𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐀𝐓 / / 𝐉𝐉 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊

CHAPTER 6

After making Pope and JJ carry John B back to the chateau, she sent Kiara home, not wanting to deal with anymore drama than she needed to tonight. Once they had tucked the bruised and battered boy into bed, they left. JJ insisted at stopping at Stella's instead of the chateau, 'just in case Rafe turns up', was his excuse. She accepted it, but they both knew they would rather be in each other's company than anyone else's right now.

The two waved goodbye to Pope at the corner of her street, before heading towards the Swayer's house. The fire pit was burnt out, the remaining embers where a welcoming glow, signalling that her brother and his friends had probably had an early night. Walking towards the door, the two teens tried to avoid crushing the empty beer cans and smashed glass beneath their feet, a challenge for sure. When they reached the safety of the decking, Stella nudged JJ for his torch. In normal circumstances she would of used her phone light, but the thing was still dead after having no power — another reason to make up with Kie. Opening the front door, she shined her torch around to check out who was laid on the pull out. Danny and Richy where fast asleep, mouths agape whilst Jez curled himself up on the beaten up sofa with a blanket throw haphazardly over him. From behind her she heard JJ stifle a laugh, so she motioned for him to go to her room, not wanting to risk waking any of the guys up. He did as he was told whilst she fetched them both two bottles of water and pocketed the rolled up $20 someone had left on the counter. Ya snooze, ya loose.

When she entered her bedroom, JJ was nowhere in sight, but the sound of water coming from the small en-suite told her he was in the shower. He had turned on her battery operated fairy lights and dumped his stuff next to her bed. With a box of long matches she lit a couple of candles around her room to add more sources of light, before sitting down on the edge of the bed to roll a joint. Planning to get changed after her own shower, last thing she wanted was sand in her bed, that wasn't a comfortable experience at all.

Once the spliff had been rolled she placed it on the bedside table before rummaging through the clothes on the floor to find a baggy top to change into. Soon realising that most of them needed a wash, her next best bet would be to see if JJ had brought any spares she could steal. She opened his backpack up, and there staring up at her, was the gun.

Stella picked the weapon up without hesitation, it didn't scare her like most kids, though she knew how dangerous they could be in the wrong hands. It would have been a lie if she'd of said she wasn't worried about JJ having a gun, though. Sure, his dad owned plenty, and JJ was often made to do target practice instead of coming to the beach with them when he was younger, so she knew he was well aware of how to use a gun and had a pretty good aim too. That's what scared her a little, the fact he was so familiar with it that he was comfortable, and that one day such familiarity might land his stupid ass in trouble.

The amount of guns that Barry had stashed around their home made it look like a collectors house, but we all know why Barry kept so many. Stella knew how to use several of them, but could she ever pull the trigger on another human being? Well, maybe the knee caps, but that was about it, and only in a dire circumstance. She contemplated who she would call if she ever needed to bury a body.

Deep in thought, she didn't notice the blonde boy in the bathroom doorway until he cleared his throat. "What are you thinking about?"

Stel looked up with a half a grin. "That Pope would be more knowledgeable and tactful, but overall JB would be the best to help dispose of a dead person."

JJ looked down with a small laugh and waited a moment. A silence hung in the air before he asked, "Are you annoyed at me like Pope and Kie?"

"No," she shook her head. "No I ain't mad. He was drowning JB, you had to do something, though maybe you could have just used your fists instead of the gun."