Endless Cycles

[Chapter 6]

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Brandon's eyes opened, and a bright light filled his vision. He groaned and rubbed his head, sitting up. Looking around, he saw he was in the hospital. Ryan was standing at the counter, putting some bandages back.

"...Ryan?" Brandon said aloud, Ryan turned around and smiled warm-heartedly.

"Brandon! Thank god you're awake." He seemed concerned.

"W-What happened?" Brandon asked. Ryan sighed.

"Cry... He attacked you... Luckily I had heard it and... Well, I'm sorry, but Cry's dead." Brandon felt sick.

"He... Tried attacking me?"

"Unfortunately yes... Pity too, I thought he would be one of the ones who wouldn't hurt anybody."

"Yeah... I thought so too..." Brandon sighed and looked down. He felt his eyes began to water but he held them back. Cry was his friend! He'd never do anything to hurt Brandon.... Or so he thought...

"I guess no one can be trusted after all." He mumbled. Ryan nodded.

"Well, I suppose I'll leave you to rest... But I have left some guards outside in case anyone from the other team tries anything. If you need anything come get me." Brandon nodded and Ryan left. As he left, Brandon noticed the two guards, who were Smiffy and Ross.

I guess they just joined Ryan's side... I've never seen them work with anyone besides themselves. He thought to himself. It was weird, people he hadn't expected would choose sides actually did. He didn't know whether or not he should feel relieved he was saved by Ryan, or scared.

Being saved by him could cause him his neutrality, and people on Adam's side would try and go after him. Brandon tried to not think about it, but even then he was still shaky. He decided to take a nap to calm himself down.

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When Brandon woke up, he got up and decided to go eat something. He noticed the guards had left and shrugged, making his way to the dining hall. He must've napped longer than he thought... It was dark outside. He shrugged and grabbed some cereal for himself, and sat down.

About halfway through, Brandon heard a scream and a loud thump outside. He jumped out of his seat and ran to the window, looking outside. His eyes widened as he saw a body on the ground. It was too dark to make out who it was, so Brandon cautiously went outside. He stepped outside and went over to the pool, where the body was laying. Brandon kneeled beside the body and turned them over.

It was Ryan.

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Brandon screamed. No, he didn't just scream, he did so until his throat burned, and the tears that fell from his cheeks had already dried. He heard footsteps come to a stop behind him, and he turned around.

"Brandon?!" Called Seto. Behind him stood Smiffy, Trott and Ross, as well as Jason and Adam.

"What happened?" Smiffy exclaimed, his voice filled with both anger and fear.

"I-I h-heard a scream... And... Ryan..." Tiffany and Seto rushed over to help Brandon stand up. His legs were shaky. Ryan was dead. The same Ryan who saved Brandon's life. Sure, he was scary, and unstable, and he killed willingly, but he had been the strongest out of all of them. And if he was dead, then what chance did they have?

What chance did any of them have, except the one who killed Ryan?

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An hour or so later, everyone had begun investigating Ryan's death. They found he was killed by being pushed off of the ledge. With the help of Ray, Smiffy and Trott, Brandon led one investigation. He was still upset about the death of course, but he wanted to find out who did it.

Of course everyone had automatically suspected Adam, but they had no proof to back it up... Hell, even Brandon thought it was Adam at first, but he looked too upset about it. Not everyone was upset over Ryan's death however, a few-- including Jerome, Trott and Tiffany-- seemed happy about his death. Brandon could believe Jerome would be happy, seeing has how his best friend's death had been Ryan's fault, but Tiffany and Trott? Trott was one of the ones on Ryan's side for god sakes! Why would he be happy over his leader's death? The whole thing just confused Brandon.

As Brandon and Ray were looking for clues, the other spoke up.

"Hey! I found something." He exclaimed, and held up a small purple shard. Brandon took it and examined it closely. It was shiny and had rough edges, like a knife.

"Thanks Ray." Brandon smiled and stuffed the shard in his pocket. "Let's continue looking for a bit alright? I need to make sure my suspicions are correct."

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"Alright everybody... I... I think I've found our culprit." Brandon said, taking a deep breath.

"Well, who is it?" Adam asked impatiently. Brandon pulled out the shard.

"Now, this isn't a lot of information, but this shard looks awfully familiar. Doesn't it, Adam?" Adam looked angry.

"What? You think I did it?" He exclaimed.

"Of course not. I was just asking if it happened to look familiar to you. Does it?" Adam calmed down and looked at the shard.

"Y-Yes..."

"And who might it belong to, because if it's not you, then who else would have a purple amulet just like yours?"

Adam took a minute to look around the room, but realized. "Ant." He stated. Brandon looked at Ant.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" Ant looked furious.

"What? I didn't do it!" He shouted. Brandon motioned for Smiffy and Ross to hold him back.

"What do we do with him now?" Asked Ross.

"Well... I would prefer not killing.... Just lock him outside in the shed until we know what to do with him." Brandon sighed, and the two nodded, bringing Ant with them. Jordan tried going after them, but was stopped by Brandon.

"Don't.."

"But they're gonna kill him!" Jordan's voice was filled with fear.

"Jordan I promise I will make sure Ant stays alive... We just don't want him killing anyone else." Jordan nodded and sighed, making his way back to his room. Others did the same, and one by one Brandon and Tiffany were the only ones left.

"Brandon.... You kind of scared me there." She said.

"Why?"

"You sounded and acted a lot like Ryan... You even called his guards to help you."

"Tiffany don't worry... I'm not turning into Ryan... I'm just making sure that no one else dies." Brandon replied, defending himself.

"If you say so..." She sighed and left. Was he turning into Ryan? He did have to admit... He did sound an awful lot like Ryan when he accused Ant of killing. Brandon shook this off and went back to his room.