*⋅❀⋅*

That night the St. James lay awake in her bed as she let her thoughts take over her mind. Saylor couldn't help but feel sorry for the Routledge boy.

He too couldn't fight the urge to stay away as he lay awake thinking about his father.

...

Saylor must have fallen asleep sometime during the night because all she remembered was shooting awake the next morning to the sound of screaming from outside of her window.

"Sarah!"

Saylor quickly threw her blanket from the top of her as she quickly raced to her window to see if should be able to at least make sure the Cameron girl was okay.

"She's fine." Kailani spoke from the door, causing Say to quickly look over her shoulder to see the girl leaning against her door frame with a bowl of cereal in her hands.

Saylor slowly turned her attention back out the window as Lani slowly made her way behind the girl and as on que the Cameron girl sat up with a smile on her face.

"Sarah was always one for the dramatics." Kailani explained, sending her sister a closed lip smile before taking a seat on the girl's bed as she ate her cereal. "What happened to you? You look like you got hit by a train."

"I didn't sleep much last night." Saylor replied, quickly pushing her hair out of her face. "And before you say anything my head is fine. I'm just worried about John B."

"Yeah... me too." Kailani said, placing her spoon back in her bowl before placing it on the bedside table. "What happened with him and his dad? I never felt right asking."

"Well..." Saylor dragged out, taking a seat beside the Cruz girl. "It had always been him and his dad ever since his mom walked out on them when he was 3. He doesn't talk about her but I guess she's been traveling the world ever since, so Big John was all that JB had. As you would think the two bumped heads quite a bit but they always made up. Nine months ago, the two got into this huge argument, Big John left for sea and hasn't been seen since."

"What was the fight about?" Kailani questioned, causing the St. James girl to shrug her shoulders.

"I don't know, John B wouldn't tell me." Saylor admitted, glancing over at her step sister. "But I do know, whatever it was had to have been huge because it messed John B up bad."

⳾*⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*⳾

"And we were right outside like this." JJ explained, reenacting what he and John B just went through to the other Pogues as they all were gathered together at the Chateau. "And all we hear is just, Bam! Bam! Bam! Knocking paint off the wall, G! From the inside. All right? And I'm just looking at him, like--. Wait, first off, look at this shit."

JJ quickly made his way to the four who were sitting around on the couch and chairs nearby, shaking his hair out as little white flakes fell from it, causing Pope to quickly push the boy away.

"Okay, that's more than enough, thank you." Kailani sarcastically replies, quickly pulling her feet off the ground and onto the couch.

"That's dandruff, disgusting." Kie said, looking at the boy with a disgusted look covering her face.

"I think we get the clear picture, J." Saylor states, causing the boy to quickly lift his head up as Pope pushed him backward by his head.

"Look at all that alright?." JJ said, pointing at the table that was now covered in white flakes as he looked around at the others. "That's paint. At that point, I was just, like... I'm waiting for death."

"Oh, okay, so you saw the guys that shot at us, right?" Pope questioned.

"Yeah." JJ quickly responded.

"Did you guys get a good look at them or at least one of them?" Saylor asked, looking at JJ, causing him to quickly look from her to John B, causing her to look at the boy sitting beside her. "You know, for a description."

""Yeah, what did they look like?" Pope questioned, lifting his head up from his hands.

"Anything." Kie added. "Anything that's helpful."

"Like anything we can bring and file a police report with?" Kailani questioned.

"Burly." JJ said.

"Burly?" Pope repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah, you know, like--." JJ started but was cut off by the Carrera girl.

"That's not very helpful." Kie said.

"Okay, well, no, like the type of guy at my dad's garage." JJ explained. "I mean, you guys know how he made cargo hides for drug smugglers."

"Yeah. Yes. No, we know." Kailani sarcastically said.

"I can tell you with full confidence, these boys, these killers..." JJ said, pulling out a vape, taking a hit before, looking over at the group. "They're square groupers."

"They're square groupers, like narco square groupers?" Pope questioned. "Like Pablo Escobar square grouper?"

"Is there another type of square grouping you know about Pope, that you would like to feel us in on?" Saylor sarcastically questioned.

"You guys, not everything is a kingpin movie." Kie said.

"Okay, so what does this square grouper look like?" Pope questioned, moving to the edge of his seat. "Specifically?"

"Dude, you weren't there, bro!" JJ exclaimed.

"Well apparently you don't know what to look for!"

