009.

"𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧?" John B and Kie asked at the same time. They're all currently at Rixon's Cove setting up a fire. John B gives the Pogues a confused look, while the Pogues give John B a puzzled look.

"What do you mean, where is she? I thought she was with you." JJ said. "No, I got caught by DCS and I thought she would be with you at Midsummers." John B pointed at Kie.

John B's heart stopped when he heard Emerson wasn't with them. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦?

"Okay, first, tell us why we're here. My dad's already gonna kill me, so." Pope spoke up after a minute of silence.

After John B explained where to find the gold, he met up with Sarah Cameron to get the plat map. Topper thought Sarah was cheating, which she wasn't, which causes John B to get pushed off the Hawk's Nest by Topper. While all of this is happening, John B can't help but think of one person. 𝘌𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯.

···

"It's out of whack 'cause the guy was ganaj'd when he drew it." Emerson heard JJ said as she walked into The Wreck. She had stayed at her cousin's house for the past two days, and her eyes widen when she sees John B. She was so sure he was taken away, but there he was.

"There you guys are." Emerson said, walking up to the table. She had been looking around the Cut for awhile, trying to find the Pogues.

"Emerson!" they all said surprised. They kinda forgot about her after what happened to John B and this accident at the Hawk's Nest. John B walked up to her first and gave her a huge hug. He then planted a kiss on her lips, and she smiled.

"I really thought you got taken away. You scared me so bad." Emerson said, placing a hand on her heart. "Where were you?" Kie asks.

"I was staying over at Morgan's, my cousin. Normally I would go down there every summer, so I decided to go there to escape reality, I guess." she responded. Everyone nodded in understandment, and John B told Emerson everything about the gold and why he had a cast on.

"Hold up, you found it!" her eyes were about to pop out of her head. She was happy to hear that they found another lead. "Yeah and he's living with Sarah Cameron at Tannyhill. The day DCS took him, he escaped and went to the archives with her." Kie explained. Emerson felt her heart drop and her expression changed from happy to confused and angry. "You went to the archives with Sarah Cameron and didn't tell me? I was here worrying about you, and you went off with her?" Emerson started to tear up. Although she didn't have a problem with Sarah Cameron, she couldn't help but think of the worst.

"Yes, I went there with her. She got me into the archives to find all the information we needed to find the gold. She had a trustee pass so I could see the stuff." John B defended himself. "He was macking her." JJ said quietly. "Oh my gosh, guys! I'm not macking her! I have this beauitful girl right in front of me, and you think I would mack the kook princess?" John B was getting frustated.

"I mean, you two aren't official, so it's possible." Pope spoke up, pointing at John B and Emerson. John B facepalmed himself, and tried to change the subject back to the gold. He was already over this conversation.

"Look, can we try to focus on the gold right now?" John B shouted at them to get them to shut up. Emerson rolled her eyes as they went outside to the van to find a stone wall. Emerson was sitting in the back with JJ and Kie, and everyone could feel the tension between Emerson and John B right now.

···

"Not the Crain house."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Worst-case scenario."

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

"I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property."

Emerson rolled her eyes as everyone complained. She didn't really know who Mrs. Crain was, but she's heard rumors about her being an axe murderer. Personally, she didn't really believe in the stories she was told. Everyone else sure did, though.

"Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place." John B and Emerson said at the same time. "You guys need to stop doing that." JJ said.

"Stop doing what?" they said at the same time, again. "That! You guys have some weird telepathy or something. You guys always say the same thing at the same time." JJ said. Both John B and Emerson rolled their eyes.

As JJ began explaining how he knew Hollis Crain, and the story she told him about her mom killing her husband, Emerson tuned their voices out. She couldn't help but wonder if JJ's words from earlier were true. "𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳."

Suddenly, she felt a hand drag her somewhere. She looked up to see John B, taking her hand in his to look for water. The other Pogues were scattered around to see if they can locate any water to find the gold.

"You know, everything JJ said about me and Sarah isn't true. I wasn't macking her." John B spoke up. "Whatever." Emerson rolled her eyes. The tension between them was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. The two of them found a door to the basement of the Crain's house, so they called all the Pogues over and went in.

"Down came Mrs. Crain and cut off all our heads. Up came the sun and dried up all the blood." JJ sung. "Can you stop?" Pope said, pointing his flashlight at JJ.

Everyone looked around to see if there was any water in the basement. Instead, they found a bunch of random shit with cobwebs on them. Finding water there would be a miracle.

"See any water?" Kie asked. A few seconds of looking around, she spoke up again. "Another dead end?"

"There's not even water on the pipes."

"There's no water here."

"Not a dropamino."

"Know why we didn't find it? Bad karma." Kie spoke up. Emerson knew where this was going so she just kept quiet. "Oh, jeez. Here we go."

"You know, we had a good thing going. And then you decide to rope in Barbie, and now the trail's gone dry. Coincidence? Probably not." Kie speaks up. "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you about Sarah. What the heck is the deal with you two?" John B argues. Emerson rolls her eyes at the immature argument. "Nothing." Kie said.

"Nothing? Is it because I kissed your bestie over there? You trying to defend her?" John B said, which made everyone gasp. Emerson felt tears in her eyes as she still continued to look for any water. She wasn't going to give up on the hunt for the gold. She didn't want to let her parents down.

Kie was so mad at his words that she slapped him hard on the cheek. Everyone's eyes widen in shock.

"Oh!"

"Oh, shit!"

"That echoed, dude!"

Emerson tried to stifle her giggle, but failed. She was happy to have a friend like Kie, someone who could defend her when she didn't have the energy to.

"Stop treating her like she's nothing to you, first of all, and secondly, I'm just trying to be a good friend and actually look out for you." Kie said.

"Did you, uh, hit me?" John B asked, still in pain from the impact. "Skeeter." Kie replied. "Skeeter?" John B asked and slapped Kie across the cheek. Everyone gasped.

"Oh, hey!"

"Okay..."

"John Booker Routledge! You don't hit girls, dumbass!" Emerson scolded him.

"Where's your proof?" Kie asked John B. John B raised his hand to expose the mosquito on his palm. "Skeeter." John B said.

The two continued to fight, while everyone complained about the amount of mosquitos in the basement. Emerson noticed Pope hitting his foot against the floor, and there seemed to be something under the wooden boards.

Emerson grabbed a pebble and threw it down through the hole, between the wooden boards. She and Pope waited for a few seconds until they could hear a small splash, and the sound of the splash echoing. She and Pope looked at each other with a knowing look, before removing everything that was on top of the wooden boards.

"Hey, hey, hey! Shh!"

"Shh!"

Emerson and Pope ignored them as they finally removed everything on top. They lifted the wooden boards to find a deep, dark well.

"Well, well, well." Pope joked. "That was a good dad joke." John B spoke quietly, still shocked by the new discovering.

Emerson smiled, knowing that there was probably going to be gold down there. It made sense to her, considering all the evidence John B found about the gold. Everyone looked at each other in shock, not knowing what to do next.

"So, we found water." Pope whispered. "We're gonna need a really big rope." John B said.

···

author's note: [word count: 1538]

episode 4 is down, and i guess episode 5 is too :) sorry if these chapters absolutely suck, kinda losing motivation... :(