ROSIE BLAKE WAS NEVER ONE TO HATE SOMEBODY. BUT AFTER LAST night's event, she absolutely hated topper. despite, john b only having a concussion and a broken wrist, which she still doesn't understand how he survived the fall from the hawks nest. but nonetheless, she was absolutely grateful to have him alive. she couldn't bare the thought of ever losing him or anybody else she loves

rosie was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a unexpected knock on her window. before walking over to open it, she quickly pulled up her black leggings. as she pulled open her curtains, her eyesbrows furrowed upon seeing jj. once she was able to slide open her window, she leans against the edge

the blue eyed blond grins. he had just woken up a couple minutes ago, and the first thing he wanted to do was see his girlfriend. so he didn't hesitate to take a quick shower and rush over here. he quickly kneels down on the grass and clears his throat before speaking "but, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? it is the east, and rosie is the sun. arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon-"

a chuckle leaves rosie's lips as a faint memory comes to mind. back in middle school, one of rosie and jj's teacher had the whole class read romeo and juliet. she also had them pair up in groups and had them act out a specific scene in class. jj was quick to pick rosie before anyone else could. but what came back to rosie's mind were the words of a thirteen year old jj maybank "you'll always be the juliet to my romeo. but let's just forget that they both die at the end"

she watched as jj was thinking what the next line was, but the boy just shook his head and stood up. he walked over towards her. a giggle leaves her lips "what? did you forget the rest?"

he shook his head once more "actually no, because what happened next was this" he cuts her off by placing both his hand his under her jaw and placing his lips against hers

once he pulled away, rosie smiles softly "i'm pretty sure that's not what happened next" she teased as she rested her forehead against his

"pretty sure, it was" he jokes before pulling away and placing a quick kiss on her temple "now hurry up. let's go, we have to go meet gang at the wreck"

rosie sighs, before rushing over to put on her shoes. jj, who leaned against the window edge, watched her. he thought back to the times where he had to hide his feelings for the green eyed brunette by sleeping with any girl with a beating heart. each time, he'd find himself imagining that it was rosie, who he was sleeping with. the moment he saw rosie making out with rafe, it was like a blow to the chest. a big part of him thought that maybe rafe was the better man for rosie. the kook prince could give rosie whatever she desired, unlike him

but now that rosie was his girlfriend, he didn't care that he couldn't give her nor buy her expensive items. all he cared about was keeping her happy and giving her all his love he had to offer

but there was a nagging feeling he felt. he worried now that rosie found her father, she might want to go live with him on figure eight. and who knows, maybe leonardo would want for her to stop hanging out with the pogues

"jj!" rosie calls out for the third time

the blue eyed blond was brought out of his thoughts "hmm?"

she furrows her brows, but nonetheless continues "have you heard from john b?" she asks

jj shook his head "no, but i'm sure he'll make it to the wreck. now let's go" he tapped the edge of the window "before i have to come in here and drag you out myself" he teased

rosie quickly finished tying her shoe lace, quickly brushed through her semi-wet hair, and exited through the window. the girl was in such a rush, that she completely forgot to hide the fancy red dress, nova let her wear for midsummers. leaving it out on her bed, where daniella was soon to see it

"i'm sorry. you're staying where?" kiara questioned as she walked over towards john b who was leaned against the table bar

"tannyhill" he replied

kiara grabbed the tray that held four drinks and walked over to place them on the table where pope, jj, and rosie were "so you're living with sarah cameron"

"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 didn't—" he was cut off by pope

"hey, so do you have a membership to the clubs now?" pope asked before turning to rosie "how about you? did your dad get you one?"

"i don't know, pope" john b replied

"not that i know of" rosie replied

"what about those golf carts they drive around? you get one of them?" jj continues to asked also looking towards his girl

"ooo! i'm gonna ask for one of those" rosie grins as jj points to her with a grin. hoping that she would let him drive it

john b sighs as he sits beside pope "does it come with a sweater-vest, or do you have to buy one in your own?" pope asked

"look, you promised" kiara starts as she stands beside john b "you said you weren't with her"

before john b could reply, jj spoke up "bro, just own it. she got you" he said as he walked to stand behind the chair rosie sat in

rosie agreed and sent john b a head nod "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" kiara told him

"do you guys see her here?" john b instantly questioned. no, right. okay. a little focus would be fantastic. we've got the map, right?"

