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𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗬 𝗢𝗡𝗘
𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏

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・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

"Yeah, they're a bunch of fancy people. They've had, like, three governors in the family," Kiara said the next morning as they drove to Limbrey's house. Kyla and JJ were able to fall back asleep, only for them to have to wake up shortly after. "They've run Charleston for, like, 300 years."

"These Kooks make our Kooks look like Pogues," JJ added before Pope pulled up the large house.

"Let's just hope they don't act like our Kooks," Kyla said and Kiara nodded in agreement with her.

"You sure this is the place, Pope?" JJ asked as he looked out the window, towards the large house.

"Pretty sure," Pope answered in a deep voice.

"All right," JJ said before he opened the truck door, hopping out. Kyla scooted out after him, dusting her shorts down since they got crinkled up while sitting.

After they all got out, Pope held the letter up to read the address to make sure they got it correct. "'Twenty-seven King Street'," he read aloud.

Kyla looked up at the large, spiky gates in front of her, blocking the way in. They seem to have a lot of security, she thought, not knowing if that was a green or red flag.

"Talk about home security," JJ pointed out, gesturing towards the gates.

"I was thinking the same thing," Kyla muttered, tilting her head as she examined the scary looking gates.

JJ glanced over at her before he asked, "Are those spikes to keep people out?"

Kiara slightly shook her head. "No," she said.

"The slave quarters are over there," Pope said, pointing over to one side of the house. Kyla's mouth parted before Pope sighed and answered, "These spikes were to keep people in."

"Oh, my God," Kyla whispered breathlessly, definitely docking the gates to be a giant red flag now.

・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

Pope banged on the door, using the knocker that was on it, three times. "You think that was too much?" Pope questioned as he backed up from the door.

"It echoed the entire house, that's for sure. So they definitely heard it," JJ told him.

"Maybe nobody's home," Kiara said with a scared expression plastered on her face.

"Hey, you okay?" Kyla whispered to her sister and Kiara nodded before Pope started to bang on the door again, and someone opened it up.

Kyla immediately looked over, standing up straighter once she saw that a creepy looking guy answered the door. He leaned against the doorframe, looking at the teenagers with a confused expression on his face before he smiled at Pope. "You must be Pope," he said, pointing at the boy.

"Um..." Pope trailed off, glancing over at JJ before he looked back at the man. "Are you Mr. Limbrey?"

"Ms. Limbrey," the man corrected, "was expecting you yesterday."

"Oh. I'm — I'm sorry. My car broke down on the way up here—"

"Carburetor blew up in the middle of Nowheresville," JJ cut Pope off, getting to the point. "Sorry about that."

The man looked over at JJ, giving him an unamused look. "Yeah, she was, uh, real upset when you didn't show up," the man told them, looking back at Pope.

"We tried to call, but there's no number on the invitation," Kiara told the man, looking down at the letter.

"And we got here as fast as we could so..." Kyla trailed off, not seeing what the problem was since they were there now.

"She also expected you to come alone," the man said.

"I mean, these are my friends. They helped find the Royal Merchant, too. So, I—"

"And then instructions were explicit," the man cut Pope off. "Your friends can stay outside." Kyla bit the inside of her cheek, not liking how...sketchy this all sounded.

"Well, we're kind of a package deal, man," JJ started to tell the man.

"JJ," Pope said quickly, looking over at the blonde. "It's okay. I got this."

"Are you sure?" Kyla asked, not wanting him to go in there alone.

"I'll be good," Pope assured them with a nod.

"Yeah. We'll be right here," Kiara told him with a forced smile.

"Keep the car running," he told her.

"Yep." Kiara grabbed his hand, squeezing it reassuringly before Pope had to follow the man inside.

As soon as the door shut, Kyla immediately said, "I don't like this."

"Me, either," Kiara agreed before they all started to walk back to the truck to keep it running just in case they needed a quick getaway.

・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

"Look, if Limbrey is legit...then Ward gets arrested, and maybe Sarah gets the gold," Kiara said as they sat in the car before they watched the man practically push Pope to follow an older blonde lady who was probably Limbrey. "Does that look voluntary?"

"Keep walking," they heard the man say to Pope from outside.

"That would be a negative," JJ answered.

"Shit," Kyla muttered.

"Come on," Kiara said, going to get out of the car.

JJ reached over Kyla, who was sitting in the middle, and grabbed Kiara's shoulder. "Wait, hold on, hold on, hold on," he quickly said.

"What?" Kiara asked.

"They're going in the alley," JJ pointed out after they watched the three keep on walking.

"Go around back?" Kiara suggested.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll meet them on the other side," JJ said before he started the car.

"Good idea," Kyla said with a nod.

"Hey, be chill, be chill," Kiara told JJ, not wanting to make the people suspicious.

"Yeah, sure."

They started to drive around the back of the house to get to the other side of where Pope and the suspicious people were walking, but they couldn't see them anywhere. "Uh, I don't see them anymore," Kyla pointed out, getting more worried for Pope.

