𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒. ᵒᵘᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃⁿᵏˢ ¹

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 51.

    "𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐁, 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐄 we doing at the police station." Jj asked, with a certain seriousness.

I was sitting in the front seat of Kiara's car, staring out my side window into the darkness.  I could barely move an inch, and hadn't moved an inch since I strapped in my seatbelt, back at the dump. It was almost as if my limbs weren't really working, my brain was sending the signals, but I just couldn't find the energy to move— partly, from all the running, but majorly from the emotional blackout in my head.

When I had sat myself in the passenger seat, it was sealed, glued. Kiara tried to talk to me, Jj tried to get me to say something at the least, and even Pope, but their words had simply gone through one ear and came out the other, absolutely meaningless. When we had stopped at the Chateau, I didn't bother to leave the car, and waited until they came back after a while. John B had told them what had happened on the runway. I couldn't cry anymore, either. Not that I was tired of it, but because I had let far too many tears fall, and there was none left to brew. I had watched the Sheriff die. I had no clue if Sarah was even alive anymore. And the gold was off to the Bahamas.

"Someone," John B let out an unsteady breath of air. "Somebody's gotta tell them what happened," he said, with a weak voice.

Kiara pulled the key out of ignition, the car's engine ceasing and causing the vehicle to go quiet. Before looking back at the boys, her eyes lingered on me for a moment, but I stared out my window, the same as before. She let out a small inaudible sigh, her chest rising and falling only slightly.

Out of the blue, Pope let out a series of coarse and loud coughs. He had been smoking blunts from Jj all afternoon. I didn't turn my head to look at him, but I could imagine Pope holding half of one between his fingers, inhaling far too much for his own good, resulting in multiple coughs.

"Ooh," Jj hummed, with a slight shock, "Easy there, chief," he said. "Damn."

Pope continued to cough, the volume getting lower. The car was quiet, other than his noise.

I heard John B let out a huff of air.

"All right." Jj started, after a long moment, specifically talking to John B. "I'm just gonna be real with you right now." He spoke seriously. I had never heard Jj sound so stern, and with a good meaning. "You might end up in the lion's den, but you don't go there on purpose."

I wanted to agree, and tell John that Ward Cameron had every authority wrapped around his finger. That he told the cops John B had stabbed his arm with a spear, that he could've done the same thing with the situation of Peterkin. But when I tried to speak, the words just wouldn't come out.

"It's fundamental." Jj stated. "Just like my old man always told me— you should never, ever, trust cops, no matter what the circumstance is,"

"Your old man is an abusive liar." Kie butted in, serious.

"I agree with Jj," Pope said through small huffs, catching his breath from coughing so harshly. "Fuck the police."

Kiara rolled her eyes, and then squinted them, "You goin' to the dark side now—"

"When's the last time the police ever helped us," Pope cut her off, leaning forward off his chair, speaking factually.

"Peterkin looked out for me, all right?" John B spoke out over everyone.

I felt my stomach twist.

"Or... tried to, at least," he breathed, shakily. "They need to know."

The vehicle filled with a silence after his words. I bit down onto my bottom lip. Out of my peripheral vision, I could see Kiara barely send a nod to John B, her head only moving slightly. Everyone was shifting their eyes to one another, except for me. And only after a long minute, I had realized that they were looking at me. Still, I didn't turn around.