The Dark Forest: Visions

Willow's POV

I can see my dad and John B talking to someone, they called him Dr. Sowell. He seemed panicked when they brought up El Dorado, I guess everyone from his group that went on an expedition to the archeological sight, Solana, has slowly been killed off. I learned Solana is where you take the gnomon to find El Dorado. What caught my attention was Dr. Sowell bringing up the fact that the gnomon only works if the 'chosen one' is present with whoever enters El Dorado.

"I can't stress this enough, John, the person who connects with the gnomon has to be there when you find El Dorado. And only those who are worthy will survive." Dr. Sowell nervously looks over his shoulder, fearful of something.

"I already have the person who's bonded to the gnomon." My dad tells him in a hushed tone, "She's been having visions, she see's things that the gnomon wants her to see."

Dr. Sowell's eyes go wide, "Who is it?"

"My daughter." Big John smiles.

I'm the chosen one? What does this mean?

John B furrows his brows, but he stays silent while my dad and Dr. Sowell continue to whisper about me.

"You have to be carful with that information, John," Dr. Sowell warns, "people will hurt her if they know this. They will use her to get to El Dorado and kill her afterwards."

"I know," Big John sighs, "she's just a kid."

"We aren't using her to get to El Dorado, pops." John B speaks up, "I don't want her getting hurt."

"We won't let anything happen to her, John B."

I watch them look at a drawling of Solana, things seem to slow down when Dr. Sowell sputters and falls forward after a dart hits him in the neck, conveniently landing on the gnomon, making it impossible for my dad to grab it before John B pulls him away to hide.

My heart starts to race when two of Singhs men walk into the room, the eyes of the gnomon staring straight at them. I know one of their names is Ryan, he was Singhs right hand man, I remember seeing them when I was kidnapped in Barbados. They roll Dr. Sowell's body off the table and take the gnomon.

I don't know where my dad and John B went, making me grow nervous by the minute, right now I can only see what the gnomon see's.

Willow... Willow... Princess... JJ's voice echoes in my mind, but I don't want to leave this vision yet. I need to see what happens.

I'm outside Dr. Sowell's house now, I can hear Singh's men talking about finding my dad. They know he's there, and want him for information and to kill him. Wonderful. I'm being passed to Singh, he smiles when he stares at the gnomon, then he walks down into the creepy basement under Dr. Sowell's house.

I can hear my dad screaming for John B, my stomach twists, this is fucking scary because I know it's real and there's nothing I can do to help them. I want to know what's happening to them. I can hear the sounds of a fight nearby, but I can only see Singh while he walks around with me in his hands.

"I wanted to thank you, John, for finding the other half of the gnomon." Singh finally comes into view of my dad, who's on his knees on the dirty floor while Ryan holds a gun to his head. Shit. "Despite all your faults, you are resourceful, you know. This almost makes up for you stealing from me in the beginning. Finish him."

Ryan clicks off the safety on his gun.

"Hold on a sec, hang on." My dad yells out, "How you gonna translate that idol, huh? Cause if you're thinking that's Mayan, it's not. It's Kalinago. And no one has ever fully translated Kalinago, okay? You know that. I'm the only person alive that can translate that thing, you just killed the other one."

Singh nods at Ryan.

"You kill me, you kill any chance of ever finding El Dorado." My dads words make Ryan and Singh freeze, "So unless you're sure that you got it figured out, I wouldn't ice me just yet."

Singh stares at the gnomon, I feel like he's staring straight at me while I watch him nod to Ryan.

"Take him to the boat." Singh steps out of the way when Ryan drags my dad away, "Bring me the boy."

No.. not Johnny..

My dad screams for John B to be let go, but Singh doesn't seem to care. I watch my brother get thrown to the floor before he quickly jumps to his feet and fearfully stares at Singh.

He laughs, "The loose end, John Booker Routledge. Your father will join me on the great quest, and you will have the privilege of dying in the old way."

Ryan cocks his gun and holds it up to my brothers head, "Move."

"Hey, Singh, no!" John B begs for his life. "Please, no!"

I stare into Singhs eyes as he looks at the gnomon again. My brother and my dads voices no longer close enough to be heard.

I jolt forward and cry out, the pain of losing my dad and brother being too much on my fragile mind, "NO!"

JJ wraps me in his arms, "You're safe, I'm here."

