Letters She Wrote | Outer Banks

𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢. 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬

[ xvii. grave robbers ]

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AS SOON AS THE loudly crackling fire on the Chateau's front lawn was mostly put out, the numerous blackened and broken house belongings now lost within smoldering ashes, Willa Deveraux soon found herself following John B. Routledge off the familiar marsh-side property and into the unknown all over again.

In that heated moments that had followed the sudden revelation that Redfield was not actually a place on the island but rather a person on it, John B. had acted fast and hazardously, trying to reorganize his hectic life as he made back for the Volkswagen, leaving a spiraling Willa with no choice but to chase after him out of her own fear of being left behind in his hurried state. Now smelling like sweat and smoke, as the two teenagers set off deeper into Cut in search of JJ Maybank and Pope Heyward, John B. struggled to articulate his rambling thoughts in regard to the family tree that he had saved from the fire, and refused to speak more on the matter of his plans until the whole group was put back together, but Willa did not necessarily mind the suspense. In fact, it gave her time to prepare for the chaos that would inevitably ensue and ruin all their lives once more.

Finding JJ and Pope in the shadows of the Cut was relatively easy. Both boys had been on the outskirts of the Maybank property, down by the marshy water as they attempted to build their own generator to bring back to the Chateau. At the sight of the rusty Twinkie pulling up the road, spinning gravel and spewing dust, the pogue boys had been eager to abandon their chore and return to the hunt for answers . . . but the same could not be said for the last lingering member of the core four group. Willa was fairly unsurprised by Kiara Carrera's refusal to join, given that she had just been bailed out of jail by her father only hours prior but, of course, John B. would not give up without a fight.

And that was now how Willa found herself sitting alone at the front of the Twinkie, silent and brooding with her arms crossed over her chest in a naturally defiant nature, all the while JJ and Pope went about their own businesses in the back of the van, each of the three teenagers trying their best to not let the growing heat within the idly parked vehicle bother them. The easily recognizable Volkswagen van was now tucked back into the shade of a few nearby trees that outlined the parking lot of The Wreck, the only logical location left—aside from the Chateau—where Kiara could possibly be hiding from her friends.

JJ, who was sitting on the farthest back bench in the Volkswagen, was the first of the trio to break the humid silence as he turned his blonde head towards the window, his icy blue gaze locked on the popular tourist restaurant across the paved lot. "Wonder what John B. did to piss Kie off so bad," He commented dryly.

Pope followed JJ's calculated stare and he rubbed his palms together anxiously. "You think it's because of John B. that she won't come out?" He wondered.

"What else could it be?" JJ countered, frowning in confusion.

"I mean, she did technically get arrested," Pope pointed out quietly, his own inner thoughts still reeling from John B.'s hurried recount of the day's events, all the way from the chaos at Redfield Lighthouse on the far western coast to the violence of the downtown area of Kildare County. Over the span of the ten minutes it had taken to drive to The Wreck, Pope and JJ had gotten a lot more than they had asked for with their inquiring questions in regard to the ambush, each boy now a little bit more rattled by the banged-up appearances of John B. and Willa, both of them carrying fresh bruises and blood from their scrambles with the gunmen. "Even if it was only by association," Pope hurriedly added. "Well . . . I guess she did trespass, too."