"I COULDN'T WANT YOU ANYMORE,
KISS IN THE KITCHEN LIKE ITS A DANCEFLOOR."
- harry styles, sunflower, vol. 6

"Okay, so the road should split up here." Pope was telling John B as he looked at the map. The group had decided after Avery's drunken bits-and-pieces of recollection and many wrong turns and dead ends to just follow the map. "Alright, you're gonna take a left."

John B did as he was told, the van skidding across the gravel road as the lack of tread on the tires was seen at its finest, providing little to no traction once the vehicle went any faster than thirty five miles per hour.

"That looks like a stone wall to me." JJ stated bluntly as the van rolled to a stop in front of a tall brick wall, which Avery recognized as the one she woke up slumped against a couple weeks prior.

"This is it." Pope announced to the Pogues. Avery noticed a common theme amongst them, however- all of her friends had their eyes trained on the house towering over the landscape that had become overgrown with weeds and brush- Avery herself thought it was abandoned when she decided to call this her temporary sleeping location a couple weeks prior, but the looks in their eyes told her she was lucky she didn't attempt to go inside the house for any reason.

"Not the Crain house." John B mumbled.

"Are you kidding me?" Kiara asked.

"Worst-case scenario." JJ added.

"Why'd it have to be here... of all places?" Pope continued with the questions, Avery looking between the four island natives curiously.

"What's the deal? It's just a house." She said bluntly. From the outside it looked like a once-charming, possibly wealth-owned, Victorian era homestead, but the looks of slight fear in her friends eyes told her otherwise.

"I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property." JJ told the group bluntly, Avery's eyes widening slightly as her eyebrows raised with them. Kiara and Pope looked at him like he was insane, but realistically, the timing of his not-so-fun fact could probably not have been worse. Considering the other teens hesitance to step any closer to the house, treading the line where the gravel of the road met grass, Avery chose to take a more optimistic approach.

"I can't be scared of what I don't know." The Decker said bluntly, walking over to the wall before anyone could stop her and jumping up to grab the opposite side of the wall and push herself over it, swinging her leg across so she was straddling it.

"Avery, Ave, Ave, Avery- do you know whose house this is?" John B asked, Avery shaking her head innocently.

"Nope." She told him bluntly. Before the Routledge could try and convince her otherwise, she had swung her other leg over the wall, jumping off it and landing on the other side with a small thump. "What're you guys waiting for? You wanna find the gold or not?"

The rest of the Pogues followed- albeit reluctantly- behind Avery as the Decker started through the yard surrounding the large house. Overgrown trees camouflaged creepy stone statues of women and assorted mythical creatures that were lurking in the shadows, keeping the four Pogues that didn't come from Texas roots and money on their toes as Avery caught them occasionally flinching as though the statues were going to come to life and jump at them any second.

"Look, you guys know whose house this is, right?" Kiara confirmed, Avery shaking her head once more.

"I didn't even know this place existed until a couple weeks ago." She told her friends flatly.

"Oh, yeah. No, I do." JJ said, his voice slightly on edge as he did his best not to so much as brush against the patches of overgrowth in a manner that made it appear like he thought he would be sucked inside and never brought back if he set his foot too far in.

"Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place." John B told his blonde friend bluntly, but the Heyward didn't seem amused, as Pope almost immediately shushed his friend.

"Which stories did you hear?" JJ asked Kiara.

"The one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since." The Carrera answered bluntly. "On certain nights, when the moon is full... you can see her in the window! Wahhh!"

Avery couldn't help but crack a smile at the girl's dramatic antics and the way she was slightly making fun of JJ's paranoia. She didn't believe for a second that someone could simply murder their spouse and get away with it, let alone on an island like the Outer Banks where Avery had found most crime was pretty heavily monitored- unless you were a minor using a fake I.D. to score booze, of course.

"No, it's not funny, 'cause it's all true." JJ argued firmly. "I swear to God, guys, this is all real. I knew Hollis- Jeez!" The Maybank flinched harshly as he caught a glimpse of a large statue in his peripheral.

"Wait, you knew Hollis Crain?" Pope confirmed.

"Yeah, dude." JJ said nonchalantly.

"Dude, how do you know Hollis Crain?" Pope asked, placing his hand on JJ's chest as he did.

