๐๐๐. ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก
๐๐๐.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก
partners in crimeย ย ย ย ย โโโโย ย ย ย finneas
โ๏ธ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ง'๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฏ
๐จ ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ซ๐ธ ๐ง๐ ๐ฃ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ค๐ถ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐ฒ๐ซ๐ค๐ค๐ฏ ๐ก๐ค๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ค ๐จ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฃ๐ค๐ซ๐ธ ๐ ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค๐ญ ๐ก๐ธ ๐ช๐จ๐ ๐ฑ๐ ๏ผShe'd come by the Chateau to act as my alarm as I had forgot to set one. I forgot to set an alarm for school as I was a little distracted last night with, you know, JJ being JJ. After being pulled and yanked and tugged at for ten minutes, Kiara and Pope finally pulled me out of my bed and into the car.
We're now at the lovely place we call school, sat in a boring ass history class. Not only am I sat in this history class, I'm doing a test for a class that I've failed to attend for months prior, so these questions are so fucking confusing.
I hate tests.
The only thing that stops me from falling asleep at my desk is the faint knock that echoes throughout the room. The door is pushed open, and somebody peers their head in to ask, "Mr. Sunn, can I borrow Pope for a minute?"
We each look up, confused why this guy needs to see Popeโโ our Pope. Huh.
"We're in the middle of a test." Oh, screw the test, let him go.
"I'm from the Vanderhorst Foundation."
Mr. Sunn sighs, and he looks over to Pope who seems to one of the only people actually invested in this test. "Mr. Heyward, it's for you." Pope rises from his chair instantly, and he leaves without even glancing back at us.
But for the entire time that he's gone, I question what he and that random man from the Vanderhorst Foundation could be talking about. He's gone for at least three minutes, not one, which doesn't please Mr. Sunn in the slightest, but Pope steps back into the room with an envelope in hand.
He sits down at his desk, and he turns to face us with the envelope held up to us. We find a wheat symbol to be pressed on to the back of the paper. "Is that the wheat symbol?"
"Yeah," he whispers back.
"What the fโโ fu... fu..." We peer over at him along with the teacher who doesn't like that he's talking in the middle of a test. "...fudge?" He clamps his mouth shut, glancing at me as I suppress a laugh, needing to refocus on this test that I really don't want to do.
We stay in class instead of bolting out, and once it ends, we hand in our tests and walk off to the library so we can read this letter. We get shushed by the librarian, so we move away before she has us tackled and thrown out.
"Okay, so that guy was from the scholarship committee," he explains, but we already knew that. "Take a look at this." Pope pushes the letter into JJ's hands who is desperate to read the contents.
JJ opens the envelope, pulling out the letter, but I don't think he can understand what it says based on the way his face contorts. He shrugs, looking at each of us. "I can't read cursive."
I sigh, a hint of a smile on my lips as I pull the letter from his hands, deciding that I will be reading it. "Dear Mr. Heyward," I begin. "I am reaching out because I have material evidence that can exonerate John B. Routledge." My eyes widen, beyond thrilled to see that in fancy writing. I shake my head, continuing to read, "It is of vital importance that you come and meet with me in person at my offices at twenty-seven King Street, Charleston at eight p.m. sharp tonight. Please come alone," I finish, peering down at the name scribbled below. "Regards, C. Limbrey."
"Charleston?" Kiara questions as I hand the letter off to her, letting her skim over it.
"It's like an eight-hour drive plus the ferry," Pope tells us because, of course, he knows that information. "How will we get there tonight?"
"We'd have to leave right now."
"I have a free period," Kiara says, grinning.
"Material evidence? What does that even mean, material evidence?" JJ asks, staring down at the letter he can't make sense of.
"It means he can clear John B," I clarify.
"Oh, shit, then we're going to Charleston."
"I gotta tell my mom," Kiara sighs. "Look, if we get it this time, we are not giving it to Shoupe."
"Yeah. No duh."
Pope moves to sit down at one of the many computers in the library. We stand behind him, looking at the screen as he types "Limbrey" into the search bar to see what comes up. "I'm not sure, but I think whoever this Limbrey person is, they might be related to the captain of the Royal Merchant," he explains, hitting enter as an article appears.
We read off the screen, finding that the captain of the Royal Merchant was a man named Herman Limbreyโโ same last name as this C. Limbrey who wrote the letter. So whoever this person is, they may be related to the captain of the Royal Merchant, and they may be able to exonerate John B. Well, we can't pass up the opportunity to go and meet them.
