𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 37.

"𝐀𝐋𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓, 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐆𝐔𝐘𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐓 the rope?" John B called into the back.

I was sitting in the passenger seat as we drove over the bridge, the sun completely down in the distance, with the smallest of stars beginning to shine in the dark sky. No one could sit still. What awaited us, was possibly four hundred million dollars in British gold, buried in an underground well, in the basement of an axe murderer's house.

It was baffling— to say the least. I didn't know which part was more terrifying, actually possibly finding the gold that had been missing for more than a hundred years, or the scary lady and her eery basement filled with dolls.

"Got it," Pope answered from the backseat.

"Grappling hook?" John B asked, his voice calm. He lightly trailed his thumb on the skin of my leg, his hand softly placed on my thigh as he drove.

I looped one of my fingers around his own, "Grapling hook," I repeated, with narrowed eyebrows.

"No, John B," Pope sighed with an annoyance, "We don't have a grappling hook."

"We're not Batman," I giggled.

"Pulley?" John B ignored, and continued with the list in his mind.

"Check." Kiara hummed.

"Dark clothes." John B looked to everyone in the rear-view mirror.

I glanced down at John B's black hoodie draped over my body, "Got it." I grinned, mostly to myself. Everyone else agreed.

"Flashlights?" John B questioned.

"Check," Jj responded for everyone, while a strike of light beamed from the backseat, reflecting off of the front window. I shut my eyes from the glare, laughing quietly.

"All right," John B announced with a proud tone, right as the van stopped. We were pulled over in the same spot as the day before, when we had visited the Crain House during the day, parked underneath a few long branches on a long and dark street. "We're ready." He turned his head to me.

I looked over at him, and couldn't refrain from smiling widely, even though my fingers were shaking with nerves. "Let's do this shit," I breathed out, my teeth biting down onto my bottom lip.

As everyone else in the back made shuffling noises, gathering their things, John B pushed himself forward towards me and placed a kiss on my cheek. I jokingly pushed him away with a hand on his chest for being cheesy, while my cheeks tinted red. He bit down onto his bottom lip, the cheekiest of all smiles plastering over his face, and he laughed quietly. His eyes were twinkling. I stared at him for a long moment, while he turned away and pushed open his door.

"Let's go get rich guys," Jj mused happily from the back, as he hopped off the seat and crouched down.

"Yeah, hell yeah," Kiara laughed, her tone of voice filled with excitement. I turned my head around, and we made eye contact. Immediately, a wide grin took over her facial features, her cheeks creasing, which caused me to smile back, as a happy feeling began to swarm inside of my stomach.

"Let's get to it," Jj joked.

"Right on," Pope said, with a southern accent.

As I was climbing into the back, stepping over the cup holders, John B slid the van door open. Right before Kiara was about to jump out first, he stopped her.

"Wait, wait." John B mumbled, sounding concerned.

I stopped, my hands on Pope and Jj's shoulders, as he looked around at each of us.

"I wanna say thank you, guys," He said with a meaningful tone of voice, "Seriously. It means a lot to me that you're here tonight," a small smile pulled at the corners of his lips, and I could tell that he truly meant what he said, while he made eye contact with each person in the van.

Kiara rolled her eyes first at the cheesy gesture, "Always," she said, with a more serious tone, meaning it as well.

He looked at her, his eyes shining. He chuckled softly.

"Of course, man," Pope patted John B's shoulder softly, speaking lowly but with a smile.

"My man," John B chuckled again, as he lifted a hand up to do the Pogue handshake with Pope.

The corners of my lips tilted upwards into a soft grin, genuinely feeling happy just by seeing them happy. Then, John B looked to me. He gave me that meaningful look again, just like he's always done, which caused my smile to grow bigger, and my teeth to shine through. It looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't need to, because the way he looked into my eyes was telling enough. I was proud of him.

"Alright, we done with this circle jerk?" Jj butted into the conversation casually, "Can we go and do this?"

My hand was still on his shoulder blade so that I could keep my balance while crouching, while he held the rope on his opposite arm. I giggled when I looked over at him. For now, we were going to forget about the secret the two of us were keeping, and we were going to pin all of our focus on the most crucial part of the Merchant project, which was about to happen. For the night, we were both going to just simply forget about it, and leave it for the next day.

"Yeah." Kiara grinned excitedly.

John B smiled a huge smile when she lunged forward and hopped out of the van first, straightening her body as she landed her feet on the paved ground.