I sob into his chest, "They're gone, Jay."

"Who's gone?" He peels me off of him, "Baby, what's wrong?"

"Singh... he took my dad and killed John B." I whisper, "I can see what the gnomon wants me to see, Jay, I really can."

He sighs and pulls me back into his arms, "I think you're really tired and I think being kidnapped by Singh is making you scared."

"No, babe, I promise it was real." I blubber, "I'm not crazy."

"You're not crazy," He agrees with me, "But you are scaring me."

"I'm scared too." I pull away and wipe my tears, "Jay, they said I'm connected to the gnomon and I have to be there when El Dorado is found. If not then people die."

"I don't know what to say." He fiddles with my engagement ring on my finger, "I don't know what to think about all of this."

"What if Singh figures out I have to be there?" I panic, "He will take me, Jay, then he will kill me afterwards."

"I'll keep you safe, baby, no one's coming for you." He caresses my face, "I have something that might make you feel a little better."

I tilt my head to the side, watching him grin while running out of the room. I look over to see Emmy happily playing on the floor on her play mat, smiling up at me when she notices me awake.

"Hi, sweet girl." I slip off the bed and sit next to her, rolling her over so I can tickle her belly, making her giggle and kick her little legs, "Silly girl, Mama loves you."

JJ bursts into the room with flowers and a bag in his hands, the sweetest expression on his face when he looks down at me and Emmy, "I got you a few of your favorites." He sits down after placing the vase of flowers on the dresser, handing me the bag.

I grin, "Thank you, Jay."

He caresses my face, "You're welcome, Princess, now look in the bag."

I laugh while digging around in the snacks, all my favorites were indeed there, "You know me so well." My eyes land on the prenatal vitamins, the same kind I took before, "Babe," I frown but it isn't out of sadness, "thank you. I needed these."

"I told you I wanted to know everything about you, so I paid attention." He pulls the bag of peanut M&Ms out, taking a handful for himself before passing it to me, "I know you're struggling right now and life feels really overwhelming, but I will always be there for you, okay?"

"I.. I know," I pop a few candies in my mouth, "Thank you.. for stopping me from--"

"Of course," He moves closer, cupping my face before kissing me, "but please don't ever do that again. We need you," He gestures to himself, Emmy and my belly, "leaving us isn't the answer to your problems, I can promise you that."

"I regret it, Jay, I know." I mutter, "I never should have even thought about it, I feel really bad because Emmy.. she's my sweet girl and I almost," I choke on a sob, "I almost left her behind. And.. and this baby too."

"I know it hurts, Princess. But we're going to focus on what's in front of us now, okay? No looking back, we're going to fix things, and I'm going to prove to you that you're who I want to spend the rest of my life with. I know you don't believe me right now, but one day you'll know it and things will be better."

I nod, wishing I did believe him, "Okay, that sounds good to me."

JJ kisses me again, pulling away when Emmy squeals at us, "Little Princess is tired. And I think you might need more sleep."

"Yeah," I breathe out, my vision blurring, realizing how tired I am still, "I should sleep, I want Emmy to lay in bed with me."

"Okay, baby." He scoops me up and lays me in the bed before picking Emmy up to change her, tucking her next to me when she's in her PJs, "Goodnight my beautiful girls."

"Goodnight, Jay." I cuddle Emmy to my chest, letting her nurse to sleep, smiling when JJ snuggles into my back, "I appreciated the snacks and flowers."

