The boys were almost out of air when they finally spotted the old house. Pope slowed down and bent over with his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
"Okay," he huffed and looked up at the other two, "how are we gonna do this?"
"Dunno," John B shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, "we don't know for sure if it's even Rafe, or if he's alone with her in there, or-".
Then Kie cried out again, and JJ practically flew the last way to the porch. Without even thinking, he kicked the door open, and John B and Pope had no real alternative than to follow suit.
The last one had an equally worried and frustrated look on his face. Pope was a firm believer of planning in these kinds of situations, and now JJ was just barging into a house without knowing anything, without having talked about how to go about it all. Fuck!

Rafe and Kiara looked up when the door was practically blown off its hinges, and Rafe quickly moved behind Kie's chair to grab the girl by her hair and pull her head back. He was holding the switchblade in the other hand and immediately moved the blade to rest against Kiara's throat. The cold metal made Kie flinch, and she couldn't hold back a tiny shriek, feeling hopelessly helpless tied to the chair.
Pope and John B bumped harshly into JJ who had frozen in his tracks as soon as he saw the knife against Kiara's skin.
"Rafe…" he said cautiously and automatically raised his arms placatingly.
The older boy squinted, his eyes almost turning to slits.
"Well, well, well," he slithered and pulled hard at Kie's hair, "cavalry's here at last!"
"Arh!" Kie croaked when she felt the knife sink in, making a few drops of warm blood trickle down her neck.
Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, and she sent the boys a desperate look.
"Let her go!" John B sneered angrily, not able to control his emotions as much as he would have liked.
"Temper, temper," Rafe taunted and shook his head mockingly.
"What do you want, Rafe?" Pope asked, forcing his voice to be calm.
He took a careful step forward, but backed off when his movement made the tall boy press the knife even harder against Kie, making more blood run down her neck.
A somewhat psychotic smile spread on Rafe's face, and he stared hard at JJ while Kiara squeezed her eyes shut.
"What do I want? That's easy. I want a few words with him! Alone."
Rafe used the knife to point at JJ for a second before flipping it over, letting the tip rest against Kie's throat again.
"What?" JJ asked and sent the taller boy an apprehensive look.
"Yeah, you heard me. JJ stays and the rest of you leave."
"No way," John B exclaimed firmly, gesturing with his hands as he sent Rafe an angry glare.
"Rafe," Pope tried, still keeping his voice calm and even, "just let Kie go, okay. You don't wanna do this."
"Shut up, Pogue," Rafe barked at Pope who took a few steps further back and bit his lip.
Rafe breathed heavily and tightened his grip on Kiara's hair. She moaned quietly and gritted her teeth while one of her hands automatically tried moving upwards to protect herself. The piece of cloth that had served as handcuffs suddenly gave in to her fast movement, and the free hand immediately shot up to grasp at Rafe's to make him let go of her curls.
"You're hurting her," JJ ground out and had to fight his body from just jumping forward and ripping Kie out of the other boy's grip.
"Come take her place then," Rafe sneered and pointed at the blond with the switchblade again.
"Fine," JJ answered and stepped forward.
He lifted his hands as he went and kept his eyes locked on Rafe's.
"JJ don't!" Kiara begged in a high-pitched voice at the same time as Pope and John B yelled for JJ to stay in place.
"He'll just hurt you instead," Kie continued, and JJ threw her a look.
"I'll be fine, Kie," JJ reassured her and kept walking.
When he was close enough, Rafe pulled Kiara's other hand free from the chair and then pushed her away violently, sending the girl to her knees. Then he quickly grabbed JJ instead, pulling him close by a handful of his shirt, and let the tip of the knife sink slightly into the skin at the base of JJ's throat. The blond sucked in a breath and tensed his muscles.
"JJ, what the hell?" John B yelled, almost sounding berating.
"You three better leave right fuckin' now, or I'll push the blade all the way in!" Rafe threatened menacingly and threw John B a look over JJ's shoulder.
Pope had instantly helped Kiara to her feet and was sending her puffy eye a worried look. When he heard Rafe threaten to push in the knife, his eyes jumped to JJ who was clenching his jaw tightly.
"Rafe," Pope started without knowing exactly where he was going with his words, "just l-"
But at the sound of Pope's voice, the tip of the blade rapidly made its way further in, prompting the first drops of blood to roll slowly down JJ's throat.
"We're going, we're going!" John B said quickly and raised both hands.
"No," Kie begged, "Rafe please."
John B carefully grabbed Kiara by her shoulders and led her out of the door with Pope following right behind them.

As soon as the door closed, Pope whipped out his phone to call Kiara's father just like he had asked him to, and Pope quickly gave the man the location.
"Your dad's on his way, Kie," he said quietly when he turned around.
Kiara nodded a few times and then felt her entire body start to shake. The shock of what had happened shot through her at lightning speed, and all of a sudden she started crying. Big, warm tears rolled down her cheeks, and John B pulled her close.
"It's gonna be alright," he mumbled and could easily feel the sobs that raked through her body.
Pope bit his lip and let a hand caress Kie's hair.
"No," Kiara hiccupped, "it won't. He-he said… he'll…"
Before she could calm her voice enough to finish her sentence, a loud crash could be heard from inside the house followed by Rafe yelling and screaming, and the three teens flinched.
"JJ!" they all roared and spun around.