"She was my babysitter, man." JJ explained to his friends. "She told me all about it. Told me the truth... about her mother... and what happened in this house."

The Pogues all looked up at the house that was now towering above them menacingly, Avery taking note of the fact that the once-open curtains of the large picture window looming over the property were pulled shut abruptly, but she couldn't see the source of the movement.

"So, as a kid, she heard all the stories that her mother had killed her father, and... she was a murderer and all." JJ explained. "Hollis didn't believe it."

"Most people probably wouldn't." Avery deadpanned. "I'd also like to point out that you guys are ruining my whole 'I can't be scared of what I don't know' mindset and most definitely setting me up to be scared."

"Until that night." JJ added onto his previous statement dramatically.

"What night?" John B questioned, his eyes narrowed in skepticism as he stared his friend down.

"It all came back to her." JJ told him, staring at him with a serious look. The Maybank turned towards the house that was towering over the Pogues, and Avery, who once looked at the house with excitement at the prospect of finding the gold somewhere in or around it, followed his gaze with unease all over her face.

"When Hollis was six years old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs." JJ started his story, gaze still fixed on the house momentarily before turning back to his friends. "So she goes downstairs to see her mom washing her hands in a sink... full of blood. Her mother just says that she cut her finger."

John B is still eying JJ skeptically, looking over at Avery and giving the Decker a reassuring half-smile, the girl still looking displeased with where this story was going.

"The next morning she says her and her father split up." JJ continued. "But then 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."

Avery audibly gagged, the sight put into her head of a partially buried, slightly decomposed face in the ground looking up at her making a nauseous lump form in the Decker's throat. John B, however, whose face JJ was getting in to emphasize his point, rolled his eyes.

"God, you are so full of shit." The Routledge deadpanned. "Is this a ploy to get Avery to hug you tighter at night when the floorboards at the Chateau start creaking?"

"Dude, I swear to God, man." JJ told his friends, looking over to Pope who was looking at him with wide eyes.

"Did she call the police?" The Heyward asked, voice laced with concern, clearly believing every word JJ was saying. John B, however, had had more than enough of his friend's shit and was now walking back towards the house.

"She didn't have time." JJ answered hastily, turning towards where the Routledge was retreating. "Wait! Dude!" He called out, Pope frantically trying to explain to his friends that this was, possibly, the worst idea they had ever had.

"What?" John B asked impatiently as JJ grabbed his shoulders and forced his friend to spin back and look at him. Avery was standing with her arms folded across her chest, looking up at the house warily. While she could tell that JJ had definitely tweaked certain parts of the story, if it was common knowledge that this woman was an axe murderer, what was stopping her from doing something to them?

"You sure you wanna do this? She's an axe murderer. You got a cast on." JJ reminded John B, Avery and Pope both turning to see how their friend would reply.

"I don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay?" John B replied shortly, his voice slightly raised. Pope's eyes widened at his words, Avery's right eyebrow raising at the Routledge's deadpan. "I got nothin' to lose, right? You comin' or what?" John B asked, tossing JJ's words directly back into his own face.

"Come on." Kie gently attempted to assure JJ, who was looking between Avery and Pope unsurely.

"I would still be very happy right now if it wasn't for you, this is your own fault." Avery told the boy as she walked behind Kiara, Pope close behind her, and JJ behind him. The five teens all made their way through the overgrowth into a semi-clearing, which, in the state of the house, basically just meant an area where the grass wasn't up to their waists, before John B stopped and turned back to the group.

"Hey, come on. Come here." He whispered, ushering the Pogues forward into a sportslike huddle. "So here's the plan. We need to look for the wheat near the water like it said in Denmark's letter."

"Okay, like, what kinda of water? Like, pond water?" Pope questioned.

"Maybe lagoon water. Goes along with the husband buried in the outhouse story." Avery suggested. JJ, on the other hand, let out a quiet chuckle next to her.

"Bong water?" The Maybank questioned, a small smirk on his face as he did. John B, however, was having none of his antics, and on the contrary, was becoming quite frustrated with his friend's lack of seriousness since their arrival at the Crain house.

"No." The brunette told JJ flatly. "It- it just said look for water, okay?"

"That's the shittiest secret message ever." Kiara deadpanned.

"You wanna complain a little more, Kie? Nobody said it was gonna be easy." John B told the Carrera flatly.

