CHAPTER FOURTEEN
( ! skeeters ! )

MARLEY WOKE UP the next morning in her bed to see her dad sitting on a chair in her room. the girl had snuck in the night prior, not in the mood to chat with her father.

marley sighed before sitting up and looking at her dad. her dad looked back at the girl, "we were worried sick, you know." marley sighed as she ran her hand through her hair, "i'm sorry."

"you know we only want what's best for you, right?" marley nodded her head, not exactly in the mood to chat with her dad. "yeah dad, i know. you and the step monster want me happy."

"marley jeen what have i said about calling her your step monster? victoria is nothing but nice to you and berkley." that statement made marley roll her eyes, "dad she's always talking shit about my friends and mom."

"well maybe she is right," replied marleys dad making marley scoff. of course he'd take victoria's side instead of marleys.

"did you need something?" questioned marley fully over this conversation. her father nodded, "yeah i wanted to talk to you about your friends. victoria and i spoke, and we believe it would be best if you stopped handing around them."

marley just laughed, "you're kidding, right? you don't seriously think that just because you don't like them that i'll stop hanging out with my best friends, do you?"

"we just want what's best for you sweet-"

"no dad. you don't. if you did, we wouldn't be having this conversation. i left a party early, it is not that big of a deal." marleys dad scoffed at her response, "you don't seriously think that i'm dumb enough not to know about all the drugs and alcohol you bring in this house, do you? your friends are horrible influences! marley jeen your sister is thirteen and doesn't need you always running around high."

"okay, first of all, don't bring her into this please. berkley has nothing to do with this conversation and i'm old enough to know my body and make my own choices about it," replied marley as her dad sighed, he could tell he wouldn't be getting through to his daughter.

"marley jeen you won't be hanging around your little pogue friends anymore, do you understand?" marley just laughed, "you can't tell me who i can and can't hang out with dad. i've tried your lifestyle, but i'm always gonna be drawn to the people who have been there for me since day one. most kooks don't even like me."

marleys dad frowned at his daughters response, "of course they do honey! you just have to give them a chance." marley scoffed, "dont you think i tried? the only people who aren't self obsessed and really get me are my friends, can't you understand that? i don't want new people when i already have my people."

marley watched her father sigh as he ran a hand down his face. he looked at his daughter, "okay."

she looked at him confused, "okay?" he just nodded his head, "yeah, okay. you're right honey, i'm sorry. i'll... i'll try to see it your way."

she looked at him shocked, "seriously?" her father nodded his head making the girl smile, he was never one to actually take in what she would say and not argue back so him listening to her was a really nice shock.

"okay, uh, cool." marley then did something neither of them expected. she got up off her bed and hugged her dad. it had to have been the first time the two had hugged in years and the act caught them both by surprise but neither of them wanted to let go.

"thank you for listening. it means a lot to me," mumbled marley as she laid her head on her dads shoulder while he stroked her hair.

after a second marley let go and looked at her dad, "so, uh, kie is coming soon to pick me up and i need to get ready." her father sighed, before nodding and exiting her room. marley shut the door behind her father and quickly changed.

once she heard the sound of a car horn, marley quickly ran out of her house and into kies car. she smiled at kie as kie started up the car again.

kie began driving towards her families restaurant were the group would be meeting while marley began humming a tune.

kie soon joined in the humming of the familiar song before they both began singing as loud as they could.

"so bye, bye miss american pie. drove my chevy to the levee but the levee was dry and them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye singin' this'll be the day that I die this'll be the day that I die." both girls continued to sing until they changed songs.

once they made it to the restaurant, they both got out of the car with big smiles on their faces as they entered. they looked around to see the three boys looking at them confused.

"hello boys," smiled marley as she took a chair and pulled it up next to jjs chair. he smiled at the girl as pope continued to look at her in curiosity, "what were you two all giggly about?"

"we were just having a good time is all my friend," replied marley before john b told the group about where he was now staying.

it didn't rest well with kie.

"i'm sorry. you're staying where?" questioned kie as she walked past john b, grabbing all her friends drinks.

"tannyhill," responded john b as kie walked past him back to where she was before, "so you're living with sarah cameron."

marley turned to jj and whispered, "this totally ruined the mood." the boy nodded in agreement as he continued to watch kie and john b.