"Dude! I wasn't taking little mental Polaroids the entire time!" JJ exclaimed, taping his head. "Man I was under duress, okay? But I can tell you... I can tell you by the way that Ms. Lana was screaming... that these guys are serious, serious hombres, man."

"Serious hombres?" Kailani questioned, raising her eyebrow in disbelief.

"It's a heavy vibe right now, okay?" JJ said, putting his arms up. "I'm not liking this very much."

"Okay, so why would they want the compass?" Kie asked, looking around at the group.

"That thing is a piece of shit. You couldn't pawn it off for five bucks if you wanted to." Pope said, causing Lani to quickly hit his arm as she nodded to the Routledge boy standing beside him. "No offense. I know it's in your family--"

"The office." John B softly spoke up, ignoring the boy's apology, causing the group to look at him confused as he made his way past them inside, causing the group to quickly follow behind him. "My dad. My dad's office. He always kept the office locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research."

"My mom is the same way." Saylor explained, causing John B to quickly glance back at the girl as she looked over at Lani. "She's never shown anyone what she found, except for me. Not even Carlos. We always said it was for fun."

"Well not my dad. We used to laugh at him like he was gonna find it. But now that he's gone, I've just kinda... I just left it as he kept it."

"Yeah, for when he gets back." Kie said, causing Pope and JJ to quickly shake their heads at the girl.

"Yeah." John B replied unsurely, lifting his hand up unlocking the forbidden room that was his dad's office before leading the group into the room.

"I've slept over here like 600 times, and I've never seen this door opened." Pope states, causing the group to nod.

"I've only imagined what this room looked like." Saylor said, looking around amazed at all the artifacts as she stepped into the room.

Everyone quickly gathered around the desk as John B placed a board on top of the mess that was spread across it.

"Here, look." John B pointed out. "This is the original owner, right here."

"Okay, Robert Q. Routledge, 1880 to 1920." Kie read.

"There's your ancient lucky compass, right there." Kailani said, quickly pointing at the man's hand in the picture.

"Actually, um..." John B trailed off, causing the group to quickly look up at him. "He was shot after he bought it."

"So not lucky, just very ancient." Saylor corrected.

"The compass was then shipped back to Henry." John B explained. "Henry was killed in a crop-dusting accident when he had the compass. After he died, the compass was given to Stephen. Stephen had the compass with him when he died in Vietnam."

"Let me guess he died in action, right?" JJ questioned as the group assumed the same thing.

"Sort of. Uh, a-actually, he was killed by a banana truck, In--in country." John B said. "Anyways, after that Stephen passed the compass down to him, my dad."

"Yeah... sounds to me like there's a reoccurring theme here." Kailani said, locking eyes with Saylor as they both nodded. "You have a goddamn death compass."

"No, I do not." John B quickly denies, throwing his arms up.

"You have a death compass, John B." Pope said, agreeing with the Cruz girl.

"Seriously dude, get rid of it." JJ added. "It's cursed, and made its way back to you."

"Look, my dad used to talk about this compartment in here. Soldiers used to hide secret notes." John B explained, taking a seat as he began messing with the compass, quickly screwing the back off.

"Wait, what's that?" Saylor questioned, grabbing the boy's wrist, turning it to reveal carving in the cap.

"That wasn't there before." John B said, quickly looking around at the five friends standing around the boy. "This is my dad's handwriting."

"How can you know that?" Pope questioned not believing the boy.

"Because he does these weird R's with the--" John B tried to explain but couldn't. "See it?"

"Can I see it?" JJ asked, causing the Routledge boy to flip it back over. "Red-- Rout--. No, I think that's an A."

"It says Redfield." Kie quickly said, causing the Maybank boy to quickly stop.

"Okay, so what's Redfield?" Kailani questioned.

"Besides the most common name in the county." Pope sarcastically states.

"Oh, maybe-- maybe it's a clue." John B explains. "Maybe it's a clue to where he's hiding."

"A clue? Come on, that's --" Pope started, causing Saylor to send the boy a glare, causing his eyes to go wide. "But if it is a clue, maybe it's an anagram?"

"Yes. Perfect. Anagram." John B said, quickly standing up from his seat. "You need paper. Here you go."

"How exactly can you concentrate with that thing constantly crowing at every living thing it sees?" Kailani questioned.

"Hey, Saylor and JJ love that rooster." John B said, causing the duo to smile at the girl.

"I love the rooster." Kie added.

"I love the rooster too. I was just wondering?" Lani said, throwing her hands up in defense.

"Okay, let me think." Pope spoke as he looked down at the carved writing as John B moved away from the group.