"Look, where did they go?" Kiara asked, narrowing her eyes as she looked out the window.

"What if they went underground? Because in C.H.U.D., people — when they took people down into the sewers, then it would turn the humans into humanoids 'cause of the radiation. And then all of a sudden they would—"

"JJ, JJ, focus. That doesn't make any sense," Kiara quickly cut him off as she continued to look out the window.

"Right. Sorry. Did you see him?" JJ questioned.

"No," Kiara answered.

"Wait, what's C.H.U.D.?" Kyla asked to distract herself, furrowing her brows as she looked over at JJ.

"You don't know what C.H.U.D. is?" he asked in disbelief and Kyla shook her head. "It's one of the best film series' of all time, I don't know how you don't know what it is. We'll have to wa—"

"Guys, focus, please! C.H.U.D., or whatever the hell it is, isn't important right now," Kiara cut JJ off before Kiara rolled the window down to see if she could try to hear anyone. Kyla looked over towards the rolled down window and started to hear muffled grunts from behind the wall that was next to the street they're on. "Wait, wait, do you hear that?" Kiara asked.

"Yeah, pull over, JJ. Pull over!" Kyla instructed and JJ quickly pulled the car over before they hopped out of it.

"We gotta hop this," JJ said before they all climbed up the wall, using all of their strength to get up it.

After they hopped the wall, they came running in to see Pope and the man wrestling on the floor to try and get a taser that was laying on the ground. JJ quickly ran over and kicked it over to Kiara, who picked it up and shouted, "Come on!"

"Pope! Pope, come on!" JJ said to the boy, but Pope got up and punched the man in the face.

"Guys, come on!" Kyla yelled, wanting to get out of there ASAP.

"Go! Just leave him! Leave him!" JJ said before Pope finally ran away from the man, running over to the wall, where they hopped back over. They quickly ran back over to the truck and JJ yelled, "Go! Go, go, go!"

"Come on, come on," Kyla urged as her sister pulled open the door, hopping inside followed by the older Carrera girl.

"Scoot over," JJ, who got in the driver's seat, told Pope.

"Ow!" Kyla shrieked as they all scooted over, making her get smushed into the door.

"Sorry!" Kiara said. "Who were those people?" she then asked loudly.

"We're getting the hell out of here!" JJ said angrily, through clenched teeth.

"That was crazy as shit. Let's get out of here now," Pope told JJ, and the blonde quickly drove the truck away from the house as fast as he could, making the tires screech.

He then whipped the car around the corner and yelled, "Here we go now!"

"Be careful, JJ!" Kyla scolded, gripping onto the side of the seat as hard as she could. JJ didn't listen as he continued to drive the car away from the house.

Kiara then looked over her shoulder to see out the back window. "I think he's following us!" she told them fearfully.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Kyla bellowed. Why were they always getting into these kinds of messes?

"This is a one-way," Pope pointed out and Kyla's eyes widened.

"Go left," Kiara told the blonde.

"This is a one-way. Go that way," Pope instructed quickly.

"Oh, I know!" JJ shouted as he kept on driving.

"This is a one-way!" Kyla, Kiara, and Pope screamed at the same time.

"They're following us!" Kiara yelled at JJ, who seemed like he was having fun. "They're following us!"

"JJ, come on!" Kyla bellowed, not having fun at all. She then looked back in front of her to see a car heading straight towards them. "Oh, my God!"

"Hey! There's another car! Turn now! Turn right! Turn right!" Pope shouted before JJ made a right turn at the last minute, making the tires screech yet again. "Jesus, look out!" Pope then yelled once he saw two people crossing the street.

"Oh, my God!" Kyla and Kiara exclaimed at the same time in shock before JJ swerved the car.

"Get out of the road!" JJ yelled back at the people, who had to dive out of the way.

"Those were people! Jesus Christ!" Pope said, his voice cracking.

"Why did we let you drive again?" Kyla questioned loudly, looking back over at the blonde with a scared look on her face.

"That was evasive driving technique right there, y'all," JJ told them as he continued to drive. "And because I got in the driver's seat first," he added, sending a wink in Kyla's direction that did not make her feel any better.

"Where we going?" Pope asked, making JJ look back forward.

"Hang on, I'm gonna lose him," JJ said before he made a sharp left turn into an alley. Kyla gasped, sucking in a breath as she held on for dear life.

"JJ!" Kiara yelled.

"Dude!" Pope shrieked at the same time.

When they turned into the alley, the engine began to hiss and the car began to smoke again. "You said he fixed the carburetor. You said he fixed it!" JJ yelled.

"No, no, no!"

"He did!" Pope and Kyla replied at the same time as the car slowed down into the alley.

"Shit! Damn it!" Kiara exclaimed angrily. "Okay, what now, Mario?" she asked while they all quickly got out of the truck.

