Audacious//JJ Maybank (Outerbanks)

Chapter 23

{Crain House}

John b drives us all around the island, looking for this stone wall. 'Okay, so the road should split up here.' Pope informs us as he reads out the map. 'Okay.' John b replies. 'All right. You're gonna take a left.' Pope instructs. 'That looks like a stone wall to me.' JJ informs us all as he looks out the window, John b pulls the van to a stop.

'This is it.' Pope says as we all hop out of the house. 'Not the Crain House.' I groan. 'Are you kidding me?' Kie sighs in frustration. 'Worst case scenario.' JJ sighs coming over beside me and interlocks our hands. 'Why'd it have to be here of all places?' Pope groans and I nod in agreement. 'I heard that Mrs Crain buried her husband's head on the property.' JJ states and I shove him in the side. 'Can we not talk about buried heads!' I argue and JJ puts his hands up in defence, before placing a kiss on my forehead. I walk over to the stone wall and start to climb over it, the others follow behind me.

'Look, you guys know whose house this is, right?' Kie asks as we walk through the tall grass and I nod. 'Oh, yeah. No, I do.' JJ answers. 'Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place.' John b announces from the back of the line. 'Agreed.' I nod. 'Shh.' Pope orders turning to face us. 'What?' We asks in unison. 'Which stories did you hear?' JJ asks coming up beside Kie. 'The one where she killed her husband with an axe and that's she's been holed up ever since. On certain nights, when the moon is full you can see her in the window!' Kie jokes waving her hands in front of his face and I chuckle. 'No, it's not funny, because it's all true.' JJ states and I roll my eyes. 'I swear to god, guys, this is all real.' JJ says turning around to face Pope, John b and I. 'I knew Hollis. Jeez!' JJ freaks out as he turns back around and sees the statue, I burst out laughing. 'Watch it, baby! It looks like your scared.' I tease and he rolls his eyes before wrapping his arm around my shoulder. 'Pfft, I'm not.' He shrugs and I chuckle.

'Wait, you knew Hollis Crain?' My brother asks. 'Yeah, dude.' JJ answers. 'Dude, how do you know Hollis Crain?' Pope asks. 'She was my babysitter, man. She told me all about it. Told me the truth..about her mother and what happened in this house. So as a kid, she heard stories that her mother killed her father, and she was a murder and all. Hollis didn't believe it. Until that night.' JJ explains before going silent. 'What night?' John b asks as we are all intrigued by his story.

'It all came back to her. When Hollis was six years old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs. So she goes downstairs to see her mom washing her hands in a sink, full of blood. Her mother just says that she cut her finger. The next morning, she says her father and her split up. But then, Hollis noticed something. Her mother going into the parlor constantly, in and out in and out with plastic bags. Weeks pass, and Hollis decided to use the outhouse. And as she's using it, she looks down, and there, in the outhouse, is her father's head looking straight back at her.' JJ finishes and I flinch back.

'God, you are so full of shit.' John b tells JJ, as he grabs my hand. 'You're fucking scaring Kie and Jackie, man.' He argues. 'Dude, I swear to god.' JJ defends. 'Did she call the police?' Pope asks. 'She didn't have time.' JJ shrugs, as John b rolls his eyes and carries on walking. 'Wait! Dude! You sure you wanna do this? She's an axe murderer. You got a cast on.' JJ stops John b and points at his arm. 'I don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay?' John b argues. 'I got nothing to lose, right?' My brother remarks and JJ sighs. 'You coming or what?' He asks as he continues to walk. 'Come on, JJ. We'll be in and out as quick as possible. I don't like the idea of this either but it's for John b.' I say linking our hands as we follow after the group.

