I WENT home that night high and with a massive headache and woke up sober with a migraine. I didn't even get to my room apparently because I woke up on the sofa, still in yesterday's clothes.

My dad wasn't phased that I came home high a second night in a row and I was glad I didn't have to hide it from him anymore but he did say I wasn't allowed to go making a habit out of it.

I changed into a pair of black, ripped jean shorts and a strappy cropped top before tying my hair back and pulling a bandana on, pulling the whispy bits of my hair though.

I spent the morning cleaning up the yard with my dad, getting rid of all the broken branches and re-potting the plants that had been pulled up during the storm. It must've been around lunchtime when John B's minivan pulled up outside his house and my friends piled out.

"Hey Mal!" JJ shouted over and I gave him a small wave, "John B's house, pronto!"

I nodded and my dad came and stood behind me, "JJ." He greeted, "Nice to see you not sleeping on my daughters bedroom floor."

"Yeah, great to see you too Mr. Davis!" He called back, a hint of a nervous grin on his face. I walked towards JJ and away from my dad.

"Hey, thanks for getting Mally high again last night."

I rolled my eyes as JJ grinned while looking at me. He looked back to my dad, "Uh, actually Mr. Davis she's the one who got me high." He said.

I reached him, pushing his arm while glaring at him as he laughed, "JJ man."

He pulled me into a headlock and I turned around to see my dad watching us with a faint smile, "See you later dad!" I yelled over.

"Bye Mal.. don't go getting her into trouble JJ. You hear me?"

"Roger that, sir." JJ said, saluting my dad as he dragged me round to John B's patio. We started fighting and I pushed him to get out of his headlock but he ended up picking me up and carrying me the rest of the way.

"JJ, put me down!" I yelled over his shoulder and he did just that. I met his eyes as he smiled mischievously and I shoved his chest lightly, "I hate you."

He pouted, "Aw, I know that's not true."

"Keep telling yourself that buttercup." I replied, walking up John B's porch steps but he grabbed my hand and pulled me back down. I frowned, "What's going on?"

His face had dropped and his playful grin was now replaced with seriousness, "So we've got a problem." He told me.

"A problem?" I asked, "What kind of problem?"

He pressed his lips together, "Those square groupers out on the marsh yesterday."

"Square groupers?" I muttered, "You mean the men who shot at us?"

He nodded but as I opened my mouth to ask more questions he tugged me up to John B's porch by my hand before letting go. I saw Kie and Pope already sat down and with a confused frown I looked at John B, "What's going on?" I asked him.

"All right." He nodded. The colour of his bruised eye had lightened a bit, it was more of a redish colour today, "JJ and I went to Lana Grubbs' house this morning to ask about why Scooter had my dads compass—"

"—You went without us?" Kie asked.

"C'mon, just listen." John B replied seriously, "We heard shouting, Lana was crying inside and the house was being trashed. We heard glass smashing and all sorts, these two men were shouting at Lana—"

JJ jumped in, "—Yeah! And all this time we were right outside like this." He told us, leaning against the back of the chimney breast, "And they were like bam, bam, bam... knocking paint off the wall from the inside, all right?" I rose my brow at him, my arms crossed, "So I'm just looking at him like — wait, first off look at this shit. Look at it."

JJ walked over to Pope and he flicked his head upside down, running his hands through his hair. I'm assuming he was trying to show him the paint.

"That's dandruff." Kie told him.

"Okay, thank you." Pope said, pushing JJ away.

He stood up, his hair now an absolute mess, "Look at all that. That's paint."

"Paint is it JJ?" I asked sarcastically. Why he felt he had to prove there was paint in his hair I'd never know.

He sneered at me in response before carrying on his story, "Y'know, at that point I was just like.. I'm waiting for death."

I looked over at John B and he sighed long and heavy, JJ wasn't doing a good job of explaining this story to us.

"Oh, okay, so you saw the guys that shot at us, right?" Pope asked, rubbing his hands over his face. He looked how I felt.

Fucking confused.

"Yeah." JJ answered. He couldn't keep his feet still and it was distracting.

"Did you get a good description of them?" Pope asked, "What did they look like?"