"I know." He kisses my neck, trailing his hand down my side until his hand is resting on the side of my small baby bump, "I'll do whatever I have to do to make you happy again, Willow."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Princess."

~~~~~

JJs POV

As soon as my girls fell asleep, I silently left the room and headed for the porch. The stress of watching Willow freak out over having 'visions' about the gnomon or whatever its called and being able to see what's happening with her dad and brother, has me panicking. She might need serious help.. like doctors and medicine.. because this can't actually be real, right? Or is this more of her breakdown poking through, like she's maybe losing her grasp on reality or something.

I mean how could this be possible, this is like the shit you see in treasure hunt movies, not what happens in real life.

I snap my head up when I hear the Twinkie park in the driveway, John B slowly gets out and makes his way to the porch. I stand up and lean against the wood supports, giving him a look, "Well, look who it is. Nice of you to show up. You gonna spill the beans? You gonna tell me the truth about what's going on? Because Willow has been a fucking mess for days while you and Big John have been runnin' around keepin' secrets."

"Look, I know I've been a little shady." John B quietly admits, "And... stretched the truth a little bit."

I nod, "Yeah, that's called lying."

"Yeah, I know."

"John B, what's going on?" I can tell he's holding something back, he looks guilty.

"My dad killed two guys. Willow was right about that." John B blurts out, "He was trying to protect me."

I stare at him for a moment, trying to process this. Willow really saw them.. how the hell..

"No, no, no. Hold on, okay?" I hold my hands up, not able to understand how this is even possible, "You serious?"

"Yes." He confesses, I rub my hand over my mouth, feeling like shit that I doubted Willow, "It was guys from the Coastal Venture. They came here looking for Denmark's diary."

"And your dad capped them for that?"

"Yes, and then Singh showed up. They took my dad, and then they tried to kill me. They took him to South America."

"John B, Willow already told me that happened. She saw it all go down in some kind of vision, she said she's--"

"The chosen one? Yeah, she is, supposedly." He sighs loudly, "I guess the gnomon connects or bonds to someone and they stay bonded until they go to El Dorado, or something like that. The voice in her head is probably the gnomon trying to keep her safe so she can fulfil the mission or whatever it wants from her."

"What the fuck." I run a hand through my hair, reality setting in.

Willow isn't crazy, she's just.. special.

John B looks towards the house, "I know, it's a lot to process."

"So your dads off to South America?"

"Yes, they're on their way there." John B raises his voice as he panics, ignoring me when I try to calm him down so he doesn't wake my girls up, "Then what? They off him? I don't know what to do."

"John B, stop!" I yell, "Just breathe for a second."

We both pause to breathe, not knowing how to actually handle this situation were now in.

"I need to think." I sit down on the porch steps, patting the space next to me so he will join me.

John B slowly makes his way over and sits with me, "I don't know what to do, JJ. How do we keep Willow safe? How the hell do we get to South America?"

I blow out air, "No clue. But.." I wrap my arm around his shoulders and side hug him, "we're gonna figure it out."

"Yeah."

"We're pogues, man. We always do."

"Willow has been struggling and I left her to deal with it on her own." John B rubs his face, "My dad was a dick to her too."

"Did Big John hurt her? She mentioned he put his hands on her, but when I tried to ask her later, she wouldn't tell me what happened, she said she was too tired to talk about it."

"Yeah, he grabbed her and threatened her to not tell anyone about the gnomon, he accused her of working with Rafe or something."

I shake my head, "After everything she went through, she needed her dad to care for once."

"I know man, but he's so wrapped up in this treasure hunt, he couldn't see how fucked up she is from all of it." John B turns to me with a sad expression, "She heard him call her unstable, and he ignored her bringing up the shit Rafe did to her and trying to hurt herself, I've never see pain in her eyes like that before."

I hold back tears, my beautiful girl taking over my thoughts, "I'm glad you weren't there when she freaked out, it was... fucking horrible."

"Pope told me more about what y'all had to do to stop her." He wipes tears from his cheeks, "She needs us, JJ. We can't let life keep knocking her down. Whatever was going on between you and Kie, has to stop, she can't handle watching you get with someone else."

"I love her so much, John B, she's my world. I swear there's nothing between me and Kie," I quietly tell him, "I can't lose her just because Kie pulled that bullshit. I can't lose her to this gold stuff either, I'm scared this shit is going to change her or hurt her more. We have no idea what this gnomon thing can do to her mind, it's already fucked with her for the past year."

"I worry about that too."

"She was having nose bleeds and throwing up on the ferry when she passed out." I admit, "What if its because of the gnomon?"

John B nods, "It could be, that's around the same time she had the vision of me and my dad finding the other part of the gnomon right?"

"Yeah, when she woke up she told us a little bit about it. But none of us believed her, like normal." I sigh, "I feel like shit for not being on her side more."

"How were we supposed to know it was real, you know? It's not like this type of stuff is common."

"Still, she needed us and we weren't there for her how she needed us to be." I lean back on one hand, watching the water in the distance, the sky reminding me of how carefree Willow used to be back when we watched the sunsets more often, "As soon as I have money, I'm getting my girls off this island, we're going to travel the world, stay far away from Rafe fucking Cameron and never hunt for gold again."

"You think she wants to raise the baby away from Rafe?" John B asks in a weak voice, "Even after everything he did to her?"

I stay silent for a moment, wondering if she would or not, "I don't know, I'd assume she wants nothing to do with him. I mean, I fucking hope she doesn't want to co-parent with the guy, he raped her and forced her to be pregnant, why would she want to have her child around him?"

He shrugs, his face conflicted as well, "We won't ever understand what it feels like to be her and be in her position, so we can't get mad at her for how she decides to handle things. We just have to keep her safe along the way. We can't forget that she used to practically be best friends with him so it's not like he's some stranger that hurt her."

I really hope she doesn't want to have Rafe be apart of our lives, I'd respect her choice if she did but I wouldn't be happy about it. He doesn't deserve to be a dad after everything he's done, and I can be the babies dad, so we don't need him. The baby doesn't need him. Willow doesn't need his help, even if he has money and stability, not his mind, that's unstable as fuck, but his living situation and financials are better than mine. But we don't need that shit, we're good, we're.. we can figure it out without him.

Does she feel the same way?

I'm relieved that she isn't like losing her mind, yet at least, but I'm terrified that this will end up with her dying over the gold. She wants nothing to do with it, yet it's basically her life's calling at this point. It's like she's always being forced into situations against her will, never having any control over her life. It makes me mad that it has to be this way, I want to run away and hide her, so she can't get hurt anymore. So she can be happy again. Not to mention I want to keep our babies away from all of this, I don't want them apart of the dangerous shit anymore, I already learned my lesson by letting Emmy go with us for the train heist, but never again.

How will all of this affect Willow long term?

