𝟎𝟐𝟏.                  𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐮𝐧

novocaine        ────         fall out boy

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖨 𝖶𝖮𝖪𝖤 𝖴𝖯 𝖳𝖧𝖨𝖲 𝖬𝖮𝖱𝖭𝖨𝖭𝖦，𝖠𝖢𝖧𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖠𝖭𝖣 𝖭𝖤𝖤𝖣𝖸 𝖥𝖮𝖱 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖲𝖳𝖴𝖯𝖨𝖣 𝖡𝖠𝖲𝖳𝖠𝖱𝖣 𝖶𝖧𝖮 𝖲𝖫𝖤𝖯𝖳 𝖨𝖭 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖮𝖳𝖧𝖤𝖱 𝖱𝖮𝖮𝖬．I thought that this ache would pass but it only intensified as the day went on, and now we're at the Crain House, crouched down in the grass with our bodies pressed together── the world is punishing me. We're wearing dark clothing, trying to act conspicuous. We have flashlights and a long rope, but no grappling hook because we ain't Batman. We don't want to get caught by Mrs. Crain, the potential axe murderer.

We're in a circle, listening to John B thank us for being here, for helping. "It means a lot to me that you're here tonight." John B slaps a hand on my shoulder, squeezing tightly. I smile, pressing my hand over his.

"Of course." Where else would we be? This is the most exciting part of our lives at the moment. Everybody nods and smiles, clapping their hands over John B's.

"Alright, we done with the circle jerk? Can we go do this?"

"Let's get that wheat in the water," Pope says, and I couldn't agree more.

JJ, however, misunderstands him. "Weed? I'm up for weed." Honestly, same.

"Wheat. I said wheat."

We move away from the circle, us girls up ahead because, you know, ladies first and all. We don't get very far because, of course, this old hag has motion sensor lights. We immediately rush to duck away, knowing we can't do anything until we disable those lights.

"We could, uh... move really slowly, maybe?" JJ suggests. Remember when I called him smart, yeah, what was I thinking?

"That's not how it works."

"Let's throw a rock at it," John B suggests, again falling onto the bandwagon of dumb ideas.

"What?" I cannot be related to him.

"That's a really good idea," Kiara says, tone sarcastic. "Let the axe murderer know that we're here."

"Throw a rock at it?"

"You have a better idea?"

"Literally anything but that," I comment, also not having a great idea to contribute.

"What about the breaker?" Sarah suggests. "In the circuit box on the porch," she clarifies before continuing, "We used to play hide-and-seek here as kids. And if we were brave enough, we'd go all the way up to the porch. I've seen it."

John B shakes his head, disagreeing. "No, no. You're not going in the house alone."

"Watch me," she bites back. Go, girl.

"Crain chops people into pieces," JJ says next to me.

"Dude." Yes, that's right, I'm calling him dude. He left he high and dry last night── well, not dry, but you understand. I'm not happy with him at the moment. "She's like what, eighty five?"

JJ peers at me. "Yeah, somethin' like that."

"She's probably barely still kicking," I say, knowing full well that I can take an eighty-five year old woman if I need to. "Hey, I'll go with Sarah." I'd rather go with her than hang with the boys anyway.

"I'll go too," Kiara speaks.

"Girl power," I utter, holding my hand up but nobody claps mine. Well...

We leave our crouching positions, moving to sit up slightly. "We'll wait for your signal," Pope says, and we nod.

"Okay, cool."

"Hey!" John B's hand clasps Sarah's. "Be safe."

I scoff next to Kiara, glaring at him. "Are you not going to tell me── your own flesh and blood── to be safe?" John B looks away from Sarah, glaring right back at me.

"Be safe, B. Don't do anything stupid."

"Ah, I love you," I deadpan, moving away first as Sarah promises John B that we'll be safe.

Using our flashlights, we navigate through the mass amount of bushes and grass, moving towards the front porch. I'm up ahead, followed by Kiara and Sarah. I never imagined I'd be this close to Mrs. Crain's porch, especially given the horror stories I heard growing up. I mean, nobody dared stepped onto the front porch never mind ring the bell.

"She must have a generator plugged into the main power supply."

Sarah passes me, moving to step onto the porch first. She shines her torch, staring at the many wires that run along the outside of the home. We find the main generator, seeing that it's located outside the home as Sarah suspected.

Kiara steps forward, opening the generator only to find... nothing. "Where are the breakers?"

Sarah shines her torch on the generator, uttering "No, no, no, no, no, no" over and over again while I move my flashlight up, running it along the wire coming out of the generator. I trace the wire until it stops, heading inside the house which can only mean one thing.

If we want to turn these motion sensor lights off, we need to go inside the freaking horror house. "It goes inside," I say, stepping away towards the front door, prepared for whatever's about to happen.

The door creaks as I pull it open, and I wish to God that it stops as I push open the next door which brings us into the home. Sarah and Kiara are behind me, shining their torches as I hold mine between my teeth.

I move through the home, keeping my steps as featherlight as possible as I round the corner into the lounge. I find this place to be huge for just one person, but I also don't think she'd ever want to leave this property, not after all the stories. I take another step, wincing at the way my shoes rub on the hardwood floors. They squeak, pissing me off beyond belief. I don't need this right now.