"Let's go to Charleston."
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๐ฒ๐ฎ๏ผ๐ด๐ง๏ผ๐ญ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ค ๐ฒ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ ๐จ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ด๐ซ๐ฃ ๐ก๐ค ๐ค๐ ๐ฒ๐ธ๏ผ๐ก๐ด๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ธ ๐ฒ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ ๐จ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ด๐ซ๐ฃ ๐ก๐ค ๐ณ๐ง๐จ๐ฒ ๐ง๐ ๐ฑ๐ฃ ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ค๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฑ๐ซ๐ค๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ญ๏ผI mean, seriously, it's like the world is against us today. The world does not want us getting to Charleston, that much is obvious.
Pope's dad let him borrow the truck, and what's happened to it? Oh, well it just had to break down, didn't it? Along with it breaking down, we have very little to no money because we're, you know, Pogues and shit. And just to top it all off, JJ and Kiara are coming down from some kind of high after smoking a shit ton of weed on the ferry ride over. Pope and I chose to stay away from it, instead staring out to the ocean while I rambled on and on about John B and seeing him again. He offered me some odd facts about the ocean to which I either laughed or grimaced at.
I'm already too wired to be on weed right now anyway. I'm also pissed off at the world at the moment, so it's a good thing I'm not high on top of it.
We're at some auto shop, waiting for Pope to finish paying for the repairs with Kiara's dad's credit card. Kiara's dad is paying because he's got more money than any of us combined, so it only makes sense, right? He'll likely kill her if he finds that she's using his money to pay for stuff like this, but desperate times. Not only will her dad kill her, Pope's dad is absolutely going to murder him for nearly blowing up the truck. God, there was so much smoke I actually thought it would blow up.
I just want this entire day to be over.
Basically, it's way past eight o'clock, so we will not be seeing this Limbrey guy today, that's for certain, but maybe it's for the best. I have a feeling the world is screaming at us not to bother with this stupid expedition.
Regardless, we're going to swing by the address first thing tomorrow morning if the car doesn't let us down again.
"Middle of nowhere." JJ comes to stand next to me and across from Kiara. "Dude's in heaven right now. Gotta know the calibration point before you do anything with the intake. You do theโโ" His words die on his tongue, his eyes flicking from me to Kiara who seems awfully quiet. "Hey." He taps his finger on Kiara's hand. "You alright?"
I peer over at her, having a small inkling to why she's this quiet. "My mom is so worried that I'm gonna be a Pogue that she's willing to send me to boarding school."
I was right, she's still thinking about the fight she had with her mother just before she got in the truck and we drove off for Charleston. Her parents, uh, didn't take the news too well that we were going to Charleston. Her parents don't exactly like us, less so now because of what John B has been accused of, so they talked about sending Kiara off to a boarding schoolโโ bit extreme, no?
"Well, I guess that's what you get for hanging out with the wrong crowd, Kie." JJ brings the flask I didn't realise he had up to his lips to take a swig.
"I mean, I'm not gonna go," she insists. "It's too late anyway. I already am who I am." Her eyes flick over to mine, and I exhale a heavy breath I didn't realise I was holding.
I pull my eyes off her, looking down at my hands as I utter, "Ain't all that bad." I think she smiles, but I can't be too sure, I'm just staring down at my hands while JJ looks from me to Kiara. He then takes another sip from the flask as he turns to look over his shoulder at Pope.
"Just look at that guy over there." We follow his finger, looking over at Pope. "He would do anything for us. That's a Pogue if I've ever seen one. Bone-deep." JJ turns back to Kiara, shoulders lifting in a shrug. "That's just one man's opinion, though."
Pope turns to us, flashing us a smile before he steps into the shop. We smile back because, come on, he's Pope. He's our guy, and JJ's right, he's a Pogue through and through. He'd do just about anything for us regardless of how dangerous it is. He loves us even if he doesn't explicitly say it, and we adore him too.
Kiara decides to follow him into the shop, leaving me and JJ to lean back against the piece-of-shit truckโโ no offence, Heyward.
JJ nudges me. "Hey, Sunshine."
I hum, reaching out for the flask because I'm thirsty, and even though alcohol dehydrates you, I'm desperate for something to drink.
"Happy birthday," he whispers.
I snap my head over to him, eyebrows furrowed. I nearly choke on the drink as I pull it away. "What?"
He lifts his phone up, showing me the screen.
