Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

JJ wasn't entirely sure why he haunted the old fishing shack on the marsh. To tell you the truth, he didn't even understand why he was a ghost at all; as far as he knew, people who died became ghosts when they had unfinished business, and all of JJ's loose ends were more or less tied up. The way he remembered it, he died because he was enough of an idiot to surf while there was a hurricane coming through Kildare Island, and it wasn't like he had anything to live for, what with his only family being his abusive father. Him being a ghost just didn't make sense.

In the beginning, JJ had spent a lot of time thinking about how his spirit could have possibly ended up bound to a building that had no significance to him whatsoever, but twelve years ago he'd found something new to think about, or rather, she found him: Kiara Carrera, a young girl, a nixie, who had shown up at the shack one day and lived there ever since. Kiara's family lived in Figure Eight, the rich part of Kildare, which was home mostly to humans who looked down upon nonhumans. The Carreras, knowing how intolerant their neighborhood was, went to extreme lengths to hide their true identities, including sending a then-thirteen-year-old Kiara away to a camp on the mainland where they would make her repress her powers and become something close to a normal human. It didn't take long for Kiara to bolt, living on her own on the mainland for a year before finally returning to Kildare. She almost went back to her home in Figure Eight, but couldn't work up the nerves to face her parents again, so she instead found herself living in the Cut, a part of the island which was much more welcoming to nonhumans than Figure Eight. After hearing Kiara's story, JJ immediately sympathized with the girl, becoming an older brother figure of sorts to her and even teaching her how to surf (she was a natural, and the fact that one of her abilities as a nixie was hydrokinesis certainly helped). The two of them were the closest thing that each other had to a family.

Their family grew, though, when Pope Heyward, the shack's newest resident, came into their lives just under a year ago. Though Pope didn't come from much, he was destined for great things-- he was an exceptionally avid student who had graduated high school at the top of his class and earned a merit scholarship-- but he threw it all away when he dropped out of medical school halfway into his second semester. He was disillusioned when he realized that the higher-ups of the medical world didn't care about helping people as much as they did about making money, so he turned instead to his great-grandmother, a woman known only as Meemaw. Meemaw was reputed on Kildare as a great witch, and growing up Pope had heard all sorts of stories about the miracles she'd performed and the people she'd healed. All that Pope wanted out of life was to improve the lives of others, so he moved in with Meemaw and became her apprentice, and after her passing he took her place as the witch of Kildare Island. After a while living in his great-grandmother's old apartment got to be a bit too nostalgic for Pope as everything in it reminded him of her, so he decided to relocate, and what better place for an island witch to be based than in an abandoned fishing shack on the marsh. Of course, the shack-- which Pope had ironically dubbed the Chateau, a word that apparently meant "castle" in French-- wasn't as abandoned as he'd thought, but he didn't mind having company. When he wasn't doing deliveries for his father's shop with Kiara or attending to the very few people who came to see him at the Chateau, he spent his time just hanging out with JJ and Kiara. The three of them called themselves the Pogue Coven; "pogue" was a common slang term on Kildare for pogies, a type of fish mainly used as bait. Throwaway fish. The name seemed fitting, as the three of them were a group of outcasts, but if they had nothing else they had each other. Pope couldn't have dreamed up a better, more fulfilling life for himself if he tried.

The day everything changed was one of the slower ones at the Chateau. Kiara had just gotten back from almost a full day of surfing at the Point, Pope was reorganizing his inventory for the fifth time that week as there wasn't much else for him to do, and JJ was doing what he always did; that is to say, being a menace. "So, Kiara," he asked, "when are you gonna take me to the Point with you? I haven't been there in a minute."

"That would be difficult, seeing as you can't leave the Chateau," Kiara replied, not looking up from the book she was reading. After twelve years of dealing with JJ's nonsense, it didn't faze her anymore.

"Well, maybe if you let me possess you-"

"Nope. Not happening. Jayj, we've had this conversation a million times. I am not letting you possess me so you can do the exact thing that killed you and get me killed too."

"Kie, you can control water. You'll be fine. Besides, if you do die, we can be ghosts together. How cool would that be?"

Kiara rolled her eyes. "I'm not even gonna dignify that with a response. Go bother Pope or something."

"Please do not bother Pope," Pope chimed in from his study. "Pope has been bothered enough by JJ for one day. For the past, like, eight hours, Jayj has been driving me insane. Why do you think I'm hiding in here with a salt line in front of the door?"

"So that's why I couldn't get in there earlier," said JJ. "I hadn't noticed the salt."

"You do realize he can just pop up through the floor, right?"

JJ's eyes widened. "Oh my God, Kie, you're so right! I'll be right back."

"Why did you have to tell him that?"

"Sorry, Pope," Kiara said with a shrug.

"Kie, I swear, I'm gonna-" Before Pope could finish that sentence, there was a knock on the door. "Oh, that's probably for me. I should get that. Saved by the bell, I suppose."

"No need," said Kiara. "I'll get it. I'm closer to the door. You keep rearranging your herbs or whatever you're doing in there."

"So you're just gonna leave me here with JJ," Pope muttered under his breath. "Great. This is great. The one time I actually don't want you to answer the door, you say you'll get it. Thanks a lot, Kie."

"Yeah, no problem." Kiara set her book down on the coffee table, then got up to answer the door, ignoring the sounds of glass breaking and Pope cursing which came from the study.

On the other side of the door to the Chateau was a petite girl who looked roughly her age with blonde hair and tan skin, dressed in a tank top and Daisy Duke shorts. In one hand, she held a bird cage with what had to be the most majestic bird Kiara had ever seen, probably some kind of hawk. "Hey, I haven't seen you around before," she said. "I'm Kiara Carrera, what's your name?"

"Sarah Cameron," the blonde girl-- Sarah-- replied. "Wait a second, Kiara Carrera? I've heard that name before. Aren't you dead? You went missing thirteen years ago and nobody ever found a body. They buried an empty casket. I remember it. The whole neighborhood was there."

Shoot. For a second, Kiara had forgotten that JJ and Pope were the only people who knew she was alive. "My death was… greatly exaggerated."

"You should go back to Figure Eight and tell your family you're alive," said Sarah. "I'm sure they'd be thrilled to have you back."

"I doubt it, after they sent me away. Anyway, Sarah Cameron, what brings you to this neck of the woods? You're a long way from Figure Eight."

"What do you think? I'm here to see you."

Kiara gave Sarah a confused look. "You're here to see me, Kiara Carrera, the person you thought was dead?"

"No, I'm here to see you, the witch of Kildare Island."

"Ohhhh, okay. I'm afraid there's a bit of a misunderstanding here, Sarah. I'm not the witch. That would be my roommate."

"Well, can you get her?"

As if on cue, Pope entered the room. "He's right here," he said. "Pope Heyward, at your service. Apologies for the delay. Bit of a mishap with the inventory. You're Sarah, right?"

"Mhm. Sorry about the whole calling-you-by-the-wrong-pronoun thing, by the way, it's just when I hear the word 'witch,' I tend to think of-"

"A woman, yeah. So do most people. You can thank J.K. Rowling for that. I swear, if I had a nickel for every time I had to explain to someone that a witch and a wizard are not in fact the same thing but different genders, I'd be living in Figure Eight and not here. But anyway, rant over with. What can I do for you, Sarah?"

"I'm actually not here for me. I'm here for my friend over here." As she says it, she motions towards the bird cage, which she's set down on the table.

"You're friends with a bird?" As JJ said it, he materialized in the room, startling both the bird and Sarah.

"Oh my God, is that a ghost?"

"Sure am. You can just call me JJ, though. Jayj if ya nasty."

"Of course this place is haunted," said Sarah. "Am I gonna get brutally murdered or something?"

"Definitely not," Kiara replied. "Jayj was here when we got here. We're not killers; Pope's kinda squeamish when it comes to blood. And if it's JJ you're worried about, you really don't need to be. He's harmless."

"You don't know that," said JJ.

"Jayj, I've lived with you for over a decade and I'm still in one piece. If anyone knows you're harmless, it's me. I'm so sorry about him, Sarah. He's not like this normally."

"Yeah, he's normally worse," Pope said. "Anyway, what's the story with your bird? Is it injured or something? It looks fine."

"That's just because I found him in time. He was attacked by some kind of animal, but I nursed him back to health. When my dad saw I had him, he got all weird and told me to put him out of his misery, but I don't have the heart to do that, so here I am."

"Why, though?" JJ asked. "This isn't an animal sanctuary, Sarah. We don't know how to take care of a bird."

"That's the thing, though. I don't think he's a normal bird. I've had him for three days, and it seems like he's trying to tell me something. I can't figure out what it is, so I'm hoping you can tell me. Please, he's my friend."

"So what I'm hearing is this girl has a weird parasocial relationship with a bird. Guys, she's a nut job. I think the kind of help she needs is more than you can give her, Pope, unless you happen to know where the nearest mental hospital is."

"I'm right here, JJ!"