"I'll complain more- if I get into poison ivy back here, you're starving. Because I'm gonna cut you off financially like the deadbeat son I never had." Avery told the Routledge with a falsified grin plastered on her face, walking away from the Pogues and into a patch of brush while she listen to JJ and Pope argue over who was going to take- what JJ had called- 'The Decapitation Quadrant'.

The Decker walked through the trees, but all she could find even semi-water-related were stone bird baths that appeared to have gone dry years ago, only to be filled once more by the hurricane the previous week. She turned back to the house, looking at the almost eerie Victorian frame that almost felt like it was staring at her every time she moved, like there was a set of eyes in every window that was watching her, waiting to give the house the cue to swallow her up so she'd never be seen again, almost like in the movie 'Monster House' she had shown JJ, only for him to be absolutely terrified of any semi-old style house he saw for weeks after.

She was walking around the front, where a large bay window was sticking out of the house, when John B suddenly began whispering and telling the Pogues to come over where he was.

"Hey, psst! Hey, come on. It's the only place we haven't looked." The Routledge boy insisted as he pulled the small wooden door open. Avery turned, ushering Kiara and Pope in before JJ made his grand appearance, running into the clearing while flailing his arms like a madman, staring wild-eyed at the pigeon that had made itself known.

"You're so paranoid..." Avery taunted, following the blonde boy down into the basement, listening as he unexpectedly began singing nursery rhymes- twisted ones, but still, nursery rhymes.

"Down came Mrs. Crain and cut off all our heads..." The Maybank began to the tune of 'Itsy Bitsy Spider'. "Up came the sun and dried up all the blood-"

"And the itsy bitsy poguesies were never seen again." Avery finished, turning to JJ and smirking. Pope, however, found the interaction far less funny, as when Avery turned, she was immediately practically blinded by the Heyward shining a flashlight directly in her face.

"Can you two stop?" The short-haired boy asked, adding a pleading tone to the end of his statement. Avery gave the Heyward the same smirk she had flashed at JJ, the three of them continuing forward. The house above them seemed to creak with every step they took, and Avery glanced around cautiously as she took in her surroundings- piles of old books, baby cribs and children's toys, insulation that had grown moldy and started to peel away from the ceiling- but not a single drop of water.

Avery did notice one thing in abundance.

Mosquitoes.

Growing up in the moist, humid climate of northwestern Texas, Avery knew that the pests practically flourished in wet climates, which the Outer Banks normally was, but today? It was oddly dry, but the mosquitoes were still highly active, their buzzing echoing off the walls of the basement. Not exactly normal.

"Another dead end?" Kiara asked the group.

"There's not even water on the pipes." JJ commented, running his hand across the rusted metal, the silver bands cladding his fingers pinging against the cold material.

"There's no water here." Pope said bluntly. Avery, however, had began pacing the basement, attempting to follow the sounds of the mosquitos.

"Not a dropamino." JJ added, no one picking up on the Decker's actions.

"You know why we didn't find it? Bad karma." Kiara informed her friends bluntly.

"Oh, God, here we go..." John B said annoyedly.

"Kie, before you rattle off some bullshit about how much you hate Sarah, there is water in this basement somewhere." Avery told the Carrera bluntly, her friends finally picking up on the fact that Avery was basically wandering circles around the basement.

"Is your schizophrenia acting up? Are you trying to chase your own tail?" John B asked sarcastically. Avery turned to her friend, noticing the outline of a mosquito perched on the side of his face that was somehow going unnoticed by the Routledge. Without even thinking, the brunette had made her way over to her friend, and smacked the side of his face harshly, earning a gasp from Kiara, as well as assorted 'Oh, shit!'s from Pope and JJ.

"Okay, what the fuck, Ave?" John B asked, voice annoyed, but Avery held her hand up, the small splatter of blood on her hand as well as the small wings and legs stuck to it indicating what she had been smacking at.

"What's that?" She asked John B, nodding towards her hand.

"Skeeter." John B asked, sounding confused at the Decker's question.

"What's all around the marsh on hot days?"

"Skeeters."

"What seeks out water and humidity?"

"Okay, stop playing charades and get to the point." John B stopped Avery bluntly, unamused by the fact that his cheek was now turning slightly red and stung due to the force of her smack.

