𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬

❝𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐎 go two miles and back in a car?" pope questioned as he looked around, eyebrows furrowed. "i feel like they're taking a minute. should i go look for them? should i go find them and bring them back?"

coby didn't know how long they've been waiting, but she knew that it's been awhile. her and sarah were still on the roof of the twinkie, sitting in silence as they waited for kie and jj to return. john b was more so worried about the twinkie, trying to map out what the damage would me once they had gotten it out of the water. pope was freaking out, wanting to find the cross before limbrey and her goons did.

"i don't - i don't - i don't know. just give me a second." john b shrugged, putting his bandana into his mouth.

"damn it! every time!" pope exclaimed, clearly frustrated. "why don't we got to send jj and kiara, the slowest people on earth? damn it! damn it! damn it! this is always happening to us."

"pope, please calm down. freaking out isn't gonna change anything." coby spoke up, bringing a hand up to rub at her eye. "maybe they had some trouble stealing mike's car or something. i don't know."

pope turned to look at her, nodding his head slightly. he then sloshed his way through the water, going to where john b was standing. "okay. okay. so, here's something i think we can do. we can maybe find something to leverage the twinkie, and you can drive it out."

"let's do driftwood." john b suggested.

"driftwood will work." pope nodded.

the two did the signature pogue handshake, telling each other to be careful before they spread out. coby shook her head, wanting to know why the boys couldn't sit still in wait.

"cobe, you wanna help?" john b asked, turning to look back at the curly haired girl.

"nope." she answered, shaking her head. this earned her bored looks from john b and pope. "jj literally told us that there were gators in these waters. he might same the dumbest shit sometimes, but he's been all over outer banks and if he said that there were gators, there's fucking gators."

"scared?" john b teased.

"hell, yeah. i literally died almost two weeks ago and then someone tried to murder me in a jail cell. i'm gonna take a break from running into death." coby answered.

with that, the boys continued to look for driftwood that was three feet or longer. this went on for a few minutes, the boys sloshing through the water. john b had ended up going into the deeper part, the water now being at his waist instead of his knees. sarah and coby had been keeping an eye on both boys, keeping what jj had said in mind. coby couldn't exactly see john b since he had gone behind some trees, but she could see some of him.

"hey, pope, come help me out!" the routledge boy shouted.

"give me a second. i'll be over there." pope nodded, turning to where john b was.

coby kept her eyes on john b, wanting to make sure he was alright. but the sound of water splashing made her sit up, john b no longer being in sight. "john b!?"

"help!" john b exclaimed, immediately making coby's blood run cold.

"pope!" coby yelled out, moving to the edge of the twinkie. she then turned to where sarah was. "you stay up here."

"but -" sarah started.

"sarah." coby interrupted, looking at the cameron girl with pleading eyes. sarah nodded, watching as coby jumped into the water. "pope! i need help!" coby yelled, reaching through the passenger window to grab the knife that they kept in there before she started making her way to john b.

"coby, what's happening?!" pope asked, turning to look at the girl in question.

coby continued pushing her way through the water, "pope, hurry!"

"john b! hey!" pope screamed, realizing what was happening.

"pope, a fucking gator has him!" coby yelled as she came to a stop, looking for any sign of movement.

but then, john b broke the surface, sucking in a deep breath. the gator still had a hold on him, spinning him around in the water. coby was quick to move towards them, waiting for the gator to flip john b under before she started to stab it with the knife. she repeated her actions, a scream leaving her mouth every time she brought the knife down. john b was able to get away, quickly moving behind coby as he tried to catch his breath. the sawyer girl stabbed the gator one last time before she moved back, her shoulders rising and falling quickly as she looked around.

"you okay, man? holy shit!" pope's voice appeared, the heyward boy picking john b up.

coby stood up, still breathing heavily as she watched the gator move through the water. she kept a firm grip on the knife, just incase anymore decided to make an appearance. "go to the twinkie."

john b and pope didn't need to be told twice, the both of them turning around and walking towards the twinkie. coby sucked in another breath, trying to calm herself down. she turned around, following after the two boys. sarah had helped pope put john b onto the roof of the twinkie before pope followed him up. coby put the knife back in the place that she found it before she climbed up onto the van.

