riptide- outer banks

102 | creature of habit

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Kori toyed with the pendant hanging around her neck, gaze far off as she let her thoughts keep wandering. As she sat there on the lawn in the early hours of morning, the rest of the pogues were busy hauling a dead body out to sea. While she sat on the grass, letting the breeze billow past her, all of her best friends were literally sinking Terrance's corpse into the ocean.

If she thought too long about it, her mouth would run dry. She'd get this wave of nausea and just feel sick to her stomach. How had things gone so shitty so quickly?

"You just gonna sit there or are you gonna hand me the wrench?" JJ voiced, pulling her from her thoughts.

Kori grabbed the tool before squatting down near the ground. Her older brother rolled out from underneath the van a moment later to grab the wrench. Before he slid back under, his brow raised at her.

"Wanna tell me what you're thinking about?"

As he returned to his position under the twinkie, Kori exhaled. "Is it worth it?"

"Huh?"

"No, seriously. Is finding this stupid crown even worth it?" She began to shake her head. "I mean, Cleo's friend is dead. Is it worth the risk?"

JJ slowly slid out, coming to a seated position on the skateboard he'd been laying on. "I don't know."

"I just feel like..." Kori trailed off, mind searching for the right words to come to her. "I feel like this isn't a 'nothing to lose' type of situation. You have Kie; I have Logan. I just–" She stopped herself as JJ locked onto her light eyes. "I don't know if it's worth it, Jayj."

He gradually nodded, letting her words sink in momentarily. "I hear you. I mean–"

Before he could finish, a branch snapped. Their gazes darted in the direction of the noise, but there was no one there. They were being paranoid and they both knew it. They both quickly shook it off, returning their attention to each other.

"I don't know, J. I just feel like this is bigger." Kori continued.

"I know. I know. But Poguelandia, Kor." He gestured to the house behind them. "We've already lost so much. We can't lose this place, too."

He was right. As much as she hated to admit it, JJ was right. They'd lost way too much in their almost eighteen and nearly nineteen years of life. Poguelandia was not going to be added to that list. They just couldn't lose it on top of everything else that'd been taken from them.

"Okay. Yeah...I guess you're–"

Leaves crunched from somewhere nearby, immediately silencing her. She gave JJ a nod at the same time he gave her one, the siblings in sync as they stood. Kori retrieved her pocket knife, cool metal resting in her palm just as someone flew around the corner and it defensively raised in front of her.

"Holy shit." She breathed out, letting her weapon fall as she set eyes on Demp– the Genrette's servant from Goat Island.

"It's just you. Geez." JJ echoed from right next to her, lowering the wrench he'd been about to use. "You almost made me a killer, man."

"Same."

Demp's hands remained in the air. "But y'all ain't. Not yet, anyways." Lowering his hands, he handed JJ an envelope. "Mr. Genrette wanted me to give this to you in case something happened. And I guess it did."

Kori's eyes narrowed as her brother grabbed the letter.

"Uh, what was–What is this?" He asked.

"Don't know. But he said you'd want it."