004. ╱ 𖦹⠀⠀ ❝ the lucky compass. ❞

ACCORDING TO AMELIE, her life was overflowing with misfortunes attracted by her remarkable bad luck. She was extremely dissatisfied with the injustices that kept happening to her.

⠀⠀Or at least that's how she felt hers was. She needed that something to help her understand that her life was worth living, that she had a reason to be. She abhorred the simple saying 'Life is hard', and it was hard for her.

⠀⠀It was blow after blow. And what was worse than having a stepfather living in your house and teenage traumas? Falling in love.

⠀⠀Even days ago she was beginning to understand what was going on with her, why she felt butterflies every time she spoke or just saw JJ. And that wasn't the worst of it, but the fact that he was repulsed by her, even disgusted at the thought of being in a relationship with Amelie.

⠀⠀It was really hard to keep calm around him.

⠀⠀Now, she was lying comfortably on the sofa, with her head on Pope's lap, who never complained about it. They and Kie listened attentively to the story of John B and JJ, who apparently had not had a good time going to Ms. Lana's house in the morning.

⠀⠀"And we were right outside like this, and all we hear is just 'Bam! Bam! Bam!'," JJ continued in impression. "Knocking paint off the wall, from the insied, alright? And I'm just looking at him, like...," he interrupted himself, walking over to his friends on the sofas, quickly shaking out his hair, revealing that white paint he was talking about. "Look."

⠀⠀"That's dandruff, disgusting," muttered Kie with a grimace of displeasure and revulsion on her face.

⠀⠀"Okey, thank you," said Pope peeking over Amelie's head to push JJ by his head.

⠀⠀"Look at that, alright? That's paint. At that point, I was just, like... I'm waiting for death."

⠀⠀"Wow, JJ," spoke Amelie after rolling her eyes. It sounded like a joke in very bad taste.

⠀⠀"Okay, so you saw the guys that shot at us, right?" Continued Pope as he rubbed the arch of his nose vigorously.

⠀⠀"Yeah," JJ confirmed without taking another second to do so.

⠀⠀"Did you get a good description of them? What did they look like?" Pope demanded again while making exaggerated gestures with his hands.

⠀⠀Amelie pulled away from Pope to sit on the sofa, seeing that he kept moving and causing her discomfort with his movements.

⠀⠀"Anything we could bring to a police report?" Pope questioned again.

⠀⠀"Burly," JJ reported, finally turning back to his friends as he finished finding the perfect answer.

⠀⠀"Burly?" Amelie pleaded in disbelief with her grimace of disengagement on her face.

⠀⠀"Yeah, Ames. You know, like..." Confirmed JJ again, pacing back and forth in search of answers.

⠀⠀"That's not very helpful," Kie mumbled as she relaxed her elbows on both knees, despite being the opposite of relaxed.

⠀⠀"Okay, well, no, like the type of guy at my dad's garage. I mean, you guys know he made cargo hides for drug smugglers," said JJ now.

⠀⠀"Yeah, yes. No, we know," Kie confirmed repeatedly after sharing uncomfortable glances with Amelie.

⠀⠀Neither of them liked to touch the delicate subject of JJ and his stupid father.

⠀⠀"So then I can tell you with full confidence," JJ demanded, as he prepared another cigarette. "These boys, these killers... they're square groupers," he finished, letting the air from the cigarette quickly out of his system.

⠀⠀"They're square groupers, like narco square grouper? Like Pablo Escobar square grouper?" Asked Pope.

⠀⠀"Yeah, man," JJ replied obviously, after taking another puff on his cigarette still in his hand.

⠀⠀"You guys, not everything is a kingpin movie," Kie ironised, dissatisfied with what her friends were saying.

⠀⠀"Okay, so what does this square grouper look like? Like, specifically, if you could..."

⠀⠀"You weren't there, bro!" JJ raised his voice, addressing Pope directly and cutting him off from speaking further.

⠀⠀"Because apparently you don't know what to look for!" reproached Pope with exasperation, addressing only JJ.

⠀⠀"Dude! I wasn't taking little mental polaroids the entire time! I was under duress, okay?" JJ defended himself as he looked at him with offence. "But I can tell you... I can tell you by the way Ms. Lana was screaming... that these guys are serious, serious hombres, man."

⠀⠀Amelie, unwilling to put up with the arguments of her other three remaining friends, noticed the ultimate distraction in John B, which was rather strange, as he always had something to say.

⠀⠀She stood up and unhesitatingly approached him confidently, showing it as she cut the distance between them.

⠀⠀"What's on your mind, John?" Amelie asked as she stood next to him. John B finally raised his gaze to her.

⠀⠀"The office," replied John B, breaking away from her as he turned his eyes back to the compass. That seemed to get the attention of the arguers.