"Why else would there be mosquitoes in a basement, dumb bitch? There's water in here somewhere, but they're all in the middle of the room and all thats here is-" Avery stopped herself, looking down at the wood planks on the floor, noticing the gaps between them.

"What?" JJ asked in confusion.

"It's a well cover- that's a well, guys. There's a well under there." Avery rushed, moving towards the well and tossing things off the top of where the planks were laid across the ground, her friends immediately shushing her. "Help me, help me- guys, if I'm wrong I will shove my nose in John B's Converse, help me!"

"Okay, okay- shh!" JJ spat.

"She's probably right upstairs." Kiara added as she and Avery began to pull the boards aside, John B shining his flashlight down into the newly uncovered hole, only to find it lined with stone, and very closely resembling a well.

"Well, well, well." Pope said, looking at Avery proudly.

"That was a good dad joke." John B commented.

"They built this part of the house right over it." Kiara stated in awe.

"This is where she hid the bodies." JJ told the group bluntly.

"Oh, dude, come on." Pope said, knocking his friend on the shoulder.

"Stop." Kiara whined.

"No, I'm dead serious." JJ told the group.

"JJ, I'm gonna make you stick your nose in John B's Converse if you don't shut up right now." Avery deadpanned, but she turned to John B. "We've got water."

"We're gonna need a really big rope." The Routledge replied.

"No effing way!" Kiara exclaimed. The Pogues had all been sitting on the porch of the Chateau, Avery in JJ's lap in an armchair with her legs slung across the arm, when John B showed up. Before any of the Pogues could say anything, he and Sarah Cameron had walked onto the porch and sat down on the couch, making themselves comfortable, while Kiara's face practically turned red. "You brought her here? So what? She's in on this now?"

"I dunno." Pope said as John B turned to his other friends, looking for help.

"Look, all I care about is that her cut comes out of your share." JJ told John B bluntly.

"I don't mind that she's here, I don't mind her, just don't get her pansy-ass boyfriend and rapey brother involved." Avery chimed in, which only aggravated Kiara more.

"You know, I don't remember taking a vote. This is our thing, a Pogue thing." Kiara spat and John B, while Sarah glared at her.

"Kiara, let's get our heads out of our asses here- you and I are never going to fully be Pogues, because we come from cushy families with lots of money to fall back on. And it's really ironic that you of all people preach 'Pogue loyalty' when you're the one who fucking left."

"Shut up, Avery! I'm so tired of you holding that trump card over my head! I'm not proud of myself for leaving, but I'm here now, and that's what counts. She, however, has no idea what any of us have been through together." Kiara added, jabbing a finger at Sarah.

"I gotta say, I'm just a tad uncomfortable with all this." Pope spoke up.

"Thank you!" Kiara shouted, earning a glare from
not only Sarah anymore, but Avery as well.

"When are you not uncomfortable?" John B asked the Heyward in disbelief.

"I don't know, I rode here on the back of JJ's bike pretty comfortably." The short-haired boy retorted.

"It's true." JJ stated bluntly. "Most relaxed I've ever seen him."

"You guys are so gay- and that's coming from me." Avery told the two boys.

"That's cute, guys." John B added.

"Y'know, we were all extremely comfortable until you brought her." Kiara deadpanned, Sarah finally fed up with the Carrera's words.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" She shouted.

"Then leave." Kiara told the Cameron girl flatly.

Sarah scoffed, turning to look at John B. "I told you."

"Told him what, exactly?" Kiara asked, noticing the way John B was looking at Sarah. "That you're a liar?

"No, that you're a shit-talking bitch, Kiara." Sarah deadpanned.

"Oh shit!" Pope exclaimed, Avery's jaw dropping as she watched the two girls start to argue loudly, JJ pulling a crumpled five-dollar bill out of his pocket and holding it up.

"My moneys on Kie." He whispered.

"Oh, hell no. Sarah has acrylic stiletto nails on, she gets her hands on Kiara she she's done for." Avery retorted, pulling her own money out of her pocket and holding it up between her fingers.

"Everybody shut up!" John B shouted suddenly, Sarah and Kiara falling silent as the trio on the other side of the porch all silently pocketed their money once more.

