𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐓 ➵ 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐂

xiii. thirteen

DEAD MEAT!

"HOW IS he doing?" claire asked the nurse for what it seemed like the millionth time. she was very anxious, the thought of him being dead was on her mind.

"claire!" billie ran into the waiting room of the hospital, a few of the their group following behind her. both embraced each other, billie worried for both claire and grayson; they were on the cusp of being the next victims.

"i'm sure he's fine.." ophelia mumbled under their breath. claire snarled, taking the sympathetic comment more as a sarcastic one.

"they said that he's in critical condition and that he lost a lot of blood. but they haven't updated me again." claire said, as she pulled out of the hug with billie. "i really hope he's okay.."

"i'm here for you, claire. we all are." billie said, giving her a smile, as well as the other teenagers. claire teared up again, taking billie and sitting down next to her. all she could do was think about grayson and how horrible she would feel if he were to not make it through.

"i'll be back guys." glen said quietly, pointing towards the nearby vending machine. jensen, of course, taking notice let herself out quietly.

"what're you getting?" she asked glen.

"i don't know, maybe some candy. m&m's probably." glen gave her a shy smile as he put quarters into the vending machine.

"what's the matter? i know you only get food when you're anxious." jensen put her hand on his shoulder as he shivered from his inner thoughts.

"hospitals creep me out.. ever since i killed my dad in one of these places." glen thought back to that time, when he was much younger and much more scared.

jensen knew almost everything about his past but this? not a clue.

"it wasn't even glenda, it was actually me." he swallowed heavily as the two watched the candy dispense. before glen pulled the pack of m&m's from the machine, jensen stopped him.

"why haven't you told me? you've told me how horrible he was to you but not that you actually.. put him down?" she asked.

"well, i didn't want to think about it." glen let out a breathy laugh. "and i didn't think it was that important to you, jen." he smiled to her.

she began to feel flustered, as she rushed to grab his m&m's. "here" her voice began to crack.

"thanks for checking in, jen." glen said, pulling the girl into a side hug.

"i'm always going to, glen." she smiled to herself as she wrapped her arm around his side.

GRAYSON'S VISION became clear after a good 2 hours. he didn't see the arrow coming, at all. he only saw the figure and he knew he had to get claire out of the way. the result was the loss of blood and many machines being connected to him.

"hello?" he said, groaning from the pain. he saw the patch of gauze covering his chest wound as it was incredibly painful. a nurse rushed over to his side as he mumbled to wanting to see claire.

"claire bates?" the nurse called out into the lobby. claire immediately jumped from her seat as she had been anticipating for news for awhile. the nurse brought claire down many corridors of the emergency room until the two reached grayson's room.

"gray!" claire cried out, her eyes beginning to water as she rushed to his bedside. she hugged him lightly, seeing where the wound was. "i was so scared, i'm so glad you're okay!" she smiled and then got upset. "don't ever do that again, you jerk!" she slapped his arm.

"i heard what you said." grayson smiled to claire, very mischievously.

"what are you on about?" she asked.

"so i'm your boyfriend?" he laughed as claire realized what she had said only a few hours ago. she covered her face in her hands as grayson sat up in his bed to take her hands in his.

"it slipped, i swear." claire sworn to herself and grayson. he wasn't buying it, of course.

"claire," he said staring into her eyes. "you and i both know that's not true."

"but," she began to stumble on her words. "i mean.. ugh." she groaned, closing her eyes tight. he laughed her again. "why'd you jump in front of me?" she clenched his hands tight.

"you do it for the people you love." grayson shrugged, feeling selfless for the act. it was in the heat of the moment and well, claire meant everything to him.

also in the heat of the moment, the girl shyly leaned over to his cheek and gave him a kiss. "thank you.." she blushed. "just, never do it again, you'll worry me too much."

still hand in hand, the two smiled to one another until one by one, their friends all showed up.

billie came by the bed and gave grayson a hug, a high five from bryce and many waves and smiles from the rest of the group.

"so," kade squeaked. "where do we go from here?" he asked as the others nodded unanimously.

"i'm not really sure." billie said, her hands in her pockets. "grayson and claire should definitely lay low more since they encountered him. all the rest of us should keep our eyes peeled for him."

"but how will we tell what he looks like?" ava asked.

"anyone got paper and a pen?" bryce said.

THE WOMAN whistled a tune to herself as she began to go home from a long day of working at the hospital. she was texting on her phone, heading towards the parking lot. she was the nurse who dealt with grayson and his wounds, as well claire's constant asking of questions.

the wind whipped the branches and the leaves of the trees. she swiftly unlocked her car as she continued humming her tune. she tossed her purse into her passenger seat and took a seat on the driver's side. her entrance was met with a dark figure appearing in the backseat. the figure took his hand and grabbed onto her hair, tugging it back just enough for him to pull out his blade and push it harshly to her neck, blood gushing out quickly.

she tried to reach behind her, her eyes completely widened. it was to no avail as she held onto her grasp of life for a few seconds more. the figure disappeared just in time for her to bleed out enough, killing her as her head hit the steering wheel, the loud horn blaring throughout the entire radius of the hospital.

author's note!

heyyyyyy i'm back from the dead sorry ..