"Ignore him. I'd be more than happy to help you and your bird out, Sarah. Hold on, I think I have just the spell for this." Pope went into his study, then returned with the spellbook that Meemaw had left him and flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for. "If I say this incantation, that'll grant your bird the ability to communicate with us in a way we can understand," said Pope.

"Alright. Incant away."

Pope did just that, and for a second it seemed like nothing changed.

"Now what?" Kiara asked.

"Now we wait. God, it's really weird doing stuff like this without Meemaw. She always knew what to do in these situations."

"Meemaw?"

"My great-grandmother," Pope explained. "She taught me everything I know. All I ever wanted was to be like her and help people. I just hope I'm making her proud."

"Aww, that's so sweet."

"Thanks."

After what seemed like an eternity but was really only about five minutes, the bird spoke. "Hello? Oh, I'm speaking English. You can understand me now. This is wonderful. Sarah, I just wanna say thank you so much for saving my life-"

Just then, JJ butted in. "Cut the sappy crap, would you? Sarah brought you here because she claims you're trying to tell her something. She also claims you're not a normal bird. Are either of those statements true?"

"Yep. I was apparently born a human, but I've been a bird for as long as I can remember. My dad was cursed when I was one, and that curse spread to me."

"Well, I'll be damned," said JJ. "Sarah's not a nut job after all."

"No I'm not, but I am owed an apology."

"In my defense, what you were saying about that bird was not normal."

"You're a ghost and you live with a witch. Nothing about this situation is normal."

"Fair enough."

"You said your dad was cursed," Pope said. "Cursed how? By who?"

"That's the thing. He has no memory of it, but things were starting to come back to him. But then, not too long after he told me he remembered something about the night it happened, we were attacked. I didn't get a good look at the thing that did it, but it killed my dad, and if Sarah hadn't found me I would've died too. I have a feeling that it wasn't a coincidence, and whatever that thing was was sent after us by the same person who cursed my dad because they don't want us finding out it was them who did it."

Kiara looked eagerly at Pope. "Is this the start of a quest?"

"I think it is."

"Quest?" JJ repeated. "That sounds awesome. I wanna go on a quest."

"Well, unfortunately for you, your spirit is bound to the Chateau, so you won't be going anywhere."

"Aw, man."

"Can I come along?" Sarah asked. "My life's honestly pretty boring. I could use some adventure. Plus, I told my dad I'd be sleeping over with my friend Scarlet tonight, so I kind of can't go home."

"Yeah, of course! I mean, you did save… uh, you have a name, right? I never got your name."

"Oh, where are my manners? My name's John Booker Routledge, but my dad always called me John B."

"John B as in 'Sloop John B' by the Beach Boys?" As soon as Sarah said the words, Kiara and Pope looked at each other, then at JJ, as they knew exactly what was coming.

"JJ, don't do it," said Pope, but of course, JJ, being JJ, didn't listen.

"For we sail on the Sloop John B, my grandfather and me-"

Thankfully, Kiara cut him off. "Jayj, if you sing one more line, I swear to God I'll kill you."

"Good luck with that, Kie. I'm already dead."

"I don't care, I'll find a way to kill you again. Pope, can you bring JJ back from the dead so I can kill him again?"

As soon as Kiara asked the question, Pope's entire demeanor changed. "I'm not messing with necromancy, Kie," he said. "That's some powerful, dangerous dark magic. If I were to bring back JJ, he wouldn't be the JJ we know. He'd be something else entirely."

"Relax, Pope. I was kidding. If I'd known you were gonna be so weird about it, I wouldn't have asked."

"Okay, good. Everyone, get some rest. We've got a full day of packing ahead of us. That means no keeping us up with late-night shenanigans, JJ."

"Not even one shenanigan? Come on, man. You're no fun."

---

Meanwhile at Tannyhill, home of the Cameron family, Sarah's father Ward was starting to get suspicious about his daughter's whereabouts. Wheezie, Sarah's younger sister, wouldn't give Ward a straight answer, so he went to someone he knew would tell him the truth: Rafe. Rafe, who was nearing the age of thirty, was the eldest of Ward's children, and as such he was next in line to take over the family business, but only once Ward stepped down. Rafe had a feeling Ward wouldn't be doing that any time soon. "Where's your sister?" Ward asked.

"Last I heard, she was sleeping over at Scarlet's."

Ward wasn't buying that. "After everything I've done for you, you look me in the eyes and lie to me?" He said, grabbing Rafe by the throat. "Rafe, I gave you life. The least you can do is repay me with your honesty. Now tell me where your sister is."

"Dad, I swear I have no idea where she went. All I know is she took that bird with her. Are you even sure that that's one of the birds you sent me to kill?"

"I know it can't be a coincidence that the day I send you after them, Sarah shows up at the house with an injured hawk. You failed to finish the job, Rafe. Your whole life has been a series of disappointments. Makes me wonder why I kept you here in the first place."

"I can redeem myself, Dad," said Rafe. "If you give me the chance, I can go back and finish the job. Please, just let me fix this."

"Fine. You better not let me down again this time, or there will be consequences."

"Don't worry, I won't. Why do you want these birds dead so badly, anyway? Did birds kill your parents or something?"

"You'll find out in good time," he said. "Provided you finish the job, of course."

"Dad, the next time you hear from me, it'll be me telling you that both of those birds are dead."

"That's the attitude I like to hear from a Cameron."

Chapter Text

When Sarah woke up the next morning, a small part of her thought that the events of the previous night must have been some kind of crazy dream; that is, until she opened her eyes and saw that she was still in the shack, as was the bird she'd saved. Wait, no, not a bird. A human, one who'd been cursed, and with the help of the witch and his friends Sarah would break that curse. "Good morning, John B," she said as she sat up and stretched, still processing the absurd situation she found herself in.

"Morning, Sarah. You sleep okay?"

"All things considered, yeah. This couch has to be the least comfortable thing I've ever slept on. I'm sore in places I didn't know existed."

At that moment, JJ appeared in the room. "Oh, is our humble dwelling not up to your standards?" He said in what had to be the worst fake British accent Sarah had ever heard. "My sincerest apologies, Princess Cameron. If it's comfort you seek, perhaps you should return to your home on Figure Eight."

"Jayj, be nice," said Kiara. "Sarah's our guest."

"Yeah, not to mention she's a customer," Pope added. "I can't have you scaring her off. I know we don't normally have customers stay at the Chateau overnight, but business is business, and I have to make a living somehow, so please dial down the crazy at least while she's here."

"See, that's the issue here, Pope. You think my crazy is something that can just be dialed down. Well, it's not. This is the way I am, bro, and if you or Kildare Barbie over here doesn't like that, then that's your guys' problem, not mine. Besides, she's the one who started it with her complaining. We opened our home to her and she's repaying our kindness by being a spoiled brat. Typical rich person from Figure Eight."

"Hey, not everyone from Figure Eight is snobbish and entitled," Kiara defended. "I should know, that's where I grew up. Besides, Sarah hasn't even been here for 24 hours. At least get to know her before judging."

"Thanks for that, Kiara. And JJ, I wasn't trying to come off as ungrateful or anything, I swear. I really do appreciate you guys letting me stay the night- oh, God, he just won't leave me alone."

"Who won't?" John B asked.

"Topper. My ex. I broke up with him a week ago, and he still won't stop blowing up my phone. Just last night, he called me twenty times and sent me, like, over a hundred texts asking where I've been."

"He sounds like a ray of sunshine," Kiara said sarcastically.

"Totally," John B agreed. "I can definitely see why you broke up with him."

"Full offense," said JJ, "but I think your first mistake was dating a guy named Topper. How did that guy make it through middle school without being tortured?"

"Ignore him," said Pope. "How serious of a situation is this? I know you're here to lift John B's curse, but I could probably find a spell that would keep Topper away from you. No extra charge, because I'm not an animal. No offense, John B."

"None taken. I know what you mean."

"I just might take you up on that, Pope," Sarah said. "I was considering getting the police involved, but something tells me whatever you have up your sleeve might be more effective."

"I have an even better idea than whatever by-the-book nonsense Pope is going to come up with," JJ piped up. "Get Topper on the phone, and put him on speaker."

Sarah was too shocked to respond to that, so thankfully Kiara said something. "Jayj, have you lost your mind?"

"Can't lose what you don't have."

"Okay, that's true. But still, what makes you think Sarah calling this Topper guy is gonna do us any good?"

"Just trust me, Kie. I have a plan."

"Remember the last time you told me to trust you and you ended up nearly blowing up the Chateau?"

"That was ages ago."

"It was literally last Saturday."

"Details, details. Now, Sarah, are you just gonna sit there like a sack of potatoes, or are you gonna listen to me and call Topper?"

"I don't know-" Sarah began, but before she could get the rest of the sentence out she heard a dial tone. Sure enough, her phone was calling Topper on its own. "What the hell?"

