EMERY HAD NEVER BEEN HAPPIER.

amelia had told dcs that john b would be staying in the guest room, but the truth of the matter was that she knew all along that john b would be sleeping in emery's room every night.

she was right, she always was. his first night, when the realization hit him he had left his childhood home, and that it was solidified that his dad was gone, emery heard her door creak open, the routledge boy laying next to her and wordlessly wrapping his arms around her waist, tucking his head into her chest as emery played with his hair, murmuring small reassurances into his ear until his breathing evened out and he was lulled into a sense of security that, for the first time in nine months, he was safe.

so, yes, she couldn't help the smile that took over her features when she woke up, john b laying across her with his arms wound tightly around her waist. she put her hand in his hair, massaging his scalp and picking up her phone from the bedside table, messages from the group chat with mara and jj she had on her screen.

my wife
ems wake tf up

brotato chip
emery wake up

my wife
don't make me come over
i have your mom on speed dial

brotato chip
i'll come too

emmy lou
calm down
im awake

my wife
abt time
how's jb

emmy lou
he's still asleep
just come over
i'll wake him up

my wife
okay
love you

emmy lou
love you guys too

emery gently nudged the sleeping boy on top of her, john b groaning.

"i'm gonna get up and you're not stopping me." she said, shoving john b off her and practically jumping out of bed.

"come back." he whined.

"no, i have to get ready. wake up." she said flatly, walking over to her dresser and freezing when she opened her shirt drawer.

the box.

she had found it in the attic when she was looking for a spare comforter, and after not finding any in the linen closet, figured the attic was the next best thing.

had it not been for the intricate flower design and the fact it was the perfect size, emery probably wouldn't have grabbed it and planned to use it as a jewelry box. but the designs on the wood and the way it fit in her hand just right, she just knew it would look great on her vanity.

she had opened the box while still in the attic, not expecting to find a picture inside, backside facing upwards. amelia's handwriting was on the white material in a scrawl- emery and her daddy. the melville girl had flipped the picture over in an instant, wanting to see a time where jackson had found her likable enough to spend time with her.

but it wasn't ashton in the picture.

emery's jaw had dropped when she saw the man in the picture, how it wasn't her father. under the picture, there were letters, letters to him.

emery had put everything back in the box, and after finding the comforter, stopped at her room on the way and put it in her dresser. the little ornate box in the drawer had complete slipped her mind after that.

how had she never noticed? they had always been so similar, two halves of a whole, she had never thought anything about not being her father's daughter, no. amelia, a cheater? but upon reading the letters, emery could tell amelia wanted to leave jackson. that their divorce had been a long time coming. but when jackson blamed the whole situation crashing and burning on emery, was it because she was, in fact, not his daughter?"

she swallowed hard, grabbing the white shirt next it and shoving the drawer shut. she knew she had to tell at some point, but it wasn't going to be any time soon. she also grabbed a light blue bikini and a pair of jean shorts. john b was still sprawled out on the matress when emery walked into the bathroom, and when she came back, he was gone. she sat at her vanity, beginning to put sunscreen on her face, grabbing her phone from her desk and starting down the stairs.

"morning, hun." amelia said from the kitchen, sliding her a plate of pancakes and a bottle of maple syrup.

"do we have blueberry for john b?" emery asked, pointing to the syrup, amelia nodding and pulling the bottle out of the cabinet.

"how many this morning?" she asked.

"just jj and mara." she said, amelia starting to plate up more of the pancakes that were sitting on a tray by the stove.

john b came downstairs not long after, grabbing his plate from amelia and thanking her profusely as he practically drowned them in blueberry syrup.

"hey bitches." mara called as she walked through the front door without knocking, jj right on her heels as she walked into the kitchen, amelia passing them both plates of pancakes and pouring glasses of orange juice for everyone, with the exception of a single glass of apple for emery.

"what's on the agenda today?" amelia asked, emery shrugging and shoving a forkful of pancakes into her mouth.

"we're probably all gonna head out to the chateau, chill on the hms, maybe go surfing." she said, knowing full well that they were meeting kie and pope at the wreck to look over the tannyhill map.

"sounds like fun." she said, grabbing her purse front the counter.

"where are you going?" john b asked.

"the mainland." she said. "i have to get a couple things from the store."

"you're gonna be out all day?" jj asked.

"i'm spending the night there, i'll be back tomorrow afternoon." she said, emery nodding.

"have fun!" she called when amelia walked out the door.

"lying to your mom kills me, she thinks we're so innocent." jj said, emery shaking her head.

"she knows we're not." she said. "we think we're smooth, we're really not."

"what does that mean?" jj asked, suddenly white as a ghost, emery smirking at him.

"she hears everything that happens in this house, including every makeout session you have with tourists in the basement. the vent above the couch is literally connected to her room."

jj didn't comment on the matter after that, choosing
to eat his pancakes in silence.

