WITHOUT Kiara, the Pogues continued on their mission for the Cross of Santo Domingo, heading to the Cameron Estate after Rafe and the truck.

The old van came to a halt in front of the stone gates of the mansion, and the five remaining teens pile out. It was the dead of night by now, the only sounding coming from the neighborhood being the chirping of crickets and hooting of owls.  Due to the lack of sound, Eden tries to keep her footsteps quiet against the grass.

"He's got the truck." Pope announces, voice in an audible whisper as he pointed over the fence. 

The announcement causes the Pogues to rush even faster towards the fence, John B. reminding them to keep down with a chant of, "Stay low, stay low, stay low, stay low."

Eden stands on her tip toes, peering over the fence to watch as the truck they'd seen earlier halts in the Cameron driveway. The door opens and Rafe Cameron steps out, as the Pogues had seen earlier.

Eyes narrow at the thought of Rafe Cameron having his cross in his grasp, Pope mutters, "How much do you wanna bet Rafe has the cross inside that truck right now?"

Rafe's eyes scan the perimeter of the yard before he enters the house, door clicking as he shut it behind him. Across the lawn, his sister gives a light shrug before beginning to back away from her friends, "There's only one way to find out."

"Hey, hey—Sarah." Eden lightly steps away from the wall, staring at the girl. Her eyes take in her tired expression, her dirty clothes, the way she seemed to want to get everything over with simply the way her lips down turned. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Sarah gives a curt nod. She knows her brother tried to drown her the last time she saw him, but she'd be fine. Besides, they needed to see whether or not the cross was in the back of the truck for sure, and she knows there was no one else who'd want to go. 

Eden steps back, "Okay." 

The blonde girl begins to walk towards her house once more, but is once again stopped as another friend stepped in to speak to her.

"Hey, hey—wait." John B. jogs away from the wall and towards his ex.

Sarah whips around as she's interrupted from going into her yard again, "What?" 

"Look, okay, before you volunteer on this death mission, I just....I need to know a couple things—" 

Sarah retorts, "'Death mission', that sounds familiar..." 

"Okay, look, Sarah, I just have questions."

"About what?"

"Us." 

As Eden hears the word, she has to stop herself from rolling her eyes—they couldn't be doing this here and now. Out of all the times John B. had to confess his love, he chose the moment they didn't have time?

"Oh, Jesus Christ." Eden scoffs under her breath, looking at the ex-couple.

Sarah too seems surprised by the sudden statement, guffawing, "Us?"

"Yeah, Sarah, come on—"

"You wanna talk about us right now?"

"Yes, I'm—I'm sorry, okay?" the Routledge boy thickly swallows, "I'm...I'm sorry. And I should have said it sooner." He moves a hand to his pocket and pulls out a dirty string of bandanna, fiddling with it as his gaze softened towards the Cameron, "I want you to have this back. Will you take it?" 

Sarah's gaze flickered against his for a moment, mouth opening and closing as she tried to figure out what to say. However, action seems to overpower any word that could have possibly left her mouth as she grabbed the side of his neck, pulling him in for a passionate kiss.

Eden shakes her head as she looks away, JJ scoffing as Pope closes his eyes like a child watching a PG-13 movie, the trio clearly unamused with the kiss.

"Does that answer your question?" the Cameron hums, resting her forehead against the Routledge's.

John B. is unable to hide his smile as he breathes, "Yeah."

Sarah snatches the thin piece of bandanna as she walks away, "And yeah, I want this back."

"Okay." the Routledge boy mutters, "Be safe."

Eden cringes at the familiar phrase, reminded of the night they broke into the Crain house where John B. said the words to Sarah, causing a playful teasing from her and Kie towards the blonde. John B.'s words to his girlfriend never failed to make Eden relish her singleness. 

As the blonde stalks away, John B. turns around with a giddy smile, returning to his friends. There's a small amount of pep in his limp, the Routledge wiping his lips as he reminisced on the fact that he had Sarah Cameron back. 

"Do you want, like, a round of applause or something?" Eden offers, holding out her hands teasingly to start clapping. "Or the MTV Movie Award for best kiss?" 

Pope adds in an annoyed whisper, "Yeah, do you want me to perform your vows while you're at it?" He keeps a side eye on the Routledge as he returns against the wall, "Jesus Christ, could you take any longer?"

JJ scoffed amusedly, "Did you say 'be safe' ?"

