LVI.   something bad's about to happen to me

Pope simultaneously searched for Dylan while keeping an eye on Rafe and the truck. "I don't see her, do you?" He asked out loud.

"No, she's probably in a goddamn tree, knowing her." JJ replied.

"DJ can handle herself. Do you guys see Sarah?" John B questioned while looking for his own girlfriend.

"Nada." Pope shook his head.

Then, they watched Rafe exit his house and get into the truck, starting it up. That's when his eyes got dark. Pope felt everything in him darken at the fact that Rafe had the cross, and he was going to get away with everything. No, he wouldn't allow. "He's got my cross." He voiced.

John B made a move but JJ quickly held him back. "Not yet! Not yet!"

As Rafe backed the truck up, Pope started running.

"Pope, what are you doing?" JJ yelled at him.

"Pope!"

Sprinting, Pope reached his arms out to grab onto the back of the truck. When he was able to, he gripped onto it while his legs were still going, until he was able to catch his footing and climb on the back to hold on.

"What the hell was that?" JJ swore.

"Dylan's gonna have a cow." John B exhaled. Turing his head, he saw Rose coming out of the house with someone in her arms, and his blood went cold when he saw that it was Dylan. "Oh my god."

"What? What?" JJ quickly said, and his eyes widened when he saw his best friend knocked out. "D-DJ? Is that DJ?"

Rose managed to open the back door of the car and she put Dylan in the back. John B's heart raced like crazy. "W-Why is she passed out? What are they doing?" The thought out loud, and then he saw Rose and Wheezie carry a wobbly Sarah out of the house. "Sarah?"

"What the fuck is happening?"

"What are they doing with her?"

The mother and daughter put Sarah in the back, the two girls lying on each other, and they got in the vehicle.

"Come on!" John B urged and the two of them sprinted into the Estate. With the car moving, he and JJ started banging on the windows. "Sarah! Dylan! Wake up!"

"Stop the car!"

"Girls, get up! Sarah! Dylan!"

Their attempt was no use and Rose heightened the speed of the girl, leaving the boys in the dust with their girls in the car. John B ran his hands through his hair. "Oh, no, no, no." He panicked.

Feeling fired out, and like he couldn't kill someone, JJ turned red. "Come on!" He yelled and dashed to the Twinkie.

Dylan's head hurt terribly. It was a shooting pain that traveled all the way down her spine, and she felt tingles everywhere. It hurt to open her eyes, but when she came to, Dylan fluttered them open. At first she didn't move. She was lying down on something, and she was scared to move an inch. But then she felt something like fabric when she moved her hand, and her eyes were staring at a ceiling. That's when she shot up.

She recognized the walls that surrounded her. The smell of cologne, the same scent that scared her to be around. She recognized the bed she was on because she would run in and out of the room with Sarah. It was Rafe's room. Her heart rate spiked until it felt like exploding.

His door opened and Rafe walked in, looking at her like he wasn't surprised that she was there. "Shit, I didn't think you'd wake up yet." He said and got a panicked look on his face.

"What the fuck, Rafe?" Dylan yelled and got off his bed. When she stood, she was hit by a wave of dizziness. "W-What is this? Why did you hit me? Why's there a dead person in that truck—"

"Hey!" Rafe took a long step forward until he was in front of her, and Dylan cowered back. "Stop fucking asking questions you don't want answers to."

"I do want answers!" She yelled in his face. "Where's Sarah?"

"Dylan, shut up—"

"Sarah!" Dylan screamed and made a run to his door. "Sarah!"

Rafe chased after her and his long arms grabbed her by her waist, yanking her back. She screamed again. "Get off of me!" The scene was all too familiar. Him hurting her on the golf course, hurting Pope, Topper standing there and watching. Rafe throwing her around like she wasn't a person. She was so scared. "Let me go, Rafe. Don't touch me!"

He threw her to the ground and Dylan suddenly felt all the dirt that coated her skin and clothes that day, making her feel dirty. She began to shake. "Shut up!" Rafe screamed at her.

