CHAPTER TWENTY:
SUCKER PUNCH
(episode six: parcel nine)

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"SO, HERE'S THE PLAN. We need to look for the wheat near the water like it said in Denmark's letter," John B declared after several minutes of creeping around in Mrs Crain's maze-like yard. Haven swore it was never ending, from the dreary cluster of trees to the array of statues like the one that had scared JJ. It was hard to know where to even begin.

"Okay, what kind of water?" Pope asked. "Like, pond water?"

JJ cackled, momentarily drawing everyone's attention to him. "Bong water?"

Arden let out a sigh. "Yeah, JJ. Pope Heyward just said bong water."

"No, it—" John B cut himself off with a shake of his head, clearly deciding that correcting JJ's smart remarks wasn't worth it for once. "It said just look for water, okay?"

"That's the shittiest secret message ever," Kie grumbled to herself, shoving John B aside to keep walking.

"You want to complain a little bit more, Kie? Nobody said it was going to be easy."

Their voices faded as they wandered on ahead, leaving Haven and Pope stuck with the two idiots of the group. Arden was busy inspecting a series of creepy-looking garden gnomes while JJ hummed to himself, causing the other two to sigh and share a disbelieving look. Mrs Crain was definitely going to catch them, and it'd be because of Arden Kim and JJ Maybank.

"Okay, I'm going to search the North-East Quadrant and you can search the North-West Quadrant," Pope declared, pointing a finger into JJ's chest to get his attention.

"Ooh, I'm coming with you, Pope," Arden grinned as she skipped over to his side. She linked their arms together, shooting an obvious wink in Haven's direction while JJ looked on unimpressed. "Haven can go with JJ."

"Looks like I'm going with JJ," Haven sighed as Pope shot her a helpless shrug. Arden was forcefully dragging him after her, leaving Haven to linger awkwardly while JJ cursed to himself, staring at their allocated section in horror. "They've given us the decapitation quadrant."

It took Haven a second to realise he was speaking to her. "Oh, um—"

"Well, are you coming or not?" he asked as he made his way over. "I'm not waiting around for you."

"Oh. Okay."

The search was silent. Haven tried several times to break it, making jokes about the creepy faces on the statues. Sometimes, it seemed to work, and JJ would crack a smile before forcing a neutral expression back onto his face. Other times, he pretended like she wasn't even there at all. It left Haven feeling stupid and defeated as they eventually joined the others again. She didn't even comment as John B lead them into the basement of the house, just sighing as she swatted at some spider webs with a shiver of disgust.

"Yeah, I'm not staying down here," Arden declared as she walked right into a puff of dust, practically coughing up a lung as John B hissed at her to keep quiet. "I'm going back to the van. JB, give me the keys."

"Just try not to get caught on the way out, alright?" he sighed and handed them over. Arden hummed dismissively, snatching them up before racing back to the door. "I mean it, Arden."

"I know, I know," she rolled her eyes before pausing to turn back to Haven. "Have, you wanna come with?"

Haven hesitated for a moment, wincing as JJ began to sing to the tune of itsy-bitsy spider, his ominous words echoing off the walls as Pope hissed for him to shut up. It would've been better for her to go with Arden, but something told her to stay.

"I'm good," she said, shaking her head in confirmation as Arden raised an eyebrow. "You go. We'll be out soon."

"If you're sure."

With that, Arden Kim was out of there. Haven heard her gasping an 'I'm free' before she wandered out of earshot, forcing Haven to turn back to the grimy basement ahead. John B and Kie were in the lead, peering through dust-coated boxes and at rusted pipes with no sign of water or gold. Pope was dragging JJ along with him, seemingly having no luck either as they approached the others. Haven hurried to catch up with them, appearing at JJ's side just in time for Kie to sigh and shake her head.

"Another dead end."

"Just great."

"There's not even water on the pipes," JJ pointed out, running a hand over the dry metal and wrinkling his nose as dirt came back on his hand. "Not a dropamino."

"Know why we didn't find it?" Kie hummed while glaring at the back of John B's head. "Bad karma."

"Oh god, here we go."

"You know, we had a good thing going. And then you decided to rope in Barbie, and now the trail's gone dry. Coincidence? Probably not." Normally, Haven would be the first to agree with Kie when it came to Sarah, but this felt like a bit of a stretch. Them not finding the gold had nothing to do with Sarah Cameron's involvement, it was just the luck of the draw, but Kie was taking every opportunity she could to poke at John B's buttons.

"This is exactly why I didn't wanna tell you about Sarah," he snapped.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah," he scoffed. "What the hell's the deal with you two? And you—" He pointed an accusing finger over at Haven. "You, too."

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" he repeated with an wry laugh. "Is it because I kissed you, Kie? Is that the problem?"

A resounding slap echoed around the room. Pope and JJ gasped while Haven looked on with wide eyes. Kie had just slapped John B across the face, the boy's head still turned to the side from the impact.

"Stop treating me like I'm some girl that's obsessed with you, instead of your best friend who's actually trying to look out for you."

John B just blinked in disbelief. "Did you... hit me?"