"I did say 'be safe'." John B. admits.

Eden rolls her eyes as she gets on her tip toes again, "Yeah, and it mentally killed me."

The group watches as Sarah runs into her lawn, climbing up on to the truck and peering through the vehicles window.

"What is she doing?" Pope whispers.

The Cameron hops off the truck and turns to her friends, flailing her arms into the air. Her mouth moves, but between the distance between the group and the darkness the group can't understand what she's trying to say. The Pogues motion for the girl to return, but she does the exact opposite, heading towards the house instead.

Sarah backs away, gesturing with her hands that she would be okay. However, the Pogues don't take that as enough reassurance and quickly try to retrieve her.

"No! No—don't go inside!" Pope shook his head.

JJ turns towards the Routledge, "Did you tell her not to go inside? You said don't go in the house—"

"I told her!" John B. defends.

Eden turns to him, "No you didn't—"

"Do—do the bird call." Pope stutters, looking at the Routledge boy with an expecting expression. 

John B. slightly hesitates before putting his hands around his mouth, poorly imitating a bird with his voice to try and gain Sarah's attention without screaming, "Ca-caw! Ca-caw!"

"What?" Pope's eyes bulge out of their sockets as he whips around to face the boy, less than impressed with the sound. "That's not what a bird sounds like."

"Really natural, John B." Eden sarcastically comments as Sarah enters the house, ignoring whatever sound left his lips. "Sounds just like a bird I'd pass on the street." 

"Ca-caw! Ca-caw!" the Routledge continues to mimic a bird calling, met with no avail other than annoyed and unimpressed expressions from his three friends. 

JJ furrows his brows, "Was that a dying chicken?"

"It's not—it's a whistle," Pope stuttered before beginning to let out a whistle. 

John B. lifts himself over the fence with merely a warning, "I'm going over—Eden, you too." 

"I don't even get a fucking say anymore." Eden mumbles under her breath as she trudges after the Routledge. JJ doesn't hesitate before crouching down, the Bexley stepping against his open palm for momentum as she hoisted one leg over the wall. 

JJ and Pope copy the movement, and the four teens almost make it over the wall before getting halted by the honking of a vehicle and it's headlights against their figures—so much for being sneaky.

"Uh, excuse me!" A voice echoes, and Eden cautiously turns her head towards the road at the frail sound. "Can I help ya?"

The Bexley looks down to see an old man getting out of a golf cart, breath slightly hitching at the rifle in his grasp. She wants to ask who the hell carries such a gun around while driving a golf cart around the neighborhood in the dead of night, but decides it would be better not to say anything at all.

"I got double-aught bucks in this thing, so, uh....I can't miss." The old man cocks the rifle, making eye contact with each of the teens as they fearfully look down at him. "Alright there, buddy, off the wall." JJ is the first to hop off the wall, not losing eye contact with the man. "That's it. Yeah."

JJ lifts his hands in the air, "Sir, it's not what it seems."

"You boys are on the wrong side of the island." The man took note of their scraggly appearance and dirty clothes, a dead giveaway they resorted on the Cut. As John B. and Pope slowly get off the wall, he looks over at the remaining girl, "Miss Bexley, is that you?"

Eden didn't know who this man was, but she tries to use her reputation to her advantage. Raising her hands in the air, she offers a light smile, "Yes, sir."

"What are you doing around here with these derelicts?" The man didn't seem updated on the fact that she was more Pogue than she ever was a Kook—that she ran around with these three so-called 'derelicts'. He moves his gaze to the three boys who'd dropped down to their knees, "I think I'm gonna call the police on them."

JJ's jaw slightly clenches as he looks up at the man, "You don't have to do that, sir."

"I'll decide for myself what I need to do."

"Hi, uh, sir? Could I speak for a minute?" Eden puts on her more pleasant voice, hopping off the wall in front of the man. Her mind wracks for an excuse as to why they could hopping the Cameron wall in the dead of night, and she quickly spews, "I know what it looks like, and I know you think these are just three derelicts from the Cut, but they were more than that to Mr. Cameron." 

John B. stiffly agrees, "Sure were."

"They were actually Mr. Cameron's old yard workers." Eden manages to spit out, glancing down at the boys, praying they went along with her bullshit of a story.

JJ stands up, pulling his hat solemnly down to his chest, "We were just waiting for our yard associate.....Jay—"

"Tommy." John B. mumbles.

