Storm Chaser // JJ Maybank

60

So, you might be wondering what happens after you find the lost city of El Dorado, get blown up, two of your parents die, and you're stranded in South America with a sack full of gold. Well, let me catch you up.

First, you catch a ride back home and you sleep for, like, three weeks. And when you finally get back you make peace with the fam or not. Really only Pope and Cleo were welcomed back with open arms. JJ and John B had no one to go back to. Rose thinks Sarah had something to do with Ward's death. Kie's parents were upset with her running off again. I think they'll come around. I didn't even try to go home to my mom.

And after all the loose ends are tied up, the gold. John B and Sarah managed to bring back twenty pounds of it. 98.5% gold. $1,172,549 worth of gold after we paid for JJ's restitution. It was surreal to even think we would possibly have that much money in a bank account. I never thought I would make that much money in my life.

We decided to keep the money in a joint account. If we split the money we would all blow it. Pope being Pope rallied us around the idea of creating another Poguelandia. Our time on the island was perfect. We built everything from nothing. We wanted that back. We decided to buy back JJ's house and land when it went up for auction. Our plan was to turn it into a place to stay and a place to work. A surf shop, a dock with a bait and tackle shop, and some updates to the house that was the plan.

The plan was coming together. Until JJ decided to be the one to place our bets at the auction. He was told specifically by Pope to only go up a dollar each time. That lasted all of a minute. He got into a bidding war with some middle aged Kook. The price of the land went from  $80,000 to $775,010. And even with JJ messing up the auction we still let him get a boat to run charters.

With spending so much for the land we had to find ways to make our build cheap. Pogue-style. DIY and reused materials. The pilings for our new dock were something we couldn't do ourselves. JJ got his friend Buffy to help us out. All it took was bribing Buffy with some of Kie's home batch. A lifetime supply of it really. Kie grows some strong stuff. Buffy showed up high as hell and almost wrecked everything but it worked out in the end.

Then it was up to us to finish our new dock. With Pope's brains we were able to run electricity all the way to the end for the bait and tackle shop. Every day we were building to make this place ours. When all was said and done we did the best we could and built ourselves the good bones of a surf shop and bait and tackle shop.

From the first day we were open, our bait shop was making money. Word of mouth helped us gain a loyal base of customers. Cleo even started cooking gumbo and Sarah made sandwiches. Our shop had a little bit of everything. Our first dollar is hanging over the counter. Reminding us of how far we've come.

It really worked. It was what we all wanted. It wasn't gold. It wasn't treasure. It wasn't even adventure. And some of us still had dreams. Kiara still wanted to save the dolphins and the turtles. Pope was planning on going back to school. But in the meantime, for all of us, we were just working. Together. And when we weren't running charters, we were catching dinner. Or growing it. And maybe growing some other things. It was all of us, together. It was like what we had on the island, but even better. It was home. Treasure hunting was in the past. Dead and buried. We were gonna live the good life. The simple life. We had everything that we needed. But what we didn't know at the time was that nothing ever stands still. And there were some dark secrets hidden in the marsh.

Our problems started when a storm fried the fuse box on the dock. All the bait died. We barely had enough profit to cover the repair. All we had left was a nugget of gold. All of our savings meant to cover our property taxes. Everything was going to be fine. As much as we all hated it we were just going to have to tighten our purse strings for a while.

I love JJ truly I do but sometimes he doesn't think. He decided to recklessly bet on himself to win the Enduro dirt bike race. He bet the last of our gold. The gold we needed. JJ didn't win. Topper won after Rafe collided with JJ on purpose.

We were out of money and out of options. We had a $13,000 property tax payment due in seven days. We had zero working capital. We had no savings. Then our luck turned.

An article was written about us by the Outer Banks Sentinel. Archeologists finally excavated the cave we blew up and, suddenly, we're heroes. It was our fifteen minutes of fame.

After the ceremony, this old guy named Wes Genrette came up to us with a request. He invited us to his private estate to discuss his proposition. So, here we are. Eighteen months after finding El Dorado, on our way to Goat Island, back in the G game.

"Do you guys know anybody that's been here?" Kie asks. "'Cause I don't."

JJ shakes his head. "Nope."

"Hey, Sarah, you must know somebody who's been here, right?" Pope asks. "I mean, like, all Kooks, they... they know each other. They go to the same parties."

"Are you kidding me?" Sarah remarks. "You've heard the rumors, right?"

"Oh yeah, about the daughter. I mean, that she drowned with her baby? That's what I heard," JJ tells us.

"I heard that too, but I heard that she was possessed first or something," Kie adds.

"And then I heard that was all bullshit because... What?" Pope remarks.

"Okay. Why are we doing this again?" Cleo asks.

"We need the money," Pope, Sarah, and I say at the same time.

"This place's been around for 200 years, and they still don't have a road that doesn't go underwater twice a day," Pope states.

"You check in and you don't check out," Kie remarks.

Standing out front of the boat house as we pull up is an older black guy.

"Afternoon, sir," JJ greets.

The man stares at us for a moment. "Welcome to Blackstone."

We get off the boat and start towards the house.

JJ clears his throat. "So, uh, what have you been digging?"

"Ditches," the man tells him.

"Ditches," JJ repeats.

"At least it's not graves," Kie offers.

"All the same to me," the man says.

"What?" I ask.

"Why would he say that?" Pope asks.

"Uh, so how long have you been working for Mr. Genrette?" John B asks.

"As long as I can remember," the man tells us. He leads us up a flight of stares before pointing to the house. "There."

JJ nods his head. "Okay, thank you."

JJ knocks on the door. "Hello! Anyone home?" JJ tries the knocker. "Hello, anyone home? Maybe? Oh, just a little quick FYI, they drսg you before they chop you up. So, don't eat or drink anything."

"Not funny," Cleo tells him.

"Yeah, guys, I think I've changed my mind about this one," Sarah tells us.

"I... I really don't wanna be here," Kie agrees.

"Can we go?" Sarah asks.

"I admit the risk-reward is very off," Pope says.

"Hey, someone's coming," JJ tells us.

I hear footsteps before the door opens. It's not Genrette. It's a middle aged guy.

"Hi. I'm sorry to keep you waiting," he tells us. "It's quite a big house, and I'm... I'm afraid the servants have all gone. All except, uh, good old Demp. I just can't seem to get rid of him." He laughs. "Uh, you must be the... the Pogues. The Great Seekers."

"Yeah, I... I don't know about that," John B states.

"Oh, now, don't you be modest. I've read of your adventures. It's quite thrilling. Uh, come in. Come in. I... I'm the son-in-law." He laughs. "Chandler Groff. Wes was really, really hoping you'd show. He's been waiting."

"Yeah. Pleasure. JJ," JJ says as he walks into the house.

I follow after him without a second thought.