By the time Sadie woke up, the moonlight shone in her eyes. The room was dark and the Chateau was quiet, not a peep heard. She was immediately engulfed in all the previous events that had happened not a few hours ago, plaguing her with the torturous circumstances.

She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, her face scrunching up. She looked down to see that her shoes had been taken off, discarded by the end of the bed. She tilted her head, chalking it off as an action done by Kiara.

The Carrera was nice like that, always helping and taking care of Sadie, despite her efforts to stray away from her help. Sadie appreciated it, she just had a hard time accepting it or even processing it. Whenever someone acted polite towards her, she didn't know if it was an act of manipulation or if there would be an act of violence following right after.

After all, that was what always ended up with Luke. The second option.

Sadie huffed as she headed to the bathroom, going to flick the light on, but realised the electricity was still off. She silently cursed the Kooks, since they probably had their houses fixed by now.

Unfair pricks.

Which reminded her, today was Bonfire night, hosted by the Pogues.

It was sort of traditional that the day after a storm was followed by a hosted Bonfire, bringing the Pogues and Kooks together. Pogues came for the beer and... well, because they hosted it, and Kooks came for the alcohol and meaningless hook-ups. Nothing more and nothing less.

It helped keep the peace between the two completely different dozen of people, raised differently, and claimed inferior by both opposing sides of the track. Either way, there were specific rules when arriving at a Pogue Bonfire—

No unnecessary fighting.

No stealing Pogue property.

Respect each other.

And kids were not allowed to go.

Not that there were many kids in the Outer Banks, but Sadie was one, and as upsetting as it was, it made sense as to why she wasn't allowed to go. No one wanted a kid around alcohol and marijuana, especially not a Maybank kid who probably got enough of this kind of action constantly by her own father.

Nonetheless, it didn't stop Sadie from slipping on her converse and hopping out of the door.

However, something felt off tonight. There was a certain fear in her chest that lingered heavily, as if weighing her shoulders down. The depictions of what she had seen that afternoon still evident in her mind, like a morning sunshine—though, definitely not as pretty and bright as one. These memories were dark and gloomy, and instead of making someone smile, it made them sad and haunted.

She made sure to go in a different route. Sadie wasn't going to attend the Bonfire, she was just going to go check it out, hide in the shadows, and then go back to the Chateau. Nothing too serious—and plus, JJ won't see her, so she won't get yelled at either.

Win-win.

Her shoes crunched the leaves below, the moonlight shone in the dark starlit sky, Sadie's blue eyes twinkled as she looked above, mesmerised by the mere sight of the twinkling little suns scattered across space and the sky.

When she was younger, Sadie's best friend wanted to be an astronaut. For their school project, they made a rocket—one that literally was set out flying with fake flames underneath and everything, but the speed was still real.

When he had launched the rocket, it had broke through the shaded outside fabric ceiling, and Luke had to pay to fix the ripped sheets. Sadie wasn't sure why, the sheets were cheap anyway, and they brought a new one after.

Either way, that didn't stop her from waking up with a bruise on her cheek.

She didn't know why she was thinking about that right now, it wasn't a very pleasant moment. Not to mention that she was already feeling down because of everything that had happened. So she tried to think positively—which seemed like an impossible challenge—as she walked along the empty streets.

Everyone was in the Bonfire, the only people wandering around were parents or people who took no interest in bonfires, as well as kids playing around the neighbourhood.

Sadie subtly glanced at them as she walked by. She recognised two of them. Millie and Tess. One of them used to be the girl who bullied her in kindergarten because she was poor and a Maybank—and apparently that was wrong?—but then her mother went bankrupt and ended up having to move them to the Cut.

Ha. Karma.

The other one Sadie didn't know well, but all she knew was that she was very talkative. Once when Sadie had a dentist appointment, Tess had been there, running her mouth. By the time she was called up, Sadie knew that Tess' grandma was a cat lady and had three cats; one orange, one white, and one black. Fritz, Harry, and Triss.

By the time she walked past and their voices faded into the background, Sadie knew that she was close to the Bonfire. She could hear the loud chatter, the yelling, and the loud music. Between the trees, large lights of yellow began entering her vision, informing her that she was close and that she would be greeted by the sight of the intoxicated teenagers and the smell of alcohol and smoke soon.

