ONLY ANGEL | JJ MAYBANK

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

•••

Collins had never taken the ferry before. There was never any reason to. Everything in her life was in the Outer Banks. All aspects of what made Collins the person she was today came from that place. There were no family that she knew of to go and visit, no money to go on vacation, therefore no reason to take the ferry. Of course she would've liked to, but life didn't seem to work that way for the Jacobsons. The only time Collins had ever considered leaving the island was for college, and for the first time in her life, the thought of leaving home felt so incredibly daunting.

It was scary to think that that's what things were going to come to. Sooner or later, Collins was going to be packing up her belongings and head off to continue her education; where exactly that would be was still unclear. Charleston alone was already the furthest she'd ever left home; was it childish of her to feel nervous about that?

How could she leave everything behind? Everything that she knew was in one place and so the idea that she would have to leave and build a new one felt so strange. And what would happen with the people who have become intertwined with her life like vines on a brick wall? It was unlikely for her that she would ever feel at ease to leave Charlie behind, nor at the thought of leaving her friends. She would miss them too much and the idea that their relationships could change for the poorer was a terrifying thought. It made her think about her dad and how he was able to leave without looking back with any remorse.

Collins hated the way he always came across her mind when she probably never crossed his. She hated how she still compared herself to him, even though he was a poor example to compare oneself to. Just because he left to never be heard from again, that didn't mean it had to be that way for her. It was probably easy for him to leave because it's not hard to leave behind what you never cared about. He had no love for them to feel his heart break when he walked out on them. That was the difference between him and Collins; her heart would shatter.

All those thoughts made her chest feel all funny and her brain hurt from all the things running through it. It shouldn't have been so difficult for her to sit comfortably on that ferry when she was nicely stretched out on the bed of Pope's dad's truck with the breeze of the ocean blowing in her face and the fresh scent of salt in the air wafting up her nose. Of course there were things to feel unsettled about, starting with the fact that they were on their way to meet up with the descendant of the captain of the Royal Merchant. Leaving home should've been one of the last things on her mind.

Perhaps it had something to do with how unsettled Kie was. The girl's energy was radiating onto Collins and making her equally as on edge. Based on Kie's recantation of how she'd been able to get herself onto the ferry, she'd gotten into another screaming match with her parents resulting in them threatening her with boarding school. It almost felt like another one of their empty threats, but it refused to be ignored. Kie's parents were reaching their last straw.

Would it be bad for Collins to admit that she was a little jealous of their threat? Never mind the fact that Kie's parents had the capital to pay for boarding school, but coming from those kinds of facilities had some great benefits when it came to college applications; more resources, better academics. Of course it wasn't at all the sort of thing that Kie would enjoy and Collins would just about die if she actually got sent away, but there were worse places that parents could send their kids. Kie could become another episode of Scared Straight or be stolen away in the night for "nature therapy." Collins didn't quite understand how that didn't constitute as kidnapping.

Anyhow, it was so like Kie's parents to threaten her with that sort of thing. She'd been pushing them to their ultimate limits lately and this impromptu trip to Charleston certainly didn't help. It would've been so much easier if she didn't have parents, but from someone who actually doesn't have parents, it's not all sunshine and rainbows all the time. Especially when you have a pretty clear idea on what you're missing out on.

"My parents are so paranoid of me being a Pogue, like it's the worst thing that could ever happen." Kie sighed with a roll of her eyes. It wouldn't have been so frustrating if her dad didn't use to be one. It was so hypocritical of him to judge her for where her friends came from. If her mom had always thought the same way, she wouldn't even exist.

"Hey, I hear they got good weed at boarding school, though." JJ raised his brows as he pointed out as he tried to make light of the situation. Of course weed would be the only thing he could think about while Kie was in such a sullen mood.

"I'm not going to boarding school." Kie stated firmly. "They're gonna have to kidnap me, tie me up, and throw me in a van."

"Well, I say we just crumble some herb right now." JJ suggested, handing Kie a blunt after taking a quick draw from it.

"Hey, Kie, have you tried to hit John B back on that number yet?" Pope looked at her curiously, hoping that she had some news on how their friend was doing since they'd last heard from him.

Kie nodded. "Like, twenty million times. Some random lady at a hotel keeps answering." She wrinkled her nose in recollection of the strange lady with the thick accent who had shared her confusion every time she'd tried to call.