"While you were busy waffling about whether or not you were gonna go through with my totally awesome and foolproof plan, I possessed your phone and called that unfortunately named ex of yours. You're welcome. Now we just wait for him to pick up."

"JJ, I can't stress enough how stupid an idea I think this is."

"Hey, stupid things have good outcomes all the time. Just you wait."

Part of Sarah hoped the call would just go to voicemail, but she was not that lucky. "Hey, Sare bear," Topper said through the phone. Just hearing that name from him made Sarah want to throw up. "I was worried sick about you. You haven't been answering any of my calls or texts. I looked on Find My Friends, and it says that you've been at that shack on the marsh since last night. I heard someone got murdered there, and I couldn't help but think maybe they got you too."

"Oh, no, I'm fine. That murder was literally 25 years ago, and it's just a rumor anyway. Nobody really knows what happened to that Maybank guy. And besides, I just needed to get away from my family for the night; Rafe and Wheezie were driving me crazy. You know how it is."

"I don't buy that," said Topper. "What, did you meet up with someone there or something? Is this why you dumped me? What's his name?"

"You're not even my boyfriend anymore, Top. Why do you care so much who I'm with?"

"Stop avoiding the question, Sarah, and just tell me his name!"

It was then that JJ decided to put his plan into action. "Hi, Topper," he said, getting close to the phone. "I don't know you and you don't know me, but I've just gotta say that you have a stupid ass name. What, is it short for Topperware or something?"

Sarah instinctively moved her phone away from the ghost. "JJ, what are you doing?"

"JJ?" Topper repeated. Sarah could tell he was fuming. "So there is someone else. This whole time you've been sneaking around with some punk from the Cut. I knew it. I'm coming right now to make this loser JJ regret being born."

"Topper, I can explain-" Before Sarah got the chance to say anything else, he hung up. "Well, that went down like a lead balloon," she muttered.

"To be fair, it was a JJ plan, so I didn't expect anything else," said Pope. "Did you, Kie?"

"Nope. Clearly this little plan of yours backfired, Jayj. As if we didn't have enough to worry about with getting ready to go on a quest to lift John B's curse, now we have to deal with Sarah's crazy ex. Whatever you were trying to do, it didn't work."

"You both underestimate me," he said. "My plan didn't backfire. Getting Topper wound up enough to come to the Chateau was actually what I'd intended to do all along. I mean, granted, I would say that either way, but it happens to be the truth."

"Sure it does." Pope wasn't believing that for a second.

Sarah didn't believe him, either. "That was your plan? And what exactly were you hoping to achieve, other than getting one of us seriously injured?"

"I'm so glad you asked. You see, Topper is going to be coming here expecting to find Sarah with her side piece, but he'll instead find her with a witch, a nixie, a ghost, and a talking bird. If that's not enough to make him think he's lost his mind, I don't know what is. And if that doesn't work, Pope can just say some gibberish words at him and make him think he's being hexed. This Topper guy seems dumb enough to fall for that."

"I hate to say it, Jayj, but that's actually a really good plan," said Kiara, trying to hide just how impressed she was.

"Yeah, I can definitely see that working on Topper," Sarah agreed.

"The phrase 'idiot genius' comes to mind," said John B.

"I appreciate that, Birdie. Y'know, back when I was alive, people called me an idiot genius all the time. They usually left out the 'genius' part, but I know what they meant. I could stand around and talk about my greatness all day, but I have a couple burning questions for you after hearing that phone call, Sarah."

"Like what?"

"Number one, you said something about Rafe and Wheezie. Those wouldn't happen to be people, would they?"

"Uh, yeah, they are. My brother and sister. Rafe's almost thirty and Wheezie just turned seventeen. I'm the middle child."

"Wow, okay. So your names are Rafe, Sarah, and Wheezie. At least your parents had the decency to give one of their kids a normal name."

"Before you rag on my siblings' names, I'll have you know that Wheezie is short for Louisa."

"Okay, then why doesn't she just go by Louisa?"

"I was nine when she was born and called her Wheezie as a nickname, and it stuck. I dunno, I always thought it was cute."

"Eh. Debatable. Anyway, my other question- wait a second, I've never seen that truck before. That's gotta be Topper."

Sarah looked out the window, and sure enough there was a truck pulling up to the Chateau. "Oh, shoot, that is Topper. Everybody, just follow JJ's plan, okay?"

"Never in a million years did I think I'd hear that sentence," said Kiara.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Pope agreed. "Jayj, you better hope this doesn't go sideways."

"Hey, don't diss sideways. It's a very respectable direction. Anyway, guys, get into position." With that, Kiara and Pope left the room and JJ made himself invisible.

"Oh, God, I feel like I'm gonna be sick," Sarah said to John B. "Why did I agree to this?"

"You didn't. JJ just kinda forced his plan on you. But if Topper so much as lays a finger on you, I'll peck his eyes out."

Sarah smiled. "Thanks, John B."

"No problem."

Sarah watched, frozen in fear, as Topper got out of his truck and made his way to the Chateau. Unlike Sarah when she'd arrived the previous night, Topper didn't bother knocking; instead, he just barged in as if he owned the place. "Sarah," he said. "There you are, baby. This week's been so hard without you."

"Don't you dare try to sweet talk me, Topper, because it's not gonna work. I'm not getting back with you. Ever. Hell will freeze over before I get back with you, and even then I'd still be hesitant."

"Then why did you call me?"

"JJ's idea, not mine."

"That's right. JJ. That son of a b*tch who stole my girlfriend. Where is he? I'll kill him."

It was then that JJ made himself visible. "You're about 25 years too late, sunshine."

For a moment, Topper just stood there, agape, unable to form a complete sentence. "What the sh*t?" He finally managed.

JJ ignored him and continued. "And I didn't steal Sarah from you, for the record," he said. "I actually have no interest in Sarah. Don't get me wrong, though, she is a beautiful girl, just a little too… alive for me. If she was a ghost I would consider-"

"Sarah, what the hell is happening? Am I being set up right now? Is this all some sort of elaborate plot to cover up the fact that you cheated on me?"

"Topper, for the millionth time, I didn't-"

"I've had enough of your lies, you dirty slut!" Topper picked Sarah up and slammed her against the wall, one hand pressed against her throat. "Just tell me the truth. Who did you leave me for?"

"Judging by the way you treat her, Topper, it's pretty clear who she left you for," said John B. "One Sarah Cameron."

"Who said that?" In his shock, Topper dropped Sarah, who fell to the ground as she caught her breath. "What, does this place have two ghosts?"

"Nope, I haunt this place enough as it is," JJ said. "That's just John B."

"John B? Who or what is a John B?"

"That would be me," John B replied. "And if you value your eyesight, I suggest you leave Sarah alone."

"Oh my God. As if a ghost wasn't enough, now I'm getting threatened by a talking bird. This is great. This is just great. I must be having some sort of mental breakdo-" At that moment, Kiara snuck up behind Topper and hit him on the back of the head with a frying pan, rendering him unconscious.

"I can't believe I just did that," Kiara said, bending down and checking to see if Topper had a pulse. He did, and she wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but at least if he was unconscious he couldn't do anything else to Sarah.

"Me neither," said Sarah, high fiving the nixie. "You Rapunzeled that."

"Hell yeah, I did. That was actually where I got the idea from. Tangled was my favorite movie when I was little; it was actually the last one I saw in theaters before my parents sent me away."

"You keep mentioning that, that they sent you away. What happened, exactly?"

"So, you see, when I was younger, my powers were a lot harder for me to control-"

"Story time can wait, girls," JJ interrupted. "We have a bigger problem right now: an unconscious man in our living room. Well, maybe living room isn't the right word, as some of us aren't living, but you know what I mean. What are we gonna do about Topper?"

"I dunno," said Sarah, "got any more totally awesome and foolproof plans?"

"Nah, that was a fluke. Usually Pope's the ideas guy, not me. YO, POPE, GET IN HERE!"

Pope ran into the room, spellbook in hand. "No worries, guys, I know exactly what to do." With that, Pope said an incantation, and Topper's unconscious body seemingly vanished into thin air. "Teleportation. This was my first time casting it. I seriously wasn't sure if that was gonna work, but Topper's not here anymore, so apparently it did."

"Where did you send him?" Sarah asked.

"Hell, I hope," said JJ.

"Yeah, I second that motion," John B agreed. "Or at least somewhere far enough away that he won't come back and hurt Sarah again."

"I sent him to his bedroom. If everything goes according to plan, he'll just wake up in a few hours and think this was all some messed-up dream, and in case that's not enough to keep him away from Sarah, I also cast an avoidance spell, which is… self-explanatory. Long story short, I strongly doubt you'll be hearing from Topper again."

"Nice going, nerd," said JJ.

"For sure," said Kiara. "Meemaw would be proud."

"Thanks. I'd like to think she would."

"Thank you, Pope," said Sarah. "All of you, really: JJ for luring Topper here, John B for threatening him, Kiara for knocking him out. I can't believe you'd do all of this for me, who you barely even know."

