𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 48.

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐆𝐄𝐓 to sleep at night.

While Sarah laid next to me, I had tossed and turned until there was no energy left in me to move anymore, resulting in laying awake, and staring up at the ceiling. The thick silence in the room gave my mind space to wander, about everything that had happened in the last week, and about Ward. I couldn't get the look of his face out of my mind, his expression when he had asked about the gold.

Something was off. And I wasn't feeling nervous just because my grandparents were probably worrying— maybe even calling my parents— or because of the possibility that, just maybe, TannyHill could be my new home for a long while, it wasn't either of those things. My hands had been shaking, and my eyes wouldn't shut to sleep because of Ward's questions and behaviour. He was acting okay, but truly, inside, I could feel that something wasn't right. And it didn't help that John B was away on a fishing trip with the man either.

John B had came into Sarah's room after midnight. Still awake, I had looked over to the door as it slowly creaked open , my fists prepared just in case it wasn't who I expected. But as he stepped closer while letting out a soft laugh, I took notice in his usual cheeky smile, which was even visible under the moonlight spilling through Sarah's window. Trying not to wake the girl sleeping next to me, he had whispered that he'd be back soon, maybe even pick me up on his way back, to hang out. He kissed me goodbye, and then tiptoed out the door.

Before going to sleep, Sarah had insisted we watch a movie in her bedroom. When the TV shut off, and there was no more popcorn left in our bowls, it was only necessary to start talking. I told her about Jj, and how he was the first person to find out about my parents by accident. I told her about the fight between me and John B— leaving out the part with the drug dealer— and his apology. I also mentioned the last few days.

Now, awake the next morning, after not more than what could've been four hours of sleep, Sarah was not under the covers beside me. I let out a long yawn, feeling the aftermath of staying up all night. The hardwood floors were cool against the bottoms of my feet, sending a small chill to scatter up the sides of my arms, as I pulled open the closed door and stepped out into the hallway, nobody in sight.

With narrowed eyebrows, my steps down the flight of stairs were slow, curious as to why I was suddenly alone in the huge mansion. It was almost ten am, when I walked into the kitchen, my eyes quickly focusing on the time written above the stove. Though, the curiosity fogging my brain was driven even further when a range of voices was heard coming from the backyard, right outside the french doors of the kitchen, multiple people talking at once— with alarming tones. It was Sarah and her family.

"Why the hell would you come back here, baby, you need to go to the hospital," Rose was saying, her tone outraged.

With every step I took towards the french doors, their words became more and more audible. By the tone of their voices, and their frightening words, I could immediately tell someone had gotten hurt. I stepped over to the doors, pulling one open.

Everyone fell quiet, the second their eyes fell on me.

"What's, um, going on... guys," I spoke out, quietly, with a voice of slight concern.

Rose barely took a look at me before she turned back to Ward, whom was half-blocked from my view, her body crouching over to look at something on him. Wheezie sat in the chair next to her father, her lips tightly pursed together. Sarah's face only relaxed in the slightest bit, but from her expression, it was confirmed in my mind that something was, in fact, wrong. Very wrong.

"Nothing— Charlotte," Ward stammered out, "Nothing's wrong, sweetie," his voice sounded muffled, like he was choking to get the words out, sounding painful.

I kept my spot at the doors, while he sat on a chair in the backyard, not far, at their patio table.

"Ward, you have a spear mark in your arm," Rose panicked, sounding anxious, "We gotta get you to the hospital, baby,"

I narrowed my eyebrows even more, not having a clue of what she was saying. But when she shuffled out of the way, grabbing hold of Ward's body, I laid eyes on a poorly-wrapped bandage tied around his right arm, stained with blood. He groaned in pain as she pulled him up.

I instantly thought about the fishing trip.

"Where's... John B?" I asked him, slowly growing alarmed, "He was supposed to come back and pick me up— where is he?" I was speaking fast, shooting fleeting glances between Ward who shut his eyes in pain, and Sarah who stood with her arms crossed, just as confused as I was.

Sarah shrugged with a sad manner.

"Where's John, Ward?" I urged, as he and Rose slowly made their way past me. "Did he come back with you?"

Ward didn't reply as he stepped into his home, disregarding my concern. Sarah grabbed a hold of Wheezie's hand, pulling her into the house after her father.

I sharply furrowed my brows even more this time, trying to find the missing facts. I wake up, and suddenly Ward is back from his fishing trip, with a stabbing mark in his arm, and my boyfriend is nowhere to be seen. I followed them into the mansion.

"I'm going to the cops," Ward told his wife, his voice low, but I could hear his words as they bounced off the kitchen walls. "Stay here."

"No, I'm not going to stay here," Rose denied, still holding his arm.

Ward turned to face her, "You're staying," he declared, gritting his teeth. His arm continued to bleed through the bandage, and he covered it with his other hand. "Everyone is staying here, ALRIGHT," he shot his eyes to me.

When he looked at me, specifically, I felt a sudden chill run down my spine, causing me to stop in my tracks. He meant a message by it. Immediately, something clicked in my mind, but I didn't know what that something was, just yet.