"let's see the damage." coby muttered, sitting on the other side of sarah.

john b gently pulled his left shoe off before he lifted his leg up. the routledge boy was breathing heavily, coming down from the adrenaline rush he just had. because sarah was closer than coby was, she rolled up john b's pant leg, revealing the wound that was seeping blood.

"all right, be careful. i'm pretty sure that'll get infected." pope told sarah as she examined the wound.

"yeah, you're lucky. it didn't cut into muscle too much." sarah told john b.

"lucky i got bit by an alligator and my car is underwater." john b panted."

"do you have something to wrap it with to stop the bleeding?" sarah questioned.

john b simply untied the bandana from around his neck, handing it to the blonde. sarah took it, sending the boy a sympathetic smile before she started to wrap it around his ankle.

"oh, and speak of the freaking devil." pope mumbled, making the others look up to see mike carrera's pick up truck backing up. "look who it is, the tortoise and the tortoise. just a couple of hours late. where the hell were you guys?"

"paternal complications." kie answered as her and jj got out of the truck.

"luke was at the château." jj added as he grabbed the winch from out the back.

"oh, great! while you were having family time with your pops, john b got bit by a gator!" pope informed.

"like, for real?" jj asked.

"does it look like we're joking?" coby challenged, gesturing to john b's bleeding leg.

"okay, what the hell happened?" kie questioned.

"what happened? i got bit by a gator!" john b yelled, pope joining in.

"i don't know why i'm being yelled at. i put my ass on the line." kie quickly said.

that then led to her, john b, and pope yelling over one another. coby brought a hand up to rub at her head, feeling a headache coming on. she then looked over to where jj was standing, noticing the way that he was trying to get a word in but didn't know how.

"shut up!" the maybank boy shouted, making the group go quiet. "seriously, guys, i can't take it anymore, all right? everyone just cut it out for a second." he mumbled, going to lean on a tree. "look, i just helped my dad leave this island for good. like, e's not ever coming back. he's straight up like the spanish. just, 'bon voyage.'" he continued, making everyone furrow their eyebrows.

"that's french." pope whispered.

"that's not the right language." sarah added. 

"all we got. . . and i know for a fact all i got is you guys, okay? you're it. and i've come too close to losing you, all of you." i mean, shit, like you almost drowned." he started again, pointing to kie before he turned to pope. "pope, you were kidnapped." he then turned to coby. "coby, you've been shot." turned to sarah. "sarah, you're brother almost killed you." then john b. "and john b, you were almost dinner for a freaking gator, bro. so, this blaming each other is some kook-ass bullshit, all right? we don't do that. okay? we're pogues. sorry, that was a lot right now. i didn't mean to. . ."

john b, coby, kie, sarah, and pope shared a look with one another before they started to slowly applaud the blonde boy. jj laughed at this, shaking his head slightly.

"well done." pope told him.

"i gotta be honest. that was the best freaking speech you have ever given." john b complimented.

"also, you should think about picking up rosetta stone or something because your spanish and french are flip-flopped, man." coby added, pope and john b agreeing. this made jj raise up his middle fingers, looking at the two boys and girl.

"we should bon voyage out of here." sarah joked, earning a love sick smile from girlfriend.

"all right, let's get this damn twinkie out of here." jj mumbled, going back to the pick up truck.

☠︎ ✶ ♡ ✶ ☠︎

𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐈𝐄 back onto the road, they quickly made their way to the church that they had passed on the way to the angel oak tree. john b was sitting in the passenger seat, his leg up on the dashboard. coby was in the driver's seat, her right hand on the steering wheel while her left elbow was handing out of the window. sarah and pope were in the back. kie and jj were ahead of them in mike's pickup truck. when they pulled up in front of the church, they all piled out of the vehicles and walked up to the doors. john b had his sneaker back on, limping into the church with a scowl on his face.

the group looked around, noticing how the place was basically falling apart. the walls looked like it had been painted white, the paint chipping along with the wood. some of the windows were broken, probably from people breaking in. the beams that were hanging from the ceiling was made of old wood, looking like they would fall out of place any minute. there were vines climbing up the walls, plants sprouting through the floorboards.

