The Haunted House on the Hill

"Let him suffer," Quil repeated, chuckling, before shoving a thumb in Bryant's direction. "He doesn't eat like a pig."

"But Bryant is little and thin. Of course he doesn't eat as much." Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

At this, Quil snorted again. "I'll tell Denny you called him fat. Maybe that'll lower his ego a bit."

"I didn't call him fat! I just said that most guys eat like pigs! They spend too much energy playing football and sports and stuff like that!" Elizabeth frowned.

Quil chuckled, before shrugging. "Wake him up if you want."

Elizabeth went over to his bed and shook his shoulder gently. "Denny, wake up. There's some food for you. Wake up."

Bryant frowned at Denny, before getting an idea...
He got another bowl of soup, making sure that it was still very hot, then walked over to Denny's bed and held the bowl above the poor guy, making it look as if he was going to pour it all over Denny's face. He paused so if anyone wanted to stop him, they could.

Elizabeth glared at Bryant, and took the bowl away. "What the hell makes you think that's a good idea? That has the potential to give him third degree burns!" she hissed.

Denny cracked an eye open. "Ladies, don't argue over me, there's more than enough Denny to go around~" he muttered sleepily.

"Should I use ice water instead?" Bryant deadpanned.

Elizabeth ignored Bryant, and shook Denny a little more. "Wake up sweetheart. There's food on the table for you. And Bryant is not a lady."

"Food?" Denny sat straight up, suddenly wide awake.

Elizabeth handed him the bowl of soup that was just moments ago over his head. "I'll go get you a spoon." she offered, and went to the kitchen. She retrieved what the spoon and brought it back. "Angel's asleep, finally. I managed to get some food in her beforehand, and hopefully she'll be a lot more together when she wakes up. Then maybe we can go out and look for a way out."

Angel had always known that dreams were funny things. When she had closed her eyes earlier, she had thought that since she was exhausted, a dreamless sleep would overcome her.

But exhaustion, combined with the terrible situation she was in, made the dreams into nightmares.

The first thing she saw was the house. While she didn't want to go in, her feet forced her inside, no matter how much she resisted. She was met by Ryuuzu, smiling and laughing. Steve came up out of nowhere, and grabbed her from behind. He dragged her down to the basement, where a cavern was that led outside. Wait, outside? she thought as she looked up at it. There was a rope ladder that had been singed toward the top, making it impossible to escape with it. But that didn't mean someone couldn't come in.

Ryuuzu, however, taunted her. "That's your only way out! And you can't get to it! No rope! No key! You're trapped here forever!" he cackled.

Angel screamed as Steve dragged her back upstairs and into the Annex. Her friends were tied to posts, terrified. Ryuuzu strapped Angel to a chair, and faced her toward the posts. He walked over to Aria first. He did nothing more than slit her throat. Same with Bryant. Same with Quil. Same with Leo.

Denny had a little bit slower of a death to torture Liz a little more than he was planning to. He dragged the knife all over Denny's body, until he eventually got to his neck and ended it all. Elizabeth received the knife treatment, only slower.

He came to Joseph last. Joseph did not receive mere slits everywhere. Joseph received dismemberment, and the entire time, Angel was screaming, just as she did for everyone else's murder. When the task was complete, Ryuuzu turned to Angel, still screaming. Steve clasped a hand over her mouth. "Don't you see Angel? With each time loop, with each death, I grow stronger. More alive. You could have chosen to end it in the last time loop. Let you all die. But no, you elected to feed me more lives. It's all your fault Angel. Don't listen to what anyone else tells you. It is all. Your. Fault." Ryuuzu smiled at her, and disappeared. Everything turned black.

Denny nodded, glancing worriedly at Angel. She was his best friend, after all. He didn't particularly feel comfortable with seeing her so crazy.

Elizabeth looked over at her as well, frowning. "She can't stay much longer."

"Of course not...though maybe spending time in this loop will help her forget that the other one ever happened," Denny frowned.

Bryant frowned, watching Angel. ...I still want to know what happened last loop, though...

"I don't know. You know Angel, she rarely ever forgets the important things. And that was an important thing in her life." Elizabeth sighed. "When we get out, I don't know how she'll cope."

Denny sighed. "We just have to keep reminding her we're okay."

"I wish I could go in her head right now. Tell her that this loop is real and not a dream. Or something like that." Elizabeth shook her head and hugged Denny, needing some form of comfort.

Denny sighed, hugging Liz back, before pushing her down so she was sitting on a bed. "Take a nap," he told her, his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine, Denny. Don't worry about me." Elizabeth said.

"Go to sleep," Denny ordered firmly, pushing her down so she was laying on the bed and pulling the covers over her.

"I mean it. I'm fine. I need to take care of things around here." Elizabeth protested, pushing the covers away.