Welcome to Kitty Hawk: Gooned

JJs POV

The Twinkie sputters when I pull into the Carrera's small driveway, eyeing Mrs. Anna and Mr. C while they sit on the porch steps looking rather sad. Shit.

"Howdy, y'all." I slide out of my seat and awkwardly wave, "Lovely afternoon."

"JJ. Do not come on my property." Mr. C warns, "Not even a little bit."

I nod, slamming the door shut, "Yeah. Right. Um... Well... Yeah, you know why I'm here. To see Kiara, and, uh... well, we were supposed to hear from her, uh, but we haven't yet, so that's why--"

"JJ, she's not here." Anna stands up and puts her hands on her hips.

I scoff, "Like I'm supposed to believe that? Alright, um, well, then where is she?"

"Let's just say you're not gonna see her for a while. Alright?" Mike claps his hands together out of annoyance, glaring at me like I'm trash.

"We sent her someplace where she can try and rebuild what you and your friends destroyed." Anna tearfully tells me, "She needs space from everything here."

"You sent her to that wilderness camp?" I ask in disbelief, "After everything she went through? Instead of being there for her after being stuck on an island you ship her off to be alone?"

"Yep."

"God." I turn to the van and lightly bring my fist down on the hood, "You know, y'all really are some Kooks."

Mr. C scoffs, jumping up, charging down the stairs with his fists clenched. Mrs. Anna grabs him while I jump into the van. I don't have time for this bullshit.

"You gooned her. You gooned your own daughter?" I shake my head, leaning out of the window, "All because she was around me and my fiancé, right? Because of what happened to Peterkin? And the money clip bullshit?"

"Hey! Y'all gave us no choice." Mr. C moves to stand near the van, "Y'all gave us no choice, JJ! I don't wanna see you or Willow around my family again!"

"Don't worry, Mike, you won't." I back the van up and take off down the road.

Fuckin' Kook's man. Willow isn't a bad person, she doesn't need people looking at her like she's a damn criminal. Fuck, what was that name of that wilderness camp that Uncle Larry sent my cousin Ricky to... Kitty something.

Kitty Hawk. That's it.

~~~~~

I've been cruising through the island, headed for this stupid camp, my Princesses on my mind. I was so excited to see them, only for that happiness to be burnt out by the person I hate most in the world. It's like Rafe has this hold on our lives, he always pops up and ruins shit for us. Somehow everything he does ends up hurting Willow, because she is going to be devastated to hear what happened, especially because she won't know if I'm okay or not. I know she will worry that Rafe hurt me after the plane left, she will probably think I'm dead or something.

I gasp when I hear a loud sound like gunshots behind me. My foot slams on the breaks, looking out the window, my eyes land on the flat tire I now have. I grit my teeth, anger coursing through me. What else could ruin this goddamn day? I rush out of the van while cursing my situation, opening the back of the van up to replace the flat tire.

The sound of Mike's car makes me freeze, I set the spare tire back into the van, turning around to see him parking a few feet away with one of his buddies in the passenger seat. I guess this is what will continue to ruin my day.

"You lost the load, JJ." Mike tells me, it's now that I realize his friend has a shotgun and is the reason I have a flat tire, "Now instead of me getting paid, I owe them. Which I guess means you owe me, right?"

"I know, Barr--"

"Get in the car!" Mike cuts me off.

"As much as I would like to, I kinda got something to do, so.."

"You heard him. Get in the car." Mike's friend demands.

"Okay. If that's how it's gonna be. Look, I know you've heard the stories. About me and my friends, a little something, called the Royal Merchant. A pile of gold. Is that ringing any bells?"

"I heard some bullshit."

I nod, "Well, that bullshit's real."

"Yeah?"

"And yeah, we found it."

"Yeah, I saw. That's why you got a bunch of dudes throwing your furniture in a dumpster out back your house? You're living high off the hog, bro."

"Yeah, you're talking about the house that's being foreclosed? The cover?" I quickly cover my tracks. "The one to throw off the scent? Rule number one, don't do flashy shit, like pay off a mortgage when you're cashing in."

"Stop. Let me guess. You, uh... you got that gold. It's buried somewhere in a barn, right? And if I just let you go right now, you'll run right there, you'll get it, we'll split it, right?"

I sniffle while I try to think quickly, "Not exactly. Actually, it's a little sweeter than that." I walk closer to Mike, "Look, let's just forget about the Merchant gold. That's just the tip of the iceberg. We're going after the main course right now. Alright? We're going after the mother lode. And that's the truth of why we need to get down to South America. Okay?"

He scoffs, "I'm really supposed to believe that?"

"Mike, come on, man, I'm trying to help you. By giving you the opportunity to make ten times more. No skin off your nose. Just a lottery ticket. So, in this hand, you can get the pleasure" I hold up one hand, "of beating my ass right here, right now. I honestly get that temptation. I really do. Alright? But in this hand," I hold up my other hand, "in this hand, Mike, you got a pile of gold sitting and waiting for you, and all you need to have is just a little bit of patience, okay? And a flight to South America."

