Torn ~ JJ Maybank

Chapter 43

"Look, you guys know whose house this is, right?" I tried to warn the group as I trailed behind them, reluctantly walking through the tall grass as we headed towards the house.

"Oh, yeah. No, I do." JJ agreed with me as he swatted a fly out of his way and continued to walk through the grass. 

"Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place." John B announced. I turned to where he was next to me and sent him a death glare. He looked at me as if to say 'what' but his attention was soon captured by Pope who shushed the two of us, causing me to roll my eyes. 

JJ looked between us with worry before he jogged up to join Kie and lowly asked her, "Which stories did you hear?"

"The one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since. On certain nights, when the moon is full... you can see her in the window!" Kie dramatically spoke, before she flung her arms around at the end of her sentence, tormenting JJ who looked at her with fear and anger. 

"No, it's not funny, 'cause it's all true." JJ anxiously shook his head. 

"Waah!" Kie continued to mock him.

"I swear to God, guys, this is all real. I knew Hollis. Jeez!" JJ tried to explain himself. 

"Wait, you knew Hollis Crain?" John B questioned him, clearly never having heard this story from his best friend before. 

"Yeah, dude." JJ nodded proudly, causing me to internally sigh at the mention of him with another girl.

"How do you know Hollis Crain?" I couldn't help the words that came out of my mouth as I folded my arms across my chest. JJ looked at me with a smirk across his face for a second, before he quickly removed it and replaced it with his solemn expression as he addressed the group. I guess my jealously wasn't as subtle as I hoped, because JJ's smirk notified me he had picked up on it.

"She was my babysitter, man. She told me all about it." he shrugged, before turning his expression more sombre as he continued, "Told me the truth... about her mother and what happened in this house."

"What happened then?" I asked him, still not convinced whether he was telling the truth or not.

"So as a kid, she heard all the stories that her mother killed her father, and... she was a murderer and all. Hollis didn't believe it. Until that night." he explained dramatically.

"What night?" Pope asked in a tone that gave away he wasn't believing what JJ was saying.

"It all came back to her." JJ spoke slowly, "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 and in and out with plastic bags. Weeks pass, and Hollis decides 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 explains, before he gets to the end of the story and delivers his piece like he is in a play. 

"God, you are so full of shit." John B shook his head and continued walking forwards, leaving a stunned JJ behind. 

"Dude, I swear to God, man." JJ threw his arms around in disbelief that no one was believing his story.

"Did she call the police?" Pope asked. 

"She didn't have time." JJ shrugged before he ran after John B and pulled him by the arm to stop him, "We can't do this... Wait! Dude!"