"IF AMELIA'S LEGALLY YOUR MOM, DOES THAT MAKE YOU A SISTER KISSER?"

pope asked john b, who wrinkled his eyebrows in disgust while emery gagged behind him.

"never speak again." she said bitterly, sitting across from kie.

"does the position of son-in-law come with a sweater vest, or is it sold separately?" pope continued.

"does he get to drive the golf cart?" jj asked emery.

"he drove it straight into a tree last time we let him."

"i was thirteen." john b defended himself to his girlfriend.

"and you still drive like shit." she deadpanned, pulling the map out of her backpack and spreading it on the table.

"now that we have the map, all we have to do is find the water in parcel nine."

"it's all out of whack because the guy was ganja'd when he drew it." jj muttered.

"it's because the coast has changed, dipshit." emery said flatly.

"well just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed." pope said.

"what about the old forts?" john b asked.

"battery jasper's in parcel nine." emery added, already grabbing the map and heading out to the twinkie.

THE GROUP PILED OUT OF THE TWINKIE.

"we're in battery, right here." pope explained. "so, if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here."

"somewhere over there." kie said, pointing in the distance.

"right." pope replied.

"over there? guys, that's not tannyhill, that's a subdivision." jj said.

"do you pay attention in sunn's class at all?" emery asked.

"no, because you're always sending me imessage games." he retorted.

"tannyhill plantation used to be the entire island." john b explained. "it got sold into smaller pieces over time."

"so we're just looking for an old stone wall." pope muttered. emery looking to mara and grimacing.

"what do you guys know?" jj asked.

"you're not gonna be happy about it." emery replied, ushering for everyone to get in the van once again.

IT WAS THE LAST PLACE THEY WANTED.

emery and mara had been in the area as kids, they'd ride their bikes there and try to scale said stone wall, neither of them strong enough to pull themselves over.

"okay, so the road should split up here." pope was telling john b. "alright, you're gonna take a left."

the twinkie slid across the gravel, wheels screeching as it did, sending emery flying into the door.

"can you slow the hell down?" jj complained from the backseat.

the van stopped in front of the stone wall, pope and john b looking out the window.

"looks like a stone wall to me." pope said.

"this is it." john b added, everyone climbing out of the van, mara and emery audibly groaning.

"i called it." emery muttered.

"of course it's here." mara added, looking up at the old victorian house nestled into a sea of overgrown weeds and trees, tucked away off the main part of the island and back into the countryside.

"not the crain house." john b mumbled.

"are you kidding me?" kiara asked, clearly displeased with the situation.

"worst-case scenario." jj added, sucking on his teeth as he did.

"why'd it have to be here?" pope wondered out loud, clearly not happy with the circumstances. "of all places."

"i heard that mrs. crain buried her husband's head on the property." jj voiced.

"can you stop telling us scary shit every time we try and do something?" mara scolded, slapping his shoulder.

after the boys boosted the girls over the wall and climbed over themselves, they began walking through the sea of overgrown weeds that had swallowed what emery believed could have once been a lovely property- y'know, besides the murder mrs. crain was accused of committing.

"honestly, i don't believe the stories of this place." john b deadpanned.

"same." emery replied, shrugging. "mara and i used to try and climb the wall, see who could get over first. we always wanted to get in here."

"which stories did you hear?" jj was asking mara.

"the usual." she replied. "crain was crazy, she killed her husband with an axe one night, and on some nights, when the moon is big and full..." mara trailed off, getting close to jj's face. "you can see her in the window." she whispered, before shouting loudly and grabbing the boy by his shoulders, making him fall back onto emery in fear, both girls laughing hysterically at him.

"guys, it's not funny cause its all true! i knew hollis." jj added, both girls laughing stopping abruptly.

"how did you know hollis crain?" emery asked.

"she was my babysitter." jj explained. "she told me all about it- told me the truth about her mother and what happened in this house."

everyone was now eyeing the house warily, emery watched as a curtain appeared to be pulled shut in an upstairs window.

"so, as a kid she heard all these stories that her mother killed her father and... she was murderer and all." jj started, eyeing the group. "hollis didn't believe it. until that night."

"stop with the alligator hunter act and get to the point." emery snapped, annoyed with jj's attempt to add dramatics to every story he told.

"when hollis was six years old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs. so she goes downstairs and sees her mom washing her hands in a sink... full of blood." jj starts. "her mother just says that she cut her finger. the next morning she says her father and her split up. but hollis noticed something. her mother going into the parlor constantly, in and out and in and out with plastic bags. weeks pass, and hollis decides to use the outhouse. and as she's using it, she looks down, and there, in the outhouse, is her father's head, looking straight back at her." jj finished to john b, who rolled his eyes.

"you are so full of shit!" he exclaimed, clearly wanting to get his gold and get out.