"Tommy—" JJ corrects, trying to stay as smooth as possible as he continued with the story the girl beside him had started, "—to get back from planting a row of flowers for Mr. Cameron's memorial." He gestures towards Eden, "Miss Bexley is actually my girlfriend, and with her close Cameron connections, watches over us to make sure we're respecting the property. She's also planning on escorting us inside so we can send Rose our condolences."

Eden gave a small nod and a reassuring smile, and the man seems to believe their story as he nods, "Keep talking."

JJ steps forward to begin speaking, but a sudden muffled scream takes Eden's ears away from the blonde and back towards the house. She steps back towards the fence and peers over it, watching as the door to the Cameron household clinks shut.

Her eyes scan the perimeter for Sarah, but she's unable to spot the girl. The sudden scream and the shutting of the door so perfectly afterwards doesn't sit right with the Bexley, but she's unable to comment as the old man's voice speaks to her.

"Something wrong, Miss Bexley?" He raises a brow.

JJ clears his throat, "Yeah.....babe?"

Eden tries not to cringe at the name, returning to her act as she hums, "Just checkin' on Tommy." She spares a final glance to the house before returning her attention to the conversation so as to not seem suspicious. 

JJ spares her another glance before continuing with whatever he was saying to the man, ".....the Knight of the Rhododendron lives on—" he pats the man over his heart, "—in here. That's why we plant those flowers."

"Sure." John B. blankly hums, "Yes."

"Yup. That's why." Pope nods. 

JJ looks at the man, "You smell that, right?"

The man sniffed the air, "What is that? Night-blooming jasmine?"

"No, that's more like, um....like, uh...." JJ trails off, mentally cursing himself as he fumbles to find an answer. A name pops into his mind, and he barely has time to truly think it through before he states, "Sir, that's um...natural Viagra."

Eden has to stop herself from laughing, John B. and Pope sharing a wide eyed glance before trying to stop the boy from pulling yet another phrase out of his ass that blew their cover.

"Okay!" John B. pulled the boy back.

Pope grabs a hold of his shoulder, "Yeah!"

JJ nods along with his words, "That's what it is."

The old man's eyes widen and his voice rises in disbelief, "Really?" 

"One sniff and bam! It's hammer time!" JJ slammed his  hand flat into his open palm in emphasis, nodding at the man, "You know what I'm saying?" He wraps an arm around Eden and pulls her closer, "You can ask my girlfriend, she'll tell you how well it works—"

Eden blinks owlishly, nodding at the man as convincingly as she could for him to believe JJ's words. "Oh, so well, sir."

"Our associate Tommy should be out here any minute." Pope tries to finish the conversation by interjecting, wanting to get over the fence.

"We'll be quiet, alright?" JJ reassures, putting a hand on the man's shoulder, "And we'll finish up here. I'm so sorry to bother you." He ushers the old man back to his golf cart.

The man nods, "I'll see that you do." 

Eden sends him a light tipped smile, "Have a good night, Sir!"

"I gotta get some of them flowers."

The man hopes in his golf cart and drives off, the four teens sending waves and goodbyes until he is out of view. Once he was, JJ is quick to throw his hat back on and practically throw himself over the fence, "Let's go!"

"Cute girlfriend skit." Eden rolls her eyes before stepping on John B.'s open palm to hitch herself over, too. Her eyes dart towards the house before she looks at the three boys behind her. "I'm gonna go in and get her, okay? When you guys were talking, I heard something and I don't feel right at all."

John B. steps forward, "Let me go—"

"No, no. You get caught in that house and Rafe won't hesitate to kill you." Eden states, reassuring her friends that it was best if she just went herself. Her eyes trail over the perimeter, breath hitching when she notices her mother's familiar white SUV. "I have a reason." 

JJ puts a hand on the Routledge's shoulder, giving a small nod, "She has a point, man."

John B. thinks for a moment before conceding, "Okay. Be—"

"You say 'be safe' and I'm leaving the friend group." Eden turns around and starts heading towards the house. 

Under his breath, the Routledge boy mutters, "I was gonna say be careful." 

Eden rolls her eyes before treading towards the Cameron estate. She tries to keep her footsteps quiet against the grass, sneaking around the front of the truck. She notices the driver's seat door being open—Sarah must have come through.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots the back doors of the truck hanging open. Curious on whether the cross was there, Eden backs up towards the open doors to peer inside the giant compartment, ready to spot the familiar gold gleaming back at her.

