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𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀

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The armed men had taken Cassie, JJ, and Groff out on a boat where they steered out into the ocean. The ride had been silent and tense, the only form of communication being JJ squeezing Cassie's hand reassuringly.

Lightner had been steering the small boat they were on and Cassie had been glowering at the man the whole time. First, he tried killing them underwater. Second, he tried going after them on the pier. Third, he kidnapped Cleo and killed Terrance. And now, fourth, he had kidnapped Cassie, for the millionth time now, and the others.

She really wanted this dude to just die already.

Cassie couldn't even contact their friends to help because she and JJ both realized they had lost their phones in the midst of all the chaos that occurred yesterday. They seemed to be so busy breaking things that they didn't feel their phones fall out of their pockets apparently.

Cassie hoped that someone would find it and she'd get it back. She really didn't want to buy another phone, not when she still kept the one JJ gave her two years ago with the same blue case and the same first photo she took of the two of them.

It was too special to her.

Lightner pulled the small boat they were on up to a larger one, where one of the men had tied their boat to it so they wouldn't drift off. "Let's go. Move your ass. Come on," Lightner urged Groff onto the larger boat first.

"Get up there," a different man demanded as he grabbed onto Cassie, forcing her up roughly.

"Don't touch her," JJ voiced darkly as he was forced up himself by another man.

Cassie ripped her arm away, stepping onto the boat herself. "I know how to walk," she remarked, but that didn't stop another guy from grabbing her again. "Hey!"

"Quiet, little girl," the man said.

"Little? I'm nineteen!" She exclaimed, but the man didn't say anything back as he pushing her forward along with JJ.

They were both forced past Groff, giving him a dirty look. Even if he really was JJ's father like he said, he still had gotten them into this mess.

One of the men opened up a door to what seemed to be a room filled with pipes and wires. "Get their asses in there," Lightner instructed as the couple was pushed inside the room, falling onto the floor with grunts.

"Hey, hey, are you okay?" JJ immediately asked as he got up, helping Cassie up from the floor.

"I'm fine," she brushed off. "Are you?"

"Yeah," JJ replied before he looked at Groff being pushed inside, sucking on his teeth.

"Take this." Lightner threw Groff's suit jacket, that he had taken off whilst on the boat since it was hot, at him before he shut the door on them.

The room had immediately darkened, the only light being from the red lights scattered around the room. JJ went to the door on the other side, trying to pull it open but it wouldn't budge.

"Don't bother," Groff called out, but JJ didn't listen as he hopped below to try to find a way out, avoiding the stairs completely. "It's useless."

"Why don't you just stop talking?" Cassie snapped, allowing JJ to keep searching below. She didn't trust Groff. Not one bit. Not when he clearly lied to JJ, but about what part? She still wasn't one hundred percent sure.

Groff turned to her, his jaw clenching. "We're locked in," he told her and she released a sigh, shutting her eyes.

JJ stopped his search below, releasing an angered breath. "Okay. Can you just tell us what the hell is going on?" He demanded. "One of those guys was after the amulet. I know. So, who are they?"

Groff hesitated as he looked down at JJ, causing Cassie to pipe up, from a few feet away from Groff, "Answer the goddamn question."

Groff looked between her and JJ before he answered, "Mercenaries. From North Africa."

"Mercenaries," JJ repeated darkly.

"North Africa," Cassie added, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Fantastic. Great," JJ continued sarcastically, running a hand through his hair. "And what the hell do they want with you?"

Groff responded, "They think I stole from them."

JJ tilted his head. "And did you?"

Groff scoffed. "I was trying to help them," he said and JJ laughed ironically, turning around.

"Help them by stealing from them? Yeah, okay," Cassie commented, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at Groff.

"It was only— It was a misunderstanding. Related to your mother, actually," Groff revealed to JJ and Cassie narrowed her eyes. "It's tangentially, in a way, going back to the Genrette family about three hundred years. If you look at Blackstone and the entire heritage—"

"Okay, can you stop...Lying to me!" JJ commanded once he turned back around and waved his hand around. "Okay? You're overcooking it, man."

"Like a chicken," Cassie stated further and Groff fought off the urge to give her an annoyed look at her frustrating comments.

JJ stared down the man at the top of the stairs. "Did you know that you do a thing when you lie? You speed up."

