haven murphy had nothing to lose. everything was different after sarah cameron's birthday party, the night her father died. haven just didn't feel right in her own skin. then, on a whim, she befriended pope heyward and got sucked into a wild goose h...
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: ON MY OWN (episode seven: dead calm | trigger warning: mentions of violence and a panic attack)
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NOBODY MOVED. SECONDS STRETCHED into minutes as John B stared down the barrel of their captor's shotgun, his eyes wide as the others sat frozen.
Finally, the man's patience wore thin. "Why don't I just go ahead and see them hands in the air, right now?"
John B was seemingly too slow for his liking, for he waved the gun around and shouted, "All of y'alls hands up in the air now!"
Haven would've been rooted to the spot had it not been for Arden sharply nudging her in the ribs. She let out a shaky breath as she held up her hands, her palms visibly trembling, but she wasn't the only one. They were all terrified. This was different to the confrontations with Rafe or those men. Rafe was a teenage boy with his fists and daddy's bank account. And they always managed to just escape the square groupers. This man, he had a gun at close range and wouldn't hesitate to shoot.
But the real question of the hour was why. What did he want from them?
The pawnbroker. Haven would bet every cent of her share in the Royal Merchant gold that the bitch had sold them out to someone, wanting the riches for herself. Money made people selfish, but selfish enough to threaten their lives? Haven wouldn't put it past the likes of her.
"You," he snarled at John B through the mask he wore over his mouth and nose. "Out of the car! Let's go!" This time around, John B moved a lot quicker. He slammed the door shut behind him, slowly following the man as he led him to the other side of the car, right where the door to the others was. "Let them out. Well? What are you waitin' on? Let them out!"
Sarah was the first out, whimpering to herself as she stood beside John B. Then Haven, Pope, and the rest with Arden last of all. The man stared at her stomach with disgust, latching onto her shoulder and shoving her when she was just that bit too slow.
"Hey," JJ growled as Haven stopped Arden from falling. They quickly raised their hands again when the gun was trained on them, but JJ stepped in between them with his jaw clenched. "Hey, man—"
"Did I say you could speak?"
"Alright, alright," he shouted back. "Just relax."
"Shut the hell up! Or I'll blow your damn head off!"
He guided them over to a ditch on the side of the road, demanding for them to lay down. Haven was crammed between Pope and JJ, her hands on her head now as her forehead pressed into the dirt. It was getting hard to breathe, that tauntingly familiar surge of panic swelling up in her chest. Hiding in the chicken coop all those weeks ago was nothing compared to this. This was real, the kind of case her dad would've gotten in the courtroom. They were about to be robbed, or worse, and Haven's breaths were only getting louder.
