"I'm sorry, you're staying where?" Kie asked in disbelief the next day, John B fresh out of the hospital.

"Tannyhill." he said back.

"My bets? On Kie." Bali spoke up as she hit JJ's shoulder.

"What have you turned her into?" Pope asked in disbelief as JJ rose his hands in defense.

"So you're living with Sarah Cameron." Kie stated in disbelief, getting them a refill on their drinks.

"Okay, the only reason i'm living there is because her dad bailed me out, right?" John B asked as he followed Kie, who set a grade soda down infront of the map Bali was studying, "And it's way better then 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 cut him off in questioning.

JJ rubbed Bali's shoulders when he noticed she'd been getting distracted, only making it worse by default.

"I don't know, Pope." John B huffed.

"If so we can go golfing together and steal from the bar when the old ladies say how pretty we are." Bali gave him a grin and a tilt of her head, "I'm a brutal golfer though. I'm talking six stitches in the back of the head brutal."

"Never will I go golfing with you." Kie commented with a realization look.

"What about those little golf carts they drive around? You get one of them?" JJ asked as he leaned on Bali's chair, looking John B's way in questioning.

"Does it come with a sweater-vest, or do you have to buy one of your own?" Pope questioned as he leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head.

"You can borrow one of mine." Bali spoke up again as her eyes were down at the map once more.

"Why is Bali, girl I barley know, the only supportive one here?" John B asked in disbelief.

"Kooks gotta stick with Kooks." JJ teased, getting a similar look from the pair.

"Look, you promised. You said you weren't with her." Kie said with a hurt look.

"Bro, just own it. She got you." JJ commented with a knowing look John B's way.

"Own it." Bali repeated his words, "Pussy whipped."

"Pussy whipped." JJ repeated right after her, snapping their fingers on sync.

"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." Kie said with a roll of her eyes, making it very clear.

"Do you guys see her here?" John B asked as he looked around, "No, right. Okay. A little focus would be fantastic. Bal, what have you figured out?"

"The coordinates are way off since the map was from so long ago." Bali said as she looked down at the map, JJ over her shoulder.

"It's all out of whack cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it." the blonde went along with her words. Bali turned the map different directions, "You having issues seeing there, ma'am?"

"I'm far sighted, leave me alone." Bali said as she squinted her eyes, "The cost has changed so we have to look for the landmarks that haven't."

"What about the old forts?" John B asked with a raise of his eyebrows.

"Battery Jasper." Kie confirmed with a look his way.

"The north coordinates are here." Bali spoke as they stood on the cliff, pointing down to the map, "And this is parcel nine, right here."

"It's somewhere northeast of here." Pope confirmed for her as he pointed in the direction.

"Somewhere over there?" Kie asked, pointing where he had.

"Right." Pope answered.

"Over there? Guys, that's not Tannyhill, that's a subdivision." JJ corrected them as he looked toward the trio.

"Tannyhill Plantation was the entire island." John B cut in as he looked his way, "It got sold into smaller pieces over time."

"The old stone wall are closer to the north coordinates but turn west, meaning we could be caught right in the middle or it could favor a side." Bali said as she held the map in her hands and held it up to get better light, "Pope?"

"Yup, right there." he pointed it out for her.

"Okay, so the road should split up here." Pope said from the passengers seat while John B drove. Bali sat in the middle of Kie and JJ, untying and retying JJ's shoes, "Take a left."

The van jerked the the side as he turned sharply.

"That looks like a stone wall to me." JJ said as he looked out the window, "Oh, wait, what does the far sighter thing?"

"JJ, leave me alone." Bali scolded him.

"This is it." John B inhaled, "Not the Crain house."

"I feel like I should tell you guys that I once came here and fell through the porch." Bali said as she climbed out of the van after JJ.

"You put a hole in the porch?" Kie asked in disbelief as she came out of the van next.

"It's a old porch." Bali defended herself.

"Great, so, Bali put a hole In the porch of a haunted house. We're definitely haunted and cursed now." Pope said as they all stood infront of the stone wall, "Great, just great."

"Don't be a chicken, Pope." Bali called out from the back of the group.

"I heard that Mrs.Crain buried her husbands head on the property." JJ spoke up as he stared over at the house rather then the wall. He nudged Bali, "When did you come here?"

He saw her face fall slightly before she smiled, "I don't really remember."

"Rafe, just go in there and get it." Bali said as she twitched slightly, sniffling, "Dude, i'm literally dying right now."

"I know, I know." he reassured her, looking for a way in, "I just don't know how to get in?"

Bali's urge to use was getting hard on her as she sniffled, "Where is it?"

