CHAPTER FIVE:
WHAT LIES BENEATH
(episode one: the pilot)

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THE LAST PERSON HAVEN wanted to see on her doorstep the next morning was JJ Maybank. She was running on two hours of sleep for the past forty-eight hours, her mind stuck on overdrive from the hurricane followed by the events of the day before. She couldn't get the image of JJ with a gun out of her head, even when she finally made it home and away from the Boneyard. If her mother had noticed Haven's strange behaviour, she didn't say anything, instead choosing to stay out of her way as she came storming into the house late at night only to lock herself up in her room. By the time the sun had risen to signal a new day, Melinda was out of the house already, allowing Haven to roam around freely without pestering stares or prying questions. Alas, her peace didn't last long, a persistent knock coming from her front door until she eventually gave in and opened it.

"What do you want?" she sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. Behind him, she could see Pope leaning out the window of John B's van, eyeing them closely as if making sure that JJ did what he was supposed to do.

"I wanted to apologise," he forced out with a monotone voice.

Haven laughed. To anyone else, you'd think it was her holding a gun to JJ's head instead of the other way around. "Sure you do, Maybank."

She went to close the door in his face — maybe she'd get a few hours sleep before her mum came home from her shift at the Country Club — only for him to step forward and wedge his foot between the door and its frame. "Hey, wait a second."

"JJ, let's not do this," she grumbled, her patience wearing thin. "I'm not an idiot. I know the others are making you apologise to me."

"They might've asked me to," he admitted, sparing an uncertain glance over his shoulder at Pope before sighing in defeat. "But I do mean it, Haven. I didn't mean to scare you."

She didn't know what to say for a moment. Sure, he hadn't outright said the words 'I'm sorry' in that sentence, but at least he was there. JJ Maybank was notorious for making mistakes and not admitting to them. Haven had a feeling this was the most she'd get out of him, at least for a while.

"Fine," she said. "I appreciate the apology."

With that, she tried to close the door again but like last time, JJ stuck his foot in the way before it could close. "We kinda need your help with something."

Of course they did.

Groaning in frustration, she returned his hopeful grin with a scowl. "You guys owe me, Maybank, big time."

She didn't bother closing the door behind her as she ducked into her room to change, knowing that it was inevitable JJ would find his way inside somehow.

And she was right.

When she re-entered into the living room dressed in the same denim shorts from the day before and an olive green crop top, she found JJ looking over the pictures her mother had put up on the living room wall when they first moved in. Most were of Haven growing up — there was one particularly bad photo of six-year-old Haven with a dora-esque haircut sitting on her dad's shoulders that Haven was sure JJ would bully her about — but there were also a few that had already been in the house when they moved in that seemed to have caught his attention. Melinda didn't like looking at the pictures of her and her brother as kids, but she couldn't stomach taking them down, or even the few her parents had of JJ.

"That's my mum," he commented when Haven appeared beside him. He pointed at a photo of a pretty blonde woman holding a baby that Haven had always wondered about but never had the nerve to question her mother on. She hadn't met Laura Maybank before she left but looking at the photo of her holding her son like he was a prized jewel, you never would've thought that she was unhappy. Her smile was glowing as she cradled JJ to her chest, her touch soft as Luke Maybank stood just out of the frame, only his hand present as he gripped her shoulder tight.

"She's really pretty," Haven murmured. "You look like her."

JJ looked at her with a strange combination of hope and sadness. "You think so? Most people say I look like my dad."

"No," she immediately disagreed. "You definitely have your mother's face."

They stood there in silence for what felt like forever before JJ sighed and turned away. Haven didn't pressure him to talk as the two made their way outside to an impatiently waiting Pope, Haven taking the passenger seat while JJ sprawled out in the back. He immediately started searching his surroundings for something, drawing back with weed in his hands which he quickly brought up to his lips. Clearly, the sight of his mother had been too much to handle.

"Is he okay?" Pope asked her softly as he turned up the radio, not wanting to alert the other boy of his concern but unable to keep the question to himself.

Haven nodded, though she seemed uncertain. "I think so."

He left it at that, neither of them wanting to push JJ as he smoked the car out with the scent of marijuana. They had more important things to think about for now.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

THE MARSH WAS JUST as hot, if not hotter, than it was the day before. The sun was relentlessly beating down on their backs as they anchored the boat off where they knew Scooter's grady white to be, John B gathering a bunch of oxygen cylinders for Kie and Haven to look over. Haven didn't know much about them, but her dad had liked scuba diving and he used to talk her ear off about the ins and outs of the sport. As for Kie, she was a kook and the boys immediately associated scuba diving with rich people.

"This is empty," Haven eventually declared, sharing an incredulous look with Kie before passing the cylinders over for her to double check.

"Yup, it is," she agreed with a frustrated sigh. What a waste of time. "You seriously took empty tanks, John B?"

"Okay, so that one might be empty, but what about that one?" he asked as he pointed at the one Haven was just about to check. He wasn't going to give up so quickly. They hadn't even been out on the marsh for ten minutes.