"Well, until we hear from them again, we gotta try and clear his name. Right now, this letter's our best bet."

"Right. Stay on task. That's why I love you, Pope." JJ nodded, the weed in his system already making his brain foggy.

"Yeah, so take it easy on the skunk, eh?" Collins wrinkled her nose at him playfully while simultaneously taking the joint into her own hand from Kie's and bringing it up to her lips. She kissed her lips around the end of it and took a puff before giving it back to him, smiling at her own irony.

She figured that a little weed might help ease her anxiety a bit, just so she wasn't stressing out so much going into this mysterious meeting. And with all the other crazy thoughts going through her head, Collins could do with some fogging up. Anything to keep her from thinking about things like leaving her friends and her dad's departure.

If they weren't with Kie and Pope, JJ's hands would probably all over Collins in that moment. The teasing, the wrinkled nose, the way she smoked his weed like it was air. His innocent little Collins getting stoned with him was one of his favorite things on Earth. Anytime she did anything he liked JJ was turned on. Everything in combination sent his hormones into overdrive. Lately, it seemed to be that way all the time.

As the joint made its way back around the circle to Kie, the girl held it out to Pope in offering. "What Pope are you gonna be today?" She asked him, and it almost felt like it was a test.

Looking at the small but powerful drug in her hand, Pope was tempted to accept the forbidden fruit being presented to him. "I'm good."

"Good Pope." Kie deducted, but not without a little bit of disappointment laced in her voice. "Boring Pope."

So one joint later and a couple of stupid jokes to pass the time, the ferry finally docked and they were on land again. They were all squeezed into Pope's family's truck, managing to fit all four of them by having Collins sat between JJ and Kie's laps. It wasn't entirely all that comfortable, but they were making do. Hopefully they wouldn't have to sit for very long and could just get to their mysterious meeting with mysterious woman.

It felt like with every minute that past, their timer was dwindling down faster than the true speed of time. They were still on track to getting to their meeting close to the time the letter instructed them to arrive, but they could only do so much. If only C. Limbrey could've given them a little more heads up and they would've been able to plan things out better. That's the pitfall of sending snail mail, news travels in an untimely fashion.

As they passed a sign marking that they were about 125 miles out from their town of destination, Collins shuffled through some of the papers they had printed out on the Limbrey family. She figured that it might be good for them to do their research on the person who supposedly had the solution to all of their problems. It already seemed like C. Limbrey knew a lot more about them than the other way around which put them at a greater disadvantage. Collins was going to try and even out the playing field. Pointing to the article in her hands, she said, "So, here's something that doesn't make any sense: the Limbreys supposedly own like, half of Charleston. What could they possibly know about a murder on Kildare Island?"

An individual of such a high reputation seemed a little more than above some crime on a little island off the coast. How did helping them exonerate John B benefit a Limbrey in any way? That just didn't seem like the kind of charity that this person would be engaged in. It certainly wasn't tax-deductible.

"And why you specifically?" JJ then questioned Pope, furrowing his brows in confusion. The letter had only been addressed to him, which was fairly odd considering that they were all pretty well known acquaintances of John B. "That's the other creepy thing."

"'Please come alone?' That's hella sus." Kie read from the letter with a wary look on her face. Only someone with untrustworthy intentions would make a note like that.

Pope nodded his head in agreement. "I was thinking the same thing. I think it's because—"

He stopped short in the middle of his sentence as his attention was brought to the smoke blocking his view through the windshield. It formed into a big dark cloud of grey and unfortunately, it was coming from under the hood. That couldn't possibly be good.

"That's a lot of smoke, even for your dad's truck." Kie deadpanned, much to Pope's annoyance, but he was too preoccupied with what was going on to do anything about it.

"We should probably pull over." Collins suggested before she was jerked to the side as Pope turned the wheel to do just that, but he was going much too fast and his visibility out the window was next to nothing. The truck rocked and bounced with each bump that it hit before Pope could finally bring it to a stop off the side of the road.

Meanwhile, JJ was too busy rolling up the window to stop the smoke coming into the car. He coughed a little over-dramatically. "Pope, I got sensitive lungs, man!" He complained.