Sadie knew the extent of which people enjoyed the Bonfire, but she had never seen it up close. She never thought that she would even be coming here, seeing as it never pleased the Pogues or her brother, and if she were to get caught, then she would be in trouble.

But she also didn't want to be alone tonight, so the only way to not be alone, was to be around people. And the only place tonight that she could be surrounded by people and the ones she knew and somewhat trusted, was the Bonfire. Also the only place she shouldn't be at tonight... or ever.

But again, she wouldn't go in. She wouldn't get in trouble, because she wouldn't even be seen. She just wanted to see the Pogues, see her brother, and then she'll be on her way again, back to the Chateau where she'll be waiting for them.

The closer she got, the more she could see. Sadie risked getting a little too close for comfort and hid behind a tree. Her eyes scoured across the crowds before she caught sight of two familiar faces—JJ and John B. They were off to the side, holding red solo cups that were probably filled to the brim with alcohol.

She also spotted Kiara with two girls she couldn't name—her conversing while they all listened like she was providing crucial information. Sadie was sure that Kiara was probably just talking about how to save the planet or something. That was why Sadie called her Mother Nature after all. Not to her face, though.

When Sadie brought her gaze back to where JJ and John B were, she saw that two new figures had joined. One a girl and one a boy. They looked Kook-ish with their clothes, which was how Sadie realised that it was Sarah Cameron and her boyfriend... whom Sadie assumed was named Topper Thornton, but wasn't sure. Nonetheless, she hated both, especially Sarah.

JJ was holding a solo cup toward her, saying something that Sadie couldn't hear. He was swaying more than usual, and she recognised it as the fact that he was drunk.

It irritated her that she couldn't hear what he was saying, but she didn't want to risk going any closer. She just lowered herself against the tree and buried her shoes into the sand.

She watched the four seemingly went back and forth in conversation. From the look of bitterness on JJ's face, Sadie could tell that he was getting riled up. And, well, Riled Up JJ was no Fun JJ. She sat up when she saw Topper tip the red solo cup up so it caused the liquid to splash on JJ's face.

She frowned at the scene before her, her hatred for Kooks growing and her worry for her brother possibly lashing out increasing. She wanted to go home, but if something happened and she didn't know about it then she would feel sort of guilty. Sort of.

JJ roughly pushed Topper back, causing both Sarah and John B to push their friends away before a possible scene ensued. Sadie bit her lip whilst she watched, silently wishing she never came at all. But she was here now, so she couldn't exactly go either, could she?

Anxiety began to pool in her veins as she watched the scene increase, her day becoming incredibly even more worse. First, she had witnessed something completely life-altering and traumatising, and next; her brother was fighting with Kooks next to the beach and the ocean where he could drown.

Sadie wished she would've slept just a little longer.

Topper said something loudly that made Sadie want to punch him. "Dirty Pogues!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. She watched as John B went over with a locked jaw and pushed Topper—Sadie wished he would've punched him instead.

Sadie watched as Topper went over and punched John B square in the face. She winced as she watched her brother's best friend hit the sand as the water splashed beneath him with a sickening thwack!

The scene escalated faster than ever when Topper hovered over John B and kept pushing his head into the water, unwavering his grip on the Pogue while he choked on the water, literally drowning. Sadie didn't even realise that she had backed away in fear, almost tripping over a branch.

But what she saw next was even more horrific.

She watched as JJ pulled something glistening out from his pocket and held it to Topper's head. His back was to her, so she couldn't see him properly, but she could guess from the position of him what the object was. To prove her hypothesis, she began to walk slowly to the middle of her hidden area and the glistening object found its way to her eyes.

A gun.

JJ was holding a gun to Topper's head—a Kook that could obliterate him in seconds and send him to jail. But that wasn't what Sadie was focusing on—it was the fact that her brother had acquired something that required a license to own. Oh, and not to mention, he was holding it to someone's head!

Surely, he wouldn't blow Topper's head off, JJ wasn't a murder. Though, it was JJ Maybank, so no one ever knew what he would be doing. He was like an unpredictable time-bomb that forever ticked away.

