CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE:
WATERS RISING
(episode eight: the cross)

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"I JUST DON'T GET it," Pope explained, pacing back and forth in front of the newly covered grave of Cecilia Tanny. The others were strewn out around him, listening attentively to his string of thoughts. "I mean, you guys saw the map. He hides his gold so no one finds it for a hundred and seventy years! And then he sends a message to his son, Robert, to come here to his mother's grave. But the message never gets to him. And Denmark wanted him to find the cross, so I know we're in the right spot. It just feels like—"

"Like we missed something?" JJ cut him off. From her place sitting cross-legged at John B's side, Haven looked up to see her cousin standing beside the twinkie, peering through the Angel Oak's branches with wide eyes.

"JJ," Arden frowned at him. She was sitting opposite Haven, next to Sarah. "What is it?"

By now, everyone was looking at him curiously. With the Twinkie now parked beside the tree, he was able to climb onto the roof of the van, gesturing them over with a frantic, "Guys, come here!" Haven allowed John B to tug her to her feet, the two of them watching eagerly as Kie and Arden followed him up onto the roof.

"That looks like—"

"The painting in the Island Room."

"Oh, my god," Arden gasped, before a smile tugged at her lips. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

JJ frowned then. "What do you mean? Ladies first."

Haven's eyes narrowed at the familiar statement, Arden's doing the same as she put a hand on her hip. "Oh, no, JJ Maybank," she exclaimed, causing him to wince and Kie to smirk as she stood between them. "You're not doing this again. We risked our lives in the storm drain, it's your turn."

"But the pecker thing—"

When Arden's lips pursed, a dangerous red tint appearing on her face, JJ went deathly quiet. Knowing the others wouldn't protest him taking one for the team, he heaved a heavy sigh, and turned to face the hole in the tree like a soldier preparing for the battle of his lifetime.

"Look," Kie snickered down at them. "He's scared."

"I'm not scared," he scoffed, rising to the bait as Haven knew he would. "I've got this."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Arden repeated her previous words.

At last, JJ reached into the tree, feeling around the space for a moment. "There's something in here," he said, to which Haven leaned forward with a combination of anticipation and wariness. A look had flashed across JJ's face, followed by an almost unnoticeable smirk that was smothered as he let out a sudden, heart-wrenching scream.

"JJ!" the pogues gasped, Haven included, as he struggled like something had bitten down on his arm and was trying to pull him inside.

Momentarily, Haven thought back to all those months ago, when she first started hanging around the pogues and John B took them to the graveyard where his great-grandmother was buried, searching for clues from his dad. Like history repeating itself, they were reaching into the unknown again. But this time, Haven had a feeling they wouldn't avoid the snake twice. She lurched forward with everyone else, heart hammering against her ribcage as Kie and Arden tugged him back. It was then that he let out a laugh, unable to hold himself together, and Haven froze as heat gathered in her face.

He was messing with them.

"Oh, man, I got you all on that one."

"I should've let you push him in the water," John B turned to say to Haven.

Haven nodded, though she was too busy glaring at JJ to look at him. "Oh, I'm going to do more than push him into the water," she hissed, to which some of JJ's laughter began to die down. "Just wait until you get down from this roof, JJ Maybank."

"Why wait when I can push him down for you?" Arden glowered, and at last, JJ went quiet.

"Okay, but seriously, there is something in here," he said, then turned back towards the tree.

Haven half-expected another prank, so she was all the more surprised when he pulled out his arm and had what looked to be a rolled-up telescope in his hands. He was quick to pass it into Pope's waiting hold, the rest of the pogues gathered around eagerly to get a good look with him.

"Hey, look," he gasped suddenly, finger tracing words that had been etched into the covering. "HMS Royal Merchant."

Quickly, JJ hopped down off the roof of the van, grabbing Arden's hand to help her to the ground. While Arden then turned around to help Kie, he yanked the telescope out of Pope's grasp with a 'give it to the captain!' and started rambling about spy glasses as he peered through it.

"Wait," Haven frowned, gaze landing on the side of the lens. "What's that?"

"There's something on the end," Kie pointed out too, prompting John B to grab the telescope from JJ.

Written into the fading gold were fourteen simple words, but they were enough to bring a radiant smile onto Pope's face. You've come this far. Do not falter. The cross is on the Freedman's altar.

"Freedman's altar," he exclaimed, whirling around to face his friends. He caught Haven's eyes, beaming. "The cross is at the church!"

"Pope, your ancestor was a genius," Arden cried gleefully. "I see now where you get it from."

