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“I'm sorry, you're staying where?"

Both Eli and John B had made their way to The Wreck to meet up with the others, after Ward Cameron had signed the papers to discharge him.

Eli awkwardly patted John B on the back before making her way over to the table, pulling out a chair to sit beside Pope.

“Tannyhill,” John B nonchalantly responded.

Kie scoffed as she loaded a tray with drinks at the counter. “So you're living with Sarah Cameron.”

“Give the girl a break, Kie,” Eli tried to reason. “She spent the whole night looking after him.”

“And whose fault is it that he ended up there in the first place?” Kie bit back, momentarily glaring at the blue-haired girl who shrank in her seat slightly.

“Sorry,” the girl mumbled, grabbing the glass of orange juice and sipping on the straw.

“She's just venting,” Pope murmured in comfort as he patted Eli on the shoulder. “Just ignore it.”

“Okay, look,” John B spoke up. “The only reason I'm living there is because her dad bailed me out, right? And it's way better than foster care, which, by the way, is where I was about to go if Ward didn't-”

“Hey, so like, do you have a membership to the clubs now?” Pope questioned, cutting off the boy.

“I don't know, Pope?” John B answered in disbelief.

“What about those little golf carts they get to drive around? You get one of them?” JJ added on.

“Does it come with a sweater-vest, or do you have to go buy one of those on your own?”

Eli snorted, almost choking on her drink. “Sorry,” she apologised as Pope patted her on the back, “I just imagined him in a kooky outfit and lost it.”

“Look, you promised,” Kie said as she set down the tray of drinks for Pope and JJ. “You said you weren't with her.”

“Bro, just own it. She got you,” JJ advised, before taking a swig of his drink.

“Look, if you wanna hang out with her, that's fine. But I'm letting you know now that I'm not doing anything with Sarah.”

“Do you guys see her here?” John B questioned as he looked around the group. “No, right. Okay. A little focus would be fantastic. We've got the map, right?”

“It's out of whack ‘cause the guy was ganja’d when he drew it,” JJ let out, causing Kie and Eli to turn to him with looks of disbelief.

“Are you stupid?” Eli questioned, to which JJ gasped as he clutched his chest. “Actually, don't answer that.”

“It's cause the coast has changed,” Kie enlightened with a deadpan expression, much to Eli's amusement.

JJ opened his mouth to say something, then simply nodded when it clicked.

“So we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed,” Pope added as he studied the map.

“What about the old forts?” John B questioned.

Kie looked up at the boy, eyes widening in realisation.

“Battery Jasper.”

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The pogues managed to make it to Battery Jasper, parking up high enough on land so that they could see the coastline in the distance as well as the landmarks to help them pinpoint the location on the map.

“We're in Battery, right here,” Pope revealed as he held down the map, fighting the strong winds which made the corners flutter aggressively. “So if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here.”

The group watched as Pope pointed out the suspected location on the map.

“Somewhere over there,” Kie added as she gestured towards the direction that aligned with Pope's theory.

“Right.”

“Over there?” JJ questioned in confusion. “Guys, that's not Tannyhill, that's a subdivision.”

“Tannyhill Plantation was the entire island,” John B cut off. “It got sold into smaller pieces over time.”

“Imagine owning an entire island,” Eli spoke.

“So we're just looking for an old stone wall,” Pope carried on, lightly tapping on an illustration.

The group hopped back into the Twinkie to make their way to their destination, with John B driving as usual and Pope in the passenger seat to direct him.

“Okay, so the road should split up here,” Pope spoke up.

“Okay.”

“Alright, you're gonna take a left,” Pope directed.

The sudden swerve of the van cause JJ to slam into Eli, who in turn managed to slam into the wall.

“Jesus,” Eli groaned as one hand rubbed her head, her other hand finding itself on the side of JJ's head to shove him away. “Some warning would be nice.”

“Thaaat looks like a stone wall to me,” JJ let out as he swatted away Eli's arm, eyeing the structure before them.

“This is it,” Pope let out as he looked out the window, staring up at the mansion before them.

“Not the Crain house,” John B breathed out as they all stepped out of the van.

“Are you kidding me?” Kie questioned.

“Worst case scenario,” JJ nodded with a sarcastic smile.

