Cassie's POV

"Cassie, talk to me. I know you're not okay, you haven't been since you got here" Sarah frowns, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Sar. I'm actually working through something right now and it's been a lot" I admit.

"You can tell me anything. I am here for you" She tells me and I smile.

"I know, and thank you for that. I really want to tell my sister first because lying to her has been eating me alive" I explain.

"I totally understand" She nods with a smile on her beautiful face.

"I had both my first kisses in here" I state, looking around the small space with a smile as I change the subject.

"Oh, I remember" She giggles.

"Who'd have guessed i'd bag not one, but two Cameron siblings" I joke with a laugh and she groans, hitting me with a pillow.

"You were my first and last girl kiss" She tells me.

"If I said same I'd be lying" I reply and she laughs.

"You're my favourite tho" I add and a blush covers her freckled cheeks.

"I wonder what your ex-girlfriends would say to that?" Sarah jokes and I roll my eyes with a smile.

"Hey, you were the reason for like three of my breakups" I joke back.

"Oh, my God. I remember those break ups. Fuckboy Finn who thought we were dating behind his back even though he was actually dating Nora behind yours. Crazy Callie who swore we slept together and keyed the word 'bitch' into my bike. And then Rude Rachel who threw her drink in my face at a party because you drunkenly told her if me and her were hanging off a cliff, you'd save me first" Sarah speaks and we both burst into a fit of giggles.

"Why must you date psychos?" She asks as we both sober up.

"Truthfully? It turns me on" I admit and she gags.

The hatch opens up and the brunette hair of Johnathan Booker Routledge pops up, scaring Sarah and I to death as we both let out screams.

"Johnathan!" I shriek, throwing the giraffe at him.

It bounces off his head and he gives me a look that screams 'really?'.

"A pink giraffe? Really, Cassandra?" He scoffs and I glare at him.

"What are you doing here, John B?" Sarah snaps, holding her heart as she steadies her breathing.

"Wheezie said Cassie would be here" John B replies before looking at me "Accompany me on an adventure, Cassandra?"

I look at the cheeky grin on his face and my frown melts into a small smile.

"A Johnathan and Cassandra adventure or a Pouge and Cassandra adventure?" I ask curiously, wondering if this is going to be the usual hanging out with John B at the chateau or treasure hunting with the Pogues.

"The others are in the van" He answers with a grin.

I turn to Sarah who rolls her eyes with a smile.

"Go on" She sighs, nudging my arm.

"See you later, Sar" I chirp, pecking her cheek as John B starts climbing down the ladders.

"See you later, Cassie" My best friend replies.

I climb down the ladders and John B grabs my hand, lacing our fingers together. I skip to catch up with John B's fast walking and he rolls his eyes with a smile, stopping. He sweeps me off my feet and I giggle loudly, wrapping my arms around his neck as he carries me bridal style through the garden.

"Cassie! Where are you going?!" I hear Anna yell and I slap John B's shoulder lightly.

He turns so I can see Anna and Rose who are standing with Ward and Rafe.

"Adventure awaits!" I holler and Anna shakes her head with a small smile.

"Be careful, sweetheart! Tell Kiara too!" She tells me and I share a grin with John B.

"Stay out of trouble, champ!" Ward shouts and I shoot him a grin at the name he's called me since I was a child.

"No promises, Papa C!" I reply and he chuckles, my eyes glancing over to Rafe who is glaring angrily at John B.

The adults head inside and John B turns, carrying me away but Rafe's eyes never leave us as Topper and Kelce walk up to him. I reach up and play with John B's hair, shooting Rafe a playful smirk. The oldest Cameron glares at me in rage, his jaw and fists clenched which only makes me laugh.

"Whatcha laughin' at?" John B asks, catching my attention as we lose sight of the Kooks.

"Oh, nothin'" I grin, shrugging as I play with his brunette curls.

We reach the van and John B puts me on my feet opening the van door to reveal Pope and JJ.

"Boys!" I grin happily.

"Cassie!" JJ hollers, jumping out the van to hug me as Pope waves at me softly.

The blonde spins me around and I laugh, hugging him tightly.

