𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 // 𝑱𝑱 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒌 \\

Chapter Twenty One

By the time it was morning, JJ was laying on his stomach. His head rested on his arm. Valerie lay beside him. "JJ, Val, let's go get Kiara and Sarah." John B patted JJ's leg, eventually stirring him awake. The two got ready quickly and headed out to the boat. When Heyward's boat was in sight, they saw Kiara and Sarah sitting on the edge waiting for them. "Uh-Oh!" Pope shouted. "You guys forget your keys or something?" JJ shouted to the two. "You need a tow?" John B asked. Kiara and Sarah exchanged words before responding to the pogues.

"You gotta admit, it was kind of funny." John B said. "John B." Sarah crossed her arms, sitting straight up. "Uh, what's that?" John B asked with a smirk on his face. "Mastermind, huh?" Kiara asked. "I'm always planning." John B responded. "Some patriarchal bullshit." Kiara stood from her spot. "Yeah, that sucked." Sarah agreed. "Still love us though, right?" Valerie asked them with a smile. "You, Val, I could never hate. The other three... well..." Kiara laughed. "Here." JJ threw Kiara the rope. "Yeah, whatever." She rolled her eyes once she caught it. "Still hate me?" John B asked Sarah. "A little. We're both gonna get you back when you least expect it." Sarah shrugged looking at Kiara.

"Watch your back, boys." Kiara narrowed her eyes at the pogues in the smaller boat. "You know, Valerie knew about the plan too." John B reasoned. "She wouldn't have done it willingly." Kiara smirked. "It didn't take much. Just an apology for calling her a shithead." John B replied. Kiara opened her mouth, jokingly, acting offended. "Well, I welcome your challenge." Pope said to the two girls in front of him. "Me too." JJ nodded.

"So, did you guys, you know..." Pope trailed off waiting for one of the girls to finish his sentence. "Reconcile our differences?" Kiara finished. "Mm-mm." Sarah shook her head, her arms still crossed. "Not even close." Kiara shook her head. "But... we're willing to work together." Sarah said. "You know what? That's victory." John B smiled. "Yup. Woogity, woogity, woogity." Pope and JJ said. "You know what it was guys? Hydroponic." JJ said. Valerie looked up at the girls to see Sarah wink at Kiara and Kiara subtly smirk back. Valerie smiled at the two. "Don't say that." Pope said to JJ. "Alright, shut up. You guys ready to jack someone up?" John B asked the girls. "Yeah, whatever." Kiara laughed, jumping onto the boat. Sarah followed shortly after. The pogues, plus Sarah, rode back to the Château. They grabbed their supplies, got in the twinkie, and headed to the Crain house. Valerie sat in between Kiara and JJ on the way.

"Alright, you guys got rope?" John B asked from the front. "Got it." Pope responded. "Grappling hook?" John B asked. "We don't have a grappling hook. We're not Batman." Pope stated. "Pulley?" John B asked. "Check." Valerie replied. "Dark clothes?" John B asked. "Got it." Kiara said. Valerie wore a plain black hoodie with black jean shorts. She had on her black converse to pair with it. "Flashlights?"

"Check." JJ gave a thumbs up to John B. "Alright, good. We're ready." John B stated. By the time John B was done, it was dark out and they were stopped next to the stone wall. "Let's go get rich, guys." JJ said to the pogues. "Yeah." Kiara nodded. "Hell yeah." Valerie added. John B got out of the twinkie, and walked around the side to open the back door. "Wait, wait, wait." John B stopped Kiara who was about to get out. Everyone looked up at him.

"I wanna say thank you, guys. Seriously. It means a lot to me that you're here tonight."

"Always." Kiara smiled at John B. John B softly chuckled, giving Kiara a smile. "Of course, man." Pope whispered, doing the pogue handshake with John B. "Alright, we done with this circle jerk?" JJ looked around, holding the rope. "Can we go do this?" He added. "Yep." Valerie nodded. "Let's go get that wheat in the water." Pope hopped out of the twinkie. "Weed? I'm up for weed." JJ whispered. "Wheat, Jayj." Valerie looked at him before getting out of the twinkie with Kiara and Sarah behind her.

"After you." Kiara said to Valerie and Sarah. "Ladies first." Sarah smiled at Valerie who grabbed onto the top of the wall. "Alley-oop." Valerie climbed over the wall first. Sarah and Kiara were next. The boys followed shortly after. Kiara led the way through the overgrown backyard. The pogues tried to be as quiet as possible. When the house was in sight, the pogues stared at it for a second. Sarah went to take a step, but the motion sensor light turned on. "Shit!" Valerie and Sarah whispered. JJ, Pope, and Valerie ducked on one side of the bush while Kiara, Sarah, and John B ducked on the other. "Flashlights!" Kiara whispered, turning hers off. "Oh, shit!" JJ looked down at his flashlight. "It's on strobe." He whisper shouted before finally turning it off.

