𝟎𝟓𝟎.           𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐢𝐧'𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞

the draw  ────   bastille

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖯𝖮𝖯𝖤 𝖭𝖤𝖠𝖱𝖫𝖸 𝖣𝖨𝖤𝖣．Well, actually, I think he did die, but then he came back to us surprisingly. Now he's, uh, high, but I don't care because he's alive and I can now wipe away the tears.

JJ brought us to his cousin, Ricky. His cousin Ricky, from what I remember, used to sell JJ weed so I wasn't too optimistic on him helping us, but Pope is... alive so I had to thank him repeatedly, of course.

If Pope had died, I don't know what I would've done. It was horrible, watching and waiting for him to wake up after Ricky gave him ten times the dose of epinephrine which I thought would kill him, but imagine my surprise when he woke up. I would've screamed had I not been crying the entire time while watching him stay so still.

I'm glad he's okay even if he is... high.

And driving the truck.

Whoever gave him control over the truck must've been insane...

Don't look at me. I couldn't say no to him, alright. He nearly died, he gets a pass to do whatever he wants.

Anyway, I regret not saying no to him as he's driving at full speed while we're squeezed into the back of the truck. I'm sitting in between John B and JJ with Sarah on the other side of John B. It's a tight fit back here, and lucky Kiara got to sit up front, but I'm just really glad Pope is alive.

I just realised...

We always let Pope drive the car when he's high. Last time, when he got high for the first time, we just let him cruise in the car where he crashed into a bin and confessed that he was in love with Kiara. It was a great night because, well, JJ and I kissed a lot.

Yeah, I really liked that night.

JJ nudges me── accidentally, I think, with how fast Pope is driving, but he still nudges me and looks down at me. "What you thinking about?"

Kissing you.

"Uh..." I clear my throat, looking away from him before he catches the red in my cheeks. Thank God it's dark, right? "Pope you're driving pretty fast," I say, ignoring JJ.

Pope cheers, surprisingly driving faster. I didn't think that was possible. "Pope, last to judge, but I think you should slow down a little." He absolutely is the last to judge, but from my knowledge, JJ has never driven us whilst being high... I think unless I was high too and forgot.

No, JJ has never driven whilst high.

"That would definitely delay our arrival to the cross. We gotta get there," he tells us, and I understand that, but I'd like to arrive in one piece preferably because dying in a car accident is also not on my top five ways of dying... not that I have a list.

"Why did we let him drive again?" I ask, seriously wishing I had just said no.

"I said I'd rip your ears off," Pope speaks up. Yes, him saying that did play into the reason why I didn't say no.

"He said he'd rip our ears off."

"I was joking about that, by the way."

I huff out a laugh. "That's a really funny joke."

"Hey, how ya feeling, buddy?" John B leans forward, shoulder rubbing into mine as he slaps a gentle hand on Pope's arm. "How ya doing?"

"Uh, fantastic. I don't know what JJ's cousin gave me, but I am moving!" He's yelling. We're in the car, barely an metre away from him and he's yelling at us.

"We couldn't tell," John B utters.

"Okay, well, um, you're going really fast right now." I try my best to sound calm, but he really is speeding right now, and I am just a little concerned that we're going to die.

Pope looks over his shoulder, looking right at me. "Yeah, really fast!" With him looking at me and only one hand on the wheel, he begins to tilt onto the other side of the road.

"Pope!" I yell, and he immediately pulls the car back into the correct lane, finding himself to be stuck behind another car that's, obviously, going the speed limit.

Pope wants to pass him.

"You don't need to pass."

Of course, he ignores us, instead choosing to pass the car in front of him without realising that theres another car in the other lane heading straight for us. "Pope!"

Pope swerves back into the correct lane, knocking us to one side with the speed at which he swerves. "What an asshole, right?"

"He's going the speed limit!"

"We're not gonna get to the cross if we're dead, Pope!" I so don't want to be dead, thank you very much. I'm young. I've got so much to live for, right? I think I have so much to live for, but with Pope's driving, I won't be living very soon.

"We're not gonna die," Pope scoffs, looking back over his shoulder at us. "It's our divine right to get that cross."

Once again, he's paying no attention as he's staring at us, and he doesn't realise that the truck is moving off the road, heading straight for a tree. "Pope! Look at the road!" John B shouts, but it's too late.

The truck is swerved to one side in the hopes of missing the tree, but the tires screech which causes the truck to spin, bringing us right off the road. I close my eyes, waiting for the crash which I know is coming.

We're flung forward with the force at which we hit the tree, and despite being squished in the backseat, my head hits the back of Pope's seat hard. The windows smash, the airbags pop, and the car crashes.

My head feels heavy, like I've been hit in the face which, technically, I have been. I've been smacked in the face by a car seat. I can't lift my head, I'm just keeping it pressed against the back of Pope's seat, afraid that, if I move, I'll vomit.

I think I have a concussion.

"Is everyone okay?" I feel John B's hand on my back. I don't shake my head, I just squeeze my eyes shut, willing the searing head pain to subside, but it doesn't disappear straight away like I want it to.