"Yeah." Kie agreed, "Anything, anything helpful."

"Anything we can bring to a police report maybe." Pope said, hopeful.

JJ looked out the net before turning to Pope, "Burly."

I sighed, "What?"

JJ nodded, "Yeah, you know like—"

"—That's not very helpful." Kie told him and I collapsed down on the sofa next to Pope.

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

I nodded, "You may of mentioned it once or twice before." Or maybe once or twice every day.

"I can tell you with full confidence.. these boys.. these killers." He pulled his juul out and lit it before taking a drag and looking to us, "They're square groupers."

"They're square groupers?" Pope asked in disbelief, "Like narco square grouper? Like Pablo Escobar square grouper?"

"Who?" I asked.

"I'll explain later." Kie told me quickly.

"Yeah, man." JJ said.

"You guys." Kie intervened, "Not everything is a kingpin movie."

Pope turned in his seat, "Okay so what does this square grouper look like?"

"No, wait." I interrupted, "You're trying to tell me that those people who shot at us yesterday are drug dealers?"

"Yes, Mal." JJ said to me, "Catch up."

I threw my hands up into the air incredulously and stood up, starting to pace across the porch.

"What did these dudes look like?" Pope asked.

JJ shook his head, "You weren't there Pope."

"But you were and apparently you don't know what to look for!" He argued.

"Dude!" JJ snapped, "I wasn't taking little mental Polaroids the entire time!" He told us, "I was under duress!"

"All right, okay." I muttered, walking past the sofa to JJ. I patted his chest lightly, "Calm yourself down."

He nodded, taking a few steps back before talking again, "I can tell you.. I can tell you by the way that Ms. Lana was screaming that these guys are serious, serious hombres, man."

"And this is all over that compass?" I asked, looking to John B.

He nodded silently and Kie sat forwards, "Why do they want the compass?"

"That things a piece of shit." Pope said, "You couldn't pawn it off for five bucks if you wanted to. No offence John B, I know it's in your family—"

"—The office." John B interrupted Pope.

"What?"

"My dad." He said quickly, "My dads office." John B walked into his house and we followed him intently, "He always kept the door looked because he was worried about his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research. We used to laugh at him all the time like he was actually going to find it but now that he's gone I've just kinda... I just left it as he kept it."

We stopped at the locked door of the house and Kie nodded, "Yeah, for when he gets back."

John B pulled the keys from his pocket and he unlocked the padlock keeping the door closed before taking it off and opening it. He went inside and we followed albeit slower. I took my time looking around, I'd never seen this part of the chateau before. There was shit everywhere, papers, books, folders — all sorts stacked up on shelves and desks.

"You know I've slept here like 600 times and I've never seen this door opened." Pope said.

I nodded from behind him, "Tell me about it."

John B pulled a pinboard down and set it on the desk, "Here, look. This is the original owner, right here." He told us and I walked over to see some sort of family tree.

"Okay." Kie nodded, "Robert Q. Routledge. 1880 to 1920.. there's the lucky compass right there." And it was, he held it in his hand in the picture.

"Actually, um.. he was shot after he bought it." John B's rooster crowed outside but we ignored it, "The compass was shipped back to Henry."

"Okay, Henry." I nodded, "Who's Henry?"

He pointed at another mans picture further down the board, "Henry was killed in a crop-dusting accident when he had the compass. After he died the compass was given to Stephen—"

I could see very clearly where this was going. This compass wasn't lucky at all, in fact it was cursed. Everyone who had this compass ended up dead and I could tell my by friends expressions that they were thinking along the same lines as I was, "So how did Stephen die, John B?" I found myself asking.

JJ nudged me gently in the side and I looked up to see him shake his head fractionally at me.

"He had the compass with him when he died in Vietnam." John B told us and I saw the photograph of him in an army uniform.

"Let me guess he died in action right?" JJ asked and I elbowed him. 'What' he mouthed at me and I looked at him pointedly. If he was going to rep-remind for saying what I said I was for sure going to rep-remind him.

"Sort of." John B replied, "Uh, a-actually he was killed by a banana truck. In—in country. Anyways, after that, Stephen passed the compass down to him, my dad."

