Youngbloods of the World, Stand Up and Fight

Corrupt Minds

About ten minutes later, Hope was cleaned up and in different clothes. Patrick had let her borrow a pair of his skinny jeans and a black button-up shirt and had also, to her complete delight, returned her fedora to her.

So now, she was currently seated in the main room of the bus with everyone else, nervously fiddling with the sleeves that almost completely covered her fingers.

"Alright. Before we set a plan, to try and bring this cult down, we need to know what your condition is," said one of the girls Hope hadn't gotten the chance to meet yet. The one with brown hair and grey eyes. Did the others say her name was Aspen? Probably.

"Um... sure, okay," Hope said, shrugging as she leaned against the side of the couch, pulling her legs up underneath her. "What do you want to know?"

"How corrupt is your mind? Like, how bad is the damage? Will you get violent every time you listen to music?"

Not knowing how to answer exactly, Hope stared at her. "I... I uh... I dunno... but it's not a theory I would exactly test... just in case..."

"It's kind of something we need to know, just because of-"

Aspen let out a short oomph as Rina elbowed her hard in the side, giving her a dirty look. "She's being rude, but she's right," she said quietly, continuing to glare before looking in Hope's direction. "Do you mind if we try it out? See if you react violently to music?"

Hope swallowed down a lump in her throat, biting her lower lip. "If you really think you need to... But I would advise against it. It could be really, really dangerous..."

"We'll be careful," Patrick promised, placing a hand on her arm, and giving her a reassuring smile. "I promise."

"I..." she sighed, nodding. "Okay. As long as you promise to snap me out of it the instant my eyes change color, if they do."

He nodded, and the rest of the people in the room mumbled their promises as Patrick grabbed Hope's hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Who wants to do the honors?" the blonde girl, who could really only be Kayla at this point, asked, looking around the room.

"I got it," Carlee spoke up for the first time in a while, sliding her phone out of her pocket.

As she pressed play on her phone, and the familiar sound of Death Valley sounded through the bus, Hope felt chills traveling up her spine. Something felt... very different. She tightened her grip on Patrick's hand without realizing it. A surge of anger burst through her body.

The faces of all the people around her fell, and immediately became worried and slightly scared.

"Turn it off!"

In the course of not even a few seconds, Hope finally became aware of her surroundings again. Patrick was now holding both her arms behind her back in a pretty uncomfortable position, and she was kneeling on the floor breathing heavily. Pete was on his feet, still watching her closely as if trying to decide whether or not to help Patrick contain her. Joe and Andy were doing pretty much the same, however they were perched on the edge of their seats in anticipation. Aspen had scrambled to a corner and was trembling. Kayla had grabbed a baseball bat, and was holding it above her head in a defensive position. Rina was holding a syringe, which most likely held a sedative, and Carlee hadn't moved, just looking down at her friend in slight shock.

It was silent for a while, before Patrick finally loosened his grip on her arms letting out a breath. "I guess that answers our question, huh?"

Hope sat back on her knees, running her hands through her hair. What was she going to do? None of the people in this bus were safe with her there. That was a no-brainer. So what on Earth were they going to do?