“Uhh.. is it too late to back out?” Eli questioned only for JJ and John B to grab both of her wrists to stop her from running. “Ah fuck.”

“There's strength in numbers, okay?” JJ tried to reason. “She can't get us if we're all together.”

“Why did it have to be here… of all places.”

“I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property,” JJ randomly revealed, causing Eli to squirm at the image, having heard the cursed stories from the blonde.

“Let's get this over with then.”

Despite the mumbles of complaint from earlier, the pogues entered the Crain land and made their way through the low-hanging branches and overgrown grass.

“Look, you guys know whose house this is, right?” Kie questioned as they walked.

“Oh yeah, no I do,” JJ answered immediately.

“Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place.” John B shrugged off, causing JJ and Pope to turn around and shush the boy who was trailing behind them.

“Which stories did you hear?” JJ queried as he fell in step with Kie, who was leading the group.

“The one where she killed her husband with an axe, and that she's been holed up ever since.” Eli, Pope, and JJ nervously looked at each other as Kie carried on. “On certain nights, when the moon is full..” Kie turned around with her hands in the air, wiggling her fingers as she dropped her voice to a whisper, “you can see her in the windowww.”

“That's not funny,” Eli complained nervously.

“No, it's not funny, ‘cause it's all true,” JJ cut in, an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face.

“Woahh,” Kie let out with a laugh as she turned back around and carried on walking.

“I swear to God, guys,” JJ continued as he turned around to throw a look towards Pope, JJ, and Eli, “this is all real. I knew Hollis- jeez!” the blonde suddenly exclaimed as he jumped back, causing Eli to react similarly as she muffled her shriek of surprise.

The girl sighed and clutched her heart as she realised it was just a stone statue of a woman, and nothing out to get them.

“Wait, you knew Hollis Crain?”

“Yeah, dude,” JJ nodded, causing Pope to grab the boy by the arm.

“Dude, how do you know Hollis Crain?”

“She was my babysitter, man. She told me all about it.”

“She had no business telling a kid those stories,” Eli muttered, shuddering slightly. “I couldn't sleep for like three days after JJ told me about them against my will.”

“She told me the truth.. about her mother, and what happened in this house,” JJ revealed, gaze flickering towards John B who looked unimpressed to say the least. “So as a kid, she heard all the stories that her mother killed her father, and.. how she was a murderer and all. Hollis didn't believe it… until that night.”

“What night?” John B questioned, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

JJ looked at the boy, giving a dramatic pause before continuing. “It all came back to her.”

The group, aside from Eli who had heard the story a thousand times, watched JJ with curious and uneasy expressions as the blonde dramatically turned to face the mansion, as if he was starring in a horror movie and revealing the crucial puzzle piece to complete the story.

“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.”

John B rolled his eyes and looked away from the blonde.

“Her mother just says she cut her finger. The next morning, she says her father and her have split up. But then, Hollis noticed something. Her mother going into the parlor constantly, in and out and in and out with plastic bags.”

Eli casted her gaze towards Kie, who shifted on her feet as she nervously looked around. 

“Weeks pass, and Hollis decides to use the outhouse. And as she's using it, she looks down,” JJ continued, acting out the scenario, “and there, in the outhouse, is her father's head, looking straight back at her.”

“God, you're so full of shit,” John B finally spoke up, sighing in disbelief.

“Dude, I swear to God, man,” JJ defended.

“Did she call the police?” Pope queried.

“She didn't have time-” The blonde was interrupted as John B pushed past everyone and carried on, causing JJ to run and grab onto him to halt him. “Wait! Dude!”

“What!” John B responded, clearly having had enough.

“You sure you wanna do this?” JJ questioned. “She's an axe murderer. You got a cast on.”

“I don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay?” John B exclaimed, causing Eli to shush the boy out of fear. “I got nothin’ to lose, right? You comin’ or what?” John B didn't wait for an answer as he moved on, followed by Kie and Pope who walked past a nervous JJ.

“This is so fucked,” Eli mumbled as she reached out to hold  JJ's hand, the pair hurrying after the others who were gaining distance. “If anything scary happens, we run, okay?”

JJ nodded. “Don't have to tell me twice.”

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Eli being scared as fuck will never not be funny

Nova x