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chapter fifty six
LIGHTENING MCQUEEN THIS SHIT
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"There it is, Angel Oak." Kie looked out the window of the twinkie, sitting behind Athena, playing with the blonde's hair.

"Oh, shit. Tides coming in." John B spoke up as  he looked at the water puddle down the dirt road.

"Hey, wait a second look." Pope pointed to the tire tracks. "They already came through here. Those have to be Limbrey's tire tracks. Guys, we gotta go."

"What do you think, chief?" JJ looked towards John B.

"I'm thinking it's looking a little dicey." The curly haired boy said back. "Ladies, any thoughts."

"I say go for it." Athena encouraged from the floor. "Lightning McQueen this shit."

"Okay, let's not listen to my dumbass of a girlfriend right now, she thinks we live in a fast and furious movie." JJ pointed out to John B, nodding his head.

"Clearly they made it. No?" Kie suggested.

"In a two wheel drive? I don't know about that." JJ shook his head, looking out the window.

"Why are y'all acting like you're not gonna do it anyways?" Sarah spoke up, trying to hold back her smile. "Like when have y'all ever done the safe thing?"

"She's got a point." John B nodded as him and JJ looked to each other.

"Speed is your friend here okay?" JJ nodded, turning back in his seat. "SO, put her down in second and hammer down, brother."

"Stick to the ground in the middle." Pope advised the boy.

"Come on JB." Athena encouraged as John B sped forwards. "That's Lightning McQueening this shit? Seriously? My Grandma can move faster than this and she's dead. Do you think you can move faster than the lifeless corpse of my dead grandmother?"

"Cmom, bro, punch it. Speed is your friend." JJ encourage along side Athena.

"It's gonna slide." Kie spoke up, holding onto the side of the van.

"Not to put anymore pressure on you, but if you don't make it through, we'll be stick here forever." Pope leaned up towards the pair in the front.

The twinkie made it through the mud puddle, gliding easily on the dirt road again. The group sighed in relief, cheering slightly. John B stopped the van near the door, jumping out to open the back door for them.

"All right, so word to the wise, definitely know that gators nest back here, so keep your eyes peeled, okay?" JJ spoke up. "You don't wanna be like Pat Womack. She had her calf chewed off by a gator, right? You know that, right?"

"That's actually not true." Kie commented.

"Pat Womack was injured in a car accident but I think I hear you." Sarah shrugged, pushing branches out of the way as they walked in a line after Pope.

"Okay, just live in ignorance. But like, she had her calf chewed off by a mama gator. I know that for a fact." JJ hummed, holding a branch out of the way for Athena.

"Thank you." Athena smiled. "Where'd you here that?"

"I read it." He spoke confidently.

"Was it in cursive or...?" Athena stifled a laugh at the offended look on JJ's face. "Sorry, was just asking."

"I am deeply hurt by that." JJ held a hand over his chest.

"Aw sorry darling. I'll make it up to you later." Athena pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Don't make sexual innuendos in public please, that's worse than PDA." Kie groaned.

"Sorry Kie, I forgot how easily jealous you get." Athena commented.

"Shut up Athena before I replace you." Kie threatened.

"You could never find anyone else like me." Athena told her.

"That's not a good thing." Kie shook her head.

"Wait, I see something." JJ interrupted the two, hurrying towards the water, grabbing a stick and hitting the water,

"Right. Wake them up. That's smart." Sarah nodded her head, speaking sarcastically.

"I was just making sure it wasn't a gator. That's all, all right?" The blond boy held his hands up in surrender. Sarah nodded once more, before falling behind the group to walk with John B.

The group continued through the bushes until they heard men speaking indistinctly.

"Hey." Pope shushed the group, them all looking around, the sound of moving trucks and excavators being all they heard.

"I don't see shit!" Rafe called as the group all looked from behind a bush. Rafe, Limbrey, Renfield and construction workers digging up dirt at the foot of the tree. "You sure this is the right spot?"

"It's there. The garment will be in the cross, and the cross will be at the foot of the tree." Limbrey announced. By the look on Rafe's face, she had said this enough times to annoy the shit out of him.

JJ pulled a twig out of Athena's hair, keeping close to the bush as he looked in disbelief. The crunch that echoed through the air had Limbrey yelling, Renfield and Rafe standing close as the construction workers jumped down into the hole. "They got the cross? What do we do? What do we do?"

"What can we do?" John B asked him with wide eyes. Athena grabbed JJ's hand in anticipation as they watched Rafe and Renfield break the casket open.

"It's not there." Athena spoke up, noticing the annoyed looks on their faces. "They didn't get the cross."

"We're going back! It's not over!" Limbrey called as she got to her feet, clutching her crutches. It didn't take long to loaf up again, the trio leaving the open casket laying there as they drove off.

Pope began walking forward as soon as they walked off. JJ followed quickly after him, "Pope. Pope, wait. Wait! Shit!"

Pope stared down at the casket, rotten bones on the inside as he took deep breaths. "Cecilia Tanny, Denmark's wife. He wasn't talking about the cross. He buried her at the foot of the angel."

"The true treasure." Kie frowned.

Athena sighed, leaning on JJ's arms. Pope began to cry as he bent down. "What can we do, Pope?"

The rest of the group kneeled down next to the grave with him. "Denmark was hung for burying his wife, and they defiled her grave."

Pope reached down, pulling a small pin from inside of the grave. Sarah did the same, a small ring in her palm as she smiled, "This must have been from Denmark. Her wedding ring."

"We can't leave her like this." Pope frowned as he looked at his friends.

"We won't." John B promised. Him and JJ grabbed the casket lid, laying it back over an shutting it tightly. Sarah placed a few flowers she found on top as John B hammered the nails back in. Athena grabbed two crystals from her jacket pockets, placing them with on top of the grave with the flowers.

"One's a rose quartz, it signifies love and restores trust and harmony in relationships — hopefully Denamrk and Cecilia are reunited — and the other is an amethyst which will help heal her after all they've done to her grave." Athena smiled when she met Pope's eyes.

"Thanks, Athena." Pope smiled sadly, side hugging the blonde.

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𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗕𝗘𝗟 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗦
i love being able to use hsmtmts gif of Val for these it makes life so much easier cause i love hsmtmts
this chapter was boring but i love pope and felt so bad for him in this episode
we get some badass athena in chapter 58
athena quoting coach from teen wolf brings me an unspeakable amount of joy

lol also i keep writing all my drafts! and because of my love for pope i have one for him based on the 1 by taylor swift!!
and another jj one based on the princess protection program with a kie love interest on the side
and a john b one based on the parent trap with a sarah love interest on the side
as well as my many other drafts i have!! if you wanna see them i can tell y'all