lost at sea - act one 

season one; episode six (part two) 

The uneven gravel road made the Twinkie bounce slightly as the group made their way through the maze that the map was leading them; the road was lined with thick woods and looked like something out of an early eighties horror movie. "Is this drive giving anyone else Final Destination vibes, or just me?" JJ asked and Julianna turned to look at her boyfriend with a smirk playing on her face, "I think that's only you, bub."

JJ rolled his eyes as he hooked his arm around Julianna's shoulders and pulled her into his chest, not having to worry about keeping any sort of public displays of affection for their eyes only now. "You want some weed?" He asked in a whisper and Julianna quickly turned to look at the boy with a furrowed brow, "Did you seriously bring a joint with you?" She asked, knowing the answer, and not being a tiny bit surprised by it as he nodded.

"It's five o'clock somewhere..." He said with a smirk on his face and the girl just playfully rolled her eyes, "I think the five o'clock somewhere rule only applies for day drinking, but good try."

The Maybank boy shrugged his shoulders, pressing a sloppy kiss onto the Routledge girl's temple, "Suit yourself!" He cheered and as he started to reach into his pocket with his free arm Pope turned around from his spot in the passenger seat up front and shot a dagger like stare at the blonde.

"What?" JJ asked defensively and Pope just shook his head, "Don't you dare light that joint."

"How did you know I had a joint?" JJ questioned and Pope just looked at him, "I watched you roll it this morning dumb ass. Now don't even try." He said, sounding like an assertive authority figure and JJ just nodded, lifting his hand up in surrender and bringing it back to join his other that held Julianna. "Fine I'll keep the signal clear or whatever..."

Pope nodded, a satisfied grin filling his face as he focused back on the map he held. "Okay, so the road should split up here." He explained and John B nodded, "Okay."

"All right. You're gonna take a left." Pope ordered as they approached the split in the road and the tires of the Twinkie screeched as John B took the hard left turn, causing dust to kick up all around the old VW bus and fill the air outside of the vehicle. "That looks like a stone wall to me." JJ said as he peeked out of the side window as John B brought the group's trusty vehicle to a halt. "This is it."

As John B put the van in park a cacophony of metal creaking filled the air as the doors of the Twinkie were opening. "Not the Crain house." John B said in a discouraged tone as they all made their way towards the stone wall that was covered in all sorts of ivy and yard overgrowth.

"Are you kidding me?" Kiara asked as she stood in front of the wall, disbelief painting her face as the sound of all the doors of the Twinkie rang out again as they closed. "J, I take it back... I agree with the whole Final Destination comparison now!" Julianna explained as she interlocked her fingers with his and JJ looked down at her, "You see! This is our worst-case scenario."

Pope sighed. "Why'd it have to be here... of all places?"

"Because it's looking more and more like the universe hates us, Pope..." Julianna said, a chuckle escaping her lips as she stared up at the faded green house with a flaking red roof and a rooster wind turbine acting as a finial d'arbre for the house. "I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property."

Julianna smacked her boyfriend's broad and muscular shoulder. "Knock it off!" She squealed and the Maybank boy just shrugged, turning to look at his girlfriend with an enthused smirk, "What? I'm just saying what I know!"

Kiara turned to look at the couple and just shook her head. "You know what? Why don't we keep our inner thoughts inside..." She explained and JJ shrugged, "You guys just don't want to hear the real truth."

—

The group traipsed through the greenery that filled the property, feeling as if they were exploring the Amazon rainforest. "Look, you guys know whose house this is, right?" Julianna asked as she and Kiara let the surge through the yard, "Oh, yeah. No, I do." JJ said, raising his hand slightly, agreeing with his girlfriend and a scoff could be heard escaping Julianna's twin's lips.

"Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place." John B explained and everyone turned to look at him with furrowed brows, "Are you serious right now?" Kiara asked and Pope looked at the Routledge boy and pressed a finger to his lip as he did so, signaling that John B should stop talking. "Shh." Pope warned and John B shrugged, "What?"

