Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
ଳ⋆｡˚
TIME SEEMED TO PASS SLOWLY as the four other teens fidgeted nervously, waiting for you.
suddenly, a loud siren blared, and they all turned their heads to see a police boat rapidly approaching them.
panic surged through their veins.
"shit. jj." pope cursed.
"guys, that's the police." jj pointed out the obvious.
"you've gotta be kidding me."
"yep, that's the police."
"just act freaking normal." kie whispered, voice trembling.
officer shoupe, alongside a few other officers, pulled up alongside their boat.
"evening, officers."
"what you kids doing?" he asked, stern expression scrutinizing their every move.
trying to appear calm, john b replied nonchalantly, "you know, just chilling."
"you know the marsh is closed?
"o–oh, no. we didn't know that. why is it closed?" pope asked, acting oblivious.
"well, we're conducting a search out here. boat went down."
little did they know the boat they were looking for was right below them.
shoupe hummed. "i'm gonna check your little boat out."
"yeah."
"hop aboard."
he stepped onto their boat, eyes scanning the surroundings for any signs of suspicious activity.
meanwhile, you were still underwater, the oxygen level of the tank halfway depleted.
you navigated through the wreckage, searching for the cargo hold jj informed you about. time was running out and you needed to hurry, otherwise you'd run out of air before you could resurface.
back on the boat, shoupe continued his inspection, checking compartments and peering under seats.
the teens exchanged nervous glances, silently praying that you would be safe and that he would soon finish his search.
"alright." he nodded.
after what felt like an eternity, he seemed satisfied and concluded his search.
"alright." the teens repeated simultaneously.
"let us know if you see anything on your way out." he made his way back onto his boat.
"will do. will do." pope saluted.
once the police were gone, the tension among the teens slowly dissipated.
but you still hadn't returned.
"guys, should we go check on her?" jj sweated, thinking you ran out of air.
there was no need for that though because after he said that, your head popped out of the water. you wore a triumphant smile on your face, indicating you had found something.
the teens let out a collective sigh of relief.
"what happened?" you asked, wondering why they looked so stressed out.
"the cops were up here, but uh... took care of em." pope answered.
once you were back on board, jj held you by the shoulders, eyeing you from top to bottom, checking for any injuries or what-not.
jj was touchy. not that you had a problem with it. you were slowly but surely getting used to it.
"you're not hurt. that's good." he confirmed.
"what did you find?" john b asked excitedly, looking at what was on your hands.
"oh, this." you held out a silver tube-like container — a canister in other words — for all of them to see. "not sure what it is. sorry, this is all i could find in there."
"it's okay!" kie comforted. "inside is probably worth a lot, right? we just gotta stay positive."
"yeah, don't worry about it. at least you found something." jj said with a dismissive wave.
"let's open it and see–" the excited and curious john b was interrupted by kie.
"hey, uh, guys. bogey, two 'o clock."
there was yet another boat heading towards them. however, this time, it wasn't the police boat; it was two men who appeared to be up to no good.
"do you recognize that boat?"
"i've never seen it."
"what are they doing back here? the marsh is closed." kie said, feeling alarmed.
"they look scary..." you mumbled, which jj caught on.
he looked at the two men, then you, then his friends.
"i don't know, but let's not stick around and find out." he patted pope's back as a way to tell him to start the engine and drive away as fast as they could from the scary-looking men.
and that, pope did.
though, the men weren't about to let them go that easily.
