Glitched

~Chapter Seven~

"You've been here for that long?"

"Yep. It seems like longer, though." Cassi folded her arms behind her head and looked up at the clouds. "Colt, Morgan, and I... We've seen many people come and go. Morgan's made many people go. Five, I think, if I haven't lost count already. Colt and Morgan know; they remember every single one..."

"Morgan's... five people?" I gulped and squeezed my eyes shut, breathing hard as I tried not to panic. Oh god, I'm dealing with a serial killer. And she seems to enjoy it!

"We've tried to talk her out of it every single time. It never worked if you couldn't tell. Out of the three years we've been here, the eight people we've seen come in, Dominic, Margot, and Riley are the only ones to survive longer twenty-four hours. I honestly don't know they did it; I guess they just got lucky.

I suddenly understand why everyone seemed so crazy. Morgan had slaughtered all but two of their friends. Then I realized. "I remember you... other you, referring to one of the others as Dom, so that's Dominic, correct? The other two are Margot and Riley?" Cassi nodded slowly. "They were the ones with Morgan, right? So if she tried to murder them, why are they on her side?"

"That's a relatively simple question to answer, thank goodness. After their twenty-four hours were up, Morgan was furious. So, she threatened them. Said she'd keep hunting them and trying to kill them for the rest of their days if they didn't join her. There's no real point in them being her lackeys. Dom is just a big, dumb jock, and Margot is so shy she could never do anything to anyone. I think Morgan just did that to them as revenge, her way of payback for outwitting her."

"So, she's forcing them to help her because they survived?"

"Pretty much. I don't think Morgan's forcing Dom so much anymore, though. He seems to have grown to enjoy it. Margot, on the other hand, is just as gentle and on the sidelines as she was when she began here. If it wasn't for Dom, I think she'd switch over to us. But he won't let her."

"Why doesn't she just rebel against him? You said it yourself; Dom is just a dumb jock."

"One, she's Margot. Margot's too much of a coward to simply run away. I remember when she first got here, Dom spent the entire day convincing her to live. Secondly, Margot and Dom have been dating for several years; I've forgotten exactly how long. They may not love each other as much as they once did, but they still love each other and would do anything for the other."

I nodded slightly and looked down at my crossed lap, thinking. If I were in their situation, faced with the choice of death or Morgan, I'd probably do the same thing. To anyone outside of that situation, though, it sounds morbid, almost making me sick.

"I'm here!" I looked up to see Colt running up over the hill not so far away, jogging over to us before plopping down in the middle. "Why, hello there, ladies!" He smiled at Cassi and then over at me, outstretching his hand. "We haven't formally introduced ourselves, now, have we? I'm Colten Hepburn. Everyone calls me Colt or Ten. Though Cassi's the only one to call me Ten, it was something she did when we were little. Anyways!" He bobbed his hand up and down in front of me, and I hesitantly took it with my own.

"Hannah Nichol..." I said softly.

Cassi sat up and turned to face me, holding out her hand as well. "Cassiopeia von Grace. Medieval, I know, my parents were weird. So I go by Cassi for the most part."

I let go of Colt's hand and slowly took Cassi's. "Hannah, dear! Do you have a nickname?" Colt exclaimed as if he had known me for our whole lives.

"Um, not really." I let go of Cassi's hand and wrapped my arms around my body, a breeze chilling my skin. "My name's not easily nickname-able..."