JJ winced when he tumbled to the floor. Rafe immediately followed him down and placed himself on his chest. The switchblade had been knocked out of his hand when JJ threw the first punch and was now lying under the dining table.
"Fuck you, Pogue," Rafe rumbled and balled up his fist.
The punch hit JJ right on his jaw, and he lifted his hands to ward off the next blows.
"You think you can get away with all kinds of shit, don't ya?!" Rafe yelled at JJ, trying to break through his hands.
"Sinking the boat, showing up at the summer movie series, invading Midsummers-"
"If anyone gets away with shit it's you, you fucking asshole," JJ huffed as he tried to wrestle Rafe off of him.
Rafe got around the blond's hands and landed a punch on JJ's nose, making blood run down his face.
"Oorph!"
JJ scrunched up his face, trying to force away the pain. He took a deep breath and then swung his left leg up and around Rafe's neck before slamming his leg downwards again, the force of the action bringing Rafe with it. With his hands he grabbed Rafe's wrist and then thrust his hips up, this way creating a painful lock on Rafe's right elbow joint.
"Aarh!" the teen moaned and thrashed around as an attempt to get free.
His movements only made his arm hurt worse, and he finally stopped wriggling.
"Let me go!" Rafe screamed, "you son of a bitch, let me go!"
"Let you go?" JJ growled, "you hit Kie! Imma fuckin' destroy you, Rafe!"

John B and Pope almost fell through the door, thick branches in their hands, and they quickly approached the two boys on the floor. Kiara only took a single step into the house, desperate to know that JJ would be okay, but more shaken up by the whole thing than she would like to admit. When her eyes fell on JJ, she felt her stomach do a flip, and nausea started growing in her stomach. The blood from his nose had smeared the entire lower half of his face, making JJ look a lot more hurt than he actually was.
Rafe started flailing again when he saw John B and Pope, but soon after he seemed to lose some of his will to continue fighting, and JJ loosened his grip on the older boy cautiously.
"We're three against one, Rafe," Pope sneered and squinted his eyes a little.
"Think you can behave?" John B shot tauntingly and poked Rafe in the side with his foot a few times.
JJ shoved Rafe to his stomach and was just about to tie his arms down with the piece of cloth he had used on Kie when the older boy shot forward, elbowing his way across the floor to the table.
Before any of the boys could really do anything, he had gotten ahold of the switchblade and rolled to his knees. JJ was the first one to react, and when he moved forward Rafe let his hand shoot out. The cold blade bit into JJ's forearm, making him let out a small yelp.
"Ow, fuck!"
Rafe laughed at JJ's shocked face and waved the knife through the air.
A low growl escaped JJ, and he whipped around, grabbing the large branch that Pope was holding. Then he whirled back around, took aim, and swung his arm. The thick piece of wood whooshed through the air and hit Rafe on the side of his head. The initial look in his eyes was one of surprise, but then pain took over and the next second both eyes rolled back before Rafe tumbled to the floor out cold.
"I told you I'd wreck you," JJ huffed and spat on the floor.
Then he sent Pope and John B a quick look.
"Where's Kie?"
They both turned to look, but Kiara was nowhere to be seen.
"She must be outside-," John B said then and ran a hand through his hair.
Pope went to finally tie Rafe up, and JJ quickly left the house.

Kiara was sitting on the porch steps, resting her head against the railing. She was still sniffling, and JJ plopped down next to her with a pained huff.
"You okay?" he asked and put a hand on her shoulder.
His touch was warm and gentle, and Kie turned around. The next round of tears spilled over the edges and rolled down her cheeks, and she grabbed onto JJ, hugging him tightly.
"I will be now," she whispered into his side and fought against the sobs she could feel working their way up through her chest.
"Are you ok?" she continued after a moment and pointed to all the blood.
JJ shrugged and smiled at Kiara.
"Yeah, it'll be alright. I've had worse."
Kie didn't really know what to say to that, so she just settled for staying silent, enjoying the feeling of JJ's warmth and his arm around her.

Soon after, Pope and John B made it out of the old house, carrying Rafe between them. The older boy was still unconscious, and his long limbs dangled around. JJ pulled Kiara even closer to him to allow the other boys to pass, and when Pope went by he lost his grip, causing Rafe's legs to slam down into the ground.
"Too bad it wasn't his head," JJ quipped dryly, his words eliciting a smile and a small snort from the girl next to him.
"Yeah," she agreed and wiped the last tears away.
"Well, it can still be arranged," John B said jokingly and sent his friends an asking glance.

Despite what she had just been through, Kiara felt safe now. Her best friends had rushed to help her, just like she had known they would, and her heart swelled with love for all of them.
She knew that her father was on his way, and that fact both calmed and concerned her. She didn't doubt for a second that he would be grateful for the boys taking care of Rafe, but he would probably also yell at them for being the ones to cause things like this to happen to his little girl in the first place, and it annoyed Kie to no end that she didn't know how to make her dad see what she saw in those boys. Love, loyalty and a second place to call home. She would have to deal with her father when he showed up, but right now she was content just sitting here with JJ's arms around her, and she suddenly realized that even though he was usually the one to cause chaos to happen he was also the one making her feel the most safe. Sure, when JJ was around, trouble always found them, but more importantly; when JJ was around, she would always feel protected.

This chapter concludes this little story. I hope you enjoyed the ride 😊 As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.

xx RecliningHorizontally