Kie hummed in confirmation, raising her hand with a smug smirk. "Skeeter."

"Skeeter?" She barely had time to nod before her own head was snapping to the side, the hit echoing louder than the last.

"What the fuck, dude?" Haven scoffed, lips pursed in disapproval. It was one thing for Kie to hit John B, but it was so much worse if he was hitting back. "You can't do that—"

"Skeeter," he cut her off with a shrug.

Kie narrowed her eyes. "Where's your proof?"

He held up his hand with the dead bug splattered on his palm. She smacked him back on the chest, him returning the hit on her arm, before the two were laughing and smacking each other wherever they could get. Haven blinked at them, watching on unsurely with Pope and JJ sharing the same look. Well, that was definitely a way for them to solve their problems.

"I don't get it," Pope muttered to himself as he swatted flies away from his own body. "Why are there so many mosquitos in a basement?"

Haven groaned as several landed on her arms. She shook them away, already feeling the itch along her skin. "I'm starting to think I should've gone with Arden."

"She was thinking the right way," JJ nodded in agreement. "Tiny vampire bats won't leave me alone."

"Alright, I'm out," Haven snapped as another swarm of bugs replaced the last ones. "I'll stand guard outside, how 'bout that?"

"No, wait," Pope said, grabbing onto her arm and dragging her over to him.

"What is it?"

For a second, he just stared at the floor in thought, Haven unable to see what was so special about it. Then, he was stomping the heel of his shoe on the wooden floorboards, sounds echoing down below. Haven froze, the two sharing a confused yet hopeful look. They were supposed to be in the basement, aka the very bottom of the house. There shouldn't have been another layer below them, and yet the ground sounded hollow.

"Wait a second," Haven muttered, excitedly scouring their surroundings for something tiny enough to fit through a crack in the floorboards. "We've gotta test this."

She grabbed a pebble, passing it to Pope as he kneeled down and pressed his ear close to the wood. It was hard to hear over JJ chasing John B and Kie around with a doll he'd found and declared to be Mrs Cain's voodoo doll, but both him and Haven heard the notable splash of the pebble falling into water.

"Oh, my god," she gasped. "There's no way."

Pope smiled up at her, "We've done it."

The two immediately got to work pushing the floorboards aside. They were heavier than expected, creating a lot of noise as they collided against each other and finally caught the attention of the others.

"Guys, what are you doing?" John B exclaimed.

"Are you trying to get us caught?"

"Help us move this," Pope shouted, ignoring their hisses for them to 'quiet down.' "John B, help us."

"Okay, okay," he sighed, raising his hands in surrender before kneeling beside Haven and assisting the girl in heaving a particularly heavy plank aside.

One after the other, they were stripped away to reveal a never-ending chasm of darkness right below them. The well stretched on for miles, seemingly with water at the very bottom. Maybe, this wasn't a dead end after all. The gold could be right there.

"Well, well, well," Pope breathed out as they all paused to just stare at it.

"That was a good dad joke," John B chuckled in amusement before remembering what they'd just managed to find.

"They built this part of the house right over it," Kie said.

"Do you think they knew?" 

"Maybe," JJ said. "Oh, this is definitely where she hid the bodies."

Pope shot him a dark look. "Seriously, dude? Come on."

"Hey, I'm dead serious."

"Stop it."

"It was never an outhouse."

"JJ, I swear to god," Haven hissed. "One more word and I'm pushing you in there."

JJ smirked at her. "Do it. At least I'll be filthy rich."

"More like dead."

"Anyways," Pope scowled. "We found water."

Everyone turned to John B, the only one who'd stayed quiet since their discovery. A smile appeared on his face as he finally looked up at his friends. "We're going to need a really big rope."

They had done it.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 

TRUST. THE FOUNDATION OF a good friendship. To bear your heart and soul to another person, believing they'd take your darkest pieces and protect them from the horrors of the world. Trusting someone was whispering secrets in the shadows of your bedroom after a night of movies and stolen cruisers from your mum's stash. Trusting someone was knowing they'd have your back whenever you needed them; day or night, they would always be there for you. To trust someone was to love them, and to suddenly lose that trust was to question just how powerful love really was.

Haven Murphy, without a doubt, once said that she trusted Kiara Carrera with her life. Kie was her person, someone who took Haven's flaws and saw them for what they were instead of what they made her out to be. Haven loved Kie, and she thought Kie felt the same. But sometimes, anger outweighed love. It was a thorn in one's side, a disease festering in your heart. Where your head and heart weren't aligned, and you spoke before you thought. Sarah Cameron ignited anger in Kiara Carrera time and time again. She'd been pushed too far already, but seeing Sarah sitting on John B's porch like she belonged there sent her over the edge, and Haven was caught in the crossfire.

"No effing away." Everyone winced at the fire in Kie's eyes. She stood in the centre of the circle of friends, framed by the arch of the porch steps. Sarah was on the couch opposite her, lips pursed as Kie spoke about her like she was nothing but dirt on her shoe. "You brought her here? So, what, she's in on this now?"

