XXIII.   cain and abel

      Bridger was worried about Sarah. He had been calling and texting the girl all day and night but he got no response. He knew it mostly like had something to do with dad not wanting her to be with John B, like some forbidden romance or some shit. That's basically what they had. They were Romeo and Juliet, born from two different families on two separate sides of the island.

He saw the workers Ward had hired to load the airplane carrying crates out of the trucks. The group of friends gathered on the other side of the fence, the thick metal being the only thing separating them from the gold. Bridger's fingers hooked around the rings and he stared at the scene intensely.

"What's the plan? Broad strokes," Kiara muttered while she, too, gripped onto the fence.

John B sighed. "I don't think we got that far."

Pope looked through his binoculars up. "They're loading up the gold," he informed after checking it out.

John B quickly turned his head and snatched the binoculars from his hands. "Give me those." He muttered and looked through the lenses. They waited for him to tell them what he was seeing. He saw a familiar car arrive on the runway. "There's Ward."

"Phew, I'm getting stress sweats." Bridger muttered and shook his arms, feeling his underarms sweat.

Suddenly, John B lowered the binoculars and his face hardened. Kiara saw his expression. "What?" She asked, then slapped him on the arm. "What?"

He let out a shaky breath. "It's Sarah." He spoke like he couldn't believe it himself.

The Kook immediately looked at him with wide eyes.  "What?" He exclaimed and pressed himself further into the fence, his eyes glaring.

"She's with him?" Pope chimed but got no response.

John B looked through the binoculars again. Bridger's head switched between him and the loading on the Tarmac. He grew more worried than he already was.  He knew Sarah would never betray John B or any of them. He wanted to climb over the fence and pull her away from the man but then he would blow their cover.

"Wait a minute," the Routledge boy said, his eyes glaring into the binoculars. He sounded scared. "He's hurting her."

"Hurting her? What do you mean hurting her?" Bridger hurried, now getting scared himself.

"What?" Kiara mirrored his panic

"What?" JJ asked as well from where he was standing.

Still keeping the binoculars to his eyes, John B shook his head in disbelief. "They're fighting."

"Give me those," Bridger hissed under his breath and snatched the binoculars. Pressing them to his eyes, the boy saw everything that was going on. He saw Ward dragging Sarah to the Tarmac, and he saw her crying out to him to stop, thrashing in his grip. His hands tightened around the devices in anger. "I'm going to kill this son of a bitch."

Having the same idea, John B quickly sprinted back to the van. "Wait, so she-What?" JJ muttered until they saw him sprint away.

They chased after him, shouting his name repeatedly, and John B climbed into the Twinkie and turned it on quickly. Pressing his foot on the accelerator, he sped past all of his friends. "John B, stop!" Bridger shouted after the others but there was no hope.

John B drove right through the metal fence and didn't stop there. They chased after him and the boy drove the van all the way down the runway. Bridger heaved and ran his hands through his hair. His other friends shouted for him to stop but John B had a mind of his own. A savior complex.

"Oh my god." JJ slipped out as they watched the boy drive the Twinkie close to the Tarmac.

"Fucking idiot." His partner cursed, his heart thumping against his chest.

John B kept up speed next to the Tarmac until he pressed the gas even harder. Suddenly, he surpassed the airplane on the runway all the way until he was a few feet ahead, then he stopped, blocking the runway. Bridger got full body chills and they weren't the good kind.

"Oh my god." Kiara breathed out and covered her mouth, her face and voice laced with fear.

Bridger put his hand on her shoulder and with his other, he reached for JJ's hand. He felt the blonde slipped his plan palm his and squeeze it, indicating to the kook that he was terrified. Holding a breath, he watched as the Tarmac got closer and closer to John B, then suddenly. . . it stopped. He released the breath loudly.

The sirens caught their attention and they were headed their way. "Guys, I can't get arrested." Pope muttered.

"I'm on probation," JJ reminded them and he squeezed Bridger's hand.

"Look, we're not good if we're all in jail." Kiara spoke, looking between all of them.

Bridger motioned his head to the side. "Come on, we gotta go." He urged and pulled JJ by the hand.

They ran out of sight until they hit the road the traveled on. Bridger was sweating like a maniac. The anxiety he was feeling only made it worse as he breathed in and out deeply as he ran faster than his feet could carry him. He wondered how his life got to this point. He fell in love and suddenly he was sucked into a treasure hunt that had nothing to do with him, but now it had all to do with him because he was going to abandon them. The old Bridger would, maybe, but not now. He was in too deep.

