Good Days •Rafe Cameron•

The Cross

Freedman's church was old and dark. Most of the wood had been wilted, leaving a damp texture to the building. The large red doors were covered in pollen and sap. And the smell of salt from the marsh near by filled my nose.
I stepped out the Twinkie, taking in the old church. It's was quiet here. Not silent, but quiet. The kind of quiet you get when it's really early in the morning and the rest of the house hasn't woken up yet. All you can hear is the birds chirping outside your window. That bird I'm sure everyone has heard during their childhood.
"Here we go." John B and Pope, spoke. Together they pushed the huge double doors open.
The soft evening light illuminates the old church. Overgrown vines and bushes climbed the walls and wrapped around the pillars. The seats were splintered with wood and the altar stood front and center of the church.
"Okay, you're telling me Denmark Tanny decided to hide the cross here?" JJ says, looking around the building.
"Why, not." I shrugged. "Churches are Holy. A cross is also Holy. Makes sense." I explain. The six of us move further into the building.
"Everybody, just spread out." Kie demands. "Okay, well, if I was a cross and wanted to be hidden in the old church, where would I hide?" John B, says.
I run my fingers along the wall, careful not to give myself any splinters. "Are you sure that Denmark hid the cross here, Pope? Like, are we at the right church?" JJ asked.
"It's gotta be here somewhere, guys." Pope assures. He moves to the altar looking around for any sign of the cross.
"What if we have to push a secret button or, like, play a certain chord, and then, all of a sudden, the ground beneath us reveals the catacombs or something on which we stand?" JJ rants.
"We're not Shadow Hunters, JJ." I say, pulling my lips into a thin line. "How about we try to find obvious clues." John B says. "It's not an escape room." Kiara adds.
"It's gotta be in here." Pope begins to panic. He spins around frantically searching. "Look, I can't see where they would hide a giant cross here." John B states. "No, no, no." Pope shakes his head. "There's no way he would set us up on a freaking goose chase that leads us to a church that has nothing in it!" Pope shouts.
"Yes, I get it. I don't know what to tell you, man." John B, shrugs. "The clues led us here. The cross is in this church!" Pope sits down on the old bench.
Kiara joins him. She rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Pope, it'll be all right." John B says.
"Maybe, the cross is in the floor boards. Or maybe there's some kind of angle we're missing?" I say, trying to make the situation better.
Pope looks at me then at the telescope. "Why would he put the clue on a telescope?" He says to himself.
"We've just gotta think about this logically." John B, says. Pope pulls the telescope open before looking through the glass and pointing the device towards the ceiling.
"What?" JJ asked. He watched Pope as he brought the device away from his eye. He continued to stare up the pillars above the altar.
I followed Pope's gaze. The wooden pillars were shaped like a cross. "Oh, my God. Look at that." Kiara says quietly. "Literally right above us." I say.
Pope begins to move towards the wall. He digs his foot into the holes pushing himself.
"Pope." Sarah warns, as the Pogue continues to climb up. He uses vines and any type of fault in the wall to get him closer to the cross.
"Hey, no!" JJ shouts. "Pope this church is old." Kiara states. "What if you fall?" I say looking up at my friend move like a spider.
Pope swings himself to the first pillar wrapped his legs around the beams. He bangs his fist against the first pillar. "All right!" He calls out. "This one is solid wood." He says, moving his body around to the next beam.
"Pope I hate to break it to you, but that's wood." JJ says as Pope hits his fist against another pillar. He quickly moves on to the third.
"Careful, Pope. I don't want you to fall!" I call out. "Just look out for that wasp nest right above your head." JJ adds.
A small group of wasp buzzed around the corner of a beam, taking territory of the ceiling. "Just move slow, okay. Nice and easy." John B, demands.
Pope lifts his foot onto a beam. A pice of the ceiling falls revealing a hallow pillar. "Look!" Pope says. "It's hallow! Go get me a crowbar!" He shouts.
Sarah quickly turns on her heel and out the door. "I'll be right back."
"I don't want this entire church to collapse on top of us." JJ says. "I don't think it will. It would have collapsed during the hurricane." I reassure him.
Sarah quickly joins us again, with a crowbar in hand. "Hey, Pope." Sarah breaths. She tosses the crowbar up. Pope catches it smoothly in his hand.
"Pope, remember the wasp nest right above your head." John B, warns again. "Got it." Pope says, right before slamming the crowbar into the wood.
Pieces begin to fall as huge amounts of dust collect in Pope's close and hair. We all watch in anticipation. This was our last hope. And if the cross wasn't in that beam, it would be another dead ends.
I crane my neck up watching him as he continues to bang against the wood. My eyes begin to widen and the short gasp from my friends made my heart beat out of my chest.
I could see it. We could all see it. The jewels. The yellow gold, shining through the wood. And with one final blow; a large piece of wood fall reveal The Cross of Santo Domingo.
"You did it, buddy." JJ says, proudly. I felt like crying. Tears of joys rushed down my cheeks. I was happy. Happy that Pope has found his ancestor's cross.
"Holy shit!" Kiara and Sarah look at each other. The two girls jump up and down with excitement. "Oh, my god! We did it!" I exclaim, jumping into John B's arms. He spins me around happily; before setting me back down softly. I then pull JJ into a hug.
"We're rich!" JJ shouts. I let out a laugh. "YEAH!" Pope shouts, looking down at us. "We did it! We did it!" He screams.
But Pope's smile quickly disappears as he begins to swat the wasp away from his face. "Pope!" I yelled. "Ow!" Pope winces. He squirms from the pillar causing him to slip.
"Oh, my god!" Kie screams. Pope held onto the pillar as his legs swung below him. "Wait, hold on!" I say, immediately grabbing the old cushions on the benches. The rest of the Pogues follow me. We put together of bed of cushions for Pope to land on.
"I'm slipping!" He screams, right before letting. His body hits the cushions hard, causing a cloud of dust to fill up the room.
"Pope, are you okay? Kiara asked. She was the first one by his side. The rest of us crowded around him. "Jesus, you scared me." I breathed, catching my breath.
Pope didn't seem to be listening. He stared up at the ceiling I horror right before his eyes widen. "WATCH OUT!" He quickly rolls to the side. The rest of us without thinking jump back.