"Let's go get that wheat in the water." Pope joked, with an enthusiasm I didn't know he had.

"Weed?" Jj's face lit up, his voice rising in pitch, "I'm up for weed!"

"Wheat." Pope corrected, as he hopped out of the van at his turn. "I said wheat."

I stifled a laugh as Jj climbed out of the van next, the rope weighing down his shoulder.

"You comin' Charls," John B shined his flashlight on my face, as I stayed crouched in front of the cup holders.

"Can I please be temporary lookout," I said lightly, feeling bad for asking so late, "I'll stay in the van, just in case someone comes by, like maybe the cops will show up or something, then I could drive away—"

"You don't even have a license, Charlie." John B lowered his eyes at me.

"That basement gives me the creeps," I said quietly, my hands shaking as I placed them on the ground for support to crawl forwards. "Mrs. Crain is literally, like, a murderer, JB."

John B put his hand out when I had made it to the door, and I took it with mine, "You'll be fine, Charlie," He said with a reassuring tone of voice, but was harmlessly mocking me at the same time.

I fully stepped out of the van, my arms crossed, as he closed the door behind me, his arm hovering behind my waist. Once closed, he grabbed both of my shoulders, and began to walk me towards the stone wall, where everyone else was hopping over.

"She's like eighty," He said with a quiet laugh, rubbing the side of my arms comfortingly. "And those stories are bullshit anyways."

"Yeah, okay," My eyes rolled, but still, I let him guide me all the way to the wall.

After Jj had hopped over, John B put his flashlight in between his teeth and bent down. Even though I didn't ask, he wrapped his arms around my thighs and boosted me up so I would reach the top of the wall. I wrapped my arms around the tough stone, and swung my leg over the top, quickly hopping down. I patted the back of Jj's shoulders in front of me, and stepped to the side so John B could hop over safely.

Once done, he pushed me in front of him to walk, and the five of us were on our way through the trees towards the back of the Crain House, just as we did the day before. As we walked with our flashlights shining over the leaves on the grass, my mind wouldn't stop filling with all the stories Kiara and Jj mentioned about Mrs. Crain, and her dead husband. Just thinking about them sent a chill down my whole spine, and I wanted to run back to the van, but John B was behind me.

"This shit is so dumb," I commented with a hushed voice, but loud enough for everyone to hear, as I pushed hanging branches away from my face. "Why'd it have to be here."

"Shush, Charlie," Pope shushed me from the front of the line.

"I'm just saying," I shrugged my shoulders, "Mrs. Crain probably knows we were there today, probably got her axe sharpened and fucking ready for us—"

"Charlie, be quiet," Jj whipped his head around and shined his flashlight directly on my face. I stumbled back from the harsh light, falling into John B, who simply pushed me back up again as if nothing happened.

"I don't know about this, guys," I said through slightly closed lips.

No one replied as we fully stopped at the back of the house, it's round windows overhead in front of us. We were standing in a curbed line in front of the bushes, out flashlights shining.

Then, a light came on.

I gasped, "Shit!"

"Oh shit!" John B cussed as he threw himself to the ground.

"Go, go, go, go, go," Pope urged, and pulled me down to crouch behind the tall grass with everyone else.

"Flashlights!" Kiara warned with a stern voice.

Jj pressed the buttons on his, and his light began to flicker repeatedly, "It's fucking on strobe—" he rushed.

"Hit it, dipshit!" I smacked the side of his arm.

He hit the flashlight a few times with a strong hand, and the light stopped flickering, enveloping all of us in darkness. Jj panted relentlessly, out of breath, and I placed a hand over my chest to try and calm my racing heart.

"Okay, so," Pope whispered quietly after long moments of silence, looking bewildered, "she has motion sensor lights."

"We could, uh..." Jj breathed out unsteadily, "move really, slowly— maybe," he looked to everyone.

"What?" I narrowed my eyebrows at him.

"That's not how it works," Pope sighed.

"Oh, shit," John B looked around, "Let's throw a rock at it!"

Pope blinked for a second, "What?"

"That's a really good idea, actually," Kiara smiled sarcastically, "Let's let the axe murderer know that we're here."

"She already knows we're here, I swear," I picked at the grass in front of my folded legs.

"Throw a rock at it?" Pope repeated, talking like the idea was outrageous, "Are you fuckin' brain dead?"

"Yeah? You guys got a better idea?" John B clapped back.

"Literally anything would work but that." Kiara rolled her eyes.

