The Haunted House on the Hill

"You okay?" Quil asked him concernedly.

Bryant nodded and moved his hand away from his eye. "...Yeah."

Aria frowned. Is there something wrong with his eye, maybe...?

Angel took Joseph's hand in her own, and looked at him. "I especially can't let you get hurt." she said.

Liz saw Bryant wake up, and went over to the bathroom. She banged on the door. "Denny, Bryant's up." she said.

Denny heard Liz, slowly walking out of the bathroom. He'd need to talk to her later. "Hey, Bryant," he grinned, wiping the worry off his face. "How was your nap?"

Bryant simply shrugged. "What happened while I was out?"

"Angel had a panic attack, nothing new. Probably just all the drugs she's hyped up on," Denny told him, even though it was a lie. No need to worry the kid anymore than he needed to.

Liz nudged him in the elbow. "Stop making fun of her. You're going to make her worse." she warned.

Denny sighed quietly, grabbing her arm. "I need to talk to you, privately."

"About what?" Elizabeth asked, confused.

Denny dragged her into the bathroom, before turning back to her. "Angel's as tough as nails, if she's this freaked out, we're in the middle of some serious shit," he began, frowning. "I'm lying to Bryant because...he's just a kid. He doesn't need to worry about getting out alive, we need to worry about getting him out alive."

".....Bryant was the first person to die in Angel's time loop, wasn't he? You're right, we need to get him out. He should probably be one of our first priorities." Elizabeth nodded in agreement.

"Exactly," Denny agreed. "Don't...freak him out too much. If we just let him keep thinking that Angel's hallucinating, then he doesn't need to be so stressed knowing he could have died."

"He might find out somehow anyway. Or one of us could die, and that would really stress him out." Elizabeth said.

"Well, we won't die," Denny frowned. "And if he finds out, then he finds out. That doesn't mean we can't bend the truth a little."

"You don't know we won't die, Denny!" Elizabeth said forcefully.

"I know we won't die because I'll get all of us out of here! If Angel goes through another time loop, she's going to go crazy! Hell, how long until the rest of us are basket cases?" Denny asked rhetorically, a slightly angry tone arising in his voice.

"...Aria, what's wrong?" Bryant asked. The girl has been watching him for the last few minutes, and it was starting to creep him out.

Aria frowned. "Don't move your head," she said. She held her hand by the right side of his head, at the point where he could only see it through his right eye. "You can see my hand, right?"

"...Of course I can!" Bryant lied.

"Then how many fingers am I holding up?"

"..."

"Angel was crazy beforehand, but this is another type of crazy. Who says she hasn't gone this type of crazy already? Denny, there's no way that you can get us all out alone. None of us can. We're all in this together." Elizabeth said.

"You doubt me? I won't let my friends get hurt, Liz. I'd take a bullet for you...all," Denny stated, quickly covering his mistake, mentally swearing at himself.

Liz noticed something. She noticed that he hesitated before mentioning 'all.' "I know you would, Denny, but we'd all take a bullet for each other." she said.

"'Cept I'm the one who'll probably amount to zip, so I think I win in the meat shield category," Denny grinned jokingly.

"Stop that, you know it's not true." Elizabeth scolded.

Denny sighed, sitting down on the edge of the tub. "No need to be so strict, Lizzy."

"I'm not being strict, I'm being honest." she said, sighing. Elizabeth sat down on the floor, and looked up at him. "I'm just saying not to put yourself down like that. You aren't a meat shield, no one would think of using you as one."

"I'm s'posed to say thanks here, right? Thanks, Lizzy," Denny sighed, patting her head like a dog.