Pᴏɢᴜᴇʟᴀɴᴅɪᴀ (4)

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"Pope, are you sure you got the right address?" JJ asks as they walk down a pathway

"I know you aren't talking to me about having the right address." Pope says

"That's exactly what I'm asking."

"Look, the place says Vaux Hall. Vaux Hall, it's on the map." Pope points

"We don't know if that's where we are."

"It's in the general vicinity, so."

"Why don't we just ask someone?" Cleo says as a man on a tractor approaches, "Hey! Pardon I. You know where we can find Vaux Hall?"

"You kidding me, right?" He says, "Everything you can see all around you is all Vaux Hall."

"Wait, what do you mean? Like..." JJ asks

"All this, all this, all this." The man points

"Oh, everywhere."

"Okay, so who lives up there?" Pope asks

"Carlos Singh. Just on the other side of that wall." The man says, "But take it from me, he's no one you want to get to know."

"Okay, thank you." Pope says. The man nods before driving off

"Thank you." Charlotte says as they start to make their way toward the wall

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Estrella and Kie jump up as a knock is heard on the door. The girls looking to each before standing as the door opens revealing the houskeeper.

"He's ready." She says before stepping aside. Kie turns to Estrella who furrows her brows before taking hesitant steps out into the hallway. Kie follows behind her as the housekeeper leads them down the staircase and into another room.

She holds her hand out towards the door leading them in. The girls enter and look around immediately noticing a man standing on the other side of the room.

"Uh, excuse me?" Estrella says. As the man, turns Estrella's face drops. Kie feels anger rush through as Rafe Cameron stares back at them.

"No, I knew you and Ward were behind this shit." Kie spits

"What are you talking about? You trying to weasel in on my deal?" Rafe says, "Is that what's going on?"

"I wondered if your little reunion would cause sparks, you know." They hear. The three teens turn as a man enters from another room.

"Who are you?" Rafe asks

"Me? My name is Carlos Singh. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cameron." He says before turning to the girls, "And Ms. Carrera, Ms. Cruz, I do apologize for the rough tactics in bringing you here. But please, come. Sit down." Noticing their hesitance, he nods, "Come now, I don't bite."

The girls look to Rafe before Kiara grabs Estrella's hand. She leads the girl into the room sitting in the two chairs closest to one another.

"Rough tactics. What about me?" Rafe asks

"Yes, Mr. Cameron, false pretenses. But the ends justify the means, I'm afraid." Carlos says, "Sit down. We have a lot to talk about."

"Why are we here?" Estrella says

"Well, Ms. Cruz, Ms. Carrera, Mr. Cameron, we share certain interests, you know. Objectives."

"Is this not about the cross?" Rafe says

"It is." Carlos nods, "Tangentially, it is about the cross, but it's also about something much, much bigger than the cross. By orders of magnitude... the completion of a grand quest. You see, the story goes that years ago, a Spanish soldier came out of the Orinoco Basin with a few gold beads. And when they asked the Spanish soldier, "Where the beads came from," the Spanish soldier replied he got them from a peaceful Indigenous tribe who lived in a city of gold. El Dorado. And for the next years, people tried to find that gold, you know."

"They tried. Conquistadors, knights, captains of ships, tribes, entire nations. All fighting each other in a race for the end of the rainbow. Thousands of lives laid on the pyre of gold fever. And it falls to me, you know. It falls to me to complete the task. To bring full circle a quest that has gone on for almost years. Perhaps... perhaps the greatest quest in the history of the western hemisphere, you know. And you three..." He chuckles, "...you three are going to play a part in that. What about you, Ms. Cruz? Are you interested in history?"

"I'm more of a future person." She sasses

Rafe groans, "I didn't listen to a word you said, okay? How much you gonna keep philosophizing?"

"You are direct, aren't you, Mr. Cameron?" Carlos chuckles

"What do you need from us?" Kiara says

"I've come to believe that you and your friends are in possession of something that can help me get what I want."

Estrella raises her brows, "Which is?"

"An old manuscript. A diary, actually."

Estrella and Kiara turn to each other with confusion written on their faces. Both of them having no idea what the man was referring to and both quickly realizing how much danger they could actually be in.

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JJ grunts as he jumps down from the wall. Quickly getting down noticing the guards surrounding the house, "Oh shit! Wait! Sarah, get down! Quick!"

The teens grunt as they all jump down from the wall and lay in the grass beside JJ, "You see him?"

"Shh!" Cleo says

"Oh man." Pope says, "Okay. Portis wasn't kidding."

John B shakes his head, "No, that's a fortress. This is much bigger than Ward."

"We got two towers, patrollers, ATVs, possibly snipers." JJ says

"There's no way we're getting past that." Sarah says

"We gotta help them." Charlotte says

"We can take them if we stay towards the tree line." Cleo says before jumping up

"No, Cleo! No, Cleo!" Sarah tries

JJ gets up and quickly runs after her the other teens having no choice but to follow them.

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"I have no idea what you're talking about." Rafe says

"This is ridiculous. We don't know anything about a diary." Kie says

"But how else could you have learned that the cross was on the Royal Merchant?" Carlos asks

Estrella sighs, "Look, we want to help you, but we can't."