"okay, look, the only reason i'm living there is because her dad bailed me out, right? and it's way better than foster care, which, by the way, is where i was about to go if ward didnt-"

john b was unable to finish when pope cut him off, "hey, so do you have a membership to the clubs now?"

kie handed marley her drink and marley smiled a thanks before laughing, "no way. ward doesn't just give those things to anyone."

john b sighed as he came to sit with the group, "i don't know, pope."

"what about those golf carts they drive around? like the one we use to drive at marleys dads? you get one of them?" questioned jj as he drank some of the water kie gave him.

marley frowned, "i miss that golf cart," she then laughed a bit, "jj remember when you drove it into the water?" jj nodded while smiling as he remembered, they had been around thirteen years old and the cart had to be dragged out of the water. that had also been the last time jj was allowed to drive.

"does it come with a sweater-vest, or do you have to buy one on your own?" questioned pope, having way to much fun making fun of john b.

"look, you promised. you said you weren't with her," sighed kie as she looked at john b in disappointment before jj added, "bro, just own it. she got you."

"look, if you wanna hang out with her, that's fine. but i'm letting you know now that i'm not doing anything with sarah," warned kie as marley leaned back in her chair, getting bored with the constant arguing.

"do you guys see her here? no, right. okay. a little focus would be fantastic," sassed john b before turning to jj, "we've got the map, right?"

"it's all out of whack cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it," replied jj as kie looked at him, "it's cause the coast has changed."

"so we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed," stated pope as marley sighed, "easy enough."

"what about the old forts?" questioned john b as kie added, "battery jasper." she pointed to battery jasper on the map and the kids were quick to head towards john bs van and towards the point.

once they made it, they group all got out of the van and went over to the semi-circle of rocks looking out onto the horizon.

marley smiled at the view, it was quite beautiful. trees were all around them and past the trees, water went for miles and miles past the horizon. the sky was a mix of blues and pinks making the scene even more breathtaking.

"we're in battery, right here. so if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here." stated pope as kie pointed out, "somewhere there."

"over there? guys, that's not tannyhill, that's a subdivision." stated jj as marley looked at the boy, "the whole island use to be tannyhill. different parts just got bought over time."

pope looked down at the map, "so we're just looking for an old stone wall."

kie, john b, and pope all headed back into the van as marley smiled at the view one last time. she felt someone wrap their arm around her shoulders and when she turned to see jj, marley leaned into his touch.

"it's beautiful, isn't it?" questioned the girl as she stared out into the distance. jj watched the girl, not even looking at what she was, only focused on her, "sure is."

she smiled at the boy before they heard a yell, "hey! love birds! get in the van before we leave your asses here!" marley rolled her eyes as she grabbed jjs hand and led him into the back of the van and john b took off.

pope was sat up with john b and the map. they had driven for a bit when pope added a new direction, "okay, so the road should split up here."

"okay," replied john b before pope continued, "all right. you're gonna take a left." john b quickly took a hard left before he continued straight.

"that looks like a stone wall to me," pointed out jj as they all turned to their right to see the stone wall. john b quickly stopped the car and the group looked at where they were.

"this is it," stated pope as john b groaned, "not the crain house." everyone quickly got out and marley looked at the creepy old home, "well it was nice knowing you all."

"shut up marley."

marley raised her hands in surrender, "i just tell it like it is. we are most likely going to die."

"are you kidding me?" sighed kie as she looked up at the house from beside marley. each girl gave the other a look as the boys came up next to them. jj stood next to marley and sighed, "worse-case scenario."

"why'd it have to be here... of all places," complained pope as jj started, "i heard that mrs. crain buried her husbands head on the property."

kie and pope both gave jj a look as marley nodded, "oh yeah, one-hundred percent. she totally did it."

the kids all looked at each other before they began to enter the grounds.

as they walked through the many tall plants and trees, kie sighed, "look, you guys know whose house this is, right?"

"oh, yeah. no, i do," replied jj as marley nodded, "yeah, my dad use to tell us the story when we were younger to scare us into going to bed. he said that mrs. crain came to the homes of little girls and boys who stayed up late and chopped their heads off."

while marley didn't notice, all her friends gave the girl a freaked out look. it seemed normal to her, but everyone else found the story a bit disturbing.

jj questioned the girl, "when did you realize that was bullshit?" marley laughed at the memory, "when i was thirteen, i had to stay up late to do homework. i was terrified, but she never came and i woke up the next morning knowing it was just a tail."