Quickly, the group piled back into the Twinkie, speeding out of the clearing and back down the lane. The energy in the van was high. Pope and Arden were eagerly discussing the sheer impressiveness of Denmark Tanny's mind, while JJ and Kie discussed the logistics of getting the cross out of the church. Sarah sat quiet in the back, smiling at her friends around her, but couldn't help the occasional stare she gave to John B's hand intertwined with Haven's on Haven's thigh. The two weren't talking, but she could see just by how Haven ran a thumb across John B's knuckles, and from the way that John B would look at her and smile ever so often, that an infatuation had bloomed hard in her absence.

She didn't know how to feel about it, if she was being honest.

And neither did Haven. She knew Sarah was watching them. All of their friends had been, all day, except of course JJ. But now wasn't the time to bring it up. She wasn't sure there ever would be a good time, but she refused to breach Pope's moment.

And from the looks of it, they were about to have one big issue on their hands.

"Uh, guys," she breathed out, causing the group to go quiet and look at her. "Is it just me seeing things, or is there no longer a road?"

"Ah, crap!"

"The tide."

Pope's smile was long gone now. "Well, this doesn't look good."

The creek had risen faster and higher than Haven had expected. There was no way of telling just how high the water was, but the risk of merely driving through it was too great. They could submerge the Twinkie, and then they'd well and truly be screwed.

Perhaps they'd be eating JJ after all.

"How deep is that?" Kie asked.

"I dunno," John B let out a sigh. "The road's gone."

"Well," JJ muttered. "The tide rose faster than I thought it would."

"Oh, yeah, just a little bit," Arden scoffed, eyes glinting with obvious anxiety.

For a moment, they sat there, merely analysing the situation. At last, JJ turned to the boy in the driver's seat, asking, "Hey, John B, how high are the spark plugs?"

"Uh, they're good... they're fine..."

Well, that wasn't assuring in the slightest. The others seemed to agree, for Pope and Kie both chorused stubbornly, "No, but how high are they?"

"Oh, uh," John B leaned out the window to get a better look, eventually deciding, "Just about the tail-light."

"Okay, so that's, what... three feet?" Pope assumed.

"Yeah, that's definitely three feet," JJ nodded, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Then what's the problem?" Kie rolled her eyes, nudging JJ's side when he just made a sound of uncertainty. "There's no way that water is three feet deep."

"There's not a problem," John B stammered, to which JJ and Pope murmured out half-hearted agreements with him. "We're good. Let's do this."

Arden sighed, but didn't protest as she sat back in her chair, clinging onto JJ's arm for dear life. "If I drown, I'm coming back to haunt your ass, John B."

JJ frowned at her. "You'd haunt him and not me?"

"J, now's not the time for pouting," Haven huffed.

She had released John B's hand by then, so he could hold onto the steering wheel properly. Instead, she braced herself with one hand on the dashboard, the other settling on his thigh as the van went silent, John B's foot pressing hard on the accelerator, full throttle as the wheels descended into the water.

Water sprayed against the side of the vehicle in a wave, sending droplets through the rolled down windows, not that anyone noticed. They were too busy screaming in terror as the Twinkie almost immediately began to fish-tail, zig-zagging through the water that was most definitely higher then three feet. Then, with a crash and the splutter of a dying engine, they sank.

"Well," Pope said with a hesitant stare out the window beside him. "I think we miscalculated."

"You think?" Arden screeched as she practically climbed onto his lap to get a look for herself. "John B, what have you done?"

"I knew I should've driven," JJ sighed from beside them, his hands tugging at his hair in frustration.

Haven was quick to scoff at that, hand squeezing John B's thigh as he rested his forehead on the steering wheel. "Oh, please. JJ, we would've flipped the van if you were driving."

"Look, let's not argue about it," Sarah interrupted whatever JJ was about to retort. "Maybe we can push the Twinkie out of the water. We can get out and look."

"That's a good idea." Surprisingly, it was Arden who agreed with her. Clambering off Pope's lap, she turned to the two in the front seat with an expectant glower. "Well? One of you get moving and let us out."

But Sarah's suggestion was too hopeful. Once they were all gathered behind the Twinkie, knee-high in muddy brown water, it was clear they weren't moving the van anywhere. Her tyres were encased in mud, the water only continuing to rise as the tide flooded in through the creek. They were stuck, with very limited options on what to do from there.

"We could walk from here," Pope suggested when the silence started stretching on for too long.

"What, and leave the Twinkie?" John B scoffed as he gestured pointedly to the water around them. "The tide's coming in."

"So then what are we supposed to do?"

"Not stay here," JJ grumbled, still under the belief that they'd be at Freedman's Church by now had it been him driving.