I'm inside the scariest house in the Outer Banks.

When I take another step, a cat yowls at my feet, frightening me as it scurries off, rushing past my legs. I stumble back, Kiara catches my arm, and I regain my posture. My heart thumps quickly in my chest, my entire body feeling tense from the idea of being caught by a potential axe murderer.

I'm not sure I want a cat now.

I point my flashlight up, following the wire from the generator outside and tracking it through the house as we move past the lounge, heading for the kitchen. The floorboards continue to creak at our feet, but we have no way of stopping that. This house is old as fuck.

When the wire stops tracking and we turn a corner, we find the generator. "Oh, thank God." We each laugh quietly, relieved on a whole new level. Kiara steps forward, passing her flashlight to me. She reaches out for the switch, flicking it to one side. It makes a small noise, clicking again to indicate that it's shut off.

Everything sounds so loud in the dead of night, doesn't it? Even the clicking of a switch sounded like someone hitting a giant bell with a hammer. It was loud, but at least it's shut off.

"We did it," Sarah whispers, stepping back.

We hear a small noise── a whirring kind of noise── and we immediately push ourselves back into the wall next to the generator. We shut our flashlights off, afraid that we're about to get caught. That is the last thing we need right now, especially when the boys are about to go in that well. I know my brother is heading down that well, and while I don't have time to freak out about it, I am freaking out about it.

What if he plummets all the way down and dies? That's a big 'what if', but it could happen.

I suck in a deep breath, finding that if I hold my breath, I won't get caught. I hear a faint sound from above my head── the clicking of a cane, I think. I look to Kiara, finding that she is holding her breath too. We hear shuffling followed by a faint thumping noise which I believe is her cane.

She's coming down the stairs.

"Shit."

I lean forward, peering down the dark corridor to see the stairs. Stumbling down the stairs is Mrs. Crain, her cane thumping loudly on the hardwood steps as she scuffles across the floor, now reaching the bottom of the stairs.

Kiara slaps a hand over her mouth, needing to keep herself quiet. Sarah shakes next to me, obviously afraid, but she keeps herself quiet and pressed against the wall. I am freaking out on the inside, beyond afraid of being caught by this woman despite her being eighty-five-years-old. I bite down on my bottom lip, holding my flashlight as tightly as possible as I hold my breath.

Mrs. Crain shuffles closer, now moving into the lounge. "It's── It's late, Leon." I'm guessing Leon is the husband she murdered. "Too late." She coughs, a wheeze following. God, she sounds dead to me. How is she up and walking?

As her cane pounds against the floor, her feet move. With every hit of her cane, my heart pounds in my chest.

My heart sinks to the floor when Mrs. Crain inches closer, her feet dragging across the floor as she moves into our space. She's now in our bubble, crushing it with that damn cane in her hand. She's in front of us, passing by us as she talks to herself, "I can hear you, Leon."

I hear Sarah whimper next to me.

This is beyond terrifying, like something actually out of a damn horror movie.

"I've been waiting all night!"

Sarah's flashlight turns on, Mrs. Crain spins around to face us, and we scream, immediately running away before she catches up with us── if that's even possible. We bolt, Sarah running ahead with me and Kiara following behind.

"Leon!"

We rush back through the lounge, heading for the hall. We find the staircase, and then we see the door that leads down to the basement but it's covered with wooden slabs. She obviously didn't want anyone to come in here, but we need to get down to the basement now.

Kiara starts pulling at the lock on the door and I step away, seeing if I can find another way out. When I turn around, Mrs. Crain stands behind me with a fire poker in hand, ready to swing. "Ah!" She swings, screeching loudly as she knocks over an expensive looking stack of plates on a nearby table.

Sarah comes rushing in, snatching the fire poker from Mrs. Crain when she attempts to swing again. Sarah is able to throw the fire poker down to the ground. "Guys." Sarah snatches my hand. "Come on. This way." I grab Kiara's hand, and Sarah drags us along, back through the door and into the adjoining room.

Once we're in the room, we slam the door shut. We don't get a moment to breathe, not even for a second, because the fire poker comes swinging at the door, creating a hole so she can break through. We shriek, rushing away.

"This way!" Sarah runs away first, and we follow, needing to get out of here now before she roasts us on the fire. "It goes underneath the house!"

We bolt, heading through another door and barrelling down the stairs. I run so fast that I nearly trip headfirst down the stairs, but Sarah is keeping a safe distance from me and any potential falling I may do in an attempt to escape that freaking lady.

She's crazy.

All those stories must be true.

She definitely, one-hundred percent murdered her husband.

"Guys!" I scream, rushing into the basement once we reach the bottom of the stairs. "Guys!" We come to a crashing halt when we see the boys── Pope and JJ hold the rope while John B is still in that well. I need him back up here, safe and sound before Mrs. Crain catches up with us.

"She's up there!" Sarah heaves, body slumping forward as she tries to catch her breath.

"She tried to kill us with a fire poker." Not one of the finest moments in our lives. "We gotta go."