JJ made his way in between the two girls who led the charge. "Okay so which stories did you two hear?" He asked and Kiara shrugged, "The one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since." She said as the group of five made their way through a grouping of trees.

"On certain nights, when the moon is full... you can see her in the window!" Kiara said in a whisper as she wiggled her fingers in front of the blonde's face which made Julianna burst out into laughter as she watched JJ's facial expression change, "No, Kie, Jules, this isn't funny, 'cause it's all true."

Julianna just shook her head in disbelief as she just let giggles flood from her lips while JJ turned to look at Pope and John B who brought up the rear. "I swear to God, guys, this is all real. I knew Hollis." He explained and his girlfriend turned to look at him, "Wait, what?"

A sense of jealousy laced her voice, knowing the stories of the notorious blonde. "You knew Hollis Crain?" She asked and JJ nodded, "Yeah, babe."

"Dude, how do you know Hollis Crain?" Pope asked and JJ shrugged, "She was my babysitter, man."

Julianna looked at the blonde with wide eyes. "Hollis was your babysitter? How did I not know that?" She asked and JJ looked at his girlfriend with a pressed lipped smile, "You didn't ask..."

"Oh yeah... silly me, I should've asked about your babysitter..." She said and JJ nodded, before he started in on the topic at hand. "Anyway... She told me all about it.Told me the truth... about her mother and what happened in this house." He said in an ominous voice and everyone's eyes slowly made their way towards the house.

JJ sighed. "As a kid, she heard all the stories that her mother killed her father, and... she was a murderer and all. Hollis didn't believe it. Until that night." He said and Julianna looked at her boyfriend with a confused glance, "What night?"

"It all came back to her." JJ said as he turned to look at the walkway that they had just come down, "When Hollis was six years old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs. So she goes downstairs to see her mom washing her hands in a sink... full of blood."

Shivers made their way down Julianna's spine while she watched as her boyfriend took steps towards her brother. "Her mother just says that she cut her finger." He explained and everyone's eyes were wide as they listened, "The next morning, she says her father and her split up. But then, Hollis noticed something; her mother was going into the parlor constantly, in and out and in and out with plastic bags."

"Gross..." Kiara said in a whisper as JJ continued, "Weeks pass, and Hollis decides to use the outhouse. And as she's using it, she looks down, and there, in the outhouse, is her father's head, looking straight back at her." He said getting right up in John B's face and the Routledge boy scoffed as he let his head fall back slightly for a moment. "God, you are so full of shit."

JJ shook his head. "Dude, I swear to God, man."

"Did she call the police?" Pope asked, joining the duo, as John B squeezed his way past the two of them. JJ shook his head as he looked at Pope, "She didn't have time."

Pope sighed, "I don't want to do this..." His voice was filled with hesitation as he spoke and deep down Julianna agreed with him, the more and more JJ spoke on the subject the less and less Julianna wanted to take this next step. Without hesitation John B took a deep breath and started towards the house which caused both the Heyward and Maybank boys to rush after him.

"Wait! Dude!" JJ fussed and John B turned to look at him with wide eyes, "What?"

JJ sighed. "You sure you wanna do this? She's an axe murderer. You got a cast on."

"I don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay?" He exclaimed, letting his eyes shoot back and forth between JJ and Julianna, knowing that the two were like his devil and angel on either shoulder. "I got nothin' to lose, right?" He asked and that comment felt like a dagger going into her chest.

"So are you guys comin' or what?" He asked and Julianna sighed, "I guess we're coming."

She followed after her brother and Kiara joined in, turning to look at Pope and JJ, "Come on kiddos."

All five walked crouched down in a line to be as stealthy as humanly possible. "Hey, come here!" John B shouted in a whisper, calling the group to form a tight circle, which they did in an instant. "So here's the plan. We need to look for the wheat near the water like it said in Denmark's letter."