They huddled back on the cut to the junkyard. The teens paced around in worry, their friend still not returning. Bridger's hand brushed through his hair for the thousandth time today. He tugged on the roots as his other hand rested on his hip. He was in deep thought. None of them said a word. The thought of John B possibly being arrested feared them but all Bridger could think about was if something bad happened to Sarah. She was his best friend, his only Kook friend left, and she was struggling just as much as any of them were.

Her life was falling apart and he seemingly was the only one to take notice of it.

When he heard a faint zipping sound, he and the others and saw the Tarmac in the sky and it flew right by them. A heavy fuck left Bridger's mouth and he gripped his hair again. They lost the gold. Everything they did was all for nothing.

"There goes the gold." JJ muttered, sighing in defeat. He kicked a nearby chair out of anger.

They jumped when Pope let out a cry and picked up an abandoned baseball bat, using it to smash anything and everything around him. Bridger flinched back, his eyes widening at the anger coming from the boy who was usually the calmest out of them all. He let out a string of frustrated curses, trash and metal flying everywhere. He understood completely. His anger was visual while Bridger was trying to keep his bottled up. Kiara's cries for him to stop didn't work, and when he was done, Pope collapsed onto a wooden seat, breathing heavily as his eyes started to water with tears.

"Pope." Kie muttered, her eyes sad as she watched him unravel before their eyes.

"Yeah, dude," JJ spoke after coming out of his shock.  "I was wondering when this was going to happen." He left his partner's side and pulled out a blunt from the pocket of his shorts. He held it out to him. Here you go, chief. A little weed never hurt no one."

Bridger scoffed. "J."

"What, babe?" The boy said and looked over his shoulder. "It's fine."

"You know me doesn't smoke," Kiara reminded him.

JJ shrugged and plopped down next to Pope on the seat. "Well—" he watched as the boy took a drag of the blunt. "Maybe not until today."

Bridger sighed and rolled his eyes. He sat his hands on his hips and slowly walked around. His heart rate was so high that his chest was starting to hurt. He felt over heated even when he was wearing a light T-shirt. 

Pope lowered the blunt from his lips. "I lost my scholarship," he admitted and his voice wavered.   "Walked out in the middle of the interview. Every–It's gone. It's not gonna happen."

Brides huffed and shook his head, feeling terrible.  "Shit, Pope, I'm sorry."  He sympathized.

"You did that for us?" Kiara asked, softly and quietly.

The somber look on his face hardened. "No,not for us," he sneered and stood up from the seat. "For nothing."

JJ rose to hit feet and wrapped an arm around him.  "I'm here for you, Pope." He patted the boy's chest.  "Welcome to my world."

Kiara scoffed. "JJ—"

"What, Kie? He's right. It doesn't matter anymore."

Bridger silently looked at them. He pressed a hand to his chest and tried to steady his heartbeat. Pope was right. It was all for nothing. It wasn't like he needed to gold, anyway. He was rich enough to get by on his own but that wasn't the point. All his life, Bridger hid who he was because he was scared that his life would change. But it has changed and it was still changing,  and it scared the hell out of him. "My dad's leaving." The confession came out quickly, quicker than he wanted it to.

They looked at him, JJ's face falling subtly. Kiara turned her body to face him and her eyes narrowed.  "What?"

"He came home this morning when I was about to leave. He said he's going to rehab. I don't know when or how long. I didn't want to know," he continued, his voice starting to become shaky. "A-And I thought I would be jumping for joy, y'know? Because he's never been a father to me. I've taken care of myself for years and I thought I would be happy, but. . ." he paused and ran a hand down his sweaty face. "I'm scared because it means I'm going to finally be alone."

Pope shook his head. "Bridger, you're not alone."

"But I am." Bridger nodded, disregarding the statement. "I've been alone for a long time. This only confirms it even more."

JJ stepped forward with a frown decorating his Summer face. "I'm sorry, Bridge." He pressed one of his hands to the side of his face,  making their eyes lock with one another. "But you're never going to be alone. You have us. We're a family, remember?"

"We are," Kiara confirmed, nodding tightly. "Whatever happened in the past doesn't matter anymore. You're one of us."

"You're a Pogue, dude." Pope nodded, half smiling.