Rose entered the room and they looked at her. "Dylan, sweetheart, I need you to stay calm." She said to Dylan, not caring that she was on her step son's floor.

Dylan looked at confused as ever. "W-What?"

"Everything's going to be okay."

Scrambling to her feet, she looked between the two of them with fear all over her face and in her eyes. "Stay the fuck away from me!" She seethed.

That's when she saw the tray of tea cups in Rose's hands. The woman remained stone faced, an expression Dylan couldn't read, and she was very good at reading people. As Rose came closer, she backed up until her back was against Rafe's wall. "I'm so sorry, Dylan."

When she looked down at the tray, Dylan saw a syringe and needle right beside the cup full of tea. With wide eyes, she bolted around Rose and went straight for the door. But Rafe grabbed her again, keeping her away from the exit. "No, no, please! Please!" She screamed in terror. "Sarah! Sarah, help me!"

Rafe dragged her back to Rose and he was too strong for her to get away. He kept her close and his grip was so tight that Dylan was sure she'd be bruised. Rose sat the tray on Rafe's bed and she watched her take the syringe and kill it with tea. Dylan's entire body filled with fear, and the first thing she thought was that they were going to kill her. She'd be another victim of the Cameron's crimes. They'd hide her body and nobody would know. Everything she wanted to accomplish in life would be for nothing. The treasure hunt would be for nothing.

Rose turned to Dylan and the first thing she spotted in her eyes was regret, and then fear. "I'm so sorry, Dylan."

Dylan felt really sick. Not queasy sick, or the kind of sick you feel when you eat something bad. Her body was so cold, her skin clammy and full of shudders. Her head was in so much pain. Everything hurt, in fact. When Dylan opened her eyes, everything was blurry, and she groaned when an intense pain shot through the back of her head. Her hearing was muffled, but it slowly came to, and Dylan heard talking. When she moved her hand, she felt leather against her skin, and when she looked around, she realized she was in a car. "What, what, what's going on?" Her words slurred.

The door of the car open and Dylan felt someone grab her. "Hey, hey, Dylan, sweetheart. Hey." Rose Cameron's voice pierced in her ringing ears.

Remembering what happened back at the Estate, Dylan felt that rush of fear and she immersed tried to get away. "No, no, no, where am I? What did you do?" She cried.

"Dylan, honey, please." Rose said in a quiet voice and grabbed ahold of her. "I need you to cooperate." Just as she was about to scream, the woman covered her mouth. "It's all going to be okay. I just need you to relax."

Feeling a sting, Dylan winced with Rose's hand still covering her mouth. There was a pain in her arm, and then a numbing feeling. Tears filled her eyes as she stared into Rose's, who looked on the verge of tears as well.

Her eyes closed and Dylan leaned forward, her body losing control of itself and her head laid on Rose's shoulder, the woman staring out her car window with horror.

When Dylan revived, she had no idea where she was, and all she knew was what she was in a lot of pain. Her head felt like it was going to explode, and her left arm was sore. She was groggy when she awoke, her vision blurry, but she saw a bright light. Feeling scared, Dylan patted her body, and was relieved to feel her clothes still on and intact.

Opening her eyes all the way, she saw that she was in a small room on an unfamiliar bed. That's when fear spiked her blood. Dylan jumped up, feeling the pain again, and she looked around her. There was a window in the room, and she looked out of it to see the ocean. "What the fuck?" She uttered.

Her head hurt so bad. Dylan felt the back of it and winced when she felt a large knot. Her arm hurt so bad, and she shrugged off her jacket. Her left arm was bruised and there was a bandage right over her vein. Ripping it off, Dylan saw that she stuck by a needle and she was filled with dread. "What?" She said to herself, utterly confused and freaking out.

Clearly she was on a boat. Running to the door, she twisted the knob but it was locked. She banged her hand on the door. "Help me! Somebody help me, please!" She yelled out pleadingly. There was no answer. "Help me!"