Putting the car in park, Pope hurriedly got out of the car to assess where things had gone wrong in hopes that it would be a simple fix that he could perform on his own. As he propped the hood open, he held his breath and waved the smoke out of his face, but it didn't seem to be going anywhere. 

"It's gonna blow up." Kie said, jumping out of the truck after Collins, and the two stood off to the side with their arms crossed. They kept some distance between them and the truck but certainly not enough to keep them safe from an explosion.

"It's not gonna blow up. You probably unhooked the radiator, Pope." JJ dismissed, walking off to retrieve a piece of what must've been previously attached to their vehicle before Pope had ran them off the road in what had been a less than smooth stop. "I haven't seen this before, you knocked the entire hubcap off! You might want to reschedule your meeting tonight."

"Plan B?" Kie raised her brows in proposal for some other alternatives they could opt for. "We could do public transportation, hitchhike, rent bikes?"

No one seemed to care for any of those suggestions because they failed to respond to any of them. JJ decided to take a look at the damage himself, peering under the hood of the truck and nodding as his initial recognition of the problem was confirmed. "Yeah, it's the radiator."

"My dad's gonna kill me." Pope said dazedly, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of trouble that he was bound to be in when his dad found out that he'd broken their only car.

"He might." JJ piped up unhelpfully.

Collins rolled her eyes at the boy before turning back to Pope to console him. "It couldn't have been anything you did. The thing crapped out on it's own, he can't blame you for that."

"He can blame me for taking it to Charleston without asking?" Pope pointed out, to which Collins clamped her mouth shut. Fair point. There was no reassuring him by trying to find the silver lining in anything.

With no other options, they called the closest and cheapest tow truck that they could find and took a detour there to figure out how they could solve their car troubles. Collins hoped that as easy as it was for JJ to make his diagnosis, a repair would be just as simple. She didn't want to get her hopes up though. This was exactly the sort of thing that they didn't need happening and they were definitely not going to make it to their meeting now. It was going to have to wait until tomorrow. They just hoped that the offer still stood even if it was a day late.

Whatever was wrong with their sole mode of transportation couldn't be fixed until morning, which they couldn't exactly blame the mechanic for. The truck was already in desperate need of a makeover and it didn't do them any good if the one thing that they needed fixed was done half-assed. It was a good reminder that they still needed a way to get back home and they all preferred to come back alive.

Pope and Kie were inside the auto shop discussing the state of the truck and the cost to fix the damage with one of the mechanics who thankfully, was still on duty at that time of night and willing to give them the remaining time of day. Meanwhile JJ and Collins hung back and let them handle everything.

JJ had his flask in his hand and was taking swigs out of it while standing adjacent to Collins, who watched him from her seat on the end of the truck bed. Her eyes watched him like he was an animal in the wild, and she was a scientist studying his behavior. Her intrigue was stemming from the flask and his frequent use of it. He'd been carrying that thing around everywhere with him ever since John B had left. She thought that he was just drowning his sorrows with alcohol out of grief for his best friend, but he was still using it, even though they knew John B was alive. She wondered why that was. What was it that he was coping for?

"What's in that?" She finally decided to ask him, though she did so absentmindedly, swinging her legs back and forth off the edge of the truck. She was trying to be as casual about it as possible so to not make him feel attacked.

Swallowing back another drink, JJ let the alcohol run hot down his throat before responding. "Rum. Why? You feeling thirsty?"

Collins shook her head, lips pulling into a soft smile as she politely declined. "Just wondering."

"You're not missing out on much anyways." She deserved better than cheap liquor from a metal can. He only drank it because it was what he could get his hands on. Some of his habits were better of staying his than they were transferring onto her. This was one of them.

"Why do you drink it then?" Collins questioned next. She hoped it didn't sound so critical when she said it, she was just interested, that's all. She wanted to know why it felt like he was using it as a crutch when he had her to lean on to. What was he finding at the bottom of a bottle that he wasn't getting from her or anything else?

"It just helps me, Colls." It helped him to mellow out when he didn't have weed on him, it made everything feel not so bad even when it was. He didn't need it by any means, but it was nice to have. And maybe that did mean that it was a crutch, but of course he wasn't going to see it that way.

"I help you. Right?" She tilted her head at him and leaned a little closer in his direction. She had to be someone he could talk to when he had a lot on his mind. She was there for him when he needed a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold when he was afraid. Surely she helped more than the flask in his hand; at least she could talk to him.