"Seriously, think." Kie said.

"Dedfiel. Colors-- That's stupid."

"What about like Ritalin?" JJ questioned.

"Dreidel?"

"Fiddler?"

"Defile. Does that mean anything to any of you guys?" Pope questioned, causing the four teens to quickly shake their heads.

"That couldn't be it because you're missing a letter." Saylor explained, pointing at the R, causing Pope to quickly cross the word out.

"Guys. Guys!" John B exclaimed, gaining all of their attention. "Somebody's here."

That caused the five teens to slowly join the Routledge boy by the window, quickly noticing the two men making their way toward the Chateau.

"Guys, guys is that them?" Kie asked, causing John B and JJ to groan. "Is that them?"

"This is suboptimal." Pope said.

"Pope now is not the time for you to be using your fake words that no one understands." Kailani said, causing Pope to give her a confused look.

"John B, I told you." JJ said, quickly pacing before John B quickly pushed him against the wall. "Why does it always--"

"JJ! Hey, look at me." John B spoke in a hushed voice, holding a finger up to the boy's mouth. "Where's the gun?"

"Gun? I, uh, I can't--" JJ rambled, patting hisself.

"Now you don't have the gun, the one time we need the gun?" Kie snapped, freaking out.

"Hey, hey." Saylor calmly spoke, moving in front of the boy, causing John B to slightly step back as JJ locked eyes with the girl. "Just think where was the last place you remember having it."

"Uh..." JJ hummed, placing his hand on his head as he tried to think as he calmed down. "It was in my backpack, and then I--"

"On the porch." John B quickly interjects.

"It's on the porch." JJ spoke, quickly pushing himself off the wall as he quickly raced out the door.

"Guys." Kie cried out, causing Saylor and Kailani to wrap their arms around the girl in comfort.

Not even 10 seconds later, the Maybank boy came rushing back into the office, quickly closing the door as the sound of unfamiliar voices boomed through the Chateau.

"John Routledge! Come on out now!"

"Where's the gun?" John B whispered loud enough for the entire group to hear.

"They're on the front porch, guys." JJ replied, turning to face the Pogues.

"Get out here!"

"Routledge! Where you at, boy?"

"Guys, we gotta get the fuck out of here!" Kailani whisper-yelled.

"The window." Saylor snapped, letting go of the Carrera girl as she quickly made her way over before, calling over her shoulder at the group. "Guys, window."

"Here, watch out, watch out, watch out." Pope said, shooing the girl out the way as he and JJ attempted to pry the window open with their hands but it wouldn't budge.

"What-- what's happening? Why is it taking so long?" Kie questioned.

"It's painted shut, okay?" JJ exclaimed, causing the three girls to quickly rummage around the room looking for something to get the window open.

"Routledge!"

"Alright move." Kalani muttered, quickly pushing through with an envelope opener in hand. "I got it."

"Where the hell is that compass!"

"Come on!" JJ said.

"I'm going as fast as I freaking can." Kailani snapped, quickly scraping away at the paint as fast as she could.

"Shh..." John B and Pope said, causing JJ, Kie and Saylor to turn to them as they had their backs pressed up against the down, holding their fingers against their lips.

Suddenly the door handle began shaking as something was being forcibly hit against the door repeatedly, causing John B and Pope to shake at every blow.

The sound of kicking was heard, causing Pope and John B to quickly move away from the door as the other three quickly tried to force the window open with Lani.

The sound of the gunshot caused everyone to freeze for a second as the only sound heard was the rooster outside, looking back at the door that now had a visible bullet hole in it.

The group quickly turned back to the window and swiftly pushed it open as the six Pogues quickly climbed out the window and raced over to the chicken coop.

The group quietly waited for the men to leave as John B watched the two carry out his fathers hard work.

"Do something, Pope. Shut him up." JJ spoke through his gritted teeth.

"What do you want me to do?" Pope shot back.

"Pet it, or talk to it. I don't know." Kie cried out, causing the chickens to let out loud clucking noises.

John B quickly moved, pressing his back against the wall of the coop as the rooster began wildly flying.

"You do something." Pope said, causing JJ to quickly grab in... before it went silent as he took a seat beside Saylor.

Saylor closed her eyes as she let a few tears fall, glancing over as she felt a hand interlock with her as she locked eyes with the Maybank boy.

"Ratter! What the hell are you doing? Let's go."

The sound of the footsteps got farther as the man retreated back to the truck, causing Kie to let out a small cry, causing John B to grab her hand.