However, her thoughts are horrifically wrong as she peers inside to see Renfield's lifeless corpse instead.

"Oh my God." The phrase leaves Eden's lips in a shaky whisper. She can feel the bile rising in her throat as he body naturally falls into a state of shock—she'd never seen a dead body before. "Oh my God..."

She backs away from the open doors, Renfield's glazed over and vacant eyes engraved into her head. A soaked spot of blood covered his t-shirt, signifying that he'd been shot. 

 Eden continues to back away from the truck, mind a race of thoughts. What had happened? What had Rafe done? Was her mother involved with another murder? If  Rafe done this to Renfield......where was Sarah?

Sarah. 

Eden feels her chest tighten as she pictures Sarah in the house with Rafe. Renfield was a fighter, and had much on the Cameron girl—if Rafe was able to shoot him with ease, she didn't want to picture what he'd do to Sarah. 

She had to go get her now.

The Bexley crept towards the front doors, hands cautiously hovering over the door handle before she opened it with a light click. She can hear muffled voices coming from a different corridor, and quickly enters the home, not bothering to shut the door after herself.

Feet light, Eden quietly made her way down the hallway. She tried to hear for Sarah's scream's of help or her voice in any form, but she can't hear any sign of the Cameron girl at all—where was she? 

That question is answered for Eden as she spots the girl in a chair, head limply hanging off the seat as if she were unconscious.

Her brows furrow, but she doesn't allow any sound from her lips as she treads towards the chair cautiously. Eden looks at Sarah—her eyes are closed, chest rising and falling rather slowly—and then down at the room around her, trying to figure out what had happened.

There was no way the girl would have simply fallen asleep.

There was a tea cup lying on the floor below where Sarah's hand limply dangled off the arm rest, a little amount of liquid spilled against the wood. A tea-set to go with the cup sits on the small table beside the couch.

However, it's the container of prescription drugs sitting on the tray beside the tea-set that really catches Eden's eye.

"No..." the Bexley whispers under her breath, kneeling down to the floor. She picks up the small container, reading over the label—it was an anti-anxiety pill, a relaxer. Something that could most certainly get someone to the point of utter drowsiness and borderline unconsciousness if used in a large enough amount.

There was no way they drugged Sarah, right? 

"Hey, Sarah?" Eden keeps her voice quiet, but brings a hand up to brush against the blonde's open palm. She tries shaking the girl's arm in an attempt at trying to gain some sense back into the Cameron. "Can you hear me? Sarah—"

"Eden."

Eden quickly stands up from her crouch, whipping around to see Rafe Cameron standing a few feet away from her. 

"Rafe." Eden replies, trying to hide any sort of shakiness in her voice. She meets his cold gaze with a firm, "What did you do to her?" 

Rafe scoffs, "I didn't do shit."

"You drugged her." Eden spits, pointing to the bottle of pills upon the tray. "What the hell are you planning—what did you do?"

The Cameron boy stalks towards her, "You'll be in on it all soon enough."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean—" She barely finishes her words before Rafe harshly grabs a hold of her wrist, pulling her towards him rather harshly. The blonde starts to drag her out of the room, adjusting his hold so he was holding her around her waist as he shuffled away with her. 

At the feeling of his hands around her figure, Eden feels her chest tighten in fear. She tries to scream, "Rafe—get off me! Let go of me!"

"You're fine." Rafe grits, fighting against her resistance and heaving her into the other room. The boy halts in front of the front doors, keeping his hold even tighter on the Bexley as he yelled out, "Isla! Rose!"

 The Bexley tries to wiggle out of his grasp, but given his advantage of height and strength on her, she couldn't do much as he hauled her down the hallway. Eden tries to stop the familiar tightening of her chest—she couldn't afford a panic attack right now, not when Rafe had her. 

Rafe drags her in front of a white door, holding her against him as he opens the door before shoving her within. Eden barely allows herself to stumble before whipping around, storming towards the door as it slams shut behind her.

"What the fuck!" the Bexley slams her fist against the wall. Her other hand harshly jiggles the handle, a frustrated grunt leaving her lips as it barely budges, "You can't just lock me in here, you psycho!" 

Rafe's voice comes through the door, utterly calm yet all the while unnerving, "I wouldn't have to be doing this if you minded your own business, Eden." 

