CONTINUANCE - John B Routledge

013.

"𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞?" John B asked Emerson, as they pulled up to the abandoned church.

"How could I forgot this lovely place." Emerson giggled. The two used to always come to the abandoned church when they were younger, because their parents went there too. 

Emerson held John B's hand and led him towards the ladder. "I wanna go up there." she said, as she started climbing the ladder. "Ah, yes, the bell tower." John B said in an accent.

"Holy shit. We haven't been up here in so long. And look, it's still there!" Emerson excitedly said, pointing to the carved names on the wood. When they were 10, they decided to carve their names on the wood by the window.

"Look at this." John B said, opening a window from the other wall. When he opened it, it showed a beautiful sunset. "So pretty."

"Hey, are you okay after what JJ said?" John B asked. Emerson sighed and sat down. 

"If I'm going to be perfectly honest, I don't know." Emerson whispered the last part. John B sat down next to her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder to show comfort. "Don't listen to him. He's a major asshole." John B said, which made Emerson giggle and nod her head in agreement. She turned her head to face John B, and they both leaned in. 

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" John B asked. "I mean we are in a church." Emerson giggled. "But only if you're okay with it." she said and smiled, and leaned in again. 

···

"Emerson, the phone's ringing!" Kie shouted at Emerson. Emerson was still sleeping, while JJ, Kie, and Pope were figuring out how to get the gold out of the well. "Give me a sec." Emerson groaned, as she got out of bed to answer the phone. 

"Hello?" Emerson picked up the phone.

"Bubba?" the voice on the other line said.

"John B? Where are you right now?" she asked.

"Just come to Ms. Lana's house, now. Don't bring the others." John B said, and with that he hung up.

Emerson was confused, but she didn't complain. She dressed herself in one of John B's shirts, and athletic shorts. She grabbed her skateboard, and headed out the door.

"Where are you going?" JJ asked. "Somewhere, but I'll be right back." Emerson said, and skated away.

···

"Hello? John B? Ms. Lana?" Emerson knocked on the door. The door opened and revealed Ms. Lana, and John B. His hair was wet, and he looked traumatized. "Come sit down, Emery." Ms. Lana said.

"Hey, is everything okay?" she asked John B, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He didn't reply which made Emerson even more nervous then she already was. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Sit down, sweetie. I should've told you both this a long time ago." Ms. Lana said, giving Emerson a cup of tea.

Emerson sat down, and she started to pinch the bridge of her nose. She did this when she was getting extremely anxious, and she knew something serious was about to be told. 

"The night your parents disappeared, I came home early from work to find Scooter talking to Ward. Ward said it was early morning, and he and your parents were out on open water. Ward had just heard that your parents found the gold. He was excited, but then his mood immediately dropped when your parents told him that they would do 30%-30%-30%-10%, since your parents have been working on this for 20 years." Ms. Lana started.

"Ward was greedy, and he didn't like that he was only getting 10%. They got in a huge fight, and Ward ended up pushing Big John. Big John fell back, and hit his head on something, which caused his head to start bleeding. He ended up passing out. After he passed out, Michael got involved. Ward ended up stabbing Michael with a hook, straight into his chest. Elizabeth did the only thing she could think of, and that was call for help. She didn't make it though, because Ward ended up choking her to death so that she couldn't call. After that, Ward dumped all of their bodies into the water." 

"He stole your parents' map, and began looking for the gold everyday for nine months. When Agatha built up, there was only one place they hadn't looked. So Ward sent my husband out into that storm. I begged him not to go, but he said Ward was worried the storm would wash everything away. But Scooter did find something out there. Not what he expected. He found your parents' compass. Elizabeth and Michael might've been dead, but Big John wasn't dead when Ward dumped him. He made it to shore. And the last thing he ever did, was for you two. He wrote Redfield on the compass," Ms. Lana finished. 

Emerson sobbed, while John B cried softly. "I'm so sorry, you guys. But you can't say anything, he's dangerous. He's capable of anything." Ms. Lana shouted, as Emerson and John B got up to leave. 

As they were taking the road down to the Chateau, John B stopped them so that they could hug. "Ward tried to kill me on the boat today." John B whispered. Emerson let out more sobs, and she couldn't get the story out of her head. John B lightly kissed her head, as he grabbed her hand to continue walking.

···

"Speak of the devils. Hey!" JJ shouted, as he saw John B and Emerson walk up to the Chateau, hand-in-hand. They could sense something was wrong from the way the two looked. John B looked really mad, while Emerson was still crying. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot, and the Pogues knew something bad just went down.

"Okay, that's it?"

"Guys?"

"Uh, what's that all about?" the Pogues all said when John B and Emerson walked past them. As the two entered the Chateau, John B let go of Emeron's hand to start looking for something. He was in a rush, and all the other Pogues were confused. Kie went up to Emerson and tried to get her to talk about what happened, but Emerson continued to cry.

"You alright, man? What's, what's up?"

"What are you looking for?"

"John B, what do you need the gun for?"

"Talk to us!"

John B had enough and threw everyone out of the way. He walked over to Emerson, kissed her on the head, and told her he would be right back and to stay put. Emerson nodded, and John B ran outside and hopped on JJ's bike. 

"John B, chill!"

"John B, what the heck are you doing?"

Everyone chased him outside except for Emerson, who slid down the wall and hugged her knees. She heard everyone scream at John B about what happened, and all he said was 'ask Emerson.' After that, she heard the bike drive away in the distance. She really hoped John B wouldn't kill Ward though. Although Ward killed their parents, she didn't want John B to go to jail. She couldn't lose him.

···

author's note [word count: 1190]

episode 7 is down :)