"It's really no problem," Pope said. "You came here for help, help is what we're giving you."

"Yeah, exactly," Kiara agreed. "Now, without further ado, we've got a quest to pack for."

"Some further ado would be much appreciated, actually," said Pope. "I just cast not one, but two relatively advanced spells, so as you can imagine I'm pretty drained. Magic takes energy, you know."

"Fair enough. You go take a nap. JJ and Sarah can help me pack."

"I am not helping you pack for a quest I can't even go on," said JJ. "That's just cruel. Are you sure you can't let me possess you, just this once?"

"Yes, Jayj, I'm very sure."

"In that case, I'm not lifting a finger as far as packing goes."

Kiara sighed. "I should've known. At least I have Sarah to help. When should we set off? Tomorrow morning?"

"That's not gonna work for me," said Sarah. "My family's gonna be out on our boat all day tomorrow. On the bright side, though, this'll give you guys more time to prepare."

"True. Want me to give you Pope's phone number so you can stay in touch with us while you're away? I'm sure he wouldn't mind me giving it to you; he's the only one of us with a cell phone-- my parents took mine when they sent me away, and JJ's a ghost, so he can't exactly afford a phone contract."

"That'd be great." Sarah handed Kiara her phone, and she put Pope's number in. "John B, are you cool staying here? I would bring you back home, but my dad made it pretty clear he wanted you dead."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just hope we can actually lift my curse."

"I hope so, too."

Chapter Text

JJ, I'm curious," said Sarah, "what was that other thing you were gonna ask me?"

"Huh?"

"After we got off the phone with Topper. You asked me about my siblings' names, then you said you had another question, but I never got to hear it because you noticed Topper pulling up to the Chateau. What were you going to ask?"

"Knowing Jayj, probably something stupid," Kiara said. "More likely than not, he was wondering if you know any lady ghosts who happen to be single."

JJ put a hand to his heart. "You cut me deep just then, Kie. I'm hurt that you think that little of me."

"Am I wrong?"

"You actually are, though come to think of it, I probably should have asked that. Kinda hard to have a love life, what with the whole being dead thing. But just for the record, I was going to ask Sarah to elaborate on what you said about the murder that happened here 25 years ago. What do you know about that, Sare?"

"Oh, right, the Maybank case. Well, first of all, nobody knows for sure if it was a murder. 'Missing person' is more accurate; nobody ever found a body or anything. This guy in his early 20s just straight up vanished off the face of the Earth. It's Kildare Island's greatest mystery."

"Is it really?" Kiara asked. "How come I've never heard of it?"

"Probably because you've been living in a shack on the marsh for over a decade with no access to the internet."

"Okay, fair point."

"How did the rumor that Maybank got murdered in this shack start?" This time it was John B who asked.

"No idea. Hearsay, I think. I'm no expert on the Maybank case, but I can pull up an article about it."

"Yeah, please do," said JJ. "I wanna know more."

Sarah did just that, and as she did, her expression changed to one of shock. "JJ, your full name wouldn't happen to be John Jackson Maybank, would it?"

"What, are you a cop?"

"Now is not the time for dumb jokes, Jayj. This is the thumbnail photo for the Maybank article." She showed JJ, Kiara, and John B the phone. "Like, you can't tell me that that doesn't look like JJ."

"Oh my God, it does," said John B.

"Yeah, it looks like me, because that is me," said JJ. "I knew it. I knew there had to be foul play involved in my death."

"So that's what JJ stands for," said Kiara. "This whole time you had me believing it was Jesse James, after the famous outlaw."

"In my defense, Jesse James is a hell of a lot cooler of a name than John Jackson. I saw the chance to reinvent myself and I took it, Kiara. Can you blame me? But we're getting off topic here. This whole time, I thought I died in a surfing accident, but if that was the case my body probably would've washed up on shore eventually, and my soul definitely wouldn't be haunting some shack that I don't even remember going in. You guys have to let me come along on this quest now. Not only are we gonna lift John B's curse, but we can also find out the truth about what happened to me and maybe even bring my killer to justice, if they're still out there. It's like two birds getting stoned at the same time, or whatever the saying is."

"It's 'kill two birds with one stone,' JJ," Kiara corrected.

"I've heard it both ways."

"No, you have not."

"Hey, can we not talk about killing birds in front of John B?" Sarah said. "Those are his people."

"It's fine. I know it's just a saying. I'm all for trying to find JJ's killer, though. Jayj deserves to know the truth about what happened to him."

"Thank you, John B. Girls, your thoughts?"

"I agree with John B about you deserving closure," said Kiara, "but I think we should wait until after John B's curse is lifted. Two quests at the same time is kinda a lot for inexperienced questers like us."

"Yeah, for sure," Sarah agreed.

"So that's two in favor and two against. We need a tie breaker. Anyone wanna wake up Pope? 'Cause it's not gonna be me. Not after last time."

"We are not waking up Pope, JJ." Kiara said it firmly. "You and I both know how Pope gets when someone interrupts his sleep. Let's just finish packing."

"Do you guys even know where you're going?"

'Uh… no. No we do not."

"We could start with the woods where my dad and I got attacked," John B suggested. "I don't know too much about magic as I'm not a magic user myself, but there's probably some kind of spell or something Pope can do to figure out what exactly it was that was after us. Then maybe we could go to my dad's old house. He was something of an expert on the arcane before he got cursed, so there's probably something helpful in his research."

"Do you have any idea where this house is?" Sarah asked.

"I don't think I do, seeing as I only lived there for a year of my life."

"Great," said JJ. "So you have a lead that goes nowhere. Nice going, guys. This quest is already off to an excellent start."

"Don't be such a downer, Jayj," Kiara said. "Heyward probably knows where John B's dad's house is. Heyward knows everything there is to know about Kildare."

"Heyward?" John B repeated. "Who's Heyward?"

"Pope's dad. He's this legendary character. Anything you want on the island, he can get you. Where do you think Pope gets everything he needs for his whole witch business?"

"Oh, okay. That makes sense."

"Mhm. Pope and I do deliveries for his shop, since Pope being the witch of Kildare Island isn't enough to keep the lights on, so I can just ask him about your dad's house when we go in for work tomorrow."

"And, since Heyward is so knowledgeable about the island, you could also ask him what he knows about the Maybank case," JJ adds. "I knew him when I was alive-- not super well, but we were acquaintances-- and I vaguely remember talking to him the day that I… y'know."

"What did you say?" Sarah asked.

"That's the thing. I don't remember. My memories of that day are hazy at best. I'm just hoping that Heyward does."

"The chances of that are pretty low," said Kiara. "Why would he remember a conversation he had with an acquaintance 25 years ago?"

"I dunno, but it's worth a try. That way, you can get a jumpstart on both quests. Like I said, two birds getting stoned."

"Please stop saying that."

---

Sarah didn't get back to Tannyhill until much later that evening. Thankfully Ward didn't press her at all about where she'd been-- he did ask her about the bird, which she assured him was taken care of-- so she went straight to her room to lie down for a moment and process the events of that morning, the beginning of a new adventure. Finally, Sarah's life felt like her own. Ever since she was sixteen, she had felt like she was trapped in a bubble of privilege and wealth. She could see her future: marrying whatever guy her family deemed suitable, getting ensnared in life full of country club mingling and being shown off like a piece of property. It all seemed mind-numbingly boring to her, but as far as she could tell, there was no way out. At least, that was the case until she broke up with Topper.

Topper and Sarah met while they were studying at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a place that didn't interest Sarah in the slightest, but several generations of Camerons before her had graduated from there, so it was pretty much set in stone from the moment she was born. In the beginning, Topper didn't interest her either-- her first impression of him was that he was your run-of-the-mill obnoxious frat boy-- but he'd asked her to go out with him so many times that she eventually said yes just to shut him up. He seemed nice enough, if a bit overbearing at times, plus he came from a good family, so naturally Ward was pleased with Sarah's choice. After his and Sarah's graduation, Topper moved to Tannyhill and effectively became a part of the Cameron family. In the beginning, everything was fine, but things soured about a year into them living together. He started going through her phone, insisting she was cheating, and even going so far as to not let Sarah leave Tannyhill without him. This led to several fights, including the big one where Sarah broke up with him. After that, Topper moved back to the mainland, or at least that was what Sarah thought; it turned out he was still on Kildare, where he had rented a place, and he would constantly show up at Tannyhill begging for Sarah to take him back. It got to the point where Sarah couldn't bear to be in her own home anymore, so she would go on long walks in the woods, and it was on one of these walks that she found John B.

John B. As Sarah stared at her ceiling, her mind wandered back to him. She picked up her phone, and just as she was about to send a text to Pope asking how John B was doing and if they had any more leads on the curse, she heard a knock on her bedroom door. "Sarah? Can I come in?" It was Wheezie, her younger sister.

"Yeah, of course, Wheeze," she said, sitting up. Wheezie sat down next to her on the bed. "Thanks again for covering for me last night, by the way."