She examined the remote for a moment before saying, "Okay, so it looks like this one's a quarter full. Should be enough for one of us."

"That's just great," Kie sighed. "Does anyone know how to dive then? Anybody?"

"It's kind of a kook sport," JJ shrugged. Through the glare of sun, Haven could make out the redness of his eyes and knew even if he did know how to dive, it would not be safe for him to do so. The high from the drive back to the Chateau hadn't quite worn off yet. "So, Haven, why don't you take one for the team?"

Haven scoffed at him. "Just because I was a kook once doesn't mean I liked scuba diving. I don't even like to surf."

"Anyone else?" Kie asked.

"Wait, hold up," JJ cut her off, shooting Haven an incredulous stare like he couldn't quite believe what she'd just said. "You don't like surfing? What kind of Maybank are you?"

"My last name's Murphy, dumbass."

"Not important right now," Kie intervened before they could get too far off track. "What about you, Pope?"

"I read about it."

"Great, Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die."

"Look, you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?" JJ huffed.

"There is so much more to it than that, oh my god," Haven sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as Pope added, "Yeah, if you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood and you get the bends."

JJ cackled at that, arching his back against the boat and winking at Pope. "The bends like, bend over and—"

"The bends kill you."

"Oh."

"Look, I can dive," John B decided.

"I'm cool with that."

"What else do we have to lose?"

"Hold on, since when can you dive?" Kie raised a sceptical eyebrow at him. Unlike JJ and Haven, she wasn't about to let that one slide.

"I'll do it. It's fine."

"Okay," Pope nodded warily before looting around under the steering wheel for a pen and a scrap bit of paper to write on. "Let me do some calculations real quick."

As Kie and John B whispered to each other, Haven shuffled her way past them to stand opposite JJ and on the other side of Pope. She dabbed at her hairline with the edge of her shirt as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of her jaw. If she had known it was going to be so hot and gross out there, maybe she would've ignored JJ knocking on her door and just stayed home. Alas, she was stuck on a boat waiting for John B to miraculously figure out how to dive for the first time, and so she shed her shirt in the hopes of cooling down at least a little bit, an almost non-existent breeze hitting the back of her maroon one-piece swimsuit.

"Okay, so that boat's about thirty feet down, right? So it'll take twenty-five minutes at most at that depth, which means you need to take your safety stop at about ten feet. Alright? For two minutes."

As John B nodded in vague understanding, a splash echoed from behind him. Everyone turned in time to see Kie disappear over the edge with her shirt in hand, Haven chuckling as the boys watched with wide and confused eyes.

"Uh, what was that about?" John B managed to stutter out.

"I don't know, but I liked it," JJ stared at the space where Kie had been standing with his jaw dropped. "A lot."

"Of course you did," Haven smirked.

It was like the sound of her voice was enough to snap them out of their teenage boy trance. Pope flushed awkwardly before turning back to the paper he'd jotted his calculations on. John B just avoided her gaze and listened closely to whatever Pope was saying. JJ, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes in her direction, a violent blush flaring up on his face that only made her amusement grow.

"Anyways," he grumbled. "When you're down there, you look for the cargo hold."

He held out a key of some sorts that John B took sceptically, beginning the explanation on how to use it that Haven had no interest in listening to. Instead, she made her way over to where Kie waded through the water, reaching a hand down to help her back into the boat which Kie accepted gratefully.

"Your friends all have crushes on you," she snickered as Kie dried the water off her face. Haven included, once.

"Oh, please," she rolled her eyes. "It's not a crush, they just don't get much action."

At that, Haven burst into laughter, quickly muffling the sound but the boys were already frowning in their direction. "Something funny, cuz?" JJ asked as he wandered over to them.

"You're still blushing, JJ." She ignored the question in favour of poking at his face, giggling when he grumbled under his breath and swatted her hand away. "Aw, something wrong, cuz?"

"Enough, you two," Kie sighed as she stepped between them. She eyed them both for a moment before smirking. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were getting along."

"No chance," JJ scoffed before shooting Haven a weak glare then heading over to say some last words to John B. She just laughed before following him, nudging her way between her cousin and Pope, the former smiling gleefully while the other kept sparing wary glances around them like he expected the police to appear at any moment.

"Hey, if we get caught out here in the marsh, we're basically screwed so better get a move on."

"Copy that," John B nodded, beginning to adjust the scuba diving goggles over his eyes. However, before he could prepare himself to dive down, Kie was stepping towards him and pressing a hasty kiss to his cheek. He spluttered in shock, unsure what to do as she stood with a nervous smile on her lips. "Diver down?"

"Diver down."

Before anything else could be said — and rest assured, both JJ and Haven were eager to tease Kie after her little display of affection — John B jumped into the murky water and saluted them, before putting in the mouth-piece and disappearing below. For a moment, there was silence as the remaining four prepared to wait the twenty-five minutes it would take John B to come back up. But it didn't long for Haven to crack, grinning like a madwoman as she skipped over to Kie to press a loud and dramatic kiss to her cheek.

"Diver down, Kie," she cooed as JJ cackled from the opposite end of the boat.