"honestly, even if that's a terribly sad story, i don't really believe the stories of this place." stated john b making pope shush the boy.

jj began walking quicker and went next to the two girls who had been leading the group, he looked at kie, "which stories did you hear?"

"the one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since," responded kie as marley nodded, also hearing that version of the story once or twice around the island.

"on certain nights, when the moon is full... you can see her in the window!" joked kie making marley chuckle and jj get serious, "no, kie, it's not funny, cause it's all true."

"waah!" continued kie as jj continued to get freaked, "i swear to god, guys, this is all real. i knew hollis," a statue appears and scared jj, "jeez!"

marley back tracked his statement, "wait, how did you know hollis crain?" jj looked at the girl, "she was my babysitter, mar. she told me all about it. told me the truth... about her mother. And what happens in this house."

they all looked at the house as jj began the story.

"so as a kid, she heard all the stories that her mother killed her father, and... she was a murderer and all. hollis didn't believe it. until that night." john b looked at jj confused, "what night?"

"it all came back to her," replied jj before looking around and continuing, "when hollis was six years old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs. so she goes downstairs to see her mom washing her hands in a sink... full of blood. her mother just says that she cut her finger. the next morning, she says her father and her split up. but then, hollis noticed something. her mother going into the parlor constantly, in and out and in and out with plastic bags. weeks pass, and hollis decides to use the outhouse. and as she's using it, she looks down, and there, in the outhouse, is her fathers head, looking straight back at her."

"spooky," laughed out marley, totally not believing the tale as john b sighed, "god, you are so full of shit."

"dude, i swear to go, man," swore jj as pope looked at the boy, very invested in the story, "did she call the police?"

"she didn't have time. wait hold on-" john b began walking off, making jj cut story time short. jj quickly grabbed john b by the collar and pulled him back making john b sigh, "what?"

"you sure you wanna do this? she's an axe murderer. you got a cast on," states jj as the group all look down at john bs cast that the hospital had put on his broke arm.

"i don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay? i got nothin' to lose, right? you comin' or what?" snaps john b before he begins walking towards the house again.

marley sighed, "well, this is where we die." kie glared at her female friend who just shrugged, "hey, if i'm going down, i'm going down talking about going down."

kie and pope followed after john b as marley grabbed jjs hand and pulled him with her. marley looked at jj, "you believe the story you told? no shit?"

jj looks the girl dead in the eyes, "no shit." marley mouthed a wow as they continued to walk.

john b then stopped and turned to his friends, "hey, come on. come here." everyone got closer to the boy as he began to whisper, "so here's the plan. we need to look for the wheat near the water like it said in denmark's letter."

"okay, like, what kind of water? like, pond water?" questioned pope as jj chuckled before he questioned, "bong water?"

marley looked at jj and nodded, "i sure hope so." jj nodded in agreement before the two of them quietly high-five.

pope and kie give the duo a strange look as john b shakes his head, "no. it- it just said look for water, okay?"

"that's the shittiest secret message ever." stated kie making marley nod in complete agreement. "yeah, not very helpful." added marley as kie went in front of john b and began to lead the group.

marley hurried and began walking next to kie, leaving jj in the back pouting as john b snapped, "you wanna complain a little more, girls? nobody said it was gonna be easy."

marley looked at john b, "yeah but nobody said it'd be hard either." kie nodded in agreement as the two girls walked off to continue the search, leaving john b to roll his eyes before he walked a different way.

marley looked around at all the green, "this would be pretty if it wasn't already spooky." kie nodded in agreement, "yeah, and if stuff wasn't just able to grow all willy nilly."

the girls continued closer to the house when they looked forward and saw john b leaning by the house. he looked at them, "hey, psst! hey, come on. it's the only place we haven't looked."

pope and jj quickly joined the group, jjs entrance not very graceful as he tripped over a bird. marley laughed at the boy as he just stuck his tongue out at her jokingly.

john b was the first to enter the area under the house. kie and pope entered next before marley and jj walked in, their hands finding each others.

they all looked around when jj started singing, "down came mrs. crain and cut off all our heads. up came the sun and dried up all the blood-"

before jj could finish, pope shinned his light at the boy and marley covered her eyes, temporarily blinded by the light, "can you stop?"

pope walked away and marley turned to jj, "i thought it was a cool song." he smiled at the girl as he pulled her closer to the rest of their friends.