Sarah looked to me with narrowed eyebrows, following her father's glance— then soon, everyone had their eyes on my face, as Ward stumbled out the front door, slamming it shut behind him. I could've sworn that the walls of the house shook a little bit.

No one said anything. Sarah and I exchanged glances.

"So who did that," Wheezie spoke up after a long moment, somehow appearing quite neutral, "Who did that— thing or whatever, to dad's arm," she asked Rose, and then with a glance to me, "I thought he was fishing, with John Routledge," her dark eyebrows furrowed underneath her glasses, as she leant her body on the kitchen island. "First of all, why was he fishing with him."

Rose rubbed a hand over her forehead, "Go upstairs, Wheezie." she said, through a long sigh.

"Someone stabbed him," Wheezie lowered her eyes.

"Wheezie, upstairs, please," Rose persisted.

I looked to Sarah.

"With a spear? C'mon, mom, I saw the mark," The young girl claimed, standing up, "Did John B do it—"

"Go upstairs, Wheezie!" Rose shouted, her eyes wide.

"Jeez, alright then," Wheezie slightly rolled her eyes as she turned around, drifting past me and Sarah.

I felt myself start to panic a little bit, but it was a stretch and didn't seem logical just yet.

"You too, girls," Rose barely looked to us for another moment, before she pulled out her phone, and began pacing the floor as she looked down at the screen.

"I'm sorry, but can I go see John B?" I stepped forward, keeping my voice low. "I need to talk to him."

Rose looked up from her phone.

"Ward made it clear, Charlotte," the woman claimed, only keeping an eye contact for a small second. "Both of you are staying here until the cops sort this out, alright?" She said, annoyed.

"Whatever," Sarah spat, and roughly turned on her heel, starting for the stairs.

I swallowed a bubble of air in my throat as I followed her, nearly tripping on each step.

___

The rest of the day had gone by quicker than I thought it would.

Sarah had explained everything that happened while I was sleeping. According to her story, Ward had stumbled into the kitchen calling for Rose, which brought to attention that something was wrong. In no time, Sarah was grabbing bandages with her little sister, and Ward was explaining why there was a damn spear mark in his arm. Sarah said, with clear words, that her father refused to mention who hurt him, or how it really happened, despite every question.

By the time Ward arrived back home, it had been late in the afternoon, and my body was aching with boredom, since Rose still wouldn't let us out of the house. At one point, Sarah had suggested that we sneak out through her window, just for my sake, to find John B. I had denied, and said it would be best to just wait it out, because, quite possibly, there could've been someone dangerous out there on the loose— the someone that had stabbed Ward.

From the moment Ward left to see the police, the remainder of the day consisted of, staying in Sarah's bedroom and watching sitcoms and stupid TV shows, hanging out with Wheezie— because, she too, was growing terribly bored— and most of the things normal teenagers do to pass useless time. I would be lying if I said that my mind wasn't on John B most of the day.

When Ward came home, he suffered a few burning questions from just about everyone, and answered with the same thing each time— "everything is alright, calm down". I persisted with my questions about John B, but the answer was the same as before, and nothing more. Not long after coming home, him and Rose went up to his office, and he was out of sight for the rest of the day after that.

Now, I lay awake in bed again, next to Sarah. The moonlight spilled through her window, and the soft breeze from outside gently ruffled her thin white curtains. She was fast asleep, out cold. I, on the other hand, could not close my eyes without a new thought slipping into my mind, one that would startle me enough to open my lids again. I repeatedly checked the clock every half-hour, as if it would do anything.

Then suddenly, as I lay on my back, staring up at the white ceiling, light footsteps were heard coming for Sarah's room. I only sat up a little bit, as a shadow casted over the streak of light under her door, and the knob slowly turned.

My breathing nearly hitched when it opened slowly, to reveal a tall figure standing in the doorway, holding something in its arm. But as it's steps approached on my side of the bed, sneakers carefully moving on the hardwood floor, I looked up to the face. Almost immediately, I recognized John B, even in the darkness of the bedroom.

"John B!" I whisper shouted, standing right up from the bed, and wrapping my arms around his neck. "Oh my god, you're okay," I breathed out, onto his shoulder.

I felt as though a wave of relief spilled through every part of my body when I touched him, taking in his familiar warmth.

His arms didn't hug me back, though. With narrowed eyebrows, I felt something delicately hit the side of my leg, which caused me to pull away and look down.

"John B..." I felt the smile on my face fall, my stomach dropping to the floor, "Why do you have a gun," I said, quietly, my hands on his shoulders only sliding off a little bit as I took a step back. He held the weapon in his hand, his arm lazily hanging.

Then I looked up at his face. His cheeks were soggy, and his eyes appeared a bloodshot red even in the dark room, his hair was messy, and his jaw was clenched— hard.

"What's going on—" I glanced back at Sarah, to see that she was still sleeping peacefully, "What is this—"

My words got cut when he aggressively pushed me to sit on the bed, my body bouncing against the mattress. A felt a small strike of pain ricochet through my shoulder from his harsh contact.

"Wha—"

"Did you tell Ward about the gold," he breathed out, shakily.