⠀⠀"What?" Replied the four watching in unison.

⠀⠀"My dad, my dad's office," repeated John B, this time with a smile as he began to walk around the place. "He always kept the office locked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research," continued in the direction of his father's office, his friends following him. "We used to laugh at him all the time about it, like he was actually gonna find it. But now that he's gone, I've just kinda... I just left it as he kept it."

⠀⠀"Yeah, for when he gets back," added Kie confidently too, not wanting to hear the disappointment in John B at this very thing.

⠀⠀"Yeah," confirmed John B without seeing her as he finished opening the office door.

⠀⠀John B opened the door just wide enough to make room for everyone to pass through, finally when the whole group was inside, they parted, keeping close together to survey and review their curious view of the tiny room. One that also needed a lot of quick cleaning.

⠀⠀"I've slept over here like 600 times and I've never seen this door opened," Pope spoke as he also entered the room behind Amelie.

⠀⠀"Your dad must like... cleaning," Amelie murmured as she ran two of her fingers over one of the wooden furniture pieces.

⠀⠀She grimaced as she saw how these two were noticeably dirty with the grey recognisable by the amount of dust on the piece of furniture.

⠀⠀"I think so," replied John B. "Here, look," he called, as he put a photo board on the desk. "This is the original owner, right here," he said, pointing his finger.

⠀⠀"Okay. Robert Q Routledge, 1880 to 1920," Kie replied.

⠀⠀"The mysterious lucky compass," smirked Amelie as she now pointed to one of the pictures.

⠀⠀"Actually, um... he was shot after he bought it," John B informed. "Then the compass was shipped back to Henry," he continued to explain. "Henry was killed in a crop-dusting accident when he had the compass. After he died, the compass was given to Stephen, he had the compass with him when he died in Vietnam."

⠀⠀"Let me guess, he died in action, right?" JJ questioned obviously and sarcastically. Amelie smiled as she heard him.

⠀⠀"Sort of," replied John B, not very convinced. "Uh, a-actually, he was killed by a banana truck. In-in country," there was an awkward silence for a few seconds. "Anyways, after that, Stepehn passed the compass down to him, my dad."

⠀⠀"Sounds like there's a reocurring theme here," spoke JJ, equally sarcastic and uneasy about what carrying that compass might mean.

⠀⠀"Yeah, you have a death compass," Pope said, pretending to have to believe in it too much.

⠀⠀"No, I do not have a death compass," denied John B quickly as he stood up and waved his hands in Pope's direction.

⠀⠀"You have a death compass," Pope said again.

⠀⠀"Yes, you do. Get rid of it. It's cursed, and made its way back to you," JJ pointed out as he saw that they had no victory in trying to convince John B.

⠀⠀"We're going to die," concluded Amelie with a worried grimace.

⠀⠀"Listen, no one is going to die," said John B, as he now sat down again. "Look, my dad used to talk about this compartment in here. Soldiers used to hide secret notes," he explained, slowly removing the lid of that same mysterious compass.

⠀⠀"What's that?" Kie questioned, pointing to the compass, thinking she had seen that something stood out on it.

⠀⠀When John B obeyed her direction —turning the compass over again— he noticed an unintelligible word marked on the compass, and it was not specifically with a pencil, but looked as if it had been scratched into the word.

⠀⠀"That wasn't there before," murmured John B, also noticing what Kie pointed out. "This is my dad's handwriting," he reported with a comforting smile.

⠀⠀"How can you know that?" Pope questioned in front of him, his arms intimidatingly crossed.

⠀⠀"Because he does this weird Rs with the... See it?" Explained John B still smiling, showing this very thing to Pope.

⠀⠀"Can I see it?"Asked JJ. John B brought it close enough to his friend. "Red... Rout... No, I think that's an A," he said as he couldn't make much sense of what was written.

⠀⠀"It says Redfield," spoke Kie, who had understood the word on the compass. "Okay, well, what's Redfield?"

⠀⠀Her friends, having no answer, shifted their confused and curious gazes to Amelie, who of the five seemed to have the best chance of knowing.

⠀⠀"It's a common name in the county, it could mean anything," reported Amelie as she raised her hands in surrender.

⠀⠀"Or maybe, maybe it's a clue, right? Maybe it's a clue to where he's hiding," John B left to see his excitement.

⠀⠀Amelie just kept quiet and looked at her friend, attentive and happy to see him so excited. She hadn't seen him like this for months. Could it be a joke? Yes, but it could also be true, and she didn't want to make her best friend feel worse, not after knowing how much he had suffered for his father.

⠀⠀"A clue? Come on, that's..." Pope began incredulously. Kie and Amelie gave him a murderous look. "But if it is a clue, maybe it's an anagram."

