"I'm sorry. You're staying where?" Kiara asks.
"Tannyhill." John B replies plainly.
"So you're living with Sarah Cameron?" I ask.
"Okay, look, the only reason I'm living there is because her dad bailed me out, right? And it's way better than foster care, which, by the way, is where I was about to go if Ward didn't..." John B reasons
"Hey, so do you have a membership to the clubs now?" Pope teases
"I don't know, Pope."
"What about those golf carts they drive around? You get one of them?"
"Does it come with a sweater-vest, or do you have to buy one on your own?" The two boys continue to tease John B.
"Look, you promised." Kie said ending the teasing.
"You said you weren't with her." I argue.
"Bro, just own it. She got you." JJ semi sides with me.
"Like Bales got you" John B spits out.
"What?" JJ almost chokes.
"Don't pretend you aren't in love with her I'm calling it now you'll be dating by the end of the summer" JB tells JJ.
"Wait- would you be mad?" I ask curiously.
"Are you mad I'm with Sarah?" John B asks.
"Yes. But I'm willing to put it in the past. if you wanna hang out with her, that's fine. I can't control who you date anymore than you can control who I date. But I'm letting you know now that I'm not doing anything with Sarah." I answer.
"Do you guys see her here? No, right. Okay. A little focus would be fantastic. We've got the map, right?" John B says moving on.
"It's out of whack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it." JJ explains to us even though he's wrong.
"It's 'cause the coast has changed." Kiara corrects
"So we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed."
"What about the old forts?" John B asks
"Battery Jasper." Kie adds to John B's question.
"We're in Battery, right here. So if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here. Somehwere there." Pope says pointing in at where the gold should be.
"That's is not very specific" I tell them walking over to stand beside JJ.
"Over there? Guy's, that's not Tannyhill, that's a subdivision." JJ says but for once I know something he clearly doesn't so I look up to him and say
"Tannyhill Plantation was the entire island."
"It got sold into smaller pieces over time." John B adds to my statement.
"So we're just looking for an old stone wall." Pope informs us.
"Couldn't it be any more specific?" I complain climbing into the van.
______________________
"Okay, so the road should split up here." Pope directs John B who is driving the twinkie.
"Okay."
"All right. You're gonna take a left." Pope tells him.
"That looks like a stone wall to me." JJ says as the van comes to a stop.
"How do we know this is the right stone wall?" I ask grabbing JJ's hand as we step out of the van.
"This is it." JJ assures me.
"Not the Crain house." John B complains.
"Are you kidding me?" Kie adds.
"Worst-case scenario." JJ says squeezing my hand.
"Why'd it have to be here... of all places?" Pope also complains.
"You guys are so dramatic" I say pulling JJ closer to the wall.
"I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property." JJ tells everyone
"Look, you guys know whose house this is, right?" Kie asks.
"Oh, yeah. No, I do." JJ answers her.
"Everyone who grew up in OBX knows whose house this is" I tell him in a duh tone.
"Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place." John B says to JJ.
"Cuz they're all bullshit" I tell him.
"Shh." Pope shushes us but it does nothing.
"Which stories did you hear?" JJ asks Kiara.
"The one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since. On certain nights, when the moon is full... you can see her in the window!" Kiara says waving her hands in JJ's face to tease him.
"No, it's not funny, 'cause it's all true. I swear to God, guys, this is all real. I knew Hollis. Jeez!" JJ defends his theory.
"Wait, you knew Hollis Crain?" I ask him curiously.
"Yeah babe" JJ answers not paying any attention to what he was calling me.
"Dude, how do you know Hollis Crain?" Pope questions not believing him at all.
"She was my babysitter, man. She told me all about it. Told me the truth... about her mother and what happened in this house. So as a kid, she heard all the stories that her mother killed her father, and... she was a murderer and all. Hollis didn't believe it. Until that night." JJ explains.
"What night?" Kie asks playing into his delusions.
"It all came back to her. When Hollis was six years old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs. So she goes downstairs to see her mom washing her hands in a sink... full of blood. Her mother just says that she cut her finger. The next morning, she says her father and her split up. But then, Hollis noticed something. Her mother going into the parlor constantly, in and out and in and out
with plastic bags. Weeks pass, and Hollis decides to use the outhouse. And as she's using it, she looks down, and there, in the outhouse, is her father's head, looking straight back at her." JJ tries once again to convince us.
"God, you are so full of shit." John B scoffs at JJ.
"You're a dumbass" I tell JJ also.
"Dude, I swear to God, man." JJ defends getting slightly angry no one believes him.
"Did she call the police?" Pope asks.
"She didn't have time." JJ answers.
"You sure you wanna do this? She's an axe murderer. You got a cast on." JJ asks John B .
"I don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay? I got nothin' to lose, right? You comin' or what?" JB answers him.
"Love you too bro" I joke.
"Hey, come on. Come here. So here's the plan. We need to look for the wheat near the water like it said in Denmark's letter." John B tells us
"Okay, like, what kind of water? Like, pond water?" Pope analyzes.
"Bong water?" JJ asks and I snort causing him to wink at me.
"No. It... it just said look for water, okay?" John B corrects.
"That's the shittiest secret message ever." Kiara tells him
"You wanna complain a little more, Kie? Nobody said it was gonna be easy." John B snaps at an already pissed Kie.
"JB, Kie and I will search the northeast quadrant, you and Bales search the northwest." Pope states.
"The decapitation quadrant." JJ worries.
"Let's go scaredy cat I'll protect you" I says pulling him towards the "decapitation" quadrant.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
School is officially over so hopefully that means you guys will get parts wayyy more often. Thank you for being patient. This book means the world to me and I'm incredibly grateful for everyone reading this book. I'm going to schedule the parts I have written to publish I promsie.
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Pouge Style
Fanfiction"I'd always go back to the outer banks. I'll always go back to JJ" -Baylee Routledge Baylee Routledge is John B's twin. She lives with her mom though until she makes an appearance in outer banks for the first time in 5 years and doesn't want to le...