Haven rolled her eyes, then winced as something brushed up against her leg beneath the water. She knew she should've worn jeans. "Well, thanks for stating the obvious, JJ. But unless you have super strength you've been hiding and can miraculously carry this giant van out of the water, we don't have much of a choice."

"Hey, I'm just—"

"I can take my dad's truck."

Haven's gaze snapped over to Kie, who had her head lowered, but everyone knew it was her who had made the suggestion. Haven knew how strained the girl's relationship was becoming with her parents. One more rebellious act, and she'd lose them for good.

"Kie..." John B trailed off, clearly knowing the risk they'd be taking by letting her do that. "Are you sure?"

"How much worse can it get?" she sighed, shrugging her shoulders like she was accepting defeat.

"Alright," JJ muttered when no one else spoke, brows furrowed in thought as he looked over the Twinkie. He knew what it was like to disappoint parents, over and over again. He didn't seem phased by what Kie was suggesting. "Well, we're going to need something to pull her out with. There's a winch at the Chateau. That's, like, two miles."

"Look, if you're going to do it, let's get going, okay?" John B sighed. "The tide's coming in and the Twinkie's going under. We don't have much time."

In the end, it was decided that Arden would go with Kie and JJ, leaving Haven to stay with John B, Pope and Sarah at the Twinkie. The situation couldn't have been more awkward, if Haven was being honest. Her and her kind-of boyfriend. Her ex-boyfriend, and her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend, all left alone together, and it wasn't like they had a way to avoid each other while they waited. Haven and Sarah ended up sitting on the roof of the van, while John B and Pope paced the perimeter of the clearing, seemingly giving the two some space.

Haven caught John B's eyes at one point, giving him a glare as the blonde girl at her side cleared her throat in a pointed gesture. John B merely smiled, sent her a thumbs up, then turned to Pope. Haven sighed. It looked like she had no choice.

"Hey, Sarah," she said, refusing to meet her eyes despite Sarah's stare on the side of her head, expectant. "Can, I uh... Look, I need to tell you something..."

"You slept with John B?"

"How did you..."

Sarah smiled. Haven wasn't expecting that. "Neither of you know how to be subtle," she said, as she pointed out the hickey on Haven's neck. "And you're suddenly super touchy for two people who claimed to be just friends a few days ago."

Haven's face dropped. She turned away from Sarah then, causing the blonde to let out a sigh. John B had agreed to take things slow with her, and she knew for certain that Sarah was aware of that now. She had a feeling Arden had played some kind of role in it, but she couldn't bring herself to care anymore. Every time Sarah was around, Haven had been feeling nervous, like she was waiting for Sarah to lash out again like she had at the bonfire. Haven wouldn't have blamed her if she did. She had something going on with the guy Sarah used to love, and it was out in the open for everyone to judge. Already, she was tensing up, waiting for Sarah's calm demeanour to slip and show her true emotions. But Sarah merely sighed again, reaching for Haven's hand.

"Haven, I know you guys are seeing how things go," she said. "And it's okay. I'm not mad. If anything, I want to apologise to you for how I acted at the bonfire. That was shitty of me."

Like the tide rushing in to meet the Twinkie, Haven's floodgates opened. "I never meant for anything to happen," she rambled, wanting Sarah to know this wasn't some nefarious plan of hers to hurt the girl. "He just... he welcomed me back, and was there. And we got close so suddenly, feelings just came out of nowhere. I tried to ignore them. 'Cause even if we aren't close anymore, you're still my Saz, and—"

Once more, Sarah interrupted her, this time by pulling her into a hug. "And you're my Havey. That hasn't changed," she said, then pulled away to meet Haven's confused gaze head-on. "Look, John B and I... if we're being honest, we've come to a point in our lives where we just aren't on the same page and probably won't ever be, even as friends. And that's completely fine. It happens. We're always going to be friends. Just like you and I are friends regardless of what happens between you two."

"Really?"

"Really," Sarah chuckled. "I won't lie and say it'll be easy. Everything between me and John B started and ended so suddenly. But I know he and I are better off like this, and I'm happy for you both. So if you're just 'seeing how things go' because of me, please don't. I want you to be happy, Haven."

"I am," she said, and this time, it was so much easier to admit. "Genuinely, we don't want to rush anything, you know?"

"Yeah," she nodded, leaning her head against Haven's.

"I'm glad we're okay, Sarah." It felt like inhaling a breath of fresh air for the first time, like pulling your head above water after a while beneath the waves.

"So am I," she smiled. "And even though the Quartet is kind of broken for the foreseeable future, you're always going to be one of my three best girls. Well, five now, if you count Harlow and Brec."

"You count Brec as a friend?" Haven beamed. That reminded her of something; she needed to check in with her friend later, see how she was doing.