Bridger looked at all of them gratefully. His heart rate began to settle down and his stomach twisted, feeling the love that they gave him. He smiled at his partner. Heavy footsteps made them turn their attention away from him and their eyes widened when they saw John B, his clothes and hands covered in blood. "Dude!" JJ yelled and circled around the chair. He gripped the boy's arms tightly. "Dude, you good?"

"Oh my god. . . John B." Kiara breathed out, her eyes scanning his appearance.

Bridger stared at the fresh blood and the stoic expression on his face. "John B, are you okay?"

He got no reply. JJ cautiously picked up one of his hands. "Is this yours?" He asked, eyeing the blood.

"Whose blood is that?" Kiara asked as well, tugging on John B's hoodie.

He only stared into space, his eyes glossed over like he was in another world. He looked terrified, like he just witnessed something horrific. His friends stared at him with worry. He was visibly shaking. Pope put a hand in his shoulder. "Hey, you okay, man?"

Bridger stepped forward. "John B, is Sarah okay? Is she hurt?" He asked carefully, but quickly at the same time.

That's when John B looked at him, stared at him like he was a ghost. His gaze went right through him and the Bridger titled his head slightly. His eyes suddenly started to shine. He didn't speak but he was screaming something at him in his head.

Kiara squeezed his arm again. "John B, are you okay?"

With still no response, Bridger's heartbeat started to quicken again. His worry for his friend made him sick and seeing John B covered in blood made it worse. He thought the worse, his mind haunting him like a nightmare. The group waited for him to speak but their attention changed when they heard a police siren. Quickly, they all ducked and hid behind the furniture.

The police car zoomed past them. Bridger rubbed his face with his hand, suddenly feeling sick. He turned his head and caught the fear on John B's face, the stoic expression breaking. He could smell the blood on his clothes and skin. Whatever happened, whatever he saw, it just happened and that's exactly where the police were headed.

When they were in the clear, they came out from behind the furniture. "Okay, you need to tell us what happened before my heart explodes," Bridger told John B, saying what they were all thinking.

"What happened, dude?" JJ asked, standing beside him. He motioned to the blood. "Whose blood is that?"

"P-P-Peterkin," the boy finally spoke with a stutter. He swallowed harshly. "Peterkin. It's her blood. She. . ." he paused and swallowed again. "She's dead."

A black cloud hovered over them. The teens took a step back, feeling startled, and glanced at each other. Bridger and JJ shared questionable looks. LWha–Dead? W-What do you mean dead?" He stammered.

John B's piercing gaze returned to him and he got more full body chills. "Rafe killed her," he uttered with both terror and anger. His gaze darkened but it wasn't at his friend. "He shot her."

Bridger felt as if he couldn't breathe. His throat felt like it was closing up. "What?" He spoke, the words getting caught in his throat. "Did I hear that right or am I all of a sudden going deaf?"

"What do you mean Rafe killed her, John B?" Kiara carefully asked, finally speaking after being in complete shock.

The latter closed his eyes and breathed harshly through his nose. "She showed up to arrest Ward for killing my father. He thought she was there for me but she was really there for him. She's was trying to protect me—" he swallowed back his emotions. "Rafe, he, uh—H-He came up behind her and shot her. No remorse. No guilt."

Bridger raised a shaky hand to his forehead, feeling clammy. He felt as if he was standing in the middle of the ocean and a large wave crashed over him. He couldn't catch his breath. "W-Wait, okay–Hold on. . ."

"He killed her, Bridger." John B seethed, feeling heartbroken.

"Uhh, o–okay, um. . ."

"Hey, hey," JJ said and put one of his hands on his back.  Bridge."

"Oh my god." Kiara breathed out again and grabbed fist fulls of her hair, feeling overwhelmed.

Brotherhood. It's a story of give and take, fury and guilt. It's as ancient as Eden. It's a fire on the alter as the baby grips onto his brother's heel. The younger says to the older, why have you forsaken me, and the older says to the younger, I am not your keeper. The story always begins and ends in bloodshed. The give and take are interwoven between the younger brother's clouded judgment as the older brother repeatedly hurts him again and again yet promises that he would always protect him. The fury and guilt burn bright as the younger brother finally comes to realization that the older brother is hurting him instead of protecting him. Cain and Abel. That's what Bridger and Rafe were.

His brother was gone and replaced with the shell of an empty, cold hearted killer. The end of their story burned bright red.