Faded Heart

XXII. Till the End

Just as the sun was beginning to set on the island, Ashtyn and John B finally returned back to the Chateau hand in hand. There was something different about them. For the first time, the two of them actually seemed truly happy. After everything that happened on the island over the last couple weeks all of us truly deserved to be happy.

"You in on this too?" Ashytn nods, sitting down across from JJ and I on the couch. As much as she was trying to hide it, I could tell she was still on a high from what happened between her and John B before they came back here to talk about the plan.

My legs dangled across my boyfriend's lap as I sat up to answer her, "I guess we don't really have a choice."

John followed suit, sitting down next to the brunette, "Kiara's feud with Sarah is the main problem right now. If we can get those two working together, Kie will stop coming at you, Luke, and Ash."

"How do we stop them from trying to kill each other long enough for them to talk?" I ask, my mind drifting back to Kiara's reaction earlier. I didn't have high hopes, but I really wished that the boys came up with a good plan. We really needed one right about now. As much as I wasn't in favor of Sarah Cameron, we were going to need all the help we could get to get the gold from the well.

"Or us..." Ashytn answered ominously. The younger girl's mood shifted slightly. This was a reminder that Kiara's rage hadn't only been with Sarah, it had been with the Hughes siblings and myself.

"I think a little weed will do the trick." JJ says, adding into the conversation. I really hope that the plan doesn't rely only on chemical substances because that just wasn't a good idea. This was about the time where I hoped that John B had something else up his sleeve that didn't rely entirely on weed.

"That and nowhere to go." The brown haired Pogue responds, slightly rolling his eyes at JJ's idea. Honestly, the more I thought about it, JJ had a point about the weed. The idea of having 'now where to go' didn't sound too appealing to me.

"What does that mean?" Ashtyn questions, raising her eyebrows at her boyfriend. She followed up with a slight glare at the two boys as the words began to sink in to her as well, "Nowhere to go."

"Don't tell me you're going to lock us in a room together." I say, trying not to panic, but my voice cracks a bit as the thought sinks in more. If I was going to be involved in this plan, I wasn't going to be locked in a small space with everyone. "I'm mildly claustrophobic...I will kill you all if you lock us in a room together."

"I second that. I have this thing about keeping six feet away from people, so like... I can't be in a room with all three of them." Ashtyn mumbles, trying to make her own excuse for why she doesn't want to be locked in the room together. The brunette folds her arms around herself, obviously uncomfortable with the thought just as much as I was.

"Relax guys, I have a better idea..." John B says, trying to calm the two of us down. It was easy for him to say though, because I doubt his plan relied around locking himself in the room with us. By the regretful look on his face and JJ's, I was sure that this plan relied entirely on Ashtyn and I. Both Pogue boys would surely get off skate free by sacrificing their girlfriends into hellfire for the sake of the plan. Or maybe this was just an excuse for them not to do any work and stick on the two of us.

Ashytn shakes off John B, "Your ideas always seem to get us shot at or chased..."

"Not really in the mood for either of things today." I agree. The two boys were reckless. They should've left Ashtyn and I to do the planning.

"Can't we just let Kie and Sarah claw each other's eyes out? They'll tire themselves out eventually..." Ashtyn adds, trying to convince the boys of another possible idea that didn't involve the two of us.