"JJ, be careful with her! She's hurt!" Kiara scolds him, from the passenger seat.

"Oh, don't be a buzzkill, Kie" JJ teases her, helping me into the van.

John B starts up the van as Pope slams the side door shut and we head off.

"So what's up, scooby gang?" I ask jokingly.

"Scooby gang?" John B asks curiously, obviously avoiding what is up but I play into it.

"Yeah, you're definitely Fred" I explain and he chuckles.

"Oh, who am I?" JJ asks excitedly.

"Shaggy" I answer as he takes a hit of his blunt.

"Cool" He grins happily.

"Let me guess, I'm Scooby because I'm black?" Pope scoffs and I raise a brow, feeling slightly offended.

"Pope, my genius of a friend. You are definitely Velma" I assure him and he cracks a smile.

"Does that make me Daphne?" Kiara asks.

"Absolutely not, you're Scooby" I retort and the boys laugh at her reaction which is a frown.

"I'm just kidding, you're Daphne's sister Dawn" I add and she nods.

"Which makes you Daphne" She replies.

"Of course" I smirk, flipping my curls over my shoulder.

"So who's Scooby?" JJ asks in confusion.

"We don't have one yet" I shrug.

"I really want a dog" JJ mumbles with a frown.

"I'll get you a dog" I assure him and he grins widely "He can be our Scooby"

"Now, tell me what i've missed" I huff, turning back to the others.

They explain to me that the men who had shot me were at Lana's and they smashed up her house. She didn't tell them much but JJ said the men are square groupers. Later, the same men broke into the chateau trying to find John B and the Pogues had to hide in the chicken coop which lead to JJ killing the rooster because it kept making noises, alerting the square groupers. The men took all of Big John's research and left, so the Pogues came to pick me up because John B thinks he knows what Redfield means.

"Rodney is dead?" I ask in disbelief.

"That's all you got from that?" Kiara shrieks and I glare at her, making her sigh "Yes. The rooster is dead, Cassie"

Pope puts his arm around me in comfort and I frown in sadness, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"I mean, it's obvious, right? A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?" John B rants, changing the subject which I'm grateful for.

"Yeah. It's possible" Kiara answers.

"It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels" Pope suggests and Kiara looks at him in disbelief.

"Bro, you know how I process my sad feels. Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it" JJ explains.

"Interesting" I hum.

"I'm not concocting, okay? My dad's trying to give me a message" John B snaps.

"If it helps you believe, John B" Kiara says softly.

"Look, I- I don't need a therapy session, okay? Look, I'm not trippin' out" John B stresses.

"It's okay to trip out, bro, but-" JJ gets cut off.

"Look, my- my dad is missing, okay? Missing" John B states firmly.

"You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish, and then have no idea what happened. Just wake up every morning wondering" The brunette tells us sadly and I frown, knowing exactly how it feels.

"Wondering if they're out there all alone. Lost in some unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people who can't help them" I add and John B looks at me, his anger softening into guilt.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know" He frowns.

"Eyes on the road" I reply, leaning back onto Pope's shoulder and he turns.

"It's been almost a year" Kiara tells John B.

"Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility" JJ suggests.

"Yeah, could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere" Pope adds and I smile.

"Absolutely. Or maybe he's tied up in some secret bunker in Mexico" I add to Pope's theory.

"Guys" Kiara snaps, making us all frown "Look, what do you think the message is?"

"Redfield. The Redfield Lighthouse. That's my dad's favourite place" John B explains as he pulls up outside, parking the van.

We all hop out the van and look up at the lighthouse in awe.

"Right. You're gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?" John B tells JJ.

"Wait...Why me?" JJ asks in confusion.

"Because you're not coming" Pope answers.

"Why?" JJ snaps.

"Look, JJ. There are independent and dependent variables. You're independent. We don't know what you're gonna do" Pope explains.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" JJ mutters as Pope talks.

"Just listen to me for a second!" John B yells and both boys look at him.

"Pope, you and Cassie stand look out with JJ" He states.

"I don't wanna stand look out!" I whine.

"You're still hurt, Cassie" John B replies.

"I'm better now, see?" I tell him, jump up and down on the spot.