"okay, you're telling me denmark tanny decided to hide the cross here?" jj questioned, only earning a hum from pope.

"everybody, just spread out." kie told everybody.

"okay, well, if i was a cross and wanted to be hidden in an old church, where would i hide?" john b queried, everyone spreading out and starting to look for said cross.

"are you sure that denmark hid the cross here, pope? like, are we at the right church?" jj quizzed.

"it's got be here somewhere, guys." pope answered.

"what if we have to push a secret button or, like, play, like, a - a certain chord, and then, all of a sudden, the ground beneath us reveals the catacombs or something on which we stand?" jj suggested as he went over to where the piano was. this made everyone look at him, all of them furrowing their eyebrows.

"how about we tried to find obvious clues?" john b added.

"it's not an escape room." kie told the boys.

"it's gotta be in here." pope said.

coby was standing in the middle of the church, looking up at the beams that were hanging from the ceiling. her eyebrows were furrowed while her nose wrinkled in concentration. she could hear pope freaking out but she tuned him out, trying to figure out why her attention had been grabbed by the structure beams. sarah noticed the way her girlfriend was looking up, making her furrow her eyebrows. she walked over to where coby was standing, following her gaze to see what she was looking at.

"what are you looking at, babe?" sarah asked, her voice gentle so she wouldn't startle coby.

the sawyer girl didn't answer, still trying to figure out why she was so concentrated on the beam herself. but then it hit her, her eyes widening as he let out a gasp. "oh, my god. guys. l - look up at the structure beams. what do they look like?"

this made the others walk over to where her and sarah was, all of them following her gaze up to the beams. the beams that were in the shape of crosses. they all gasped once they saw it, all of them looking at coby like she was some sort of of genius. jj quickly wrapped his arm around her shoulders, an excite smile on his face as he congratulated the girl. she laughed, scrunching up her nose. pope then walked over to a wall, starting to climb up.

"pope." sarah called, making everyone turn to the boy.

"hey, no!" jj yelled out.

"now pope's climbing the wall." john b mumbled.

"wait, pope. this is crazy, dude." coby shouted, walking over to where the boy was on the wall.

"pope, this church is old." kie reminded.

coby sighed, knowing that the heyward boy wasn't gonna climb back down. "at least be careful, pope!" the pogues continued to call after him, telling him to come back down. "guys, he's already up there."

pope climbed onto the structure beam, banging on the wood to see if it was hollow. "all right, this one's solid wood. i'm gonna try the other beam."

"pope, that's rotten as shit right there, okay?" jj told him. pope banged on the next wooden beam. "pope, i hate to break it to you, but that's wood."

"no, no. it has to be here. i know it." pope breathed out as he moved himself around the beam and onto the next.

"bro, just look out for that giant wasp nest right above your head." jj said, making pope look up to see said nest.

"hey, just - just move slow, all right? nice and easy, all right?" john b instructed.

pope nodded, noticing a piece of the next beam sticking out. he pushed it down, making it break off and fall to the ground. the pogues quickly moved back, not wanting to get hit with the piece of wood. but then they quickly noticed that the inside of the beam was hollow, pope noticing the same thing.

"go get me a crowbar!" pope ordered.

"what are you gonna do, pope?" jj questioned.

"i'll be right back." sarah announced, walking out of the church to get the crowbar.

"i don't want this entire church to collapse on top of us. that's all i'm saying." jj said, earning a nudge from coby.

"sarah!" pope called, making coby turn around.

"hey. pope." the cameron girl greeted, jogging into the church.

"throw it." pope told her.

"oh, for real?" sarah asked. she then did as told, pope catching it with ease.

pope was getting ready to break into the wood of the beam, but stopped when john b reminded him of the wasp nest. pope nodded, wedging the crowbar into the wood. he repeated his actions, slowly chipping away at the wood. the pogues moved back so that none of the pieces would fall on them.

"what is that?" sarah asked, her voice low.

