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Everyone moved to stand beside Eli by the window, holding their breath as they peered through the blinds.

"Guys, is that them?" Kie questioned in a hushed tone, to which JJ began to panic.

"No.. no.."

"This is suboptimal."

"John B, what were you saying about that compass not being a death compass?" Eli whispered aggressively.

"John B, I told you," JJ rambled as he started pacing. "Why does it always-"

"JJ, hey look at me!" John B called as he grabbed the blonde by the shoulders and shoved him against the wall. "Where's the gun?"

"Gun? I, uh, I can't- " JJ stuttered, shaking his head as he tried to think.

"Now you don't have the gun!" Kie exclaimed, bringing her hands to her face in panic, "the one time we need the gun?"

"It was in my backpack and then I-"

"On the porch!" Eli remembered, eyes wide.

"It's on the porch," JJ whispered to himself as he quickly rushed out of the door.

"John Routledge!" a deep voice called out, sending the teens into further panic. JJ slipped and fell as he immediately turned around in panic, scrambling to his feet as he ran back into the room. He quickly closed the door behind him and shoved his back against it. "Come on out now."

"They're on the porch, guys," JJ frantically whispered.

Eli quickly ran towards the closest window, trying to ignore the sound of things clattering to the floor as well as the scary yelling that made her heart drop to her stomach. She quickly pulled the blinds up, before attempting to pull the window open.

"Guys," she called out in panic, realising the window wasn't opening. "It won't budge."

JJ and Pope didn't waste a second as they hurried over and grabbed the bottom of the window, heaving as they tried to pull it open.

"What's- what's happening," Kie stuttered in alarm. "Why is it taking so long?"

"It's painted shut, okay?" JJ cut off in exasperation, teeth clenched still as he continued to try and apply pressure. Eli and Kie quickly looked around to find something to lever it open, wincing whenever they accidentally made too much noise.

John B braced himself against the door, arms folded behind his head as he tried his best to buy them some time.

"Okay, guys," Kie called out as she rushed over, screwdriver in hand. "I got this."

Eli started panicking as the yelling got closer to the door, her breath shallow and her hand over heart as she tried to calm herself. She watched as Kie used the screwdriver to try and unseal the window, occasionally looking over her shoulder to John B who had his eyes shut as he continued to stand against the door.

Pope hurried over to assist John B, both boys trying to shush JJ and Kie who begun to bicker amongst themselves over the lack of speed they were going at.

"Where the hell is that compass!?"

Eli flinched as the door started rattling, her hand flying to her mouth to stop herself from screaming.

"You better not be in there!" The man yelled as he continued to slam against the door, with Pope and John B barely being successful at keeping it shut. The two boys ran away from the door as the aggressive kicks started knocking down the wooden panelling.

"Everyone, push on three," Eli whisper-yelled, getting everyone into position. "One, two, three!"

To their relief, the window finally shot open due to their combined strength. The teens didn't waste a single second as they piled out of the window and ran for the closest place to hide, all of them flinching at the sound of a gunshot that filled the air not even seconds after their escape.

The pogues managed to crawl their way into the chicken coop, with the fencing being just about high enough to keep them out of view.

The strange men finally began to come out of the house after about five minutes, each carrying stacks and stacks of boxes of what was most likely Big John's research on the Royal Merchant.

The group flinched as the rooster began to crow, most likely alarmed by the invasion of five fully grown teens in the small hut.

"Do something, Pope. Shut him up," JJ exclaimed under his breath, pointing at the rooster.

"What do you want me to do?" Pope yelled with clenched teeth.

"Pet it, or talk to it?" Kie trembled. "I don't know."

"You do something."

JJ suddenly lunged over and grabbed the rooster by its neck, aggressively slamming it into the ground over and over until a sickening crack filled the air.

Eli's eyes widened as she gasped into her hand, body slouching against the wall in shock.

John B pulled Eli into his side as he noticed her distressed state, whilst gulping himself over the gruesome scene. His other hand found Kiara's, who was in an equally distressed state.

"Ratter, what the hell are you doing? Let's go."

The teens didn't relax until the truck finally drove away, shoulders sagging as they each crawled out of the coop one by one. Kie continued to sob whilst Eli went completely silent, each processing the events of the last half hour differently.

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Although the teens had just experienced something so traumatic, it didn't stop them from immediately getting back on the hunt.

The group were now on their way somewhere in the twinkie, all of them not questioning where John B was taking them.

"I mean, it's obvious, right?" John B questioned as he drove the van. "A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message?" Pope held up the compass by the chain, lightly swinging it in front of his eyes. "He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?" John B continued.

"Yeah, it's possible," Kie assured from the passenger seat beside John B.

Eli couldn't help but throw a doubtful gaze towards Pope and JJ, who returned the same expression.

"It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help... you know, deal with your sad feels," Pope stated, earning a look of disbelief from Kie.

"Bro, you know how I process my sad feels." JJ started, a dopey grin appearing on his face. "Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies."

The blue-haired girl couldn't help but face-palm at that statement, lifting her foot to kick JJ in the shin.

"Read the room, dumbass," she hissed, causing the blonde boy to immediately shut up, pouting as he rubbed his shin.

"I'm not concocting, okay?" John B defended. "My dad's tryna give me a message."

"If it helps you believe, John B-"

"Look, I- I don't need a therapy session, okay?" John B cut off as he glanced over at Kie. "Look, I'm not trippin' out."

"It's okay to trip, bro-" JJ grunted as Eli kicked him in the shin again.

"Look, my- my dad is missing, okay?" John B exclaimed. "Missing. You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish, and then have no idea what happened. Just, wake up every morning wondering."

"It's been almost a year," Kie spoke gently.

"It's okay, JB, I believe in you," Eli finally added, earning a grateful gaze from the boy. "By some miracle you got that compass back, with a message no less. It's not wrong for us to hope that the universe grants us another miracle. It might not be the answers we're looking for, but it might be something important regardless."

"Hey, he could have been kidnapped," JJ theorised with a confident nod. "That's definitely a possibility."

"Yeah," Pope tacked on. "Could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere."

"Absolutely," JJ nodded. "Uh.. or Atlantis."

Eli rolled her eyes as she punched both boys in the shoulder.

"Jesus, why are you so violent all of a sudden," JJ complained as he rubbed his shoulder.

"One thing I know for sure, is that you're both idiots," Eli stated as she turned her head between JJ and Pope.

"Look, what do you think the message is?" Kie queried as she turned towards John B again.

"Redfield." John B revealed. "Redfield Lighthouse. That's my dad's favourite place."

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not much going on in this chapter unfortunately. at least there's a little jj, pope, and eli moment where they're being silly haha

Nova x