~~~~~

I don't know how I convinced Mike so easily, but here I am at Kitty Hawk, talking to the office lady about Kiara.

"Uh, I have a message for Kiara Carrera. She's here, right?" My hands rest on the back of the chair in front of her desk. My chest still painful, wishing I was on the way to South America instead of here.

The lady frowns, "Unfortunately, we're not allowed to do that. You're not even supposedto be here on campus."

"Okay. It's... it's just that it's a very important... May I sit?" I gesture to the chair, when she nods I sit down and look around for any ideas on how to make this quick, eyeing the cat photos around her office, "This is a very important matter, ma'am."

"Oh, I'm sure it is, sweetie, but we have a policy. No contact from the outside world for the first six weeks."

Yikes that's harsh.

"Right. Ma'am. It's actually a family matter, and, uh... I'm... I'm related to her. I'm her cousin." I spew, fuck that doesn't make sense, "So, look, I know you got a policy and all, but there's just been something that happened recently that..." I pretend to tear up, "You know what? I'm getting a little emotional. So I think I should go. I'm sorry. I shouldn't even be here, like you said, so I'll leave you alone." My body shifts to get up to leave, stopping when my hand is on the door knob, "But before I leave, could you just let her know, um... just that, uh... Marley didn't make it?"

The lady furrows her brows, "Who's Marley?"

"Marley's her best friend." A frown tugs at my lips, "Her cat. A Siamese mix, and, um, yeah, it was really sudden. And, you know, uh... the mailman was coming at miles 40 per hour so--" I snap my fingers, "He's in a better place now. But, um, could you just let her know for me? I'd really appreciate that." The lady holds back tears, only nodding as a response, "Thank you, ma'am. You have a great one."

I head out the door, hiding behind a wall to try and see where the heck Kiara could be, maybe lucks on my side because not even a minute later, the lady from the office walks out and goes up to one of the cabins. My face pinches when I notice the padlock on the door... what kind of prison type shit is this? They locked her inside this room to be alone?

She's not like a crazy person.

I watch Kiara looking at the lady in confusion while she tells her about her nonexistent dead cat, making me chuckle at my stupid story. The Lady starts to cry, pulling Kiara into a hug, I smile when I see her face turn to look around with a knowing look. She definitely knows I'm here, I'm the only one in our group that could come up with this good of an escape plan.

It sucks we aren't close anymore. Kie, Willow and I used to chill a lot together when they were best friends, well at the time they were dating, but that's besides the point. I always enjoyed seeing their dynamic though, Kie was a good friend for Willow, until she wasn't anymore. I guess we can blame Rafe for that. I blame him for a lot of things actually.

I guess that's why I was trying to get closer to Kie again, of course at the time I didn't realize she was trying to come between me and Willow, but on Poguelandia, I felt like it was the perfect time to bond with my friends. I thought I was splitting my free time equally between everyone while Willow and Emmy napped, but when I look back on it now, I realize how bad it looked, because Kie pulled me away from a lot of my conversations so we could go hang out. I think I spent just as much time with her as I did with my girls, maybe more because they napped a lot.