"Hey— hey," I lifted my head up, grabbing everyone's attention. "What about, like, the breaker?" I said quietly, "My grandparents have one on their porch, it's like a circuit box, she probably has one too,"

"No, no, you're not going in the house alone," John B shook his head.

"Duh, obviously," I looked at him stupidly. "Someone else can, though."

"Crain... chops people... into pieces." Jj looked at me.

"I'll go with you," Kiara looked at me.

"What?" I tilted my head back, confused.

"We'll go together," she repeated, and then stood up.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," I rambled, when Jj pushed me up to stand. "No way in hell am I going in there," I aggressively pointed a hand to the house.

"You'll be fine, Charlie, the woman's like eighty-five," Pope rolled his eyes. "We'll wait for your signal."

"Okay, cool." Kiara nodded, and wrapped her hand around my wrist.

I didn't want to pull away, even though my heart was beating through my chest, it wasn't a good time to be complicated.

"Hey!" John B called for us in a loud whisper, "Be safe." He said, meaning it.

"Sure," I responded with an annoyed tone, mad at him that he wouldn't let me stay. "We will, I hope."

"Be safe," I heard Jj whisper softly, to Pope, mocking John B.

"I'll be so safe," Pope whispered back, caressing Jj's face. "I'll be safe... for you."

"Can you guys stop? Stop it." We heard John B warn, "I'm going to kill you."

There was a small moment of silence as we fully parted from them, "But how would that keep us safe?"

My heart was pounding inside of my chest, and I could hear it in my ears, as Kiara and I turned the corner and were faced with the front porch of the Crain House. My mind wouldn't stop scattering with thoughts about the old woman as I breathed heavily, Kiara leading me up the steps. I shined my flashlight on the box attached to the wall, looking similar to the one Caroline and Daryl had on their porch as well. Kiara stepped up to it.

"Where are the breakers?" She gasped, once the circuit box was opened to reveal nothing but small wires, "What is this shit?" She said, her voice laced with fear.

"No, no, no, no, no," I breathed out.

"Shit," Kiara winced, "It goes inside," she trailed her flashlight up a wire that went to the roof.

"Kie," I shook my head when she took a step towards the front door, "Absolutely not." I kept my voice hush.

She twisted open the doorknob with a wary glance back at me. Then, as she pulled open the rickety door, my face washed over with a more-than-fearful look. With the flashlight in her hand, she held the door open behind her, waiting for me to follow.

"Fuck this." Hesitantly, I took the smallest steps towards the front door that she had already passed by, my breathing heavier and louder than appreciated.

The floors creaked beneath her steps. I knew that I couldn't back out now.

With our lights trailing around the home, I swallowed the lump in my throat and kept moving slowly behind Kiara. There were broken cabinets everywhere, a few cracked windows, old antiques and dusty vases, and some of the floorboards were sprung loose— stray planks of wood on the ground. It smelled like stale cabbage. Other than my heavy breathing, and our feet stepping cautiously on the wooden floor, all that was heard was the sound of an old clock ticking on one of the far walls. I tried to not look around.

Kiara had her flashlight pointed up at the wire on the roof, her head turning around to glance at me with wide eyes, as if asking for clarification to keep moving. With a small nod of my head, she kept walking into another part of the house, my slow steps following her reluctantly, until we made it into the back room. I quickly turned the corner after her, to see Kiara newly shining her light onto a box attached to the wall, the circuit box. We both chuckled quietly, and I felt a strong wave of relief wash over my body, knowing that we were almost done and would soon be out of there.

Kiara opened the box and pulled on the switch. A smile rose to my lips when the light behind us, the one overlooking the back of the home, was dimmed, and turned off.

But suddenly, just as quickly as the smile met my face, it was dropped when a loud whirring sound came from somewhere in the house, immediately making me jump. Kiara instantly pulled me to hide behind the wall, my mouth letting out a loud gasp. We heard loud clanks. My hands started to shake when a faint shout of a voice— John B's voice— echoed through the house.

Then there was thumps and a few loud shuffles coming from upstairs.

"Oh my god," I closed my eyes in a hard blink.

There was a woman breathing heavily, and the sound of someone stepping down the stairs.

"It's... it's late, Leon..." An old woman's voice, high-pitched and coarse finally spoke out, coming in our direction.

Kiara covered her mouth.

"Is that her?" I whispered to Kiara, my voice shaking.

"Too late," the lady coughed.

I had to cover my own mouth when the woman finally came around our corner, a strike of fear hitting directly at my chest when I looked at Mrs. Crain, the axe murderer.

