chapter twenty six
HE KILLED MY DAD

"John B pulling a Houdini!" JJ exclaimed. He was sitting at the edge on the hot tub with Athena between his legs. The two had slept in the guest bedroom the night, cuddling under the sheets and passing out from exhaustion from the long day. They woke up that morning, smiles on their faces as they looked at one another – JJ was happier than Athena, his dream since he was twelve finally coming true and now all he wanted to do with wake up next to the blonde every day. Athena had stolen another one of JJ's t-shirts and an old pair of shorts that Kie had left there a few days ago.

The two had decided to walk to the nearest shop and find some breakfast, which despite JJ declining profusely, Athena paid for. And when they got back to the Chateau they found Kie and Pope waiting for them with teasing smiles on their faces before they got to work with finishing the wagon to get the gold.

"Yeah, where is he?" Pope questioned, slowly lowering Kie down from where she sat in the bucket. "I got my scholarship interview tomorrow. We gotta get this done!"

"Speak of the devil. Hey!" JJ exclaimed as John B appeared from behind them. Athena could tell just by the look on his face and how he completely ignored them, there was something up with her friend. "Dude, I set the entire winch to pull up the gold and everything."

Athena hit his shoulder playfully at the lie while Pope corrected him. "No, he did not. I did that."

"Hey John B!" Kiara yelled out but he ignored her, walking straight past them and inside the Chateau.

"Okay, that's it?" JJ questioned as Athena stood up, looking between the three in confusion.

"Uh... what's that all about?" Pope asked, looking over at JJ, who shrugged just as surprised as the rest of them.

"I was gonna ask you the same question." JJ replied, stepping out of the hot tub and standing next to Athena. The girl gave them all one last look before walking inside after John B. Upon walking inside, the blonde raised an eyebrow upon seeing the boy rummaging around, through different drawers and cabinets.

"Hey, JB, what's wrong?" Athena asked, but just like the others he ignored her, not even acknowledging the girl making her worry grow.

"You all right, man? What up?" Pope stuttered, completely shocked at John B's sudden outburst.

"What are you looking for?" Kie asked as John B walked right past her.

"Bro, what's going on?" JJ pressed as they all watched John B grab the fun from underneath the pull out couch. Athena's eyes widened. "John B, what do you need the gun for?"

JJ stepped forward, trying to take the gun from his best friend's hand. However, his efforts were quickly halted by John B roughly shoving JJ onto the bed. Athena let out a gasp.

"Hey, John B, what the hell is wrong with you?" Athena exclaimed, rushing over to her boyfriend and helping him stand up.

"What, are you JJ now?" Pope asked harshly, standing in front of John B. He too had the same luck as JJ as John B pushed him out of the way.

"Shit— Are you okay?" Kiara asked, walking over to Pope. Pope nodded stabilising himself on the table nearby. "What the hell are you doing?" The exclamation from Kie came as they all ran after the fuming brunet. "John B, what the hell?" Kiara called out once more, watching as John B reeved the motorcycle angrily. He turned to face them for the first since he had arrived.

"Ward knows about the gold." He then turned to face Athena. "He killed my dad."

At those words Athena felt her heart drop to her stomach. "John B, wait!" She called as John B drove off to who knows where.

"Shit!" Kie exclaimed once she figured out she couldn't run after her best friend.

Everyone froze as John B left angrily. Pope looked over at Athena's pale face, her mouth slightly agape as she stared at where John B was just stood in shock. The boy walked over to her, quickly pulling the blonde into a hug. Athena wasted no time in hugging Pope back.

"He has to be lying." Athena whispered, mostly to herself. "M-My dad wouldn't do that."

Athena shook her head while hugging Pope before she pulled back, turning to face the group. "I-I have to find Sarah."

Hopping off the HMS Pogue at the docks by the Cameron household, Athena turned around. She kissed JJ's cheek before quickly hugging Kie. She waved goodbye to Pope, the boy standing the furthest away from her.