"I think so," Sarah replies, pushing open the car door on her side.

"Never better," JJ speaks, also pushing open the car door on his side which is closest to me. The second I feel air hit me, I feel like hurling over and throwing up. I do not feel good.

John B rubs a hand up my back. "B?" I groan, my hand grasping his knee as the pain in my head tightens to the point where it stings like I've been stung by wasps myself. "Brooke, what's wrong?" His hand rests on the back of my neck, but I still don't move.

Keeping my head pressed against the seat will mean not being sick, and I'd like that.

"That is the last time you drive, Pope."

I hear Kiara getting out of the truck, rushing to check the damages that I just know are bad. "My dad's truck! No!"

"Kie, one word. Totalled."

"My parents are gonna kill me," she says it like they weren't going to before. "For real this time."

"Yeah. Well, weren't they going to that anyway?"

"Helpful. Thank you."

"We're gonna have to walk the rest of the way," Pope speaks, obviously not bothered about anybody else, but John B keeps trying to get me to lift my head. Believe me, if I could, I freaking would, dude. "I'm going to get my cross."

Pope is getting out of the car, not seeing that we're not in any kind of mind to go chasing after that cross. "Stop!" John B yells, frustrated. His hand is still on the back of my neck, his other one on my knee. "B, lift your head for me. Please."

I whine, the pain throbbing. "Is she okay?"

"She hit her head," John B replies, leaning down to look at me as I keep my eyes closed. His head lifts, and he looks to his best friend, just about ready to yell at Pope. "JJ, stay with her."

JJ takes John B's place, moving to sit back in the truck with me. He instead places one hand on my face, the other on my leg. "Hey." He speaks softly which is considerate given that everything is so loud in my ears right now. "Sunny, you gotta lift your head."

"Hey, relax for a second." I hear John B despite the ringing in my ears.

"Get off of me," Pope fights.

"No. I'm trying to help." His voice raises, and I groan, trying my best to lift my head by dragging my head up the seat but I'm too afraid to pull my head away from this seat. I feel like my head will fall off my neck. "We just crashed the car, and now my sister can't move."

No, bro. I got it.

Who am I kidding? I totally don't got it.

"Come on, Sunshine." JJ drags his hand down my back, but I can't move, not even towards him. "You gotta lift your head." Why?

"I'm trying to watch out for you," John B says to Pope, but I hardly think he's listening and I'm not even looking at them.

"Pope! Move!"

"There's a truck coming." My head shoots up which I find to be a tragic mistake, but I only lift my head with the fear that Pope is about to get hit by a truck.

He's pulled back onto the road just as the truck drives by, and in that truck is somebody nobody ever wants to see── Rafe Cameron. He stares at us, and if I was in the right headspace, I'd scream at him or pop a hole in his tire, I don't know.

The head rush I just gave myself catches up with me quickly, and I find myself scrambling off my seat and out of the truck so I can throw up. JJ is already behind me, as is John B, and they're crowding me as I fall into the tree we just crashed into so I can heave.

It's a good thing my go-to hairstyle is a ponytail because this would be pretty gross. I mean, it is pretty gross, who am I kidding, but at least my hair is out of my face.

"We gotta get back to the church!" Pope yells, already running away from the group and down the road.

He's kidding, right?

"I'll stay with her," John B insists.

"No." I cough, wiping my hand across my mouth, so disgusted with myself. "I'll..." I swallow. "I'll be fine."

John B rests a hand on my back. "B, your head."

"Is fine." It's not, but Pope is once again more important to me than a stupid concussion. I push back from the tree, stumbling slightly as my head is very wobbly. "Just, uh, stay close, okay?"

I'm so going to faint later.

So, Pope is running, as is Kiara and Sarah, and I'm... doing my best. I wouldn't call what I'm doing running, but more like I'm floating through the air, I guess. JJ and John B run behind me, ready to catch me if I come crashing to the ground.

Running with a concussion? Not easy.

I've always hated running. I've said this many times. Why do we always have to run for shit? Whatever happened to a nice, brisk walk to our location? We already know that Rafe has that cross in the back of that truck he nearly hit Pope with, we're not stupid, so what the hell are we running for?

We've lost once again.

I take a few stumbles, my entire body burning and screaming at me to stop but I can't stop because this is for Pope, I keep telling myself that. This is important to him, and I know he'd do the same thing for me, so I'm running with a concussion like a queen.

A drunk queen, but still a queen, bitch.

My limbs burn, my muscles ache, and my head pain is only worsening, but I keep on pushing. I keep driving myself forward, doing my best not to fall back into my brother and JJ.

Unsurprisingly, I don't get to the church first. I'm lagging behind, but by the time I get there, I know that the cross is absolutely gone based off Pope's face. He looks defeated, probably annoyed that we've lost once again.

We just keep losing, it's exhausting.

We lose, and the price we have to pay for this great loss is Pope nearly dying and me being concussed.

