𝟎𝟕𝟎. 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐝

daddy issues    ────    the neighbourhood

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖶𝖤 𝖢𝖠𝖬𝖤 𝖡𝖠𝖢𝖪 𝖳𝖮 𝖯𝖱𝖮𝖥𝖤𝖲𝖲𝖮𝖱 𝖲𝖮𝖶𝖤𝖫𝖫'𝖲 𝖧𝖮𝖴𝖲𝖤 𝖳𝖮 𝖳𝖱𝖸 𝖠𝖭𝖣 𝖥𝖨𝖭𝖣 𝖠 𝖫𝖤𝖠𝖣 𝖳𝖮 𝖶𝖧𝖤𝖱𝖤 𝖮𝖴𝖱 𝖣𝖠𝖣 𝖬𝖨𝖦𝖧𝖳 𝖤𝖭𝖣 𝖴𝖯．Now, last time we were here, Professor Sowell died, am I right? I mean, we all saw── read it, so when we walk into the house, we expect to find his dead body.

Imagine my surprise when I see no body.

I stare at where the body so clearly was just a day ago. He died. "There's no body."

"Sowell was right here," John B states, acting like I didn't see him die too.

"Maybe he just got up and walked it off."

"He walked death off?"

I shrug. "That's what I plan on doing," I joke, patting my hand against his shoulder.

"They've already been here," JJ tells us, but we kinda figured that. "They sent in the sweepers and probably decontaminated this entire room so there's probably nothing left. We should get out."

"Maybe there's something left."

"Like what?" I ask, moving to the table that no longer holds the papers and documents it did the day before. Yep, these sweepers cleared any evidence of where our father could be going. That's just great!

"Anything that has to do with an archaeological dig," John B replies, stepping away to go into another room, leaving JJ and I to twiddle our thumbs.

"I say we ditch and..." JJ steps up beside me, chin dropping to rest on my shoulder.

"What? Break into school again?"

"No," he scoffs. "School's in session, Sunny."

"Right." I lean against him, feeling his lips peck my shoulder gently.

I loved last night. I wish we could've stayed in last night forever. He broke into our school just so I could have a warm shower, and it was the most blissful night either of us have ever had. Turns out, I'm not so opposed to us showering together, and the thrill of being in our school in the middle of the night only made the entire night more fun. It felt nice to have that much fun with him.

I then brought our night to a devastating halt when I admitted why I had been crying earlier that day. Telling JJ that my father hit me once when we fought a year ago was hard, but he listened, he understood, he kissed me and told me all would be okay. He told me that he wouldn't tell John B but encouraged me to do so. I don't know, maybe with JJ's help, I will tell my brother. It won't be easy.

He's so adamant on finding Dad, and I'm here to help him regardless of how Dad makes me feel. I don't want to ruin John B's perfect outlook on the man who raised us, and I fear my secret will destroy that. Besides, I don't need to tell him.

"Hate to break up..." John B peers his head around the bedroom door, waving his hand at JJ and I. "...this, but can you, you know, look around?"

I stick my thumb up. "Course."

"Think he's just mad he's not getting any," JJ mutters, and I smack my hand against his chest, disgusted as he's talking about my brother.

"Heard that!"

I chuckle, moving away from JJ to check in the stacks of boxes in the living room. I rummage through, only finding piles of clothing. I'm guessing the sweepers removed his more personal belongings.

JJ is checking the kitchen, and when I finish checking the final box, coming up with zilch, I turn my head to find JJ standing next to the open fridge door. "What is it?" John B comes to stand behind him, hitting his shoulder. "Snack time? What are we doing?"

I hide my laugh behind my hand, leaning forward to see my boyfriend snacking on a dead man's food. "You know what? I feel very judged right now." He's biting down on a chicken leg, and that's when the laugh unleashes.

John B turns, glaring at me like I had anything to do with him eating. "Do you see this shit? What do you see in him?"

JJ scoffs, offended. "Okay. That's rude."

I lift one shoulder in a shrug, grinning. "He's cute," I say, like that's the only thing I see in him. He is cute, even more so when he's chewing down on a chicken leg like there's no tomorrow.

JJ waves the chicken leg in his hand, right in John B's face. "You tell him, baby."

John B looks back to his best friend. "Seriously?"