~~~~~

Willow's POV

"What's this urgent girls only pogue meeting about?" I plop down on the floor of Kie's balcony, leaning my back against the wall before passing Emmy to Sarah when she reaches out for her.

"Well I caught Sarah with Topper this morning, they were getting breakfast together." Kie tells me, I raise my eyebrows in surprise, both of us looking at Sarah's guilty expression, "It's time to come clean. What happened?"

"Oh God!" Sarah runs her fingers over Emmy's little wispy hairs on her head, "It's actually so embarrassing. He caught me slugging beer at the Tiki Bar."

"You weren't." Kie states in disbelief.

"Yeah." Sarah grimaces, "Shot drinking."

"I'm not judging." I mutter.

"I wouldn't blame you if you were." Sarah sighs, "And then a couple kids from KCD rolled up, and they were already going to Mase so we went, and then... I kissed him."

There's a long silence between us, letting the words process into our minds.

She cheated on my brother? Over a silly disagreement they had?

"Do you hate me?" Sarah asks us, though she's looking directly at me, waiting for my response.

"Hate's the wrong word." Kie speaks up after I stay silent.

"Sarah, what you did was wrong. He loves you dude, you promised me... you fucking promised that you wouldn't do this to him because he needed at least one good thing in his life." I rapidly tell her, "After everything I went through because of.." My eyes flicker to Kie's guilty eyes, "so you run off the next day and cheat on my brother? After seeing how upset I was at the possibility of being cheated on by JJ."

"I know," Sarah looks away from my hurt expression, "I--"

"So you and John B are just done?" I cut her off.

"No. Well, I don't know. I don't want to be. Like since the island, everything has felt so..." She pauses, thinking over her choice in words, "abnormal, and it just felt nice to feel something normal again. And I, like... I'm a mess. I feel like such a mess."

"I think we're all a little messed up." Kie chimes in, keeping her eyes off of me.

"I can attest to that." I grumble.

"Yeah."

"You, Willow, me, John B, and... JJ." Kie shakes her head, "He stole that money clip from my dad, and I'm still pissed about it. He's just pretending he doesn't care. He won't talk to me. Like I'd rather argue about it than get the silent treatment."

I scoff, "I'm probably the reason he isn't talking to you, Kie, he's scared I'll worry about you two being around each other, for good reason. But I thought he gave the money clip back to you?"

"He did, but I'm still mad." Kie reaches over and plays with Emmy's fingers, "He gave my parents ammunition to think the way they do about him, well my dad anyways."

"He was going to use the money for Emmy, so I'm not mad at him, but I see why you are. It caused issues for you and your parents, which is shitty."