"Hmm." JJ said, "Sounds like there's a reoccurring theme here."

"Yeah." I nodded, "John B that compass isn't lucky it's cursed."

"You have a death compass." Pope aided and I nodded in agreement.

"I do not." John B disagreed.

"Seriously dude, get rid of it." JJ told him, "It's cursed and made its way back to you."

"Look." He sat down, "My dad used to talk about this compartment in here. Soldiers used to hide secret notes." He told us, unscrewing the back of the compass.

"What's that?" Kie asked as he got the back of it off.

"That wasn't there before." John B said before looking at us, "This is my dads handwriting."

Pope rolled his eyes, "How can you know that?"

"Because he does these weird Rs with the— see it?"

"Can I see it?" JJ asked. He took it from John B and I looked at it as he held it for us both to look, "Red—" He started trying to decipher it, "Roud— no I think that's an A."

"It says Redfield." I said to him, looking up.

He met my eyes and nodded, "Right."

"Okay, well, what's Redfield?" Kie asked.

"Besides the most common name in the county?" Pope asked.

"Oh, maybe—maybe it's a clue?" John B asked.

I nodded, "Plausible."

"Maybe it's a clue to where he's hiding."

Yeah, no, that's not what I was on about.

"No, c'mon a clue. That's—" Pope asked and I saw Kiara giving him the eyes and he sharply changed his tune, "But if it is a clue maybe it's an anagram?"

"Yes. Perfect. An anagram." John B jumped up, "You need paper."

We scrambled to get paper for Pope and laid it on the desk for him when John B's rooster started crowing again, "How can you concentrate with that thing crowing at you?"

"JJ loves the rooster." John B told Pope.

"I love the rooster." He nodded.

I shook my head, "The roosters annoying."

JJ pulled my shoulder gently for me to face him, "How dare you trash talk the rooster?"

"Because it's annoying!" I argued, "I can hear the damn thing from my house every morning."

"Well it's not like you're ever asleep for it to wake you up." He replied. We argued while Pope and Kie tried to figure out the clue.

"Hey guys!" John B said loudly over us, "Somebody's here."

We stopped and fell silent, walking over towards the window and I saw a black truck parked out by John B's minivan, two men getting out of it.

"Guys, guys." Kie said, her voice worried, "Is that them?"

"No." John B muttered.

I mightn't of gotten much of a good look at those guys yesterday but they were definitely familiar to me, "That's them."

"This is suboptimal." Pope said.

"John B, I told you." JJ said walking away form me, "Why does it—"

"—JJ." John B pushed him against the wall and I watched them, "Where's the gun?"

"Gun?" He asked, "I, uh, I can't—"

My heart slammed against my chest, "You're telling me the one time we need that fucking gun you don't have it?"

"It was in my backpack.. and then I—"

"—On the porch." John B remembered.

"It's on the porch." JJ nodded and he opened the door quickly and ran out.

I ran after him, "Wait, JJ—"

John B grabbed me and stopped me from following after JJ. I watched as he ran down the hallway of the house.

"John Routledge!"

I jumped back into John B as one of the men shouted, "Oh my god." JJ halted in the hallway and he skidded while trying to keep low. He turned back to us and scrambled back into the office and I walked away from John B, linking my hands together behind my head and pacing anxiously, "We're dead. We're literally dead."

I heard them shouting for John B even though the door was closed.

"They're on the front porch, guys." JJ told us quietly.

"Routledge, where you at boy?!"

"They're in the house!" I seethed quietly.

"We gotta leave!" Kie said and then I heard glass shattering.

"Windows, windows."

The boys ran to the windows, trying them and I crouched down on the floor, pulling on the back of my head. I was never one for anxiety but I was absolutely shitting myself right now.

"What—what's happening?" Kie asked, "Why is it taking so long?"

"It's painted shut, okay?" JJ fired.

"I'll check the kitchen."

"Oh my god." I muttered, "They're getting closer."

"Routledge! Where the hells that compass man!"

"Guys, guys here!" Kie said, running to the window with a pen knife and engraving it into the paint.