"We looked her in the parlor, but we gotta go."

"Okay, code red. Let's go. John B! Get back on, man!" JJ yells down at the well, hoping John B can hear. I move, my legs feeling tired and sore, but I need to call out for my brother.

"Hey, John B!"

"Hold on, man! I'm comin'!"

We move to grab the rope and on the count of three, we pull. Somehow, with the strength of us five, we don't succeed in tugging on the rope. No, it slips right through our fingers and we come crashing to the ground.

"Shit!" I scurry across the floor, needing to check if my brother is okay.

We hear John B, he's yelling something, but we can't understand him. While I'm relieved to hear his voice, I have this fear that he's drowning or something, so we stand, needing to pull him back up to safety.

"John B!"

"Hey, John B! Get back on the rope. We're gonna pull you back up, okay, buddy?" Pope instructs, hoping he's listening.

We take ahold of the rope, and this time we don't let it slip through our fingers. We pull as hard as we can, using our combined strength to pull the weight of my brother up to safety. "Come on! Pull!"

My hands burn, my insides churn, and my body aches as I grip the rope as tight as I can, needing to get my brother back to this level. I can't let anything happen to him, so I pull as hard as I can, screaming to my friends to pull as hard as they can too. "Come on!"

John B is closer to the top, and just as I see his head, a gunshot fires behind me, causing me to drop the rope. The rope drops, sending John B back down the well. He's yelling at us, and Pope insists he ties off the rope so John B can pull himself up while we hide from this crazy bitch.

We each drop to the ground, scurrying away to find a hiding spot. I press my back against a pillar, watching over my shoulder as Mrs. Crain steps into the basement, shotgun in hand.

"She can't aim for shit," I hear Kiara say.

"She can't see. She's blind."

Another gunshot sounds, eliciting a scream from the girls on the far corner. "Go! Go!" They make a run for it, charging out of the basement. I should run with them but I stay on the floor, waiting until I see my brother on this level.

Mrs. Crain shoots again, this time in Pope's direction which urges him to move with JJ, and they're the next to leave. "Brooke, come on!" JJ and Pope leave me behind, knowing I won't leave until my brother is right here with us.

John B's head peeks up, and I shuffle across the ground to grasp his hand. Mrs. Crain fires again just as John B pulls himself up, his hand falling into mine as we move out of the basement── being the last ones to leave the psycho.

"Whoo!" We climb out of the basement, my hand gripping his tightly as we rush towards that familiar wall we need to climb over in order to get out of this place. When I hear another gunshot, a laugh rumbles out of me instead of a cry.

"Whoo!" I cheer, reaching the wall and pulling myself up with the help of John B.

When John B and I are on the other side of the wall, we begin to make a run for the Twinkie which JJ is driving, needing to get us away from this house before we get killed. I hear another shot, but I ignore it, using the little strength I have left to charge forward into the van.

John B pushes me ahead, and I fall into the van's open door. I grasp John B's arm, pulling him in with me. In the light, I find that he's covered in gunk and dirt, but I don't care.

We're all alive. We're great.

That was a good adrenaline rush I just got there.

"Are you okay? Are you shot?"

"No." He coughs out, pressing his hand over mine. I know he's covered in literal shit, but I don't care, I still check for any signs of injury.

"I think I'd know if I was shot, right?"

"You look disgusting," Pope breathes out, staring right at John B. We erupt into childish laughter, finding that to be very true.

"You smell like ass," I say, falling back next to him.

"What the hell just happened?"

"All-time Pogue Hall of Fame, baby."

"Hell, yeah." Kiara smacks her hand against JJ's back. "That bitch is possessed."

"That bitch can't aim," I say, holding my hand up and smacking it against Kiara's.

"How does she move that fast?" That is a very good question, but I don't answer because my eyes snag onto something bright── something gold like.

The crew talk around me, but I'm looking to John B who is pulling something disgusting out of his pocket. I watch as he swipes his thumb across the object, moving the sewage off it. My eyes widen once I realise what it is.

"You didn't!" I shriek, instinctively wrapping my arms around his neck despite the fact that he is covered in shit.

"We did it, baby!" He cheers loudly, his arm lifting up to wrap around me.

"No, you didn't!"

"I did it!"

"Oh, my God!" JJ screams.

"I did it!"

We scream and cheer, beyond excited about this. We could only ever dream about this, and now it's here, sitting beautifully in our hands── the gold. Pope's entire body shakes in excitement. JJ claps his hands over the wheel, screaming loudly. Sarah and Kiara are cheering, clapping their hands together. And I am on the verge of tears because what we have in our hands is what Dad has been searching his entire life for.

"Holy shit, guys, we're gonna be rich!"

That's when we begin to chant, forgetting all our worries and troubles because we are going to be Kook rich, baby.

"Full Kook! Full Kook! Full Kook! Full Kook! Full Kook!" We chant, slapping our hands together and cheering, screaming with no care in the world. "Full Kook! Full Kook! Whoo!"

This is singlehandedly the best day of my life.

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❀ soph speaks

does anyone remember when they were just all happy and cute about finding all that gold

can we just go back to that... there was nothing greater than season one