He was right. Eden knew she was at her own blame for being in this position—she'd gone in to find Sarah alone, and now Rafe found her. And while she doesn't know what Rafe has in store, she's sure it won't be welcoming. 

"Fuck you!" Eden cries out, feeling her own lip tremble. She couldn't even stop herself from crying—she was fucking scared. 

The Bexley slams her hand against the door a final time before backing up, breath hitching in her throat as she lets her emotions overcome her. One of her hands comes up to rub against her chest in a futile attempt to lower her heart rate, but it's met to no avail as she begins to hyperventilate.

Her short staccato gasps echo through the enclosed room, and Eden continues to back up. Her eyes dart around the room, meeting different bottles of liquor—she was locked in the liquor cabinet of Cameron Estate.

Ultimately, Eden's heels hit the back of a crate, and she allows herself to crouch down, back leaning against the crate. Her breathing is a mess, and she tries her best with her shaky figure to try and calm down. Her mind fumbles to count in between her inhaling and exhaling as she pulls her knees into her chest. 

Breathe in. Breathe out. 

Eden had handled panic attacks by herself before. Why the fuck couldn't she get it together right now? Why couldn't she just get herself together?

"Breathe." the Bexley shakily mutters, trying to soothe herself. One hand clutches at her chest, while the other grips the material of her jeans with a white knuckling grip. God, why was she like this? Now wasn't the time to break down. Frustrated, she heaves, "Fucking breathe!"

"Isla! She's freaking out." Rafe yells out, though he doesn't seem to care too much. 

Eden's hoarse voice sobs, "Let me out!"

"What the hell is happening?" Through her panicked gasps for air, Eden can hear her mother's voice. 

"I found Eden with Sarah." Rafe replies, calmly, "Locked her in here. Now she's freaking out." 

"Unlock it." 

Eden looks towards the doorknob, watching as it clicked open to reveal Isla.

"Eden." Isla steps into the room, leaving the door open behind her. From where she was on the floor, the Bexley girl looks up at her mother, struggle clear on her face.

However, Eden tries to fight past that struggle as she chokes out, "What—what did you do to Sarah?" Her voice breaks as she sobs, "Why—why is there a dead body in the back of that fucking truck!"

"Eden, hey—" the elder woman approaches, kneeling down in front of her daughter. As if they had no problems, Isla puts her hands on the side of Eden's face, forcing the girl to keep eye contact with her. "You need to breathe." 

"No—" Eden gasps, "I want to know—"

"No, you need to calm down. Before I tell you anything, I need you to take a breath." Isla states, voice trying is best to be soothing. She opens her arms, signaling an embrace, "Come here—you're fine." 

Uncertainty flickers in Eden's eyes for a moment, but she ultimately crawls into her mother's arms, slowly but surely hugging the woman. Isla had never been Eden's go to for comfort—if this were her decision, she'd run out to go find John B. just to hear his reassuring voice—but right now, she didn't care. She needed someone. 

"It's gonna be okay. Just calm down." Isla holds the girl for a moment before slipping a hand off, moving it towards her back pocket. Eden doesn't realize it as she tries to steady her breathing, still lost to a state of sobbing, "Everything's been off,  but it's gonna be better when you wake up. So much better, Eden."

Wake up? Eden feels her gut tighten at the phrase and begins to pull away. However, she's not quick enough as she feels a sharp prick in the back of her neck. 

Eden's eyes widen and she steps backwards, shaky hand shooting up to feel the back of her neck as her gaze settles on the item in her mother's fist—a needle.

"What—what did you do?" the Bexley's eyes dart between her mother and the needle, growing slightly more panicked than before. 

Isla brings her free hand to her pocket once more to pull out a small bottle, which clearly holds some kind of drug. Eden tries to read the label, but her vision starts to grow hazy as she does so. What the fuck was happening. 

Eden manages to get off of the floor, stumbling slightly as she balances on her own feet. 

"It's for your own good, okay?" Isla tries to reassure, stepping forward to try and grab a hold of Eden before she collapses. "You're gonna wake up and everything will be okay. We'll be out of Kildare—away from all the gold and secrets. We'll have a new start."

"No." Eden shakes her head, feeling herself growing lightheaded. Her vision is blurry, but that doesn't stop the Bexley from trying to run out of the room. Slower than she'd normally is, Eden manages to get out of the liquor cabinet, but she can't seem to go much more as her  legs start to grow heavy.

