MARLBORO NIGHTS [JJ MAYBANK]

decapitation quadrant

"SO THE ROAD SHOULD SPLIT UP HERE, and you're gonna... take a left."

The van swung to the side as it rounded the corner, far too fast for the little subdivision they were barreling through. After John B was released from the hospital, the group studied the map and found Parcel Nine, which, according to Denmark's letter, would be where the gold was hidden. They were searching the subdivision for a stone wall that indicates the edge of the parcel.

JJ, who had his boots propped up in the seat next to Kiara, pointed. "That looks like a stone wall to me." Karolina followed his gaze to the house they pulled up to, surrounded by intricate shrubbery. "Not the Crain house," she heard John B grumble.

Exiting the car, Karolina crossed her arms frustratedly. "Are you kidding me?" Kiara groaned, looking up at the tall iron gate looming before them. "Why couldn't the gold just be hidden in like... John B's backyard or something?" the blonde girl complained.

JJ walked up beside them. "Worse-case scenario."

"Why'd it have to be here? Of all places?" grumbled Pope, sighing heavily. Glancing at the blonde girl next to him, JJ knocked his shoulder against hers. "I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property."

Karolina rolled her eyes. They'd all heard the spooky island legend of the Crain house when they were kids, but she had never believed it. There was no way the police wouldn't find Mr. Crain's freshly buried head when they did their investigation, especially since Mrs. Crain was a little old woman when she he died; she wouldn't have been able to lift him, much less get rid of his dead body. It was just a crazy myth to entertain the kids and keep them out of other people's yards.

Despite JJ's comment, the group ventured inside anyway, trudging through the unkempt garden. "Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place," John B muttered, to which JJ held a finger to his lips and said, "Shhh." He brushed past Karolina to get to Kie, asking, "Which stories did you hear?"

Kie raised her eyebrows. "The one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since." They glanced back at the others, as if to gauge their reactions to the evidence presented. "On certain nights, when the moon is full... you can see her in the window!" Kiara wiggled her fingers in JJ's face with a bubbly laugh.

"No, it's not funny, Kie, cause its all true," insisted JJ. Karolina swatted a beetle from her face, her permanent frown deepening. "Come on, she's like, a thousand years old. That's probably why she never leaves."

JJ was adamant though, shaking his head frantically. "I swear to God, guys, this is all real. I knew Hollis- Jesus, God!" Spotting the fiftieth naked lady statue in his peripheral, JJ jumped out of his skin, stumbling away from it. Pope ignored his outburst, asking, "Wait, you knew Hollis Crain?"

After he realized it was indeed a statue, JJ nodded. "Yeah, dude. She was my babysitter, man, she told me all about it." Karolina narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms again as they came to a stop.

"Told me the truth about her mother... and what happened in this house," he explained, and they all glanced up at the faded white house, "So, as a kid, Hollis heard all the stories that her mother killed her father, and she was a murderer and all, but Hollis didn't believe it..." His gaze was casted to the ground, for dramatic effect. "Until that night."

Fighting off the doubtful laugh bubbling in her throat, Karolina raised an eyebrow in challenge, teasing. "And what night is this, exactly?"

His gaze slid over to meet her stormy gray eyes. She was startled by the uncharacteristic severity sprawled across his face. "It all came back to her. When Hollis was six years old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs. So she goes down to see her mom washing her hands in the sink full of blood." JJ gave a shrug. "Her mother just says 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."