"There's an entire bird in here that'll just go to waste, okay?" Him eating from a dead man's fridge is, hands down, the most JJ thing he could do, and I love him for it. "I'm not gonna let that happen." John B moves away, not wanting to listen to another word as he rambles. "It's not like I'm stealing it. No one else is gonna eat it. I was like, "I'll take the nutrients that this beautiful bird gives me and fill the tank," alright?"

I laugh, very proud that I'm the one who gets to be this guy's girlfriend. "You tell him, baby."

John B jabs a finger in my direction, obviously not impressed by me. "Don't encourage him."

I've got to encourage him. It's my job as the girlfriend, is it not?

John B is bending down, picking something up from the floor. I move to stand beside him, recognising the photo to be that of the image Sowell showed us before the arrow killed him. "Well, those sweepers are kinda shit at their jobs," I comment.

JJ continues to chomp down on the chicken leg behind us, eating like he's a starved man which, I guess, he is. He's in his own world as he eats, paying more attention to that dead bird than to us.

John B hands the photo off to me, but just like yesterday, I can't make sense of this thing. He steps away, snatching a newspaper clipping from the wall. "Hey, look." He comes to stand next to me again and I snap my fingers at JJ, forcing him away from the fridge.

"Local expedition team departs for South America," John B reads, and I notice a familiar face in that picture.

"There's the professor." I point to him, frowning. Ah, may he rest in peace. If he hadn't helped us, he'd maybe still be alive. Fat chance seeing as Singh was keen on killing each of the people who were on the expedition, but he might've had more of a chance had he not helped us.

My father might be next on Singh's hit list.

"Holy shit." I glance up at my brother, confused as to what he's seen that I haven't. "The last thing Sowell said before he died was 'Neville'."

"Okay. What does that mean?"

"Right there." Within the article, the name Neville Persaud is displayed. He was included in the expedition as a guide. "So Sowell said that five people were on that expedition, right?" I nod, recalling what Sowell mentioned. "Three of those people died. Which leaves us with two."

"Well, one," I correct as we all know Sowell is definitely dead. "Neville── he's the last one alive." Well, that ain't horrifying, is it?

"I think Sowell was telling me to warn him."

"Well, I think we need to find Neville, boys."

Surprisingly, it doesn't take us all that long to find Neville.

JJ knows somebody with the same last name as Neville so, in his mind, they're related. We live on a small island so the chances of the two men being related are high, but trusting JJ in finding people is not as simple as it seems. He met this man who is supposedly related to Neville whilst helping his cousin with his... growing business, so naturally, I don't trust it, but whatever.

Gotta love his cousin Ricky, haven't you?

However, Mr. P── as he's commonly known as── pointed us towards Neville's house, so JJ was right in figuring the two men were related. We're guided to a houseboat by Doe Creek where Neville resides.

If you think I hate running, imagine how much I hate swimming through murky water just to reach a man I don't know.

"Why do you guys ever doubt me?" is what JJ says as the three of us drag ourselves through a swamp to reach a complete stranger. Ah, why do we ever doubt him? I can't even begin to think why.

"No, it's not like we're waist-deep in a swamp or anything like that."

We stop by this houseboat that supposedly belongs to Neville. "You think he's there?"

"Only one way to find out." I think JJ is going to swim over to the boat, but no, he just starts to yell instead. "Neville! Hey!"

John B moves to him, slapping a hand over his mouth. "He thinks people are trying to kill him." Yeah, we probably just scared the shit out of him. "He's probably packing."

"It's a death trap."

"Look, we don't have a choice, and we're already in the water so..." I begin to move through the water, watching as more of my body gets consumed by the grime. "Also, he's the only guy alive who might know where our dad is, John B, so let's go."

Look at me being brave. I want a round of applause for that because I hate being in this water. I'd actually prefer to run a marathon, I think it would be less gross.

Once we reach the houseboat── which is totally cool, by the way── I pull myself up the ladders first, followed by John B and JJ who immediately step in front of me to stop me from going into the house part of the boat in case there is somebody inside. Ah, they both care, that's nice.

We step into Neville's home, and my first thought is that I want to have a houseboat.

On first look, it seems that Neville is not here. There's papers on the table, food on the counter, plates in the sink. I step towards the stove, hovering my hand over it, and I find that it's still warm. "He's here," I whisper to the boys.

"Brooke!" I'm dragged forward by JJ just as a metal pole swings next to my head. "Whoa, whoa!" I'm pulled behind John B and JJ as they both go in to stop Neville from attacking us with a metal pole.

