Carson Keller used to think her biggest problem was their rivalry against the Kooks, but that was until buried secrets rose to the surface. Now her biggest problems included a dangerous treasure hunt and a hot-headed teenage boy.
✰ season 1-3 ✰
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JOHN B AND CARSON ran through the halls, banging on each of the doors in hopes to find Sarah. The boat was so big that Carson had to hope that they would just find her before anyone found them. Of course the odds were not in their favor as suddenly, a hook came flying at them as they walked through the engine room. John B threw a protective arm out in front of Carson when Rafe appeared.
"Rafe," he said.
"Watch your head, man," Rafe said. "So, what the hell are you doing here, John B?"
"Just put that thing down, alright?" John B tried to reason with him.
"Why would I do that? Huh?" Rafe said.
"You don't have to do this, Rafe," Carson said. "Just let us go and no one has to get hurt." Rafe let out a humorless laugh.
"Don't you get it, Carson? Someone always has to get hurt," he said.
"This isn't about you, alright?" John B said.
"It's not about me?"
"No. This is about Sarah, okay?" he said.
"I don't know. I think it is," Rafe said.
"Aren't you tired of doing everything that he says?" Carson asked, referring to Ward. "I mean, you were the one that told me that you are never enough for him. You could end this all, right now, and you'll never have to do what he says again." Rafe stared at her like he was thinking about her words, and just for a moment, she hoped she had gotten through to him. But then, his face hardened and he shook his head.
"That's where you're wrong." He swung the hook towards them. John B grabbed Carson's hand and pulled her along as they ran. Rafe tripped John B as they were about to run up the stairs, but before he could get him, a flash of fire stopped him. As Rafe grabbed his face in pain from the heat of the fire, Carson pulled John B to his feet. They ran up the stairs, both to get away from Rafe and also to continue looking for Sarah.
"This way," Carson said as she led them onto one of the decks. They continued making their way down when they heard two voices. The sight of Ward strangling Sarah was one that they had not expected to see but it was what was happening. "Oh my God." John B pushed past Carson and ran towards Ward, wrapping his arms around his neck to try to get him off of Sarah.
"Get off her!" he yelled. He threw Ward against the pole while Carson ran to grab Sarah.
"Breathe, Sarah," she said. "You're okay, just breathe." Sarah was hunched over as she let out pained coughs. As soon as John B made sure Ward was down, he made his way over towards them.
"Sarah, hey, look at me," he said. He reached his hands up to her face so that she would look at him. "I got you, okay? I told you I wasn't gonna leave you, right? I got you."
"John B!" Carson began to warn him but it was too late. Ward grabbed John B around the neck and pulled him away as they started to fight again. "Stop!" Carson jumped up and wrapped her arms around Ward to try to stop him, but he easily threw her off of him. She hit the pole with a hard thud, knocking the wind right out of her. She collapsed onto her knees next to Sarah, both girls now trying to catch their breath. Fortunately, John B finally got the upperhand and continued to punch Ward until he eventually fell back. His head hit the edge of the boat and he let out a groan in pain. He reached his hand back to his head, which then became covered in blood.
"Is this how you did it, huh?" John B said. "Is this how you killed my father? You just threw him in the ocean?" He grabbed Ward's face so that Ward was looking at him while John B made him realize what he had done to Big John. "I never got to say goodbye. Because of you. This is all your fault."
He grabbed Ward up by his shirt but before he could do anything, he looked over at Sarah and Carson. Sarah nodded her head, finally accepting that John B had to do what he had to do. While she had once grieved Ward because he was her dad, she no longer felt that. Not anymore. But it seemed that John B must have had a change of heart because a few seconds later he released him back onto the deck. It wasn't that he didn't want to do it, but he knew that if he did, he was just as bad as Ward. Instead, he helped Sarah and Carson up so that they could find the others. They walked towards the edge of the boat, ready to jump in, when Carson turned around.
"Car, what're you doing? We have to go," John B said.
"I know," she said. "Just give me a minute." She walked over towards Ward. For once, with her standing over him as he looked at her with a desperate look in his eyes, she finally felt like she had some kind of power over him. It didn't give her satisfaction necessarily, but it would give her the closure that she deserved. It wasn't even just closure from the past few months either but rather from her entire life. "You wanted forgiveness, Ward? Well, you'll never get it. That's what you get to live with." She didn't spare one last look before she joined John B and Sarah again. "Let's go find the others."
Once they got in the lifeboat, Cleo and Pope were the ones that they found in the water. They pulled them into the boat then realized something.
"Where's J and Kie?" John B asked.
"I thought they were with you," Pope said.
"We need to find them," Carson said. If anything happened to JJ, she honestly wouldn't know what she would do.
"Last time I saw them was on the other side of the ship," Cleo said. They didn't waste any time driving the lifeboat to the other side of the ship and as they got closer, they could hear Kiara screaming for help.
"That's Kie," Sarah said.
"John B, go faster," Carson said, now really starting to get worried that something bad might have happened.
"I'm going as fast as I can," John B said. When they rounded the corner and saw the two of them floating in the water, they all knew something was wrong right away. Kiara looked like she was barely staying afloat as she held onto an unconscious JJ.
"Oh my God," Carson said. "JJ!" Her and John B flung themselves over the side of the boat to pull them in. While the others worried about getting them away from the ship, all Carson could do was focus on JJ. She tried shaking him awake but it was no use. "Please, wake up." Tears streamed down her face as she stared at him motionless. "JJ, please! You promised me!" The thought of losing him was suffocating as she cried and screamed at him to wake up. "Just get up, please!"
The weight of her fear finally lifted when he began to cough up water. She pulled him into her and held onto him out of relief and desperation.
"You asshole, I thought you were gonna die on us," she said now that she knew that he was okay. They all began laughing, all feeling the relief that they all made it out alive and that JJ was awake again.
"Just always looking for attention," John B joked.
"Whatever it takes, right?" JJ said. Carson laughed and pressed her lips against his before pulling back to gently dab a cloth against his head that was bleeding. "What the hell happened?"
"The blunt end of a machete," Kiara said.
"Machete?"
"The blunt end," she said.
"Next time, duck," Cleo commented.
"I'll try to remember that next time, thanks," he said. They all looked towards the ship to find that the crew and Rafe were heaving the cross back onboard. They had been so close to getting the cross but in the end, it hadn't been enough. All that really mattered though was that they were all okay because like Pope would say, this shit ain't over.