JJ chuckled at the innocent look in her eyes, the taste of alcohol on his tongue thinning out from not having taken a sip in a while. "Yes, Angel, you do." He would be nowhere without her. She had helped in more ways than one ever since he'd found it in himself to open up to her. She'd made it so easy and because of that, she'd made all of his problems feel small even when they weighed upon him.

Her face flushed at the nickname, still unbelieving in his idea that she even fit the criteria for it. It was things like that which Collins hoped never got old between them, even if they'd been together for years and years; JJ's compliments would never cease to flatter. Moving an inch or two closer to him, she followed up by saying, "And I'm much nicer the day after."

JJ nodded, raising his brows at her clever response. "That is true also."

Reaching over, Collins placed her hand over JJ's which held the flask, and she gently guided it down. She looked him in the eyes with sincerity in hers. "Ease up on the rum for me, please? If you need help mellowing out, just tell me and I'll back off or I'll do whatever I can to help make it happen. Just don't look to the bottle when you need help, look to me."

JJ stared back at her and she couldn't read his expression to know what was going through his head, but she knows that she feels awful about it. You couldn't even cut the tension in the air with a knife.

There's a part of Collins that hates that she feels out of line and that she's asking way too much of him. He should be free to make whatever decisions he wanted when it came to his own body, including what he put in it without her opinion rattling in his mind. But there's a reason for Collins's neuroticism and it very likely has to do with the fact that her father used to rely on a drink to get him through life. It didn't matter if it was beer or liquor, he wanted it all and if he didn't get it, there was hell to pay. It shouldn't be a worry of hers that JJ would be like that, but he was sort of headed down the same path and Collins didn't want to take any chances.

It didn't always make her father angry when he drank, but it always made him lousy at parenting. At a certain point they just stopped looking to him as a father and he got a free pass at acting like one with the expectation to ceasing to exist. If it wasn't full blown liver damage that killed him, a freak accident due to being in another one of his drunken escapades would certainly do the job. That was a fate that Collins refused to let JJ fall into.

"I don't know why, but I've been thinking about my dad a lot today." Collins's hand still holds JJ's, and she wants his to encase hers like it always does. But the flask is still within his grasp, replacing where her hand should be. "Mostly about how he was able to leave us behind, but also about how he was when he was with us. He was a drunk and we're better off without him and that's because me and Charlie remember what he was like when he had a bottle just like that in his hand. When things got rough he always went to the nearest liquor store. He didn't deal with his shit in a healthier way, he just shoved it back."

"I would never do that to you, Collins. I wouldn't do that to anyone." JJ told her with wholehearted honesty. It pained him that she would even compare his behavior to her father's drunken habits. The resemblance felt too closely connected to his own dad, and there was nothing that JJ feared more than becoming his father.

"I'm sure my dad thought the same thing at one point. He didn't think he'd become the monster that he was when he had alcohol in his system, but that's what he became." She pursed her lips. "And I'm not saying that's what's happening to you, and I don't mean that you have to stop drinking all together. I'm just saying that when the going gets tough, getting your hands on the first drink you can get isn't the right way to solve it."

Shaking his head, JJ couldn't stand the way that Collins was seeing him. He didn't want her to look at him like he was destined to be a fuck up. He wanted to chuck the flask in his hand across the field but it was like the cool metal was attached to his skin. Old habits die hard. "I just keep thinking about how John B should be here. We know he's alive and it kills me everyday that he can't come home. What if we can't save him? What if we never see him and Sarah ever again? I keep trying to do what I can but every time I do it feels like I'm fucking everything up."

"JJ, you haven't done anything wrong." Collins grabbed him by the face and turned it to face her. She looked at him sternly, hoping he could listen to what she was saying and actually believe it. "You have nothing to feel sorry about. You have done all that you can possibly do. We're going to bring them home but we just have to stick with each other through this. In order to do that you have to talk to me, okay? Don't shut me out."

"I'm not trying to." JJ sighed, leaning into her soothing hands with his cheek resting against her palm. His brows were knit as he tried to sort out the jumbled mess in his mind. "I don't want to be like my dad and I don't want to depend on anything else but you. I just don't always know how to talk to you when these things come up, I'm still learning."