She pressed her hands to the side of her head and racked her brain. Dylan squeezed her eyes shut. "What happened? What happened?" She mumbled, trying to recollect her memories, but her head was in so much pain. "HELLO? IS ANYBODY THERE?" She screamed again. "Please help me!"

She thought of Sarah and all the others, and her eyes glossed over with tears. "No, no, no. This can't be happening." She dropped to her knees and pressed her back to the bed. She thought then to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. Her cries muffled.

After what she thought to be a few minutes, the lock on the door started to jiggle and Dylan's head shot up, her wet eyes blurry so she quickly wiped them. Rafe walked into the room and she got scared again. He smiled and it shook her to the core. "Hi, DJ."

"What the fuck is going on? Why am I here?" She raised her voice.

"Shhh! Don't yell!" He ordered and closed the door. She got even more scared. His tall frame stood over her and Dylan cowered. "You did this to yourself, Dyl."

"This is all your fault. You and your treasure obsessed murdering family!" She seethed.

Rafe dropped to his knees in front of her so fast that she almost screamed again. "Hey!" He fumed and pointed at her, the evil look on his face bone chilling. "This, this is not on me. You should've known not to go all detective, Dylan. But you couldn't resist, huh? You and your little group of Pogues just had to keep interfering. Well, that's on you." As he talked, he got closer to her.

Dylan started shaking. "Y-You hit me, and I-I woke up your room." She felt as if the air left her lungs and she was gasping for it back. "Rose, she—she injected me with something."

Rafe laughed, and it was a terrifying sound.

"Why am I here, Rafe?" She yelled in his face, chasing him to back up.

"Well, it seemed like we didn't have very many options, DJ." He told her, almost sarcastically. "I couldn't leave you bleeding in our driveway cause then someone might come by and get suspicious. And I couldn't let you just go cause I knew you or your little friends would go to the police, so, this was the only good option."

"Kidnapping me?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Rafe clicked his tongue. "It sounds terrible when you say it." Finally, he stood and cracked his knuckles. "Don't worry, DJ. You'll be free soon enough."

His words caused the color to drain from her face. "What does that mean?" He ignored her and turned around to walk out of the room. "Rafe, what does that mean?" Scrambling to her feet, Dylan ran to the door just as he shut it and she grabbed the lock, trying to jerk it open. "RAFE! RAFE, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!" She screamed. Dylan banged on the door. "Let me out! Somebody help me!"

The longer the minutes passed by, long excruciating minutes, it even felt like hours — Dylan was getting more and more scared. She decided by now that they were going to kill her. They were going to take the cross to some Island, force Sarah to live there, and they were going to kill her and throw her body in the ocean. The place she loved most is where she'd lay to rest. She didn't know how long it had been since she was trapped inside the room but the fear and anxiety took over her brain.

She was worried about Sarah. She was somewhere on the boat with her murderous family, and Dylan wondered if she was thinking about her. If she was looking for her. In that moment, she was awaiting death, and there was nothing she could do about it.

She needed to think like a detective. Like somebody in a life or death situation. Sucking up her tears, Dylan stood from the floor and looked around the room for something sharp, or something she could use to pick the lock on the door.

Then, she heard someone yelling. The sound of struggling. With her heart racing, Dylan ran to the door. "Someone help me, please! Get me out of here!" She yelled and beat on the door.

"Dylan! Dylan!" It was Sarah. Her voice caused her to have an adrenaline rush, and evening rushed to her head.

"SARAH!" Dylan screamed and continued banging on the door. "Sarah, help me, please!"

"Dylan, I'm here! I'm here!" Sarah yelled and hit her fist against the door on the outside. "Dylan—No, her off me!"

Hearing her yell at someone, Dylan's breathing got deeper and harder. "Sarah, what's happening?" She yelled again.

"Get off of me! Dylan, I'm going to get you out! I promise!" Sarah continued to hit the door. "Let go of me! Let me go!"

"Sarah! Sarah!" Dylan shouted and hit the door. She heard Sarah continue to struggle and the banging stopped. "No, no, no, please, Sarah! Let me out!" She cried out.