Groff raised his chin. "Do I?"

"Yeah. You know how I know that?" JJ replied as he pointed at himself. "I do the same thing."

"It's true. He does," Cassie backed him up, knowing firsthand since she had seen JJ lie countless times now.

Groff nodded. "Huh."

"And everything you've told us is a lie. The ghost, the curse. Why did you do that?" JJ thought aloud as Groff moved to sit down on the steps. Cassie stayed standing as she leaned against the railing up top, chewing on her lip. "Because you're trying to throw us off the scent...of what you're actually after."

"You and Wes both," Groff grinned. What am I? Chopped liver? Cassie thought to herself since she was completely left out by Groff.

"Yeah." JJ turned around, letting out a long exhale as he leaned his back against the railing to the stairs.

"Hold on, though," Cassie cut in, making the two men look over at her the same time. Okay, that's freaky. "Wes said he actually saw a ghost. So how would he see one if there's no curse?"

The couple looked over at Groff, awaiting his answer. The man shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "A little...a little theater. A mannequin. White dress. Rattling the chains, that sort of thing."

So that's why I saw the random mannequin with the white dress.

Cassie scoffed quietly, not believing he would do that to his own father-in-law who actually believed the curse was real. It was sad, when she thought about it, because now he was dead. She wondered if he believed in the curse so much that he had worked himself up to the point of death.

But then she thought about what Shoupe had told her and JJ, how they thought Genrette had been murdered and the police were looking into it. She couldn't help but let her mind wander to the possibility of the murderer being Groff, even though that would be preposterous. He had no reason to kill Genrette that she knew of and he was his father-in-law.

But with either possibility, it would make him guilty for Genrette dying. Either he scared the man to death or he actually did it. Or, maybe someone entirely different had killed Genrette, like some of these mercenaries.

Unfortunately for Genrette, Cassie hoped that last option would be the case since she didn't want JJ's supposed father to be at fault for someone's death. That would make things a whole lot more complicated for JJ and he didn't need that.

JJ shrugged at Groff's detail of what he did to trick Genrette, pursing his lips. "Not bad for a Kook."

"Oh, thank you."

JJ chuckled. "I would've done the same thing. Maybe a little fog machine or somethin'," he told him as he turned back around to face him.

Groff laughed. "Fog machine..." He trailed off before he looked down at JJ, something shifting in the room.

Cassie looked between the both of them, unsure what to make of what just happened. Had they been...bonding?

"Apples and trees, I guess," JJ stated after a moment.

"Right. Apples and trees," Groff agreed, giving the blonde boy a smile.

"Yeah," JJ said before he hit his elbow on the railing, pushing away from it as he ran his hand through his hair once again.

Cassie decided to go down to him, moving towards the stairs. "Excuse me," she said to Groff passive aggressively and he moved his legs over, allowing her to go down the steps to her boyfriend who was continuously fidgeting around. "Hey, hey, hey. It's okay."

"No, it's not okay, Cass. I mean, we shouldn't be in here right now. You shouldn't be in here. I dragged you down with me. God! You should've just left when I told you to at Zeasy's," JJ ranted, shaking his head at himself.

Cassie grabbed the boy's shoulders to stop his pacing. "Jay, stop. What I meant was...It's okay because we're in here together. I'd rather be with you right now than be out there, getting worried sick about you again."

JJ sighed, looking down at the girl as his lip trembled ever so slightly. "But you're not safe. These people...I mean, they're mercenaries, Cass. They don't care when they have to kill someone."

Cassie licked her lips, knowing he had been right. But there wasn't anything they could do at this point. They just had to wait it out. "I know. But as long as we do as they say, we should be fine," she assured the boy although she wasn't sure if that was exactly true.

"She's right. We just have to listen to them," Groff piped up behind her.

Cassie looked over the shoulder at the man with her eyes narrowed since this was just supposed to be a conversation between her and her boyfriend. But she didn't say anything as she looked back at JJ, whose head was hung low.

She pursed be lips to the side. "Come here," she whispered as she pulled JJ into her, enveloping him in a hug.

He immediately melted into her touch, his hands finding her back like they usually did. With everything that had happened, he needed this. And although he wished Cassie wasn't here right now since she was in danger, he was grateful for the fact she was here to calm him down at least.