"Uh, obviously," Sarah grinned and ruffled Haven's hair. "She's stuck her neck out for us even though the reasonable thing would've been to run. She's cool for that. And you like her, so any friend of yours is a friend of mine."

"Even Leonie?" she couldn't help asking with a knowing smirk.

"Yes, even her," Sarah laughed. "Even though she called JJ a dilf..."

"Of course Arden told you about that."

"What did you expect? It's Arden. She probably would've agreed had it not been Leo who said it."

Haven went to respond, but was interrupted by the sounds of John B and Pope's voices getting closer. Seemingly, after seeing Haven and Sarah hug it out, they'd decided it was safe enough to approach again. Once they were back at the van, John B smiled at her, nudging her leg with his shoulder as he leaned against the side of the vehicle.

"You good?" he mouthed to her, just as Pope checked his watch with an impatient sigh.

She nodded, unable to reply with Pope exclaiming, "How long does it take to go two miles and back in a car? I feel like they're taking a minute. Should I go look for them? Should I go find them and bring them back?"

"Look, I don't know, I don't know," John B sighed, losing the smile Haven had brought to his face as he glanced between the water and his van again. "Just give me a sec."

"Damn it! Every time. Why did we send JJ, Kiara and Arden, three of the slowest people on earth?"

"Well, it would've looked bad if one of us stole Mr Carrera's car," Haven pointed out in fairness. "At least if it's his daughter, he's less likely to, you know, call the police or something drastic."

"Okay, then we should've made Arden and JJ stay here," Pope conceded. "Those two have no concept of time. We'll probably be out here for days now—"

"Days?" Haven scoffed. "Maybe not, but definitely hours."

"In, like, thirty more minutes, we'll be gator food," the boy cried, throwing his hands up in defeat. "We need a new plan."

"Well, you're the genius here," John B pointed out, earning a nod of agreement from the girls. "So tell us what to do."

For a moment, Pope stood in silence, his brows furrowed in thought. At last, after what seemed like forever, he looked up, a flicker of hope appearing in his eyes. "Okay, I think I've got something."

"Go on," Haven urged.

"We can maybe find something to leverage the Twinkie, and then you can drive it out."

"How about driftwood?" John B said, with a look around at some of the nearby trees.

They were quick to get to work now they had a plan in mind. Haven and Sarah offered to help, but both boys insisted on them waiting with the Twinkie. The waters were rising faster by the minute, and the quicker they got this done, the better.

"God, I can't wait to shower after this," Haven muttered, glancing down at the dried mud on her bare legs. "Never again am I wearing a skirt on a recon-mission."

Sarah chuckled at her. "I am so glad I stuck with my jeans."

At the same time, the boys were shouting to each other from opposite ends of the water, John B calling for Pope to help him out with some of the driftwood. Suddenly, the boy's voice went quiet, leaving Pope to chatter away to the silent air and faint splashes of water. Haven frowned at the abruptness, searching her surroundings for John B's face. He was nowhere to be found.

"John B," she called out, her nervous tone catching Sarah's attention.

Almost like he heard her, John B's head broke the surface of the water nearby, a scream echoing on the wind before he was tugged back under forcefully. Haven didn't hesitate to throw herself in after him, Sarah not far behind screaming for Pope to help them. A gator must've grabbed John B, for Haven could see its scales glinting beneath the murky surface as John B struggled to get free of its grip.

She didn't think twice as she hurried to search through the Twinkie for something, anything, she could use to help him. Her brain was working on overdrive, barely able to comprehend the frantic thump, thump, thump in her chest.

What if she lost him again?

No, she refused to let that happen.

Ignoring Sarah's cry for her to wait, she drove through the water, a pocket knife of JJ's gripped in her trembling hand. Splashes came from behind her, indicating that Sarah was following her.

"Where is he?" she called out as the water suddenly froze, like John B had never been there in the first place.

Haven panted frantically, holding out the knife in front of her and Sarah as the blonde latched onto her other arm. Pope had almost reached them by then. He was calling out John B's name in terror, and that was when she saw it. The gator's body nearly knocked her over as John B came up for air just inches away from them. Sarah stumbled back in shock, pulling Haven backwards into the water before she frantically scrambled onto her feet, blindly lunging with the knife.

Once, twice, three times. The blade of the weapon was thin but cut through the gator's skin enough to paint their surroundings red. John B clambered towards Pope as he finally reached them, gasping for much-needed air as, at last, the gator gave up and disappeared to lick its wounds.

Haven dropped her knife then, no longer able to hold it as her hands were shaking so bad, but it didn't matter anymore. They'd rather wait forever on top of the Twinkie then attempt to search gator-infested waters ever again.