Chapter Twenty-Eight

"They're a bunch of fancy people," Kie states as we drive in Charleston the minute the sun had risen. "They've had three governors in the family. They've run Charleston for, like, 300 years."

Pope had pulled outside a large three-story building where the Limbrey were. "These Kooks make our Kooks look like Pogues." JJ had said and I laughed. "You sure this is the place, Pope?"

"Pretty sure." Pope had said.

"All right." JJ had opened the door and Pope stopped the car. We all pile out of the car and walked over to the tall iron gate that was closed. "Fat City, for sure."

Pope checks the letter. "27 King Street," Pope confirmed.

"Talk about home security," I had said, crossing my arms. Spikes were lined at the top of the fence. "Are those spikes to keep people out?"

"No." Kie shakes her head.

"The slave quarters are over there." Pope pointed out. "These spikes were to keep people in." We had entered the gate and we walked over to the large door. Pope bangs a lion-shaped knocker against the door. "You think that was too much?"

"It echoed the entire house." JJ had said. "That's for sure. So, they definitely heard it."

"Maybe nobody's home," I spoke.

Pope went to knock on the door again, but it opened halfway through his knocking. A middle-aged white man stands there, looking at us. His eyes land on Pope and he grins, pointing at him.

"You must be Pope." The man points at him.

"Um..." Pope glances at JJ. "Are you Mr. Limbrey?"

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

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

"Carburetor bluew up in the middle of Nowhereville." JJ had quickly said and I smirked. The man eyes JJ. "Sorry about that."

"Yeah, she was, uh, real upset when you didn't show up." The man informed.

"We tried to call," I quickly said. "But there's no number on the invitation. We got here as fast as we could."

"She also expected you to come alone." The man eyes JJ, Kie, and I.

"I mean, these are my friends." Pope turns to us. "They helped me fine the Royal Merchant too. I—"

"The instructions were explicit." The man had snapped. "Your friends can stay outside."

"We're kind of a package deal, man." JJ had stepped in.

"JJ. It's okay." Pope told him. "I got this. I'll be good."

"Yeah." Kie nods. "We'll be right here."

"Keep the car running," Pope told Kie and she nods. Kie and Pope squeeze each other's hands.

✫✫✫

"Look, if Limbery is legit—" We were in the pick-up, JJ had his hands on the starring wheel and Kie cuts herself off as I spot Pope and a man leaving the house.  "Then Ward gets arrest, and maybe Sarah and Stormy get the gold. Does that look voluntary?"

"That would be a negative." JJ had told us as Pope who shoved forward slightly, an older white woman in crutches following them.

"Come on." Kie had said.

"Hold on, hold on," JJ had placed a hand on Kie's shoulder. "They're going into the alley,"

"Go around the back?" I suggested and JJ nods.

"Yeah." JJ had said. "We'll meet them on the other side."

"Okay," Kie agrees as JJ starts car and goes around the block. "Hey, be chill. Be chill."

"Yeah." JJ nods. "Sure."

"Look, where did they go?" Kie asked as we tried to follow Pope's movement.

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

"JJ, focus," I told him. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Right. Sorry." JJ apologised. "Did you guys see him?"

"No." Kie and I spoke in sync. Finally, we had reached the back alleyway. We exited out of the car and we run into the alley, Pope was fighting with the man, both trying to reach for a taser.

JJ kicks the taser over to me and I quickly picked it up. "Come on!" I yelled.

"Pope!" JJ had turned to Pope. Pope punches the man in the face.

"Come on!" Kie had begged.

"Go! Just leave him!" JJ had told Pope and we climbed over the wall, JJ helping me get over the wall. I jumped down on the other side and we run towards the pick-up. "Go, go, go!"

We all piled in, the four of us squishing in. "Who were those people?" Kie exclaimed.

"That was crazy," I had said.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" JJ had turned us around and drives off.

We turned onto a street. "Here we go now!" JJ had yelled.

"I think he's following us." I pointed out.

"This is a one-way," Pope told us.

"Go left," Kie had quickly told JJ.

"This is a one way!"

"They're following us!"

"Hey! There's another car! Turn now!" I had panicked as a car was coming towards us. JJ makes a turn for the right, just missing a few people. "JJ, those were people!"

"That was evasive driving technique right there, y'all." JJ had told us as we head down another street.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"We're gonna lose them," JJ had quickly said.

"JJ!" We turned another sharp corner, I was elbowing Kie and Pope was elbowing me. Smoke erupted from the pick-up and I groaned.

"You said he fixed the carburettor," JJ exclaimed as we got down another street. "You said he fixed it!"

"No, no, no!" Kie yelled panicking.

We stopped in an alley and we all got out quickly. "Okay, what now, Mario?" I asked sarcastically.

"Number one rule, never trust mechanics!" JJ had yelled. The car that was following us drives into the alley. "We gotta go around! Go, go, go!"

We all sprinted down the alley. "Guys, I think he has a gun!" Kie called.

"Shit!" I cursed.

"Get down!" JJ told us as we all ducked while running.

"I think I'm cramping!" Pope complained.

"Keep going, dude!" I yelled as we run down the street. "Our lives are at stake!"

"We might have to split up!" JJ had yelled back at us as turned sharply around another corner.

"I don't know where to go, okay?" Pope had panicked as we all tried to stick together as a group.

"We gotta lose—"

JJ collides with a mailman. "Shit!" I yelled, dodging the mail that was falling over. "Sorry!" We sprint down another alley. I turned my head for a split second, the Kook was gaining up on us fast. "He's right there, go!"

We were all yelling at each other, trying to encourage each other and trying not to lose Pope who was cramping. We come out from the alley, skidding to a halt as we were about to run into some peddy-cab.