"Number one rule. Never trust mechanics!" JJ told them as they started to get their stuff from the back of the truck. Kyla quickly grabbed the small backpack that her and sister were sharing and tossed it to her sister before the sound of a car started to pull up. "We gotta go around!

"Let's go!" Kyla yelled before they all started to run away.

"Come on!"

"Go, go, go, go, go!" JJ urged as they sprinted away as fast as they could.

Kyla looked over her shoulder to see the man getting out of the car, putting something dark, that looked a lot like a gun, in his jacket pocket as he did so. Oh, no, she thought, her speed picking up.

"Guys, I think he has a gun!" Kiara told them.

"Shit, get down!" JJ directed, making them crouch down a little as they ran just in case the guy started shooting.

"Come on, Kie!" Pope yelled.

"Go, go, go, go!" Kiara said.

"We gotta lose him!" Kyla told them, not knowing where to go since she didn't know the area at all.

"Get to the alleyway. Come on!" JJ said, pointing at it as he ran towards it.

"Let's go! Come on!" Pope yelled. "I think I'm cramping!"

"Push through it!" Kyla shouted as they ran to the alleyway, hopping over some rocks that were on the floor.

"I'm trying!" Pope told her.

"Go, go, go, go, go, go!" Kiara continued to scream.

"This way, this way, this way!" JJ said as they took a left turn, sprinting down the side of the house. "We might have to split up!" JJ yelled back to them because he was in front.

"That never works in movies!" Kyla replied from behind him, starting to get out of breath.

"I don't know where to go, okay? We gotta lose them!" JJ said before he ran into a person holding boxes, making them drop it everywhere. "Whoa!"

"Jesus! Shit! Watch out!" Kyla exclaimed in surprise before they continued on running.

"Sorry!" Kyla, Kiara, and Pope yelled back at the person at the same time.

"Sorry about that!" JJ added.

Kyla looked over her shoulder again to see the man hop over the boxes on the floor, still pursuing them. "He's coming!" Kyla told them, looking back in front of her so she didn't run into anything.

"Right here! Here, here, here!" JJ pointed out, running into a narrow alley next to a brick wall.

"Okay!" Kiara panted from behind Kyla.

"Come on, Kie!" Kyla shouted, not wanting her sister to trail behind.

"Guys, he's right there! Go, go, go!" JJ told them as they kept on sprinting like their lives depended on it.

They probably did.

"Go, go!" Pope yelled. They continued running down the narrow alley, checking behind their shoulders every five seconds to make sure the man wasn't getting too close. Even though Kyla felt like her lungs were about to explode, she kept on running, the adrenaline pushing her forward. "He's gaining! Let's go!"

"I am going, Pope! I know, I know! You guys gotta keep up!" JJ replied.

"Thanks for the encouragement, JJ!" Kyla said sarcastically before they ran out of the alleyway, stopping once they saw who was right in front of them on a motorbike.

It was John B and Sarah.

It felt like everything had gone into slow motion as they started to realize that they were all finally together again. Kyla smiled in shock, her eyes wide at the couple.

It also felt like they were all just staring at each other for hours before John B yelled, "Get in! Get in! Get in! Come on!"

"Get in!" Sarah said before Kyla and Kiara hopped onto the bike next to her.

JJ and Pope ran behind it, pushing it forward to make it move faster. "Push! Push! Push!" JJ shouted as he Pope pushed the thing.

"Pedal faster, John B!" Sarah told them and the Routledge boy started to pedal faster as he turned onto the street. "Oh, my God!" the blonde exclaimed as they were able to get away from these two random guys chasing them.

"Go, John B! Go!" JJ said.

"Oh, shit!" Pope said breathlessly as he and JJ continued to push the bike.

"Come on, Pope! Push! Come on!" JJ urged as the bike kept on getting faster and faster as they continued to push.

"Come on, come on!" Kyla yelled, looking behind them to see that the other man was running right behind them. "He's coming!"

"Pedal, bitch! He's gaining!" JJ screamed at John B.

"I'm pedaling!" John B told them, leaning forward as he pedaled as hard as he could.

"He's gaining, man!"

"Oh, my God!" Kiara shrieked.

"Come on, come o — Pope!" Kyla yelled as Pope fell onto the street, rolling over,

"Pope, get up! Let's go!" John B shouted as Pope got up and sprinted up towards the bike.

"Kie!" he said as he grabbed her hand.

"Come on!" Kiara said to him, pulling him closer towards the bike.

"Pedal, John B!" JJ ordered before he and Pope hopped onto the bike, followed by the man, making the girls scream.

"Get the fuck off!" Kyla yelled angrily, pushing his head back, with JJ's help, to make him fall off onto the ground. "Whoo-hoo!"

"See you later, alligator!" JJ said happily.

"See you later, asshole! Oh, my God!" Pope cheered.

"Let's go!" Kyla screamed, wrapping her arms around Kiara and Sarah, who were whooping excitedly.

"Blowin' you a big kiss!" JJ taunted at the man before they were able to finally get away.