Seriously, is all this bullshit worth it?

John B insists I sit down which actually sounds really nice. The moment he sits down next to me, my head is falling right into his shoulder as I feel my stomach turn in the worst possible way.

Oh, don't let me be sick again.

I hate vomiting, it makes me, you know, vomit.

"Alright, here's what we do." No, I am too ill and concussed to hear JJ's insane idea. "We'll grab some kerosene tanks from the Chat, then we... we go to my dad's shop and grab some dynamite. And then we drive down to Charleston and tell this lady who she's messing with!"

"Dynamite?" I utter, eyes fluttering to a close.

"That's not gonna help," Sarah tells him.

"Well, what is, Sarah?"

"We're thinking, okay? We can't just go blow shit up, JJ," John B argues, and I completely agree. I would speak, but I don't want to lift my head and talk ever again. I'm perfectly comfortable here, superglued to my brother's shoulder.

"Pope, I'm sorry."

"Denmark would've stood right here..." I blink my eyes open to find Pope stepping up to the alter at the front of the church. "...preaching to everyone he set free. A slave, the sole survivor of the Royal Merchant, he got the gold and the cross, and he brought them both to shore and used it to free every person who walked through those doors. He made a church, a family, a congregation... a home."

He sighs, defeat in his eyes as he looks at each of us. "And the Limbreys took everything from him. The sicced dogs on his wife and his kids, and when he tried to get her remains, they hung him." My heartstrings are pulled from hearing Pope talk in such a way when he's high. I mean, nobody would believe it.

"Well, I'm done," he adds. "I'm tired of that shit. This is not how this is gonna end. We need a freaking win, guys." Preach it to the... church. "I'm going to get my family's cross."

He steps off the alter, moving past us and heading for the door that is already open. However, just before he steps out, he looks to me as I keep my head pressed to John B's shoulder, knowing soon that I'll have to get up.

"I'm sorry about your head, Brooke."

I wave my hand, trying not to care. "Oh, no worries." I'm totally fine.

Pope nods, turning to each of us. "You guys coming?"

"Well, if you put it that way..."

"Maybe we should think about it, you know?"

"Pros and cons?"

"Pros and cons list." JJ steps over to Pope, slapping a hand over his shoulder. "Hell, yeah we're coming Pope."

I'm lifted back up and off the pew with an arm around my back. I hold my other arm out that's not clinging onto John B, and I tug JJ to come walk alongside me too. We each follow Pope out of the church, heading straight for our van which, shockingly, is still running after being submerged in dirty water for ages.

I'm forced to sit up front beside John B who insisted on driving to prevent any further accidents. The rest of the crew sit in the back, and I lean my head against the window, very happy to be back in the safety of the Twinkie.

As we have to drive up the road where the crash happened, it shouldn't be surprising that the cops are already at the crash site. "Oh, shit! They found the truck."

"Just relax, guys." 

John B comes to a stop right in front of Shoupe── everybody's favourite cop. I hate to see Shoupe on a good day, so today I am really not in the mood. "Good evening, Officer," John B says.

"Sheriff," he corrects, and I scowl because I truly believe he doesn't deserve the title. "Yeah."

John B ignores him, looking to the truck that we crashed. "Speed kills, huh?" Shoupe steps away, sliding open the door to reveal our friends in the back.

"I pulled the tags, and I know whose truck that is," he says, so we know where this is going. He points his torch in the direction of Kiara who is doing her best to hide, but it's a little hard to do so. "Hey! Kie, you drop your weed pen back there?"

"Found it," she deadpans, holding her thumb up.

"Sheriff, I just wanna say that this is all my fault. She had nothing to do with this. I take one hundred percent responsibility." Well, I think high Pope has left the premises, thank God for that or he may have been taken.

"Nothing to do with it? Uh-huh. You wanna try that again?" He looks back over at Kiara. "Your parents reported the truck missing four hours ago, and the keys were missing from the house." Yeah, that one was my fault, but I don't speak up on account of feeling brain dead. "I'm taking you home. Or I could pull you all in for leaving the scene of an accident."

Kiara says, knowing the latter isn't what any of us want. "Okay."

Kiara moves to get out of the van. "I gotta deal." She looks at each of us. "Hit me up later and make sure I'm still alive."

Kiara steps away, leaving us and heading for the cop car. We need her. She's one of us. We've definitely got to find a way to bring her back into this. We'll just have to go around her parents, that's all. We'll figure it out.

Shoupe steps back up to John B's window. Instead of looking at John B, he looks straight past him and at me. "You alright, Brooke?"

"Oh, peachy." I hold my thumb up. "Just so happy to see you, Officer." He scowls at me as I used the wrong title on him, but I don't care.

"Can we go now?" John B asks, hopeful he won't pull us all in for my comment.

"Yep. Stay out of trouble."

Luck really ain't on our side, that's for certain.

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❀ soph speaks

two chapters in one day.. whoop!

it's gonna get more interesting soon, i promise

thankyou for reading :)