"Okay, like, what kind of water?" Pope asked, "Like, pond water?"

A chuckle escaped JJ's lips and Julianna knew exactly where his brain went before he even opened his mouth. "Bong water?" He suggested and the Routledge girl smacked him again, "Not the time..."

"Noted..." JJ said with a nod as John B's voice filled the air again, "No. It... it just said 'look for water', okay?" He fussed and Kiara scoffed. "That's the shittiest secret message ever."

John B followed after the Carerra girl as she started towards the house with a less than enthused expression on his face. "You wanna complain a little more, Kie?" He asked, "Nobody said it was gonna be easy." The two continued walking, leaving Pope, JJ, and Julianna to make up their minds about where they wanted to search.

"Where do you want us, Pope?" Julianna asked, grabbing hold of JJ's hand again, and the Heyward boy took a moment to come up with a game plan before looking back at the couple. "I'll search the northeast quadrant, you two search the northwest." He said as he started to walk in the direction opposite of the young couple and JJ scoffed, "The decapitation quadrant?!"

His voice was raised and weary, sounding as if they northwest quadrant scared him more than anything else in life did, and Julianna just squeezed his hand. "Don't worry, we're going together, which only gives you a fifty percent chance of getting your head cut off."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better, babe?" He asked as Julianna began to pull him in the direction that Pope had told them to go and the girl shrugged, "yeah, now come on, we have a decapitation quadrant to investigate..." a giggle lacing her voice as she pulled the blonde along. "You are so not funny!"

After about five minutes of searching the group was called back by John B's quiet voice. "Hey, psst! Hey, come on. It's the only place we haven't looked." He explained, standing in front of a small part of the lower half of the house and once everyone gathered around chills washed over them. "Johnny, you can't be serious..." Julianna said and John B just looked at his sister, "We need to at least try."

"Here we go..." Pope said as the Routledge boy pushed open the small door leading to the basement that belonged to the Crain home. A sigh escaped Julianna's lips as she walked between Pope and JJ near the back on the line. "Down came Mrs. Crain and cut off all our heads... Up came the sun and dried up all the blood..." JJ sang in the melody of The Itsy Bitsy Spider and both the Routledge girl and Heyward boy turned on their heels and looked at the blonde with furrowed brows.

"Can you please stop?" Julianna asked in the sweetest tone possible without losing her mind completely and JJ nodded, pretending to zip his lips and throw away the key. Their surrounding creaked as the old house settled above them and Pope, JJ, and Julianna made their way over to where John B and Kiara were standing, letting their eyes scan their surroundings. "Do you see any water?" The Carerra girl asked in a snarky tone and Julianna felt her body grow rigid.

All they saw in that basement was evidence of past lives lived and dust-covered stories locked down here away from the family that held them. Julianna's heart ached as she took into account all the discarded toys and baby items that filled the space, seeing that despite the stories that haunt the house brought on by the island Mrs. Crain had a family; she had a life that she cherished with her husband and her daughter and all that was now overshadowed and has been for decades.

"Another dead end?" Julianna asked in a saddened voice as she and JJ made their ways further into the basement, following after her brother and Kiara, with Pope following close behind her.

The sound of a calloused hand running over rusted metal filled the air as JJ let his hand run over the pipes that were overhead. "There's not even water on the pipes." He said and a sigh escaped Pope's lips as he took in the room, "There's no water here."

"Not a dropamino." Julianna said with a sigh, feeling her heart grow more and more discouraged as the group stood in the eerie basement. The silence didn't last long because within seconds Kiara's nagging voice filled the air, "Know why we didn't find it? Bad karma."

Julianna watched as her brother rolled his eyes, coming face to face with Kiara who turned to look at him. "Oh, God. Here we go." He groaned but his dissatisfaction only made Kiara's pettiness grow stronger, "You know, we had a good thing going. And then you decide to rope in Barbie, and now the trail's gone dry. Coincidence? Probably not."