No wonder Willow was suspicious of us, since half the time when I hung out with Kie we'd walk around looking for things that could come in handy for our survival. Not to mention, Kie was pretty handsy, which I felt uncomfortable about, especially the constant staring she did. But I'm an idiot and don't understand girls so I let Kie get away with it, I let myself think it was normal, even letting it slide when Kie kissed my cheek and put her hand on my thigh, super close to my dick.

I never put Kie in her place and Willow was right, I never defended her when she picked on her.

Which I feel stupid for not picking up on earlier, when I look back on all of those moments, I can remember Willow being quiet and a lot of times after we'd joke around, she'd go inside or Sarah would pull her away from the group to hang out. I don't know how I didn't notice all of this in the moment. It makes me feel fucking horrible.

Willow deserved so much better than the shit she's been though this past year.

~~~~~

When night falls and I can no longer see anyone walking around, I pull my mask up over half my face and run through the camps courtyard until I reach the cabin I saw Kiara in earlier in the day. I quietly pick the lock and bust into the room, but she's no where in sight. Fuck they moved her.

My eye catch something written on the wall, I squint in the dark and kneel down to see it better, a smile creeping on my face when I realize what it says; P4L Cabin 6.

I sneak out of the room and head across the property, glancing at the cabin numbers every time I pass one, finally I spot cabin 6 and pop the lock on the door. She better fucking appreciate that I'm a good person and didn't leave her behind. And she better start treating Willow better now, because I could have took off and not cared.

My feet are the only noise while I walk through the dark room, trying to avoid the many bunk beds spread out in rows, "Kie... Kiara.. Kie.."

I freeze when a light turns on, a random girl stares down at me from the top bunk, "What are you doing in here?"

"Hi there, uh, evening miss. Sorry to bother y'all," I glance around when more girls sit up in their beds, "Hello everyone. Uh, shit, I know this looks bad but I come in peace," I hold my hands up, "I'm just looking for someone. I'm looking for--"

"Me?" Kie's voice sounds behind me.

I turn around and smile, "Kie."

She climbs off her bed and runs into my arms, wrapping me in a tight hug, causing me to chuckle and lightly hug her back, "How did... how?"

"I know, it's a long story. No time to explain." I pant, trying to catch my breath from wearing my face mask while running, "There is one thing though, uh, I didn't get to finish saying what I needed to say before the fire. And um, Kie.. I'm sorry."

She nods, "I am too, JJ. I never wanted to hurt Willow. I should have been a better friend to both of you."

"Yeah," My lips scrunch together for a moment, "well I made sure you can have the chance to tell her that yourself, so let's get out of here."

"Thank you, JJ, for getting me." She hugs me again, "I don't deserve it, but I hope you both forgive me because I love y'all like family."

"We love you too." I pull away, "Emmy needs her Auntie Kie in her life."

She grins, "Yes she does."

Everyone starts to cheer around us, making me panic, "Whoa whoa, hey, sh...sh... sh."

Kie runs off, grabbing her bag before slipping her shoes on while I rush to the door to check if the coast is clear. Once she's at my side we take off through the night.

I cheer once we get off the property, "Go that way."

She lets out a loud laugh, "I never thought I was going to make it out."

"Gotta have more faith in me," My arms fan out at my sides while I spin around to face her, "I'm JJ Maybank, a little prison break is my forte. Now we can go get my girls!"

"Yes we can!" She happily exclaims, "This place can suck it."

After we settled down, I lead her to the road and scratch my neck, "So long story but since there's only one road into Kitty Hawk and with your parents knowing what the Twinkie looks like.. I thought it would be best to leave it as a decoy."

We turn to look at the cops when they fly down the road towards the van, hiding in the bushes until they pass.

"So what are we doing?" She slightly stands up to look down the street, "Hitch-hiking?"

"Not quite," I sigh, "Rafe didn't let me get on Ward's plane to leave with the group, which will not go over well with Willow, but I've got another plan."

"Is that why you look like you've been in a fight?" She eyes my cheek that's probably bruising by now.

"Yeah, John B and I got a few good punches in but he pulled his gun out, wasn't a fair fight after that."

"I'm sorry that happened--"

Mike comes barreling down the road in his loud ass mustang, making her go quiet and furrow her brows, "Who the hell is that?"

"Kiara, I want you to meet someone."

"Is that Barracuda Mike?" Kie asks in disbelief, "Why is he here?"

How the hell does she know about him?

"Yup," I tug open the door so we can get in, "Mike, Kiara. Kiara, Barracuda Mike."

"Bus is waiting, all aboard." Mike smiles at her, "We're on a time crunch." 

We pile in, heading off towards his plane. Somehow this is working out in my favor finally, now I can get my Princesses, find El Dorado and then live happily ever after. Right?

It doesn't take us long to get to the clearing where our ride is waiting, the dark night surrounds us when we make our way over to the scary looking plane that probably shouldn't be in commission anymore. 

"Direct flight to South American on Barracuda Airlines, what more could you ask for?"

Kie turns to me with a smile, "Are you sure?"

I smile back, "I have to go get my girls, and come on, you got somewhere else to be?"

She shakes her head, "Not anymore, y'all are all I have left."

"Same. Next stop, El Dorado." I duck into the plane, finding a place to sit, "Lets just hope this thing makes it all the way there." 

"You'll see your girls soon, JJ." She sits down with me, hugging her knees to her chest, "They will be so happy to see you."

"I hope so." I smile to myself, "I know I'll be happy to see them." 

They're all I need in my life, though having all of our friends by our side makes it a lot better too.

I know getting Kie was the right thing to do, I can see she regrets doing what she did, I know we're all she has and Willow has made comments about missing her too. I got her best friend for her and made up for some wrongs at the same time.

