𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 - JJ Maybank

Chapter 27: Reunited

Grace and Sarah were going insane. They were locked in the room for over 24 hours without knowing what was happening to their friends. Thinking of JJ was the only thing keeping Grace sane. She just wanted to see his face again. She knew he was worried. He was always worried, it was sweet. She really wanted him to hold her. She hadn't seen him since she got in the van with John B at the airstrip and hadn't hugged him since the morning of Peterkin's murder. He ran into the Chateau and hugged her tight. She really wanted him to do that again.

Grace was ripped from her peaceful imagination when Sarah left her side and hurried towards the floor vent. Grace followed after her and watched as she pulled the cover off and pulled out a cup tied to a string.

"Holy shit, you genius," Grace breathed. Grace and Sarah had set the "phone" system up when they were kids. They wanted to stay up talking all night but were forced to go to bed at some point so they made it in order to communicate before they had real phones. Since Wheezie's room used to be Grace's and the line was a secret it was never removed.

"Wheezie?" Sarah whispered into it then held it to her ear. When there was no reply she spoke again, "Wheezie are you there?" Sarah kept trying, "Damn it! Will you stop writing in your diary, please? Wheezie, please? Talk to me. Wheezie, SOS. Please answer me."

The girls both sighed in slight relief when they heard her voice, "Sarah?"

"Wheezie. Hi," Sarah answered quickly.

"Can you believe it? I mean, you think you know the guy, but it turns out that he's a killer. I mean, living in our house. It gives me the total creeps."

Sarah butted in, "I need to talk to you."

"When you see on TV, and they're, like... all the neighbors are, like, "He's a normal guy.""

"Wheezie stop," Grace said, noticing how uncomfortable Sarah was getting.

"Hey Grace, can you believe it? Our sister? Dating a killer?"

Sarah bit her lip but the sob escaped anyway. Grace was quick to wrap an arm around her shoulders only for Sarah to look up at her grinning. Grace got the idea and sobbed into the cup with her.

"You don't still have feelings for John B, do you? Grace, you don't still care about him right?" Wheezie cut off their sobbing.

"Of course I do," Sarah cried.

"He's basically my brother," Grace added.

"Like, women who fall in love with guys on death row?" Wheezie continued.

"It's just so horrible!" Sarah sobbed. Grace bit her lip to stop herself from laughing at how quickly Sarah went from sobbing to having a blank expression.

"Are you crying?" Wheezie asked.

"No shit, I'm crying. I just really need both of my sisters right now. Can you please come in here?"

Wheezie sighed, "Well, Dad told me not to open the door."

Grace quickly snatched the cup and spoke into it, "Wheeze it's really bad. Sarah's really upset. There's only so much I can do. Please just come here. If you keep the door locked dad will never know."

Grace stood to the side as Sarah spoke to Wheezie. She wasn't as close with the girl so they decided to let Sarah do the talking.

"I need you to listen to me. John B is not a killer. He did not shoot anyone. I was there, so was Grace," Sarah whispered.

"Well, then, who did it?" Wheezie furrowed her brows.

Sarah shook her head and instead of answering the questioned whispered, "I need you to stay quiet about us for as long as you can."