Despite the two of them flying off the handle most times, they seemed to calm each other down. They understood each other when they would blow up, which was why they knew how to comfort each other so well.

They both just hoped this wouldn't be the last time they held each other in their arms.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Back on Figure Eight, John B, Sarah, Kiara, and Emery had been walking along downtown to try to find Cassie and JJ. Kiara had Cassie's location and she had tracked it to be downtown, so they were about to see if that were true even though it didn't make sense.

Pope had been arrested for tackling an officer on duty and Cleo had gone to his hearing to support him. She told the others to keep looking for JJ and Cassie, knowing it probably wasn't a good idea for all of them to show up anyway.

As they walked downtown, they took note of the glass everywhere along with trash scattered about. Some of it had been from the couple, but some of it also been from the Pogues who had started a riot after them.

"Oof. This place is trashed," John B commented.

"Jesus," Kiara muttered before her fell down to two phones laying on the ground: Cassie and JJ's. She bent down, picking them up. "Great. They must have fallen out while they were busy destroying everything."

"Well, there goes our plan to find them," Emery sighed.

"Yeah, JJ and Cassie are long gone. We should get out of here," the Routledge boy suggested.

"And go where? They're probably already bulldozing Poguelandia," Kiara pointed out as she pocketed their phones.

"That means JJ's slashing tires and Cassie's smashing windows," John B commented.

Kiara nodded at that. "That's actually pretty likely."

"We could go back to mine, maybe?" Emery offered with a shrug, seeing as though her mother had been texting her frantically and she hadn't responded yet since she wanted find her cousin and JJ first.

"Thanks, Em," John B grinned before he looked back at Sarah, who was trailing behind a bit. "Hey. You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm, uh, I'm-I'm— I have to— You know, I'll be right back," Sarah stuttered, going over to the drug store that Cassie and JJ had destroyed the night before.

"Oh..." Emery trailed off, furrowing her brows as she watched Sarah walk away.

John B hummed before he looked over at the two girls. "Did she anything to guys? Like, if something was wrong?" He asked and the girls shook their head. "Hm."

"So...JJ's dad," Emery began to change the subject. "Cassie told me that he had left the island two years ago and now...now he's back? Saying that Poguelandia's not actually yours? How could he do that?"

"Luke has always been a dick," Kiara grumbled, shaking her head. "He's been making JJ's life a living hell ever since he was a kid."

"Yeah. When it comes to Luke and JJ, the apple does fall far from the tree. JJ...well, you know JJ. But Luke, he's...He's had drug and alcohol problems for years and he would...he would take it out on JJ," John B slowly told the girl.

Emery sucked in a breath. "Yeah, um, when Cassie was telling me about him, I kinda assumed that."

John B nodded sadly. "Yeah. I mean, that's how JJ and I got so close. He'd come by mine all the time because he never wanted to be home," he went on and the girls both gave him lopsided frowns.

"Yeah, when he helped Luke leave the island two years ago, he was so...relieved," Kiara continued on from what John B was saying. "He felt sad, but at the same time...he was happy Luke would be out of his life. Well, not anymore I guess."

"Yeah, and his dad comes back and the next thing you know, he sells the house right out from under him to the Kooks of all people. I mean, Luke makes my dad look like the father of the century. That's crazy to think about," John B shook his head.

"And he might not even be his..." Kiara trailed off, realizing what she was just about to say.

She had accidentally overheard Cassie and JJ's conversation about Luke possibly not being his father when the latter had arrived back at home. She didn't mean to hear it, but JJ had been talking pretty loud like usual.

"What?" John B said.

"Nothing," she blinked before she paused, realizing where JJ and Cassie might have gone.

Emery tilted her head. "What did you say?"

"Goat Island," Kiara randomly said and John B and Emery shared a confused look. "I think I know where JJ went."

John B scoffed, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm gonna go get Sarah," Kiara said as she walked past the both of them, heading into the drug store.

"Yeah, we'll just wait out here with the police," John B deadpanned, releasing a sigh.

"Oh, shit," Emery cursed.

John B looked down at her. "What?"

"The cops might go to my place since it used to be Cassie's," Emery realized. "I don't know if we should go there or not."