"Watch out—" I had stopped my screaming and my mouth drops when I saw John B and Sarah on it. "Sissy!"

"Sissy!" She yelled back, just as happily as the other stares at each other in shock. 

"Get in! Get in!" John B had quickly said and we all piled in on the peddy-cab. I joined Sarah in the seat along with Kie, the three of us squishing up as Pope and JJ were pushing us and John B began peddling.

JJ and Pope climbed on either side, the five of us yelling at John B to pedal faster. Suddenly, Pope trips and falls.

"Pope!" Kie had yelled out. Pope regained his balance quickly and chased after us, grabbing onto Kie's hand and jumps up on the peddy cab. JJ hits the guy as he had tried to grab on and he falls behind.

"See you later, alligator!" John B had yelled. The six of us were cheering.

We had quickly returned to Sarah and I's boat that I recognised. "Is that our boat?" I asked Sarah who nods. I quickly hugged Sarah as we were all on the beach. I then began to cry into Sarah.

"Come on, guys! We gotta go!" JJ had called over to us. "Reunite later!" I wiped some of my tears away and all of us quickly jumped onto the boat. John B was in the driver's seat while JJ and Pope were pushing the boat to go out into the sea.

They quickly climbed in.

I hugged Sarah again and she hugs me back tightly. "I missed you so much," Sarah had told me, pulling me back and taking a long good look at me. "You look like shit."

"You look like shit." I grinned at her and she laughs.

I felt arms wrapped behind me and I looked up to see JJ. I kissed his lips and grinned, pulling away, looking out into the sea that John B rides.

While we're on the boat, we all exchange stories while we were away.

"I got shot," Sarah told us and we all gape at her.

"What?!" I yelled. "What the fuck?"

"It's a long story," Sarah grinned at me. "But, I saw heaven for the first time."

"Shut the fuck up, you did not," I told her and she nods her head. "Oh, my God! But, do tell the story,"

So, Sarah and John B took turns telling the story of what they were up to in the Bahamas. They met these people, Cleo and Terrance who helped them try and get the gold from my holiday house in the Bahamas. It had worked, but then Rafe had shot Sarah, which set them back and Cleo and Terrance ended up getting caught by the police cause my Dad had reported the Gold and Sarah as missing.

Then, we told them about our story. They listened and Sarah's mouth dropped when we exposed the news about our Dad shooting and killing Gavin.

"Oh! Kie and I almost drowned as well." I quickly added. "So, I almost saw the light, too."

"No way," Sarah had laughed. "Holy shit, and you got the gun from the drain?"

"Yep." I nodded. "And I'm like 99% sure Dad left Gavin's body in that drain because something was dead in there."

"Ew! Don't remind me." Kie shakes her head. "But, stupid Shoupe wouldn't believe us about the whole thing. We had fucking recorded—"

"But Pope broke the camera." I had interrupted

"Because JJ knocked me off." Pope had glared at JJ as we rive through the familiar marsh.

"Because Kie stepped on my foot!" JJ had pointed at Kie.

"I was in a hurry!" Kie defended, throwing her hands up in the air. Sarah laughed a little. "And so then, we called Shoupe, but he didn't believe us. Once we got the gun, he didn't believe us. So moral of the story, police are fucking useless at their jobs."

We had continued to chat and laugh, telling each other the good news. On a new day, we had gotten to a dock.

"Anyone else starving?" JJ questioned. "We need to grab some breakfast."

"We're gonna find some food," Sarah told us as JJ helped me onto the dock. We had moved our way into the forest.

"Ugh!" Kie had exclaimed as she picks up a watermelon. "Jackpot!"

Sarah, Kie, and I shared that watermelon. Sarah and I sharing a half while Kie had a whole half to herself. She did find it after all.

"Holy shit," Sarah mumbled as we leant against a log.

"Okay, so you guys really got married?" I asked Sarah.

"It wasn't exactly legal, but..." Sarah trailed off and looked at me. "Like you're the one to judge, you married JJ!"

We shared a smile. "I bet John B and JJ are happy that they're kind of legally family," Kie shrugged, eating a piece of watermelon.

"Am I crazy, or isthere definitely something going on between you and Pope?" Sarah questioned Kie.

"Maybe." Kie shrugs.

"Maybe?" I teased.

"That's not a no." Sarah shakes her head.

Kie shrugs with a grin. "It's not a no."

"Girl," Sarah states, giggling.

"All right, let's go give some of this good stuff to the bots before they startthrowing a tantrum." I had told the girls and stood up. "Trust me, I've seen JJbeen hangry before, it's not pretty,"

"You've seen a lot of JJ," Kie smirks and I glared at her.

"What?" Sarah asked and looked at me. I slowly grinned, looking at the ground. "Noway! You finally did it?"

I nodded. "They did it on the ferry, gross, by the way," Kie informed her.

"Pft, no," I lied, rolling my eyes. "Can—Can we go now?"

"I'm a proud sister." Sarah had placed a hand on her heart, looking up at thesky tearfully.

"Okay, that's weird to be proud about, sissy," I mocked her and she shoots me aglare.

"Now I understand the feeling—"

"Don't ever say that sentence again." I laughed as we made our way back to theboys. We each carry a watermelon. "Hi!" I greeted the boys. "What y'all talkingabout?"

"Uh... Fishing." John B clearly lied.

"Dropping lures." JJ backed up. "That's that, you know? Need help?"

"Hm-hm." I rolled my eyes, shaking my head, and climbed into the boat.

"What's that now?" John B asked and JJ takes the watermelon off me.

"Breakfast."

A/N

I love this chapter very much. This reunion is so cute. I love Sarah and Storm's relationship! Actually, I love all of Storm's relationships. <3 tysm for the love and support!