"do you guys see that?" john b questioned.

"holy shit." coby breathed out when pope pulled a piece of wood back, revealing the cross hidden behind it.

the group started to celebrate their victory, pope still picking away at the wood. they continued to yell and exclaim in excitement, coby feeling jj wrap his arms around her shoulders as he whooped. pope was celebrating up on the beam, waving the crowbar around. that then made the wasps start to swarm out of their nest, swarming around his head before they started to sting him. the heyward boy yelled out in pain, slapping the wasps that were on his neck. he ended up dropping the crowbar before he leaned to the side, almost falling off the beam. but he had been able to catch himself, holding onto the edged of the beam.

"cushions! get cushions!" coby yelled out, making the group disperse to get the only cushions of the seats. "pope, hang on!"

the group started to throw the cushions underneath the beam. they tried to move as fast as possible, not wanting the heyward boy to get hurt any further. and when pope's grip had slipped and he fell to the ground, the pogues went silent. but when he let out a groan, they all ran around him to see if he was okay. they didn't pay no mind to the fact that he was staring past them, looking at something. but when he rolled off all the cushions, that gained the group's attention. they looked up to see that the cross was falling out of it's hiding place, making all of them move out of the way too. they all took a second to catch their breath before they remembered pope heyward.

"pope, are you okay?" kie questioned.

"hey, you good?" jj asked, going towards the injured boy and crouching down.

"yeah, i'm good. just give me, like, one second to, like, catch my breath." pope answered, panting heavily.

"you did it, pope." john b breathed as he looked up at the cross.

"pope, she's - she's beautiful." jj informed.

"i've never seen anything like it." sarah mumbled.

"detail's insane." jj pointed out.

"well, here's why limbrey wanted that key so pad." coby said, noticing the small key hole that was on the cross.

"whoa. good find. how much do you think she's worth?" jj asked, turning to look at coby and john b. "like if we melted her old bones down, dude, i'm talking like high billions."

"this belongs in a museum." john b quickly told the blonde boy.

"what? so no one sees her?" jj quizzed, looking around.

"in a museum where everyone see it." john b repeated.

"are you kidding?" jj asked.

"hey! it's my ancestor's cross!" pope chimed in, now standing up. coby quickly noticed how swollen his face has gotten, which immediately made her worry.

"right, okay. all right, all right. well -" jj tried.

"this is bigger than money, and the world's gotta know the truth." pope told him.

"yes. if we don't get this shit outta here before limbrey gets here, nobody's gonna know. so saddle up." john b pointed out.

"it's a solid gold cross that's 7 feet fucking tall." coby told the others, but that didn't stop the group from trying. coby shook her head slightly, throwing her hands in the air.

they had managed to get it off the floor, lifting it a foot above the ground. they had started to head towards the door, coby looking at them with shocked eyes. she then looked over to where pope was, seeing that his face had gotten more swollen within the last two minutes. the boy had ended up letting go of the cross, dropping onto the wooden bench that was bench. that made the others drop the cross, the four pogues argue with one another. coby was quick to move towards pope.

"guys! guys, guys. i'm not okay. i'm not okay." pope called, gaining the others' attention.

"your eye, it looks all puffy." kie pointed out.

"you good? you don't look too good, bro." jj said.

"i can't -" pope started but was cut off by himself taking in a deep breath.

"he's having an allergic reaction." coby concluded, worry starting to seep into her bones.

"how many times did you get stung?" sarah questioned.

before the heyward boy could answered, lost consciousness for a sec, sliding off the bench. sarah and kie were quick to pick him up, wrapping his arms around their shoulders. jj was told to hide the cross, no one thinking about the fact of how fucking big the cross was. kie was quick to hand coby the keys to her father's truck, the sawyer girl immediately running out the church and towards the truck. she started it up, waiting for the others to get inside.

"please don't let him die. please don't let him die." coby muttered to herself.

daij speaks!
i hate this chapter. it's extremely fucking rushed but i wanted to update for valentines day even though there is nothing romantic about this chapter. but happy valentines day to everyone, i hope u guys had fun.

i hope u guys enjoyed🫶🏼