Dreamer | Outer Banks

30 - The Cameron's

There are three kinds of relationships in the animal kingdom. The first is commensalism. One example, fish finding hiding spots in coral reefs. Fish profit, but life for the coral doesn't change. Then, there's mutualism...a relationship where both animals benefit from each other. The tricky thing about animals is you don't always know what kind of relationship you're in. Which brings me to relationship number three. The parasitic.

Never in my life would I have thought I would be living in Figure Eight, nevertheless living with the Cameron's. Don't get me wrong, I was beyond grateful for what Ward did for us but it was a lot to take in for such a short amount of time.

I was speechless as we drove up to the Cameron house, sure I've visited friends who lived throughout Figure Eight but they sure didn't look as nice as this, not even Topper's.

Ward put the car in park and smiled as John B and I continued to gawk at the house. "Welcome home, kids."

~~~

"This is your room." Sarah said as we came to a stop outside of a bedroom on the second floor.

I followed Sarah into the room and to say that I was amazed would be an understatement, even for a spare room this was almost double the size of my room at the Châtaeu.

"Woah, and I thought the bathroom was impressive." I joked, setting down my backpack at the edge of the bed and flopping down next to it. "Now this is impressive."

"Not too shabby, huh?" Sarah asked as she sat down next to me and laid her back onto the bed, copying my current position.

"Uh, not at all." I replied, staring up at the ceiling above me as my legs dangled off the side of the bed.

"And John B's room is just next door in case you were wondering." Sarah added, motioning behind us.

"Thank you Sarah, really." I said, turning my head to face her.

Sarah turned her head in my direction so that we were face to face and she smiled. "You don't have to thank me Kennedy, it's the least that we could do."

"True but you've been nothing but nice to me even when you didn't have to be." I admitted thinking back to how comfortable I felt hanging out with her last night. After what happened at the Boneyard I wouldn't have been surprised if she hated me.

"What kind of person would I be if I wasn't." Sarah said sitting up. "You've done nothing to upset me. Plus John B's said a lot of good things about you. Even Topper has."

"You know." I lifted my head up. "You're not as bad as Kie made you out to be."

Sarah looked over at me before beginning to play with her hair. "Kie talks about me?"

"Oh you know, the usual, Sarah's the devil and don't go near her." I said laughing, trying to lighten the mood. I guess mentioning Kie wasn't the best decision.

"Hey! Kenn!" I sat up to see John B standing in the doorway with an excited look on his face. "Oh hey Sarah, I didn't know you were in here."

"Don't worry, I'll leave you guys to talk. See you later Kennedy." Sarah stood up and waved goodbye before walking out of the room.

"What's up Johnny?" I asked getting up from the bed. John B always hated being called Johnny but did I care? No.

"One, don't call me that. And two." He said holding up the map that Sarah had given him the day before. "We got some gold to find."

~~~

Once John B and I arrived at the Wreck, the others were already there waiting for us at a table. As we filled them from yesterday's events, Kie didn't try to hide the fact that she was upset with us.

"I'm sorry. You're staying where?"

"Tannyhill." John B and I answered in sync.

"So you're living with Sarah Cameron." Kie reiterated, walking behind us with a plate of food.

"The only reason we're living there is because her dad bailed me out. And it's way better than foster care, which, by the way, is where we were about to go if Ward didn't-"

"Hey, so do you have a membership to the clubs now?" Pope questioned, leaning back on his chair.

"I don't know, Pope." John B sighed.

"What about those golf carts they drive around? You get one of them?" JJ asked before taking a sip from one of the drinks Kie brought over to the table. "Does it come with a sweater vest, or do you have to buy one on your own?"

"Look, you promised. You said you weren't with her." Kie crossed her arms while leaning against the table.

"Bro, just own it. She got you."

"Look, if you wanna hang out with her,that's fine. But I'm letting you know now that I'm not doing anything with Sarah." Kie snapped.

"Do you guys see her here?" John B asked but no one responded. "No, right. Okay. A little focus would be fantastic. We've got the map, right?"

"It's out of whack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it." JJ replied standing above John B and I as we inspected the map.

"It's 'cause the coast has changed." I explained looking behind me at JJ.

"So we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed." Pope added on.

"What about the old forts?" John B suggested.

"Battery Jasper." Kie said pointing to a spot on the map reading Battery Jasper.

~~~

"We're in Battery, right here." Pope pointed to a spot on the map as we stood in the middle of some plains. "So if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here."

"Somewhere over there." Kie motioned towards a patch of trees.

"Over there? Guy's, that's not Tannyhill, that's a subdivision." JJ pointed out.

"Tannyhill Plantation was the entire island. It got sold into smaller pieces over time." John B explained looking over Pope's shoulder at the map.

Pope looked down at the map and began scanning for any kind of marker that would be visible to us. "So we're just looking for an old stone wall."

After hearing that we all piled back into the van and took off down the road. Kie and I sat with JJ in the back as Pope was in the front giving John B directions.

"Okay, so the road should split up here. Alright. You're gonna take a left." Pope instructed and John B took a sharp left causing me to fall out of my seat.

"And I thought I was a bad driver." I muttered as JJ held out a hand for me.

"That looks like a stone wall to me." Pope said as we came to a stop.

"This is it." John B sighed, stepping out of the van and slamming the door shut.

"Not the Crain house." I groaned, finally realizing why the house looked so familiar.

"Are you kidding me? Worst-case scenario." Kie said, stepping up to the fence.

"Why'd it have to be here...of all places?" Pope muttered.

"I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property." JJ mumbled into my ear from behind, causing me to elbow him in the stomach.

"You gotta do better than that to scare me Maybank."