UPRISE

031

The first one home is Corbin, who goes and sits in the entryway. When the front door slams, the three of them sitting in the game's room creep up to see who has entered. Thankfully, they find Corbin.

"Why don't you just tap a gong and ring it next time you want to make a loud noise," Pluto rolls her eyes.

Corbin leans his back against the wall and hits his head against it. He takes his hands and tangles them in his thick black hair. "Fuck me in the ass."

"Ooh, don't need to tell me twice," Pluto quips. She doesn't giggle.

Reagan makes his way over from across the room. He sits next to Corbin. Though he wants to lean his head against the larger boy's shoulder, he doesn't dare touch Corbin without his permission.

"We'll find them," Reagan insists, because sometimes you need to have hope for others.

Corbin shakes his head back and forth.

"We should've tapped Wren and Harper some watches and made them agree to meet back here in a few minutes," Jasmine decides. She is better at coming up with plans in the retrospect. "I'm going to go check on Edison."

As she goes to leave, there is a knock at the door. It swings open, and Harper is at the other side, dragging in a barely conscious Rinn. Jasmine rushes over to help bring her inside.

Corbin is already grabbing Rinn by the elbows and hoisting her up. If he remembers correctly (which he does) there is a firepit in the lounge. "What happened? What did Thatcher and Connery do to her?"

Harper shrugs.

Without an answer, Corbin brings her into the lounge. There, he puts her in front of the firepit. Rinn shivers in his arms. He tilts her head up to his face, trying to get her to maintain eye contact, but she can't manage to hold her gaze on anything. "I'm going to need to strip you of your wet clothing, okay?"

She nods, and Corbin begins to gently remove her clothes. The others are already rushing over with dozens of blankets. They create a bed of pillows underneath Rinn for her to curl upon.

"Nobody let her fall asleep," Harper can't bring his voice above a whisper, hoping that Rinn cannot hear him.

He is unsuccessful.

"I'm tired," Rinn manages. Her voice is quiet and nowhere.

Pluto shakes her head. She turns to Corbin, pulling him out of his pacing and stepping them aside. "Why do you think Thatcher and Connery were behind this?"

"I ran into them," Corbin tells Pluto. "I... they got under my skin."

"We ran away," Rinn manages. She reaches her hands forward, and Reagan decides that he will be the one to take them. Like Wren did with the girl who died. "Then, we met this other guy. Viola... we got separated."

"Now darling, please keep your eyes open," Reagan tips up her head, smiling down at her, even though he wants to cry. It's brave face time, because so far, no one is dead.

"How far did you drag her?" Jasmine asks.

Harper shrugs. He finally sits down on the couch, shaking out his long, soaking hair. "Half a mile? She made it on to the property. She was basically buried by the snow."

"Shit," Corbin mutters. He breaks away from Jasmine to pat Harper's back. The gesture is awkward, but it's the best that he can manage under the circumstances. He coughs to try to get rid of the anxiety in him. "Good... uh... you did good. That's a tough move."

Harper nods, but he only wishes that they could've gotten back faster.

The front door slams shut once again, and so they all race out of the room, except Reagan who still cradles Rinn. He doesn't mind though, instead brushing the strands of hair out of her face. When she looks up at him with bright blue eyes, he feels that everything will be alright.