We squat down in the tall grass. 'So here's the plan. We need to look for the wheat near the water like it said in Denmark's letter.' John b explains. 'Okay, what kind of water? Like, pond water?' Pope asks. 'Bong water?' JJ chuckles. 'Just water, any source of water.' My brother states. 'That's the shittiest secret message ever.' Kie rolls her eyes walking past John b. 'You wanna complain a little more, Kie? Nobody said it was gonna be easy.' John b argues following after Kie. 'I'll search the northeast quadrant, you and Jackie search the northwest.' Pope instructs us and we nod before going separate ways. As JJ and I look around the backyard, all we could find are statues and some trash bags. I sigh in frustration as I walk up to JJ. 'Come on, there's nothing here let's head back to the others.' I say grabbing his hand as we walk back to the front of the house.

'Hey, psst! Hey, come on. It's the only place we haven't looked.' John b whispers to all of us as we walk towards him. 'Here we go.' He sighs looking at the crack leading under the house to the basement before crawling in, we crawl in after him. 'The basement was damp, cold and very dark. It was filled with antiques, furniture and old children's toys. 'Down came Mrs, Crain and cut off all our heads. Up came the sun and dried up all the blood.' JJ sings. 'Can you stop?' Pope turns around to face him and I. 'Yeah, if you say one more thing about Mrs. Crain, I swear you can sleep outside tonight.' I argue flashing my light at him. 'You're hot when you're mad.' He says flirtatiously placing his hand on my waist pulling me closer and I snicker. 'You're such an idiot.' I laugh and a smirk appears on his face. 'I suppose, but I'm your idiot.' He says and Pope fakes gag as he carries on looking through the basement.

'See any water?' Kie asks. 'Not yet.' I answer. 'Another dead end?' Kie asks swatting away a mosquito. 'There's not even water on the pipes.' JJ informs us running his hand along them. 'There's no water here.' Pope sighs. 'Not a dropamino.' JJ agrees. 'Know why we didn't find it? Bad karma.' She states glaring at John b. 'Oh, god. Here we go.' Pope, JJ and I sigh in unison. 'You know, we had a good thing going. And then you decide to rope in barbie, and now the trail's gone dry. Coincidence? Probably not.' Kie continues to argue.

'This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you about Sarah. What the hell's the deal with you two?' John b asks walking closer to Kie. 'Nothing.' She shrugs it off. 'Nothing? Is it because I kissed you? Is that the problem?' He asks, his head whipping to the side after she slaps him. 'Oh shit!' JJ says as Pope and I gasp in shock. 'Stop treating me like I'm some girl that's obsessed with you instead of your best friend who's actually trying to look out for you.' Kie declares.

'Did you, uh..hit me?' He asks shocked. 'Skeeter.' Kie answers showing her palm with a dead mosquito on it. Kie and him go back and forth slapping one another blaming it on the mosquitoes. 'These things are freaking swarming the place.' Pope says slapping the mosquito off him. 'Why are there so many mosquitoes in a basement?' Pope asks himself and I look at him. 'Dude, I know, serialist. Tiny vampire bats, just leave me alone.' JJ says slapping them away from him and I chuckle. Pope flashes his light on the floor and notices a part of the floor is lifted up, I glance at him quickly before we walk over to it. I take out a pin from my hair and drop it between the crack. After a moment we hear a small splash and look at each other with wide eyes.

'What are you guys doing?' JJ asks as he notices coming over to us grabbing the attention of Kie and John b. 'Help me move this!' Pope tells John b and JJ. Slowly they all grab a plank and move it aside, we all step back in shock as it reveals a deep, hollow well. We all peak our heads over the well and my jaw drops open, a smile appears on all our faces. 'Well, well, well.' Pope says flashing his light down the well. 'That was a good dad joke.' John b whispers and I chuckle. 'They built this part of the house right over it.' Kie states. 'This is where she hid the bodies.' JJ informs us and I shove him in the shoulders. 'Babe, come on.' I groan as he raises his hand in defence. 'She probably doesn't even know it's here.' Kie says and I nod in agreement. 'We're gonna need a really long rope.' My brother states looking over at me with a smile.

To Be Continued...