With crazy adrenaline, Dylan continued to search for a pick. Her hands were shaking out of control. She looked through drawers, sifted through papers, until she found a drawer with pencils and pens, erasers and paper clips. Bingo. She reached inside the drawer and took out multiple paper clips. "Yes. Yes!" She shakily said used her shakily fingers to unfold them into a straight pin.

As she did it, she was sweating bullets. Knowing that Sarah was okay and worried about her gave her more motivation. Now she needed to find her friends, who, knowing all of them, most likely found some way to sneak on the ship. They were Pogues for a reason.

When Dylan was able to unfold all of the paper clips, she grabbed them and ran to the door. Dropping to her knees, she grabbed one of them and stuck the end into the lock. Dylan held her breath. When the first paper clip meant, she cursed and dropped it to the floor. She picked up another one and did the same thing, jiggling it in the lock until she was able to open it. "Come on. Come on." She said to herself.

Holding her breath again, she continued with the lock until the door unlocked. "Yes! Thank you documentaries!" She praised and stood to her feet. Dylan carefully opened the door and peaked her head out. Before she could step out, the intercom came on. "Attention all passengers and crew. Report to the tween forward hull. Attention, all passengers, all crew, report to the tween forward hull. That's an order." The captain announced.

She heard the nerves in his voice. Dylan smiled when she knew. "Nice job, guys." She said to herself. Sje closed the door slightly and listened to all the passengers noisily walk down the pathway to the direction of the hull. When there was no more noise, Dylan opened the door and peaked her head out again. There was nobody.

She sprinted out of the room. "Sarah!" She yelled the girl's name. She felt off balance as the ship moved on the water, but she kept her composure. "Sarah!" She yelled again and turned a corner. She heard no response, and her heart beaten quickened and quickened. "Anyone!"

"Sarah!"

Hearing John B's voice, Dylan's eyes went wide. "John B!" She shouted his name and kept on running. "John B, where are you?"

"Dylan? Dylan, is that you?"

"John B!"

"DJ!"

When Dylan turned another corner, she saw John B at the end of the walkway, and her first instinct was to laugh. The next was to cry. When their eyes met, John B's jaw dropped. "DJ." He uttered and came running to her.

A cry escaped her lips and Dylan met him in the middle. She crashed into him and he lifted her off the ground. "I knew you would be here." She cried.

"You're okay. You're okay." He repeated over and over again. John B sat her down and took her face into his hands. "Oh my god, you're okay. I was worried sick." He quickly kissed her on the forehead. "Dylan, I-I thought they—"

"They were going to," she confirmed what he was going to say. Dylan gripped his arms. "JB, we have to find Sarah. She's here, but I don't know where."

John B nodded. "Okay, okay. Listen, everyone else is here. They're getting the cross." He told her, and he watched her start to smile. "I'm going to go find Sarah and you're gonna go find them."

The thought of splitting up again and terrifying for her. "I-I-I don't want you going alone—"

His hands tightened on her face. "Dylan, it's gonna be okay. It'll all be okay. Just go. Go find Pope. He's literally going insane."

She managed to smile at that but it was very shaky. "Okay. Okay. Go find Sarah."

The best friends squeezed each other again before taking off. Dylan stumbled side to side as the ship moved on the water, and she pressed her hands to the walls while her breath quickened with each step she took. "Pope!" She shouted his name and turned a corner. "JJ! Kiara!"

When she got to the outside, Dylan wiped her hair out of her face and looked around, seeing nobody on the top deck. "Pope, where are you?" She yelled louder. "Guys!"

"Dylan?"

"DJ, is that you?"

She heard two voices and looked all around her. "JJ? Kiara?"

"Dylan, we're over here!" She heard Kiara shout.

"Well, down here!"

Dylan saw the lower deck door open and she immediately sprinted over. When she looked down below, she saw JJ and Kiara standing around the cross. "Guys!" She expressed with a large smile.

"DJ!" JJ yelled, equally as bright.

"Thank god you're out!" Kiara yelled, relieved to see her.

"Where's Pope?"

"He's up in the crane!"