It's quarter past midnight the fourth of Septemberโโ mine and John B's birthday.
It's my birthday. I'm seventeen years old, and my brother isn't even here to celebrate. I don't know where he is. I don't know if he's okay. For all I know, he's dead in the water, so how can I be seventeen without him?
We're seventeen together, not seventeen separately, if that makes any sense.
"It's our birthday." I look away from JJ, taking another swig of the alcohol. "It's our birthday..."
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๐ณ๐ง๐ค ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ง๐ค๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฑ๐ค ๐ ๐ฒ๐ซ๐ค๐ค๐ฏ๏ผ๐ก๐ด๐ณ ๐จ'๐ฌ ๐ถ๐จ๐ฃ๐ค ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ช๐ค๏ผ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด๐ญ๐ณ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ง๐ค ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ธ ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐จ๐ฌ๐ค๏ผ
I can't sleep, not when I'm without my twin brother on our seventeenth birthday. I just keep thinking about where he could be, what he could be doing, and if he's aware that we've just turned seventeen. Maybe, with all the chaos, he hasn't even had the chance to just realise that we are now seventeen.
I'm seventeen-years-old.
Happy birthday, me.
"Hey." My eyes lift to find Kiara standing over me, smiling softly. "Can I join you?"
"Definitely," I say, shuffling to one side so she can lay down alongside me.
Once she lays down beside me, she nudges her leg against mine, bringing my attention away from the stars and to her. "Happy Birthday, Brooke." I sigh, looking away from her because I don't need anyone else to wish me a happy birthday. It's not a "happy" birthday, not this year.
"Yeah, happy birthday to me," I breathe out.
"Hey." Her knee brushes mine once again. "We're gonna bring him back home, Brooke."
Bring it on home, John Bโโ that's what Dad always used to say to him whenever he was outside the Chateau and he needed to come home because the sun was setting. Alongside those words, he'd ring the stupid bell we have just outside our home. Dad's words are what I'm chanting in my head over and over and over again, begging for some kind of miracle to bring my brother home.
"Every year on our birthday," I begin, peering over at Kiara who smiles fondly. "Dad would take us to the lighthouse after a day of, you know, partying or whatever, and we'd just watch the stars." I look away from Kiara, choosing to gaze up at the sky where the twinkling stars shine. "We'd just stay there till the sun rose. We wouldn't even need to talk, we'd just... stare," I breathe out, my eyes burning.
"We could just stay here," Kiara suggests, her voice soft. She's still looking at me, watching me as I keep my gaze on the stars above.
"Till the sun rises?"
Kiara nods. "Till the sun rises," she confirms.
We do stay there till the sun rises, just watching the stars shine and twinkle above our heads. We don't say much to each other, and somewhere in the midst of the night, Kiara falls asleep with her head pressed against my shoulder. While she sleeps, I stay awake with my eyes laser focused on the sky above, wondering if John B is looking up at the sky too.
I miss him an awful amount. I feel as if I'm missing half of me which, in a sense, I guess I am because he quite literally is half of me. We've never really been separated from one another, not for this long anyway.
He's not just my brother, he's my best friend.
He's probably the first one I'd turn to if I needed to hide a body. Well, actually, maybe I'd turn to Pope or something, but John B is definitely up on that list of "people who would help me hide a body". Is it wrong for me to have a mental list of people who I'd ask to hide a body?
Anyway, what I'm basically saying is that I really, really miss my brother, and even though we're working on a way to clear his name, it still doesn't feel like enough. I want to find him now, bring him back home and figure it all out together if that's even possible. I hate being separated from him, I feel completely useless.
"What are you thinking about?" Kiara's voice is groggy but I hear her perfectly.
The sun is slowly lifting, soon to light up the area. We're now several hours into my seventeenth birthday, and I can safely say that this birthday is one I'd gladly miss if it meant bringing back my brother. Actually, if I could blow out a candle and make a wish, I'd wish for him and Sarah to be brought back to us.
"This is the worst birthday," I admit.
Instead of questioning me, because she knows this is the worst birthday for me, she asks, "What was the best birthday?"
I've already got the answer. I've had the answer to that question for years, and whenever asked, I always say this particular birthday.
"Our ninth birthday," I answer confidently. "I was sick with some sort of back to school flu, and I was bed ridden. Dad was franticโโ worried I was going to die, but John B was all cool, calm and collected." I breathe out a laugh, eyes feeling warm and sore once again. "He sat with me in my bedroom even though Dad strictly told him not to as he didn't want him getting sick too. Dad didn't take us to the lighthouse that year as I was sick, so after he went to sleep, John B and I snuck outside with blankets just so we could watch the stars. I forgot I was ill in that moment. He made me forget that I was ill."