"It's fine. Kie apparently knows where Cassie and JJ, so we're probably not stopping anywhere any time soon," John B, running a hand through his hair. "God, I can't believe they actually did it."

"Did what?"

"I mean, when I found out they were together, I knew it was only bound to happen where they'd crash out together at some point. It didn't happen since we were actually all happy but now...now it finally happened," John B told her. "I would always say how Cassie and JJ reminded me of each other, but they never listened. Guess they gotta know by now."

"Right. They reminded you of each other," Emery spoke slowly, remembering what Kiara had said to her about being reminded of someone. "Do I...remind you of anyone?"

John B furrowed his brows. "Huh?"

"Like...do I remind you of anyone you know?" She clarified.

"Why are you asking?"

Emery scrambled to come up with some kind of lie that wouldn't make it sound weird. She shrugged, "It's for, like, this acting practice I do. I use other people's traits and stuff in my acting so I'm not just being myself. I was just wondering which ones I should focus on the least and it would be easier to pinpoint which ones if I saw my traits in someone else, you know?"

Hey, that was pretty good. I'm getting better at this.

"Oh. Right," John B seemed to believed it. "Well, I guess you remind me a bit of Sarah, but that makes sense since she's my girlfriend and I'm gonna always wanna relate shit back to her. But you guys are both pretty positive and kind. And I mean, you kinda remind me of her before she became a Pogue minus the Kook outlook on life. Before...all the shit went down."

Emery hummed, taking John B's words in. If she had reminded John B of Sarah, did that mean Kiara had felt the same way? Is that who she was talking about when she said Emery reminded her of someone?

"Oh, like, I-I don't mean that in-in a weird way," John B spluttered, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. "It's just, Sarah was always pretty happy before she joined us. Not that she's not happy now, but, she's been through some fucked-up shit, you know?"

"Oh, no, I know. I understood what you meant," Emery assured the boy and he smiled, giving her a nod. "You and Sarah are, like, made for each other. I wouldn't think anything different."

John B smiled a bit. "Yeah. She's the best. The best thing that's ever happened to me, actually."

Emery grinned at him. "God, I wish someone would talk about me like that. Haven't had any luck here being surrounded by Kooks."

"Yeah," John B nodded with pursed lips before he placed a friendly hand on the girl's shoulder. "But don't worry, you'll definitely find someone, Em. You're a great girl. And I bet once you make it onto the big screen, everyone will love you."

Emery smiled even more. "Thanks, John B. That's really sweet."

He shrugged, taking his hand off of her shoulder. "Only speaking the truth."

She laughed a bit before she realized the girls were still inside. "I should probably see what's taking them so long," she said, moving past him to head into the drug store.

Emery walked inside the drug store, trying to find the girls. She had heard voices coming from the back of the store and made her way over, stopping when she heard Kiara say, "You're gonna be an amazing mom."

"What?" Emery breathed out quietly, holding a hand over her mouth in shock as she stayed hidden behind the wall while she peered around the corner at the two girls.

"And John B loves you."

Sarah sniffled, rolling her eyes playfully. "Obviously."

"And he's gonna be an all right dad," Kiara joked, which made the two girls burst out laughing.

Mom? Dad? Is Sarah...pregnant?

"Whoa," the Carrera girl spoke in disbelief, still trying to wrap her head around Sarah being pregnant. The two girls then stopped laughing, getting serious once again. "And you have all of us. They say it takes a village."

Sarah nodded, her lips twitching up into a smile. "Yeah. Okay."

Kiara pulled her in for a hug. "You're gonna be okay."

"I love you," Sarah said.

"I love you, too."

"Auntie Kie," Sarah grinned.

"Whoa. Auntie Kie," Kiara gushed as the girl pulled away, chuckling. "God, Cassie's gonna flip when you decide to tell her."

"I know. She'll probably make a joke about the conch shell, but— Wait, Emery?" Sarah spotted the girl behind her and Kiara looked over, her eyes widening at the girl.

Emery pursed her lips in embarrassment as she stepped away from the wall, her hands clasped behind her back. "Uh...Hi?"

"How much did you hear?" Kiara questioned.

"Uh...All of it?" Emery repeated with winc and Kiara groaned as Sarah rubbed her face. The two girls knew that Emery was terrible at keeping secrets. "No, no, wait, I promise I'll keep it a secret if you don't wanna tell John B yet."

