Lane hated hospitals. Not to say that the majority of the population was fond of them, with the exception of doctors, nurses, and Pope. Especially the hospital in OBX. She came here when her parents died and now here she was arguing with the ER nurse who wouldn't let her back to see John B because she wasn't "family". Little does she know, John B was a big part of the little family that she knew recently.
It was no use wasting her energy arguing with her, though. The grumpy old lady was not going to let Fallon back into John B's room and as much as she wanted to, JJ said that it would be good for her to go home and get some rest, try again in the morning. Of course, her current home was with Kie over on The Cut, but given recent events she wanted to be home home. So, that's where JJ takes her, to her house with Lawson next to The Chateau. She hadn't been back since their big blow up but she needed to be in her own house, regardless of the asshole her older brother was being.
"You want me to go in with you?" JJ asks her as she hops off his bike, the spot around his waist where her hands just were suddenly feeling cold. She takes his spare helmet off and hands it to him.
"No, it might get a little ugly, I should go in there alone," She takes a deep breath, glancing at the house behind her, "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"And everyday after." JJ reaches forward, his hand on her hip as he pulls her into him, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
Fallon allows the blush to creep onto her cheeks, not fighting back the smile either, "See ya, blondie." She pinches his cheek before strolling up to the front door. JJ waits until she's safely inside before he starts his bike back up and drives away, wondering how the exchange between the siblings will go.
Lane welcomes the familiarity of her family home as she closes the door behind her, locking it. After the night she had, the nostalgic smell relaxes her muscles and she finds herself leaning against the door, her eyes falling shut.
"What are you doing here?"
The peace is short lived as Lawson's irritated tone reaches her tired ears and she rolls her eyes open, "I came to offer a truce." She sighs, pushing off of the door and walking over to him, "I know you were only trying to protect me by not telling me the truth about mom and dad, and I know that is a very big secret to carry on your shoulders." Her older brother looks her up and down, as if he's suspicious of the apology she is about to offer, "I'm sorry that I haven't been making it any easier on you, but I think now that I am older we can work together and figure out what really happened to mom and dad."
"What changed?" He asks, "You were so angry before I...I thought you would never forgive me." She sees true sadness in his eyes for the first time in a long time and her heart aches for him.
"John B was pushed off of the Hawk's Nest tonight by Topper," She explains. Lawson's eyes widen, "He's going to be okay, but, it just made me realize that the people I have in my life now are people I shouldn't take for granted and I definitely shouldn't hold grudges." She holds her hand out as if for him to shake. "So, truce?"
He looks at her hand and then at her. His frown relaxes and he reaches forward, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug, "I'm so glad you came back." He kisses the top of her head before he rests his chin on top of her, "I don't know what I would do if I lost you."
"You'll never lose me, L," She rests her head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat against her cheek, "you're my family. You'll always have me." She promises.
The next morning, Lane found out, much to her annoyance, that Sarah Cameron had been in to see John B and he was actually just fine. Well, a concussion and broken wrist but it was pretty good considering that he fell so far down.
Not only had Ward Cameron charmed the nurses into letting him and Sarah into John B's room (something Lane had failed to do) but he was offering John B a place to stay at their house, essentially being his temporary legal guardian so that DCS was off his back. It was all good things, really it was. If only Lane could shake the awful feeling that she had in her gut.
The Pogues were gathered at The Wreck to go over the map that Sarah had gotten from her dad's office and there was a thick layer of tension hanging over the group as Kie yet again told John B that she didn't want Sarah involved.
"Look, you promised," Kie looks at JB as they all sit down at a table, JJ resting his arm on the back of Lane's chair as he stands behind it. "You said you weren't with her."
"Bro, just own it. She got you." JJ tells John B. He had a point, Lane could tell when Johnny was lying and whenever the topic of Sarah came up he was covered in the stench of deception.
"If you wanna hang out with her that's fine," Kie continues, "But I'm letting you know right now that I'm not doing anything with Sarah."
"Do you guys see her here?" John B defends, "No. Right, well a little focus would be fantastic." Lane rolls her eyes and places her hand flat down on the map, bringing it closer to her so she can get a better look.
"Well it's all out of wack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it." JJ remarks over Lane's shoulder and she looks at him, furrowing her brows.
"It's because the coast has changed." She says slowly, to which JJ holds his hands up in defense.
"So we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed." Pope informs them, pulling the map closer to him.
"What about the old forts?" JB looks up at them.
"Battery Jasper." Kie points to a specific point near the middle of the map.
Lane grabs the map, folding it up quickly as she scoots her chair back-almost into JJ's crotch-and stands up, "I'll drive."
"Wait, what?" John B frowns at her as everyone else gathers their things, "What do you mean you'll drive."
"You have one hand, remember?" She eyes his cast and grabs his keys from around his belt loop, "I'll. Drive."
Not without complaints from John B about how he was perfectly capable of driving-to which Lane simply turned the music up louder-they make it to Battery Jasper, where they lay the map out on a large rock and look out over the island.