"I had twenty dollars on Sarah, you buzzkilling bitch." Avery mumbled, folding her arms and leaning back against JJ's chest, the Maybank slinking an arm around her waist and resting his hand on her upper thigh.

"Kie, you are my best friend, right?" John B stated, leaning towards the curly-haired girl as though it would help him to get his point across. "And Sarah, you're... you're my..."

"Say it." The Cameron whispered.

"You're my girlfriend."

"Ohh... that's new." Pope said, Avery furrowing her eyebrows at him.

"You're supposed to be the smart one- did you seriously just now realize they're boyfriend-girlfriend? I knew that before she even got here." The Decker told her friend bluntly.

"She's your girlfriend now?" Kiara asked, a slight laugh in her tone. "What was all that about you were just using her for information? Get a map, cut her loose?"

"God, Kiara- you are such a fucking bitch!" Avery exclaimed. "Get over your petty jealousy thing, you had your chance to have John B in your pants, sent every signal that can be thought of, and when you finally had your chance, you bailed. So shut the fuck up, you know he only said that to please you!"

"You said you were using me?" Sarah asked John B, the hurt evident in her voice.

"No." John B said bluntly.

"Yeah, you did." Pope deadpanned. "You said those things." The Heyward looked over, noticing the glare Avery was sending him.

"Okay, look- love just walked in, okay? I didn't expect it, it just- it kind of happened." John B attempted to defend himself.

"Oh, vomit." Kiara said bluntly.

"And I'm not gonna deny it." John B added. "Right?"

The Routledge, however, was greeted with Sarah staring at him like he was an idiot, which to be fair, he kind of was.

"That's corny." Pope whispered.

"Look, cut the bullshit, John B. If she's in, I'm out." Kiara told her friend bluntly.

"Bye-bye." Avery said bluntly, JJ stifling a laugh at the comment.

"Kie, I'm not doing this. I can't!" John B exclaimed, however, Kiara wasn't letting up.

"You are gonna decide- I'm very interested, actually, me or her?" Kiara asked.

"Both." John B stated bluntly.

"Went for the Hail Mary." JJ breathed.

"That's very best friend of you, Kiara, demanding he pick between you and someone else because you're insecure, very mature of you." Avery added, Kiara turning and walking off the porch, both upset by John B's answer and the lack of defense of her by her friends.

"It'll be cool, right?" Sarah asked John B, clearly quoting something he said earlier that day to her. "I'm gonna leave. Gonna let y'all chat. Let me know."

"Sarah, don't- where are you going?" John B asked as Avery stood up as well.

"Calm your titties, I'm going to talk to your girlfriend." Avery told the Routledge, following Sarah off the porch.

"Avery, if you're just gonna be pissy at me, don't even bother, okay? I know you guys don't want me here." Sarah told the Decker bluntly, Avery jogging to catch up with her and grabbing her wrist gently.

"No, no, I want you here." Avery assured. I think Kiara's a bitch and all she's done since we started this whole treasure hunt is treat us like we're stupid and get in the way. You've done a lot of good, you got us that Tannyhill map and we think we've found the gold because of it."

"Okay, but John B said he was using me, Pope agreed with Kiara when she called him out on it-
and he lied about it!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Okay- yes, but I was there, Sarah, he didn't mean it. Like, at all. Kiara was pissed that he was getting the Tannyhill map from you and he just wanted her to stop bitching. I wasn't lying when I said he only said it to please her." Avery explained. "He cares about you, Sarah, I can tell."

"You're sure?" Sarah asked, sounding unsure of what Avery was saying. The Decker felt bad for her- being told that your boyfriend was only using you for information by the one person you hate more than anything just for him to lie about it to your face had to sting, but Avery was also pissed at Kiara.

"I'm positive. Kiara's just mad, she doesn't care about anyone but herself right now. You're a better person than she is." Avery assured. Sarah gave her a small smile, nodding her head.

"Thanks, Avery. I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, you will.".

KENS SPEAKS ::

hey hey hey

long time no see

i actually have no excuse for why this took so long but im here now

i'm so so sorry for the huge gaps between chapters but im losing motivation so much and am a firm believer in quality over quantity so id rather give you guys fewer good chapters at a time than a ton of chapters that are nowhere near my best quality work as i've done that in the past

anywho as always dedicated to my pookie mara go read summertime sadness and follow my tiktok @mvybanksss_wp