CHAPTER FORTY:
BROKEN AND BLOODY
(episode two: the heist)

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"THIS IS THE NORTH drain. It should've gotten washed into the gully."

As suspected, Haven and Brec reunited with the pogues again. Haven was surprised to see her girlfriend standing beside Pope and Kie when she and JJ joined them outside the storm drain the next morning. Brec Buchanan wore a sunny smile, her brunette curls pulled up in their usual half-up half-down look, a pair of denim overalls pinned over a red and yellow striped top. She seemed fine, happy even; unlike Arden and Kie, who stuck mostly to themselves while Pope and Brec chatted away about some medical book that both of them were interested in. Seeing them get along was strange for Haven. She hung back as JJ walked over to hesitantly greet Arden, who just smiled and kissed him, a silent sign that everything was okay again. For a second, she considered turning around and going back home to where Liam was looking after Logan for JJ and Arden, but she forced herself to march on over to Brec's side. Brec smiled at her, kissing her cheek, and Pope quickly looked away.

"Well, where do we start looking?" he asked JJ.

The blonde boy shrugged, gesturing down to the puddle of water that had pooled beneath the entrance to the drain. Haven's nose scrunched up at the scent that clung to the garbage floating in it, an expression then mirrored by Brec beside her. Oh, the things they would do to get their friends back... "So, if it got flushed out from this drain, it would've been pushed out to, like—"

"Somewhere in this trash," Pope finished.

"Correct."

There was a sigh as Kie stepped closer to the puddle. "My God. People who use plastic should be shot."

"Agreed," Brec piped up, much to Kie's surprise. Haven suppressed a smirk as she watched Kie and Arden exchange a put-off glance. "It's not that hard to use recyclable materials, right? The planet is alive, too, and we—"

"Okay, personally, I love plastic," JJ cut in, just because he could. Haven rolled her eyes and swatted at his arm, but JJ simply dodged the smack and laughed in her face. "Love the stuff. I use it everyday."

"That's not something to brag about, JJ," she shook her head.

Meanwhile, Kie's eyes had quickly everted from Brec to JJ. She glowered at him, retorting, "Well, hopefully you recycle it and don't let it flush into the ocean."

"You should get Haven to install a recycling system at your's and Arden's place," Brec suggested sweetly. All eyes drifted over to her and the girl in question. But where Brec just shrugged obliviously at their stares, Haven's face flushed red. Nobody was aware of just how much she'd liked Kiara Carrera when she first arrived in Outer Banks. Most of them knew about her crush, sure, but there were times where Haven used to doubt if she'd even moved on from her at all. So she kept the system, using it everyday. The only people who'd seen it were Kie herself, who'd initially overlooked it, and JJ but he wasn't too perceptive. Yet, neither was Brec, it seemed. "What? She has one at her house."

"I know, I've seen it," JJ said, briefly ruffling Haven's hair that was pulled back in two braids. "The recycling life just isn't for me, Brec the Cannon, but thanks."

"I thought you forgot that name," she sighed.

The sounds of their voices drifted away as Haven caught sight of what Pope was holding in his hands. Trash bags. They were insignificant, really, in the grand scheme of things, but Haven knew they'd mean a lot to Kie when he told her about them. He was doing everything he could to impress her... and it struck Haven hard, the sadness. But she swallowed it down, broken and bloody, and turned her back on the sound of their voices.

"I thought you'd say something like that," Pope said. Haven could hear the smile in his voice. It was sickeningly sweet. "So... trash bags."

"Did you just proactively protect the environment?" Kie chuckled with a soft edge to her voice. To Haven, it felt like a knife, and the killing blow just happened to be delivered by Brec's hand as she intertwined it with Haven's own. God, she hated feeling like this. Why couldn't she give it up?

Why? Why? Why?

"Maybe," Pope smirked, oblivious to Haven's inner turmoil. He never used to be. But what could she do?

Beside her, Haven saw JJ and Arden giggling to themselves as they watched the two friends dance around the edges of their feelings. Oblivious JJ and his viper of a girlfriend. Arden met Haven's eye and her smirk widened.