Rafe is standing by the door, watching the scene. Rose is beside him, staring sympathetically at Eden.

"Rose, please—" Eden whimpers, fear evident in her tone of voice.

Rose sympathetically tries to soothe the Bexley, "I promise it's gonna be okay, Eden. For you and Sarah." She then turns towards her step son, "Rafe, grab her before she falls." 

Rafe comes treads behind the girl, lightly grazing his hands against the girl's figure. However, Eden lazily shrugs him off. Her voice barely has anything to it as she shallowly states,  "Don't....don't touch me."

"It's okay." Isla nods, noticing the way the effects were eating away at her daughter. "You're gonna wake up so much better."

"No..." Eden's words slur together as she struggles to take in a decent breath amidst the darkness her mind was succumbing too. She opens her mouth, but no words fall from her lips as she looks at her mom with nothing but fear as blackness takes out her vision. 

She can't get out another word before her knees buckle in and she collapses into Rafe's arms, unconscious. 

Rafe easily catches the girl, supporting her dead weight as he turns to Isla, "What now?"

"Take her to the car. Me and Rose will get Sarah and Wheezie." Isla instructs, the plan running through her mind. "Then we're set to see Ward."

From the outside, John B., Pope, and JJ continue to watch the house.

After allowing Eden to try and find Sarah, the trio had returned to watching, hoping one—preferably both—girls returned with some kind of news on the cross.

However, it had been twenty minutes since Sarah went in, and ten since Eden followed after and neither had returned.

So, to say worry was growing was an understatement.

JJ watches the door precisely, eyes widening when he see's Rafe figure come towards it, "Yo—get down! Get down!" He ducks further into the shrubbery they'd been hiding within, "Get down, get down!"

Under his breath, Pope mutters, "That's Rafe."

At Pope's words, John B. runs forward to sprint towards the boy, JJ lurching forward to yank him backwards by the collar of his jacket, "No, wait! Hey! Not yet—not yet!"

"Wait, guys—" Pope tilts his head, brows furrowing as he notices the limp figure being hauled in Rafe Cameron's arms. "I think he's carrying something—"

"Eden." John B's face is gaunt as he breathes her name. He could recognize her dirty white Converse  and bracelet littered wrists anywhere—he'd known Eden Bexley long enough to detail these things. "JJ, Pope—that's Eden."

JJ quickly peers over the shrub, eyes widening as he see's the girl limp in Rafe's arms, "What the fuck?"

"Okay, what do we do?" John B. can't help but start to grow antsy at the thought of Eden being in danger, unsure on what the hell had even happened. Why had they let her in alone again? He watches as Rafe stops in front of Rose's car. "What's the plan?!"

The Maybank states, "Well, he might have the gun, so, uh, what's in our favor?" He watches as Rafe shifts Eden closer to his chest to open the back door of the vehicle, lying her down inside. "The element of surprise, alright? That's what's in our favor." 

Rafe makes sure Eden is securely in the backseat before he shuts the door. He moves towards the truck parked behind the Rose's car, locking the back of the truck—where Renfield still lay —before getting in the drivers seat.

As he starts to back out, John B. deadpans, "What can we surprise him with, JJ?"

"I'm working on it!"

Pope stares threateningly at the back of the truck, "He's got my cross."

"Come on," John B. encourages, eyes darting between the blonde and Rose's car, "Eden could be dying in the back of that car—"

JJ offers, "What if we threw something in front of it?"

"Threw what? Where? What—you gonna take the tree?"

"Slingshot, yeah. It's in the Twinkie—"

Rafe starts the engine and begins to pull out of the Cameron driveway. Pope rises to his feet as it begins to move before he started sprinting towards the vehicle, mind working on autopilot as he forced one foot in front of the other—he had to get his cross.

The grunting that surpassed his lips caused JJ and John B. to take realization of what was happening, the blonde quickly calling out in surprise, "Pope!"

Pope didn't listen to his friends exclaim, instead pushing himself as hard and fast as he could after the truck. Heavy pants fall past his lips as he extended his arms, fingers grasping to hold on to the handles of the back doors.

He grabs hold but falters, knees dragging on the ground for a moment as the truck moves faster than him. A moment of sneakers against the pavement later and the Heyward hoisted himself up onto the metal ledge of the truck, driving off into the deep night with it.

Hopelessly watching as his friend disappears off with the truck, John B. scoffs, "What was that shit?"