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that, you know." Carlos says, "Because unfortunately, I don't believe you. You and your friend here couldn't have found the cross without it."

"He's not our friend." Kie corrects

"We can't all be friends, you know."

Rafe huffs before he stands, "Look, this is ridiculous. Okay? I'm out. I don't know anything about a diary, okay? So-"

As he tries to walk out, a guard stands in front of him with a gun. Carlos turns to him, "Do I look like a fool to you, Mr. Cameron? Do I look like a fool to you?" Rafe shrugs as Carlos stands up, "You have the cross. She and their friends had the cross at one point. So one of you has the diary. And if you really don't know, then I suggest you convince your friends to tell me. Once I have the diary... you'll be free to leave."

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"Shh!" John B says as the teens duck behind grass

"Oh shit." JJ says

"What do you see?" John B asks. JJ starts using his hands to describe what he was seeing

"Uh..." Charlotte mumbles as Sarahs face scrunches up

"Hey, use your words. Words." John B says

"What?" Pope says as JJ continues using his hands which confuses them further.

"They're right there." JJ finally says

"Then just say that." Pope and Charlotte whisper harshly

"All right. What we should do is we should back up, all right?" JJ says, "Because there's no way."

"JJ, get down." John B says pulling his arm

"Hey." Cleo says, "There's an opening down that way. As soon as the guards turn around, we just sneak in through the back. Come on. Go, it's this way."

The teens begin to follow Cleo before JJ turns to John B, "Wait, you know what we should be doing? Go down, take the sewers up..."

"What sewers?" Sarah says

"The sewers!"

"This is all grassland." Pope says, "There's no sewers."

The teens stand upright and go completely still at the sound of beeps and clicks. Charlotte looks around, "What was that?" She then turns to the others, "What was that?"

The teens look around to find the sound of the continuous beeping. JJ walks further into the grass, "I know that sound. Hold on. All right, all right." He turns and stops, "Wait, what is that?"

As JJ picks it up, Pope gets a good look at it, "It's a game cam."

"Oh shit!" JJ panics, "Yeah, that's... What?"

"Mash it up. Mash it up." Cleo says

"What?" JJ says

"Put it on the ground." Cleo says. As soon as JJ puts it down, Cleo lifts her foot up.

"No!" Pope yells, "Stop it. Give me that. Pull the battery."

"Quick, before it transmits." John B says

"Transmits?" Sarah asks

"Pope, come on! Hurry up." JJ says

The teens go quiet as the beeping finally stops. Sarah looks up, "Do you think we got it before it transmitted?"

Charlotte turns at dogs barking, "No."

"Dogs, dogs. We gotta go." John B says

"Go, go, go, go!" JJ says as they start running in the direction they came in

"We gotta go, we gotta go." Pope says, "Run!"

"Go, go!"

While the teens continue running, they can hear more dogs and engines of trucks coming toward them, "Dogs, dogs! Go, go, go!"

"Don't let them make it to the wall!

"Send the dogs. Send the dogs."

"Come on. Seek, seek."

Charlotte turns and her eyes widen, "Dogs!"

"Dogs, dogs!" Pope yells as they get closer to the wall

"Go, go!"

"Come on, come on!" Pope says

JJ is the first to hop the wall. Sitting on the edge to help the girls climb over. He holds his hand out and helps Charlotte climb over. As the girl lands, he holds his arm out to help Sarah climb over.

"Sarah, come on!" He says. Charlotte helps Cleo down on the other side before Sarah swings her leg over. She helps the girl climb down as the boys finally jump over.

"Okay, cool. No, stay down!" John B says to the dogs barking up at them

"John B! John!" Sarah yells

"Okay." John B pants as he lands by Sarah, "Ah, cool. Series of bad decisions."

Charlotte shuts her eyes as she leans her head back against the wall, "What are we gonna do about Kiara? And- and Estrella?"

"We'll think of something, but we're not leaving them in there." JJ says looking down at her, "Come on."

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Carlos holds his arms out as he leads them back into the room Kiara and Estrella were in, "Enjoy the grounds during your stay. I must warn you, though. I'm not a man of infinite patience. You have one day. Go to the window for a little demonstration. I think you'll enjoy it, you know."

He pats Rafe's arm before walking out. Rafe looks over as they shut the door, "Hey. Hey! You're just done talking?"

Estrella lets out a sigh as she sits down on the bed. Rafe pulls on the doorknob rattling it, "Hey!"

"It's locked." Estrella says as Kie walks over to the window. Rafe walks over and stands beside her.

"Get off me, man! I didn't do nothing, man!"

"Who the hell is that guy?" Rafe asks

"I know him. It's Jimmy Portis." Kie says. Estrella jumps up and walks over, "He was trying to help us."

The three look out the window as Carlos walks into their view. He stares back up at them before pulling a gun out of his belt. Rafe's eyes widen, "Whoa, whoa, whoa."

As he walks out of view, Estrella can feel her heart race. Before she knows it, a gunshot is heard causing all three teens to jump. She can hear Kie panting beside her as she continues staring outside.

"This diary." Rafe pants before turning to them, "Hey, no bullshit. Don't bullshit me. Okay? Do you have it?" He asks before looking to Estrella, "Estrella?"

The girl turns to him before shaking her head, "No."

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