"And did he get sick?"
I nod my head, laughing. "Oh, yeah. He ended up being more sick than me, it was awful. Dad was so mad, but it was definitely worth it." Kiara laughs with me, bringing me right back to one of my favourite daysโโ our ninth birthday when John B did anything and everything just to make our birthday special.
"Dad wouldn't even let me have cake because I was sick, so in protest, John B didn't eat his cake either." I remember telling him that he could eat all the cake he wants as he wasn't sick, but he simply refused even though he was absolutely starving. "Anyway, while we were watching the stars, John B stole the cake from the kitchen, stuck two candles in it, and we blew them out together. It was really great."
"It sounds really great," she replies, voice soft.
"Yeah, and now he isn't even here." Dad would shake his head at this. He'd hate to know that we aren't spending our birthday together. He'd hate to know that John B is on the run for a murder he didn't commit. He'd hate to know it all, so I guess it's a good thing he doesn't have to be here to sit and watch it all unfold into disturbed chaos.
"We're going to bring him home, Brooke. He will be here. You will get to celebrate properly."
"This birthday sucks." I never thought I'd say that, but here I am. I'm spending this birthday without my father and without my brother. The only upside to this birthday is that I have my best friends here with me, but I've had them for years. I guess I'm not entirely alone, but then again, I never really have been entirely alone, have I?
Kiara rubs her hand down my arm. "I know, but hey..." She lifts herself up, shuffling away from me. I sit up on my elbows, looking to her as she moves to pick at the grass.
She then turns to me with a weedโโ sorry, a dandelionโโ in hand. She holds a dandelion out towards me, smiling. "Make a wish."
I exhale a laugh, finding this idea to be a little ridiculous, but I appreciate her wanting to try and make my birthday worthwhile. "What?"
"Make a wish and blow out the dandelion."
"Kiโโ"
"I won't ask again," she interrupts, holding the dandelion closer to me. "Make a wish, Brooke."
I don't disobey this time, not when she's staring at me like this. I just suck in a breath, make a wish and blow, my eyes on hers the entire time. The seeds of the dandelion release, flying up and away from me, taking my wish into the hands of the sunlight and gods above.
I think it's obvious what I wished for, but if it's not clear, what I wished for was for my brother to come home for our birthday. I just hope these dandelions actually do grant wishes because I really, really want him to be here for our birthday.
Come on dandelion, make my wish come true.
"Now it'll come true." I stare forward at Kiara, something of a smile on my lips as I appreciate the sentiment.
"Well..." I lean forward, pulling free another dandelion. "For my birthday, I'd like everybody's wishes to come true." I hold the dandelion out towards her, watching a smile warm her face at the gesture. "Make a wish, Kie."
She leans forward, eyes on me as she takes a puff, blowing out the dandelion, blowing her wish up and into the air for the world to decide whether it comes true or not.
"Do you believe your wish will come true?"
I shrug. "Do you?"
"I just hope it does," she replies, staring at me closely. I stare back, chest feeling awfully tight
"Yeah, me too."
An hour later, we're on the road, heading in the direction of the Limbrey's estate. I've never been to Charleston nor have I ever had any kind of passion to go to Charleston, but I must say, it is beautiful. There's row after row of grand, modern houses that are painted in bright colours ranging from yellow to green to blue. It's so prettyโโ that's the only word I can use to describe it.
While driving, Pope wished me a happy birthday and offered me the last of our snacks which I appreciated, but I did split a chocolate bar four ways for breakfast.
Sharing is caring, friends. Remember that.
Pope pulls the truck up in front of a house that looks far too royal to be on a street with these other houses. It doesn't fit into the pattern, if that makes sense. "These Kooks make our Kooks look like Pogues," JJ says, peering past Pope to look at the house out the window.
"You sure this is the place, Pope?"
"Pretty sure."
"Alright." JJ pushes open the door, stepping out first before Kiara and I move to get out of the truck. Pope then pushes himself out of the truck, shutting the door behind him as we join his side.
Pope holds up the letter in front of the house, double checking we're in the correct place. "Twenty-seven King Street," he reads, looking to see the number on the metal gate that opens up into the front garden of the house.
"Talk about home security." JJ peers up at the metal spikes that protrude out of the gate. "Are those spikes to keep people out?"