~~~~~

Willow's POV

I miss home, I miss my bed, I miss JJ and Johnny and my friends. I hate being so far. We got to Tres Rocas yesterday, and have been staying in a house Singh has here. I've tried to stay out of the way but Singh and my dad both seem to want me in the same room as the gnomon. As if it'll kill me if I walk more than a few feet away.

It's annoying because I know I'm fine, the gnomon told me I am. As long as I'm within a few miles of it then I won't have as many nose bleeds, though the closer to El Dorado that we get, the more I hear the whispers and pulling feeling. It's a little creepy but I'm getting used to it. I've also been learning a lot more about how serious being bonded to the gnomon is, and the.. abilities it comes with now that I've let the gnomon in completely, finally trusting and believing in him means I've officially taken my place as the keyholder.

I'm the chosen one.

"Look at how far we've come, John." Singh points to a map in front of him, "A day's ride upriver, and then all that's left is a single track through the jungle. You know, John, all the men who have held this idol have come to grief. Every single one. Many say it's cursed, you know."

Big John nods, "Well, at this point, it'd be hard to argue with them." 

"It's not a curse." I glance at them when my eyes light up blue, they both stare at me before turning to the gnomon to see the eyes lit up the same color as mine, "Those men just weren't worthy."

Singh chuckles, "You see, John, I agree with Willow here, I don't see it as a curse either. It is a test to prove yourself worthy of being the true heir to the gold. That, John, is what the idol is looking for. The true heir." He looks between me and the gnomon again, the blue light continues to make my vision crisp and clear, "The man who can pull the sword from the stone. The other ones, you know, they weren't the ones."

"Or woman." I grumble.

"Yeah, but you've got no doubt, do you?" Big John looks between me and the gnomon, something he does often.

Singh scoffs and turns to face him, leaning on the table, "No. Of course not. Because I was born to do it, you know. That is my destiny. In fact, the only thing that can stop me now is you. You have two days until the full moon."

"They are not worthy, Willow."

I know they aren't, but I won't tell them that. Not yet at least.

My eyes flicker down to Emmy, seeing her nestled into her fabric wrap carrier, snuggled against my chest while she sleeps. I softly kiss her cheek. She's worthy and so am I. So I know we'll make it out of this alive, the gnomon will make sure of that.

My dad picks up the idol and glances at me with an unreadable expression, I wish I could hear his thoughts. He's such a quiet man, never saying more than he has to. It can be frustrating at times because I never know how he really feels. Though I have a feeling he's picking up on my choice to be distant from him, maybe he's figuring out that I don't trust him.

Does he know he isn't worthy?

Is he sacrificing himself so I can get the gold for myself and John B?

Or is he planning something?

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