‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ REMEMBER ME LIKE THIS — THE MOLD MONSTER  ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
EPISODE ONE

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     "Why are all these mattresses out?" John B asked neither JJ nor Esme in particular as the trio made their way up the stairs that would take them to the second floor of the motel.  John B and Esme walked side by side with JJ lingering behind them.

     JJ would be the one to answer John B's question, which really didn't surprise Esme — JJ had an answer for everything — even if it meant pulling it out of his ass.  "After a hurricane, they ditch 'em 'cause they're moldy."

     "Gross," Esme shuddered.

     "Be wary of the mold monster," JJ crept behind the raven-haired girl, bringing his fingers to her ribs and tickling her lightly.

     "Stop, JJ," she said, a grin on her face that suggested she was enjoying his company more than she let on.

     JJ smiled, happy every time he was able to successfully tease Esme.  He then brought his attention to John B, massaging his shoulders.  "Just be so careful, John," JJ said in a gentle voice, and Esme knew exactly who he was imitating.

     "Want me to leave you two alone?" Esme wiggled her eyebrows as JJ snickered.

     "God, you guys are so weird," John B said, now leading the three as they carefully walked past occupied hotel rooms to find the room number that matched the one on the key.

     "What was that about?" JJ asked.

     "I don't know.  Maybe she wants us to be careful," John B shrugged.

     "Since she heard you're being threatened with exile, she's just been like, Oh!  Be so careful, John B!" 

     "Get off," John B deadpanned.

     "Oh, give me that John D already," JJ kept going.  "When are you gonna swoop on that, man?"

     "Bro, you know the rule," John B looked at both of them with stern eyes as he nearly stopped in his tracks.  "No Pogue on Pogue macking.  Looking at you two."

     JJ rolled his eyes.  "Esme doesn't even count as a Pogue."

     "I think that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me," Esme brought a hand over her heart as if she were touched by his words, the cheeky boy smiling sweetly at her in response.

     This made John B more nervous.  "Wow, you didn't even deny it."

     "Tell me there's one person on this island who believes I'm macking on Esmeralda Mendoza," JJ tilted his head as Esme nodded.  "And then bring me to them because they deserve an award for being the only smart one in this godforsaken place."

     "JJ!" Esme slapped him on the forearm to which he yelped.

     John B blinked.  "You need help.  Not a little help, you need a lot of help.  It's like every girl who just has a heartbeat, you're like..." John B placed his elbows by his side and thrust his hips, demonstrating JJ's known slutiness.  "Uhh!" he groaned.

     "What?  It's not a big deal," JJ defended himself.

     "You guys are disgusting," Esme shook her head.

     "We're getting off-topic," John B concluded, bringing them to a door.  The three stood in front, unsure but not willing to admit it.  "Is that us?"

     "Twenty-nine.  This is it."

     "Okay."

     "Should I be nervous?" Esme asked, not really expecting an answer from either unless you counted clueless shrugs.

     "Don't worry, nothing bad'll happen to ya," JJ said quietly before bringing his knuckle to the door and knocking.  "Housekeeping!" he said in a high-pitched voice, raising Esme's eyebrows.

     "That came from you?"

     JJ nodded.  "Every good spy has a cover."

     "Should we try it?" John B asked, ignoring the two.  Not that it was hard, he was growing more and more used to the little conversations JJ and Esme would squeeze in whenever they all hung out.  After all, it was very rare that JJ and Esme hung out by themselves — John B was the thing that has brought them together.  Even unintentionally.

     "Yeah.  No power.  No security cameras.  No one's gonna know," JJ answered.

     The two turned to look at the raven-haired girl, standing between yet behind the boys.  She raised her eyebrows as if in shock.  "You're actually giving me a say in this?"

     "Your call," John B answered.  Which was smart, seeing as Esme was really the only one with more than a couple of brain cells within the group.

     "I know you guys wanna go look, so let's just go — and make it quick," Esme said, and within seconds JJ slipped the key into the door and unlocked it.