"Well, Rafe's gone." JJ turns back to the front of the house, keeping Pope's runaway in the back of his head and instead keeping Eden and Sarah in the front. "Let's just storm the front."

John B. points towards the estate in agreement, "We got the house right there. Let's think....you can get Eden, I don't think the car's locked. I can go get Sarah—"

The teen is hushed as the front door clicks open, four girls exiting the home

"Get down." JJ pushes the two of them down.

John B. peers over the shrubs, "Who's that?"

"Sounds like Rose. Isla is with her." JJ breathes as he listens to Rose Cameron instruct Isla Bexley and Wheezie on how to support the figure they were hauling out the door—Sarah. "Dude, they got Sarah, too." 

"What did they do to her?" John B.'s voice lowers, eyes narrowing in on Isla and Rose. First Eden, knocked out in Rafe's arms, now Sarah, being hauled unconsciously by her mother. Everything was off. 

"I don't know but I don't like it." JJ mutters, watching as the two women and teenager lay Sarah into the backseat, just as Rafe had done with Eden. Once having her older sister down, Wheezie sits within the little room that's left while Isla and Rose take the driver and passenger seats. "Eden wouldn't just give in like that."

"No, she wouldn't." John B. replies in agreement, "Neither would Sarah."

The two boys didn't have to say anything more before they were both sprinting towards Rose's car the same way Pope sped towards the truck. The vehicle begins to pull out of the driveway, the Pogues smacking their shoes against the grass to reach it before it disappeared.

They can make out the outlines of both Sarah and Eden slumped uncomfortably within the car, and begin to bang upon the windows to try and get them to wake up.

"Hey! Slow the car! Sarah!" Despite having a limp, John B. is the first to reach the car, smacking his palm against the window to gain attention. "Eden—come on!" 

A high pitched scream comes from Wheezie's lips as JJ begins to smack against her window, "Wheezie! Wheezie—unlock the door!"

John B. repeats his words, "Hey, Wheezie! Unlock the door!"

"Wheezie, I know you're stuck—"

Wheezie leans forward to look between Rose and Isla, the two older woman immediately reprimanding her for wanting to open the door. The Routledge and Maybank continue to slam their fists maniacally on the glass, trying to wake Eden and Sarah. 

"Eden, wake up! Wake the hell up!"

"Wake up! Wake up—Wheezie, unlock the door!"

The two girls don't respond, dead to the world as the two boys outside fought to get them back.  Eden slumps further into Sarah's side, mind still an empty haze.

"I'm sorry!" Wheezie's voice squeaks.

Isla nudges Rose, "Rose, speed up before these two win Wheezie over."

The Cameron woman does as instructed, pressing her foot harder against the gas. As the car gains speed, John B.'s injured leg gives way and he trips over himself,  rolling across the grass as the car speeds off into the night.

"Come on! Let's get to the Twinkie, man! Come on!" JJ doesn't hesitate before running to the fallen boy, hauling him up.  

The two sprint off towards the Twinkie, determined to get the two girls back no matter what it took.

mara's misc!

uh hey....

so yeah impulse decision but i was feeling fun and just decided why not have isla drug and kidnap eden because what could make her an even shittier mom atp????? i actually don't know why i have these sadistic ideas but they're kinda fun to write so yeah!!!! 

with this, we're on the finale??? what??? shit is getting real??? (shit has been real). 

also yes i'm updating on a random wednesday. yesterday, i finished pre-writing for ss act two (FUCKING CRAZY I KNOW) which means now i'm on to s3. but i literally have like four chapters to publish for s2 still and i don't wanna write s3 too fast and not enjoy it? idrk what i'm trying to say but i just need to chill from writing for ss bc i've been on a spree and i need to savor my chapters. 

while we're here i also want to state i am planning a jj fic???? well, more so bringing one back but....

here name is beatrice armani and she's literally a kook princess (or the angel of the obx)

(fc is sasha luss. i actually think she's so fucking stunning).

anywho, no clue when that'll be out....i kinda have to figure out what i even wanna do bc like i forget how to write new characters tbh (check on me when eden and carla r done bc i'll have no clue what to do)

if anyone wants anything in particular or has headcannons for jjbea despite not knowing them literally give them to me i'll most likely use them (yes, kensie you can tell me all your jjeden dreams, i'll let them happen in an alternate universe).

hope you enjoyed <3 see you back with chapter 59!!!