𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 26.

━ 𝗳𝘂𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳.

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐈 𝐆𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 home, Caroline and Daryl were sitting on the futon sofa.

I was still trying to process everything that had happened back on the boat with the Merchant. The very first time John B mentioned the shipwreck stuff and the fact that his dad had been trying to find it for decades, I thought it was a lost cause— a figment of grief and imagination. I figured so, when we had gone to the lighthouse— the way John B persisted about the situation, how we'd ran from the cops, and how he'd been freaking out— I was sure that the whole treasure hunt was simply a way for him to cope with his father's disappearance.

But when I looked at that screen of the monitor, and saw the real-life wreck of The Royal Merchant, the most famous shipwreck of all time that I'd read about on the Ferry, it made sense for a minute. Only a minute. Until the drone inched closer and showed that the gold was—in fact— not even there, and that minute was history. I wasn't upset that there wasn't any gold, because it wasn't my issue, and I wasn't as involved into the project as they were. But I felt myself growing emotional.

I had guessed that I was upset because of John B. We hadn't even known each other for more than a week, but seeing the way his expression changed when he talked about his dad, and understanding the profuse determination to finish his father's life project, I began to comprehend just how important the whole thing was to him. After we'd heard his dad's voice on the tape, and John B took comfort in my arms, I realized how much the Royal Merchant treasure hunt held a place in his life. He missed his dad, and finding the gold was what his father wanted. And we were failing so far.

I didn't mind sitting next to John B on the boat ride back to the docks. My hand was on his knee the whole time, and I even took a chance and leant my head on his shoulder, for extra comfort. He didn't shrug or push me away. He only seemed a little but upset when I asked the others for a ride home. I would have liked to spend the rest of the day with them, but I figured it wasn't a good time for a simple hang out.

We had successfully made it back to the docks at Town Hall, where they had parked the van earlier, and we walked over to the vehicle in silence . John B was holding my hand the entire way.

Jj drove the van all the way back to my grandparents house, and it felt odd sitting in the passnger seat next to someone else, while John B sat in the back. No one talked the whole way home. After saying goodbye, I then thought about Pope, as he glanced to me through the window, thinking about the bruise on his forehead, and the fact that he had gotten jumped by Sarah's boyfriend and brother. I didn't quite know how to feel about my place in it.

When I walked into the house, the sun now hidden under the chunks of grey clouds, Caroline looked up from her book. It was Sunday, the middle of the day, and they were both casually sitting on the sofa, Daryl listening to the radio station beside her. Her face lit up with a bright smile when she saw me, instantly lighting up the room, and she immediately placed her book down on the couch and stood up.

"Hey, bug," she grinned with a happy tone of voice, as she pulled me in for a quick hug. "How was your day?"

I was only slightly taken back, "You guys don't mind that I actually stayed the night," I said, speaking lightly and with a hint of confusion, while shifting gazes between her and Daryl.

He slowly stood up from the couch, rubbing a hand over his mouth, "Well it's better than biking home in the dark," he said, as if trying to make himself feel better about the fact that I stayed over at a boy's house. A boy my age, that they both know has no parent or guardian living with him. My parents would be so disappointed, even enraged, if they heard about this.

"What did you guys do yesterday?" Caroline didn't seem to mind, and continued to smile happily, "You and your new friends," she did a little dance, genuinely seeming excited for me to tell her about my day.

"It was great," I laughed out, rolling my eyes with a happiness, "we went surfing all day."

"Really!" She delicately gripped my arms and beamed an excited smile, "That's wonderful— isn't that wonderful, Daryl? Did you have fun?"

"Yeah," I nodded, a big grin forming on my lips. "A lot of fun." I bit down on the inside of my cheek, thinking about the day before.

"Where'd you sleep, bug." Daryl suddenly asked, his eyes squinting at me. Caroline hit his wide stomach for being for blunt.

"Just on the couch," I said with a fake-tone of honesty, nodding. "It's a futon sofa."

"Those boys are trouble, Charlotte," Daryl said with a serious tone, suddenly. "You should know that,"

"Oh shush," Caroline hit him again, "They're just kids." She turned her head back around and smiled softly at me.