⠀⠀"Yes! Perfect. Anagram," cheered John B standing up again. "You need paper," he said, picking up one of the many blank sheets of paper on the desk.

⠀⠀"How can you concentrate with that thing constantly crowing at you?" Pope questioned with annoyance as he picked up the pencil and paper.

⠀⠀"JJ loves the rooster," said John B as he walked away from the group to one of the desks in front of the window.

⠀⠀"I love the rooster," spoke Kie now with an amused smile towards Amelie, who made an unintended grimace.

⠀⠀"I hate the rooster," said Amelie with the same grimace after rolling her eyes.

⠀⠀"Okay, let me think. Mhm..." Pope asked quickly, still concentrating on the paper in front of him. "Colours... No, that's stupid."

⠀⠀"How about, like, Ritalin?" JJ questioned beside him, giving him a pleading look. It seemed too smart.

⠀⠀"Ritalin?" Amelie replied in disgust at the name JJ had mentioned. JJ gave her an obvious and offended look.

⠀⠀"Dreidel?" Kie added curiously, she was standing in front of her friends.

⠀⠀"Frieldin?" Now Amelie called out in the middle of Pope and JJ. They both gave her a confused look.

⠀⠀"Let's stick with what we're..." complained Pope, turning his eyes and attention back to the paper.

⠀⠀"Dedfield, does that mean anything to you?" JJ asked this time, paying close attention to Pope's writing.

⠀⠀"Whatever," murmured Pope with little desire or hope of discovering anything from there.

⠀⠀"Guys! Somebody's here!" Reported John B in a short shout because of the lack of attention his friends had given him at the first call.

⠀⠀"What?" Questioned Amelie incredulously, and certainly concerned in equal measure.

⠀⠀JJ, Pope, Kie and herself walked over without much delay until they were standing next to John B, peering through the window now in front of them carefully, noticing the unfamiliar black van outside the house, and those two rough men.

⠀⠀"Guys, guys, is that them? Is that them?" Kie questioned fearfully and nervously, knowing full well who they were.

⠀⠀"No, no, no..." JJ began to complain as he walked away from his friends in dread.

⠀⠀"It's them," confirmed Amelie as she shared cowardly glances with Kie.

⠀⠀"John B, I told you. Why does it always...?" JJ spoke again nervously. Before he could finish his question, John B grabbed him by the shirt in anger.

⠀⠀"JJ! Hey, look at me! Where's the gun?" Asked John B quickly and worriedly, as he put his finger close to JJ's face.

⠀⠀"Gun? I, uh, I can't..." Murmured JJ with difficulty, and certainly intimidated by now not knowing the whereabouts of the gun.

⠀⠀"Now you don't have the gun, the one time we need the gun?" Questioned Kie in disbelief as she put her hands to her head.

⠀⠀"It was in my backpack, and then I..." JJ began to relate, as perhaps this would help him remember more.

⠀⠀"On the porch," finished JJ and John B in unison. "Go, go, go," commanded JB as he quickly pushed JJ out of the room.

⠀⠀"John Routledge!" Came the gruff voice of one of the men, very intimidating.

⠀⠀"Guys!" Exclaimed Kie in a low cry of nervous excitement at the sound of the stranger's voice.

⠀⠀"Come on out now! Fuck! Where's the compass?"

⠀⠀"Where's the gun?" Questioned John B as he let JJ back into the room, closing the door behind them quickly.

⠀⠀"They're on the front porch, guys," replied JJ with a grimace of terror. Amelie looked at him with concern, she had never seen JJ so scared.

⠀⠀"Get out here, Routledge! Where you at, boy?"

⠀⠀"We got to leave! Guys, window, window," said Kie while pointing to one of them.

⠀⠀Pope and JJ almost ran to the one Kie was pointing at, trying to open it with all the strength they had. Despite this, it didn't seem to be enough strength, as the window still wouldn't budge open.

⠀⠀"Guys, hurry," commanded Amelie in a short whisper when she saw that the window was still not open.

⠀⠀"Sack this place!"

⠀⠀"It's painted shut, okay?" JJ said, turning back to Amelie for a few seconds, and then trying to open the window again.

⠀⠀"I'll check the kitchen. Routledge!"

⠀⠀"Okay, guys, guys. Here, I got it," spoke Kie approaching those two at the window, removing both of them from there to now try it herself.

⠀⠀"Where the hell's that compass? Hey, check the back room."

⠀⠀"Come on, come on," applied JJ behind her, sharing glances at the door behind John B and the window every second.

⠀⠀"I'm going as fast as I can," replied Kie as she continued to scrape away the dried paint that prevented them from opening the window.

⠀⠀"Melie..." Named John B as he pressed the door behind his back, hoping for help.

⠀⠀Amelie ran up to her friend, also standing beside him as she began to press on the door.

