"SHH."

While everyone hissed at her, Tatum only giggled more. It was quite hard not to, considering everything that was going on. The world was truly hectic. She was on the run from her family, she was on a treasure hunt, she was abandoned by her mom, she had major daddy issues, she had a secret triplet-sister, and she was high as fuck while sitting on her best friend's shoulders. How was she not supposed to laugh?

Trying to eliminate some of her energy, JJ carefully put Tatum back to the ground. But it was no use. High or not, Tatum Quinn was always hyperactive.

However, there was one solution to her major energy spasms  - and it wasn't those pills her teachers tried talking her into taking. Kiara placed her warm palm on the back of Tatum's shoulder, and she was instantly struck by the calmness she only felt around this girl. Sarah, who had only ever had two conversations with Tatum (both of them where she was being threatened with a gun) furrowed her brows, not quite understanding her yet. Then again, the pouges had known her for years, and still didn't quite fully understand her. But Sarah smiled - she was happy for the night to be drama-free for once.

Her eyes flickered down to her arms. She was too focused on arguing to notice them the other day. Guilt bubbled in Sarah's body. Growing up, she was taught that all the Quinns were nutcases and to never, ever associate with one, but Sarah never took the time to think about what the four siblings might've been going through. Because even Leroy must've had some tough stuff to deal with, right?

"Stare any longer and a bullet will go through those pretty, brown eyes, blondie," said Tatum. And she was threatening Sarah with a gun. Again.

Kiara tapped her on the arm warningly.

"Sorry."

The boys behind them chuckled at Tatum's usual obedience towards the girl. She worshiped her like an Ancient Egyptian's abyssinian.

Still glaring at the blonde girl she was taught to hate, Tatum rolled the sleeves of her brother's hoodie down, hiding any evidence that those marks were ever there.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to -"

"Shush, hun, you're too hot to make me fuck your body up with the tip of my knife." To prove her point, Tatum dug her hand into her bra and fished out the switchblade she never left home without. Or whatever she was calling home now.

"Tate," hissed John B and Kiara. And neither of them were scolding her for the threat.

The girl turned around and pouted with a shrug, drowning herself in Joseph's old hoodie. She didn't miss him or anything - no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't - but that boy had good taste. It was Thomas who was actually beaten up about the loss of their older brother. The two were inseparable, to the point where people thought they were the famous Quinn twins.

Tatum frowned as she looked at her brother, who was engaged in a conversation with Pope Heyward - he lost his best friend, then he lost his boyfriend. Tatum couldn't imagine losing JJ and Kiara. Any of the pouges.

"Chill, I'll only cut her once we're done with her," she teased with a wink, twisting her heel on the grass to turn back around.

"Be nice," Kiara told her, trying her hardest not to stare too long. Or drool. When Tatum was threatening, she was hot.

She pouted playfully again, wrapping her arms around JJ's bicep, hanging off him like the child she was. "I'm sorry, Sarah Cameron. Very sorry, actually. I shouldn't have said those things when you're already terrified of me, but it's not my fault you're gorgeous and intimidating."

JJ snorted at her boldness. John B raised a brow, not sure why he was still shocked by her words after all these years. Thomas rolled his eyes, bored of her unlimited energy. Pope laughed, nudging the boy in the arm. Sarah smiled with a light giggle. Kiara bit on the inside of her cheek, watching the two girls make eye contact with jealousy.

They finally reached the front of the Crain house and froze. In an instant, all of Tatum's bubbliness and fun washed away. She turned to Thomas. A million memories ran through their minds, their newest one being the secret their family had kept from them for years. Tilly Quinn. What. A. Bitch. Or should they say Tilly Limbrey? Clearly, the girl in the pictures wasn't a real Quinn, considering she bailed on the family when they were six. Thomas and Tatum hated her, and they couldn't even remember that much of her. Now they thought of it, they couldn't remember much of their childhood. It just came back to them every now and then, in little flashes, the deeply traumatic memories making it hard for them to breathe.

A light suddenly switched on at the front of the house.

Startled, the seven teenagers jumped aside, casting themselves back into the darkness, with a lot of curses.

"Swearing is bad for the mind," commented Tatum.

Kiara scoffed, admiring the girl with a smile, her arms crossed. Sarah raised her eyebrows and smirked knowingly, giving her old best friend a teasing push.

Once they had all the flashlights turned off and caught their breath again, the pouges sighed. "Okay..." Pope took his hood down, feeling a thrush of heat over the adrenaline. "Okay, so she has motion sensor lights."

"I'm telling you, she's dead," Thomas repeated for the one hundredth time in the last three days. "Me and Tate were here, like, every fucking night of our childhood. Trust me, if the old bat was still alive, we'd know."

"Then who's living in the house?" hissed Pope frustrately. Thomas frowned. Then he scowled. Ew. He was turning into his sister. There was no fucking way he was gonna let that happen. Fuck Pope Heyward and his stupid fucking logic.

"We could, uh...move really slowly, maybe?" suggested JJ, his arms wrapped around Tatum, hugging her from behind as they crouched on the mud.

"Oh, my God, that's so smart!" exclaimed Tatum excitedly and loudly, earning angry hushes from everyone. She giggled and threw mud in the air, slapping John B in the face by accident. "Oops."

"What?" asked Sarah, going back to JJ's ridiculous statement. She thought these guys were supposed to be smart.

"Dumbasses," muttered Thomas, shaking his head.

"Yeah, that's not how it works," Pope informed the two idiots, who were now looking extremely confused.