Kiara rolls her eyes as the boys watch me intently.

"Okay. We get it, Cassie" Kiara huffs, holding my shoulders down.

"I'll stay look out with thing one and thing two" She adds.

"Yay!" I grin, skipping over to John B.

"Okay. Uh, if we get split up, we meet back at JJ's house" John B declares.

"Great" Kiara nods.

John B climbs over the fence and I look at him in confusion, opening the gate and walking towards him. We walk to the lighthouse and I open the door, entering the tall building.

"Remind me what we're looking for again" I mumble, looking up at all the stairs.

"We'll know it when we see it" John B assures me.

"Okay" I nod and we start our hike to the top.

We trek up the spiral staircase for what feels like forever until we reach the top. I wait behind John B who lifts his fist up to the door before turning to look at me. I nod at him in assurance and he turns back to the door, rattling his knuckles against the metal. We wait for a second before the boy turns to me looking disappointed.

"Nobody home" He sighs.

The door is opened and reveals a chubby looking man with glasses and a ginger beard. He looks at us for an explanation and I elbow John B.

"Um...we're here for the lighthouse" My best friend states.

"The lighthouse is closed" The man replies, slamming the door shut.

"Actually, we... we aren't here about the lighthouse. We're here about the, uh..." John B pauses, looking at me and I smile reassuringly "The Royal Merchant"

The door opens again and we both look at the man hopefully.

"Then you came to the right place" He states before walking away, leaving the door open.

creepy

We follow him out to the balcony around the top of the lighthouse and my fear of heights starts to kick in as I grab John B's hand tightly.

"I know more- watch your step here- about the Royal Marchant than anyone else in Kildare County" Mr Creepy tells us.

"Holy shit" John B murmurs, looking out at the sea.

"Come on" Mr Creepy adds and we follow, making sure not to fall down a whole in the rotted metal floor.

"Now, the Merchant disappeared in the graveyard of the Atlantic in 1829" Mr Creepy tells us and leans on the railing making me feel physically sick.

"With four hundred million" John B adds, squeezing my hand.

"Correct" Mr Creepy replies "You're a bit of a Merchanteer yourself, huh?"

"Uh...somethin' like that" John B shrugs.

"Well, follow me. I wanna show you somethin'" Mr Creepy chuckles creepily before walking away, leaving us to follow behind him "I've been workin' 30 years up here. The view's never changed till two days ago. The Point's almost gone. One more storm like that, it'll take the lighthouse. I'll go with her"

I frown a little at his words but I'm filled with fear again once my eyes glance down to see how far away I am from the ground.

"Now, the trick to knowin' where the Merchant is, is knowin' whether she was on the north end or the south end of the eye of the storm" Mr Creepy starts talking again "Now, most experts believe that she was on the south end"

We're forced to stop when Mr Creepy turns to us.

"Now, she's on the south end, the bands from the hurricane would have pushed her back out to sea. But I don't believe that. Uh uh. I think she was on the north end of the eye. Which means the bands would have pushed her..."

"Closer to shore" John B finishes.

"That's right. Now, by my calculations, the Royal Merchant...is about ten miles thataway" Mr Creepy tells us, pointing out to see.

"Come on. Come on" He ushers us back inside.

We follow him in and I let out a relieved sigh.

"Right here is where the Point used to be" Mr Creepy declares, pointing at a map "My calculations say the Merchant's right about there, down about 1,000 feet"

"That's what my dad used to say" John B says in awe.

"Yup" Mr Creepy nods.

"Yeah, I- I know this is weird, all right? But, do you know anything about this?" John B asks, pulling out his compass "Look, it- it says Redfield in the back in my dad's handwriting. Yeah, I don't know why I'm here, but I feel like I'm supposed to be here. Do- do you have anything to give to me, or to-"

Mr Creepy turns from us and runs up a set of stairs that lead to the light of the lighthouse.

"Where are you going?" John B snaps, as we follow him.

"Wait a minute. Look- Look, man, I know this is weird. I just thought, hoped, maybe you would know something about this, all right?" John B explains.