"it's out of whack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it" jj stated

"it's 'cause the coast has changed" kiara replied

"so we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed" pope continued

"what about the old forts?" john b questioned

"battery jasper"

battery jasper, is where the pogues found themselves. jj was standing on top of a rock, rosie was standing beside kiara, pope and john b were focused on the map "we're in battery, right here" pope stated as he pointed on the map "so if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here"

"somewhere over there" rosie pointed to let left

"right" pope agreed

"over there? guy's, that's not tannyhill, that's a subdivision" jj said as he points with his left hand

"tannyhill plantation was the entire island. it got sold into smaller pieces over time" john b explains while pope looks back down at the map

"so we're just looking for an old stone wall"

as they were driving down to find the stone wall, jj was sat on the floor of the van beside rosie. the green eyed brunette had her head rested on his shoulder as jj was flipping and catching his phone in his hand

as he flipped it once more, it slipped out of his fingers just before he could catch it. his phone landed on rosie's lap, as she reached down to grab it, the phone lit up and a smile curved onto her face as she notices jj's lockscreen

jj noticed as was quick to snatch the phone from her hand. making rosie chuckle softly "well isn't that cute" she teased

"shut up" he mumbles as he puts his phone in his pocket

she rests her head back against his shoulder "how long have you had that as your lockscreen?" she asks curiously as she brings up her left hand to run her fingers up and down his forearm softly

when jj didn't answer, she moved her head up. as jj felt her eyes on him, he turned his head and looked down at her "since the moment we took it" he whispered

rosie felt her heart flutter. the picture they took on jj's phone, was a group picture. it was taken two months before summer break. rosie could instantly recall the photo, everyone had smiles on their faces. it was after school and they had spent that whole afternoon on the boat, just driving through the marsh while drinking a few beers. yet jj's lockscreen, only showed him and rosie. the blue eyed blond wasn't looking at camera, instead he was looking down at rosie with a smile as she was leaned against him

(𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯
𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 )

"okay, so the road should split up here" pope instructed john b "alright. you're gonna take a left"

"that looks like a stone wall to me" jj annouces as they pull up beside a stone wall

"this is it" pope continues

jj opens the sliding door, as he steps out, he extends a hand to rosie. she playfully rolls her eyes before placing her hand on his. as he helps her out rosie hears john b whisper "not the crain house"

"are you kidding me?" kiara asks as she steps closer to the wall

"worst-case scenario" jj mutters as he walks up beside kiara with rosie

"why'd it have to be here... of all places?" pope muttered

"hey jj?" rosie mumbles. as she heard jj respond with a yeah? she continued "didn't you tell me that mrs. crain buried her husband's head on the property?"

"yup" he replied

"look, you guys know whose house this is, right?" kiara asked as they walked through the bushy garden

"oh, yeah. no, i do" jj mutters

"look honestly, i don't really believe the stories of this place" john b replies as he walks behind pope. pope was quick to turn around and shush him

rosie, who had his hand intertwined with jj. felt herself being pulled forward, as jj walked closer to kiara "which stories did you hear?" he questioned her

"the one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since. on certain nights, when the moon is full... you can see her in the window!" she said as she turned around and teased jj by bringing her hands up by his face, trying to creep him out

"no, it's not funny, 'cause it's all true" jj says "i swear to god, guys, this is all real" turning back to look at rosie, pope, and john b "i knew hollis" as he turned back, he let go of rosie's hand and held his hands up as if he was ready to swing at someone as he came eye to eye with a statue "jeez!"

rosie couldn't help but giggle at him being startled "wait, you knew hollis crain?" pope asked

"yeah, dude"

pope, made sure not to bump into rosie as he stepped around he to get to jj "dude, how do you know hollis crain?"

"she was my babysitter, man. she told me all about it. told me the truth... about her mother and what happened in this house" jj explained, which made rosie look up at the house, and for a split second she could have sworn she saw the left window curtain move "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"

"what night?" john b asked

jj turned to look at him "it all came back to her" he glanced back at the house "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 says she just 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 father's head, looking straight back at her"

jj's told rosie this story before, but the green eyed brunette never knew if she believed him "god, you are so full of shit" john b sighs

"dude, i swear to god, man" jj promises

"did she call the police?" pope asked

"she didn't have time" he said before john b pushed past in between jj and pope

"wait! dude!"

"we can't do this—

"john b!"

jj managed to grab his shirt, making john b turn around "what!"

"you sure you wanna do this? she's an axe murderer. you got a cast on" jj points down to his right hand that had a cast on his wrist

"i don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay? i got nothin' to lose, right? you comin' or what?" he asks

"come on" kiara says as she's the first to follow

"i was willing to resuscitate you before, but all i'm saying is that if she's out there i'm not saving you from this one jb" rosie mumbles as she follows behind kiara

after a few more steps, john b calls them over "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?" pope asks

jj chuckles "bong water?"

rosie furrows her brows, while pope and kiara just look at him with a are you serious? look "no. it— it just said look for water, okay?" john b explains

"so specific" rosie mumbles

"that's the shittiest secret message ever" kiara mutters as rosie agrees

as kiara pushes past him, john b speaks "you wanna complain a little more, kie? nobody said it was gonna be easy"

before rosie could follow behind john b, she felt a hand wrap around her wrist "you're sticking with me" jj says sternly, which makes rosie give him a deadpanned look

before she could say anything, pope spoke up "i'll search the northeast quadrant, you search the northwest" he instructed before leaving

