Tʜᴇ Pʜᴀɴᴛᴏᴍ (2)
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The four teens rushed to the Château hoping to get there in time for John B. Kie backed the boat into the water and the boys tied it off. They loaded all the food and other necessities John B would need for his trip. Now, they were just waiting for John B to arrive.
"Dude, where is he?" Kie says
"Give him a second. He'll be here." Pope says
"He's coming. He'll be fine." JJ says
They all turn as they hear sirens approaching. They all start to panic.
"JJ!
"Hey, yeah. Get back on the boat. Untie it."
"Shit."
"Wait." Estrella says. John B hops out of the drivers side.
"No way." JJ says
"No f'ing way." Pope says
"I'm sorry." Kie frowns
"You've gotta be kidding me."
"Uh..." Kie chuckles.
"Shoupe let me take it for a spin." John B jokes
"Okay. That's believable. I'll buy that for now." Kie says before she hugs him.
"It wasn't easy, bro, but I got the Phantom for you, and she runs like she was made yesterday." JJ says jingling the keys, "You ready to go?"
John B looks around, "Where's Sarah?"
"She's not with you?" Kie asks
"No, we got separated in the swamp. She said she'd meet me here."
"No, we haven't seen her."
"Okay, well, I'm not leaving without her."
"Dude, you don't have time for this." Estrella sighs
"John B, look at me. I know you feel bad for leaving, but there's no time, man. You've got plenty of gas, plenty of food. Once you get around that point, it's a straight shot across the sound to Dismal Swamp, okay? Once you get there, lay low, all right?" JJ explains
"Hang out for a couple of weeks and then go overland, cross the border at Brownsville, you got that? Brownsville. You-" JJ notices John B's attention is elsewhere. He turns his head back to him, "Hey! You got that?"
"Yeah, yeah. Brownsville." John B says
"All right. Saddle her up, saltwater cowboy. Let's do this." JJ says getting off of the boat as John B gets on.
"Yeah." As John B gets on, he turns to everyone else, "Hey. Hey. I'm sorry for basically... throwing us off a cliff with this whole treasure hunt thing."
"Hey, John B, yo. We were bound to run off a cliff at some point, right?" JJ chuckles. John B nods with a teary smile
"Yeah."
"At least we did it together, though." JJ says as he wraps his arms around everyone, "Pogue style."
"Pogue style." John B says before his eyes trail over to Estrella, "Estrella-"
"I know." She nods. His eyes start to water again as he nods, "Get out of here. Please. Now."
"We'll see you in two months, down in Mexico." Pope says
"Love you." JJ says
"Hey, wait... wait a second." John B turns again, "Tell Sarah I said goodbye, okay?"
JJ nods slightly, "Don't forget. Cross the border at Brownsville, okay?"
"Got it." He says before he starts the engine. The four of them push the boat off as John B starts turning. They watch as he rides off into the water.
JJ takes his hat off and turns away. Estrella walks away as Pope turns to Kiara. JJ looks up as he notices her passing.
"Estrella." He says. The girl turns to him as he puts his hat back on, "I-"
"Don't say you're sorry again. You've said it like a million times."
"Because I mean it. I am sorry." He says taking slow steps to her
"I know you are. So is John B." She says looking up at him, "But I'm still not okay with two of my closest friends making a joke out of me."
"I know." He nods looking down, "I'll do anything I can to make it up to you."
Estrella tilts her head, "I don't think that'll ever really happen, JJ. Our relationship was special to me and I don't think it'll ever get back to that now that I know what you did to me."
JJ's hope slowly dwindles as he stares at her. Her eyes don't hold the same sparkle they did every time he looked at her. The way she said JJ didn't sound the same way it usually did.
Before he can say anything, sirens approach. Pope and Kie run up to Estrella and JJ as the cars stop in front of them.
"Pope." Kie says as she holds her hands up
"Move. Hands up! Hands up!" An officer says walking up to the dock.
"Pope, hands." Estrella says as she holds her own up.
"We're too late. He's gone. God damn it!" Shoupe yells, "Bratcher, have your guys stand down. Let me talk to these kids."
The teens stand with their hands up as he approaches them, "All right, where the hell is he? Where the hell is he? JJ? I see you're livin' up to your name. Pope, how about you? This isn't a fucking game! You can do the right thing now! Where'd he go?"
They all stay silent.
"Suspect has just left Station 26 in a small boat. Need marine patrol to respond." The other officer says
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The officers ended up taking the four teens with them to the set up they had to find John B. They made them sit in a tent to try and get them to talk.
As chaos ensued around them, Estrella became aware of how serious the situation was. She'd always known it was serious, but for these past couple of days, she'd been running on adrenaline. Now that she was just sitting here listening to the officers, she realized how fucked they all possibly could be.
She feels something hit the side of her knee. She looks over and sees JJ looking at her. He nods at her to make sure she's okay. She nods back as she looks around.
"That's them! There they are!" She hears. She looks up quickly and sees that all the lights on the island had finally come on. Which meant the light house had come on and was shining directly on the boat with John B and Sarah.
They watch as police boats start to chase after them. Their view is blocked by officers running around.
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It felt like forever that the teens sat there waiting for some sort of update on John B and Sarah. The storm had started as their legs shook up and down. They stand up as Shoupe and two other officers walked in.
"Did you find them?" Pope says as they walk up to them
"No."
"So, they got away?" Kie says looking around hopeful
"We, uh... we lost them." He says, "I'm sorry."
"You lost them? What do you mean you lost them?" Estrella frowns
"Like, they're gone? What are you talking about?"
"They took an open boat into a tropical depression, Pope."
"So, they're dead?" Kie says
"We don't know."
"You drove them straight through the storm, man!" JJ yells, "Are you kidding me? Come here! I'm gonna kill you!" He yells before he jumps at them
"JJ, stop!" Kie yells
An officer grabs him and pulls him away, "I'm gonna kill you, you bastard!"
"Hey!"
"You killed him!"
"He didn't kill anyone, and you know it!" Pope yells
"We're still looking for him, all right?"
"Pope. Pope, just stop. Please, stop." Kie cries as she pulls him away.
Estrella and Kie turn and see their parents walking in. Kie walks up to her parents as the Heyward's walk over to Pope. Estrella's mom walks in slowly.
Estrella faces scrunches as she starts to cry, "Mom."
"Oh, bebe ven aqui." She says as she holds her arms out. Estrella immediately runs into them. Her head in her ,om's neck as she cries. Her mom squeezes her and rubs her back as she looks around. She sees JJ standing in a corner by himself.
"JJ." She calls out. The boy looks up with teary eyes as she holds her arm out. He slowly approaches them as she nods. She grabs his arm and pulls him in. Her arm goes around the both of them. JJ's tears escaping as Estrella sobs in her mom's arms.
"It's okay, mija. It's okay." Her mom says as she sways with them
Estrella couldn't believe it. She never thought in a million years that someone so close to her would be taken from her so suddenly. But they were.
John B and Sarah were gone.
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ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɢᴏᴇs sᴇᴀsᴏɴ 1. ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ɪᴛ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ʟɪᴛᴇʀᴀʟʟʏ ᴡʀᴏᴛᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡʜᴏʟᴇ sᴇᴀsᴏɴ ɪɴ ʟɪᴋᴇ 2 ᴅᴀʏs. ɪᴛ's ɪɴsᴀɴᴇ. ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴜʏs ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ᴀs ᴀʟᴡᴀʏs <3
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"Oʜ, ʙᴇʙᴇ ᴠᴇɴ ᴀᴏ̨ᴜɪ." - Oʜ, ʙᴀʙʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ʜᴇʀᴇ.
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