⠀⠀"You better not be in there!" Shouted the unknown man as he tried to kick open the door.

⠀⠀John B quickly moved away from the door as the kicks began to break the timbers of the door, but not before taking Amelie with him, running to their friends with their hands clasped together.

⠀⠀And from one second to the next, the gunshots came again, directly on the door handle, so it wouldn't take much longer for the door to open.

⠀⠀"Shit," murmured Amelie after seeing the door start to break rapidly.

⠀⠀And finally the window opened, to their good luck. The first one out was Kie, then Pope, followed by JJ, while Amelie did it with a little more difficulty.

⠀⠀"Come on, Ames," JJ accelerated as he stretched out his arms towards the named girl with the intention of offering her help.

⠀⠀Help which Amelie readily accepted, throwing herself straight into JJ's arms with confidence and assurance. Once everyone was out of the house, they ran in search of the perfect hiding place.

⠀⠀"Come on, this way," said Pope as he ran towards the backyard of the house. His friends followed him without wasting any time.

⠀⠀When they were there, Pope headed straight for the barn where those much-loved chickens were kept. He went into the barn, now waiting for his friends to arrive as well. And as soon as they all arrived, they tried to make as little noise as possible, which they were succeeding in doing, unlike that rooster that accompanied them.

⠀⠀"Do something, Pope. Shut him up," spoke Kie again.

⠀⠀"What do you want me to do?" Pope asked indignantly as he looked at the rooster in fear.

⠀⠀And as if the situation was not worse, the rooster jumped towards Pope, causing him to panic and take a step backwards, crashing his back against the hard wood of the barn, letting the big thump be heard. And still, the rooster kept making noise.

⠀⠀If the circumstances and context of the situation were different, Amelie would be laughing at him right now.

⠀⠀"Pet it or talk to it, I don't know," replied Kie, her voice cracking with sobs and that famous lump in her throat forming. "Do something," ordered Kie again, in unison with Amelie. They were both equally frightened.

⠀⠀JJ obeyed quickly, grabbing the poor animal by its long neck, intending to shush it and stop it moving. And when it finally did, they knew that the rooster would not bother them for the next few days.

⠀⠀While Kie stood with tears in her eyes and cheeks, Amelie stood still in her place, taking long, hard puffs of air in order to catch all the breath she had lost at that very moment thanks to her nerves.

⠀⠀JJ turned with regret and disappointment to his friends, wishing that none of them wanted to kill him now. When he came in sight of Amelie, he noticed how scared she still was, instantly recognising her short panic attack. He moved to stand beside her, taking one of her hands and holding it in her lap, both intertwined.

⠀⠀"I'm sorry," JJ murmured in Amelie's ear, somewhat disappointed in himself for what he had just done.

⠀⠀Amelie turned to look at him, a forced smile forming at the corner of her lips. It stopped being a forced smile as soon as JJ reciprocated, smiling comfortingly.

AFTER THEIR NOT VERY PLEASANT ENCOUNTER, the group did not hesitate to leave the Châteu at a brisk pace, now being guided by John B at the wheel of the van, while they took care not to think too much about what had just happened to them.

⠀⠀"I mean, it's obvious, right?" John B spoke. "A family heirloom. I mean, what better place to hide a message? He had to know it was goingt to get back to me, right?" He asked from the front seats, giving glances to Kie beside him.

⠀⠀"Yeah, it's possible," said Kie defensively, trying not to make John B even worse, but it did exactly the opposite.

⠀⠀"It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels."

⠀⠀"Pope," Amelie challenged him from beside him, giving him a light smack on one of her knees. Pope turned to look at her offended.

⠀⠀"Bro, you know how I process my sad feels. Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it," JJ now spoke, proudly raising his cigar in hand.

⠀⠀"I'm not concocting, okay? My dad's trying to give me a message," John B raised his voice again, while occasionally glancing at the back seats.

⠀⠀"If it helps you believe, John B," Kie defended again at his side, and again, she defended nothing.

⠀⠀"Look, I-I don't need a therapy session, okay?" Interrupted John B sharply. "Look, I'm not tripping out."

⠀⠀"It's okay to trip, bro, but..." Began JJ, and this time it was he who was interrupted by John B.

⠀⠀"Look, my-my dad is missing, okay? Missing," continued John B with exasperation. "You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish, and then have no idea what happened. Just wake up every morning wondering," he explained, leaving an awkward silence.

⠀⠀"It's been almost a year," Kie muttered again with little hope that John B would accept that.

⠀⠀"Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility," JJ pointed out, concentrating mostly on his prepared cigar.

⠀⠀"Yeah, could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere."

⠀⠀"Absolutely. Uh... or Atlantis," JJ confirmed. He and Pope shared complicit glances as they coincided.

