GRAVEYARD | Topper Thornton

NOTHING

We'd all taken a few days to recover from midsummers, God knew we all needed it. I hadn't seen Topper since that night and at this point, I don't know if I really wanted to. I still can't believe he pushed John B off the hawks nest and no repercussions at all, like what the absolute fuck.

I had now arrived at the Wreck, slightly late but a girl needs her morning coffee. I walked directly into the restaurant and plopped down next to JJ, his arm swinging around my shoulders.

"I'm sorry. You're staying where," Kie seethed.

"Tannyhill," John B told her matter-of-factly.

"So you're living with Sarah Cameron," Kie was pissed to say the least. She hated Sarah Cameron, ever since her kook year. I didn't really understand what happened but also wasn't one to listen to gossip or be involved in drama.

"Okay, look, the only reason I'm living there is because her dad bailed me out, right," John B tried to reason, "and it's way better than foster care, which, by the way, is where I was about to go if Ward didn't." The curly haired boy wasn't wrong, it's really not how you want to end up. Let's hope Ward wasn't some negligent foster parent though...

"Hey, so do you have a membership to the clubs now," Pope asked him, actually kind of excited. Though I don't think he realizes that I could probably get us in if he really wanted to go.

"I don't know, Pope." I tuned out the rest of the conversation and soon enough JJ pulled me out of my seat, dragging me to the twinkie. We'd eventually made it to our destination, and were now using the map to justify where we think Parcel Nine may have been.

"It's out of whack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it," JJ mumbled.

"It's 'cause the coast has changed," I told the boy, "So we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed," Pope continued after me.

"What about the old forts?"

"Battery Jasper." We located where we needed to look on the maps before once again jumping into the twinkie and taking off.

"All right. You're gonna take a left," Pope told John B. After the turn, I saw exactly what we were looking for. An old stone wall, covering in emerald moss and overgrown foliage.

"That looks like a stone wall to me," JJ muttered from beside me.

"Thanks, captain Obvious," I said sarcastically, "I suddenly went blind in the car ride and needed you to point it out." The others ignored our sarcastic banter as they exited the car.

"Are you kidding me," JJ said as he slammed the door to the van shut, "worst-case scenario."

"Why'd it have to be here..." I started, "of all places," John B finished for me.

"I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property," JJ mumbled. I'd heard the rumors but it was kind of an unspoken rule if you end up at a murderer's house, you don't speak about their murders.

"Look, you guys know whose house this is, right," Kie asked us all as we walked through the jungle that was the Crain house yard.

"Oh, yeah. No, I do," JJ said, seeming to be the most freaked out. I stopped walking for a second to let the boy catch up before grabbing his hand in mine.

"Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place," John B said.

"Which stories did you hear," JJ asked, gripping my hand tighter.

"The one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since," Kie started looking between us all, "on certain nights, when the moon is full...," she paused, "you can see her in the window!"

"No, Kie, it's not funny," JJ told us, looking to me for help, "'cause it's all true." I looked at the boy, questioning how he knew this before he continued.

"I swear to God, guys, this is all real. I knew Hollis," he told us.

"Wait, you knew Hollis Crain?"

"Yeah, dude. She was my babysitter, man. She told me all about it," JJ started his almost unbelievable story of how Hollis' mother murdered her father and how she found her mother, rinsing the blood down the kitchen sink.

We continued walking through the yard before Pope spoke up, asking an ever important question.

"You sure you wanna do this? She's an axe murderer," he asked us, before turning to John B, "You got a cast on." I couldn't help but laugh at the statement.

"I don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay," John B sighed, "I got nothin' to lose, right," he was right, he really didn't at this point.

"Harper lets go," he said to me, knowing I was in the same boat. I let go of JJ's hand to walk beside the boy.

"You comin' or what," I asked the rest. We'd walked around the entire house, only to come up with nothing. Zilch, zero, nada, nothing. The only place we hadn't looked was the crawl space under the house. I slowly walked towards it, the rest bickering behind me. God, I felt like their mother sometimes.

"Hey, psst! Hey, come on. It's the only place we haven't looked," I called back to them, entering into what would be a whole new world of problems.