𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒, 𝗉𝗈𝗉𝖾 𝗁𝖾𝗒𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖽

8: 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛

The occasional wind was blowing by in the early morning in Charleston on one out of the many islands, the ocean waves being heard and seen crashing along the rocks and on the sandy beaches, getting the usually dried up sand all wet whenever it was moving back and forth on the ground as the waves grew stronger and stronger each minute or so that passed on the island.

The sun was bright while it continued to slowly move further and further up into the sky as time continued to pass in the early morning for the civilians. The mansions stood tall and proud, looking a lot better than Figure Eight back in the Outer Banks.

A couple of hours had gone by for the group of Pogues as they had gotten back on the road early in the morning after they all woke up. As the truck came to a stop in front of a mansion with gates around it, the teenagers were exiting the truck as they looked at the mansion they parked in front of.

Y/n felt Pope holding her hand as she was looking around at the mansion while her boyfriend held up the letter as he looked between that and the house, confirming to the group that this was the address that they had been trying to get to for the past day or so, relief filling them as they were now finally here.

"Talk about home security." JJ comments. "Are those spikes to keep people out?"

Kie shakes her head. "No."

"The slave quarters are over there." Pope points out while pointing to somewhere, sighing. "These spikes were to keep people in."

Opening up the gate, the group of friends were entering into the yard of the large mansion they had been observing, venturing their way to the front door. Pope was the one to grab the knocker in the middle of the door, knocking a couple of times before he stepped back.

When no one answered after a couple of seconds, their shared words could be heard as they wondered if anyone was even home before Pope knocked again. Just when he was doing so, the door opened to reveal a dirty blonde man standing there. They watched as his eyes looked between them in confusion, but once they settled on Pope, realization came across his gaze.

The man leans against the doorframe, pointing at him. "You must be Pope."

"Um..." Pope stutters, trailing off to glance at the others. "Are you Mr. Limbrey?"

"Ms. Limbrey was expecting you yesterday." The man informs.

"Oh. I'm-- I'm sorry." Pope apologizes, stammering. "My car broke down on the way up here."

"Carburetor blew up in the middle of Nowheresville." JJ speaks up, accidentally intervening. "Sorry about that."

"Yeah, she was real upset when you didn't show up." The man tells him, ignoring the blonde.

"We tried to call, but there's no number on the invitation." Kie recalls.

Y/n nods. "We got here as fast as we could."

"She also expected you to come alone." The man reminds.

"I mean, these are my friends. They helped find the Royal Merchant, too. I--" Pope starts.

"The instructions were explicit. Your friends can stay outside." The man interrupts.

JJ clenches his jaw. "We're kind of a package deal, man."

"JJ." Pope calls in warning. "It's okay. I got this."

His friends only nod hesitantly while he looks towards his girlfriend. Their hands having been in each other's already, Pope gave Y/n's hand a squeezed in reassurance while she squeezed his right back before they were releasing as he stepped inside the house, the man closing the door behind them, leaving the three outside.