⠀⠀"Hey, John, we'll help you. What do you think the message is?" Spoke Amelie as she peeked through the space between the two front seats.

⠀⠀"Redfield. Redfield Lighthouse. That's my dad's favourite place," said John B, at the exact same moment as they passed the entrance to the lighthouse. "Right, this is what's going to happen. You're going to post up and look out for bogeys, okay?" He ordered, pointing to JJ.

⠀⠀"Wait... Why me?" Complained JJ as he looked at him offended. He was always the one watching, unfortunately.

⠀⠀"Because you're not coming," Pope now spoke. "Look, JJ, there are independent and dependent variables, and you're an independent. We don't know what you'll do."

⠀⠀"Shut up, shut up! Just shut up," commanded JJ in mumbled offence, while repeatedly pointing at Pope.

⠀⠀"Fine, I'll stay, stop complaining. The independent variable can go with you," said Amelie, giving JJ a light smack on the forehead.

⠀⠀"Pope, you stand and look out with Amelie, okay?" Pointed out John B. Pope nodded. "Come on, boys," he ordered, starting to break away as he waited for Kie and JJ.

⠀⠀"I think I'll stay, for... protection," replied JJ, earning confused looks from his friends, who thought it wasn't really for that.

⠀⠀"Okay, if we get split up, we meet back at JJ's house," John B ordered again, looking uncertainly at his friends.

⠀⠀"Great," Kie finished, giving Amelie one last warning look.

⠀⠀After that, John B and Kie turned around, walking away at a slow pace, also turning their backs on JJ, Pope and Amelie, who would stay there.

⠀⠀"I'm going to work on my merit scholarship essay, and I'm trying to keep felonies to a minimum."

⠀⠀"Okay," Amelie replied politely as she turned around and walked back to the van.

⠀⠀"Alright, will you just shut up already?" JJ questioned wryly as he put his little ball aside.

⠀⠀"JJ," challenged him Amelie from the van. "Work on your essay, Pope," she said, then laid her back on the floor of the van.

⠀⠀"Hello," saluted JJ. Even with her eyes closed, Amelie could see him grinning stupidly.

⠀⠀"Goodbye," joked Amelie, trying to hold back the smile that was threatening to form. "What do you want?" She questioned as she still felt JJ's presence.

⠀⠀"I just want to talk," said JJ, making a thin line with his lips, wishing Amelie would accept.

⠀⠀"About what?" Questioned Amelie reluctantly, letting this be noted as well. JJ looked at her with disappointment when he noticed that.

⠀⠀"I don't know, just talk," JJ continued to speak in little murmurs as he snorted.

⠀⠀"Talk with Pope," replied Amelie, still not giving JJ, who didn't seem to want to leave, a glance.

⠀⠀"But..." Began JJ, being quickly interrupted by Amelie.

⠀⠀"JJ..." Amelie mumbled, finally giving him a look, which was anything but friendly.

⠀⠀"I want to talk to you, Ames," JJ murmured, almost giving up on her. He was about to leave as he mumbled in surrender.

⠀⠀Of course, he was about to, as Amelie caught his eye. She had finally risen from her spot, sitting on the edge of the van. JJ stood as he watched her with a poorly concealed smile.

⠀⠀"Fine," she conceded after letting out an exhausted sigh, while JJ sat next to her, happy that she had given in.

⠀⠀"Do you want to... play a game?" Asked JJ after a few long seconds of silence.

⠀⠀"I spy with my little eye..." began Amelie finally, even if she wasn't looking forward to it.

⠀⠀And she definitely was when JJ gave a welcoming and tender smile as he listened to her.

⠀⠀"What do you spy?" JJ asked, still with that tender smile, his eyes sparkled as if he was a child receiving candy.

⠀⠀"We'd better skip that part," Amelie pleaded, seeing that there was no other way to make the process go faster. She didn't feel like it either.

⠀⠀"It's something beggining with... B."

⠀⠀JJ began to laugh out loud, leaving Amelie somewhat confused. As she looked at him with her brow furrowed in confusion, JJ rocked back and forth with laughter. Seeing that Amelie still didn't understand, he pointed to the red bracelet she always wore, one that he and John B had made and given her.

⠀⠀"How did you guess it so fast?" Amelie complained as she hid her red bracelet in the palm of her other hand.

⠀⠀"Whenever you say B, you always mean the cute bracelet you always wear," said JJ with a chuckle, and by the time he calmed down, he spoke again. "Alright, my turn."

⠀⠀"Okay, what do you spy?" Questioned Amelie, revealing the bracelet again.

⠀⠀She tried to ignore the fact that JJ almost laughed again when he saw the red bracelet again. She definitely ignored it, she didn't want to start a war in that cute situation.