"It's no problem as long as you hold up your end of the deal. You know what Dad always says-"

"Nothing in life comes for free," the two sisters say at the same time, imitating Ward's gruff way of speaking. By now, they'd caught on to the fact that Ward wasn't exactly the greatest dad in the world, but it always helped to make light of a less-than-ideal situation.

"So now you have to tell me about what you saw in that shack," said Wheezie. "Was there really a witch there?"

"There sure was. A guy my age. His name was Pope. There was also this nixie girl, Kiara. Total badass. You'd love her. Plus a ghost, JJ. He's… mostly just a nuisance, but he did have my back with Topper this morning, so that was nice."

"Wait, Topper was there? Ugh, who put him on the planet?" Unlike the other Camerons, Wheezie never liked Topper. From the very beginning, she'd had a feeling that he was a bit too possessive of Sarah, so naturally part of her was glad her sister finally had the good sense to dump him, even if it took four and a half years for her to do so.

"I've asked myself that same question many times. And yes, he did show up, but I have a feeling he won't be bothering me anymore."

"Okay, now I wanna know what this JJ guy did. Don't leave out any of the bloody details."

"Alright," said Sarah, who then proceeded to tell Wheezie all about Topper's visit to the Chateau. "They all had a hand in it, really. It was teamwork at its finest."

"Wow. I wish I could've been there to see that. It sounds like it was awesome. Well, minus the part with you getting pinned against a wall and stuff, but you know what I mean. I'm guessing John B is the bird you saved?"

"Yep. Pope did a spell to grant him human speech, and apparently he's a human who was cursed. His dad got killed just as he was getting close to figuring out who cursed them and how to lift it, so we're gonna be picking up where he left off. Or at least, we would be if Dad wasn't making us all go on the Druthers tomorrow. I got Pope's number-- he's the only one there who has a cell phone-- and he'll just text me in the meantime if they have any new leads. For now, though, all we know is we're going to the woods where I found John B, then to John B's dad's old house because he had done some research before he was cursed that might be helpful to us."

"This sounds super cool. Can I come too?"

"I wish you could, Wheeze, but it's too dangerous. Whatever killed John B's dad is probably gonna come back for him, and I really don't want to see you get hurt."

"But what if you get hurt?"

"It's nothing I can't handle, trust me. Besides, I'm the big sister here. It should be me who's worrying about you, not the other way around."

"Fair enough," said Wheezie. "Just let me know if anything else happens. I'm, like, living vicariously through you right now."

Sarah chuckled. "Will do. I love you, Wheeze."

"I love you too, Sarah. Can you do me a favor and not die while on this quest?"

"Yeah, I'll do my best not to die."

"Good. Anyway, I should probably go now. Rose has been telling me to clean up my room, like, all day, and I still haven't gotten around to it. I'll see you later?"

"Sounds like a plan."

As Wheezie was leaving Sarah's room, who did she see standing by the door but Rafe. "Were you seriously listening in on us?" She asked him. "Not cool, man."

"What? Listening in on you? No, I just happened to be standing here. This is my house too, Wheezie. I can stand wherever I want."

"How much of our conversation did you hear?"

"Just the tail end, and I wasn't even paying attention." That couldn't have been further from the truth. Rafe had been listening to their conversation from the moment Sarah mentioned the bird, in order to figure out where it was so he could finish the job and earn back the respect of his father, if he ever even had it in the first place.

"The truth, Rafe."

"It's none of your business."

"You mean like how the conversation my sister and I were having that you listened in on was none of your business?"

"Touché," said Rafe. "I did, in fact, hear most of it. I heard enough to know that Sarah defied Dad. He told her to put that bird out of its misery, and did she do it? No, because she's too soft. And you both wonder why I'm Dad's favorite. It's because I'm the problem solver of this family. I get things done. I'm a proactive type of person."

"You're a pathetic type of person, is what you are," Wheezie retorted. "You're a grown man, almost thirty years old, and you're still acting like the sun shines out of Dad's ass and you have a vitamin D deficiency."

Rafe glared at his youngest sister, his jaw tightening. "You say one word against Dad and I'll rip your throat out." It came out sounding closer to a growl than a sentence. "Our dad is a good man. A great man, even. He busted his ass to give us the life we have, so show him some respect, Goddammit."

"Jeez, fine. Can you at least promise me you won't tell him what you heard? I don't want Sarah to get in trouble."

"If Sarah gets in trouble, it'll be because she deserves it. People get exactly what they deserve, Wheezie. That's a fact of life."

"I'm not having this conversation anymore," Wheezie said as she walked away. "Touch grass, loser."

Chapter Text

With Heyward being the Kildare Island lore aficionado that he was, he knew exactly who Kiara was the first time Pope brought her to his shop. She never mentioned it to him outright, but he knew, and she was aware of this. There was this mutual understanding between them: he never asked her about why she left the island or about why she didn't have a phone, and didn't press the matter any further when she insisted against doing any deliveries in Figure Eight. Kiara quite liked having Heyward as a boss, and Heyward appreciated her work ethic. Not only that, though, he also appreciated what a good friend she was to Pope, as well as her interest in hearing all his stories about the island's history.

It was for that reason that, when Kiara asked Heyward what he knew about John Routledge, he didn't find it suspect at all. "John Routledge," he repeated. "Now that's a name I ain't heard in a long time."

"What happened to him?" Kiara had a good idea of what happened to Routledge, but she still wanted to hear Heyward's version of the story.

"That's the thing. Nobody knows. Twenty-five years ago, he and his one-year-old son just vanished without a trace. People assumed he just left Kildare. No one ever looked into it or nothing, 'cause that same day JJ Maybank went missing."

"JJ Maybank?" Pope chimed in. "You're not gonna believe this, Pop, but he's the ghost that haunts the Chateau."

"I believe it, alright," said Heyward. "It definitely makes sense that his soul's still here. The Maybank case is the most famous unsolved crime in the OBX. His body was never found, and for years the main suspect was his father, Luke. He was a known dirtbag, so I wouldn't have put it past him to off his own son. Doesn't help his case that a week after JJ went missing he left for Yucatan."

"So this Luke guy, he's the one who killed JJ?" Kiara asked.

"I never said that, Kiara, all I said was that to most people it looked like he did. I have a feeling I know who actually did it, though."

"Who?"

"Ward Cameron," he said. "He and JJ grew up together. They were attached at the hip; you never saw one without the other. Then, one day, JJ came to me-- Lord knows why he came to me of all people, I barely knew him-- saying that he's worried about Ward. Said he'd been acting off."

"Off how?" Pope asked.

"See, around that time, Ward had started using magic, but not the same kind as you or Meemaw. Dark magic, the kind that comes from the life force of other beings. It takes a real messed up kind of person to be willing to kill for power, not to mention it corrupts you, and that's exactly what JJ was noticing in Ward. I remember he told me that he was going to try and talk him out of it, get him to stop before it was too late."

"And then he was never seen again," said Kiara.

"Exactly. It don't take no Sherlock Holmes to put the pieces together, and I don't think it's a coincidence that Routledge went missing that same night either."

"Let me get this straight," said Pope. "This whole time, you knew this Ward Cameron guy killed JJ and you never went to the police? You could've brought this guy to justice. Why didn't you?"

"Not enough evidence. You can't make an arrest based on witness testimony alone, son, plus Ward is not the kind of person you want to mess with. Magic isn't the only kind of power he has. He has money, and lots of it. No idea how he came upon it-- knowing him, probably not by any legal means-- but he left the Cut and got himself a place in Figure Eight. He's pretty well respected, too, the kind of person who's got the governor on speed dial, so even if I were to come out and say something now nobody would believe me. At the end of the day, it's the people with money who always come out on top."

"That's true, unfortunately," said Kiara. "Wait a second, Cameron? And this guy lives on Figure Eight?"

"Sure does. Why? Y'all weren't thinking of going after him, were you? That's a surefire way to get killed."

"It's not on our to-do list, no. We just happen to know a Sarah Cameron from Figure Eight. She's a customer of Pope's. I was just thinking, that's such a coincidence."

"That ain't no coincidence, Kiara. Sarah Cameron is Ward's oldest daughter."
Stopping here cs lunch.
"That explains a lot," said Pope. "Like why her dad was so weird about John B."

"John B? As in, John Booker Routledge? John Routledge's son?"

"It's a long story, Pop."

"I've got time. Plus, you know I love me a long story. Let's hear it."

"Okay." Pope told him everything about Sarah and John B, and the quest they were about to go on.

"Now that I think about it, Ward Cameron must have cursed John B's dad, too," said Kiara.

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too," Pope agreed. "But then what's the connection to JJ? Why wouldn't Ward have just killed John Routledge instead of turning him into a bird? And that still leaves the question of what attacked him and John B, and did Ward send it after them? And if so, why did he wait twenty-five years?"

"I don't know," said Heyward. "You can tell me the answers to all of these questions once you figure them out. If anyone's gonna do it, it's you, Pope. You're the smartest person I know."