"Sh." John B held his finger to his mouth. "Okay, so, she has motion sensor lights." Pope whispered to the group. Valerie crouched down between Pope and JJ. "We could, uh, move really slowly." JJ suggested. Valerie turned to him with confusion. "Yeah. Great idea, but, that's not how it works." Valerie replied sarcastically. "What?" Sarah shook her head. "Oh, shit! Let's throw a rock at it." John B whispered. "What?" Pope turned to him. "That's a really good idea, actually. Let the axe murderer know that we're here." Kiara looked at John B. "Throw a rock at it?" Pope repeated John B's sentence with disbelief. "Okay. Do you have any better ideas?" John B asked the pogues.

"Literally anything, but that." Kiara replied blankly. "What about the breaker? In the circuit box on the porch." Sarah whispered. "We used to play hide-and-seek here when we were kids."

"Oh, yeah, I remember that." Valerie pointed at Sarah. The two weren't close friends then, but they had still both played the game together. "If we were brave enough, we used to go all the way up to the porch." Valerie whispered. Sarah nodded. "I've seen it." Sarah said. "No.You- You two aren't going in that house alone." John B said. "Watch me." Sarah whispered back. "We wouldn't even be alone." Valerie whispered. "Crain chops people into pieces." JJ looked between Sarah and Valerie. "If you believe that, but she's, like what, 85?"

"Yeah, something like that." JJ whispered to Sarah. "She's probably barely still kicking." Sarah said. "I'll go with them." Kiara looked at Valerie and Sarah. "Yeah." Valerie nodded. "Okay, we'll wait for your signal." Pope said. Valerie, Sarah, and Kiara stood up. "Hey, be safe." John B whispered to them. "We will." Sarah whispered before following Valerie who led the way. Kiara wasn't far behind the two. JJ grabbed Pope's face, looking into his eyes. "Be safe." JJ whispered, his voice raspy. "I'll be so safe. I'll be safe for you." Pope whispered, grabbing his arm. "Stop! I'm gonna kill you." John B whispered harshly at the two boys. Pope looked between John B and JJ before saying, "But then how will that keep us safe?"

The girls walked quietly around the house. "She must have a generator plugged in to the main power supply." Kiara whispered. "Sh." Valerie whispered, climbing up the steps to the porch. The stairs creaked every step the girls took. "Where are the breakers?" Sarah whispered when Kiara opened the circuit box. "What is this?" Kiara asked, only seeing wires. "No, no, no, no. Shit." Valerie looked up. "It goes inside." She added causing Kiara and Sarah to look up. Kiara put the flashlight in her pocket as she opened the gate as quietly as she could and pushed open the front door. Valerie and Sarah followed Kiara. The girls quietly looked around following the wire that would lead them to the breakers. They watched their step, making sure not to step on anything that would cause a lot of noise. Kiara took a step closer to the hallway causing one of Mrs. Crain's cats to growl at her and make noise. "Sh!" Kiara whispered at the cat.

"Wait." Kiara pointed to the ceiling still following the wire. "Yeah, yeah." Valerie nodded, walking next to her. The floorboards creaked under them. Kiara turned the corner to find the breaker box. "Alright." Kiara whispered. All three girls chuckled softly knowing they found what they were looking for. "Okay." Valerie whispered as she opened the breaker box. Kiara switched off the breakers. The breakers made a loud clicking sound each time. Sarah and Valerie turned around to see the motion sensor light had turned off. "We did it." Kiara smiled holding up both of her hands for Valerie and Sarah to high-five. The girls quietly high-fived with a soft laugh. Valerie, Kiara, and Sarah's head snapped to the side once they heard a door creaking open. Sarah gasped loudly. The three girls hid behind the wall where the breaker box was. Valerie and Sarah on one side of the breaker box and Kiara on the other.

"Of course this happens." Valerie whispered. "Shit." Sarah whispered. After no sound, the girls looked at each other. "Maybe it was just the cat?" Valerie questioned. A moment later, the girls heard a fire poker tapping on the floor. "Definitely not the cat, holy shit." Valerie whispered, pushing her back against the wall. Sarah and Kiara followed her actions. "Shit!" Kiara whispered, trying to breath steadily. "It's late, Leon! Too late." They heard Mrs. Crain shout. "You think she's already close? Like, there's no way we can make a run for it?" Valerie asked, trying to make her words make sense as she felt her breathing get heavy. Kiara slapped her hand over her mouth once she saw Mrs. Crain walk into the room they were in. Valerie tightly pushed her lips together. Sarah's hand found Valerie's. She tightly squeezed her hand. "I can hear you, Leon! I've been waiting all night!" Mrs. Crain snapped her head towards the girls. Sarah, Valerie, and Kiara screamed quickly running out of the room that Mrs. Crain was in. Valerie was sure that the boys could hear the girls' screams from the basement. While running, the girls ended up getting split up. Kiara and Valerie ran one way while Sarah ran the other. Unfortunately, Mrs. Crain had followed Valerie and Kiara and she wouldn't let them get away that easy.