CHAPTER THIRTY ONE: WE UH, LOST THEM

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"you're gonna have to hurry, waters. the storm is getting worse by the minute," shoupe addressed, handing me the piece to speak into.

"okay," i took a deep breath.

"john b, it's elsie. i'm here, and i want you to listen to me. you're innocent. ward and rafe are going to jail. you don't have to worry anymore, you can turn back!" i said to him, hoping the words coming out of my mouth would persuade him.

"elsie, you're cutting out a bit. but you know i can't do that," he screamed in reply.

"but why?"

"ward's still considered as my adoptive father," he let out. we don't have time for this, i thought.

"no, john b. not anymore," i looked at shoupe, who gave me a reassuring nod, "you can live somewhere else. my aunt could take you in, or kie's parents, or hell, maybe even pope's. the point is, we're not letting the dcs get you. you hear that? it's all over john b. all you need to do is just turn the phantom around, okay?"

"are you sure?" he inquired, wondering if this was some kind of setup.

i sighed lightly, "john b, i wouldn't be talking to you otherwise. you have to turn around now! or else you might not make it through the storm!"

"okay, i'll turn her around," john b spoke, and a relieved grin spread on my face. a few beats of silence passed.

"you got it?" i asked.

"yeah, i'm working on it, elsie. i'm just trying to-" the sound of a large wave crashing overtook the mic before it cut out.

"huh? john b?" i said to him, awaiting a response. "john b?" still, nothing came.

"we've lost the radio signal," a man called out to us.

"those are kids out there," shoupe took a mic and announced to everyone, "don't stop looking. stay here elsie."

him and a few other cops put on neon raincoats, exiting the tent. minutes past, and the sirens everywhere were starting to bother my ears.

"someone get her a medic," one cop spoke to the others.

"it's not that serious," i attempted to compromise, but still somebody came.

"what happened?" a middle-aged nurse walked into the tent with a bag full of supplies.

"her head needs some attention. nothing too serious, but she needs a bit of cleaning up. needs to stay here though," a sheriff spoke to the lady who began grabbing supplies to tend to my head.

"this is gonna sting, alright?" she grabbed a medical pad and pressed it against the cut that rafe had left earlier. the nurse continued to tend to the minor wounds i had as nerves ran through my body. "that should do for now," she stood up, patting my shoulder before leaving.

"thanks."

after a few more minutes of waiting that was pure torture, shoupe and his crew walked back in.

"so?" i stood up nervously, scared to hear what he had to say.

"we uh, lost em, elsie," the harsh words rolled off his tongue hesitantly.

"what?" i leaned forward, making sure i had heard what shoupe said correctly. "no, you can't be telling the truth. i mean, you heard him! he turned around!"

"a wave must've him them. i'm so sorry, but they're gone."

they're gone. who knew that two simple words could be so powerful and hold such a meaning?

"no," i shook my head, wanting nothing more than for him to say he was joking. "i need to see my friends," the words got stuck in my throat, reality still not sinking in.

"shoupe, i need to see my friends!" i raised my voice, repeating myself, beginning to nearly go crazy.

"all right. i know. let's go," he lead me out of the tent. the feeling in me was something i couldn't describe; it couldn't possibly be real.

put on a brave face, i thought. for kie. for pope. for jj.

oh god, jj.

"alright, come on," the sheriff pointed to the right; the tent where the pogues were. i walked up to the chairs they were sitting in, my eyes fixated on the ground. looking up, i was met with the other three staring at me, waiting for something. anything to come out of my mouth.

i fiddling with my fingers as i eyed the three, not knowing what to say to them.

"angel, what happened?" jj looked me dead in the eyes, immediately noticing something off. i looked up at him as my lip quivered, tears stinging my eyes. 

"did you find them?" pope walked up to shoupe threateningly.

after a long pause, sheriff shoupe shook his head, "no."

"so they got away?" kiara grimaced, her mind automatically thinking of a positive outcome. but jj glared at me, and without even a word, he could tell that that wasn't the case.

"we uh, we lost them," shoupe finally revealed, the weight hitting my shoulders all over again. "i'm sorry."

with that, i bit my lip, trying my best to hold back tears.

"you lost them?" pope tried to understand the situation. "what do you mean you lost them? like, like, they're gone? what are you talking about?" i tightly closed my eyes, my heart breaking all over again hearing pope in a state of denial.

"pope-" i let out, tears filling in my eyes.

"they took an open boat into a tropical depression, pope," shoupe explained to him, but it still wasn't fully processing for the three of them.

"so they're dead?" kie scoffed.

"we don't know," shoupe answered truthfully, but it was really just a nice way of saying yeah, they're gone.

after a brief pause, the blonde boy began to rage. "you drove them right through the storm, man! are you kidding me! come here man!" i simply stood and watched him yell at shoupe, the tone of his voice being completely distraught and hurt.

"jj, stop!" kie sobbed.

"i'm gonna kill you! i'm gonna kill you, you bastard!" another police officer had to pry jj off of shoupe before the boy went insane.

"he didn't kill anyone, and you know it!" pope pointed at shoupe accusingly.

"you're right. elsie proved him innocent. ward and rafe are under arrest. we're still looking for your friends, all right?"

"pope, pope. just stop. please stop," kiara cried, pulling him in for a tight embrace as i stood and watched this all go down.

a few moments later, kie and pope's parents arrived. i stood there, wanting nothing more than to see my aunt standing with them, but nobody was there for jj or i. the two of us stood there for a short moment before i caught him looking at me out of the corner of my eye.

we held onto one another, almost as if we'd die if we let go.

"i'm so sorry. i'm sorry. i begged him to turn around, jj. i begged-"

"shhh," he whispered to me as he ran his hands up and down my back as tears silently fell down his cheeks. i held onto his waist tightly as tears soon began to fall from my eyes as well.

the entire time, i had always thought that we'd have a happy ending.

at one point, i truly believed that we'd claim the royal merchant. but eventually i realized that that wasn't going to happen.

but i had no idea that things would get worse than that. i had no clue that we'd lose a pogue in the process.

and to think that this was supposed to be the best summer yet.

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{1275 words}

okayyy. so, this is where the series technically ends, but not the book! there's a bit more to tell of this story :)

did i nearly cry watching this scene as i wrote this chapter? yes.

ally