"I can hear you, Leon." The lady seethed with a crabby tone.

Her hair was messy and grey, going in all directions, her eyes were a shiny silver colour, and she was hunched over— using what looked to be, a cane. She was the exact embodiment of something you'd see in a horror film. I couldn't believe my eyes. Kiara whimpered. I tried not to scream.

"I've been waiting all night!"

Then, suddenly, she aggressively turned around and pinned her silver eyes at us.

I finally let out a loud and ear-wrenching scream, her eyes instantly sending more than a chill down my spine, "Go!" I yelled for Kiara. My first instinct was to run. "Go! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" So, that's what I did, I turned on my foot and ran straight for where I figure the front door was.

Kiara was screaming as she ran too, but her voice wasn't following me, and neither were her footsteps. When my flashlights shined on the front door, which was still open from when we had come in, I felt relieved. But, the second I turned around to hopefully see Kiara behind me, she wasn't there. Then, I heard her screeching, Mrs. Crain yelling, loud thuds, and objects breaking.

"Fuck me," I cursed under my breath, and started to run back in the direction I came from.

With my stomach doing backflips, I turned the corner of where the voices were coming from, just in time to stop Mrs. Crain from hitting Kiara with her cane. I grabbed the wooden cane from her grasp, and shoved it into the old woman's chest with a loud grunt. She stumbled on her feet from the impact.

"Kiara, come on!" I grabbed Kie's hand in mine, pulling her with me towards an open door.

She was panting, and my chest was heaving in and out at a very unsteady rate, as she aggressively slammed the door behind us. We were in a small room, for only about ten seconds before Mrs. Crain stabbed a hole through the wooden door with her sharp cane, sending wood chips everywhere.

I screamed, louder than I've ever screamed before. But, before I could process anything else, Kiara was grabbing my hand this time, and rushing me towards a convenient flight of stairs— which lead right to the basement.

"Go, go, go, go, go," Kiara pushed me down, and my feet staggered to try and step down the stairs as fast as I could.

"Guys! Guys!" I yelled for the boys as we fully reached the basement, my voice screeching and rasping.

"Hey— woah, what's goin' on," Jj asked, calmly. He had his hands wrapped around the rope, which was pulled over one of the overhead pipes. John B was in the well.

"Mrs. C-Crain, she's up there!" I screamed. "She- she's—"

"She tried to kill us with a fire poker," Kiara rambled, "Guys we gotta go!"

"Okay, okay, code red!" Jj's face flashed with fear "Hey— John B! Get back on here, man!"

Soon, after a few shouts into the well, we were pulling on the rope, something broke and we fell together in a clump. My heart felt like it had fallen out of my chest, as we all scattered around the well, yelling John B's name repeatedly, and cursing. Once he was on the rope again, the four of us began to pull on it with all of our strength, Pope and Jj calling down for him reassuringly. I grunted repeatedly, my hands scraping on the rugged rope.

Then, there was a gunshot.

"Holy shit!" I screamed, immediately dropping the rope from my hands and throwing myself on the floor.

It was all happening way too fast.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," Kiara panted, hiding with me.

We were both hidden behind a small stone wall as Pope and Jj scrambled to hide, John B screaming something from inside of the well. Another gunshot.

"John B get the fuck out of there!" I screamed, my voice cracking. I thought we were all going to die.

Kiara then grabbed my arm, and yanked me up. Without another word, she aggressively pulled me with her towards the basement exit, as more gunshots were fired, followed by Jj shouting with fear, and shuffling noises coming after. We were all running out of the basement without John B.

After that, everything felt like a blur. All I could remember was running through the tall grass and leaves, being thrown over the stone wall, jumping into the van, all while my heart felt like it was going to explode, and while the others yelled cuss words. Jj started the van immediately, and I felt my stomach tighten when we called for John B. My heart stopped when we heard a shout, and another gunshot.

But suddenly, a figure hopped over the stone wall, and I smiled bigger than ever when John B, completely covered in mud from head-to-toe, threw himself into the van's open door beside me.

As we all shouted, panted, and cussed about what had just happened, after catching his breath, John B pulled out a slab of mud-covered gold.

Then, the van filled with nothing but shouts, cheers, and disbelief laughter.

✰༄✰

𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐈𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆

𝐀𝐒 𝐅𝐔𝐂𝐊

𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞. 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

- leave conspiracies if you have

any 🤓

𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 !!