"God, could you two just get a room already?"

"Yeah, do you want us to leave you alone, or what's going on?" JJ added with a snicker.

Pope shook his head and slammed the roll of trash bags into the blonde boy's chest. "Just pick up the trash already."

Haven quickly snatched them from JJ's hands and ripped one off for herself and Brec. The two girls worked further away from the others, Brec mentioning a hang-out with Alison and Leonie later on in the day. Haven just nodded absent-mindedly, forcing down every disgusted gag as she searched the drain water for the gun. So far, nothing, and no one else seemed to be having any luck either.

"Well, that was fun," JJ said as they all re-grouped and chucked the bags up onto the bank.

"You and I have two very different definitions of fun, JJ," Haven huffed and wiped her dirty hands on his shirt.

JJ hissed at the feeling, smacking her hands away and scowling at the dirty marks he could now see on the blue material. "This is a new shirt, Haven."

Arden scoffed nearby. "JJ, you've had that shirt for three years."

"Exactly," he shrugged. "That's new."

Pope just shook his head and butted into their conversation, directing it back to the issue at hand. Where on earth was this wretched gun? "Look, if it's not in the trash, then it's gotta be somewhere in the storm drain."

Haven and JJ shared a simultaneous sigh as the realisation hit them. "It's in the drain."

"Damn it," Pope sighed.

"Of course it is," Arden grumbled from beside Kie. "When is anything ever easy for us?"

"So one of us has to go in there," Brec said when the group just went silent, hesitantly staring down the dark tunnel in front of them. "Any volunteers?"

When, again, nobody replied, and Pope and JJ attempted to divert the topic to the girls by focusing on dispatching the gated covering on the tunnel entrance, Kie immediately spoke, "What, are we gonna do rock, paper, scissors or something?"

"No way," JJ immediately shook his head. "I've played that game with Haven before and she always wins."

Haven laughed. "Yeah, that's 'cause you always choose scissors."

"Shh," he quickly made a shushing noise, holding a trash-scented finger to her lips that Haven quickly stepped away from with a glare. "You can't expose my secrets like that, Havey."

"Alright, then what about alphabetically?" Kie suggested, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Seems like you're setting me up here, Kie," Arden huffed.

"Or, like, the oldest goes?"

With a sigh, JJ turned his deadpan stare on her. "In the sewer, there's this worm that you get when you're down there. It gets into your blood, and then it has to come out your pecker. So, uh... that would be a hard pass from me."

Arden scoffed at him. "Reminds me of that ridiculous story you told us at the Crain House."

Immediately, Brec's eyebrows were raising in surprise. "You went to the Crain House? And made it out alive?" Her eyes went to Haven questioningly, but Haven just shook her head.

"It's best if you don't ask," she muttered. She might've left that out when telling Brec about the treasure hunt. Breaking into an old lady's home didn't sound that hot when you were trying to woo a girl into liking you.

Meanwhile, JJ and Arden were busy arguing, Arden snickering to herself as she attempted to push JJ into the drain. "Ard, I'm telling you," he shouted. "There's actually a worm. Let Pope go in my place, please."

"Yeah, it's going to be a no from me," the boy in question shook his head.

The girls stared at them in disbelief for a moment before sharing a sigh. "No, I get it," Kie said when they rushed to defend themselves. "I get it. You guys are scared."

"What? No—"

"It's kinda cute, right, girls?"

"It's the pecker thing," JJ insisted, but his response went unheard by everyone but Arden, who were too busy making room for Kie to enter the drain.

In response, Arden had just rolled her eyes, saying, "Our newborn baby is braver than you, Maybank."

"Well, now, that's taking it a bit too far—"

"Look, you don't have to be scared," Kie cut in with a laugh, one foot already in the drain. "I'll do it."

But Pope was quick to pull her back, his hand lingering on her wrist. Almost immediately, Haven's heart dropped, jaw clenching as he murmured softly, "Can you just, you know, be careful?"

Haven half-expected Kie to laugh like Haven might've once, kissed him like her life depended on it. She was preparing herself for it, for that painful moment where she couldn't turn her back on them anymore, but Kie just shrugged and pushed herself into the drain, calling you over her shoulder mockingly, "I'll be so careful."