"I could shoot it?" suggested Tatum, pulling out the pink gun that was tucked into the strap of her thong.

"What?" asked Pope incredulously. He knew Tate wasn't the smartest of the flock, but she truly had to be dumb for even considering that idea.

"How the fuck are we related?" sighed Thomas in disappointment.

"Do you bring that thing everywhere?" Sarah questioned curiously, because everytime she had seen that girl, she was partnered with her pink pistol.

"Yeah," John B breathed, smiling at his best friend, only just realising he had never known Tatum without a gun - not even when they were kids. She always had something armed with bullets.

But Tatum didn't listen to any of their comments.

"That's a really good idea, actually," said Kiara sarcastically, which gained Tatum's attention. She smiled, not catching onto the sarcasm just yet. "Let the axe murderer know that we're here."

Tatum frowned. Everyone watched her with a smile as she came up with a new idea. She truly was fascinating. Every emotion hit her face in the matter of seconds, they wondered how her mind caught up with her so fast. She looked up, a light bulb floating over her head. "I could shoot her, too."

Pope faceplanted his palm.

JJ nodded, hugging her tighter, like her idea could actually work.

Sarah looked to John B, not sure if the girl was serious or not. He nodded. She was definitely serious.

"You can't kill someone that's already dead," sighed Thomas, adamant that the old woman died years ago.

"What about the breaker?" Sarah spoke, earning everyone's attention. Only John B and Kie actually knew her - the rest were still trying to figure her out. "In the circuit box on the porch. We used to play hide and seek here as kids. And if we were brave enough, we'd go all the way up to the porch. I've seen it." 

Tatum leaned back on JJ, looking to Pope because she had no idea what a circuit box was. Nobody understood how she could break into so many houses without an ounce of sense (common or knowledge). But then again, she was a Quinn by blood, so she could always stick a gun in someone's face, and have all their belongings brought to her. Which, now that he thought about it, Pope could totally see her doing.

"No, no," said John B. "You're not going in the house alone."

"Watch me," she challenged.

"Marry me," Tatum commented, pretending to roll her eyes to the back of her head, earning a chuckle from JJ and a hidden frown from Kie.

"Can you not crush on my girlfriend right in front of me?" asked John B jokingly with a raised brow.

"I could." She shrugged, winking playfully at Sarah. "But I'm territorial."

Thomas rolled his eyes. "What the fuck are we doing, then?"

"I'm going," said Sarah quickly.

"Crain chops people into pieces," stated JJ, loosening his grip on Tatum so he could pretend to stab her.

"If you believe that, but she's, like, eighty-five?" Sarah argued.

"Yeah, something like that."

"She's probably bearly still kicking."

"She's not kicking," Thomas said again. "Like, at all."

Tatum slapped his cheek with mud and giggled at his deathly glare most would be afraid of. But she grew up with him. She'd kill him faster than he could her. "Shut up. The adults are talking." He narrowed his eyes at her. What the fuck was she talking about? That girl had definitely received way too many beatings to the head.

"Here. I'll go with you," Kiara announced, causing Tatum's giggles to silence.

Her mouth dropped. "I'm all for badass moments and shit, but there's no way you're stepping foot into the town's horror house."

Kiara shrugged. "You're not my girlfriend, you can't tell me what to do," she stated bitterly. Somehow, over the course of minutes, Kie's jealousy turned into anger. And she regretted her words straight away.

"I don't care if you're a girl, I will kill you," Thomas warned her.

Tatum shrugged, masking her hurt by the words. "Okay, first of all, even if I was your girlfriend, I couldn't tell you what to do. That's controlling and wrong. Second of all, Thomas don't threaten her."

Kiara shrugged back challengingly, trying to hide her regret over her own snappy remark. She never snapped. Not like that. And definitely not at Tatum. "I'm going with her," she repeated fearlessly. She didn't know why, and she felt disgusting and petty about it, but Kie now felt like she had to compete with Sarah - even though Tate was obviously only joking around - to prove she was as strong and hard-headed as her. Plus, she was genuinely sick of being the only girl that never got her hands dirty, and she wanted Tate to see that she could be just as fierce as she was.

"Fine." Tatum pursed her lips. "Then I'm coming, too."

"No, you're not," the four boys said simultaneously.

At her face, which was ready to start throwing threats, Pope explained, "You could singlehandedly beat every single one of us in a fight. We need your strength to help carry John B back up."

She huffed and sulked like a seven year old, crossing her arms and dramatically throwing herself back on JJ, because she knew she couldn't argue. Then, she instantly forgot all about it when she realised one piece of grass was a different shade to the other pieces. The discovery made her giggle.

"Okay, we'll wait for your signal," said Pope as the other two girls began to walk away.

"Wait." Tatum stood up. Everyone sighed as she stuffed her hand down her shirt. They had no idea what her obsession was with hiding deadly weapons in her underwear. She forked out two knives from her bra, and handed them to the girls. While Sarah cringed at the sudden warmth in her hand, Kiara smiled. "Incase the old bitch is still around."

"She's not," said Thomas. Again.

John B pulled Tatum back to the ground before she impulsively decided to go with the two girls, and looked up at his girlfriend. "Be safe," he told her.

"We will," Sarah a answered with a smile, following Kiara up to the side of the house.

"You're really cold," Tatum commented when John B hugged her. "JJ's warmer."

"I think you mean hotter."

"You're not my type, babes."

"But Sarah is?"

"Sarah's everyone's type."

"Please stop."

A/n: omg i missed cute tatum so much