chapter 34.
look in the mirror /
what do you see?

୨୧

There's this aquatic parasite called diplostomum pseudopathaceum that basically controls the life of its victims until it's ready to mate. at first, the infected fish swims in deep water to keep from being spotted by predators. when the parasite is ready, the fish swims to the surface and gets itself eaten by a bird on purpose.

once inside the bird, the parasite begins breeding until eventually it's shit out into the water where it infects another fish, turns it suicidal, and gets eaten by a bird. the cycle continues forever; fish, death, bird. fish, death, bird. it never ends, and the parasite is never satisfied. it's only ever focused on its next task: to infect, to kill, to breed.

as she trails the others across ancient ruins in the middle of morocco, josephine suspects she feels a lot like an infected bird must feel as it unwillingly swims to its demise. she knows nothing good is bound to come out of it, but it's entirely out of her control; she's following her brother to the surface to be devoured by hungry birds. (she'd follow him into hell if he asked her.)

which is why, when the boys corner a pissed rafe cameron inside the ruins, josephine doesn't flinch despite wholeheartedly expecting him to pull out a revolver and shoot them all. her spirit would simply infect some other innocent soul and lead them to their death, too.

but he doesn't. instead, he whirls around like a scared dog backed into a corner and holds the scroll in front of his body as though it could protect him. "rafe, just relax for one second." john b advances, both palms faced out like one would approach a scared animal. "we don't know where we're going, all right? give me the scroll. just give me—"

rafe suddenly produces a knife and lunges forward, aiming it at john b's jugular. he waves the scroll tauntingly. "oh, you want this?"

"it's ours." sarah speaks up, prompting rafe to spin around to face her.

"it was." he pants. "I took this shit. "bought it for four hundred k, actually.

"rafe, i just saved your life!"

"no, no, no." the eldest cameron tsks, shaking his head. "you did it so you could steal it for me. there was something in it for you, all right? not to actually help me. i know that."

josephine anxiously looks over her shoulder, anticipating the mercaneries gunshots at any moment. "rafe, we don't have time for your bullshit! give us the scroll!"

"we can read that." sarah insists. "you can't."

"why would i help you?" rafe raises his voice as though this'll help get his point across. "i don't trust you. i don't trust any of you, do you understand?" he spins in a circle, pointing to each of the other teens before landing back on sarah. "dad trusted you—remember what happened to him? do you remember?" he's shouting now and josephine flinches, stepping back into the stone wall.

sarah is no longer afraid of her angry brother. she steps closer, firm hand on his chest to shove him away. "dad died saving my life!" rafe looks taken aback, panting heavily. "you're so eager to blame me for everything you won't even listen to what happened! singhs men had me at gunpoint. i was die!" sarah recounts; this is the first time jo is hearing about what happened in south america (other than finding el dorado.) "dad took those bullets for me." the blondes voice cracks but her tone reminds fierce as she finally gets to her elder brother. "and if we was still around he'd want us to work together; i know you know that."

"no, you're just gonna screw me like everyone else." rafe says this so lowly josephine must strain to hear. his voice is full of an emotion the others are shocked to hear he even possessed. "i know you will."

"no, because i'm all you've got." sarah shakes her head. tears pool in her eyes, mimicking that of her brothers. "and you're the only family i have left."

rafe inhales in lame attempt to hide his tears but his voice cracks when he speaks. "all right. if we work together i...i still get my cut?" when sarah nods he holds out the scroll, an unspoken truce. a peace offering.

sarah ignores the scroll entirely, instead going straight to embrace her older brother. rafes briefly taken aback at the contact but shakes it off, wrapping one arm around his little sister.

shouts are heard just outside and josephine's eyes widen. "uh, guys?"

"yeah, this is great and all, but we seriously gotta go." jj breaks up the heartfelt moment. kiara pipes up, "y'all keep going, try to find the crown. we'll stay back and hold them off."

john b goes to grab josephine when the blonde shys away, raising an eyebrow as though daring him to separate her from jj. "i swear to god if you try make me go with you i will scream so loud your ears will bleed."

john b looks to jj, who shrugs. he knows she's not bluffing. "leave her. we'll be fine—strength in numbers, anyways." the blonde turns to his sister and girlfriend and gestures back the way they came from. "this way, come on!"

the trio rushes back out into the open alleyways of the ruins. "keep going up and find cover, i've got an idea."

josephine quirks an eyebrow. "does this idea involve getting shot?"

