LATER THAT morning, the Pogues headed to the Police Station to hand in the murder weapon- that Kie almost died to retrieve. Rory prayed that Shoupe would understand, they worked too hard to get this.

Shoupe raised his eyebrows in disbelief, "So, y'all are telling me this is the firearm Rafe Cameron used to kill Peterkin with?"

"Exactly." Pope nodded, "And the exact same firearm that Ward just used to kill Gavin."

Shoupe sighed, "And where's that corpse again? I checked the hospital. I went by his house. He was out."

"He was out?" Kiara scoffed.

"No shit!" JJ blurted out frustratedly, "Cause he's dead!"

"Just because he's not home, doesn't mean he's a victim of a homicide." Shoupe reasoned.

"You gotta be kidding." Rory breathed, as a smile of frustration grew on her face. She chuckled angrily, "We fucking saw it happen, but you know, just because Ward fucking payed you assholes to be on his side, the truth suddenly doesn't matter!"

Kiara raised her voice, "Are you at least gonna send it in for ballistics and shit, or are you just gonna sit on your ass?"

JJ brushed his hair in frustration, "He'll sit there and wax that god damn moustache. Is that even real?"

"Hey!" Shoupe stood up and quietened the group, as he stormed over to the door and held it open.

"Shut up, JJ!" Pope shushed the boy from going too far.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt his feelings?" JJ mocked sarcastically.

"Get out. I'm serious." Shoupe said sternly, "Y'all are smelling up my office."

Kiara was the first to stand up to leave, tears filling her eyes and she asked shakily, "Did Ward bribe you? This doesn't make any sense."

JJ stormed out, following Kiara, "You ain't gonna do shit."

"Out!" Shoupe snapped at the boy, then his eyes darted to Pope and Rory, as he watched the girl kick his desk angrily, mumbling cusses under her breath.
Shoupe gritted his jaw, "I said out!"

"Rory, go." Pope placed his hands on her shoulders, guiding her out of the station to make sure she didn't do anything that she would regret. He turned to Shoupe, "We brought you the murder weapon. There's no logical reason for you to not send it in."

"Peterkin would've believed us." Aurora mumbled as she stormed outside. 

***

The next day, Kie and Pope had to literally drag Aurora to school. The whole school idea made the girl feel vulnerable. Rory was behind in every class, which the school did not fail to notice. The School Councillor found her skipping her History Test in the restrooms. She just wanted things to go back to the way they were.

The school councillor sighed, "I'm aware of what's happened in the past few weeks, but that does not excuse you to skip classes, smoke, or not even try. You have a gift, Aurora, don't waste it."

"A gift?" Aurora scoffed sarcastically, as she slouched in her chair, "And what would that gift be exactly?"

The councillor hesitated, before letting out a sigh, "I'm here to help you, Aurora. Let's just start our session with something simple... Why did I find you in the toilets when you were meant to be in History?"

Rory shrugged sarcastically, "Maybe because you looked for me. If you don't wanna find me, don't look. Simple."

"It's okay not to be okay, Aurora." The women sighed, "That's what I'm here for... So, why did I find you skipping class? Do you struggle in that lesson? Is it a pupil you don't particularly get along with? Is it overwhelming for you to suddenly be back at school?"

"All of the above." Rory replied, as her leg began to bounce up and down.

The women nodded, "Well, I'll bare that in mind for our next session. However, for now, I need you to return to History-"

Aurora panicked at the councillors sudden urge to send her to lesson, she needed to come up with an excuse quickly. She held her stomach, fake winces escaping her mouth, "I just, uh, feel really unwell. Like, psychically sick. I think-"

"Here. Have some water." The women put a bottle of water on the desk for Aurora to take, "It's nearly the end of the day, there's no point in sending you home."

Rory's face dropped, as she resisted the urge to say something about how the school doesn't actually care for you. She kept those thoughts in, as she took the bottle and stormed to her lesson.

