'mon- her literal daughter told me it was true, what more evidence do you need?"

"It isn't about evidence. Whether it happened or not, there isn't anything we can do about it now," I glance at him, smirking slightly at the way his eyebrows furrow as a grumpy expression overtakes his features. "Obsessing over it won't change anything, especially if you're scared. And it certainly won't get us any closer to finding what we're looking for. Wouldn't you agree?"

He only makes a disgruntled sound of displeasure, side-eyeing me as he shakes his head. "That's just your subtle way of telling me to shut up."

The corner of my mouth tilts upward as I walk ahead of him, turning back to watch the way he sulks as he drags his feet behind me.

"Can't be that subtle if you picked up on it," I respond casually, looking away from him to focus on the messy path before us again. He never does anything with subtlety. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that the entire concept in itself is one completely foreign to him.

I hear his footsteps pause for a moment, and I smirk to myself as I keep walking ahead. Almost a little too perfectly, I can envision the look of silent confusion on his face, slowly processing what I've just said.

Once he does, his footsteps start again at a rapid pace.

"Hey!" He protests moodily, catching up and maintaining the pace a couple steps behind me.