𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝗃𝗃 𝗆𝖺𝗒𝖻𝖺𝗇𝗄

8: "𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚜!"

It was early in the morning as the echoing sounds of the seagulls chirping all around could be heard in the civilians eardrums in Charleston, the said white birds flying above in the air and above the sandy beaches and the ocean.

The waves of the sea were crashing along the rocks and the beaches all throughout the island, the water causing the usually dried up sand to get wet whenever it was moving back and forth as the wind was occasionally blowing by within the air all around the island. The sun was bright while it continued to slowly move further and further up into the sky as the early morning was ready to turn into the late morning, the afternoon slowly following behind.

Only a few hours had gone by for the group of friends after they had woken up in the bed of the truck that Pope had stolen from his dad, the teenagers had gone back out on the road after they had all woken up to continue their journey to the address in the letter that was sent to Pope.

Once Pope parked the truck in front of a mansion with gates around it, they were all exiting the vehicle as they looked around. Y/n had her hand in JJ's bigger one as she had her other shoved in her pants pocket, looking around at the mansion they were now standing outside of. These fancy-looking places were a lot more better looking than the ones in Figure Eight back on their island.

"Talk about home security." JJ points out. "Are those spikes to keep people out?"

Kie shakes her head. "No."

"The slave quarters are over there." Pope comments as he points somewhere else, sighing. "These spikes were to keep people in."

When they were done observing everything, they had opened up the gate and walked on the grounds of the large mansion, moving their ways towards the front door. Pope was the one to knock by using the knocker in the middle of the door, stepping back when he finished doing so. Their voices could be heard, sharing their thoughts if anyone was even home.

Pope had decided to knock again and just when he did that, the door opened to reveal a dirty blonde haired man standing there. The teenagers watched as his confused gaze looked between all of them before they had finally settled on the Heyward boy, realization replacing the confusion that had been there since he opened the door.

The man points at him while he leans against the doorframe. "You must be Pope."

"Um..." Pope stammers out, trailing off as he looks at the others. "Are you Mr. Limbrey?"

"Ms. Limbrey was expecting you yesterday." The man corrects.

"Oh. I'm-- I'm sorry." Pope apologizes, stuttering. "My car broke down on the way up here."

"Carburetor blew up in the middle of Nowheresville." JJ speaks up, accidentally intervening. "Sorry about that."

"Yeah, she was real upset when you didn't show up." The man tells him, ignoring the blonde.

"We tried to call, but there's no number on the invitation." Kie informs.

Y/n nods. "We got here as fast as we could."

"She also expected you to come alone." The man reminds.

"I mean, these are my friends. They helped find the Royal Merchant too. I--" Pope begins.

"The instructions were explicit. Your friends can stay outside." The man interrupts.

JJ clenches his jaw. "We're kind of a package deal, man."

"JJ." Pope calls out in warning. "It's okay. I got this."

The three only reluctantly nod to his words as he looks between them all, all their bodies tensed before he was stepping inside the house and the man was closing the door behind them, leaving the other three outside on the porch. The three decide they'd go wait in the car, moving back to the vehicle as they all sat inside.