The sound of the truck doors closing, caused John B to quickly peek back out the small holes as he watched the truck drive away from his family home with his father's things.

"I mean, it's obvious, right?" John B spoke, looking over at the St. James girl who sat beside him in the passenger seat. "I mean a family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?"

"I mean there's definitely a possibility." Saylor replies, glancing to her friends in the back for help.

"It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help... you know, deal with your sad feels." Pope said with no emotion, causing Kailani to smack him in the arm, shaking her head at the boy.

"Bro, you know how I process my sad feels." JJ said.

"Hm, let me guess. Cheap beer, Weed and a new girl every night." Kailani interjects, causing everyone but John B to chuckle.

"Yes, but also dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it." JJ said, causing the Cruz girl to share a look with Kiara.

"isn't that just code for weed, JJ?" Kie asked, causing Lani to nod.

"I'm not concocting, okay?" John B snapped. "My dad's trying to give me a message."

"If that helps you believe, John B." Kie spoke.

"Look, I-I don't need a therapy session, okay?" John B explained. "I'm not tripping out."

"It's okay to trip, bro, but-." JJ started.

"Look, my- my dad is missing, okay?" John B started, glancing in that back of the van looking around at everyone before turning his attention back to the road. "Missing. You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish and then have no idea what happened. Just wake up every morning wondering."

"It's been almost a year." Kie reminded the boy.

"Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility." JJ spoke.

"Yeah, could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere." Pope added.

"Absolutely. Or maybe he ran into some trouble and he's hiding somewhere overseas until it's safe." Kailani added, causing JJ to nod.

"Uh.. Atlantis maybe."

"Look, if you think it's your dad giving you some sort of message then we believe you." Saylor spoke, looking over at the Routledge boy, causing him to quickly look over at her as she raised up her fist.

"Thanks, Say." John B smiled lightly, bumping her fist causing them both to chuckle.

"What do you think the message is?" Saylor asked.

"Redfield. Redfield Lighthouse. That's my dad's favorite place"

The group watched as they drove past a sign that read REDFIELD LIGHTHOUSE but there was also another sign on it that read CLOSED DUE TO HURRICANE.

But of course they ignored it.

That van came to a stop, causing the 6 Pogues to quickly pile out.

"So this is what's gonna happen." John B spoke up turning to face the others, causing the other 5 to turn their attention to the boy as he focused his attention on the Maybank boy. "You're gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?"

"Wait... Why me?" JJ asked, confused.

"Because you're not coming." Pope informed the boy.

"Why?"

"Let's just say there are independent and dependent variables. And you're an independent." Pope explains.

"It's because we honestly don't know what you'll do up there." Kailani explained, pointing up at the lighthouse before pointing back at the ground. "So it's best you stay on land."

"Shut up! Just shut up!" JJ exclaimed.

"Okay, guys that's enough." Saylor spoke, causing them to go quiet. "I'll stay down here with JJ and stand and look out. Pope, can stay back too. It'll be less suspicious than 6 Pogues waltzing up on someone, okay?"

"Sounds good to me!" John B nods. "If we split up, we meet back at JJ's house."

"Great." Kie spoke.

"Fine with me." Kailani said.

The three turned making their way towards the lighthouse.

"I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay," Pope announced, causing Saylor and JJ to look over at him before they made their way towards the van. "and I'm trying to keep felonies to a minimum."

"Alright, would you just shut up already?" JJ spoke, playing with his hacky sack.

"Boys, can we keep our pants on?" Saylor jokingly asked before making her way past both boys towards the van.

⳾*⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*⳾

"Remind me what we're looking for again." Kie asked, causing the two girls to look up the giant staircase.

"We'll know it when we see it." John B said, slowly making his way toward the stairs.

"Yeah that helps a lot." Kailani mutters before following the boy with Kiara right beside her.

After what seemed like forever to Lani, the trio finally made it to the door.

John B glanced back at the duo before raising his hand placing a firm knock on the door.

"Nobody home." John B spoke and on que the steel door swung open, revealing a bearded man as he looked at the trio. "Um... we're here for the lighthouse."

"The lighthouse is closed." The man snapped, quickly closing the door back up.

That caused John B to look back at the girls defeated.

"Here let me." Kailani said, stepping forward beside the boy. "Excuse me, sir. We aren't here about the lighthouse. We're here about the... the Royal Merchant. Have you heard of it?"

The door quickly swung back open.