Kiara shakes her head. "No."
"The slave quarters are over there." We follow Pope's finger, looking to where he's looking. "These spikes were to keep people in."
We step forward, finding the gate to be open, so once we enter, Pope steps forward first to knock on the door. We stand behind him, watching and waiting for somebody to open this stupid door. This house is massive, and Pope really slammed his hand on the door so somebody must've heard.
Pope reaches his hand up, about to knock again when the door swings open to reveal some man with a rough-looking exterior. I'll say this in the nicest way possible, he does not look like he belongs, and this is coming from somebody who has never belonged.
He looks at Pope. "You must be Pope."
"Are you Mr. Limbrey?"
"Ms. Limbrey was expecting you yesterday."
"Oh, I'm... I'm sorry," he utters. "My car broke down on the way here."
"Carburettor blew up in the middle of Nowheresville," JJ speaks up, offering some help. "Sorry about that."
"Yeah, she was, uh, real upset when you didn't show up."
"We tried to call, but there's no number on the invitation. We got here as fast as we could." The man doesn't look like he cares whatsoever. He just looks like he wants us to get the hell of his property if it even is his property.
"She also expected you to come alone."
Pope looks over his shoulder at us. "I mean, these are my friends. They helped find the Royal Merchant too. I-Iโโ" Pope grabs my arm, pulling me forward. "This is John B's sister, you know, sheโโ"
"The instructions were explicit," he interrupts, voice stern. "Your friends can stay outside."
"We're kind of a package deal, man."
"JJ." Pope shakes his head. "It's okay. I got this." He looks from me to Kiara. "I'm good." I don't like this man nor do we know who this Limbrey character is so I'm not too keen on leaving Pope alone in this strange house.
"Yeah. We'll be right here," Kiara assures him, taking his hand.
Pope squeezes back, nodding. "Keep the car running." It's so strange to see them like thisโโ the touchy feely couple type, it's odd. I still haven't had the chance to question her on the extent of their relationship, and I'm being entirely honest, I'm not sure I want to know.
I mean, what is Pope to Kiara? What is Kiara to Pope? What isโโ Why am I questioning it?
"Okay." I smile at Pope. "Be careful."
He steps into the house, the door closing behind him suddenly. We stare at the door for a second, silently wishing we could barge in, but we choose to step back, trusting that Pope can handle this situationโโ whatever this situation may be.
We move back to the car, choosing to wait there for Pope. "Look, if Limbrey is legit, then Ward gets arrested, and maybe Sarah gets the gold," Kiara says, keeping her eyes laser focused on the door as we wait impatiently for Pope.
The only question I have is: why would they want to talk to Pope? I mean, I know he's a big character in our life and a huge part of the Royal Merchant hunt, but it's slightly odd that he's the one being questioned by some strangersโโ some strangers who claim they can help John B, my brother. It's just all a little strange, and I don't like it.
A few minutes later, Pope is stepping out the door with a hand securely wrapped around his shoulder. Walking up ahead of Pope and this man is a blonde lady with crutches. We watch as Pope glances over his shoulder, looking to us.
That single glance tells us all we need to know.
He needs our help getting out of this situation.
"Does that look voluntary?"
"That would be a negative."
"Come on." Kiara pushes open the car door, but I snatch her hand once I realise which direction they're pushing Pope in. "What?"
"They're going into the alley around back," I say.
"Yeah. We'll meet them on the other side." JJ starts up the car, pulling away from the house as we take a right, driving around back.
"Hey, be chill. Be chill."
JJ drives us around the block, hoping we can catch up with Pope who is stuck in a difficult situation. We find ourselves behind the Limbrey estate, but we can't see Pope down the alley as JJ drives a little slower. "Where did they go?"
"What if they went underground?" JJ suggests. "Because in C.H.U.D, when they took people down into the sewers, it would turn the humans into humanoids 'cause of the radiation. And then all of a suddenโโ"
"Why do you always make references to that film?" I ask, interrupting him because we do not have time for his babbling right now.
"It's the only film I've ever watched."
Correction: it's the only film he's ever payed attention to.
We continue to drive down the road, looking out for Pope. We loop around the block a few times, and on the fifth time, we decide to just get out of the car and find Pope ourselves. He better be okay, or I'll be adding these Limbrey people to my list of people I will be killing in the future.
We move into the alleyway, searching for Pope who looked to be coming this way before we lost him.
