𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐲

XXXVIII. You Did It.

      

       THE TWO vehicles arrive to the old, abandoned church and the group all head up to the front doors of it, where JJ and Pope open up the two doors. "Okay, you're telling me Denmark Tanny decided to hide the cross here?" The Maybank asked as the six all began walking further into the church.

"Mm-hmm." Pope merely hums. "Okay, everybody, just spread out." Kie says, but she and Jake don't, she stayed by his side, holding onto his upper arm. "Okay, well, if I was a cross and I wanted to be hidden in an old church, where would I hide?" John B asked as the group all walk around. "Are you sure that Denmark hid the cross here, Pope?" JJ asked, "like, are we at the right church?"

"It's gotta be here somewhere, guys."

"What if we have to push, like, a secret button, or, like, play, like, a... a certain chord, and then all of a sudden, the ground beneath us reveals the catacombs or something on which we stand?" JJ asked as Jake looks at him. "How about we try to find obvious clues?" He suggested and Kie turns to him. "It's not an escape room." She says.

He shrugs, looking away. "It's gotta be in here." Pope said right away. "Look, I can't see where they'd hide a giant cross in here." John B says and Pope turns to him. "No, no. There's no way he would set us up on a freaking goose chase that would lead us to a church that has nothing." The Heyward exclaims at him. "Yes, I get it. I don't know what to tell you, man." John B tells him. "The clues led us here. The cross is in this church." Pope walks past Sarah and Kie, plopping down onto a bench.

"Pope, it'll be alright." Jake says, looking over at him as Kie went over to sit down next to him on the bench. "Yeah. We've had setbacks in the past, and we figured it out. We're gonna find it." John B agreed. "They're right." Kie says, glancing at Pope who raised the spyglass in his hands, looking through it.

"We've just gotta think about this logically, alright? Where else would you hide a seven-foot-tall cross made of gold?" John B asked, pacing around the church now. "What?" JJ says to Pope who was staring up at the ceiling, so the others all look up as well. The pillars in the ceiling, looked like the shape of the cross. "Oh, my God! Look at that."

Pope walked over to the side, climbing up. "Pope." Jake says. "Hey, no!" JJ exclaimed. "Now Pope's climbing the wall." John B says. "Wait. Pope, hey, wait. This is dangerous." Jake said, sounding worried. "Pope, this church is old." Kie agreed. "I'm just gonna--" "like really old. This isn't safe." Kie added.

But Pope kept climbing, "yo! This church got to be at least 200 years old." JJ calls out as Pope reached the top. "He's right, Pope, it's too dangerous." John B says. "Yo, let me just be real. You're not the most coordinated person on planet Earth." JJ tells the boy. "Pope? Pope!" Jake calls out to him next.

"You hear me? What are you doing?" JJ asked as Pope now knocks his fist on the wood. "Alright, this one's solid wood. I'm gonna try the other beam." He tells them. "Pope, that's rotten as shit right there, okay?" JJ says as Pope climbed to the next one. "Easy!" Sarah says when Pope hits the beam. "Pope, I hate to break it to you, but that's wood." JJ says and Pope just hits the wood once more.

"No, no. It has to be here. I know it." He then climbed up, and around the beam. "Pope, just look out for that giant wasps nest right above your head. Please." Jake said and Pope glanced down at them then looked up at the nest. "Just--just move slow, alright? Nice and easy, alright?" John B tells the boy who steps over, kicking off a piece of wood from the next support beam. "Hey, yo!" JJ exclaimed.

Pope looks at it, "look. It's hollow. Go get me a crowbar!" He shouted. "What are you gonna do, Pope? I don't want this entire church to collapse on top of us. That's all I'm saying." JJ tells the boy as Sarah left, saying she'll be right back. Sarah doesn't take long to return back from the van with the tool in hand, as Pope was prying off small pieces of the wood.