"Then you came to the right place." The man smiled, leading the trio out to the catwalk of the lighthouse. "I know more...Watch your step. About the Royal Merchant than anyone else in Kildare County. C'mon."

"Holy Shit." John B breathed out, stepping out onto the catwalk.

Next it was Kailani who kept her eye on the giant hole.

Kailani turned back, holding her hand out for Kiara to step over the giant hole in the ground.

"Now, the Merchant disappeared in the graveyard of the Atlantic in 1829." The man explained.

"With four hundred million." John B stated.

"Correct." The man nodded his head. "You're a bit of a Merchanteer yourself, huh?"

"Uh... somethin' like that." John B replied.

"Well, follow me. I wanna show you somethin'." The man said, letting out a giddy chuckle before he turned away from the trio.

John B turned and glanced at Lani and Kie as they gave him a confused look before the boy turned, quickly following after the man.

"Okay." Kailani muttered to herself, following close behind John B.

"I've been workin' 30 years up here. The view's never changed till two days ago." The man explained. "The Point's almost gone. One more storm like that, it'll take the lighthouse. I'll go with her."

Kiara looked around unsure, before grabbing onto the Cruz girl hand to calm her nerves.

"Now, the trick to knowin' where the Merchant is... is knowin' whether she was on the north end or the south end of the eye of the storm. Now, most experts believe that she was on the south end. Now, she's on the south end and the bands from the hurricane would have pushed her back out to sea."

"But you don't believe that?" Kailani asked, causing the man to look over John B's shoulder.

"No, I don't. You see, I think she was on the north end of the eye. Which means the bands would have pushed her..."

"Closer to shore." John B spoke.

"That's right. Now, by my calculations, the Royal Merchant... is about ten miles thataway."

Kailani and Kie shared a look before glancing over at John B.

"Come on. Come on." the man said, leading them into the room under the lantern of the lighthouse towards a poster posted on his wall. "Right here, that is where the Point used to be. My calculations say the Merchant's right about there, down about 1,000 feet."

"That's what my dad used to say." John B explained. "I-- I know this is weird, all right? Do you know anything about this?"

John B pulled out his fathers compass and the man's face went pale as if he saw a ghost and he began dripping sweat.

"Look. it-- it says Redfield in the back, in my dad's handwriting. I don't know why I'm here, but I feel like I'm supposed to be here." John B spoke.

"JB, maybe we should go." Kailani said, grabbing the boy's arm as she watched the man's face change.

"No, Lani, we came here for a reason." John B spoke, moving his arm away from the girl. "Do-- do you have anything to give to me, or to..."

The man quickly walked away, causing John B to quickly follow after him with the girls right behind him.

"Wait a minute. Look... Look, man, I know this is weird. Maybe you would know something about this, all right?" John questioned, following the man into the lantern.

"Sir, you won't believe what he's been through in the past 24 hours. I mean, threatened, shot at, home invaded." Kiara explained.

"Home invaded?"

"His rooster was killed." Kailani added.

"Look, man, my dad wanted me to talk to you, okay? So, if there's anything you could think of that would help us, please, just tell us, okay?" John B snapped, grabbing the man by his collar. "Look, man, please!"

"John B!" Kie exclaimed.

"Calm down!" Kailani spoke, causing the boy to quickly let go of the man.

"If you know anything, just-- just--." John B stuttered as he watched the man pull out a walkie as he brought it up to his mouth.

"Wanda, I got three kids on drugs up here at the lighthouse. Call the police." the man spoke into his walkie talkie, causing John B to grow angry.

"No!" John B exclaimed, trying to grab the walkie from the man's hand but ended up breaking the window with it, cutting the man's hand in the process.

"What are you doing?" Kie asked.

"It was an accident." John B said, panicking.

"Can we go. Now!" Kailani snapped, quickly rushing down the stairs with Kie right on her heels.

"I'm so sorry I didn't mean to." John B apologized before racing after the girl.

The trio raced through the lighthouse trying to be as careful as they could, so they didn't fall through a hole or cut themselves.

Saylor was sitting in the back of the van with her legs dangling out the side as she watched the boys toss the hacky sack back and forth.

When the sound of sirens and the police lights caught their attention.

"Oh, shit!" Pope exclaimed, racing to the car with JJ hopping into the back open door as JJ got into the passenger seat as Saylor quickly hopped into the driver seat.

Pope slid the door close as Saylor quickly pulled off.

"What the fuck did you do, Routledge." Saylor muttered to herself, looking at the flashing lights in the distance as they got smaller the farther the van got.

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