"hope not." jj shrugs. they reach an open space and he crouches against a half-wall, watching the corsairs below approach. "let the first few go by."
they watch as three mercenaries pass through until spotting one on his own. "we got one. we'll pick him off."

kiara reaches for josephine. "jo, get ready to run." the younger blonde nods and jj rises, peering over the edge and whistling to the armed corsair. "yoo-hoo, over here!"

the mercanery bursts through the doorway just as jj darts for cover, joining the other two girls in ducking behind an ancient rock wall. josephine barely has time to realize their plan before jj is counting down from three and he and kiara are pushing at the crumbling bricks, sending the entire wall toppling down ontop of the corsair.

jo lets out a shocked huff of air. "holy shit!" jj grins proudly; a shit-eating grin like a boy who caught his first trout. "we got one!" he looks over the horizon, face falling at a rapidly approaching sandstorm. "shit, we gotta go. c'mon!" they race around the corner, disappearing back into the maze of the ruins and coming out on the other side.

josephine pulls her stolen scarf over her mouth as the climb the dunes, finding john b and sarah. "jb! do you see what's coming?" she points to the brewing storm and the older boy nods. "yeah, it's about to get crazy."

jj catches up. "do we have any idea where to look for this crown?"

"its up there!" sarah shouts over growing wind. jo follows her pointing to a large statue of a lion just over the dune. "it's somewhere in that. we gotta climb up!"

suddenly they are overtaken by an abnormally large gust of wind, swirling the sand and dust all around them.

jo looks around in horror: the sandstorm had hit.

"get down!" john b shouts. jj grabs at his sister, shielding her from bacteria filled dirt. in her head, she thanks him. (she's afraid to open her mouth.)

"hey!" rafe turns to the teens, goggles and scarf pulled to protect his face from the sand. "i'm gonna go scope it out, all right? i'll meet you all up there!"

jj watches the cameron boy scramble for the statue and calls to the others. "i'm not leaving it up to him!"

"no, i'm with you!" josephine shakes her head, shouting back. kiara nods. "okay, come on!" jj turns to a clearly struggling sarah. "john b, you two sit this one out, okay? we'll find the crown!"

sarah hesitates. "are you sure?"

"go!" joey waves at john b. "get her outta here!"

the couple nods, shielding their faves against the sandstorm as they rush back towards the ruins for shelter. kiara and the maybank siblings continue over the dunes, following rafe to the statue.

josephine coughs, shielding her eyes from the swirling dirt as best she can. "mother nature must really hate us."

"hey, i can't get up there!" rafe shouts to the approaching trio. "not with this hand!" he holds up a wounded right hand and josephine raises her eyebrows at the half-assed first aid job. fabric is wrapped carelessly around a bloodied palm, now covered in wind-blown sand. jo shivers at the sight.

"i gotta do it!" jj shouts to the girls. "i gotta go up there!"

kiara shakes her head. "no, no, no, we should wait it out!"

"there's no time, kie!" jj firmly plants both hands on either of the brunettes shoulders. "right now, this our chance! they've taken everything away from us, they're not gonna take this too. i gotta do this." he gestures to an uncharacteristically silent jo. "i gotta do it for all of us." he doesn't spell it out, but both girls know what jj really means. he's gotta get this crown for his sister, to keep her with them; where she belongs.

jo fakes a cough into her fist. "i mean, it was kinda your fault."

"kinda." jj cracks a smile. "so, i should be the one to fix it, okay?"

"okay." kiara nods but her grimace shows she isn't all too fond of this idea. "come here." she steps forward, pulling her boyfriend in a tight embrace. "be careful."

"i will." after a moment, jj pulls away. he ruffles his sisters messy blonde hair and pulls his scarf back over his mouth. "i'm gonna do this."

"i'll be here waiting on my crown!"

"coming right up, princess jo and queen kie."

evie speaks !
next chapter is the last one :((
jo my bb i love u & i promise you'll get
your happy ending soon ☹️☹️