"We're in Battery right here," Pope concludes, pointing to where they are in the map, "So if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here."
"Somewhere over there?" JJ points in the direction of where Pope is saying, "But guys thats not Tannyhill that's a subdivision."
"Well, Tannyhill Plantation used to be the entire island," Lane remembers, "it got sold into smaller pieces over time. So, at the point that the gold was hidden that was Tannyhill."
Pope scans his eyes and finger over the map one more time, looking for an identifying mark that can tell them exactly where they need to look next, "So we're just looking for an old stone wall."
With navigation from Pope, Lane drive the group to the location they desire. An old stone wall...outside of the creepiest house in all of OBX. "This is it." Pope says darkly.
"Not the Crain house." John B groans.
"Are you kidding me?" Kie asks in disbelief as they all climb out of the van.
"Worst-case scenerio." JJ presses his lips together.
"Why did it have to be here?" Pope sighs dramatically.
"I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husbands head on the property." JJ turns to Pope, a scared look in his eyes.
"First one to find the head gets five more percent of the cut." Lane says excitedly as she jumps toward the wall and starts to climb it.
"Lane-" JJ tries to grab her and make her wait but she's already on the other side of the wall, starting to walk closer to the house that so many kids on the island were terrified of.
Lane is front of the group as they make their way through the overgrown property, trying to ignore all the silly things that they were telling each other, only worsening their fear.
"On certain nights, when the moon is full, you can see her in the window." Kie says in a spooky whisper, wagging her fingers in front of JJ's face.
"No, Kie it's not funny because it's all true." JJ says frantically, "I swear to God, guys. I knew Hollis." He jumps when they come to a clearing and there's a creepy statue right there, he holds his fists up in defense.
"You knew Hollis Crain?" Pope asks.
"Yeah, dude."
Pope grabs JJ and turns him to face him. "Dude, how did you know Hollis Crain?" He demands.
"She was my babysitter, man, she told me all about it. Told me the truth...about her mother and about what happened in this house." Lane stops walking when all of them do, turning to look at her friends with her arms crossed over her chest, "So, as a kid she heard all the stories that her mother killed her father, and how her mom was a murderer and all. Hollis didn't believe it...until that night."
"What night?" John B asks, encouraging him to go on.
"It all came back to her." JJ looks up at the house, "When Hollis was six-years-old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs. So she goes downstairs to see her mom washing her hands in a sink..." pause for a dramatic effect, "full of blood. Her mother just says she cut her finger. The next morning her mom says that her and her dad split up." Lane rolls her eyes, this man could be so dramatic sometimes, "But then Hollis noticed her mom going into the parlor constantly in and out and in and out with plastic bags. Weeks pass, and Hollis decides to use the outhouse." Lane starts creep up behind JJ and toward the statue, everyone so engrossed in his story that they don't notice, "and as she's using it she looks down and there, in the outhouse, there's her father's head looking straight at her.'
"BOO!" Lane shouts, jumping out from behind the statue, making everyone jump and JJ and Pope let out high pitched shrieks. Lane shakes her head at all of them, "You're so full of shit, JJ." She crosses her arms over her chest once against as she walks toward the group, "Now are we going to stand around and tell scary stories or are we going to find some gold?" She drops her arms, ignoring the glares from JJ and walking ahead once again.
"Once gotten into her?" Pope whispers to Kie as they all start to follow after the girl.
"Why don't you ask JJ?" She whispers back, thumping the blond on the back of the head.
"Ow! I didn't do anything." He groans, rubbing the back of his head.
"You mean you didn't announce to the whole group that you two made out and then have proceeded to act like nothing happened?" Kie gives her one of her signature glares and pushes past him to walk ahead, trying to catch up with Lane who is now crouching down near some bushes as they are getting closer to the house itself.
"What's the plan?" She asks John B as the rest of the group follows suit.
"We need to look for the wheat near water like it said in Denmark's letter." John B reminds them all.
"Okay, what kind of water?" Pope asks, "Like pond water?"
JJ lets out a chuckle, "Bong water?" Lane has to bite back her smile.
"No, it-it just said to look for water, okay?" John B says, slightly annoyed with everyone's lack of focus.
"That's the shittiest secret message ever." Kie says as she steps over the bushes and makes her way in her own direction.
"You wanna complain a little more, Kie? No one said it was going to be easy." John B says, following her.
"I'll search the northeast quadrant, you guys search the northwest." Pope says to JJ and Lane who give each other sideways glances.
"The...decapitation quadrant." JJ calls over Pope in desperation.
"Come on, I'll protect you." Lane jokes, leading the way in the direction Pope directed them to go.
JJ takes long strides to catch up to her, walking beside her, their arms almost touching but she keeps her eyes peeled forward, "Hey, look," He speaks up after a moment, "are you seriously mad at me?"
"I'm not mad at you, JJ."