"We get along really well," I said quickly, as if it would suddenly help his impression of them, "They're really nice people too, I can promise you we're not getting in any trouble," I said softly, lying.

Daryl hummed in response. He didn't look mad, or angry, or disappointed in me, he just seemed— careful. I knew that I didn't need a warning, because I had already gotten to know them, and I was already in far too deep to back out now. They were just looking out for me.

___

The wind brushed through my loose hair, the strands sweeping over my shoulders as I gripped my hands tighter around the bicycle handles. I was driving through a quiet neighbourhood, only the sound of my tires along the road, and the ruffling of the tree leaves heard throughout the street. I had decided to go on a bike ride with no destination. I didn't know when I was going to hang out with the Pogues again, and they never mentioned what the next part of the project was going to be.

Caroline and Daryl were gone out for the rest of the night. They told me that they needed to pick up a shipment for the motel off the island, and they'd be gone for a long time, so I'd have to make supper for myself. I didn't mind. I was used to being home alone back in New York. I had said goodbye as I hopped on my bike.

I didn't know where I was going, but I couldn't care. I was taking my time, drifting through the small neighbourhoods on the Cut, and enjoying the wind in my hair and on my face. I felt happy. It was an unfamiliar feeling. Even though the first part of the day ended badly, I reflected on how nice it felt to simply be apart of something for once, and it made me smile.

I had taken some of the dollar bills Daryl had offered me before leaving, in hopes of maybe finding a store and getting something in there for dinner. But I didn't know in which direction the town was in. I turned the corner at the end of a neighbourhood, and found myself in an area with many more cars.

Just as I was looking for a place to stop and buy something, a loud voice screeched "hey!", it was a kid's voice. Still driving my bike on the sidewalk, I looked forward into the small distance to see a tall boy my age, on a very small bike, trip over a thick chain and land straight on his side, on the rough pavement.

"Holy shit," I said to myself, when I realized who it was on the ground, "John B? What the hell are you doing," I quickly stepped off my own bike, and let it fall to the ground as I pushed away from it.

He was lying on his back, groaning loudly in pain.

"What the fuck?" I was saying with sharply narrowed eyebrows, as I stopped beside his body on the floor, and kneeled down.

"Charlie?" He opened his eye a tad, to see me hovering over him. "Funny seeing you here." he let out a groan, his eyes closing again.

"Yeah— yeah, it's me," My voice was slightly frantic, and mostly confused as I tried to reassure him. "What happened— are you alright?" I asked, placing my hands on his forearm.

"Dude!" I heard a female's recognizable voice call, out, causing my head to turn away from John B. "Did you just yeet over that chain?"

Sarah Cameron was approaching us, a plastic bag and a smoothie in her hand. What a coincidence this was. My heart skipped a beat when I remembered the last time the three of us had been together, at the docks when John B had gotten fired. I didn't know if the two of them were still angry with one another.

"Oh my god, hey Charlie," Sarah's face lit up with a happy surprise when she saw me kneeling down beside him. "What's going on? I saw him trip over that chain."

I figured John B must have had an idea that Sarah and I were friends, from seeing us walking together on the docks. I didn't know if he knew that we were hanging out.

I looked back to John B who was huffing out, sounding hurt. "Holy shit, your shirt," I whispered to him, when I saw the dark red stain on the bottom of it.

I pulled up the bottom hem of his peach-coloured t-shirt, revealing a deep gash from scraping on the pavement.

"Oh wow," John B strained to lift his neck up, looking down at the cut, "That's not ideal."

"No, that's not good at all," I agreed, my breathing unsteady.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked, standing over the two of us. "That was a pretty nasty fall."

"Hey— uh could you take me to the hospital?" He looked up to her. He only seemed a little bit annoyed by her presence.

She glanced down to me warily, "right now?"

John B looked away to the side, as if searching for something, or keeping lookout. "Yeah, yeah, right now. That'd be fuckin' fantastic." His neck was tense as he nodded carefully.

"Yeah— okay." Sarah nodded too, and right away, he tried to stand up.