Neville swings again. It skims past JJ, causing him to stumble and fall backwards into me. I grab the table to stop myself from hitting the floor as JJ's weight presses down on me and not in a good way. "JJ!"

"Sorry!"

I pull myself back up, pushing back JJ to find John B squabbling with Neville on the floor. The metal pole has been knocked from his hands, but now Neville is reaching for a kitchen knife. "No, no, no, no!" I rush forward, not letting my brother be stabbed.

I  tug on Neville's shoulders, pulling on him as hard as I can to get him off John B.

This is going really well.

"We know Professor Sowell!" John B yells, caucusing Neville to stop for just a second.

"Who gave you that name?"

"We're friends, okay!" JJ is helping me in pulling Neville off John B. "You were in Orinoco last year!" Speak faster, bro. There's a knife. "With five other people. Right?"

Neville stills, the knife lowering. "How did you know that?"

I pull the knife out of his hand before he gets any bright ideas to stab one of us. JJ drags him off the floor, pulling me behind him as he pins Neville against the counter away from us. I place the knife down before holding my hand out to John B, helping him up.

He moves to stand beside JJ, addressing Neville. "We were just with Sowell yesterday. He, uh... He didn't make it."

His mouth gapes, obviously surprised to hear that. "He's dead?" We each nod, and I pull on JJ's arm so he realises Neville from his grip. "I'm the last one left," Neville concludes, stepping past us with his head in his hands.

He falls to the chair at the table, his head shaking as he tries to wrap his head around the fact that he is the only one alive from the expedition which means he's the last one to be... killed.

"That's why we had to get to you before they did," JJ tells him. "If we found you, they can too."

"I just have a few questions." John pulls out the picture he found earlier at Sowell's house. He places it on the table in front of Neville. "Solana, you've been there. Yeah?"

"That is a place of evil," Neville tells.

In the photo Sowell showed us, there's a stone statue that the gnomon slides into. John B points to it. "Me and my dad found the thingy that goes in the centre."

Ah, thingy── real technical.

"The gnomon."

John B nods, as do I because I know enough about this now that John B finally confided in me on all the things he and Dad did. "There's some bad men who have taken my father to this place, and they're gonna kill him. So I need your help to find this place, Neville."

They won't kill him. I already know they won't kill him. Somehow, my father will find a way to escape, he always does. He'll figure a way, I know that much. He'll trick someone or kill another── whatever it takes to get the treasure.

We have no idea where he is, of course, and Neville absolutely does not want to point us in the right direction, not that I'm surprised. He's the last one alive, he needs to get out of here and escape before they catch up with him.

"No, no, no, no." He shakes his head vigorously. "The curse has already done enough."

"It's not a curse, okay?" John B replies, voice raising slightly. "I understand that it's dangerous, but I need your help."

"You hear that?" JJ whispers, bringing my attention away from my panicked brother and a terrified Neville. I listen to what JJ is hearing, and I can hear something of an engine moving across the water. A boat. Actually, I think there's more than one. "Neville, how much traffic do you get on this river?"

"Nothing," he responds.

"Neville!" Who is that? "Neville Persaud!" That unfamiliar voice is followed by a piercing gunshot that has me being pulled down to the floor again. I find that I've got an extremely protective brother and boyfriend because that was quick reacting to a gunshot, I must say.

So not the time, B.

"Get the anchor!" Neville shouts, also ducking down to our level as several more gunshots ring out in my ears, breaking the windows above my head. "Go!"

Can't we catch a break?

JJ scrambles away first, picking up the long knife that Neville nearly killed us with earlier. We move out to the deck, keeping ourselves low so we can sneak off the boat without the shooters seeing us. They're pulling up to the other side of the boat── the side that we're not standing on.

JJ places the fucking blade in his mouth as we begin to lower ourselves down into the water, getting off the boat before we get caught. Once in the water, we begin to move ourselves through the water to reach the shooter's boat.

John B lifts himself up first, and JJ and I watch as he slowly creeps along the length of the boat to reach the keys in the ignition. The man holding the shotgun has his back to him, not knowing that John B is beginning to pull the key out.

As the key clicks out of the ignition, the shooter turns, aiming the gun right at John B but he catches the barrel before he shoots, fighting with him before he knocks him clean off the edge of the boat along with the keys.

We can't escape using this boat. We need to get back on the houseboat now.

We split up, John B taking the deck while JJ and I travel back through the water and climb up the ladders, choosing to approach the other shooter in a both ways. JJ moves up the ladders first, and we find John B to be holding his hands up defensively while a gun is pointed at him.