Kie nods, "I never slept with him, Willow. He would never do that even if I had tried. He loves you, I don't think he could live with himself if he hurt you like that."

"I know," But do I? "I guess I just get stuck in my head sometimes. I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"I understood why you thought I could have slept with him, I mean I did cheat on you when we were together, but I'd never hurt y'all like that, especially since you have Emmy and another one on the way. I love you guys."

"We love you, Kie." I force a smile, "I hope we can fix things between us. I don't want you to feel like you aren't apart of the group anymore."

She smiles back, "Thank you, Willow. I have felt isolated ever since the.. kiss. I regret doing it."

"Things have been weird since we've gotten back," I finally say "for all of us."

Sarah's phone chimes, causing us to end our conversation when we notice her confused expression.

"Wheezie?" Sarah stares at the text message on her screen, "I texted her when we got in."

She presses play on the voice message, "Sarah, don't be mad, but I ran away. I'm in the OBX, and I have to see you. Come to our rental condo on Greensboro Street, okay? But, Sarah, please don't tell anyone."

"That was weird." I can't help but get a bad feeling about this.

"I should go see her," Sarah hands Emmy to me, "I'll see y'all later."

"Be safe," I call out, "come to the Chateau if you need to, okay?"

"Okay." Sarah yells as she rides off on her bike.

"I hope this isn't a setup."

Kie nods in agreement, "I have to help my parents get their anniversary party set up."

"Alright, I'll head home." I awkwardly get to my feet.

"I'll drop you off."

~~~~~

Big John holds the gnomon in his hands, letting me stare at his fearful face, "You know, Mr. Singh, I can't just read this thing like a newspaper. It's complicated. It... It could take me a week to translate one of these glyphs."

I can tell they're on a boat, probably heading to South America, though it looks like they're close by, I caught a glimpse of the lighthouse near my house behind my dad. Is he trying to warn me about something? At least I can see he's still alive.

"Well, good thing for you, we have a week before we reach the Orinoco, and if you can't translate it before we reach the site, I'll know you can't do it. If you do translate it, you'll live.... If you can't, you'll die." Singh threatens. "You know, I found something interesting in this diary, John," He pauses until Big John looks up at him, "There has to be some kind of keyholder, in the form of a person, to be able to get into El Dorado. Did you know this?"

Silence, I can see the fear on my dads face while he stares at Singh.

He chuckles, "I have a feeling you know who this person is. I also have a feeling its someone close to you, maybe the same person I had in my home not too long ago."

Big John shakes his head, "No, you're going to leave her out of this, Mr. Singh. She's just a kid, and she has a baby and another one on the way. We can find another way into El Dorado that doesn't involve her."

"See that's the thing, John, there is no other way. We will die if we try to get in without her. She doesn't have a choice anyways, the gnomon will call to her until she listens. It'll continue to wear her down the farther the gnomon gets from her as well, John, eventually it could kill her if she ignores it, then it'll pass onto someone else, the cycle repeats until the keyholder fulfils the prophecy."

"I am aware of that," Big John sighs, "but I don't want her getting hurt."

"I'm not a fan of killing children, John, but I will do what I have to do to get what I want."

My eye's snap open when Emmy cries next to me, she quickly settles down when I smile at her. I feel something wet running from my nose, my eye's go wide when blood coats my finger tips. I grab a baby wipe from the nightstand and frantically wipe away the blood so Emmy won't see. Not that she'd understand or worry at this age, but still, I'd rather she didn't see this, I've already traumatized her enough with my breakdown.

Singh's coming for me. I knew he would, but now I know he's already on his way. Now I know ignoring the visions won't work, and if the gnomon gets too far I'll be hurt. This could kill me if I don't find El Dorado.

How do I keep Emmy safe and my unborn child?

I can't help but panic. I'm home alone with Emmy, everyone is out doing their own thing. JJ woke me up this morning saying he was going to help John B with something and would be back, I'm sure they're trying to find a way to save my dad, leaving me out in the process even though I'm the one that can actually see him.

I told JJ that Singh was going to find out and come for me but he didn't believe me, like normal, so once again I'm left defenseless to be kidnapped. He's going to lose his shit when he realizes he did it again, always promising to keep safe, always running off when I'm in danger and need him the most. Whatever.

I guess I should pack for our trip to South America. Might as well go prepared.

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