"Thanks, Pop. Right now, though, all I know is I have to warn Sarah. Man, I hope she has cell service on that boat."

"You can warn Sarah when you're not on the clock," Heyward replied. "These groceries ain't gonna deliver themselves."

---

Sarah didn't know why her father had insisted upon going out on the Druthers as a family, especially since he'd been talking to Rafe more or less the whole time. Part of her understood why-- Rafe was next in line to take over Cameron Development, so they were probably discussing business-- but at the same time, she had never been more bored in her life. At that moment, she would have given anything to be at the Chateau with the others, especially John B. What if, somehow, the creature that had attacked him figured out he was staying at the Chateau? With Kiara and Pope at work, that meant John B was home alone with JJ, and she strongly doubted JJ alone would be able to fend that thing off. All she wanted was to know for sure that John B was safe.

Just then, she got a text from Pope.

Pope Heyward: Hey Sarah, Kie and I just talked to my dad. He gave us a lot of good information.

Me (Sarah Cameron ✨🩷): Oh what did he say? Did he know where the Routledge house was?

Pope Heyward: Not only that, he gave us a new lead. I'd say more, but I don't feel comfortable putting it in writing, in case someone finds this conversation. We're dealing with a dangerous man here.

Sarah really wanted to know what Pope meant by "a dangerous man." Who was this man? Was he after John B? If so, what did he want with him? However, Pope wasn't comfortable texting it, and she knew that if she were to call him someone would most likely overhear, so she knew it would have to wait until her next visit to the Chateau.

Me (Sarah Cameron ✨🩷): Dangerous man, got it. Are you back at the chateau yet? Is John B okay? Did that thing from the woods come back for him?

Pope Heyward: Yeah, we just got home. John B seems fine, apart from the fact that JJ gave him a bunch of misinformation about what being a human is like and now he's freaking out and saying he's not sure he wants us to lift the curse anymore. Kie is currently trying to talk him down.

Me (Sarah Cameron ✨🩷): Yeah that sounds about right for JJ haha 😅 I'll be at the chateau first thing tomorrow. Say hi to John B and the others for me!

Pope Heyward: Will do 🫡. I haven't had a moment to tell John B or JJ about the dangerous man-- it's been kinda crazy since Kiara and I got back-- so I'll just wait until you get here tomorrow morning. See you then.

Me (Sarah Cameron ✨🩷): Okay, see ya :)

"Wheezie, you're not gonna believe who I was just texting," Sarah said as she closed her Messages app and set her phone down, but as she looked up, she noticed that her sister wasn't there. "Wheezie? Eh, she probably went to the bathroom or something."

Meanwhile in the galley, as Wheezie made her way out of the bathroom, she couldn't help but overhear a conversation between her father and brother. "I took care of the Routledge house, Dad," Rafe said. "After you told me where it was, I burned it to the ground, just like you said to. Not gonna be of much use to Sarah or her little quest buddies now."

"Well, I'll be damned," said Ward. "You actually are good for something after all. What about the bird? Did you take care of the bird, too?"

"Too risky. It's in that shack with Sarah's punk friends. Burning down an abandoned house is one thing, but breaking into someone's home, especially after hearing about how they knocked out Topper with a frying pan, that's a whole different animal. You always tell me how important it is to have a plan, Dad, and I have a plan. They're gonna be going back to the woods tomorrow, with the bird, and that's when I'll make my move. That bird will be history, I guarantee you."

"Didn't you say Sarah will be with them?" Ward asked. "I can't have you attacking your own sister."

Wheezie was aware of the hypocrisy of her eavesdropping after chewing out her brother for doing that very same thing, but if Rafe was planning on going after Sarah and her friends, she had to find out as much as she could so she could warn her, so doing her best to stay hidden, she kept listening.

"I think I know the difference between my sister and a bird, Dad."

"I know you know the difference, Rafe, but to the entity inside you, flesh is flesh, and once it gets a taste it just has to keep going."

"The entity doesn't control me, Dad. I'm in control. I've been in control."

"You're losing control, I can tell. Every time you transform, I see you struggle more and more to change back. That thing, it's only going to get stronger. I can't let you hurt Sarah."

"Dad-" Rafe started to speak again, but Rose, the Camerons' stepmother, interrupted him.

"I hate to cut this short," she said, "but I don't think we're alone."

Shoot, Wheezie thought as she tried to make a break for it, but before she could make it to the stairs Rafe grabbed her and brought her into the room where the others were. "Looks like you're not one to talk about minding your own business, huh Wheeze?"

"Let me go, you big lug," Wheezie said as she struggled to no avail. "Is the entity making you an asshole in addition to craving flesh, or is that all you?"

"Wheezie-"

"I have to let Sarah know that she's in danger," she continued. "Dad, he'll listen to you. Tell him to put me down."

Ward scoffed. "And let you compromise the mission? Not a chance."

"Sarah!" Wheezie yelled at the top of her lungs. "Sarah, help! I need you!"

"Shut up, you brat," said Rafe, covering Wheezie's mouth with his hand. She proceeded to bite his hand, then kept screaming for Sarah once he moved it.

"Rose," said Ward, "go stall Sarah so I have time to wipe Wheezie's memory."

"On it," Rose replied as she left.

"Wipe my memory? What the f*ck? I knew this family was dysfunctional, but this is a whole new level. SARAH!"

"I said shut up!" Rafe snapped.

Wheezie did not shut up; in fact, she did the opposite, once again crying out her sister's name.

Upon hearing Wheezie's screams, Sarah made a mad dash for the galley, but Rose got to her first. "Rose, thank God," said Sarah. "Is Wheezie okay?"

"Oh, she's fine. Rafe's taking care of her. I appreciate your concern, though. You're a great sister to her, Sarah."

"Thanks. I really think I should check on her, though, she was calling for me specifically-"

"No need. She's in good hands with Rafe, trust me. Come, sit. Talk to me. It's been a while since you and I have had a meaningful conversation. How have things been going with the blog?" Sarah started her blog, Sarah's Stories, when she first went away to college, mostly just as a way to let her feelings out as few people in real life were interested in listening to her. She wrote about all sorts of things-- the culture shock of moving from the small island where she grew up to the mainland; the highs and lows of her relationship with Topper, keeping him anonymous, of course; the joy of watching her little sister grow up-- not expecting it to blow up the way it did, but it turned out that her vents resonated with a lot of people, to the point that she decided to monetize her blog. Though Ward was admittedly disappointed that she wouldn't be working in real estate, which was the family business, Sarah stood her ground and did what made her happy.

"Pretty good, pretty good," Sarah said. "I've been getting a lot of sympathy after writing about my breakup with Topper. A few different people have said they saw this coming from a mile away, and honestly, looking back on it the red flags were kinda glaringly obvious. I'm still not sure why I stayed with him for as long as I did."

"I can understand why you did, honey," said Rose. "Topper is a good guy from a good family. You probably found some security in that."

"Yeah, but I don't think who you love should be based on what kind of family the person comes from."

"I mean, sure, that's not the only factor, but it is important."

"To you, maybe. I dunno, it's never been something I considered. The main thing that matters to me when it comes to love is if I feel a spark with the other person, and I just… I never really had that with Topper. It always felt forced."

"Sarah, before I met your father, I was married three times, and all of those ended in divorce. If you spend your life chasing after a spark that's eventually going to fade, you'll never be truly happy. What you need is something stable, something safe, and Topper was safe."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life as Mrs. Topper Thornton just because it's the safe option. I'd be bored out of my mind. I think I want someone with a zest for life, someone who'd be willing to go on adventures with me. Keeps things interesting, y'know?"

"I can see the appeal of that when you're young, Sarah, but think about your future. You're going to want that stability then. Interesting doesn't pay the bills. I'm just saying, it isn't too late for you to ask Topper if he'd take you back-"

"I don't want to get back with him!" Sarah said it more strongly than she'd intended to. "I wasn't just bored with him, Rose. I felt trapped. You don't know what it's like to have your every move watched and judged. I couldn't even smile at my phone without being interrogated, and more often than not I was just watching cat videos on TikTok! So yeah, I may not have the security of knowing I'm with a man who can provide for me-- which I don't even need to be provided for, because my blog is a steady source of income and this isn't the 1950s when women couldn't have jobs-- but at least I can breathe now. And I really don't feel like talking about this anymore, so I'm gonna go check on my sister, who clearly needs my help."

"Sarah Elizabeth Cameron, you sit down right now-" Rose began, but it was too late. Sarah had already made a break for it.

"Wheeze, hi," she said when she found her sister locked in the galley. "Sorry I didn't come sooner, I got trapped in a conversation with Rose."

"It's fine. I don't even remember what I was calling you here for in the first place, I just remember hearing Dad and Rafe talk about something that I needed to warn you about."

This got Sarah's attention. "Like what?"

"That's the thing. I don't even remember. All I know is that for whatever reason, I needed to tell you about it. I think it might have been something about you and your friends being in danger."