BANG!

"Pope, you good!" JJ rushes over to Pope's side. "Yeah, just give me one second to catch my breath." He says. Pope was curled up in a fetal position as he tried to catch his breath.
"You did it, Pope?" John B smiles. We move to the cross that now lay in the middle of the church floor. JJ runs his fingers down the cold metal. Kiara, Sarah, and I stared at the jewels in awe. "It's beautiful." I whispered, moving over to the cross to get a better look. "I've never seen anything like it." Sarah says.
"It's so detailed." Kie, breaths. "Well, here's why Limbrey wanted the key so bad." John B says, pointing to a keyhole in the center of the cross.
"How much do you think she's worth? Like if we melted her old bones down, dude, I'm talking like high billions." JJ explains.
I cross my arms over my chest. "JJ, that's a terrible idea!" I exclaimed. "Do you even hear yourself?" I questioned.
"What?" He shrugs. "Melt it down? Really? This is a historical artifact." I says. "Phoebe's right. This belongs in a museum." John B agrees.
"So no one sees it?" JJ asked. "In a museum where everyone sees it." John B explains.
"Hey!" Pope shouts. "It's my ancestor's cross!" He reminds us. "Right, okay." JJ says. "This is bigger than money, and the world's gotta know the truth." Pope explains.
"Yes. If we don't get this shit outta here before Limbrey gets here, nobody's gonna know. So saddle up." John demands.
The Pogues and I get into position, each of us slipping our hands under the gold. "Wait. Hold on!" JJ starts. "John B you're gonna pull, all right? Pull down." He explains.
"Ready? One, two, three..." We all begin to lift the cross up. "Oh, my God." Sarah huffs. "JJ watch your foot." Kiara says. "John B are you pulling?" I asked, using my legs as leverage.
"Guys, I can't." Pope breaths. "No, no, no." Just a little further." I say. "It's slipping!" Pope breaths before dropping the cross into the floor.
"Damn it, yo! You almost dropped it on my foot." JJ yells at Sarah. "Cause I'm the only one lifting it!" She sassed. "You didn't lift shit!" JJ yells at her again.
"Okay, calm down." John B says. We'll make like a sling." John B suggested. "No, maybe we can push it to the truck. Then all we have to do is worry about lifting it inside." I explain.
"Guy! I'm not okay!" Pope calls out. Kiara walks over to him. "Pope your face." She says, worriedly. "He's having an allergic reaction." Kiara said.
"Okay, we need to get you to a hospital or something." I say. John B and JJ lift Pope up.
"What about the cross?" Kiara asked. "Someone, needs to stay back try to hide it." Sarah said.
"Be, do you think you can stay back with the cross?" John B, asked. "Yeah, of course." I nod. The Pogues rush Pope to the truck, leaving me to watch after the cross.
I hear the van pull off as I cover the cross with as many cushions I could find.
There wasn't much that I could do with hiding it. But I was gonna try my best to make sure Limbrey didn't come back.
I sat down on one of the benches, dropping my head into my hands. I let out a long exaggerated sigh. I was exhausted. But equally excited to have finally found the cross.
But the sound of the church door creaking back open, caused me to snap my head up instantly. I turned around in my seat.
There standing at the church door was Rafe. And behind him was Renfield, who held a crossbow towards me.