She arrived at her classroom, as she found her hands shaking as they hovered over the doorknob. She couldn't bring herself to open it. The thought of walking into class made the girl anxious. Unfortunately for Aurora, the school councillor was close behind her- making sure she arrived to her lesson.

"In you go, Aurora." The lady chirped, "Chop chop."

Aurora gritted her jaw, as she quickly open the door, harder than she needed to. She paused for a moment, as the class looked up at her. Rory's heart sunk to the bottom of her stomach and she felt that feeling of vulnerability again.

Mr Sunn greeted, "Miss Maybank, I'm glad you came to join us... You're just in time for our test. Come on in."

Rory reluctantly sat down at her desk, which was next to Kiara's. She looked at Rory and mouthed, "Where've you been?"

"Toilet." Rory whispered back, as Mr Sunn walked over to her desk with the test paper. Aurora looked behind her to see her brother, his head in his hands and his test on the first page. School wasn't the environment for Maybanks.

A while had past, and Aurora's paper was still unanswered. She couldn't concentrate on anything, as all that she could think of was Sarah and John being alive. After all of this time. She wondered what they were doing right now. She wished to be there with them, but when she opened her eyes, she was back in school.

The door opened, making everybody look up. A man walked in, "Mr Sunn, can I borrow Pope for a minute?"

Mr Sunn whispered, "We're in the middle of a test."

"I'm from the Vanderhorst Foundation." The man replied, and Mr Sunn nodded in realisation.

"Mr Heyward, it's for you." The History Teacher announced, as Pope stood up and walked outside.

Rory anxiously waited for Pope to come back, and when he quickly came walking back inside, she knew something was wrong. Pope turned around, showing them the letter that he had just retrieved, a familiar wheat symbol had been stamped on the back.

Rory whispered, "Shit, that's the wheat symbol."

JJ squinted his eyes from behind them, and they widened when he saw it, "What the fu- fudge. What the fudge?"

The bell rang after what seemed like years of staring at an empty exam paper, then the group followed Pope to the library. The boy had not said a word since they left class, he was too desperate to open the letter.

"Is this a game of tag?" JJ asked, as he followed Pope into the library.

"I don't know." Kiara replied, "Seriously, Pope, you are driving me insane. Just tell us."

Aurora pulled out a chair to sit on, as the group gathered around a table. Rory took a breath, "You know I have bad lungs, Po."

"Okay, so the guy was from the scholarship committee. Take a look at this." Pope breathed, "Read it out loud."

JJ snatched the letter from him, then he paused before speaking, "I, uh, I can't read cursive."

Kie furrowed her eyebrows, before reading the letter to the group, "Dear Mr Heyward, I am reaching out because I have material evidence that can exonerate John B Routledge. It is a vital importance that you come and meet with me in person at my offices at 27 King Street Charleston at 8:00pm sharp tonight. Please come alone. Regards C Limbrey."

"Charleston?" Aurora frowned, "It's like an eight hour drive, plus the ferry."

"Exactly." Pope paced up and down, "How are we gonna get there tonight?"

"We'd have to leave like right now." JJ replied.

"I have a free period." Kiara suggested, which made Aurora nod enthusiastically.

"And I'm not planning on going to any lessons." She agreed as she stood up, "Let's just go-"

"Wait. Material evidence? What does that even mean?" JJ interrupted, as his sister perched on the edge of the table.

"It means he can clear John B." Kiara replied, then she let out a sigh, "I gotta tell my mom. Look, if we get it this time, we are not giving it to Shoupe."

Pope hesitated as he typed on the computer, causing the three to look at him. Rory leaned over his shoulder, "Who's that?"

"Captain Herman Limbrey." Pope replied, as he looked at the old picture of a man on his computer screen, "Whoever this Limbrey person is, I think they're related to the captain of the Royal Merchant."

a/n:
  sorry this part took so long to publish, i just didn't know if i liked it. ill get back to my usual posting schedule now, it's only because i had mocks!!