"First cabinet on the right, the door handle is broken." Rafe said, standing in the darkness as Bali nodded, "Be quiet."

"You be quiet." Bali said, walking up the creaky porch. Her hand touched the door knob, twisting it as it creaked. She cringed at the noise, leaving the door open as she walked in. The floor boards creaked just as bad. The kitchen was close, seven feet at the most. Bali was light on her feet as she walked into the kitchen, using her phone flashlight to look for the broken cabinet.

She found it in no time, grinning widely. Pulling it open, she found the prescribed pills in a orange bottle. She opened it quickly, using the back of her phone to crush them before leaning down and taking a large snort of the pile.

"Leon." a scratchy voice came behind her. Bali screamed, clutching the bottles of pills and running out of the house. Her foot caved into the porch, making her fall. Bali screamed again, throwing the bottles of pills to Rafe when he got closer as she climbed out of the hole, taking off back toward the dirt bike parked near the front.

"Look, you guys know what house this is, right?" Kie asked as the group walked through the over grown weeds and never mowed grass.

"Oh yeah, no, I do." JJ said, looking around his shoulder and finding Bali trailing rather farther back.

"Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place." John B said honestly. JJ looked at his friends, making sure they hadn't been looking as he grabbed Bali's hand, pulling her closer to the group and trailing in the back with her so they could hold hands.

"Which stories did you hear?" JJ asked Kie in a slight panic.

She glanced back, making them yank their hands away from each other, "The one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since."

"Maybe it was the other way around and he took her identity just to make it seem like he was missing, just to see who all would care if he was gone." Bali said with a hum. Pope gave her a odd look, "I'm a writer, Pope, this shit comes to me naturally."

"On certain nights, when the moon is full, you can see her in the window." Kie said in a spooky tone, waving her fingers at JJ, who was already panicking.

"No, Kie, it's not funny, cause it's all true." JJ spoke frantically.

"Don't be such a scaredy cat, JJ. Do your friends know you cried when we watched The Conjuring?" Bali asked as she trailed close behind him.

"I wasn't crying, you got popcorn in my eyes." JJ defended himself.

"When did you guys go see a movie?" John B asked from the back. Bali's eyes widened as she kicked JJ's ankle slightly.

"We didn't. She was there with her mom and I was with that cute toron girl, remember?" JJ asked as he looked back at John B in questioning, "Blonde, had a thing for ghost hunting, came from the village and had two moms?"

"Right, right, I remember." John B nodded his head.

"I swear to god, guys, this is all real. I knew Hollis." JJ said as he jumped back when they passed a statue, "Jeez!"

Bali snorted and pushed past him to walk with Kie in the front.

"You knew Hollis Crain?" John B asked in disbelief as they all stopped walking to listen to JJ's story.

"Yeah, dude." JJ confirmed.

"Dude, how do you know Hollis Crain?" Pope pushed his chest, wanting answered immediately.

"She was my babysitter, man. She told me all about it." JJ spoke up, pulling them all closer into a circle, "Told me the truth... 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 she was a murderer and all. Hollis didn't believe it. Until that night."

"What night?" John B asked quickly.

"It all came back to her." JJ said as he looked his way, "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 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 fathers head, looking straight back at her."

"God, you are so full of shit." John B threw his head back in disbelief.

"Your creepy babysitter is a liar, JJ. If weeks had passed, his head would had rotted enough for her to not recognize him. And why did she just randomly decide to use the outhouse? Just outta the blue." Bali said in disbelief, siding with John B on this one, "Context clues, homie."

"Did she call the police?" Pope asked, still deep in the story.

"She didn't have time. Wait- dude!" JJ called as John B began walking off quickly.

"You sure you wanna do this? She's an axe murderer. You got a cast on." JJ pointed out with a nod down at John B's arm.

"I don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay? I got nothing to lose, right?" John B asked with a raise of his eyebrows.

"Still would hurt, getting axed into. I mean, I felt that punch Topper laid on you at the beach, I don't even wanna think about what i'll feel if you get axed up." Bali said with a cringe and shake of her shoulders, "I feel it now."

"Bal, what's your star sign?" Kie asked with a raise of her eyebrows.

"Sagittarius." Bali said back quickly, "Leo moon and Pisces rising."

"Makes so much since." Kie said honestly with a nod of her head.

"You comin, or what?" John B asked as he began walking toward the house. JJ shared a panicked look with Pope.

"I'm right behind you, John B. Ain't no axe gonna scare me." Bali said as she dropped her voice to come off deep and intimidating.

•

kylie speaks

bali's backstory
ugh, it's so complex
and intense.

but jali holding hands
when no ones looking.
ugh, my heart.