"I'm going to find Sarah, i-if anything happens I'll find you guys." She smiled, turning on her heel and walking towards the house. She walked up the steps, opening the front door before looking around the unusually quiet household. "Hello?"

Rose suddenly walked around the corner, letting out a breath of relief and wrapping her arms around Athena. Athena hugged the woman back, faking her confusing as she spoke. "Is anything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's okay. I'm glad you're sad." Rose smiled at her. She held her face, wiping the tears from Athena's cheeks that she hadn't realised she let fall. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Athena answered. "Where's Sarah?"

"In her room." Rose stated, pressing a kiss to Athena's head. "Make sure you say hello to your dad on your way past."

"I will. Thanks Rose." The blonde smiled, walking towards the stairs. She made her way upstairs, poking her head into her father's office. Ward noticed her immediately, the door creaking slightly gaining his attention.

"Thena, you're alright?" Ward hugged her. "That psycho John B hasn't spoken to you has he?"

"No." Athena lied, hugging her father back. "I was tired so I thought I'd come back tonight. See Sarah and Wheezie, what's going on?"

"John B tried to kill me on our skiing trip." Ward stated. Athena looked up at him in shock.

"What?"

"I took the boy fishing, he needs a father figure so I did a good deed and it was great. And then he starts... drinking and then, at a certain part, he starts accusing me of these insane things. And the more I try to calm him down, the angrier he gets until finally he attacks me!" Ward explained.

"He attacked you?" Athena asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"You don't believe me?" Ward questioned. Athena tried to shake her head. "Do you wanna see where he stabbed with a spear? Do you wanna see the one on the deck on the Druthers? We can go out there now!"

"Stop yelling." Athena stated, her breathing getting heavier at the thought that maybe John B was right.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, sweetheart." Ward sat opposite her. "Look, John B isn't who you think he is. I mean, if you heard the crazy things he was saying, like..."

"Like?"

"Like I killed his father." Ward admitted. "Me. Has he told you that?"

"I haven't spoken to him, dad." Athena told him again, though the look on Ward's face have it away that he didn't believe her.

"Look, I know you and John B are close." Ward started once more. "But he's dangerous right now so I need you to stay away from him. To stay here, away from all of them until this blows over."

"No." Athena shook her head. "I can't—"

"Athena, I need you to stay away from them all, including JJ." Ward told her. He then pointed to her tee shirt. "Especially JJ."

"Okay." Athena nodded, letting out a breath. "I'm going to go see Sarah."

"Okay." Ward smiled reassuringly. "Night Thena."

"Night Dad." Athena walked out of the office, continuing through the house towards Sarah's bedroom door. When she got there, she took a deep breath, wiping her cheeks of her tears and knocking quietly on the door.

"Dad, I said I needed to be alone!" Sarah's voice called from the other side of the door. Athena opened it, smiling weakly at her sister, who sat crying on her bed.

"Not dad." Athena stated before walking over to Sarah. She quickly engulfed her sister in a hug.

"D-Dad, he called John B dangerous, apparently he tried to kill him and John B stabbed with a hook or something. B-But John B says that dad killed his father and I want to believe him but, w-why? Why would dad do that?" Sarah sobbed into Athena's shoulder, the two clinging to each other.

"I know, they both told me." Athena nodded. Athena didn't know what to believe. Her dad never seemed like the type of person to be violent or hurt anyone. He was a pogue who worked his way up through the chain of command. Ward Cameron was one of the best people Athena knew, he was her father but with the yelling earlier and that fact that John B would never lie about his father, made her mind race with conflicting thoughts.

"And I don't want to believe John B is dangerous but he came here, Athena, with a gun. He stood next to my bed and accused me of telling dad about the gold." Sarah continued to cry.

"It's okay, Sar. Shh." Athena soothed. "Let's get some rest, yeah, we'll deal with this tomorrow."

Sarah nodded, wiping her face before the two laid down. Sarah laid her head on Athena's shoulder as they cuddled up under the duvet.

"For all eternity A." Sarah smiled.

"For all eternity S."