The distant sounds of splashing could be heard as Kie's legs retreated out of sight. Haven attempted to duck down and watch her, but the scent of the water was too much and she stood back up, waiting in the back while Brec and the boys watched her go anxiously.

"Just, uh, holler if you need anything," JJ called out. "We'll..." Well, he didn't know what they would do. "Holler back?"

"Oh, that's very helpful, thank you," Kie's scoff echoed back to them.

After a couple minutes of radio silence, the group began to grow impatient. They could hear Kie's occasional curses, now quieter than they were before, but at least they still knew she was alive in there. But the gun was nowhere to be found... What if they were doing all of this for nothing? And the gun was long gone?

"Kiara, you find anything yet?" Pope called out nervously.

"Yeah, can you see the gun?" JJ added.

A second later, "Nothing!"

"It's probably at the bottom of the catch basin," Pope let out a sigh.

Kie didn't respond this time, leaving them with nothing to do but keep waiting. JJ and Arden immediately turned on Pope, who flushed under their expectant stares. "What?" he asked, shifting anxiously when they simply exchanged a knowing grin. "What? You two are creeping me out."

"We see you vibing on Kie, okay?" JJ said, wiggling his eyebrows at the blushing boy. "Give us the details, man, are we talking first base? Second base? Third base?"

Yeah, Haven wasn't doing this.

"I'm going to look in the water again," she said, though no one but Brec spared her a second glance.

Their voices were distant, but Haven pushed them out, her stubborn eyes raking through the grass and water uselessly. They'd already scoured the entire area and came up with nothing, but who knew, they could've missed somewhere... Or at least, that was what she told herself — no, screamed it over and over in her head as a smiling Brec came over to help her.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she kicked a stray piece of trash to the side. "You look a bit pale."

"Yeah," Haven chuckled nervously. "I'm fine. Just a bit tired."

"Oh, me too," Brec said, but Haven found herself tuning her out subconsciously. But just as quickly, she forced herself to turn to her, to give her every bit of attention as she rambled on about some argument she had with her eldest brother when she got home the night before. She wouldn't hurt Brec like this. She couldn't.

"Guys, I think I found something—"

For the first time in months, Haven was grateful for a distraction from Kie. She and Brec rushed back over to the tunnel as the others crouched down to call back.

"Is it the gun?" Pope shouted with a hopeful smile.

Seconds passed. Silence. Haven and JJ exchanged a confused glance, eyes widening when a sudden scream ripped through the air. "You guys, there's something dead in here!" 

"What!? Like a person?"

"I really did not need to hear that. Remind me not to touch her when she gets out."

Could you tell which response was Pope's and which was Arden's?

Kie didn't reply to their panic, just screaming louder. "There's something dead, I repeat, there is something dead in here!"

"Should have sent Haven down there." At the mention of her name, Haven looked up, eyes narrowing at Arden, who was already looking at her as she 'whispered' to Pope. She wanted to say something, to hit back that they should've thrown Arden in there and locked her in, but at the sound of Pope scolding the girl and JJ's hand on her wrist gripping tight in worry for Kie, she forced herself to turn away.

"Kie, don't touch it, that's how you get worms," JJ was busy shouting back to her.

Kie just kept screaming, prompting Pope's voice to raise as he asked the real questions for the group. "Did you find the gun, Kie? Is it Gavin?"

"You guys owe me for life," she finally howled.

"Yeah, we got that, honey," Arden sighed and slumped down onto the ground. No gun but a potential dead body... it was a harrowing thought.

"Guys, what if Ward put Gavin in the sewer?" JJ gasped, hands running through his hair in distress.

"That's disgusting," Haven moaned and clutched her stomach. The thought of Kie swimming in Gavin's body juices... she wanted to curl.

"Why would you say that, JJ?" Brec added on with a displeased frown. "I had a good breakfast this morning."

"What? It makes so much sense," JJ argued, but was quickly interrupted by Pope raising his hand in a silencing gesture. "Hold on. Do you hear that?"