"Danger? What kind of danger?"

"Sarah, how many times do I need to tell you? I don't remember. It's like there's this hole in my memory."

"Huh," said Sarah. "Weird. Well, if anything comes back to you, just let me know, okay? I appreciate you trying to warn me."

"No problem. That's what sisters are for."

Chapter Text

It was still dark out when Sarah arrived at the Chateau the next morning, and JJ was the one to answer the door as neither Kiara nor Pope was awake. "Jeez, Sarah, Pope did say you'd be coming here first thing in the morning, but I was not expecting you this early. Did you sleep at all?"

"Like, fifteen minutes tops. Between the fact that there's probably some creature after John B, the dangerous man Pope mentioned in his text-"

"Wait a second, dangerous man? What dangerous man? Pope didn't say anything to me about a dangerous man."

"I dunno, he wasn't comfortable saying anything more than that over text in case the wrong people saw. He said we'd debrief when I came back to the Chateau."

"Well, here you are," said JJ. "I'll wake up Kie and Pope, you can wake John B."

"I think we can wait a few hours, I might want to get a little more sleep before we-" Before Sarah got the chance to finish that sentence, JJ was gone. What followed was unmistakably the sound of someone banging two pans together, then Pope and Kiara entered the room, looking clearly disheveled.

"JJ, what the hell was that?" Pope snapped. "It's two in the f*cking morning. You better have a good reason for waking us."

"Pope, let's be honest with ourselves," said Kiara. "This is JJ we're talking about. He probably just did it 'cause he was bored."

"Would I do that?"

"Yes," Pope, Kiara, Sarah, and John B said at the same time.

It was then that the others noticed Sarah, the first being John B. "Oh my God, Sarah, you're here! I know it's only been a day, but I missed you like crazy."

"I missed you too-"

"Can we not have a love fest right now?" JJ interrupted. "Pope, Sarah mentioned that you said something to her about a dangerous man. Can you elaborate?"

"Yes, please elaborate," John B agreed. "If Sarah or any of you are in danger, I'd like to know. You guys took me in when I had nobody else, and I'm eternally grateful for that."

"Alright, fine," said Pope. "But then after that, we're all going back to sleep. I am not going on this quest sleep deprived."

"Me neither," said Kiara.

"I second that," said Sarah. "And you better not pull any stunts this time, JJ."

"No guarantees there. I've been a stunt-puller from birth. But enough about me. Pope, you were saying? Dangerous man?"

"Right. When Kie and I asked my dad what he knew about John Routledge, he said that he disappeared on the same day that you died, JJ, and for that reason his disappearance was overlooked. He had a lot to say about your death, too."

This caught JJ's attention. "Like what? Is that who that dangerous man is? The guy who killed me?"

"More likely than not, yeah," said Kiara. "While you were alive, you had this friend who started using dark magic, and it was corrupting him. You could tell it was, that was what you went to Heyward about. You'd told him how you'd planned to talk to your friend about this, get him to quit while he still could, but then you were never seen again."

"Damn," said JJ, "so I was killed by my own friend? Who needs enemies with friends like that? Did Heyward give you a name? I'll haunt the sh*t out of this guy."

"He did, in fact, and Pope and I are pretty sure this guy cursed John B's dad too. Sarah, you're gonna wanna brace yourself for this."

It was then that Sarah put the pieces together. Every time the Maybank case came up in conversation at home, she'd noticed Ward would tense up, even change the subject. She'd always thought maybe he just didn't like true crime, but now she saw it probably went deeper than that. "It's my dad, isn't it?"

"What the- how'd you know?"

"Educated guess," she said. "I didn't know he used dark magic, to be honest, but now that I think about it it kind of explains a lot. Yesterday on the Druthers I heard my little sister calling for help, but by the time I got to her she couldn't even remember what had prompted that, all she knew was that she'd overheard a conversation between our dad and brother and wanted to warn me because I was in danger."

"So whatever's going on here, your brother's in on it too," said Pope. "The plot thickens."

"It sure does," Kiara agreed.

"How would her brother have killed me?" JJ wondered aloud. "He would've been, like, 5."

"Maybe he got involved later or something? I don't know."

"I think I'm noticing a pattern here," John B observed. "My dad didn't remember the night he was cursed, or anything that led up to that night. JJ, you said that your memories of the day you died were fuzzy. And Sarah, your sister said something similar to you. Clearly altering people's memories is your dad's MO."

"God, this guy sounds like an assbutt," said JJ. "I must've had the worst taste in friends when I was alive."

"Assbutt?" Pope repeated. "Seriously, JJ?"

"What? It felt right. Besides, this guy, who was supposedly my friend, murdered me in cold blood. He's lucky I didn't call him worse. No offense, Sarah, I know this is your dad."

"None taken. I'm with you."

"Yeah, all I was gonna say was that you should have called him something way worse. You went too easy on him, Jayj."

"Oh, I'm saving the good insults for when I see the guy in person. Now that I know he's the one who offed me, I want revenge."

"Of course you do," Kiara sighed. "JJ, I don't think you should seek revenge on Ward Cameron. Going after him seems way too risky. Besides, it'd be better to just let the universe take care of it."

"Kie, look at where I am and look at where he is. The universe has had 25 years to give Ward what he deserves, but has it done anything? No. No, it hasn't. He's living in Figure Eight and I'm haunting a shack. Not that I'd rather be anywhere but here with my awesome friends, but that's irrelevant. I'll tell you what it has done, though: presented me with an opportunity to take matters into my own hands, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do. As soon as I find a way to figure out how to leave the Chateau. Anyone down to let me possess them?" He was met with silence. "No worries, we'll circle back to this another time."

Kiara could tell that at this point there was no changing JJ's mind about revenge, so she figured she could at least get him to do it in a more calculated way that wouldn't get her, Pope, Sarah, and John B killed. "If you're going to do this, you should at least have some kind of plan," she said. "Just charging at this Ward guy is hardly a plan."

"Okay, good point. Plan. Sarah, you live with him, so I take it you know the layout of his house?"

"That I do. And maybe I could have Wheezie spy on Rafe, try and find out exactly what his involvement is in this whole thing, 'cause I'm not entirely sure where he comes in."

"So Wheezie is, like, your man on the inside," said JJ, unable to say Sarah's sister's name with a straight face. "Well, seventeen-year-old girl on the inside. Still, though, I like that idea. I like it a lot. Operation revenge is a go. …That would've been a lot more badass if I was, like, putting on sunglasses as I said it, so just pretend that I was."

"Don't get too carried away, Jayj. Remember what I said about waiting until John B's curse is lifted?"

"Alright, fine, I won't actually do anything to Ward until then, but we could still use the intel we get from Wheezie to help us with the other quest; in the event that Heyward was right and Ward is the one who cursed John Routledge-- which at the moment seems pretty damn likely-- her spying on Sarah's family might also get us some more leads about how to lift the curse. Once again, it's two birds getting stoned."

"That's still not the saying." Kiara was getting increasingly tired of JJ's nonsense.

"It's better than the actual saying, if you ask me, especially since someone killing birds is exactly how we ended up in this situation. Well, bird. Singular. John B is still alive and kickin', and we have Sarah to thank for that."

"My pleasure. I wasn't about to let an innocent creature die. Anyway, before we head off on our quest or call Wheezie or anything like that, I, for one, think we should all try and get some more sleep."

"Good idea," said Kiara.

"Yeah, I was going to suggest the same thing," Pope agreed.

"I definitely wouldn't be opposed to some sleep right now," John B said.

"Then it's settled. We leave at first light. JJ, wake us up at first light and only at first light."

"So I'm just a glorified alarm clock now," said JJ. "This is great. This is exactly what I died for."

"It's a very important job, JJ. We're trusting you to wake us up at the right time."

"Why not just set an alarm on your phone?"

"Because clearly you like waking people up."

"Touché," said JJ. "Well, have fun with your sleep or whatever. Imagine needing to sleep. Pfft. Can't relate." In truth, sleeping was one of the few things he missed about being alive. As a ghost, JJ technically could sleep, but it was rather hard as he could see through his eyelids. The others didn't have to know that, though.

Maybe if it wasn't two in the morning and she hadn't been harshly woken up, Kiara would have let this slide. Unfortunately for JJ, neither of those were true. "JJ, I despise you."

"Love you too, Kie."

---

Surprisingly, JJ listened to Pope and woke the others at first light, but he did it in a way that was very on brand for him; that is to say, he picked each of them up and threw them onto the floor, and when Pope demanded a further explanation as to why he did this, he said, "What? You said to wake you up. You didn't say how." Given that this was JJ he was dealing with, Pope didn't press the issue any further.

After they took a little time to wake up, the Pogues got to work. Pope and Kiara loaded up the van (the Twinkie, as Kiara dubbed it), and Sarah helped them as soon as she got off the phone with Wheezie. Finally, it was time for them to set off.