"That's okay." Collins reassured him. "I need to learn how to be better about it, too. You're never alone in your feelings JJ. No matter what, you will always have me and you will always have our friends to turn to when you need us. There's nothing in this world that you have to go through by yourself."

There was a silence that had fallen between them which carried all the weight of the words they'd just exchanged. There are more hanging off the tips of their tongues that they want to share, but they were eventually interrupted as Pope and Kie return back to them with an update on their situation. The couple moved apart from each other, their conversation forced to be put on the back burner with the arrival of their friends.

"So that just burned a large and scorching hole in my pocket." Kie stated bluntly with a sigh. "But at least we'll be back on the road by morning and on Limbrey's doorstep in no time."

"Sounds good." Collins told her, holding her hands in her lap awkwardly. She wished that she and JJ could've gotten just a little more time alone together, but at least they had gotten their car situation somewhat resolved.

"Dibs on sleeping in the truck bed!" Pope blurted out, Kie following up after him in claiming a spot in arguably, the comfiest spot that they had available. They each climbed up and began making themselves comfortable, leaving JJ and Collins to squeeze into the truck and sleep on the seats.

Collins glanced over at JJ, taking his arm and walking with him around the vehicle. Pope and Kie had their own little thing going; it was yet to be determined what exactly that was, but it was blatant enough for everyone to be aware of it. Collins figured they could use a night where they could be somewhat left alone and what spurred from that little bit of privacy would develop on its own. 

It wasn't until they were settled on the seats did they find themselves in a still quiet once again. JJ took up most of the space with his larger frame in comparison to Collins's. The door at their feet was left wide open to accommodate their outstretched legs, and Collins was laid practically on top of JJ, curled into him on what little space was left for her to do so. It felt so natural for them to fall into that position. Even under difficult circumstances, JJ and Collins knew that they could always rely on having one another by their side when they climbed into bed for the night. It was the most gratifying constant in their daily lives.

"You never talk about your dad much." JJ said quietly, pointing out an observation of his which had suddenly become relevant to their earlier conversation. It had been a long time curiosity of his, but was never one that he wanted to press about. He hoped it didn't upset her that he was bringing it up now, but it sort of seemed like she needed to talk about it with him seeing as she'd expressed some contemplation that day regarding her father. Opening up was supposed to be a two way street with them.

Collins is still wide awake when he speaks to her, too restless to fall asleep. She stiffens slightly at the mentioning of her dad, but her grasp around JJ's body constricts, the comfort of having him there to hold provided her with some relief. She knows that she's the one who brought it up first and she can't put it past JJ for having questions because she's never given him much information to go off of. Even though explaining things to him was something she dreaded, it could also be really cathartic, and that was the point she was trying to make to him in the first place, right?

"It's not that I don't think about him and that's why I don't talk about him a lot." Collins briefly clarified. She took a deep breath and nestled closer to him. "The truth is, I've been trying not to think about him because I don't want to keep thinking about what would happen if he came back. He's been gone long enough that I just want to accept the fact that he left and that's how I want things to stay. I've spent way too much time considering the idea of him coming home one day, I can't waste any more."

"Doesn't that make you sad though? I mean, he's still your dad." JJ considered his own feelings about his mom's departure, and how it could've been good for him if she came back. At least then his father wouldn't have anything to blame him for and things might actually look up for him. But then again, his mom had left for a reason and nothing had changed in the time that she'd been gone; if anything they'd gotten worse.

Shaking her head, Collins dismissed the notion. "Charlie always says things are better with him gone. Whatever life would be like if he came back can't be better than what life was like when he was in ours. I've had to learn to accept the decision he made. It's not my fault if that's the way I want to keep it."

JJ took in her answer and ruminated over it for a moment. She always had things so well-thought out. There was nothing that ever crossed Collins's mind that hadn't been carefully contemplated a million times over. JJ was always a little surprised by the points she made when they never would've occurred to him if the roles were reversed. That's probably what made her better at communicating her feelings than him.

"It's okay if you ever do feel sad about him. Feeling that way doesn't make you weak and it doesn't give him any power over you." JJ told her. He could understand her not wanting that. After everything her parents had held over her in the time that they were in her life, he wouldn't blame her for taking back her life without them in it.