Sadie was so focused on the scene that she hadn't even realised JJ had gotten off of Topper and raised the gun high into the air, as if he was showcasing a trophy. It was when he shot at the air that the sharp sound clouded her ears and snapped her out of her reverie.

"Get the hell off our side of the island!" JJ yelled over the commotion. People started to head over toward Sadie's area, grabbing their stuff and leaving the Bonfire. Some even almost tripped over her.

Sadie felt weird. Witnessing her brother do something so reckless made her on-edge. She felt as though she couldn't possibly recognise him at the moment. It was hard seeing your brother wield a weapon you've never seen him have before.

She backed away slowly, disappearing with the crowd. She didn't want to be caught, despite the thousands of questions swimming in her head about how JJ found that gun and why he took it in the first place.

She decided that she wanted to go back home instead of the Chateau. So her route changed as she walked along the streets of the Cut where people began to walk hurriedly back to their homes in fright.

Her thoughts were rapidly swarming in her mind as she forced herself to quicken her pace. Her hands kept going to balls of fists before stretching them out—it was a habit she didn't even know she had, she had no idea she was doing it at the moment.

Why does JJ have a gun? Why did he put it to Topper's head? Was he going to kill Topper? Is he going to shoot someone? Is he going to shoot Dad?

The thought that washed over her made her breath pick up. She had no idea why she even thought of that, but it made her anxiety increase even more. Sadie knew JJ could never shoot their father. She knew he was angry with him for a lot of stuff and that was justifiable, but killing him would be a crime. Killing Luke would send JJ to jail.

And Sadie would rather have Luke alive and treating her like this than have JJ in jail, leaving her stuck with Luke alone.

Hell sounded better than that.

By the time the Maybank household came into view, Sadie tried to be as quiet as possible, opening the screen door slowly and removing her shoes beside the door. But when she turned around, she saw Luke sitting on the couch looking at her with a beer can in his hand.

"Where you been?" His tone was demanding and voice raspy, probably of all the cigarettes he smoked.

"At the Chateau," Sadie answered, her voice quiet and small. She was always seemingly quiet when she spoke with Luke, unlike the heavily demanding tone she had with the Pogues.

Luke threw his head back as he took a large sip of the alcohol, swallowing harshly as he crushed the can in his hand. "Speak up."

"I was at the Chateau," Sadie said a little loudly, her fingers coming together behind her back as she wrung them together nervously.

"Wasn't so hard now, was it?"

Sadie shook her head.

"Speak up," Luke repeated, snippy and demanding. Sadie knew he was glaring daggers at her, but she kept her gaze down at the floor beneath, the cracks and worn wood suddenly looking a lot more interesting than her father's face.

"Sorry, sir," she apologised, her voice loud like how he wanted it to be.

"Whatever," he scoffed, waving a hand at her before he looked back at the screen, silently dismissing her.

Sadie didn't waste a second before she left the living room, the last thing she heard coming from there was another beer bottle opening before her door shut and sound dissipated.

As Sadie entered her room, she walked over to the side of her bed and curled up on the ground, arms wrapped around her legs tightly. She let herself think of the events that had happened.

She hoped John B was okay, and that JJ wasn't going to use that gun on anyone for real. She hoped that Topper wasn't going to press any charges against JJ, because then that would lead to JJ going to jail and Sadie to stay with Luke for a long time.

And she also hoped that John B wasn't going to die. She saw how Topper tried to drown him, and even if she didn't care so much about him, now she sort of did, because she didn't want him to die. He was a nice person who sometimes leant his home and fishing equipments to her and her brother.

Sadie just hoped everything would be okay. Everything seemed to be anything but, though.

☾

Sadie was woken up by loud knocking on her door. She stirred and groaned at the harsh pain that slithered up her neck, making her move it to the side as it cracked painfully. She had never cracked her neck before, but as it popped, she felt a sense of relief and uncomfortableness all at the same time.

She also noticed how she was in the same position she had been yesterday. She had slept on the floor beside her bed with her head tucked into her knees unknowingly. She was thinking so much that she fell asleep without knowing, causing her to end up in a very uncomfortable position.