I reached down for his arm, and he took my support, using it to help himself up, and I pulled. When the two of us were fully standing up, John B slightly leaning on me, Sarah was turning away and rushing over to her car. I figured I should help John B over to her vehicle, and so I did, my arm wrapped around his body as we both quickly skipped towards her Volvo parked on the other side of the street. She hopped in the driver's seat, John B pulled open the door, and threw himself in.

"Get in the car, Charlie." He said with closed eyes, trying to calm his breath.

My eyebrows furrowed sharply, "What?" I quickly replied, thinking that I wasn't apart of it.

"Get in the frickin' car, Charlotte," John B shouted chaotically.

I was confused, but still quickly nodded, and turned away in a fast motion, running back to the other side of the street towards my red bike still lying there on the ground. I grabbed the handles in a fast motion, and picked up the back, holding it up with me as I rushed towards Sarah's car again.

"What are you doing!" John B was urging, as he leant back in his seat, hiding from something. "Get in the frickin' car!"

"I'm not leaving my bike, dumbass," I shouted back.

Then, the back door handle was being pulled, and the bike was carefully thrown into the backseat of the large vehicle, surprisingly fitting perfectly without struggle, and I hopped in.

"Hey, um, do you— both of you— do you see, like a— like a cop SUV?" John B suddenly said, his voice frantic. "Blue and white, maybe?"

I was crouched between the backseat and the two front seats, since my bike was taking up most of the room to sit. I turned my head around, seeing the cop car he was talking about.

"Yes— there is a blue and white cop SUV." Sarah said, trying to stay calm.

"Shit. Do you— do you see a guy with no neck?" He persisted.

"There is a guy, and a woman with him," she answered.

I stared out at the man, "He— in fact, has no neck." I breathed out with an air of stress.

"What are they— what, what are they doing?" John B panicked.

Sarah began to pull the car back, and she tried to explain what was happening outside, while John B's uneven breaths increased. I sat in the back, on the floor, watching the cop and the woman as they looked at the bike John B had fallen off of. When we were in the clear, away from the scene, I rubbed my hands over my head.

"Why the fuck are the cops after you, John B," I said.

"Yeah— what'd you do," Sarah glanced over to him. "Rob a bank?"

"It's probably better if you don't know," he answered us. I found it crazy how just that morning, John B and I were on his boat, searching for the Royal Merchant, but now we were Sarah Cameron's car, hiding from the police.

"What are you, like, a fugitive?" My eyebrows were sharply narrowed.

"I don't know, like, a refugee— or something," He breathed out. "Hey, you know what, don't take me to the hospital, please."

"This just keeps getting weirder," I said.

Then, we were turning onto another street, John B hopped out of the car and returned with a picture. I decided not to say anything, while the car drove smoothly into the richer part of the island.

Before I knew it, we were pulling into the driveway of Sarah's mansion.

"We've got to clean that wound," she was saying, while the car stopped.

"No— no, no, no," John B realized where we were, his head shaking, "I cannot be here right now."

"I agree with Sarah," I butted in, and they both turned to look at me. "We both know you won't do it yourself," I lowered my eyes at John B, referring to the time I had gone over and helped him after the lighthouse.

"Oh my god, this is bullshit," John B muttered, as Sarah stepped out of her expensive car, and I pushed open the back door.

We could've easily gone to the Chateau instead of the expensive TannyHill, but I figured TannyHill made Sarah more comfortable— and she wanted to help.

I squeezed past my bike and opened John B's door for him, and he didn't even say thank you as he hopped out. I walked beside him, both of us following Sarah into the entrance of her home, as her and John B bickered against one another. He was worried that her dad would see us. It was all happening so quickly, and before I could even process the fact that I was standing in her house, the three of us were running up the twisty stairs, after hiding from her father, and then John B and I were shoved into the library.

While both of us spent a minute staring around the room with wide eyes and mouths agape, Sarah marched in with a first aid kit. John B moved to sit on the leather sofa, and I sat down beside him. She placed the white box on the coffee table.

"Lift up your shirt, idiot," I muttered, since he was just simply sitting there, unaware. He lifted it up, and I felt weird for looking, so I turned away, folding my hands on my knees.