"What if I like being a cold hearted bitch?" Collins joked, quirking her brow. Even she knew that she was far from it, but a part of her sometimes felt that way in her and Charlie's unforgiving nature towards their parents. In rare moments she would ask herself if they were being unreasonable before hearing Charlie's voice in her head snapping her back to the mindset they'd established.

She chuckled softly, but JJ just remained quiet, running his hand down her back in a soothing manner. "That's not my Collins. The Collins I know doesn't have a mean bone in her body."

Smiling softly, Collins basked in the sensation of his touch roaming her body and the warmth of his embrace. "I've never liked the idea of belonging to someone, but when you say it, it sounds so endearing." She told him in admiration.

"That's because I'm an endearing son of a bitch if you haven't already noticed." Collins is forced to stifle her laughter so to not disturb their friends who weren't too far from them, burying her face in JJ's shirt with a grin. JJ peered through the back window and caught a glimpse of Pope and Kie lying closely to each other. They weren't exactly touching, but they certainly weren't utilizing all that space on the truck bed.

"My JJ. How do you like that?" She asked him, making an effort to turn her head up to look at him just so she could see his face in reaction to her.

He was already looking down at her, and so when their eyes met, there were butterflies flying in their chests. JJ felt his heart skipping because of the smile on Collins's face; she was so proud of herself it was adorable. Meanwhile, Collins feels like she's going to melt into a puddle by the way JJ is looking at her like she's the only girl in the world. It's synchronous affection that they share with each other and it doesn't fail to bring absolute joy.

"Damn straight." JJ said quietly between just the two of them. He wasn't afraid to admit that he loved belonging to Collins Jacobson. It made him feel like for the first time ever in his life, that he had a truly good reason to exist, because if he wasn't the one making her happy, then what point was there in even living?

Collins reached up and placed her hand on his cheek before stretching her body to place a gentle kiss on his lips. It was meant to be brief but still meaningful, and also double as a goodnight kiss all at once. Every kiss that they exchange seems to have a purpose; even when it doesn't feel like it, it does. When her lips meet his, she can taste hints of rum on his tongue and she savors the moment before finally pulling away. "Like I said, we've always got each other."

Looking into her eyes, JJ smiled softly. "Always." And he plans on tossing that flask as soon as morning comes to solidify that claim once and for all.

•••

When morning comes, they are back on the road as soon as the small town mechanic allows, which is quite quickly thanks to Kie's gracious bank account that her parents are sure to want to freeze as soon as she gets home. At a cost, they were able to expedite their repair, giving them some extra time to get to Charleston like they needed to the night before. The drive can't go by quick enough for any of the Pogues as they are left to sit in the car with more questions over what it was that they were going to be walking into.

It feels like they're back to where they were before when they'd first gotten off of the ferry, except now, Collins is actually seeing the city for the very first time. Despite all that was going on which should've been telling her to be more afraid of what it was that they were going into, she can't help but be in a little bit of awe over the sights she sees on the way.

It's not like the town that she's used to. There's even more hi온라인카지노게임 to every bricked street and more life to it even in the off-season than there is on their little vacation home island. It's so colorful in the bold murals painted on the sides of buildings and lush landscaping where the bushes are adorned with flowers of every spectrum of the rainbow. She feels little reminders of the home that she knows looking at the beaches which really do look the same when you're looking at them from the shore.

Collins wonders to herself if this was what life would look like if she went to Duke. There was still so much more that she had yet to see, things that she aspired to and things that she didn't even know about yet. But was she ready for that? It would be nice to escape Kildare and experience new things for a change, but it would also be nice to still feel at least a little bit close to what she's used to. Collins just wasn't quite sure if she would be holding herself back by doing so.

As they start weaving through the neighborhoods of residential buildings lined up next to each other, it's then that Collins knows they're drawing nearer to their destination. She takes in the old fashioned architecture, and she's once again reminded of home in the way that these homes are clearly maintained by the wealth of the families who've inherited them. Like Figure 8, some of the most expensive houses are the ones that have been around for decades.

"I would say that I feel right at home but these aren't even the houses that I'm used to." Collins remarked while leaning over JJ's lap to get a better view of the homes that they passed. She fogged up the window with her breath and ultimately ended up sitting back.

"The Limbrey family tree is just a bunch of fancy people. They've had like three governors in the family and run Charleston for like, three-hundred years." Kie told her, relaying the information she had gathered from their research on the family.