Her gaze flicked up to see the sight of JJ who looked down at her with furrowed eyebrows and a small frown on his lips. "Did you sleep all night like that?"

Sadie stared up at him for a moment before shrugging, deciding that she wouldn't talk to him right now. She didn't want him to know that she knew what he did, but she was also confused, mad, and worried all at the same time, so she didn't even know what to say.

Plus, JJ didn't think much of it since he didn't comment on it. "Get ready. We're goin' to the Chateau," he said before turning around and walking away; leaving Sadie's door wide open and a grumpy sister behind.

Tiredly, Sadie pushed herself off the floor, closed her door, then headed to her closet to change. She opted for a short-sleeve since the sky was evident and the breeze didn't look like it was fully there. She picked out a floral short-sleeved shirt and some jeans, hurrying since she didn't want to make JJ mad when he had a potential gun in his pocket.

After that, she went over to her vanity to sort out her hair. It was a little messy, but it wasn't that messy that she needed to brush it, even if it irritated her a little bit.

"Sades!"

Sadie huffed at JJ's impatient shout and finally ran out of her room to see him waiting by the front door. She put on her converse and walked out with him to his motorcycle.

The air was cold, despite the sun being clear in the sky. Sadie shivered at the feeling, frowning at her decision to wear a short-sleeve.

She kept her head down the whole ride, hoping to keep the cold air from hitting her face as much as possible so she wouldn't possibly freeze to death. The sun helped a little, shining through the clouds and warmed Sadie up as much as it could.

By the time they arrived, Kiara and Pope were there already, sitting outside with John B quietly. JJ greeted them with a small smile while he went and got him a folding chair to sit in, Sadie sat down by him on the grass, twisting her hands into the grass and making little bows, listening to Kiara playing with the bongos as she bobbed her head.

Everyone looked up when John B came out of the backdoor, his expression sort of miserable. "Look, I'm callin' it off, alright? Peterkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with DCS."

From Sadie's side, JJ spoke up. "And you believe her?" He asked, tilting his head with squinted eyes.

"Yes, I believe her, JJ," John B responded, tone almost snappy.

"An actual cop, John B," JJ said, standing by his point, chuckling lowly. "You believed a cop."

"All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help me out," John B said, almost desperately. "It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun."

Sadie's eyes widened as she looked up at JJ, suddenly remembered how rogue he looked as he pushed the gun into Topper's head. He didn't glance at her, though, continuing to argue with John B. "You know what I should have done? Just let Topper drown your ass."

Sadie huffed and got up, the ground now uninteresting. She walked over to sit by Kiara.

John B scoffed at JJ's statement, "Yeah, 'cause, Topper was gonna drown me?" He asked, as if it wasn't true. It was.

"Sure looked like it," JJ said, standing up and walking over toward John B.

"Funny."

"Have you looked in the mirror?"

"Yeah, c'mon. Tell me some more. Come on."

No one interjected as the two argued, they knew better than that. JJ and John B had been friends since the fourth grade—fights like this were basically nothing. Sure, JJ was frustrated, but the two had been used to each other's antics, so whoever could solve this was them, and them only.

But JJ almost looked devastated when he plastered a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "They always win, don't they, man? Kooks versus Pogues, and they always, always win!" He laughed bitterly, stepping back and turning around.

"Look, it's okay!" Kiara exclaimed, hoping to calm the situation down. Sadie shuffled from beside the girl, frowning slightly.

"No, it's not!" JJ yelled. "It is not! They don't want us to go down into the marsh. That means there's something valuable down there, and you know it. I know you do," he said, pointing at John B. "And I understand why you don't wanna go. You're the golden boy. You got way too much to risk," he looked down at Pope. "And you," he turned to Kiara. "I mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother?"

Sadie watched him intensely. He seemed hellbent on going to the marsh whether to actually find something or it was just for the hell of it, Sadie didn't know.

JJ turned back to John B. "But you and me, man. We got nothing to lose! We really don't."

John B sighed, casting a glance down at Sadie who turned her head to look out into the open ocean, pretending she wasn't listening. "JJ," he said, trying to stop him before he said something reckless.

