𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄, 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐎
𝟗:𝟓𝟎 - 𝟏𝟒:𝟑𝟎
𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜: 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙚 »𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙚

∞

"—And we were right outside like this." JJ stands flat against the wall while explaining to Pope and Kie what happened, "And all we hear is just, 'Bam! Bam! Bam!'. Knocking paint off the wall, G! From the inside. Alright? And I'm just looking at him, like— wait, first off," He walks over, flipping his hair over and scratching his hand through it, causing paint to drop to the porch floorboards.

"That's dandruff, disgusting." Kie grimaces, leaning back slightly.

"It's paint." He argues, his eyes snapping to me, "Right, A?"

I nod, hiding a smirk, "He's right. It's paint."

"See. Ava's always right. It's paint," He sighs, "But at that point, I was just, like... I'm waiting for death."

"Oh, okay, so you saw the guys that shot at us, right?" Pope asks, repositioning his hat, dismissing most of what the blonde just said.

"Yeah."

"Did you get a good description of them? What did they look like?" He questions, "Anything we can bring to a police report."

"Burly." JJ replies.

"Burly?"

"Yeah," He nods, "You know, like—"

"That's not very helpful." Kie groans, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Okay, well, no, like the type of guy at my dad's garage." JJ says, "I mean, you guys know he made cargo hides for drug smugglers. I can tell you with full confidence, these boys, these killers—" He lights a cigarette and takes a puff, "—they're square groupers."

"They're square groupers, like narco square grouper?" Pope rubs his face, "Like Pablo Escobar square grouper?"

"Yeah, man." JJ nods as he passes me the cigarette, noticing me eyeing up the blunt.

"You guys, not everything is a kingpin movie." Kie points out.

"What does the square grouper look like specifically?" Pope ignores Kie and turns more to JJ.

"You weren't there, bro!" JJ snaps, roughly taking the cig back from my hands after I take a few blows; using it to calm both our nerves.

"You don't know what you're looking for!"

"Dude, I wasn't taking little mental polaroids the entire time, man. I was under duress, okay?" JJ splutters in a high pitch tone, "But I can tell you.. I can tell you by the way that Ms Lana was screaming.. that these guys are serious, serious hombres, man."

There are a few moments of silence and JJ passes me back the cigarette before sighing deeply, "It's a heavy vibe right now. I'm not liking this very much."

"Why do they want the compass?" Kie questions.

"It's a piece of shit. You could pawn it off for five bucks if you wanted to." Pope rolls his eyes. I kick his leg and he hisses in pain, "I was just about to say no offence."

I purse my lips, pulling the cig away from my lips to speak, "Just because you say no offence, it doesn't make it less-"

"The office." John B blurts, speaking up fro the first time in a while, "Dad's office. He always kept the office locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research." He says while we follow him inside the Chateau.

"We used to laugh at him like he was gonna find it." I mumble, throwing the cigarette into the bin as we pass.

"Now that he's gone, I've just left it how he kept it." He fumbles with the keys before opening the door.

"I've slept over here like 600 times, and I've never seen this door opened." Pope mutters.

"I've lived here my whole life and I've never been allowed in, only Mr. Favourite was." I tell him, prodding my finger into my brother's back.

"Favouritism at it's finest." JJ smirks, tapping my ass while he walks past, causing my hand to fly down, narrowly missing his.

"Here, look." John B places a notice board on the table and we crowd round, "This is the original owner, right here."

"Okay. Robert Q Routledge. 1880 to 1920. There's the lucky compass, right there." Kie points at the photo of the sailor holding the compass.

"Actually, um, he was shot after he bought it." John B sighs, "Then the compass was shipped back to Henry. He was killed in a crop dusting accident when he had the compass. After he died, the compass was given to Stephen. Stephen had the compass with him when he died in Vietnam."

"Let me guess, he died in action, right?" JJ grumbles.

"Sort of. Uh, actually, he was killed by a banana truck. In country. Anyways, after that," John continues, "Stephen passed the compass down to dad."

"And dad is also dead, great." I throw my arms up in the air.

"He's not dead, Ava." John B glares at me, "Stop being so fucking depressing."