Oh, not today, you bastard.

The boat starts up, meaning Neville made it out alive. We just need to get rid of this guy.

Reaching forward, JJ tugs on the back of the shooter's shirt. I think I recognise this guy, but it's too late as JJ is flinging him back and sending him overboard. He crashes into the water, giving us the chance to actually climb up onto the boat.

JJ throws John B the knife, letting him cut the rope holding the anchor down. The moment it's chopped, we're sailing, rushing back in to find Neville steering the boat. Well, at least he's okay.

"You owe me an anchor," is what he says rather than what I thought he'd say.

JJ scoffs. "You're welcome."

As we drive through the water, hoping to get away without being caught again, I think of my father for one quiet moment. I think of where he is right now, of what he's doing for Singh, and if he's worried about us in the way that we are for him.

I can't help but worry about him. It doesn't matter what Dad has done or how's he's acted, he's still my father. He's still the same man who raised me. He's still the same man who learnt how to braid my hair just so I could look like the other girls. He's still the same man who watched over me while I was growing up.

He's also still the same man who slapped you because he was angry.

I shake my head, trying my best not to remember that fact, but since telling JJ a secret I've held for a whole year, it's kind of been the only thing on my mind, and I hate that as he's currently missing because of me. Had I not got involved, would he and John B have made it out of that situation without trouble? I don't know.

Regardless, I don't want Dad to die. It was one thing to lose him a year ago but to lose him again, I can't do that. Not many people get to say, "Oh, yeah, my dad died twice", so I don't want to be the one to ever say that. I can't say that.

Dad will be fine. He'll make it out alive with or without the treasure── preferably with if he's the one deciding, but I don't care. I'd just like everything to, I don't know, be a little more normal, I guess.

"They are going to kill him unless you help us."

"They're going after the gold," Neville says, but he phrases it in a questioning way.

"Yeah, what else are they going to be going after?" Because I love my father, I'm not afraid to admit that he's greedy── that comment was the one that got me hit a year ago, but that still doesn't make me afraid of saying it. He wants the gold, more than anything else in his life. Dad is searching for the gold with another greedy man, so I don't imagine it ending too well.

"Then they'll die anyway," Neville deadpans. "Unless they can past the test, which they won't if they can't translate the idol." Neville glances over his shoulder, looking at John B and I. "You know the story."

"No," JJ replies for each of us. We don't know the story, not to this test.

Neville sighs, looking away from us and back to the water. "El Dorado was found by a Guajiro king, and when it came time for him to slip his mortal coil and meet my greats on the astral plane, he wasn't just going to give the gold to his sons." I haven't got a damn clue what he's saying. I'm not understanding it.

"It was the source of his power," Neville continues. "It had to go to the wisest man, and to ensure this actually happened, he set up the test of the gnomon." Oh. "Whoever passes the test gains access to the gold. You fail the test, you die. If you somehow get to the gold without taking the test, then you die."

The only person I can think of that loves tests is Pope. He'd figure it out, right?

A test that plays with your life? Really? No.

"He's lying, right? 'Cause there's no way that actually can happen, right?"

"Tell that to the crew of the San Jose and the Royal Merchant," Neville says, keeping his eyes on the water ahead. Huh.

"We don't want the gold, Neville." I glance at my brother, not all that surprised to hear him say that. "I just want to save my dad."

"Take the wheel," Neville instructs, and JJ obeys as Neville moves to us, grabbing a piece of paper so he can scribble something down.

Directions── that's what I think he's scribbling down. "You must go to the port of Tres Rocas," he explains. "From there, find ferry passage from a river guide called Jose. He will take you up the Orinoco to El Tesoro. It is there." He presses his pen down, emphasising that it's there. "In the bush, you will find a site."

JJ looks at us from over his shoulder. "Guess we back in the G-game?"

The thought of being back in the game has me feeling sick to my stomach. Will we win this time? Will we get the gold? Will it work out? Will we finally get a chance to be happy with each other and the gold?

"Make yourself pure of heart, pure of mind," Neville instructs, looking directly at us. "You are there to save your father. The gold kills everyone."

The gold kills everyone. Okay. Good to know.

We all die eventually, right?

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❀ soph speaks

very boring chapter ugh

i just want to start writing act four, i have about a million ideas that you'll either love or hate

you'll briefly meet emory (kie's potential love interest) next chapter . . . yay?

thankyou for reading!!!