⠀⠀"A... wonderful thing," murmured JJ, as if he hadn't been laughing. "Brown hair, mhm... light blue eyes and cute smile," he reported, bringing one of his legs close to one of Amelie's, causing their skins to bump against each other.

⠀⠀Also, moving closer to her until the distance was almost non-existent between them, murmuring this in Amelie's ear. And even though he would have to be the one to cause Amelie's nerves, he couldn't help but feel his stomach turn with happiness at the sight of the clear blush on Amelie's cheeks, for some strange reason this had staggered him: he had never made Amelie nervous before.

⠀⠀"Pope?" Amelie questioned as she averted her gaze, pretending to have to think about it too much.

⠀⠀"You lost," JJ reported with a victorious smile. He started laughing as soon as Amelie pouted.

⠀⠀"Hey," called Pope to their attention, now standing next to them. They both turned to look at him, still unable to hide their smiles.

⠀⠀"What happened?" Asked Amelie calmly, while her smile was slowly disappearing.

⠀⠀"I've finished revising my essay," replied Pope with an amused smile as he saw his friends laughing too.

⠀⠀"¿Y?" JJ mimicked, he was less pleasant than Amelie, using his curt and serious tone.

⠀⠀"What? Oh, nothing. I was just letting you know," murmured Pope as he saw that he had the exit door open, walking away from the duo again.

⠀⠀"Idiot," JJ whispered as he lost sight of Pope, then turned back to Amelie with a big smile. "Where were we?"

⠀⠀"My defeat," Amelie pointed out, hiding her sorrowful look at that. She always lost in that stupid game.

⠀⠀"Oh, that. You were always bad at this," joked JJ, smirking as he recognised Amelie's annoyance while watching her out of the corner of his eye.

⠀⠀"You're bad," said Amelie while pointing amusedly at JJ with one of her fingers on the boy's nose.

⠀⠀"I don't think so," replied JJ with a sheepish smile still tugging at the corners of his lips.

⠀⠀"Guys," Pope called back, this time sounding a little more intimidated and worried.

⠀⠀"Pope, don't you know how to play alone?" Reproached JJ incredulously as he looked away from Amelie after rolling his eyes.

⠀⠀"What?" Amelie asked politely, trying to show it, as she was actually annoyed that Pope had ruined her moment.

⠀⠀"Leave us," repeated JJ as he threw one of his finished cigars straight at his face, earning a small smack from Amelie.

⠀⠀"Shut up, Fushi," Amelie shushed him, with an amused smile when she saw how serious JJ had become when he heard her. "What's up, Pope?"

⠀⠀"The police is here," Pope reported, pointing in the direction where he had seen the police.

⠀⠀Amelie and JJ peered out of the open van doors, catching a glimpse of the recognisable car that Pope indicated. They both stepped back into the van with delicate speed.

⠀⠀"Shit," murmured Amelie and JJ as they spotted the county police car approaching the lighthouse area.

⠀⠀"Get in," said JJ to Pope, who was still a few short steps away from the van and his two friends.

⠀⠀"Quickly," accelerated Amelie as she scrambled into the back seats of the van, hurrying Pope.

⠀⠀"Let's go," commanded JJ climbing into the front seat, clearly the driver's one.

⠀⠀"What about Kie and John B?" Questioned Pope during a few seconds of silence. JJ and Amelie looked at him with obviousness. "Okey," he finally convinced himself and closed the van door behind him.

⠀⠀He himself and Amelie shared amused glances, for some strange reason Pope's glance went straight to JJ, who was driving in front of them, so he didn't notice when Pope shared a meaningful glance at Amelie, who gave an unconscious smile at this.

A FEW HOURS LATER, THE POGUE'S GROUP WAS AGAIN ASSEMBLED IN THE VAN, this time with the direction and intention of continuing their dangerous investigation. They were now heading for the cemetery, as, according to John B, an important relative of his was buried there.

⠀⠀It was sure to be a long night, as they would basically be trespassing in the cemetery in broad moonlight.

⠀⠀Amelie had managed to go with her friends because she had run away from home, if you could still call it that.

⠀⠀"You mind if I just relax on this one? It's been a long day, and a lot of weird stuff's gone down. I'm just going to lay low," JJ spoke again, referring to his 'cigarette'. "Oh, did you want a hit of this?" He asked, holding one out to Pope.

⠀⠀"I keep the signal clear," denied Pope quickly, he didn't have to think too hard about a response to that.

⠀⠀"What about you?" He asked again, this time holding it towards Amelie, who shook her head. "Dude, okay. Do you understand that your problem is that you don't get creative? If you got creative, then..."

⠀⠀"Look, I-I know I was wrong about the lighthouse, alright?" Spoke John B, thankfully interrupting JJ. "And pretty much wrong about everything else going on, but I-I was right about one thing, okay? My dad is trying to tell me something."