"These Kooks make our Kooks look like Pogues." JJ commented, which might've actually been true.

"What the hell does that make us then?" Collins muttered, feeling so out of place already. They were sticking out like sore thumbs in that neighborhood.

As they came to a slow stop on the side of the road, JJ peered up at the property they were sat in front of and raised his brows. "You sure this is the place, Pope?"

"Pretty sure." They all filed out of the car and stretched out their legs which were stiff from the long car ride. Pope held up the letter in his hand and compared the address on the paper to the address on the building. "Twenty-seven King Street."

Standing outside the gated yard, JJ whistled as he surveyed the area. "Talk about home security. Are those spikes to keep people out?" He gestured to the sharp points on the top of the gates which deterred anyone from climbing over them.

Examining the fence, Pope shook his head grimly as he studied the estate from its perimeter. "The slave quarters are over there. These spikes are to keep people in."

He and Kie both shared the same uneasy expression, unsure of what they could expect from a person who still had all the hallmarks of the longtime oppression their ancestors had been subjected to.

"As far as first impressions go, I think Limbrey is gonna have to try a lot harder than this." Collins stated, crossing her arms over her chest in distaste.

She followed the others as they began to make their way to the front entrance. They walked up the short steps leading to the door, and it was Pope who took the knocker in his hand and tapped it against the hard surface. The three beats sounded in the air, startling them a little bit by its volume.

"Was that too much?" Pope asked with a cringe.

JJ shrugged. "It echoed the entire house, that's for sure, so they definitely heard it."

When no one answered, they began to wonder if they had arrived at a bad time. "Maybe nobody's home?" Kie offered as an explanation.

Just as Pope was about to knock again, the door swung open and his hand missed the stained wood. A man had answered. He looked to be in about his thirties, and he didn't have an all too friendly exterior to him. "You must be Pope." He said in assumption.

"Are you Mr. Limbrey?" Pope questioned.

"Miss Limbrey was expecting you yesterday." The man replied sourly. Apparently they'd made a poor impression of their own, but as far as Collins was concerned, there was hardly any competition.

"Oh, I'm sorry. My car broke down on the way up here." Pope apologized. He was so polite, even when this man was being so cold to him. Yes, they missed their appointment, but why was there was deadline anyways? It's not like they'd been given much heads up to begin with and Limbrey clearly hadn't done her homework on them because how could she have expected them to get there with such limited resources?

"Carburator blew up in the middle of Nowheresville." JJ clarified. "Sorry about that."

The man didn't seem very sympathetic about their circumstances. He remained very blunt with his responses. "Yeah, she was real upset when you didn't show up."

"We tried to call, but there was no number on the invitation." Kie explained. "We got here as fast as we could."

Looking over the group of teens in front of him, the man redirected his focus back to Pope as he reminded him, "She also expected you to come alone."

"I mean, these are my friends. They helped find the Royal Merchant, too." Pope told him, hoping he would be a little more lenient with them even though they hadn't followed either of the requests made in the letter. Not only was he not alone, but he wasn't on time as well. It was still a mystery as to why Ms. Limbrey was adamant about him not bringing anyone; if anything, it just raised some more red flags.

"The instructions were explicit, your friends can stay outside."

Stepping forward, Collins spoke up, a little defensive in her approach. "Forgive us if we don't really feel comfortable with that. We don't know Ms. Limbrey and we don't—"

"Collins, it's okay." Pope cut in, smiling tightly in reassurance. "I'll be good."

Was he? The whole thing just felt weird. Collins wasn't really sure if she should push harder to get at least one of them in there with Pope. It would give them some peace of mind to know that they weren't sending him into a dangerous situation alone. Plus, how were they supposed to know if he needed help? She didn't know if she could ever forgive herself if something were to happen.

"We'll be right out here, keep the car running for you." Kie subtly reached over and grasped Pope's hand to give it a gentle squeeze as assurance of her own. She glanced back at the still unnamed man at the door with a look like she was reminding him that they weren't leaving. If Pope didn't come back out without a scratch, best believe they were going to do something about that.

As they watched Pope disappear into the house, the door shutting behind him, the remaining three looked to each other, feeling somewhat helpless in that moment.

All they could do was wait in the car in case Pope needed a quick getaway and hope for the best.

And hopefully, that was enough.