"Hear what..."

At first, Haven couldn't hear anything but Kie's grumbles to herself. She went to step away when finally, the faint sound of running water began to get louder. Kind of like when you first turn on a tap and the water shudders before hitting your body at full blast.

"Guys, what's that..." she breathed out.

Then suddenly, "Oh, shit!" Kie yelled in terror.

In an instant, Arden leaned her head into the tunnel, looking ready to pounce in after her. "What's wrong, Kie?"

"Guys, the water!"

"Oh, my god," Brec gasped, one hand covering her mouth and the other latching onto the nearest person, which just so happened to be Pope. "What do we do?"

"Kiara, get the hell out of that," Pope cried. "We need to get her out."

But someone else had already had that thought. Ignoring JJ's protests, Arden launched herself into the tunnel, crawling like a snake into the darkness with nothing but a cry of, "Kie, I'm coming!" to explain her sudden, reckless, stupid decision. "Just hold on for me."

"I don't have time, guys!" Kie retorted, sobbing as the water sounds got louder and louder.

The next few minutes passed in a blur. The boys were screaming to no avail, Brec had started to cry, and Haven just sat numb, in shock. Fortunately, she had the good sense to tug Brec out of the firing line and up the bank. For just seconds later, water hit the boys at full speed, flooding the ground just inches away from Haven's combat boots. The boys struggled to regain their footing but managed to wade over to Haven and Brec. The girls quickly reached for their hands, tugging them up with them as JJ shouted about the manhole.

"Go! Go! Go! Go!"

This was more than just a search for a gun now. Haven pushed herself with everything she had, ankles threatening to give way as the group careened around buildings and down the street, searching for any signs that would lead to Kie and Arden. If they didn't hurry up, the girls would drown. They would lose two more friends, this time for good, and a little month old baby would be without her mother.

"Arden! Kie!" JJ was screaming at the top of his lungs, his hand loose in Haven's as he tugged her further along. If there was any chance of them hearing his voice, he wanted them to know they were trying. Haven, Brec and Pope echoed his shouts, sighing to themselves when they spotted the manhole covering just a few feet away. "Guys, we're coming!"

They dropped to the floor just as two pairs of fingers poked through the holes of the grate. They could just see Kie and Arden's scared faces through the cracks, pushed together in the tiny air pocket they had left with water rising up their torsos. They rushed to get them out, clawing frantically at the edges, four pairs of hands warring against metal that seemed glued into the asphalt. Haven huffed, feeling her muscles straining to the max as the water got higher, higher, higher.

"JJ, please hurry," she heard Arden sobbing. Haven would never forgive herself if Logan's mum died before she even got to live a life with her. She herself would never be able to live knowing she let her former best friend die before they could fix things. Her cries were like a sense of adrenaline, a sign for her to take her limits and shatter them.

"Pope! Pope! Haven!" Kie was shouting for her. In her last moments, she was screaming for a girl who had taken her heart and stomped on it, had turned her back to every plea, every look of longing. That had to mean something. "Haven, please!"

"We'll get you both out of there, I promise," Pope yelled desperately.

But it was no use. Just as he spoke, their begs were caught up in water overflowing. Haven wailed, like they were already dead, and felt metal slipping away before the grate suddenly ripped free of the earth like a tree without its roots. Kie and Arden appeared, coughing and spluttering, but alive. Haven fell back, her head in her hands, as the group settled, stunned. Arden was in JJ's arms, crying as he murmured words of comfort in her ear. Pope was trying to bring Kie into a hug, but she kept pushing him away, her own arms clutched around herself.

They were alive. Haven could see that. And yet, this brush with death had taken her back to a place that tore at her relentlessly, attempting to eat her alive.

"You alright?" Brec murmured when she kneeled down in front of her.

Haven wanted to say she was, but 'I'm fine' was too big of a lie after what they'd just had to do. So she shook her head, letting Brec hug her close. "I need to fix this."

Haven would be damned if any of her old friends died thinking she didn't love them, even a little bit. No, something had to change, and she had to be the one that took the first step.