Strawberry Sunscreen - JJ Maybank - Outer Banks

Chapter 44 : The Cross || Part 1

"That was epic," Pope recalled the night before as they all regrouped in the morning.

"Did you guys see Kelce's face?" John B asked everyone, who nodded knowingly. Elizabeth played the night before in her memory, remembering how pissed Kelce had looked. It was comical.

"Kelce was always my least favorite of Topper's friends. He has the personality of a brick wall," Elizabeth joked.

JJ stood up onto a chair and jumped back onto the couch, "Bomb drop!"

"Why did you do that?" Elizabeth asked the boy, who had landed on his stomach and was looking up at her with a smile on his face.

"It looked fun," he innocently responded.

"Another broken couch," John B remarked.

"You gotta sleep there," said Pope.

"I always sleep there," JJ remarked as he shifted around the newly broken couch to get comfortable. Everyone turned to the door with a bit of shock displayed on their faces as they watched Sarah Cameron enter the house. "Well, hello, princess." John B sighed, "Shouldn't you be on Figure Eight with your little group of polo players? Or did you break up with Topper?"

"We're just friends," Sarah remarked.

"He's just a friend," John B repeated. "You have a lot of friends, Sarah Cameron."

"Yeah, and it seems like you've got some of your own too," Sarah said back, her arms bundled at her chest.

"All right, what are you doing here?" John B asked her as he sat up.

Sarah sighed, "I'm here for Pope. I think I found the island room." Everyone turned to look at her, their eyebrows raised simultaneously as they processed what she had just said.

"What are we waiting for?" Elizabeth looked in between her friends. "Let's go!"

"Yup," JJ muttered as he stood to his feet, grabbing the keys from the counter and tossing them into the lap of John B. John B shook his head, frustrated with Sarah's presence, but he led them out to his van nonetheless.

"Guys, listen to this. The diary says the cross holds the most holy relic in all of Christendom, the Garment of the Savior," Pope said as he held out the diary.

"So wait, he saying there's a holy garment inside the cross?" Kiara asked.

"Yeah. It says the garment is capable of healing the sick from any malady," Pope continued.

"Mmm, yeah. 'If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well,'" JJ recited. Everyone turned to look at him in disbelief. "What? I went to Sunday school."

Pope ignored the boy, "Well, that explains why Limbrey would want the cross so bad. She thinks it can heal her."

"What else does it say?" Kiara asked.

"What other magic does this mystical cross hold?" Elizabeth asked sarcastically.

"'Many feel that we have sinned to steal such a sacred thing, and God will strike His vengeance on us.'" Pope recited

"Thing is, God did have His vengeance," Kiara hypothesized.

"He sent a hurricane to sink the ship. Only Denmark survived," Pope stated, Elizabeth staring down at the journal, where a picture of the ship sinking was illustrated in marker.

They arrived at the Cameron residence pretty quickly, each of them sure to make the least amount of noise as possible. "This place still freaks me out," said John B as they entered.

Elizabeth chuckled, "Nothing good ever happens to me in this house."

Sarah led the group through a white door, making sure nobody was around before leading them inside. "Pope, look."