⠀⠀The trip had been rather quiet to Amelie's chagrin, as despite having a bad night, they were always better with some chat with their friends, which evidently didn't happen.

⠀⠀If they didn't talk about the investigation, John B's dad or just JJ offering cigars repeatedly despite having asked a thousand times already; silence always ruled the van, something very strange and uncomfortable when it came to this group of pogues.

⠀⠀After a few long seconds, which had quickly turned into an hour, they finally arrived at their destination, still not quite sure what they were doing there, but John B would not let them turn back now.

⠀⠀Amelie was walking between John B and Pope, while behind them were Kie and JJ walking side by side.

⠀⠀"This place is scary," spoke Kie in a small murmur, taking quick steps as she saw that she was lagging behind the others.

⠀⠀"There are dead people, not ghosts," replied Amelie wryly as she turned for a few seconds to look at Kie with an amused grimace.

⠀⠀"Shut up," commanded John B as he covered his mouth with one of his fingers and silenced his friends.

⠀⠀"Fine, but may I ask what we're doing here?" Amelie asked in an exhausted tone.

⠀⠀"Okay, you know how you're trying to remember a song and can't remember who sings it?" Asked John B.

⠀⠀"No," denied Amelie with an obvious expression as she earned murderous glances from John B.

⠀⠀"Yeah," Kie confirmed at the same time, now sharing a glance with Amelie as they coincided.

⠀⠀"So, Redfield. This whole time, I thought it was a place, right? But it's not a place..." Began John B, as he stood in front of one of the many giant graves there. "It's a person," he said, pointing to the name written on the grave.

⠀⠀"Or it was," corrected Amelie in a whisper, thinking she had not been heard.

⠀⠀"Well, it was a person," replied John B. "See, my great-great-grandmother, Olivia Redfield. That was her maiden name," he reported.

⠀⠀Their friends stood for a moment in silence, including John B, sharing complicit and confused glances, and perhaps worried about what John B had planned.

⠀⠀Amelie definitely added 'Invading a grave' to her list of Stupid things I did today.

⠀⠀"Help me with the door. Come on," John B spoke again as he approached the big entrance.

⠀⠀"Alright," replied Pope approaching John B with the intention of helping him open the door.

⠀⠀"One, two, three..." Said John B calmly, and then began to push it with all his might.

⠀⠀And as Amelie and Kie so obviously believed, the door did not budge. It was too old and too heavy to do so.

⠀⠀"Are you pushing?" Pope questioned with difficulty, even in his voice you could tell how hard he was pushing.

⠀⠀"Yeah, I'm pushing," John B replied in the same way as he continued to use all his strength to open the door.

⠀⠀"Hold on. Yeah, I got it," called JJ, also approaching to try to open the door when he saw that the two of them were unable to do so.

⠀⠀"Come on, this door is like 700 pounds, man. It's not going to budge," assured Pope while still pushing on the door along with JJ and John B.

⠀⠀"We didn't come this far to get this far, alright?" Added JJ. Apparently, he was the one who had the best hope of opening the door.

⠀⠀Everyone stopped grappling with the large door as a snake emerged from one of the few large holes in the door. When it fell to the ground, everyone present gasped and jumped back from the shock it had given them.

⠀⠀Pope and Amelie shared amused looks as they saw that they had ended up hugging each other tightly. They definitely hadn't noticed because of the shock.

⠀⠀"A snake! That's a moccasin, alright? Ye olde Dr. Cottonmouth," indicated JJ as he walked in front of the snake intimidatingly.

⠀⠀"Yes? No shit..." Ironized Amelie with her arms crossed, after rolling her eyes at the nonsense JJ never failed to say.

⠀⠀"Death in tall grass," JJ spoke earnestly, which made his friends angrier.

⠀⠀"JJ!" Named Amelie angrily, trying to stop JJ from barking at the snake like a child.

⠀⠀"JJ, shut up! Shut up!" Kie ordered, pushing him by both shoulders roughly.

⠀⠀"You're going to wake the dead, man," complained Pope as he let out tired sighs.

⠀⠀It was difficult to deal with the independent variable.

⠀⠀"Dude, they're afraid of dogs. Everyone knows that," informed JJ, after barking. Wait, wait. Hold on, hold on."

⠀⠀"What?" Pope modulated in confusion, tuning his attention away from John B and the grave off to the side.

⠀⠀"If there's one, there's probably dozens," continued JJ, rarely excited as he had been seconds before, then back to barking.

⠀⠀"Stop! You're scaring me," complained Kie with her fear and worry still intact.

⠀⠀"JJ, shut up or I'm going to hit you so hard you won't be able to open your mouth again," threatened Amelie as she watched JJ laugh mercilessly at Kie.