"Don't do anything too crazy while you're here alone, Jayj," said Kiara.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan. You guys be safe out there, too. You're the only family I have, and I'd prefer it if you came back alive. Not that there's anything wrong with being dead, it's just you guys have futures and stuff."

"Am I losing my mind, or is JJ being nice?" This time it was Pope who spoke.

"No, he is. Jayj, I swear, if you weren't a ghost, I would hug you right now."

"I appreciate the sentiment. Now go kick Ward Cameron's ass for me, 'kay?"

"We're not kicking anyone's ass yet, JJ," Pope reminded the ghost. "This is just recon. When we go after Ward Cameron, you'll be there."

"Oh, okay. So all I'm missing is the boring part. That makes me feel a lot better. Bye, guys!"

"Bye!"

With that, Pope, Kiara, Sarah, and John B piled into the Twinkie. Once they arrived at the edge of the woods, Sarah led them to the spot where she found John B, or at least she tried to.

"Are you sure you remember where you found John B?" Pope asked. "We've been walking in circles for the last twenty minutes."

"In my defense, this week has been crazy," said Sarah, "so forgive me if I don't remember the exact spot where I found him."

"Yeah, that's fair," Kiara said. "It's been an unusually eventful week for us too. I still can't believe I knocked a guy out with this frying pan." Since they didn't have any weapons in the Chateau, Kiara had taken the frying pan with her in case she needed to defend herself. It had worked on Topper, she figured, so maybe it would work on this creature as well. If it was even there, the chance of which was like lightning striking in the same place twice.

"I wouldn't be waving that thing around, Kie," Pope cautioned his roommate. "Wouldn't want to accidentally take one of us out."

"Don't worry, Pope, I know what I'm doing," said Kiara, who did not, in fact, know what she was doing. "Sarah, anything look familiar to you? Are we in the right place yet?"

"No idea," Sarah replied. "Let's just keep going." They did just that, and after a while John B said, "Wait, did you hear that?"

Everyone stopped in their tracks. "Hear what?" Sarah asked.

"John B, are you messing with us?" Said Kiara.

"I knew leaving him alone with JJ was a bad idea," Pope said. "He's been JJfied."

"I don't understand what JJ has to do with this. I seriously heard something. It sounded like something moving."

"Yeah, it was probably a squirrel. Let's go."

At that moment, something emerged from the bushes not too far from the Pogues: at first they thought it might be a bear because of the size, but it looked more doglike. Whatever that thing was, though, it was clearly dangerous. "Okay, yeah, definitely not a squirrel," said Pope. "John B, I'm sorry I ever doubted you. Is that the thing that came for you and your dad?"

"I think so."

"You should leave, then," Sarah suggested. "Before it notices you. I would hate it if you got hurt again."

"Yeah, good idea. I'll meet you at the Twinkie?"

"Perfect."

Unfortunately for the Pogues, John B taking off was exactly what caused the animal to notice them, as at that moment it started rapidly approaching.

Kiara cursed under her breath. "The frying pan isn't gonna do me any good against this thing, is it?"

"It's better than nothing," said Pope, "which is exactly what Sarah and I have to defend ourselves with. Nothing."

"Well, at least you can probably use magic on it," said Sarah. "Maybe there's a spell or something that can slow it down?"

"Right. I almost forgot that was an option. I know just the spell." Pope said an incantation at the creature, and sure enough it slowed down. "Good thinking, Sarah. It's only a temporary fix, though, so in the meantime there's one thing left for us to do."

"What's that?" Kiara asked.

"Run. You guys meet John B at the Twinkie, I'll be a decoy for… whatever this thing is."

"Are you sure you wanna be the decoy?" Said Kiara. "What if it gets you?"

"I'll be fine, Kie. I'm a healer. Go, save yourselves."

"But we kinda need you for the quest-"

"I said go!"

With that, Kiara and Sarah headed for the Twinkie, while Pope ran in the opposite direction. His only plan was to just keep running, and that worked fine. At least, that was the case until he stopped to catch his breath and noticed that the creature was gaining on him.

"Kiara!" He yelled as he started running again. "Sarah! Anyone!" No response. "Welp, I guess this is it. I'm just gonna die out here."

"I wouldn't speak too soon, big guy," Pope heard a voice from behind him say. It was a female voice, but not Sarah's or Kiara's, and she spoke in a thick Caribbean accent. "I took care of that thing. For now, anyway. Thought I'd buy you some time."

Pope turned around to see that the creature had been turned to stone. Standing not too far from it was a young dark-skinned woman with snakes for hair; a gorgon, he figured. But why would a gorgon have saved his life? According to most myths, they were evil. "Uh- thanks," he said, careful not to look the woman in the eyes.

"Don't mention it," she said. "And you don't have to be so afraid of me, y'know. I don't bite."

"Well, I know that, but you're a gorgon. If I look you in the eyes, you'll-"

"Turn you to stone? Only if you give me a good reason to. It's not like I don't have control over it, man."

"But I read that-"

"You really believe everything you read?"

"Most of it."

"That's your first mistake," the gorgon replied. "Life's more complicated than books make it seem, man. You ain't gonna learn sh*t if you just hole yourself up. Experience is the best teacher, ain't that what they say? Besides, cut me some slack. I just saved your life."

"That's true." Looking up at her, he took a few steps closer. "So, let's start over, shall we? I'm Pope."

"They call me Cleo," she said. "Nice to meet you. What'd you do to piss off that dog, Pope?"

"It was actually after my friend John B," Pope explained. "There's some dangerous people who want him dead. I was just the decoy."

"There's gotta be more to the story than that."

"Oh, there is. You might wanna sit down for this." With that, Pope told Cleo everything he knew so far about John B's curse and JJ's death. "I'm still not entirely sure what Ward's connection is to the Routledge curse, but that's what we're trying to figure out."

"You think I could help you and your friends out?" Cleo asked. "No offense, Pope, but you clearly need all the help you can get."

"Oh, none taken. We'd actually appreciate it a lot. And, uh, what's your story? I'm guessing from the accent that you're not from the OBX."

"Bahamas, actually," she said, "though calling it my home's a bit of a stretch. Closest thing I ever had to a home was the boat I worked on. Captain Terrance was a good man, and the crew was mostly nonhumans like me. When we washed up on Kildare, I was the only survivor. Most of the people I met here weren't exactly… open to the idea of a gorgon living in such close proximity to them, so I ended up here. It ain't much, but at least it's safe."

"You could stay at the Chateau with JJ and Kiara and John B and I," Pope offered. "I wouldn't mind giving up my room."

Cleo's eyes lit up. "Really? I'd love that. I ain't never had my own room before."

"Well, there's a first time for everything. But we've wasted enough time chatting. We should head to the Twinkie; we still need to go to the Routledge house. Let me just text Sarah, let her know I'm alive and bringing company."

"Alright."

Meanwhile at the Twinkie, John B, Sarah, and Kiara were starting to lose hope of Pope returning.

"Should we just leave?" Sarah asked the others. "I doubt Pope's coming back."

"I'd give him a few more minutes," said Kiara. "You never leave a Pogue behind."

"The thing from the woods definitely got him," said John B. "I'm calling it right now."

"You don't know that. Maybe he was able to fight it off."

"Seems unlikely," said Sarah as she booted up her phone, which she had turned off to save battery while she was in the woods. "That thing was probably rabid. The chances of Pope being alive are slim to- guys, you'll never guess who just texted me."

"Your sister?"

"No, though I do have a ton of missed calls from her. I was referring to Pope."

"So he is alive," said John B. "What'd he say?"

"'En route to the Twinkie right now,'" Sarah read. "'Bringing company.'"

A few minutes later, Pope and Cleo approached the Twinkie, Pope looking relatively okay but still a bit out-of-breath. "Hey guys," he said. "This is Cleo. Don't freak out about the gorgon thing; she saved my life, so she's cool. And Cleo, this is Kiara, Sarah, and John B."

"Nice to meet you all," said Cleo. "If you don't mind my saying it, though, this van looks like it's seen better days."

"Yeah, it definitely has," Kiara agreed, "but Pope refuses to get rid of it."

"Why would I do that? It's an iconic vehicle, even if at this point it's mostly only still functioning because I enchanted it. Anyway, I know we said we were gonna go to the Routledge house, but it's starting to get dark out and I've had just about enough questing for one day, so maybe we should head back to the Chateau."

"Yeah, good idea," said Sarah. "My stuff's there anyway, so I should get that before I head back home. Cleo, I take it you're gonna be staying at the Chateau?"

"Sure am. Pope's giving me his room."

"So we're gonna have another person in the Chateau," said Kiara. "I'm sure JJ's gonna be thrilled about that."

"I'm not worried about JJ. He'll be fine. I'll just tell him to be nice."

"Pope, with all due respect, this is JJ you're talking about," John B said. "I don't think he listens to anyone, least of all you."

"Good point, but it's still worth a try. Cleo, welcome to the Pogue Coven."

"Thanks. Not entirely sure what a Pogue is, but I'm still happy to be one."