"I kinda don't believe that," Kiara slowly said and Sarah rubbed the back of her neck. "Do you just have a thing for eavesdropping on conversations or something or...?" She asked, referring to when she eavesdropped on her conversation with Rafe.

Emery looked down at her shoes with a slight frown before she thought about what John B had said about Emery being similar to Sarah. She had known what had happened between Cassie, Kiara, and Sarah from her cousin telling her about it so maybe Kiara had been afraid to actually befriend Emery due to that? She didn't want another person similar to Sarah abandoning her?

That's what Emery assumed, but Emery knew she wasn't like that. She didn't bail out on people once they got close to her. In fact, she welcomed it. But maybe Kiara was too scared to find that out which was why she was so mean to try to push her away first.

Emery was determined to prove her wrong.

"I'm sorry, Kie. I really didn't mean to," she apologized and Kiara hummed, crossing her arms. "But I promise...I won't tell anyone. I've gotten a lot better at keeping secrets, trust me. Like one time, I kinda caught Cassie and JJ making out while she sat on the kitchen countertop and, like, they looked pretty close to doing it if you ask me. But I swore to them I wouldn't tell any of you because they didn't want you guys to yell at them for being gross in the kitchen."

Kiara and Sarah slowly looked at one another before the latter said, "Em...You do know you just told us that secret now, right?"

Emery covered her mouth. "Oh, shit."

"I'm so done," Kiara groaned, leaning her head back.

Emery took her hands away from her mouth. "Okay, no, no, that doesn't count. I was just-just using that secret as an example, yeah. It's not a bad secret so it's not a big deal...just don't tell them I told you," she rambled before she looked directly at Sarah. "But, Sarah, I promise to keep this secret for you. I wouldn't want to ruin this for you. This is, like, a huge deal. And...congrats?"

Sarah smiled warmly at her. "Thanks, Em. I...trust you."

"You serious?" Kiara muttered.

Sarah sent her a look. "She's right. This is a much bigger deal than Cassie and JJ possibly fucking in the kitchen. Which, gross, but whatever, it's fine. She's not gonna ruin it for me and John B."

"She told her mom about the amulet," Kiara pointed out.

Emery furrowed her brows. "What? No, I didn't. Who told you that?"

Kiara blinked at her. "Oh. I just assumed you did because..." She trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Because you think I just blab my mouth?" Emery guessed and Kiara rubbed the back of her neck. "No, I didn't tell my mom about the amulet stuff. Didn't want her getting roped into it and not allowing me to help you guys. See, I can keep a major secret."

Sarah gestured over to Emery and Kiara glanced between the two girls before she huffed, "Fine, fine."

Emery beamed at Kiara's acceptance of her. Baby steps. Ha, wait , that's a good pun. "Oh, we should probably go back outside. John B's probably wondering where we're at," she said and the three girls began to make their way to the shattered door.

"Okay, but maybe, like, just in case," Sarah piped up as they walked, "Maybe I should just tell him now?" The two girls eyes widened at that. "What? Is that not a good idea?"

"No, no, it is," Kiara quickly assured her and Emery nodded quickly. "He's gonna be happy, I swear. He's probably gonna—" She stopped herself once she noticed John B and Topper talking outside. "No, no, no, no," Kiara said as she rushed outside to the boys, not wanting them to get in a fight with everything going on. Emery and Sarah shared a glance before they followed her out.

"Oh, hey, Kie. Hey, Emmy. Hey, Sarah," Topper greeted. "Looking good," he added on for Sarah's sake and Emery scrunched her nose as Sarah just shook her head.

Kiara cleared her throat as she began to push John B back. "Hey, John B, not a good time."

"'Looking good'? The lamest thing you've ever said," John B told him before he waved his hand around and flipped him off. "Bitch."

"Go," Kiara breathed out as John B turned around, walking away from the Thornton boy. The girls sent Topper a nasty look over their shoulders before Kiara turned to Sarah. "Wait, when are you gonna...?" She whispered.

"I'll just tell him later."

authors note!
kie looks so pretty in that gif i love her
i love the scene where she finds out sarah
being pregnant. they are too cute :(