I sharply furrowed my eyebrows even more, "Where is that coming from?" I asked, my voice low and worried.

"Answer the question." He seethed, through gritted teeth. "About the gold."

This was a lot different from our encounter the night before, in the same room, when he kissed me goodbye. I let my lips depart with a shock.

"No," I claimed, feeling my voice soften. I couldn't look away from his eyes, much darker than normal. "Of course not, why would I d—"

His eyes flickered up to mine, and I felt a chill run down my spine from the anger in them, "Then how'd he know," he muttered, "Hm?"

I didn't know what to say. Tears were almost at the brims of my eyes, as I reached my hands up, in hopes of grasping his face, but the second I moved, he stopped me.

A dramatic gasp fell past my lips when his hand roughy grabbed onto my wrist, his body leaning closer to mine. I winced at the pain that scattered around my arm, his grip tightening.

"John B, you're scaring me!" I cried. He had never been aggressive like that with me before.

We felt a movement on the bed, and I whipped my head around to lay my attention on Sarah, who was slowly peeling her eyelids open.

"Sarah? Charlie?" Ward shouted out from far down the hall.

I felt my heart sink, and John B gasped quietly, leaning in closer to me. He placed a finger over his lips, mumbling a "shh".

Then, before I knew it, he was pulling me up from the bed, and pushing me over to the window, ripping it open.

"John B?" Sarah said, her voice groggy. "Char— where are you going,"

"What the fuck," I muttered, my voice cracking, as he lifted me out the window, my feet landing on the roof outside of it.

With the gun in his hand, he jumped down, and barely motioned for me to follow him. I didn't need his help to get down, and I wasn't afraid of jumping, all I wanted to do was see if he was okay, if he was hurt, and why he was suddenly acting vile.

He started to jog towards the bushes outside the house, and I followed him, glancing back only once. Sarah had her head out the window, her eyebrows narrowed. I looked away and ran through the grass, feeling the water droplets, that formed overnight, soak my bare feet.

"John B, what is going on," I sniffed, once we were hidden behind a large bush. "Why are we out here, and why do you have a gun."

"It's somewhere where we can talk," he muttered, slowing his breathing.

"Charlotte!" I heard Rose shout from somewhere inside the house.

John B let out a strong groan.

"Talk to me," I placed both hands on the sides of his cheeks, moving his face to look at me directly. "What happened on the boat. Ward— he has a spear mark in his arm, did you, did you get hurt too, who did that to him?" I asked, sort of rambling, as I quickly looked around his face, and along his arms and chest for any marks like Ward's.

He let out a long breath, and tears bubbled in his eyes.

In that very moment, when he looked at me, I felt my heart drop.

The way he stared into my eyes, told me that what he was going to say next, would change absolutely everything.

"Ward..." he spoke, his low voice breaking, "he killed my father."

I stopped breathing for a second, and then the only thing we could hear now was the crickets chirping around us. Slowly, my hands began to fall away from his face.

The only logical explanation in my mind, was that John B was drunk, or he had hit his head really hard, maybe on the boat.

"What?" I departed my lips, "Are you okay, John B, you're delusional—"

"I need you to listen to me." He claimed, taking a step closer, "Look— I went to Lana's house, she told me everything, Ward and my dad were, I think, working together to find the Royal Merchant," He explained through staggered breaths. "And there was some sort of conflict, and— and nobody knows what happened to my dad except for Scooter Grubbs!"

I took a step back.

"John B, stop," I swallowed.

"He was apart of this— he, he," John B was speaking with short words, "And Ward, he tried to kill me, Charlotte!" His voice rose.

"Ward tried to kill you," I repeated, feeling my heart drop even more.

"He tried to kill me!" John B shouted. "He knows about the gold!"

"What about the mark in his arm!" I whisper-shouted back, not understanding. "How does that make sense? Ward tried to kill you."

"Charlotte— he killed my father," he said again, and with a sure tone.

"I—" the words got caught in my throat.

"You can't go back there— you, you can't live with them!" John B tried to grab my wrist. "He knows about the gold— he's gonna take all of it! Look— we have to get out of here, Charls, we have to go!"

My vision became foggy as I stared at him. I didn't know what to do. My stomach felt sick, like I was going to throw up.

Suddenly, the back door of Sarah's house flew open, I could hear the knob turn, and the blinds clatter against the glass.

"Charlotte!" Ward called, followed by the same shout from Rose.

"I can't—" I stepped away, my hand falling from his. "I don't know— I just, I can't— this is too much," my words were barely audible through my quiet sobs.

John B watched me with tears in his eyes, as I backed away, and turned on my heel.

When I stumbled into the backyard, now in plain sight, all I wanted was to run back to John B. I wanted to run into his arms and leave TannyHill with him — but I wasn't sure if I believed what he was saying. Just because he was my boyfriend, didn't mean he was right. But at the same time, I didn't believe Ward either. But either way, it was too late.

Sarah ran out into the grass with Rose, their hands grabbing my arms as I stood and cried, shouting to Ward that I was okay. But I wasn't okay, not even close.

✰༄✰

𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲

𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐋𝐌𝐅𝐀𝐎

𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 😳

𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄 𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐎

𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 !!