「 ✦ BARKING AT THE SNAKE✦ 」

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𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗞'𝗦 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗘, JJ was not having it with his twin sister. A couple hours earlier on the boat, the cops commented on MJ being in the slammer which contradicted a false story she had given him about her absence that night. It also opened up the question of why she was arrested in the first place, where she stayed, and how this would largely affect her social worker's agreement.

JJ was adamant on the fact that MJ very clearly wasn't present last night, and with the comment made by the cops he wanted answers that exceeded past her stupid comment of staying at someone's place, whatever that may mean.

Much to his dislike, his sister was just as stubborn as him if not more. Compared to JJ, her lying skills were FBI-level. But like any good twin, JJ knew exactly what signals she would unintentionally send when lying out of her ass.

"I was at a friend's JJ, we've been over this," MJ scowled trying to shove past her brother and get into the washroom.

JJ stood in the hallway and refused to move allowing her to get into the washroom, "What friend, Rosemary Jane."

"Move," She huffed out in annoyance. As much as she shoved at her brother, he wouldn't budge from his stance in the door. "You're so fucking annoying dude! Just because I'm not running around with your lame-ass friends you have to be all up in my ass."

"Oh, so they're not your friend also?" He threw his head back in laughter, "What other friends do you even have?"

She swallowed, her brother didn't have to know about the recent altercation between her friends and her, so she lied, "Kenyon and Zaza. What other friends do you have, JJ?"

"Those are not your friends. All they did was get you roped into trouble, trouble that you can't get caught in anymore! You have one more warning before you're gone for good." JJ screamed, clearly overwhelmed and aware that she was withholding something from him.

"Says you!" MJ screamed, "Says fucking you." She huffed, very done with the conversation, and pushed her brother harshly to move him out of the way.

When she slammed the door behind her, she could also hear the front door slam shut as JJ left the house in a rage. She wasn't sure if it was the heightened emotions from the previous night, leftover anger at her brother, or the withdrawal from the drug, but MJ's anger started to become unbearable.

She felt almost as if ants were crawling inside her skin. She knew the consequence of her impulsive thoughts, but she just wanted everything to calm down for a minute. When she opened her brother's side of the bathroom and saw the orange prescription bottle for Adderall, she didn't think before swallowing two pills.

Five minutes went by and nothing happened. Ten went by, and she started to grow more angry. Another five went by and the crawling in her skin was going up to her neck and she couldn't take it anymore.

"Fuck," she snapped under her breath.

MJ slammed open the bathroom door and went to her bedroom, lifted her mattress and grabbed the envelope hidden underneath it. Without a thought, she headed to the one place she knew was a horrible idea: Barry's.

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"Here's everything I have right now," MJ said as she slammed down all her savings onto the table in front of the drug dealer, "Do you have anything that the tattooed man gave me last night."

Barry raised an eyebrow as he counted the money, "This isn't even half of what you owe me pretty girl."

"I'll pick up extra shifts or do another run for you, please, whatever she gave me. I need more." She begged, scratching at her skin as if bugs were crawling underneath it.

"That's a lot of work to cover all that money." Barry stated, "You're not doing any more runs for me. That was a mistake."

"Please. I've had a fucked up day, all right? It's been a fucked up day. I need whatever he gave me, I'll do anything."

"You an addict, Rosemary Jane?" Barry cocked an eyebrow at the desperate girl.

He supplied addicts, but he still had his morals and believe it or not he morally wouldn't contribute to creating an addict. If she had previously been an addict, sure. But not this. This was a creation of heroin and he knew that.

"No, I'm not an addict." She argued, scratching her arm which was now littered with scratch marks.

He liked the answer just as much as the dealer in him hated it. "I don't sell that shit, pretty girl."

"Where can I get it." She pleaded, "I need you to tell me where I can get whatever it is, okay"

"Do you even know what you're asking for?" He counterargued. "I'm not gonna help you become an addict. I'm sorry, but you can't be coming over asking for drugs. Just go home."

"You make your living off of selling drugs to teenagers. You don't get to have a moral high ground, you're a dropout drug dealer living in the cut. You know that? You're a fucking drug dealer so do your fucking job." MJ started to scream, she was growing more and more agitated.

With a harsh look, Barry looked up at the girl and coaxed his gun towards the girl, "Leave my fucking house, Rosemary Jane."

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Later that day JJ in his half-ass way apologized for snapping at his sister, and in her way she managed to manipulate the situation and get away without answering his original question of where she had been.

JJ casually asked if his twin would be re-joining them for their next adventure, so after meeting up with John B and Pope, the four of them drove to the wreck to grab Kie. A big shot to MJ was when Pope came out saying that she wasn't coming. John B sighed and got out of the car, slamming the driver's door behind him.

"So, fill me in blonde, what do ya think this adventure is about this time?" MJ asked as she nudged her brother in the ribs.

"I have no clue, but if we run into those guys again, I'm opting out now," He replied, shaking his head when he remembered that she hadn't been present for the 'guys', "These guys showed up to John B's and some shit went down-"

"The chickens dead," Pope added.

"-Yeah, I'm sorry." JJ awkwardly said. "We didn't have the gun so things didn't really work out the best."

"I had it," MJ pointed out as she lifted her t-shirt to show the gun tucked in her waistband. "Shooting in the air and a person's head are two very different things."

