Pᴀʀᴄᴇʟ 9
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John B was eventually taken to the hospital. He was okay, but had a broken wrist and a concussion. Evidently, he was more than okay since he asked everyone to meet at The Wreck.
"I'm sorry. You're staying where?" Kie says
"Tannyhill." John B says
"So you're living with Sarah Cameron." She says as she passes him
"Okay, look, 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 do you have a membership to the clubs now?" Pope asks
"I don't know, Pope."
"What about those golf carts they drive around? You get one of them?" JJ says as he drinks the water Kie handed him.
"Does it come with a sweater-vest, or do you have to buy one on your own?" Estrella jokes as she eats her fries
"Look, you promised. You said you weren't with her." Kie says
"Bro, just own it. She got you." JJ says
"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."
Estrella sighs as she leans back in her chair. She puts her feet on the bar under Pope's.
"Do you guys see her here?" John B says looking around, "No, right. Okay. A little focus would be fantastic. We've got the map, right?"
"It's all out of whack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it." JJ says leaning between Pope and Estrella.
"It's 'cause the coast has changed." Estrella says looking up at him. He nods as he drinks his water.
"So we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed." Pope says
"What about the old forts?" John B says
"Battery Jasper." Kie says
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"We're in Battery, right here." Pope says as they all stand in the middle of the field overlooking a part of the island, "So if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here."
"Somewhere there." Kie points
"Right."
"Over there?" JJ points, "Guys, that's not Tannyhill, that's a subdivision."
"Tannyhill Plantation was the entire island. It got sold into smaller pieces over time."
"So essentially we're just looking for an old stone wall." Estrella points out to Pope
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"Okay, so the road should split up here." Pope says
"Okay."
"All right. You're gonna take a left." John B turns down the road
"That looks like a stone wall to me." JJ says as they stop
"This is it." Pope says as they start to get out
"Not the Crain house." John B sighs
"Are you kidding me?" Kie says as she and Estrella walk up to the wall
"Worst-case scenario." JJ says
"Why'd it have to be here..." Pope says, "of all places?"
"I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property." JJ says. Everyone looks around as they go silent.
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Everyone got over the wall and they were now making their way toward the house. It was taking a lot longer than Estrella would've liked it too.
"Look, you guys know whose house this is, right?" Kie says
"Oh, yeah. No, I do." JJ says
"Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place." John B says
Pope turns to him, "Shh."
"What?"
JJ walks forward to catch up with Estrella, "Which stories did you hear?"
"The one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since." She says, "On certain nights, when the moon is full," She turns to him and whispers, "you can see her in the window."
"No, Star, it's not funny," He says as she laughs at him, "cause it's all true. I swear to God, guys, this is all real. I knew Hollis. Jeez!" He jumps as a statue comes into view
"Wait, you knew Hollis Crain?" Pope asks
"Yeah, dude."
"Dude, how do you know Hollis Crain?"
"She was my babysitter, man. She told me all about it. Told me the truth," He says looking between them, "about her mother and what happened in this house. 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 says
"It all came back to her. 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."
"Her mother just says that she cut her finger. The next morning, she says her father and her split up. But then, Hollis noticed something. Her mother going into the parlor constantly, in and out and in and out with plastic bags."
"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."
"Shut up." Estrella says shoving him
"God, you are so full of shit." John B says
"Dude, I swear to God, man."
"Did she call the police?" Pope says
"She didn't have time." JJ says as John B tries to walk past him
"We can't do this-"
"Wait! Dude!"
"What?" John B stops
"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?"
Pope's eyes go wide as Estrella furrows her brows, "I'm sorry?"
"I got nothin' to lose, right? You comin' or what?" He says before he walks off
"Come on." Kie says as she and Pope follow him. JJ and Estrella a little more hesitant to, but JJ ultimately follows after her when she starts walking.
"Hey, come on. Come here." John B whispers as they all huddle together, "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? Like, pond water?" Pope asks
"Bong water?" JJ chuckles. Kie, Pope, and Estrella look to him in confusion.
"No. It... it just said look for water, okay?" John B says
"That's the shittiest secret message ever." Kie says before she pushes past John B
"You wanna complain a little more, Kie? Nobody said it was gonna be easy."
"I'll search the northeast quadrant, you search the northwest." Pope says before walking off
"The decapitation quadrant." JJ calls out. Estrella goes to follow Pope, but JJ catches her, "No, no, no, no. You're in decapitation with me." He says grabbing her arm. She groans as he pulls her along.
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Everyone eventually met up again. John B leading them down into a basement. He uses his flashlight to look around.
"Down came Mrs. Crain and cut off all our heads. Up came the sun and dried up all the blood." JJ sings
"Can you stop?" "Can you not?"
They all look around to see random junk and huge cobwebs all over.
"See any water?" Kie asks. Estrella waves her hand around as a mosquito comes near her, "Another dead end?"
"There's not even water on the pipes." JJ says feeling the pipes
"There's no water here." Pope says
"Not a dropamino."
"Know why we didn't find it?" Kie says, "Bad karma."
"Oh, God. Here we go." John B says
"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." She shrugs
"This is exactly why I didn't wanna tell you about Sarah."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. What the hell's the deal with you two?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing? Is it because I kissed you? Is that the problem?"
Estrella gasps as Kie slaps John B, "Oh!"
"Oh, shit. That echoed, dude. "
"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." Kie says
"Did you, uh... hit me?" John B says
"Skeeter." She says holding up her hand
"Skeeter?"
"Yeah, you see it?"
"Yeah." He mutters before he slaps her
"Yo." Estrella says
"Oh, hey."
"Okay..."
"Where's your proof?" She says
"Skeeter." He says holding his hand up to show the dead mosquito.
"Yeah? There was probably one right there." She says before she hits his shoulder
"There's one right there." He says hitting her back. Estrella rolls her eyes playfully as they continue hitting each other. Pope starts slapping himself all over as mosquitoes bite him.
"Why are there so many mosquitoes in a basement?" Pope says
"Dude. I know, seriously. Tiny vampire bats, just leave me alone." JJ says as Estrella looks around. She steps up on a platform of wooden boards, "Oh, my gosh! Okay, can we leave? 'Cause I'm already itchin' to leave."
Pope watches as she steps down on the boards. He furrows his brows as it sounds hollow. He walks over to her as JJ looks around at the junk.
Estrella looks around before she picks up a small rock. She squats down and drops it between the crack. She and Pope listen for it to hit the bottom.
"All right, can we leave this? 'Cause this is getting..." JJ says
Her eyes widen as they hear the rock hit water. She and Pope start moving the boards alerting the others.
"Hey, guys."
"Hey, Pope!" JJ whispers harshly
"Oh!"
"Shh!"
"Hey." John B says walking over to him
"Help us move this." Pope says
"Shh! Um..."
"Help us move this." Estrella whispers harshly as she and Pope start moving quicker
"Okay, just... quiet." He says before they start to help them move the boards off. They flash their lights down the hole finally finding the water.
"Well, well, well." Pope says
"That was a good dad joke." John B says as he squats down
"They built this part of the house right over it." Estrella says
"This is where she hid the bodies." JJ says
"Oh, dude, come on." Pope says
"Stop." Kie whines
"No, I'm dead serious."
"Stop it!"
"Hey, hey." Pope says
"It was never an outhouse."
"JJ." Estrella says
"She probably doesn't even know it's here." Kie says
"So... we found water." Pope says
"We're gonna need a really big rope." John B smiles
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