JJ' eyes widen at his harsh words and he scrambles for a way to settle it, "Okay... Either way, it sounds like there's a reoccurring theme here." JJ nods.

"Yeah, you have a death compass." Pope agrees.

"Get rid of it, dude." JJ suggests, "It's cursed and made its way back to you."

"Look," John B huffs and fiddles with the compass, "My dad used to talk about this compartment in here. Soldiers used to hide secret notes."

I sit down in the office chair, looking out the window, while they all talk about the compass around the table.

"How can you work with that thing constantly crowing at you?" Pope snarls and that breaks me back into the conversation .

"JJ loves the rooster." John B says.

"I love the rooster." Kie smiles.

"The rooster is my baby." I state and JJ smirks at me while I go back to staring out the window.

A large black car pulls up outside the house. The windows too blacked out for me to see who it is. My back straightens and I slowly sit up, craning my neck around the wall to watch two men climb out their vehicle.

"Guys." I hiss, "Somebody's here." I shoot out the seat and they all go silent, walking over to the window to see.

The men start to head towards the chateau's front door, mumbling lowly back and forth.

"Guys, is that them?" Kie asks, glancing at us all.

"This is suboptimal." Pope whispers as JJ walks away angrily.

"John B, I told you. Why does it always—"

He's cut off when I shove him roughly against the wall, my fists curled around his tank top, "Where's the gun?"

"I like this position." JJ smirks, his eyes floating up and down my body.

I tense my jaw, surprisingly managing to not blush, "The gun, JJ. Where is it?"

"The gun? I, uh—"

"Now you don't have the gun, the one time we need the gun?" Kie hisses.

"It was in my backpack, then—" He clicks his fingers, "It's on the porch."

I release him, allowing him to rush out to but he speeds back when the men yell out, banging on the door.

"Guys, go out the window." I wave them over to it, "I'll distract them."

"What the fuck? No." JJ whisper-yells, shaking his head frantically.

"I'm going." I snap, slowly opening the door, "Lock the door behind me."

"Ava, what the fuck? No. You aren't going out there!" JJ shouts, and John B clamps a hand over his mouth, holding him back from charging after me, but he continues to struggle, smacking my brother's legs in protest.

"I'll be fine. Just go through the window." I walk out, shutting the door behind me and I hear someone lock it; probably Pope.

I walk up to the front door, slowly dragging it open. My eyes reach the men and my hands start to shake, I hold them behind my back, attempting to hide how scared I am, "Hello," I smile sweetly.

"Who are you?" The taller man growls.

"Tod."

Shit. Ava, you are a dumbass.

"Tod?"

"Toni." I correct as if he didn't hear me correctly the first time.

"Do you know John B Routledge?"

I tilt my head, "You mean the annoying kid who never shuts up?"

"His name is John B," He spits.

There is a clatter in the office and the men's head's turn towards the direction of the noise before slowly coming back to me, eyebrows furrowed.

"He's here, isn't he?" One of them growls angrily, hands already prepped in fists at his sides.

I shake my head, "Nope."

The bearded man pushes me, sending me flying down the hall. I crash to the floor and I can already feel a bruise forming on my back. They storm towards me angrily and I scurry back on all fours until I hit the living room table, leaving me with no other option but to hurry into a standing.

"Where is he?" He roars.

I kick his nuts and turn to run until I hit the other guy's chest. He grips my neck hard, lifting me off the ground as I kick my legs frantically.

"Where the fuck is he?" He yells, extremely loud while the other man throws random stuff around.

"Fuck you." I choke out while clawing at his arm

"What the fuck did you just say?" He tightens his grip and I can feel my life slipping away.

"Fuck you." I repeat in a shout, using the last of my energy to project my voice, "I'm— I'm his sister, you— you dumb fucks."

He throws me roughly onto the ground, my arm taking most of the impact. He steps closer, his nose flared in anger.

"Just tell us where your brother is!"

I shake my head slightly, not having enough strength to do anything else. He kicks me in the side and I scrunch up into a ball, a loud groan escaping my lungs.

"Tell-us." He bellows.

He receives nothing from me, making him boot me again, this time in the head twice - causing blood to drop from my nose and eyebrow. In a flash everything is black and there's zero sound.

Shit, I'm dead as a dodo.