     The three teens scattered inside, not sure what to do next.  Esme herself had assumed someone would be at the motel, and that she wouldn't be spending her day on some random goose chase.  But now, here she was, inside some rando's motel room where a couple of his belongings still remained.  And now she was stuck with two idiots, sorting out what was left for whatever clues she could gather.  So not how she expected her day to go.

     "Check the bag.  See if there's a name on there somewhere."

     "I'll check the bathroom, I guess," Esme offered, less than enthusiastic, but deep down both boys appreciated her devotion to the role.

     "A jacket," JJ noted as Esme crept closer to the bathroom with anxious steps, her flat and torn up Vans quietly scuffing against the harsh material of the carpet.

     The floor of the bathroom was a different material though, a hard tile.  She tried to keep her steps as quiet as possible in case any downstairs neighbours were listening.  She noted every single thing that came into her sight (even the way the toilet paper looked trashed and untidy) if it might help their little investigation.

     "Denim slides," John B noted.

     "No name on the jacket.  It's a nice jacket, though.  Definitely over 50."

     "He's got New Balances."

     "Great shoes," Esme commented from inside the bathroom, staring down a bottle of miniature shampoo that was sitting on the rim of the bathtub.

     "Yo dude, come here," JJ motioned John B over.  Esme snapped out of her gaze, thinking they might've actually found something worthwhile.  "Maybe this is where they were fishing."

     "Let me see," John B said as Esme walked back out into the main room, unpleased with the dull colors.

     "Right there."

     "No, that's off the continental shelf," John B argued as Esme stepped closer.  She looked at the map they were looking at, unsure what any of this had to do with anything.  "That's Big Swell.  Nobody fishes there."

     Esme didn't know much about fishing, but she did know a good amount of basic geography surrounding the Outerbanks, seeing as she had lived there her whole life.  Plus, she overheard the boys talking about it millions of times.

     "Okay," JJ shrugged.

     "Coffee?" John B questioned.  He made his way over to the safe in the middle of the room, kept under the TV.

     "Yeah."

     Esme nodded.  "I feel like that's normal.  But I don't know, I've never stayed at a motel."

     "Tissues for when you get lonely..." JJ added, going through a duffel bag on the bed.

     "One of these days I'm gonna slap you," Esme said, checking the time stamp on her cell phone.

     "Ooh!" JJ got giddy, clearly ignoring Esme's comment.

     "Did you find anything?" John B asked as Esme turned her phone off and slid it back into her back pocket.

     "A really awesome Dopp kit you won't let me steal."

     "Yeah, 'cause we're not stealing shit," John B said, to which JJ grunted.

     "I feel like someone would know if we stole from this person," Esme added.  "Plus Kie would give us a lecture on karma."

     "One, one, one..." John B muttered as he punched numbers in hoping the safe would open.  "One, one, one, two..."

     "Punching shit at random.  That will... definitely work," JJ said from opposite the room, going over a notepad left on the nightstand.  He sighed.  "Wait a second.  Here."

     "I don't know.  I don't know about the second one."

     "These coordinates, they...

     "Wait.  My cousin said you could catch swordfish here."

     "Six, one, six, six, six," John B punched into the safe.

     "Nah, that wouldn't make any sense," JJ said.

     "What about a surf spot?"

      "That could possibly be it," JJ nodded.

     Esme didn't really pay them any mind, more worried about the owner showing up sooner than they expected or worse — cops.

     "I feel like it's a pogue," Esme spoke up, bringing her nail to her lips, but she didn't bite on it.  She stared at the wall, trying to piece together what she could.

     "A pogue?" John B asked.

     "If it were a Kook, cops would be crawling here by now," she shrugged.  "Plus... not used to luxuries, take a look at this place.  There's a fresh bottle of shampoo in the shower, and for what?"

     She was cut off by the safe beeping and opening, which JJ didn't catch as he was still giggling to himself about something on the other side of the room.  "Holy shit.  Uh... JJ?"

     "Hm?" the blonde boy hummed.

     "You're gonna want to see this."

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