"Sir, you won't believe what he's been through in the past 24 hours. I mean, threatened, shot at, home invaded" I speak up.

"Home invaded?" Mr Creepy asks in surprise.

"My rooster was killed" John B says sadly.

"RIP Rodney" I add.

"Look, man, my dad wanted me to talk to you, okay? So if there's anything you could think of that would help us, please, just tell us, okay?" John B explains, grabbing the man's shirt in balled fists "Look, man, please!"

"John B" I warn the boy.

"Please, if you know anything, just-" The Routledge boy is cut off when Mr Creepy brings his radio to his mouth.

"Wanda, I got two kids on drugs up here at the lighthouse. Call the police" Mr Creepy speaks.

"No!" John B yells, grabbing the man's arm and pulling it away from his face.

Mr Creepy's arm hits the glass and the glass cracks as the man grunts in pain.

"What are you doing?!" I shriek.

"It was an accident, okay?!" He retorts.

"John B, we have to go!" I tell him worriedly.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to" The brunette apologises guiltily.

I race down the spiral staircase with John B right behind me and my heart thumps against my rib cage as I push my legs to go faster. We reach the bottom and bolt out the door to see the van driving away.

"You've got to be kidding me" I groan.

"Shit" John B curses as sirens near us.

"This way" I huff, running in the opposite direction of the sirens.

We reach a white picked fence and John B jumps over it effortlessly while I clumsily climb over it, groaning as my side heats up in pain. The boy slows down a little to let me catch up and we race as far as we can away from the lighthouse. Once the lighthouse can be seen from a distance, we slow down and I hold my wound as I take deep breaths.

"Hey, look. You've- you've got to admit, that was kind of promising" John B speaks up "I mean, my dad, the Royal Merchant, the ranger, the Royal Merchant. I mean, coincidence? I don't- I don't think so"

"It's his job to know about shipwrecks, Johnathan" I sigh.

"Okay, but the Royal Merchant?" He retorts.

"That's like the most famous shipwreck of all time" I tell him "Redfield's one of the most common names in the Outer Banks. That could mean anything"

He stays silent and I let out a short laugh, shaking my head.

"Look, as far as wild goose chases go, this was a really good one" I assure him.

"Look, I don't know. Maybe we missed something at the lighthouse. We- we should go back" He suggests, stopping and spinning around to face me.

I furrow my brows and bite my tongue.

"You believe me, right?" He asks desperately.

I look down at my shoes and guilt fills my stomach.

"Right?" He asks again.

"I think there might be some light to moderate concocting going on at this point" I admit, looking back up at him.

"Cassie, come on" He groans, putting a hand on his head.

"look, uh...I get it. You miss your dad. I know. I just don't understand why he would put a clue on a compass" I explain.

"Cause he knew it would come back to me" He snaps.

I give him a sad frown and pull him into a hug. I lay my chin on his shoulder and hug him tightly as his arms wind around my back.

"You're losing it. You gotta pull it together" I mumble.

We pull away and John B looks down at me as I give him a soft smile. Before I can register what is happening, he crashes his lips onto mine and I'm frozen in shock. I recover and grab his arms, pulling away from him.

"What was that?" I ask in confusion.

"I'm...Shit. I'm- I'm sorry" He stutters, shaking his head.

"It's okay" I smile, dropping my hands to my sides.

"Oh, God, I'm an idiot" He says, looking out at the ocean.

"No, it's okay. Everything is okay" I assure him.

"I'm- It's because I'm freaking out about my dad and the DCS stuff. I can't breathe sometimes" John B rants, trying to explain himself.

"I know. Hey! Look, I don't even mind" I sigh, getting his attention.

"What?" He asks in surprise.

"It's just sister rules, y'know? No macking your sister's friends" I explain one of the few rules Kiara and I made when we were younger.

"Right, rules" He nods.

Suddenly I hear sirens and a door being opened which makes John B and I spin around.

"Routledge! I got you, son" Deputy Shoupe calls out.

"Now, why don't you just be chill and not make me chase you?" Shoupe yells and I walk behind John B who slyly hands me the compass.

"Hands where I can see 'em" Shoupe snaps as I grab the compass slipping it into my back pocket.