P4L | Outer Banks | JJ Maybank

The Angel

Cory reached back to JJ, who was handing her a stick with a marshmallow on it.

"Thank you," she mumbled, holding it out above the fire.

JJ moved to sit next to her. "That was building up for years. Rumble in the jungle." He winced as something pricked him.

Cory turned to him with her brows furrowed as John B turned to Kiara to talk about Sarah.

"The hell'd you do?" Cory asked.

"The–the stick," JJ complained.

Cory rolled her eyes, chuckling. She placed her stick down against the chair and reached over JJ's lap.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Gimme your hands," she urged.

JJ chuckled, but moved to place his hands atop hers.

Cory held his hands gently, examining the skin that stretched across his bones.

They were dirty. Dirty, calloused and dry. It was how his skin had been for years. He was always working, always doing something. He never seemed to be fully healthy or clean.

Cory flipped his hand over, finding a prick from the wood on his palm. It was a small cut, but there was plenty of blood pouring out of it.

She chuckled, lifting her thumb up to her mouth. She ran it across her tongue before pressing it down to JJ's palm and swiping the blood away. More began to spill out of it.

"It's just a cut," she mumbled, looking up at him with a smile. Then she stood.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Just to get you a bandaid," Cory said, reaching up to ruffle his hair.

As Cory walked away, JJ looked up at her with a fake twinkle in his eyes.

"You're so good to me," he said softly.

Cory chuckled, waving a hand to brush him off.

She moved quickly, listening as her friends slowly began laughing again.

She pushed into the Chateau, moving quickly into the bathroom. She reached down into the cabinet and began to rustle around.

"Come on," she mumbled. "I know you're in here."

Cory continued to search for the first aid kit, moving tons of products and things around in the cabinet. Eventually she pulled out a white case.

"Yes," she said, popping it open.

The lid slid open and revealed the almost entirely empty first aid kit. Cory was glad, however, to see one more bandaid left behind.

She grabbed onto it and stood, leaving the first aid kit open on the counter.

She turned to exit the bathroom, but then she heard something fall from outside.

Cory's brows furrowed and she started forward quickly, moving to the door.

She pushed it open.

"Guys?"

There was a whistle and then Cory froze where she was standing.

An inch away from her face, lodged into the wooden support beam of the Chateau, was an arrow.

Her eyes were wide as she looked up across the clearing.

Her friends were standing in a group, each looking at her with wide eyes. Facing them was the man that was always with Limbrey.

JJ turned back to the man suddenly.