"C'mon, c'mon." JJ rushed over Kie's shoulder.

"You guys." Pope said quietly, holding a finger over his lips.

They were tearing the house apart from the inside out and I heard the doorknob rattle. I jumped up, trying not to cry out as John B and Pope leaned against the door trying to hold it shut.

"You better not be in there!"

He started kicking the door in and I rushed over towards the window, taking the knife off Kie and digging it into the paint quickly and harshly, my chest rising and falling rapidly.

John B and Pope ran away from the door as the wood began to splinter and I jumped when I heard a gun firing.

"It's okay, it's okay." JJ said to me quietly, "C'mon we almost got this."

We got the window open and I jumped out quickly, Kie following me before the boys jumped out after. John B closed the window as JJ grabbed my shaking hand. We ran towards the chicken coop and climbed in as the rooster carried on crowing.

I sat next to JJ as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close to him. My heart was thudding erratically in my chest and I could see my house from where I was sat.

"Oh.. my god." I muttered and I tried to get up, "My dad, my dad."

JJ pulled me further against him in response and he leaned back, "It's okay." He told me quietly, "The cars gone, see?"

I looked to see where he was pointing and he was right. My dads car wasn't there and that filled me with short relief. The rooster crowed at us again, unimpressed we'd invaded it's home and JJ sat forwards, "Do something, Pope. Shut him up."

"What do you want me to do?" He fired quietly.

"Pet it, or talk to it. I don't know." Kie replied, crying.

I heard the trunk clattering shut and John B moved away, sitting next to Kie as the bird continued flapping around. JJ tried to move from underneath me but I grabbed his arm, a tear falling down my face as I looked at him, "Just leave it. Leave it be." I whispered frantically, "It'll be fine if you ignore it."

He nodded and I squeezed his hand tightly as I cried in fear, he reached up and grabbed my head gently guiding me down to his shoulder where he embraced me.

JJ and I hugged sometimes. If I was emotional or upset he'd hug me to make me feel better but there was just something about the way he was embracing me now that felt different. This time it felt personal.

I fisted his shirt in anxiety, my breath shaky as I exhaled.

"Ratter! What the hell are you doin'? Let's go." One of the men yelled and I heard the engine starting and it wasn't long after that did the van pull away.

I relaxed into JJ's chest and dropped my legs from my chest as the rooster continued to flap around and sighed heavily. JJ wrapped his arms around my neck loosely, dropping his head into my shoulder and I held to his arms, squeezing my eyes shut.

We had just almost died and that terrified me.

• • •

John B didn't seem phased by our near miss with the square groupers and it showed when he ushered us into his minivan and started driving. I was no where near over our ordeal — I thought we were going to die. I wasn't easily scared but this had me terrified.

I didn't feel like talking as I sat in the back of John B's minivan, my knees drawn into my chest and my chin resting on them. I kept replying the whole thing in my head over and over again — the shouting, the sound of the glass shattering, them kicking the door in, the gunshots. It was all so surreal and if I could sleep at night I was sure it'd give me nightmares to last a lifetime.

"Hey... Mal?" I pulled my head up from my legs to see Pope looking at me. His brown eyes were soft, matching the expression on his face, "Are you all right?" He asked me.

I could feel the sting of my eyes from crying. I hadn't felt that in a long time, it had been a while since I'd cried and it made me feel like shit. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand, "I dunno." I replied to my friend meekly, my voice quiet.

From the front seat, Kie looked behind her and into the back. She met my eyes and tried to muster a comforting smile — tear stains still clear on her face as well.

"So what are we thinking about this compass?" Pope asked, holding the thing up by the chain.

"I think it's obvious." John B told us from the drivers seat, "A family heirloom.. what better place to hide a message? He had to know it was going to get back to me, right?"

"Yeah." Kie replied, "It's possible."

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

"Bro you know how I process my sad feels." JJ said.

"What? By getting half on with Mal?" Kie asked rhetorically.

JJ pulled a face at our friend, "Yes, all right? Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies."

"So JJ overcomes his sad feels by getting high and having sex." I muttered, "Disgusting."

"All right." He rounded to me, "How'd you get over your sad feels then, huh?"