"Really? Because you're acting how you act when you're mad at me." He sighs when she keeps walking and doesn't even look at him. He grabs her by the hips and turns her around to face him, their chests almost touching, "Lane, listen," He starts and she finally looks up into his blue eyes, feeling like her body could melt right into him, "I want to talk about what happened I really do but we haven't had a moment alone and I don't want to make things uncomfortable around everyone else." He explains to her.
Lane sighs in defeat, "I know I know," She runs her fingers through her hair, "I'm sorry I'm being so moody today it's just with everything going on all of this-" she motions between them, "is adding to all the craziness in my brain and I just don't want to mess anything up with you." She admits, gently placing her hands on his chest.
JJ smiles down at her. She was quite the overthinker, even if she didn't always show it on the outside. When it came to the big things in her life, she would often tune out everything else and retreat into herself to pour over all of the option and possible outcomes. Not many people saw this, but JJ could always tell when the wheels were turning in her head. "Trust me," He tucks a hair behind her ear, "if either of us is going to mess anything up it's going to be me." He says lightly but Lane doesn't laugh like he wanted her to.
"You don't know that for sure." She shakes her head and he slides his hand to the side of her neck, leaning in and just as their lips are about to touch they hear a sharp 'psst' not far from where they're standing.
Stepping out from the trees that they were standing behind, JJ and Lane find the rest of the group entering a small crawl space that was under the house, "It's the only place we haven't looked."
As they walk into what turns out to be the basement of the Crain house, Lane really questions her choice in friends. This was breaking and entering right? Well, the door was already open but still. The basement smelled old and there were cobwebs everywhere, Lane felt like she there was a spider crawling on her every five minutes.
"Down came Mrs. Crain and cut off all our heads," JJ starts to sing to the tune of the itsy bitsy spider, "Out came the sun and dried up all the blood."
"Can you stop?" Pope demands, turning to point his flashlight at JJ. There was a lot of junk in the basement, old toys, a crib for a doll...but not water.
"See any water?" Kie asks in annoyance. "Another dead end?"
JJ reaches up and feels the pipes above them, "There's not even water on the pipes."
"There's no water here." Pope says, also a hint of annoyance in his voice but probably for a different reason than Kie.
"Not a dropamino." JJ says, his eyes still scanning the ground hopefully.
"Wanna know why we didn't find it?" Kie asks, her head bobbing sassily, "Bad Karma." She turns her head to John B.
"Oh, God, here we go." He groans.
"You know, we had a good thing going," Kie starts, "and then you decide to rope in Barbie, and now the trail has gone dry. Coincidence? Probably not."
"This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you about Sarah?" John B approahes Kie and Lane watches them closely, Pope and JJ ignoring them to the best of their ability, "What the hell's the deal with you two?"
"Nothing.' Kie answers quickly.
"Nothing? Really? Is it because I kissed you? Is that the problem?"
Smack. Kie's hand collides with John B's cheek so hard that it echoes across the basement. "Oh shit." Pope and JJ voice sounds of shock while Lane slaps her hand over her mouth in disbelief.
"Stop treating me like some girl who's obsessed with you instead of your best friend who's actually trying to look out for you." Kie's words are laced with venom as she stares down John B.
"Did you uh...hit me?" John B is still stunned, his head turned lightly to the side.
"Skeeter." Kie says simply, holding her hand up to show him the dead bug.
"Skeeter?" He cocks an eyebrow and Lane's eyes are darting back and forth between the two now. And then, John B smacks the side of Kie's face, not as hard but still.
"Hey! Woah-" Lane holds up her hands.
"Skeeter." John B holds up his hands as well for the proof. This starts an all out war and the two teenagers start smacking each other in various spots on their body. There were a lot of mosquitos down there, but it was silly nonetheless.
"Why are there so many mosquitos in a basement?" Pope whispers to himself.
"I don't know but can we leave?" JJ asks out loud, "Because I'm already itchin to leave...ha, get it? Punny." Lane shakes her head at him but smiles.
Pope starts stomping on a ton of wooden planks on the ground and Lane frowns at him, "Dude, what are you doing?" She watches as he picks up a pebble and drops it between the cracks in the wood. They both stare at each other with wide eyes when they hear it splash against water.
Lane immediately starts pushing everything off of the wood, it created a lot of noise but it was necessary, "Lane, Sh!" John B hisses at her.
"We have to move these." She tells him.
"Okay, but sh." He tells her, a little more gentle this time. The group moves everything off of the wood before lifting the wood itself. What they saw below made their hearts leap with joy.
Mrs. Crain had a well in her basement. "Well, well, well...' Pope says.
"That was a good dad joke.' John B says, his eyes on the water below.
"They built this part of the house right over it," Kie says in amazement.
"This is where she hid the bodies." Lane smacks JJ in the arm, "What? I'm dead serious." He says, rubbing his arm.
"Stop." She hisses at him, "she probably doesn't even know it's here."
"We're gonna need a really big rope." John B says with a smirk on his face.
Hello hello! Sorry it's been so long! The rest of my summer was crazy and school has been kicking my butt. I hope you guys liked this update! let me know what you think!