Dylan turned her head, the wind causing her hair to fly in her face, and she saw Pope climb into the seat on the crane. Feeling a heavy weight lift off her heart, she broke into a smile. "POPE!"

Hearing her voice, Pope saw her and his jaw dropped. "D?" He almost thought he was dreaming, and he blinked, but she was still standing there smiling at him. He never thought he'd see that smile again. "Oh, my god, Dylan!"

"I'm right here, baby! We gotta get her up first!" Dylan yelled back.

"Lift 'er up, Pope!" She heard JJ yell for him.

Pope started the crane and he lifted the cross a little too fast. "Slow. Slowly!" Kiara yelled as he began to lift the top part.

"You got this baby. Nice and slow!" Dylan encouraged and her sweaty hands began to shake with nerves.

"Bring her in to the middle!"

"Okay. That's good."

"Wait, no that's—"

Pope jerked to the far to the right and JJ went flying. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!"

"Pope, that's too far!" "Too far! It's too far! Pope!" Both of the girls shouted together.

The cross slammed into the buckets, knocking term all to the floor. "P, too far! Too far!" Dylan yelled again and her voice cracked.

"Your other middle!"

Pope started the crane again and he whirled the cross to the middle. "Good job, baby!"

"Hey! Send it up, Pope, you got it!" Dylan heard a female voice yell and turned around to see a girl running their way. She furrowed her brows.

"Did John B get the lifeboat?" Pope asked her, clearly knowing her.

"I don't see him."

"Where's Sarah?"

"Who are you?" Dylan asked the girl, completely out of the loop.

The girl looked at her. "I'm Cleo. I'm guessing your, uh, DJ?" She asked loudly over the wind.

"Y-Yeah. Yeah. I'm Dylan. DJ. Hi." She stammered awkwardly.

"Well do introductions later. Pope, hurry up!" Kiara shouted from down below.

"Right!"

"Hurry!" Cleo yelled.

Pope directed the cross to the middle and began lifting her with ease. The gold shined against the setting sun and Dylan's smile reached to her ears. "Hi, beautiful."

"Wow. Send it this way!"

Pope directed her to the other direction. "Move it more, P. Over the water!" Dylan directed.

"I'm moving it!"

"Come on. To the right more! All right!" Cleo demanded in the same tone of voice.

"Come on, sweetheart. You got this!"

Pope moved the cross more to the right as instructed. "It's not your crane, bro!" He heard a voice and then gunfire. "Oh, shit!" He cursed aloud and moved as more gunfire was shot up the crane.

"Pope!" Dylan screamed in fear. "Pope, get out of there!"

"Hey, get down! Get out of there!" Cleo shouted. "Dylan, come help me!"

She turned around and saw her holding onto the rope. Immediately, Dylan went and tugged on the rope to keep the cross steady as she began to freak out. "P, get out of there!" She yelled again and winced when she felt the rope burn her hands.

"Drop the line!" Pope yelled at them.

"What?" "Why?" They both yelled back.

"We're pinched. Just do it!"

"Pope, we can't!" Dylan yelled that time, and the thought made her sick. They'd been through so much to get the cross and now they finally had her, just to let her go again.

"Trust me, DJ. Just drop it!"

Cleo turned her head to look at her. "Are we doing this?" She asked.

Dylan and Pope caught eyes, and he nodded at her. She felt her heart pinch in her chest, but ultimately, she knew they had no choice. "Yes." She answered.

Together, they let go of the rope and Dylan clutched her burning hands. She watched Rafe appear and he sprinted to catch the rope. Then, Pope released the cross and it dragged Rafe to the edge of the deck as he kept a tight hold of the cross. Dylan immediately knew his thinking. If they couldn't have her, nobody could.

"Pope, come on!" She yelled for him and he finally came down from the crane. "We gotta go!"

"Let's get out of here!" Cleo shouted and the three of them took off running.

Holding her breath, Dylan ran as fast as she could until there was nowhere to run. She braced herself as she jumped off the ship and landed in the water.

One more chapter until the end of season 2 🤭