Glitched

~Chapter Nine~

"How long has she been out?"

"Like, five minutes."

"Was it the throat?"

"Ankle, actually. Morgan grabbed it pretty bad. Looks like she got caught in a bear trap, but without the sharp impaling."

"What is... Ugh..." I slowly came to, holding my head as I sat up and looked around. Sitting around me were Cassi, Colt, and... one of the other boys with Morgan? "Um... Colt?"

"Hannah?" Colt looked at me and frowned, following my line of sight to the boy before gasping. "Oh!" He laughed a little before clearing his throat. "Oh, um, this is Riley. He is secretly with us, so don't tell Morgan, alright?" Colt put a finger up to his lips and smirked, his shoulders bouncing as he chuckled.

"Alright..." I leaned back against the headboard and bit my lip in pain, adjusting the pillow behind my back. I looked down at my ankle and sighed heavily. Cassi had wrapped it so tightly in bandages and gauze that my foot was stuck upright; I couldn't move my ankle at all. That may have nothing to do with the make-shift cast, though. "What am I supposed to do now? Lay in this bed until Morgan shows up to finish the job?"

"Hell no," Colt answered almost immediately, handing Cassi a piece of tissue soaked with what smelled of peroxide. She had taken her many bandages off her arm and was cleaning what appeared to be a deep, severe cut. "You won't heal as fast as we would, of course, but the longer you're here, the faster your body heals itself. As long as there's nothing inside it, like a knife in a stab wound or something."

"Then why isn't Cassi healing?"

"Or unless the wound was there when you showed up here." Cassi clenched her jaw and held back cries of pain as she pressed the tissue against her cut, swearing under her breath before dropping it into the floor. She took a deep breath. "Harry attacked me when he forced me inside here. I wasn't all that cooperative. So now, I'm bleeding for the rest of eternity. I was also sick that day, so now I'm perpetually throwing up every couple of hours. Yay me."

"If it makes you feel better, Cass, I got a paper cut that day that is still very much there." Colt held up his finger, and, sure enough, there was a small paper cut.

"You tell me that literally every single time I clean this thing." Cassi rolled her eyes and slowly, tightly wrapped new bandages around her arm in several layers.

"Well, now that you're both cleaned up and bandaged, I vote that we start moving again," Riley spoke for the first time since I had woken up. "Wasn't it you, Colt, that taught me to always keep moving?"

"You are correct, my liege!" Colt bowed to Riley as he stood up, running a hand to his hair. He stepped over to the bed and held his hands out to me. "Come on, Han. Up and at 'em!"

"I, um..." I started to object but was interrupted.

"Hannah, I apologize, but we do need to get going. Morgan will find us any second now. She knows this where you hide the medical supplies." Riley stated as he rose to his feet.

"Shouldn't you have mentioned that sooner, dude?" Colt groaned and motioned his hands back towards me. "Come on, Hannah, I mean it. Just trust me!"

I looked up into Colt's eyes and took his hands with my own, gently swinging my legs over the side of the bed. Why shouldn't I trust Colt? He seems to be the only person here that's one hundred percent on my side, and he's given me zero reasons so far to think any less of him.

"Alright!" Colt put an arm underneath both of mine and bent his legs, preparing to take on my weight. "Three, two, one!" I felt him lift up, and I instinctively put pressure on both of my feet, including my injured ankle. I screamed out in pain and fell into Colt's side, grabbing onto his arm and shirt as my healthy foot scrambled to stay on the floor. "Don't stand on that foot, you goof," Colt said with a chuckle. "You're supposed to use your other foot! Haven't you ever broken an ankle before?"

So the bone was broken. That's nice. "I've never broken a bone before. Can't really say I was missing out."

"Hey!" Colt laughed as he helped me begin to walk, er, hop. "Being sarcastic is my job!"

"One Colt is more than enough, I can assure you." Cassi flicked the back of Colt's neck with her fingers before walking ahead of everyone.

The four of us moved out of the bedroom and then outside of the cabin. I held onto Colt tightly for support, my good leg already starting to give out. You got this, H. I reassured myself. You can do it, H. I believe in you, H. I took a deep breath and kept hopping.

We moved along through the forest for what felt like hours - actually being only a few minutes - before Colt suddenly stopped. He grabbed onto me tighter and held me back, almost making me topple over.

"What are you-" I turned my gaze upwards and found myself unable to breathe as I saw Morgan, Dom, and Margot standing before us.

"I knew it!" Morgan giggled like a schoolgirl, a psychopathic, insane school girl. "I knew you were two-timing us, Riley!"

"Why are you all three here?" Cassi asked, moving in front of Riley while Colt pulled me even closer to him, wrapping his arms around me protectively.

"Well, you see, sweetheart," Morgan started, pacing circles around us, "I already had my suspicions that you were lying about being on my team. So, we all just followed you. But, I mean, come on, Riles. You were so, how should I put this," Morgan put her hand on her hip and a finger to her temple as if she was thinking, "not casual. Aren't you supposed to act the opposite of that while on a secret mission?" Morgan continued to pace around us slowly, Dom following behind her like a lost puppy and Margot behind him. "Now, children, what do you think we should do with them?"

"I vote we make Riley kill Hannah," Dom said with a smart glint in his eyes. "Should be quite entertaining to watch."

"I've taught you well, Dominic." Morgan chuckled and bit her lip as she looked Riley up and down. "Come on, Riley. You know you belong to me. Just accept your fate and get it over with."

"I-I can't do that." Riley stammered as he stepped away from Morgan, his hands outstretched in front of him in an attempt to move her away.

"Get away from him, Morgan!" Cassi yelled, putting herself in between Riley and Morgan. "I mean it. Leave them both alone. Leave all of them alone. They are not your playthings!"

"Oh, Cassi," Morgan smirked and grabbed Cassi's wrist, pulling her closer to her. She stepped around Cassi, running her fingers through her lavender hair. "Sweet, innocent, little Cassiopeia. Now, why on earth should I even consider doing that?"

"Because-"

Everyone turned to face Riley as he fought for breath, gasps of struggle and pain escaping his throat. He grabbed onto Cassi's shoulders, bringing her down to the dirt along with him. Riley fell to his knees, blood trickling down the corners of his mouth as red spread throughout his shirt. His eyes flashed from his natural blue to an unholy shade of white, then back to their original shade of cyan, then back to white. His entire body shook as Cassi fought to keep him from falling over, Riley coughing up more and more blood onto her face and chest. "Riley, Riley, calm down!" Cassi screamed at him, moving hair out of his face as his eyes continued to change rapidly. "Riley, can you hear me? Riley!"

Riley coughed up the devilish shade of red one final time, falling out of Cassi's grasp and onto the ground beside her. "Harry..." was the last word to ever escape his lips before he exhaled for the last time. His eyes changed to blue and remained that color, only without the life that once dwelt inside.

"Riley...?" Cassi continued trying to get him to respond, doing her best to wake him up back. "Riley? Riley, come on!"

"Morgan..." Colt exasperated, as in as much disbelief as I was, "do you have something you want to tell us?" His grip on me tightened even more - I thought he was about to squish me, render me as dead as Riley just became.

Morgan turned to look at Colt, her eyes big as she swallowed hard. "Alright, Colten... I know what this looks like, but that was not me!"

"Then who was it?" Cassi demanded, tears in her eyes as she clutched a perished Riley against her chest, running her fingers over his eyelids to close them forever.