The Outer Banks, paradise on earth. The sort of place where you either have two jobs, or two houses. Two tribes, one island.
The younger girl survived because of her friends. For them. The first five or six months after her father disappeared were...
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So, it was official. JJ Maybank was wrapped around her finger. He would do anything for her; the girl with the freckled cheeks, the dark hair and hazel eyes. The one with the kind heart, that gave big hugs and had an aura of innocence around her at all times even though she hated it. He would climb a god damned mountain for her, even spend the rest of his life in his shitty home, if it meant being able to be with her always.
It was ironic, really, that his mind and heart had chosen to have feelings for the one person he wasn't supposed to feel anything for. He supposed they couldn't help it... after all, he would certainly choose to stop feeling any love for his asshole of a father if he could... but no, those sorts of things weren't able to be controlled. His actions were, though. And he knew he couldn't act on it. Because it was his best friends sister he was thinking about at night when he went to sleep, and in the mornings when he woke up. It was her, always. All JJ Maybank had ever wanted, he realized, as he thought back to all his hookups and one-night stands, was somethin' like Olivia.
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"Guys! Somebody's here."
Any sort of 'moment' between the blond boy and brunette girl was over nearly as quickly as it began. With an awkward cough, they stepped away from one another and moved to peer out the window. John B took a sharp intake of breath as the two men climbed out of their truck, walking with purpose towards the house they were in. Liv moved herself closer to him, his arm wrapping over her shoulders. Both siblings knew what these men were capable of and they didn't want to see it again.
"Guys," said Kie, "guys, is that them? Is that them?" She watched as JJ shook his head anxiously and started pacing. The answer was clear, without them having to say anything. "This is suboptimal." Pope murmured, and Liv moved from her brother to squeeze the dark haired boys hand for comfort. He gave her a thankful smile, even though he was slightly embarrassed to be comforted by someone younger than him.
"John B, I told you. Why does it always..." "JJ!" The sandy haired boy shook his friend, pressing him against the door. "Hey, look at me. Where's the gun?" John B, asking for the gun? The friends knew it was serious. JJ's face paled, light bouncing off his sweat covered skin. "Gun?" He said, "I, uh, I can't..."
"Now you don't have the gun, the one time we need the gun?" Kiara was frantic. Being shot at one time in the past few days was plenty; she didn't want to be shot at again.
"It was in my backpack, and then I..." "Yes, backpack." Said John B, urging his friend to think quicker. "On the porch." "It's on the porch." He repeated the blonds words, letting go of him so he could run out the door. "Go, go." Liv watched in horror as one of her closest friends ran from the safety of the office and towards the danger.
"John Routledge!" At the sound of the mans booming voice, Liv let out a whimper. "Guys!" Kie covered her face, trying to stay calm. As loud stomps were heard on the porch a flushed JJ flew back into the room, shutting and locking the office door behind him.
"Come on out now!" The man yelled, "Fuck!" "Where's the compass?" His companion followed suit, and they heard the sound of something breaking. John B looked at his friend. "Where's the gun?" The blond shook his head, his mouth dry. "They're on the front porch, guys."
"Get out here!" Yelled the second man, and Liv grimaced as she heard more stuff being smashed.
"Routledge! Where you at, boy?"
Moving away from the huddle at the door, Kie looked around for an escape route. "we gotta leave. Guys, window. Window." As Kiara worked alongside JJ and Pope to try and get the window open, Liv turned to see John B with his hands on his head and his eyes closed, back against the door. "Routledge! You better get out here boy, or I swear to god we'll fuck up that sister of yours to get our answers!"
Liv gulped, her eyes meeting her brothers as he stared at her with worry. Within a split second he pushed her toward the rest of their friends, trying frantically to open the window without alerting the men to the fact they were in there. Kie shoved by him with a letter opener in hand, and for a moment Liv thought she was planning on using it as a weapon, until she started to remove the paint that sealed the window to the sill.
As the man announced to his companion he was going to check the back room, the friends all converged on the window, using their fingers to try and force it open. As the man kicked on the door, they slipped through one by one, John B shutting it behind him just as a gunshot blew the doorknob.
A small sense of relief settled over the friends as they hid in the chicken coop, but it didn't last long as the rooster began to crow loudly. JJ lay on his stomach in chicken shit, hissing at the dark skinned boy next to him. "Do something, Pope. Shut him up." In response, the boy looked at him wide eyed. "What do you want me to do?" "Pet it," whispered Kie, her eyes filling with tears,"or talk to it, I don't know." Next to her, John B peered through a wire section of the coop. He could see one of the men looking at it strangely, and he mentally prepared himself. If this was it, if someone was going down out of him and his friends, it was him.
"You do something." whispered Pope. Liv's breath caught in her throat as JJ tackled the crowing rooster, his fists wrapping around the poor creatures neck as he slammed it into the ground to shut it up. The girl let out a choked sob at the sight of it. Without her love for animals it already would have been hard to watch, but coupled with how much she knew the boy actually loved the rooster he had just killed, it broke her heart.
The boy let go of the bird, looking down in shock at what he had done and then back at his friends. He shifted to sit up against the wall, bringing the brunette girl to his chest as quiet sobs wracked her body. Across from them, John B squeezed Kie's hand, wanting nothing more than to do the same for his sister.
"Ratter! What the hell are you doin'? Let's go." The man that had been approaching the coop backed off and hopped in the truck, the boy letting out a sigh of relief. As the engine roared to life the girls let out their cries and the group huddled together with their arms around one another's shoulders. They stayed like that for a moment, ensuring the truck was gone, before crawling out one by one. As if things weren't crazy before, they were getting even crazier.. and fast.
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Nightmares had never been an issue for Olivia. Not until her family went down from three to two. Now, without her father there, they were a nightly occurrence.
Screams came from the room that once belonged to Big John Routledge, catching the Pogues' attention. At the kitchen table, JJ and Pope shared a look. Behind them on the pull out couch, an exhausted John B rubbed his eyes. "Nose goes," said the blonde boy, his friend sending a kick to his shin under the table, "Ow, Pope!" The dark skinned boy gave him a pointed look. "Don't be an ass, JJ. John B, do you want me to-" As the screams heightened, the Routledge boy shook his head. "Nah, I got this one. Thanks, Pope." Tugging on a shirt, he shuffled toward the bedroom near the back of the house. As he entered the room there was the faint sound of cries, then muffled words of comfort as he spoke to his sister.
At the table, the friends looked at each other. "It's been 3 months, man." Said JJ, looking over at the clock that read midnight. "When do you think it'll stop?" Across from him, Pope shrugged. He took a large gulp of water from the glass before him, then paused, deep in thought. "This isn't one of the math problems I can just solve, JJ. No saying when it'll end. But c'mon, John B's our friend... and so is Liv. We gotta help him out." The blond nodded. "It's shit, bro. Scary stuff." Pope hummed in agreement. They were only teenagers, after all. Big John disappearing was already a lot to handle; he had been like a father to them. But John B had almost immediately stepped into the protector roll, caring for his younger sister as she struggled night by night. At sixteen, the boys life had changed in an instant, and he needed all the help he could get. The water swished in Pope's glass as he set it down harshly, looking at the boy before him. "I'm gonna go take over." With that, he rose from his seat, moving towards the bedroom to take over caring for the girl and allowing his friend some much needed rest.