"Kiara, please for the love of God knock it off! We got over this whole Sarah issue earlier!" Julianna begged but her pleas went unlistened to as her brother's voice filled the air again, "You see! This is exactly why I didn't wanna tell you about Sarah."

A scoff escaped Kiara's lips as she stepped closer to John B, neither one backing down from the situation which left the rest of the group on edge. "Yeah?" Kiara asked and John B nodded, "Yeah. What the hell's the deal with you two?"

"Nothing." Kiara said with a shrug of her shoulders but John B didn't take that answer, he kept digging. "Nothing? Is it because I kissed you? Is that the problem?" John B asked in a snide tone and without any hesitation or warning Kiara brought her hand up and with a force that no one knew she had, smacked John B across the face, making his whole head turn.

Gasps escaped the three who were watching lips as they stared with dropped jaws. "Oh!" Pope exclaimed in unison with JJ who added a little more spice to his exclamation, while Julianna just stared in disbelief- a nervous chuckle escaping her lips- "That literally echoed off these walls."

"Stop treating me like I'm some girl that's obsessed with you instead of your best friend who's actually trying to look out for you." Kiara said in a very level-headed and stern voice which left the entire group speechless as they watched John B bring his head back to it's regular position, staring at the black-haired girl. "Did you, uh... hit me?"

Kiara nodded, bringing her hand up to show that there was a squished flying insect in the palm of her hand. "Skeeter." She said with a shrug of her shoulders and John B just scoffed, "Skeeter?"

"Yeah, you see it?" Kiara asked and John B flashed her a small snarky smirk, "Yeah."

Without hesitating or missing a beat, John B brought his non-casted hand up and made a connection with her cheek, with the same amount of force as she used. "Johnny what the fuck!!" Julianna fussed, the two had always been raised to never lay a hand on a woman, no matter the consequences, so having just seen her brother slap one of their best friends Julianna was beyond livid.

As she took a step towards her brother fully intending on slapping him across the face himself, JJ took it into his own hands to wrap one arm around her waist and pulled her backward. "Oh, hey!" Pope exclaimed and once Julianna was by his side JJ finally weighed in, "Yeah... okay, no... we're not gonna do that."

"Where's your proof?" Kiara asked smugly and John B held up his hand that also had a squished mosquito pressed into his skin, "Skeeter."

The three outsiders watched as what started off as a rage-filled exchange turned into an interaction that exuded childish energy, as if the two were transported back to when they were in elementary school. "Yeah? There was probably one right there." Kiara said, a smirk filling her face, as she smacked John B's shoulder.

"Well, there's one right there." John B said playfully, shoving the girl slightly as they made their way deeper into the basement. "Really? You saw that?" Kiara asked and the Routledge boy nodded, "Yeah there was one on your forehead."

Julianna looked at Pope and JJ with confusion plastered all over her face. "What the hell is going on?" She asked in a whisper and both boys just shrugged their shoulders, "I don't know but it's kind of fun to watch." JJ encouraged, as John B and Kiara continued to pick on each other.

"You're dead. That's it. Today's the day that you die." She said with a chuckle as she rammed both of her hands into the Routledge boy's chest and as John B clenched onto his chest muttering something about her hitting his nipples a wave of mosquitos swarmed the group, finally going after Pope, JJ, and Julianna.

Julianna gasped as she felt a burning sensation on her shoulder. "Shit! Ow!" She said, smacking a mosquito on her shoulder, "Jesus that hurt."

"Today's your funeral." Kiara squealed as she pointed at the Routledge boy and John B just smirked at her as he kept getting closer to her. "One bandito. You see this?" Kiara said as Pope began swatting at his legs, "These things are a freakin' swarm!"

JJ pressed his finger into his lips. "Hey, sh! Keep it down!" He fussed but Kiara and John B were stuck in their own little world as if nothing had happened, "You know how this ends."