"Stop," she whined, shoving Haven away from her and refusing to meet her amused gaze. Kie and John B; Haven would've never have thought of it, but they sounded nice together. "You're so annoying, you know that?"

"Please, you love me."

After that, there was silence again. Haven finally let Kie sit down in peace and joined Pope behind the steering wheel, stealing the boy's hat to shield her eyes despite his half-hearted protests. In the end, he smiled softly at her and began drawing little symbols on her outstretched palm, time painfully slow but neither seemed to mind. However, their serenity was soon interrupted by the piercing shriek of a siren. Pope jumped out of his seat, his pen drawing an uneven line along Haven's hand that she frowned at as she turned to follow his gaze.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

The police. You see, when she said earlier that Pope was looking around like the police were coming, she didn't actually mean it. But then again, what else did she expect from the pogues at this point? Next thing you know, they'd get shot at by some rogue mafia men on their way home.

"Just acting freakin' normal, guys," Kie hissed through her teeth as the others stood around uncomfortably. Kie, on the other hand, put on her best kook smile as the police boat slowed to a stop beside them revealing Shoupe and the same officer who'd been at the motel. "Evening, officers."

"Evening," Shoupe responded amicably before passing Pope the anchor. He stood back and watched as he and JJ hurried to tie it to the edge of the HMS pogue so that the police boat wouldn't float away. "How you kids doing? You know the marsh is closed?"

"Really?"

"Oh, wow."

"I didn't know that."

God, if that wasn't sus, Haven didn't know what was. She watched anxiously from her seat as Shoupe studied them, knowing from his perspective they were four untrustworthy teenagers out in the middle of a crime scene. They could lie as much they wanted, but it would be hard for him to actually believe them.

"Why is it closed?"

"We're conducting a search out here," he said slowly. "A boat went down."

"Oh."

"You seen anything?"

"No," both boys shook their heads, Pope laughing nervously, "No boats, right guys?" More hurried denials followed.

"Hm." It was so obvious Shoupe didn't believe them. Not only could they barely string a sentence together, but Haven's hands were shaking so bad she had to reach out and grip onto Pope's wrist, an action Shoupe caught and raised a curious brow at. She smiled, all teeth with no light in her eyes, as Pope moved closer and tried to make it look natural. "I'm gonna check your little boat out." But even then, he wasn't convinced.

After a couple minutes spent checking that the boat was safely equipped, Shoupe cast one long glance at the water around them before nodding to himself and retreating back onto his own boat. Haven had to stop herself from looking down to where John B would be waiting, that was if his air hadn't run out with how long Shoupe had taken with his inspection. However, once he'd said his goodbyes and suggested they leave the marsh as quickly as they could, she rushed to the edge with the others, all sharing a mixture of panicked and relieved glances.

"He's definitely out of air."

But against the odds, John B quickly broke the surface, a black bag weighing down one of his arms and a dazed smile on his face as he pulled the air piece from his mouth. He swam over to the edge for JJ to help him up while the others cheered, swinging the bag off to the side so he could get in.

"You okay?" Kie asked.

"I ran out of air," he panted out.

"Jesus," she muttered. "You scared the shit out of me."

"Of us," Haven corrected with a smirk in Kie's direction. "Don't do that again, dude."

"I'll try not to," he rolled his eyes before grinning and stripping off the scuba equipment.

He barely had a chance to relax, though, before Kie was calling out, "Hey, guys, there's a bogey two o'clock."

Uneasy silence consumed them. In the distance, an expensive white boat cruised the water towards them, in the closed marsh. If Haven and the pogues weren't meant to be out there, then this random boat had no reason to be either, especially in the spot where Scooter died. Something didn't feel right.

"Do you recognise that boat?" Pope frowned.

"I've never seen it," Kie said. "What are they doing back here? The marsh is closed."

Haven sighed. "I have a bad feeling, guys."

"Me too," John B agreed. "JJ, get the bowline."

Pope hesitated behind the wheel, clearly wary but not as anxious as the others. "Should we wait on them?"

"Are you kidding me?" Haven scoffed. "Why would you wait for the suspicious boat? Were you never taught stranger danger as a kid, Pope?"

"Guys, I really don't like the look of this," John B exclaimed.

The boat only got closer and closer, JJ's pulling of the anchor only getting more frantic as two burly men came into focus. At that, Pope didn't hesitate to pass John B the wheel to get them out of there. They quickly began to make their way into the marsh with the speed boat right behind them.

"Oh, fuck," Haven cursed as the panic really set in. Again, when she said two rogue mafia men coming to kill them, she didn't mean it literally. "Guys, we're being followed."

"Shit."

"Go faster."

"I'm going, I'm going," John B huffed, pressing on the accelerator and prompting the other boat to do the same.

No matter what they did, they couldn't lose them. Where they turned, the other boat turned. Where they sped up, the other boat sped up. They were men on a mission and they wouldn't give in until that mission was complete.

Haven was the first to see the shotgun. She shouted in pure terror just as the first shot rang out.

Oh, they were so screwed.