Sarah poured some of the rubbing alcohol onto the cotton swab, and began to wipe up the cut on his stomach. He let out a very loud yelp. She covered his mouth with her hand, and I glared at him, while she mumbled cuss words and continued. We were overly chaotic.

"Who's that guy on the wall?" I asked Sarah to change the subject, as I stared at the large painting in front of us.

John B tried to swat her hand away.

"Excuse you," she scolded him, "That's Denmark Tanny, founder of Tannyhill." She answered me, after he'd apologized. She then explained how the man was a mystery, and had paid for all the land in gold.

I looked at John B, when she said 'gold'. We were somehow thinking the same thing.

"Hey! I'm not finished," Sarah called after him, as the two of us abruptly stood up from the couch.

"Denmark Tanny," He was mumbling, while pulling out a paper from his backpack that he'd put down. "He was on the Royal Merchant."

I looked up at him as we stood side-by-side in front of the painting, already knowing exactly what he meant.

"But I thought there was no survivors," I whispered with confusion.

"Holy shit," he realized, turning back around with a look of disbelief. "Hey— what else do you know about this guy?" He suddenly asked Sarah.

She was slowly walking up to us, a large bandage in her hand. She passed it to me.

"Um, when we first moved in, we found a diary..." she was explaining, while I unpeeled the bandage cover. "An almanac, a bunch of papers..."

I lifted the bottom of his shirt up, and carefully tapped the bandage over his gash.

"Ward donated all of it to the state archives at Chapel Hill." She explained casually, and then turned away, going back to the first aid kit.

"Can we go see that?" He asked shortly, glancing down to me beside him for a quick second.

"See what," she closed the lid of the rubbing alcohol, and shut the white box.

"The— the archives." He motioned to the painting. "We need to see them."

I nodded when she looked up to us, an innocent tight-lined smile on my lips.

"I mean, I can get you in if you want," she said, "he's got a trustee pass."

"Yeah, yeah, we need that," he claimed, sounding confident.

"To Chapel Hill." She looked at us dumbly.

"Right now." I added, nodding.

"Why now?" She sharply narrowed her eyebrows, crossing her arms.

"We can't tell you, Sarah," I said lightly, trying not to offend her.

"Hold on— are you guys, like," she shifted her eyes between the both of us, using her finger to motion. "Dating? Or something,"

"No! No," John B shook his head from side to side quickly.

I scoffed, "Of course not," my hand waved through the air.

He cleared his throat. I shifted my weight between feet uncomfortably.

"Okay," she said uncertainly, at our sudden outbursts, "This more fugitive stuff, then?"

"Uh... fugitive adjacent, sort of." John B answered, glancing over at me, as if to find the right words, "It's um— it's a matter of national security."

I wanted to roll my eyes as he rubbed his forehead.

She sighed out happily, "I've just been waiting my whole life for someone to say that to me." Her eyes rolled in a joking manner.

"Sarah— I know this sounds crazy, but we really need to borrow that pass," I persisted.

"And the less you know, the better. Okay?" John B continued for me, "You've just— you've gotta trust us."

She shook her head.

"We've got to go to, now." He urged.

"Okay, then I'm coming with you," Sarah shrugged nonchalantly.

"Perfect," I smiled easily, figuring it was the only way.

"No." he quickly denied.

"Come on, let's go," I advanced, turning away as Sarah grinned and walked past us, ready to leave.

"This isn't part of the plan, Charlie," John B groaned, and widened his eyes at me.

I was walking out the door of the library, following her. I didn't mind at all that Sarah was taking us.

"Oh please, John B," I rolled my eyes, and swivelled my head around to lock eyes with him. I smiled with excitement, "Suck it up."

Sarah stopped at the top of the stairs, looking at us with serious eyes. "Let's go Bonnie and Clyde, we've got places to be!"

༄

𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘋𝘖𝘕𝘛 𝘒𝘕𝘖𝘞 𝘏𝘖𝘞 𝘔𝘜𝘊𝘏

𝘐 𝘓𝘖𝘝𝘌 𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘚 𝘛𝘙𝘐𝘖 𝘈𝘏𝘈𝘏𝘈𝘏

𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋 𝐇𝐔𝐆𝐒 <3

𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 !!