⠀⠀"Yeah, JJ. Stop barking at the snakes," challenged John B with his eyes only lost in the grave.

⠀⠀"Look, John..." Named Pope, who hadn't been able to finish speaking thanks to JJ's tiring voice.

⠀⠀"Just making sure it's clear."

⠀⠀"Shut up," Pope ordered, and to his good fortune, JJ immediately shut up. "John, look. We're not going to get in there, alright? It's not budging. We should probably just go," he finished.

⠀⠀"Look," Kie pointed to one of the holes in the grave with her flashlight.

⠀⠀"What?" Interrogated JJ turning back to her, as did the others present.

⠀⠀"No, no, no, no. You think you're going to fit throught the hole? That hole?" Asked John B as he understood what she meant.

⠀⠀"Me? No, it's too small for me," denied Kie, who for this last turned to Amelie, as did her friends. "Oh, no... No way."

⠀⠀"What? Why is everyone looking...?" Began to deny Amelie quickly, knowing what their glances meant.

⠀⠀"It's for John B," said JJ with also the intention of convincing Amelie. For now he wasn't even close to doing so.

⠀⠀"Don't compromise me!" Reproached Amelie raising her voice while pointing at him with one of her fingers.

⠀⠀Before John B covered her mouth with the palm of one of his hands so that, if anyone else was there, they wouldn't hear her scream. Amelie, as a way of trying to break away, ran her tongue over her friend's hand, who quickly pushed it away in disgust.

⠀⠀"Well, if you don't want to it's okay... After all... it was in vain to try," murmured John B with surrender, looking at Amelie insignificantly.

⠀⠀"Shit," murmured Amelie to herself. "Okay. I'll do it," finally, she relented, while her friends celebrated.

⠀⠀"Come on. Can you help me with that?" Required Kie as he approached the tomb door again, referring to the branches interfering with the entrance.

⠀⠀"Thank you, Melie," thanked John B.

⠀⠀"I'll get those..." Agreed JJ, also approaching his friends, who were pushing those branches aside.

⠀⠀"You got it?" Asked Kie as she accompanied Amelie to stand in front of the door as well.

⠀⠀"Yeah, we got it," confirmed John B, continuing with insistent force about leaving the branches out of the way, as did Pope.

⠀⠀"Give her a boost," commanded John B turning back to JJ for a few seconds.

⠀⠀"I'm going to boost you, alright? I've seen in it in the movies several times. Ready?" Informed JJ as he crouched down with his back pressed against the wall.

⠀⠀"Remind me what we're looking for," asked Amelie, before approaching JJ slowly.

⠀⠀"You'll know when you see it," replied John B with an awkward smile, as he himself knew that wouldn't help much.

⠀⠀"That's helpful. Thanks, John," sneered Amelie as she shrugged her shoulders. Hold this," commanded Amelie, handing her flashlight to Kie, who was now standing behind her.

⠀⠀"Alright, so put your hands right there," signaled JJ, while Amelie followed his instructions. "Your foot..." He pointed again, and Amelie again obeyed. "All right, on three. One..."

⠀⠀"Okay," confirmed Amelie, as she held on thanks to JJ's grip under one of her feet.

⠀⠀"Okay, never mind. Just forget about three," joked JJ, propelling Amelie upwards.

⠀⠀Finally, Amelie gathered all her strength and managed to get inside, jumping into the tomb. As soon as she was inside, she felt the water splashing under both her feet as she landed on the hard ground.

⠀⠀"I can't see shit," complained Amelie as she squinted her eyes in an attempt to make out something in the darkness.

⠀⠀"Oh, here," signaled Pope as he passed Amelie the flashlight she herself had seconds ago.

⠀⠀When she picked up the flashlight, she shone its dim light around her, looking for something to catch her attention and, for the moment, there was absolutely nothing to do so.

⠀⠀"You alive? You got like... a heartbeat and everything?" Questioned John B from outside peeking through the hole.

⠀⠀"Not for long if I keep hanging out with you," replied Amelie incredulously, mumbling over their many questions.

⠀⠀"Good. That's good."

⠀⠀"I still can't see shit," complained Amelie again, listening to the murmurs her friends let out, complaining about her.

⠀⠀"Yeah, yeah, here. Yeah, I got you," indicated John B bringing his arm closer to the inside of the large tomb through the hole.

⠀⠀Amelie accepted the lamppost John B was passing her through the hole, bringing it closer to the strange wall in front of her.

⠀⠀Why strange? There was not exactly gold, but there was a small space, where there was a clear white package in it.

⠀⠀"Did you find something? Is there something?" Asked JJ with concern as he tried to see through the hole.

⠀⠀"I think so..." Replied Amelie as a victorious smile formed.