The silence said enough. John B looked at the rest of his friends for assistance, but Haven and Arden just looked away while Pope shrugged and JJ muttered, "Look, all I care about is that her cut comes out of your share."

John B sighed and went to placate Kie but she cut him off with a bitter laugh. "You know, I don't remember taking a vote. This is our thing. A pogue thing."

Haven had to agree. She and Kie had said time and time again that they were out if Sarah was in. She had no idea how John B thought they'd change their minds if he surprised them with her presence. She glanced over at Pope and JJ, wondering what was going through their heads as the middlemen of sorts. JJ seemed unbothered as he lounged back in his chair, but Pope was nodding along with Kie.

"I gotta say, I'm just a tad uncomfortable with all of this..." he said, Kie shooting him a thankful smile while John B just scowled, "When are you not uncomfortable, Pope?"

"I don't know, I rode here on the back of JJ's bike pretty comfortably," he retorted.

JJ turned towards them at the mention of his name, grinning as he fist-bumped Pope. "It's true. Most relaxed I've ever seen him."

"That's cute, guys," he rolled her eyes. Haven pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration; they were getting nowhere at this rate and wouldn't resolve anything if John B didn't just listen to them for once.

"You know, we were all extremely comfortable until you brought her here," Kie exclaimed, looking Sarah up and down in disgust.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here," she snapped, prompting Kie's eyes to narrow.

"Then leave!"

Sarah scoffed, arms crossed as she turned to pout at John B. "I told you."

"Told him what, exactly?" Kie spat. "That you're a liar?"

"No, that you're a shit-talking bitch."

The atmosphere shifted immediately. John B sat back in shock as the two girls got in each other's faces, Arden and Haven stepping forward to intervene while JJ and Pope exchanged sly glances and placed bets on who they thought would win if a catfight broke out. Haven could see Kie's patience wavering, the urge to lash out and hit Sarah where it hurt stronger than ever.

"Says the unreliable bitch who allowed her brother's douchebag friend to hurt Haven at your party," she shouted as Sarah continued to point out every flaw of Kie's. Haven froze at the mention of her name, the rest of Kie's words echoing in her head as Arden's grip on her arm loosened. "You didn't do shit when Darren died, Sarah, and he was on his way to your house! You can't make out like I'm the bad guy when you've been a bad friend to more than just me!"

No one said anything for a moment. John B looked confused as he glanced between Haven and Sarah, the latter curling into his side with wide eyes. Pope and JJ both looked angry, the former rising out of his chair to slowly approach where Haven stood behind a horrified Arden and a guilt-stricken Kie. Lines had been blurred. Trust had been broken. Where were they supposed to go from here?

"Haven..." Kie trailed off, unsure what to say as the girl looked up from the ground. She was there, but not really. "Haven, I'm sorry—"

"You had no right to do that."

"Haven—"

"No," she snapped, backing away from Kie as she attempted to reach for her. "My problems with Sarah are my own. You don't get to use them as a way to win an argument."

"That wasn't what I was trying to do."

Haven just scoffed, shaking her head as Arden harshly grabbed Kie by the shoulder. "Take a walk, now." Kie just stared at her blankly, hands shaking as the regret hit her hard. "Go, Kie."

"No, she can stay," Haven said. "I'm leaving."

Ignoring her friends' protests, she stormed off the porch without a glance back. If John B wanted Sarah to stay, that was fine. Haven would take herself out of the equation. She didn't want to be anywhere near him and his new girlfriend. She didn't want to face Kie, who'd taken secrets Haven had trusted her with and thrown them in Sarah's face as ammunition. It didn't matter what Sarah had done; Haven knew she didn't deserve that. No, she was better off alone. From John B, Sarah, Kie, JJ, Arden, Pope. If losing them meant easing the ache in her chest, then Haven Murphy would let them go.

Someone was shouting her name somewhere behind her. Haven had walked several yards away from the Chateau without realizing it, the house no longer in sight. The distance helped somewhat, but someone had followed her to see if she was okay; Pope.

"Haven, wait a second," he called out as she looked at him over her shoulder. He was always there.

Sighing, she stopped just shy of somebody's jetty. Tears were streaming down her face, her chest tight with sobs. She hadn't noticed it before, but something about Pope's worry for her had sharpened reality back into focus. What was she thinking when she said she could lose him? Or any of them? Even Kie, who had torn Haven's heart from her chest and played it like it meant nothing.

"Pope, just go back to the others."

"Kie had no right to say that."

"It doesn't matter," she mumbled.

"No, it does." Silence. Haven looked down at her feet while Pope hesitated. He'd seen her cry way too many times. Haven hated it. "Can I hug you?"

But maybe she could deal with it on another day. A fresh round of tears fell as she nodded, reaching out to him as he moved closer and brought her towards his chest. She didn't know what was happening between them, but in that moment, he was her friend. She needed someone to be there, to tell her everything was okay even if it wasn't.

"Why would she do that to me?" she whimpered.

"I don't know," he sighed.

Haven let out another sob, burying her face into his chest. Pope just held her tighter. He'd be there as long as she wanted him to be.