"did she call the police?" pope asked.

"she didn't have time- wait bro!" jj called to john b, who had shoved past him and was walking closer to the house.

"what?" the brunette whisper-shouted.

"you sure you wanna do this? she's an axe murderer. you got a cast on." jj said, weighing his options.

"emery'll just show up all hot with your gun and save him." mara mentioned from behind the boys, her arms folded across her chest.

"i don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer!" john b exclaimed, pope's eyes widening in shock at the boy. "we got nothing to lose, right? you coming or what?"

emery walked up to john b, ushering, once more, for everyone to follow her. when they got to a clearing near the house, they all huddled up.

"okay, so here's the plan." john b said. "we need to look for the wheat near the water like it said in denmark's letter."

"okay, like, what type of water? like, pond water?" pope asked, jj laughing, mara hitting him across the back of the head.

"don't even." she muttered, jj murmuring something under his breath.

"it- it just said look for water, okay?" john b exclaimed.

"that's the shittiest secret message ever." kiara whined.

"then go wait in the car." emery deadpanned.

"you wanna complain a little more, kie?" john b asked, grabbing emery's hand and walking with her towards the other side of the house from where kiara and pope were going, mara following jj. "nobody said it was gonna be easy."

john b and emery stopped in a clearing, looking up at the house before walking towards the ground level, underneath the part of the house that jutted out over what appeared to be an old porch.

as the two pushed through the undergrowth, they were able to make out the door into the basement that was in the side of the house, standing about three feet high.

"hey!" john b called to kie and pope, who had just rounded the corner, jj and mara being called over by emery from the other side of the house. "it's the only place we haven't checked."

"open it." emery hissed, john b pulling the door open, everyone crouching to get through the door, crawling into the basement until they got to a place they could stand.

"where do the flashlights keep coming from?" emery asked as pope had conjured a light from somewhere, john b also having one in his hand.

everyone slunk through the basement, looking around them.

"down came mrs. crain and cut off all our heads." jj sang under his breath. "up came the sun and dried up all the blood."

"and the itsy bitsy poguesies were never seen again." emery finished, pope flashing the light directly in their eyes.

"can you guys stop?" he asked exasperatedly. the light shining around the basement only revealed more and more unsettling horrors of mrs. crain's possessions, such as multiple baby cradles and rotting teddy bears.

"you guys found any water?" emery asked.

"theres definitely no water down here." mara added, swatting at a mosquito flying around her head.

"another dead end?" kie asked.

"there's not even water on the pipes." jj muttered as he ran his hand across one.

"there's no water down here." pope deadpanned.

"not a dropamino." jj added.

"that's not a language." mara said flatly.

"know why we didn't find it?" kie asked. "bad karma."

"not this again." emery whined.

"you know, we had a good thing going. and then you decide to rope in barbie, and now the trail's gone dry. coincidence? probably not."

"do you ever get tired of hearing yourself speak?" emery asked the carrera.

"he's the one macking on her!" kiara exclaimed, emery shaking her head.

"but he's not. if you cared about him at all, you'd know he's my boyfriend!" she shouted back.

"this is exactly why i didn't want to tell you about sarah." john b told kiara.

"yeah?" she asked.

"yeah." john b muttered. "what the hell's the deal with you two?"

"nothing!" kiara defended.

"nothing? is it because i kissed emery and not you, is that the problem?" john b spat, kiara slapping him so hard it caused an echo, as well as john b's head snapping to the side."

"oh shit!" mara exclaimed.

"stop treating me like i'm a girl who's obsessed with you, instead of your best friend who's trying to help you." kiara hissed.

"did you just hit me?" john b asked, but kiara held her hand up, a dead mosquito splattered across her palm.

"skeeter." she replied.

"skeeter?" john b asked, kiara nodding as john b slapped the girl on the face.

"oh, hey!" jj called.

"okay..." pope voiced, but kiara didn't seem phased.

"where's your proof?" she asked, john b holding up his hand with an identical marking.

"skeeter."

the two began slapping each other, mara and emery also noticing an abundance of mosquitoes in the basement, biting the two girls multiple times.

"where are there so many mosquitoes in a basement?" pope whispered.

"little vampire bats." jj hissed, mara slapping on of the bugs on his arm.

suddenly, pope began moving wood from a spot on the floor, making a large amount of noise while doing so.

"dude, shut up!" emery whispered.

"help me move this." he instructed, everyone beginning to move the wood on the floor.

a well was underneath the planks.

"well, well, well." pope commented.

"that was a good dad joke." john b mumbled, emery grabbing a rock and dropping it into the hole, a splash of water echoing around them.

"we found our water." she said with a grin.

"we're gonna need a really big rope" john b added.

kens speaks 🪐

holy shit this is long

mara gets full credit for her and jj's contact names, thank her for the existence of this book btw