"see any water?" questioned kie as marley looked around more, unable to even see a spec of water anywhere.

mosquitos began buzzing around all the kids and marley was shooing them away from herself, "damn vampire bugs."

"another dead end?" questioned kie looking at john b, getting annoyed with the constant searching and coming up empty.

john b didn't respond as jj felt a pipe, "there's not even water on the pipes." marley sighed, getting tired of constantly swatting the blood sucking bugs away.

pope turned to john b, "there's no water here." marley looked between the boys, "maybe we were suppose to go to a different brick wall?"

"no, wanna know why we didn't find it? bad karma." stated kie as she turned to john b who just rolls his eyes, "oh, god. here we go."

"you know, we had a good thing going. and then you decided to rope in barbie, and now the trails gone dry. coincidence? probably not." stated kie as john b looked at the girl, exhausted by the constant topic of conversation, "this is exactly why i didn't wanna tell you about sarah."

"yeah?" questioned kie as john b replied, "yeah. what the hells the deal with you two?" the two had gotten closer to each other in anger as kie snapped, "nothing."

"nothing? is it because i kissed you? is that the problem?"

the next thing heard was the sound of kie slapping john b across the face. marleys jaw dropped a bit, but she was quick to shut her mouth again when she remembered the mosquitos.

"holy shit," laughed out marley as jj and pope both let out words of shock. "stop treating me like i'm some girl that's obsessed with you instead of your best friend who's actually trying to look out for you." snapped kie as marley smiled, proud of her friend for sticking up for herself.

john b looked back at kie, "did you, uh... hit me?" kie lifted up her hand towards the boy, "skeeter."

"skeeter?" questioned john b as kie nodded before he then slapped the girl across the face. "oh, hey, alright-" started jj, not liking where this conflict was going.

kie just glared at john b, "where's your proof?" john b lifted up his hand to in-fact reveal a dead mosquito.

marley then got bored of the two as they began to slap each other, laughing as they did it. marley turned back to jj as he smiled at the girl.

"what's up, bubba?" questioned jj as marley wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. the boy chuckled to himself a bit before wrapping his own arms around the girl and quickly kissing the top of her head.

as the two separate duos where having their own experiences, pope was investigating why there were so many mosquitos anyways.

jj sighed, annoyed by the bugs, "can we just leave? cause i'm itchin' to leave." marley nodded in agreement as she continued to hold onto the boy next to her.

pope looked down at the wood floor before bending down. he stomped on the floor and heard a faint echo, which told him that is wasn't solid ground underneath him.

pope grabbed a tiny pebble and let it drop through the crack between the wood. it fell for a bit before pope heard the sound of water splash.

he immediately began moving things, which caused his friends to look at him as he made a bunch of noise.

they all went towards pope to try to stop him when he looked at his friends, "hey. help me move this. help me move this."

"okay, just... quiet," responded john b before everyone began taking random things off the wood.

they began to move the wooden planks to reveal a well. the group all looked down the well smiling.

"well, well, well." smiled pope, uncovering where the mosquitos where from and where the water was. john b just continued to look down the well, "that was a good dad joke."

"they built this part of the house right over it." sighed kie as jj added an unneeded comment, "this is where she hid the bodies."

"oh, dude, come on." sighed pope as marley just rolled her eyes and continued to look down the well.

"no, i'm dead serious." replied jj as kie looked at him, "stop it!" "it was never an outhouse," continued jj as kie snapped, "she probably doesn't even know it's here."

"so... we found water." smiled pope as he looked towards john b who just replied, "we're gonna need a really big rope."

"okay, but seriously can we leave now because i have so many mosquitos bites i don't think i'll ever stop itching." begged marley as the others nodded and they all quickly headed back towards the van.

AUTHORS NOTE!
hope you enjoyed this chapter! comment your thoughts and just tell me anything you want!

if anyone has any ideas for a cute little thing marley and jj can do please tell me because i need more cuteness or i might die oops.

i also finished this at like 3am so sorry if stuff is a bit wild at times, my brain might not be working properly.