"the decapitation quadrant" jj stressed while pope just continues to walk away

"come on" rosie sighs before leading the way

jj stayed close behind rosie, he kept turning back to check if anyone or anything would pop out. it wasn't until rosie heard john b call out for them quietly "hey, psst! hey, come on. it's the only place we haven't looked"

rosie walked on ahead, while jj stayed back a bit. as he turned around he quickly picked up the pace, rosie was just about to turn around upon hearing all the rustling. but she felt two hands on her waist, pushing her forward, almost making her fall "oh, shit..." jj mutters, to prevent himself from falling he tried to steady himself by grabbing onto rosie. as she glared at him, jj sent her a apologetic look

"down came mrs. crain and cut off all our heads. up came the sun and dried up all the blood" jj sung as he stepped into the basement

pope was quick to shine his flashlight at him "can you stop?"

rosie was beside john b and kiara. all the could see was old dusty kids stuff "do you see any water?" kiara asked "another dead end?"

"there's not even water on the pipes" jj muttered as he ran his hand on a dusty pipe

"there's no water here" rosie sighs

"not a dropamino" jj mumbles

"know why we didn't find it?" kiara asked as she looks at john b "bad karma"

rosie knew where this was headed and sighs "oh, god. here we go" john b mutters

"you know, we had a good thing going. and then you decide to rope in barbie, and now the trail's gone dry" kiara scolded as she stepped closer to john b "coincidence? probably not"

"this is exactly why i didn't wanna tell you about sarah. and why rosie hid from us that sarah offered to help her find her dad" john b sighs

"yeah?"

"hey! don't bring me into this" rosie calls out

"what the hell's the deal with you two?" john b ignored rosie's input

"nothing" kiara shrugs

"nothing? is it because i kissed you? is that the problem?" john b questioned, which made rosie raise her brows, but then her mouth parted when kiara slapped john b

"oh my god"

"oh!"

"oh, shit!"

"that echoed, dude!" jj mutters

"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" kiara remarked

"did you, uh... hit me?" john b questioned

kiara held up her right hand, showing john b a mosquito "skeeter"

"skeeter?" john b questioned

"yeah, you see it?"

"yeah" john b muttered before slapping kiara as well

a gasp left rosie's lips "guys!"

"oh, hey!"

"okay..."

"no..."

"where's your proof?" kiara was quick to ask

john b held up his right hand and showed kiara, who flashed her light on his hand. and indeed there was a mosquito on the palm of his hand "skeeter"

kiara brought her hand up and hit his chest "yeah? there was probably one right there"

john b slapped her arm "oh look there's one right there"

"yeah? really? you saw that?" kiara asked as she slapped his hand

"shhh"

"on your forehead" john b muttered as he slapped her forehead

"this is kinda entertaining" rosie chuckles softly, as pope glares at her for encouraging their behavior

"you're dead. that's it. today's the day that you die" kiara muttered as john b goes to follow her. she's quick to slap his hand again

"jesus" pope mutters

"today's your funeral" kiara continued as john b slapped her hand "one bandito"

"skeeter" jj calls out as he slaps rosie's butt

the green eyed brunette immediately turned around to glare at him, while he holds his hand and a mosquito is on his palm

rosie narrows her eyes at him as she slaps his neck "skeeter" she grins as she showed her palm and a mosquito was on it

"these things are a freakin' swarm!" pope muttered

"hey, sh! keep it down!"

"you know how this ends"

"why are there so many mosquitoes in a basement?" pope questioned

"dude. i know, seriously. tiny vampire bats, just leave me alone" jj muttered. rosie slapped the back of his neck. he turned around and glared at her

"i'm trying to help you" she says innocently

before he could say anything he felt another mosquito bite "oh, my gosh! okay, can we leave? 'cause i'm already itchin' to leave" he muttered

whining was heard from everyone, but pope "i just found mrs. crain's voodoo doll, guys" jj calls out

"oh, shit"

"fuck" rosie whispered as she feels an unexpected slap on the back of her thigh

"skeeter" jj quickly held his hand. rosie slapped the side of head and held up a mosquito skeeter she shrugs

"help me move this" the two hear pope whisper "help me move this"

"okay, just... quiet" john b replies

"well, well, well" pope grins as they finally found the well

"good dad joke" john b says in a surprised tone

"they built this part of the house right over it" kiara says

"this is where she hid the bodies" jj brought up

"oh, dude, come on"

"stop"

"jj"

"no, i'm dead serious" jj says "it was never an outhouse"

"if you don't stop, i'm seriously gonna push you into this well" rosie mutters

"she probably doesn't even know it's here" kiara argued

"we found water"

"we're gonna need a really big rope"