Julianna noticed that Pope had stopped in the middle of the room in a some how bare spot with a look of puzzlement on his face. "You good, buddy?" The Routledge girl asked in a hesitation-filled voice, closing the space between the two of them and he turned to look at her, "Why are there so many mosquitoes in a basement?"

A hum escaped her lips as she nodded. "Yeah, isn't it a little weird?" She asked and JJ nodded, "I know, seriously. Tiny vampire bats, just leave me alone."

As mosquitoes continued to go after her boyfriend, Julianna watched as the gears began to turn within Pope's head, taking a step towards the pallet-like piece of wood that was placed in the middle of the section they were standing on. "What do you got, buddy?" She asked but Pope didn't say anything, he just continued to silently investigate.

"Oh, my gosh! Okay, can we leave? 'Cause I'm already itchin' to leave." JJ said in a serious tone before noticing the irony of the words he had just used, taking a moment to let a chuckle escape his lips, "Hah? Punny."

As John B, Kiara, and JJ investigated their surroundings and tried to find something of value but instead fell into their own little world Julianna watched Pope with a furrowed brow. JJ's voice filled the back burner of Julianna's head as he begged for them to leave while she watched Pope pick up a small pebble and drop it through one of the cracks in the wood."Pope..." She says in a low tone and the Heyward boy's eyes shoot up to look at the group with an excited expression plastered on his face like he had just broke the case.

"Hey, guys..." He said in a whisper more so himself than outwards to the group as he started to move the small pieces of wood off of the covering he was standing on which caused a symphony of small noises to echo off the walls of the basement, bringing the group's attention back to him. "Hey, Pope! What are you doing man?" JJ asked, stepping on the piece of wood with him and Pope looked at him with wide eyes, "Help me move this."

JJ looked at the boy with furrowed brows. "What?" He asked and Pope repeated the request, "Help me move this."

Everyone got to work, helping clear the small pieces of wood and debris off the top of the wooden cover and once it was all clear each person either got on a corner or a side. "Guys! Guys!" Julianna fussed as she grabbed ahold of the side of the cover and JJ nodded, "Guys. I know. Yeah. Yeah. Sh, sh." He said, joining his girlfriend in the effort to lift the piece of wood.

"She's probably right upstairs." Kiara said with struggle lacing her voice as they took the cover off to reveal a dark well that led to the abyss of the land underneath the house that belonged to the island. "Well, well, well." JJ said with a smirk filling his face as all five flashlights shined into the man-made product they hovered over and Julianna couldn't help but smile as she turned to look at her boyfriend, "That was a good dad joke, babe."

All five teenagers squatted down next to the open hole in the ground and stared down into it in disbelief. "I can't believe they built this part of the house right over it." Kiara said and right on queue JJ came in and made a comment that only he would make, "This is where she hid the bodies."

"Oh, dude, come on. Stop." Pope said looking over at the blonde and JJ just shrugged, "No, I'm dead serious." He said and Julianna just shook her head. "This is not the time for jokes babe..." She said but no one could stop the JJ train of thought from plowing into this specific station, "It was never an outhouse." He said with a shake of his head.

Kiara smacked his shoulder. "She probably doesn't even know it's here, asshole!"

The group fell silent for a moment, trying to come up with what this meant for them, and after a minute Pope let out a sigh as he turned his head slightly so he was looking at John B with a playful smile filling his face. "So... we found water." He said and John B chuckled as he nodded, "We're gonna need a really big rope."

A nervous chuckle escaped Julianna's lips as she shone her flashlight down into the abyss. "I can't believe this is happening..." She said and she turned to look at her brother, "We found it."

"We found it, bug..." He said with a small smile and for a split second Julianna saw the face of her father in her twin brother, a piece of him that will never get old, the child-like wonder their father held for this part of his life fully encapsulated by his son. "Hell yeah..." He said in a whisper as he stared back down into the well.