"And I know it didn't use to be that way for you," he kept going nonetheless.

"I don't wanna talk about this," John B muttered. "I don't wanna talk about it," he said, walking forward.

"So, that's it?"

John B pushed past JJ, "Just get out of my way, bro!"

"John B, listen to me. I have a plan," JJ said, walking over to his best friend. "You got the key to Cameron's boat, right?"

Cameron? Why was JJ talking about Kooks and their boats? Sadie held back an eye roll at the mention of the most richest family in all the Outer Banks, slumping beside Kiara.

☾

Apparently, JJ formulated a plan for John B to steal scuba gear from the Cameron's for some adventure. Surprising? Not really. Reckless? Definitely.

Sadie never knew why John B ever listened to JJ anyway, all of his ideas were reckless and untimely. His motto was literally Deny, deny, deny—the epitome of trouble.

However, now they sat in the HMS POGUE with three tanks—two empty, one quarter full. John B had gone on a literal suicide mission and came back with basically nothing.

"These are all empty," Kiara stated upon evidence, looking through them. "Oh, great. This one's half full."

John B stuttered, "I... well.." he definitely didn't have a justifiable excuse, and if he did, he didn't want to say it.

Kiara sighed. "Does anybody know how to dive?" No one answered. "Anybody?"

"I do," Sadie spoke up, raising her hand. Everyone's eyes turned to her eyes, their gazes zero-ing in on her. She shrunk down, wishing she never spoke in the first place.

"And how do you know?" JJ asked, his voice indicating that he didn't believe her.

Sadie shrugged, twisting her lips. "Sammy taught me," she said casually, as if she actually had dived before. Sure, her best friend did teach her, but they only did it for fun, not for a serious-like mission like how they were preparing for right now.

John B turned to her. "Sorry, Sadie, but we can't let you go down there on your own with a half-tank only," he said apologetically, when in fact, he wasn't going to let her go down at all. She was just a kid and she wouldn't be able to hold up well.

Sadie nodded in understanding, sitting down and crossing her arms beside John B while Pope spoke up, "I read about it," he informed.

"Great," Kiara chipped. "Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die."

JJ turned to her. "Look. Y—You put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard can it be?"

"Well, you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood and you get the bends," Pope provided him with the information.

Sadie didn't know that was how easily someone got the bends. She knew the bends were serious and caused something to pop inside your body, and she bet it hurt a lot.

JJ decided to joke around and bent over, "Bends like—bends over and—"

"The bends kill you," Pope said blatantly, making Sadie's eyebrows slightly raise. She was thankful John B refused to let her go down now, she definitely didn't want to die and get the bends.

"Right." Well, that shut him up.

"I can—I can dive," John B said, as if concluding his position.

Kiara turned to him, "Since when can you dive?"

"I'll do it. It's fine," he dismissed, not making eye contact with anyone. Sadie was confused as to why he was volunteering since she'd never seen him dive before and he would possibly get the bends, which was even worse than getting caught being in the marsh when they weren't supposed to be here.

Pope did some calculations like the nerd and saviour he was. Sadie walked over and watched as he scribbled some on a piece of paper they had lying around.

Kiara standing up took their attention, she took off her shirt and leaped into the water. Sadie glanced at the water splashing in result of the girl's actions before Pope spoke up beside her, "Uh... what was that about?"

"I don't know," JJ answered. "But I liked it... a lot." Sadie looked at her brother with furrowed eyebrows and a frown, confused as to why he liked seeing Kiara randomly dive down into the water.

For the next few minutes, they all prepared John B as he put on the scuba gear. Kiara came up and told him that she wrapped her shirt around his safety stop, Pope told him to breathe as little as possible as to conserve the oxygen, and JJ told him to think Zen, which Sadie had no idea what that meant.

Then, something weird happened.

Kiara kissed John B's cheek. The boys froze while Sadie tilted her head confused—were John B and Kiara dating? And if they were, why didn't they make it obvious until now? How did Sadie not know?

"Diver Down."

And in John B went.

•

AUTHOR'S NOTE.
i hate luke maybank