We turn a corner, finding Pope to be tackled to the ground by the man from earlier. He was holder a taser, ready to harm Pope, so I rush forward, grateful his back is to me as he doesn't account for me stepping up behind him to knee him in the back. He falls forward, the taser slipping from his hands which pushes Kiara to kick it away.
Pope pushes him off him, and I snatch Pope's hand, yanking him up and off the ground. "Come on!"
We begin to rush back to the car, forcing ourselves through the doors and onto the seats. It's cramped in here, absolutely not made for four people, but we squish ourselves into the car.
"Who were those people?"
JJ starts up the car, guiding us away from the alley. "That was crazy. Let's get out of here." JJ does a sharp u-turn out of here, beginning to race down the road and away from the home.
The tires burn and screech with every sharp corner JJ takes, and we each fly either left or right depending on the turn. "Here we go now!"
Kiara shifts in her seat, peering out the back window to see a car following up behind us. "I think he's following us."
JJ pulls into a one-way road, driving at full speed. "This is a one-way!" we yell, but JJ doesn't seem to care, he's just driving down the road, heading straight for another car. "Hey! There's another car! Turn now!"
As I'm sat next to him, I grab the wheel, forcing him to take another sharp turn onto the next open road. We find ourselves on the main road where we nearly crash into innocent pedestrians. "Jesus, look out!"
We skid across the road, dodging the people who are crossing the road. "Those were people! Jesus Christ!"
"That was evasive driving technique right there, y'all," JJ yells, speeding up with every ticking second.
"Where are we going?"
"Hang on. We're gonna lose him." JJ takes another sharp turn that sends me flying into Kiara's side, my head hitting hers. God, I might be adding JJ to be my kill list if he keeps driving like a damn fool.
"Dude!"
JJ takes us down another alleyway, and just as he does, the engine begins to hiss just like it did yesterday before it began smoking. "You said he fixed the carburettor!" JJ yells, directing his frustration to Pope. "You said he fixed it!"
"No, no, no!"
"He did!"
"Shit! Okay, what now, Mario?"
We push ourselves out of the car, slamming the doors shut behind us. "Number one rule. Never trust mechanics."
We grab our bags from the back of the truck just as car turns the corner, heading straight for us. Oh, brilliant, we didn't lose them. "Go!"
I don't have the stamina to run, not when I didn't get a wink of sleep, but I have to do what I have to do. I've gotta run because I'm pretty sure my life depends on it. I force my legs into a run, my back slung over my shoulder as I push myself forward, needing so desperately for this guy just to lose us because I hate running.
I think I've said that before.
I don't think anyone should run unless professionally or as a child.
In fact, even as a child, I hated to run.
I hate it more now that I'm older, especially when running involves needing to escape from bad guys.
"Guys, I think he has a gun." Well, that only pushes me to run just that tiny bit faster, ahead of each of my friends who sprint with as much energy as they can.
"Shit, get down!"
We're pushed into another tight alleyway with me up ahead, Kiara right behind me, and the two boys behind us. I nearly knock into an innocent stranger, and I would apologise, but I'm already trying to keep my breathing in check.
"I think I'm cramping!" Oh, tell me about it.
Surely we can escape this guy. I mean, we're fit and young and healthyโโ some of us more than othersโโ but we should be able to outrun this bastard. "Go, go, go, go!" I have this odd urge to just burst into song, don't ask why, my mind works in odd ways. "This way!"
JJ peers over his shoulder, looking out for the guy which results in him crashing into a bystander carrying boxes. "Sorry about that!"
Hey, now we may have some delivery guy chasing us. How lovely.
We rush into another alleyway, he and Pope pushing me and Kiara forward which I appreciate, but my legs are burning and screaming for me to just stop running. Oh, how I hate running. "Here, here, here!"
"He's right there. Go, go, go!"
My breathing is quickening, my chest is tightening, and I can feel my stomach cramping as I force myself forward, needing to escape this guy as my life quite literally depends on it. Our lives depend on escaping this guy who may have a gun. God, I hope he doesn't really have a gun.
We come barreling out the alleyway, now onto the main road we were previously on, and we come to a crashing halt when a bike brakes before us, jolting our attention to the people who nearly crashed into us.
My words catch in my throat as I stare forward, my breathing coming to an instant slow as I find that I ran for all the right reasons.
I ran for this moment.
My wish came true.
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โ soph speaks
thankyou for reading :)
i wanna write another fanfic, anyone any ideas?? i've watched a lot of shows so open to anything!
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