JJ shrugged, "Your usage of guns and mine are very different. I use it to get chicks."

"Yeah, and how's that going for you?" MJ asked. "How many chicks have you picked up so far?"

"Considering the only chick here is your twin sister I'd stop talking," John B scoffed as he climbed into the front of the van.

"I don't want to hear about this anymore. Can we go?" Pope asked.

The ride was pretty calm as the two Maybanks passed a joint between the two of them and softly bantered about the friends MJ had, as JJ strongly believed she didn't have any real ones outside of the friend group she invited herself into.

"You mind if I relax on this one?" JJ asked from beside his sister as he held an unlit blunt between his fingers, "It's been a long day, and a lot of weird stuff has gone down, I'm just gonna lay low. Oh, did you want a hit of this?" He offered the blunt to Pope and he held up his hand.

"I keep the signal clear," Pope told him.

"Dude, okay. Do you understand that your problem is that you don't get creative?" JJ said to Pope, blunt still in his hand.

Before Pope could retaliate, John B spoke up, "Look, I-- I know I was wrong about the lighthouse, alright? And wrong about everything else, But I-- I was right about one thing." He told them, "My dad is trying to tell me something."

He stopped the car and got out, while everyone followed him hesitantly.

"Dude where the fuck are we?" MJ asked as she looked around, gathering in her surroundings to determine they were at the cemetery.

"You know how you're trying to remember a song," He continued as he led them through the cemetery, the ground filled with stone graves and dead leaves. "And you can't remember who sings it... so, Redfield. This whole time, I thought it was a place, right?"

They came to a stop in front of a large stone block which was one of those big graves that was above the ground.

"It's not a place, it's a person," He told them as they all looked up at the grave to see Redfield carved into the stone. "See, my great-great-grandmother, Olivia Redfield, that was her maiden name,"

"Voi-effing-là," JJ stated before his sister smacked him in the stomach.

"So the next clue is inside the dead person's bed." MJ pointed out, returning a smack from her twin.

John B nodded then looked at the boys, "Help me with the door," Pope and John B pressed against the door, trying to push it open, but they were unsuccessful.

This door is like 700 pounds. It's not gonna budge," Pope grunted as all three boys pushed against the stone door.

We didn't come this far to get this far, all right?" JJ said with a positive attitude but a hissing sound moved all three boys away from the door quickly.

"That's a moccasin, all right," JJ pointed out, "Ye olde Dr. Cottonmouth, death in tall grass," He finished before he started barking at it.

"JJ, stop barking at it! Shut the fuck up!" MJ said as she crouched down and started reaching out to the snake. "Come here."

"You're gonna wake the dead, man," Pope exclaimed, "MJ stop, don't touch it!"

"They're afraid of dogs, everyone knows that," He said as he stopped and MJ smacked his arm hard. "Ouch, bitch."

She scowled and stuck her tongue out at him, "Could of had a pet."

"Wait, hold on," JJ said, stopping everyone in their place, "If there's one, there are probably dozens," He finished before JJ started to bark again, "Stop barking at the snakes!" John B lectured and JJ put his arms up in defence.

"Just making sure it's clear," He replied as he moved towards Kie who had eventually caved and joined the group.

"We're not gonna get in there, all right? It's not budging, we should probably just go," Pope told the group.

"I can fit," MJ pointed out. "Look, this is about your dad and honestly, I don't believe in it, but you deserve to know the truth."

John B nodded as he watched the blonde girl walk towards the grave with a flashlight in hand. JJ pressed his back against the wall and made a step for her, lifting her into the small space. She easily slipped through and started looking around, the small flashes of her light were the only thing the others could see.

"You alive? You got, like, a-- a heartbeat and everything?" John B asked after a second.

"I need more light," MJ shouted back as John B passed her the lantern from his hand. "Fuck me."

The silence that came after was unbearable, while the only thing in the background was the sound of the wind blowing leaves across the gravel. A white FedEx package slipped out of the small hole, and into the hands of John B before MJ's blonde head popped through with a smile.

This is from my dad," John B stated as he stared at the package.

"Code red. Code red. Square groupers! Square groupers!" JJ shouted as he helped his twin out of the hole and onto her feet. "It's the guys who robbed your house."

"Lights, lights, lights," MJ called as she flicked her flashlight off and waited for darkness to surround them.

"Homies got a gun," JJ told the group as Kie muttered something under her breath before pushing off of the wall and heading towards the closed gates.

The rest followed her while the voice of the men drowned behind. MJ's hand never left her spot on her waistband where the loaded gun rested, ready if needed.  The sound of the golf cart came closer as the girl climbed over the metal gate. With the help of John B, she dropped to the ground and headed towards the van.

From behind her, she could hear Pope whispering to Kie that he was stuck on the fence. JJ's sneaky hands yanked the gun out of his twin's hand, they had both been ready to use it. MJ quickly grabbed the gun back and scowled.

"Like you have good aim."

"Oh, and you do?" JJ asked, and if only he knew.

Their arguing was cut short when Kie and John B pulled Pope off of the fence, leaving his pants stuck on the small spirals.

"Oh my-- it's a little tootsie roll," JJ laughed as they ran towards the van, Pope now in his underwear.

"Let's just go," Pope seethed as he took a seat, covering his legs with his hands, "Seriously, I hate you all," He continued while the rest laughed.