John B butted in before I even got the chance to open my mouth, "I'm not concocting, okay?" He asked us, "My dad's trying to give me a message."

"If it helps you believe, John B." Kie said and I cringed a little, way to let someone know you thought their parent was dead.

"Look, I-I don't need a therapy session, okay?" Our friend replied, he sounded agitated, "I'm not trippin' out."

JJ twisted the fake gold ring he wore on his middle finger as a distraction, looking down at it, "It's okay to trip, bro, but—"

"—My dad is missing, okay?" John B spoke over JJ, turning back to him for a moment, "Missing... 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."

"It's been almost a year." Kie told him tentatively.

"Hey he could've been kidnapped." JJ sprang, "That's definitely a possibility." I kicked his leg, shaking my head at him.

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

"All right." Kie said to them, giving them the eye. We knew never to mess with Kie when she gave us the eye, it was like that look that said 'shut up right now or I'll shut you up myself'. She turned back to John B, "Look, what do you think the message is?"

"Redfield." John B told us, "Redfield Lighthouse. That's my dad's favourite place."

John B drove down the dirt track to the lighthouse and pulled to a stop. The five of us climbed out the minivan and and walked to the white painted fence, looking up at the lighthouse.

"Right, you're gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?" John B said to JJ.

"Wait.. why me?" He asked.

"Because you're not coming." Pope told him.

JJ looked very offended as he scoffed incredulously, "Why?"

"There are independent and dependent variables and you're independent, we don't know what you'll do." Pope argued.

JJ started arguing with Pope immediately and I crossed my arms over my chest, sighing heavily as they went at it.

Somethings never changed.

"Shut up!" John B yelled over them, "Just listen. Pope, you and Mally stand look out with JJ. Okay?"

"Sounds good to me." I replied, nodding my head.

"If we get split up we meet back at JJ's house." John B instructed.

"Great." Kie replied, walking away with John B and they hopped the fence.

Pope turned to JJ and I, "Well I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay. I'm trying to keep felonies down to a minimum."

JJ pulled a ball out of his pocket and started doing kick-ups with it, "Would you just shut up already?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'll be in the minivan." I told them, walking over to the van and getting in the passenger seat, leaving the door open.  

JJ abandoned his ball kicking almost immediately after he started it and he walked over to me, leaning against the open door, "All right?" He asked me.

I shrugged, hugging my leg, "I think so."

"This about this morning?" I nodded silently and he pursed his lips, "Pretty scary, huh?"

"Pretty?" I asked rhetorically, looking at him, "JJ that was terrifying."

"I know." He replied. It was the calmest I'd seen him in days. I liked this side of JJ, it was a side he rarely showed people. It was when he was just.. him, there was no other way to explain it. Don't get me wrong I loved almost every side of JJ but there was something about his caring side that got me.

"I wanna get rid of that compass, JJ." I told him, "I don't like it, especially now those square groupers are after it."

He nodded, "I'm gonna try to convince him but I don't think he'll part with it so easily."

"I get that." I replied, "It's really the only thing he's got left of his dad.. it's close to his heart but it's dangerous and I'm never opposed to a bit of danger but—"

"—but it's too far when your fearing for your life." He interrupted me softly in understanding.

I nodded, thinking back to when we were in the chicken coop and I rolled my teeth over my bottom lip, "Thanks, uh, for earlier." I told him, "Y'know.. in the chicken coop. You.. uh, you helped me."

He gave me a half smile, "Mal, don't worry about it. I wanted to protect you."

I locked in with his blue eyes and damn they were hypnotic, "Thank you."

I heard a faint police siren and my eyes widened as I looked at JJ, "Go, move over, go, go." He told me urgently and I scrambled to get into the drivers seat and turned the engine on. JJ climbed into the passenger seat and slammed the door.

"Drive Mally!" Pope yelled at me from the back.

I turned to my friends, "Shouldn't we wait for them?"

"No. Just go." JJ told me.

I slammed on the gas peddle and drove, evading the cops before they got to us and hoping John B and Kie would forgive us for bailing on them.

• • •

A/N; I might update again tonight. It depends on if I remember!