𖤓𖤓𖤓

The sound of an acoustic guitar strumming filled Julianna's bedroom in the Chateau as JJ sat on her bed with his back rested against the wall and the girl of his dreams watching him play with total adoration in her eyes. The group had returned from their excursion at the Crain house and all dispersed into their own groups; John B ran off to do God knows what, Pope decided he needed to actually work on his essay for the Merit Scholarship, Kiara was sitting in the sun room plucking on the chords of her ukulele as the sound of Bob Marley and the Wailers played through the old radio that Julianna had found at a thrift store a couple months back, and JJ and Julianna found solace in her bedroom.

As the girl stared at the blonde her mind was filled with a sense of tenderness knowing that she was dating the man of her dreams. Julianna watched his calloused fingers pluck away at the strings of his guitar a small hum filled the air. "What are you playing?" She asked sweetly, rolling onto her stomach and propping herself up on her elbows and JJ looked at her with a small smile as he began playing the start of Steal My Girl by One Direction which was one of the Routledge girl's favorite songs.

"Wait!" Julianna squealed excitedly as JJ began to sing.

"She been my queen since we were sixteen We want the same things, we dream the same dreams Alright, alright..." He began to sing in a soft-toned voice and Julianna felt her cheeks grow warm as a small smile began to fill her face. "I got it all 'cause she is the one, her mom calls me "Love," her dad calls me "Son" Alright, alright" He continued to sing and as he did so Julianna couldn't stop herself from mouthing the lyrics.

JJ takes a second to just strum the same melody before jumping into the chorus effortlessly. "Everybody wanna steal my girl, everybody wanna take her heart away. Couple billion in the whole wide world, find another one 'cause she belongs to me..." He sang, looking up from the guitar that couldn't be more than fifteen years old, and smiled right at the brunette who was laying there watching in awe of what JJ was doing.

"She knows, she knows that I never let her down before. Oh, she knows, she knows that I'm never gonna let another take her love from me now..." He sang softly, letting his tongue brush over his chapped lips, and then began to sing the chorus again softly, this time with the Routledge girl joining in.

Once they had finished singing the last bit of the chorus the sound of the strumming lulled to a stop and left JJ and Julianna looking at one another with two expressions that mirrored each other- Julianna utterly in love with the boy who without being asked knew and played her favorite One Direction son and JJ who was ecstatic to see how happy his silly little hobby he has that he never shows the light of day made her.

"How did you know how to play that?" Julianna asked and the blonde shrugged, "Just did..."

Julianna couldn't help the blush that flooded her cheeks, "You're telling me that you just knew how to play Steal My Girl on your guitar?" She asked and the blonde nodded.

"That's exactly what I'm saying..." He explained and as if it was one fluid motion he leaned the guitar against the Routledge girl's bedside table and then pulled her into his side, letting her head find it's spot on his chest that was still covered with his gray Coors banquet cut off he had been wearing since this morning.

A small sigh escaped her lips as she let herself melt into the Maybank boy's side as he held her close, letting his hand move up and down her back. "That is really sweet of you, bub." Julianna said in a soft voice as the slightest yawn escaped her lips and JJ nodded, just letting his fingers draw shapes on her back. The reaction he got from the brunette was exactly why he did it, and he knew that he was never going to tell Julianna that he had learned that song eight years ago on the same guitar he had just played it on because he knew it was her favorite and he was waiting for the right moment to play it for her.

"Anything for my girl..." He said, giving her a squeeze, and a small giggle to escaped her lips.

He felt Julianna's head grow heavy as it settled into his chest and a smile filled his face when he noticed that the Routledge girl had fallen asleep. A small sigh escaped his lips as he leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head and in the softest whisper that could only be heard by himself he said three words he never expected to say to anyone in his life, "i love you..." 

a note from the author !!!

JJ playing the guitar and singing!?!? i love a musical man !!

also a soft 'i love you' ?!?!? 

the chaos at the beginning of this chapter made me so giddy and I was so excited to write it <3

don't forget to vote and comment !!