Courtney scrambled backwards until her back hit the stone wall roughly, her face had gone deathly pale, and her eyes were wide with horror. Tears streaked down her cheeks as her breaths came in heavy labored bursts.

Duncan came racing out of the room, his teal eyes flew wide as soon as he saw Lindsey and Tyler's bodies crumbled on the ground near Courtney. His attention flew to her as he quickly knelt down in front of her, blocking out her view of the horror. 

"No! No... Oh God," Courtney was shaking her head, her voice shaking with scared sobs as she pulled at her hair. 

"Hey, hey," Duncan whispered, reaching up and pushing her hands away gently. He stroked her hair away from her face, gently cupping her chin in his hand "Shh.. Shh, it's okay. I'm here,"

Courtney let out a wail and few forward into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and hiding her face into the exposed skin of his neck. 

"What's going on out here-" Gwen asked, running out with her flashlight in her hand. But as soon as she stepped into the hallway, her flashlight dropped from her hand, as her hands flew up to cover her mouth, as she let out a terrified scream. 

About 15 minutes later, Duncan was pacing in front of the gang. They had all fled back upstairs in horror, upon discovering the bodies of their friends stuffed in a closet in the secret chamber downstairs. 

"We have to call the police!" Bridgette cried, cradling her arms against her chest, her diamond engagement ring gleaming in the dim light of the few candles they had found lying around.

"We can't, there's no service remember?" Gwen said, Trent was gently stroking her short hair back from her face as she tried not to shake as much. 

"We can't even leave! The storms gotten so bad outside we can barely see 2 feet in front of us. It's not safe to drive anywhere-"

"We didn't drive here, remember? We all were driven by limos," Duncan said

"I'm sorry! I wanted to treat my guests," Bridgette said, holding her head in her hands. Geoff pulled her close, and murmured soft words into her ear. 

"It's not your fault, no one expected this to happen," Owen said, with a shrug. Izzy nodded in agreement. 

"It's almost 2am," Heather said, with a yawn. But her eyes were still wide. Too scared to think about sleep. 

"Heather's right," Gwen said, sounding disgusted with herself for agreeing with the girl "We need to get sleep. Maybe by the morning the storm will go away, and we can get out of here. Everyone pair up, no one is sleeping alone tonight," 

Couples quickly attached to each other, and Duncan's eyes slowly drifted towards Courtney. Who was sitting by a few candles on the floor. She was hugging her knees to her chest, her dark eyes were far away in thought. The light from the candles made her tan skin look even more golden than it was before. 

Duncan swallowed hard and slowly walked over to his former lover, kneeling down beside her. She didn't look up at him, but he knew she knew he was there. 

"Court," he started, his voice gentle. He was afraid that if he spoke too loudly, he'd startle her. 

Courtney slowly looked up into his eyes, and Duncan's breath caught. The way the flames danced in her eyes made him hungry. For her. 

"Court-" 

'Shut up," she said. Duncan snapped his mouth shut, and swallowed hard. Expecting her to snap at him to get away, but he stiffened in surprise as she let out a weak cry and fell into his arms. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders and hiding her face into his neck. Duncan scooted her closer to him and held her tight. His hand coming up and slowly stroking his fingers through her soft brown hair. His eyes closed, and he breathed in her scent gently. Strawberry shampoo. The same she's always used. Duncan felt his whole body ease, feeling the last hours washing out of his system. Right now, he couldn't think about anything. 

Nothing but keeping her safe

Bridgette's eyes narrowed a little as she watched Duncan and Courtney by the unlit fireplace. He was holding her the way you'd hold a scared child. Gentle, but reassuringly.

But the look on his face was anything but the way you'd look at a child. 

Duncan was looking at, holding, and touching Courtney like she was the only source of light in the room, even with the hundreds of candles lit. 

"Bridge, you coming upstairs? We're all heading to bed now," Geoff broke her out of her thoughts. Bridgette looked at him, and sighed

"He better not hurt her, Geoff," she whispered. Geoff looked over at the pair, and looked away quickly. As though the moment they were in was private.

"Something tells me hurting her is the last thing on his mind," he mumbled. Geoff gently took her hand and guided her upstairs. Owen, Izzy, Noah, and Cody followed. Heather and Alejandro had already gone upstairs about 10 minutes ago. Snickering at each other. Something told Geoff they weren't going to be doing a lot of sleeping..

Only Heather could just see two of her friends die, and still want sex. 

And Geoff wasn't gonna lie, the thought wasn't  the farthest thing from his mind. 

Gwen smiled a little as Trent slowly pulled his shirt off, and crawled into bed with her. She snuggled up into his warm chest, and sighed. 

She suddenly bolted up right in bed "You.. Locked the door right?" she asked, shaking lightly. Trent slowly sat up and kissed her shoulder blades

"Of course I did. No one is getting in here. And if they do, they'll have to get through me," he said. His voice vibrating down her spine as he kissed up the back of her neck. Giving her goosebumps. 

"Okay," she whispered. And slowly laid back down into his arms. 

"I hope Duncan is okay.." she said, remembering the thought of him downstairs still with Courtney.

Trent stiffened under her, and looked away

"Why are you so worried about Duncan?" he said, his voice dripping with jealousy. Gwen sat up again and gave him a strict look

"Because he's down there all alone, when 2 of our friends were just murdered-"

"He's not alone. He's with Courtney. The way it should  be,"

That shut her right up. She felt her pale hands ball into fists at her sides. Gwen crossed her arms over her chest and she looked away with a huff. Trent slowly leaned back on his elbows and watched his girlfriend. 

"Trent. I need you to understand something," Gwen said, turning to look at him with her charcoal eyes. "I will always care about Duncan. No matter what happens. He's my best friend in the whole world-"

"Yeah. The best friend you made out with..." Trent grumbled. Gwen growled and pulled at her hair in frustration

"Why can't you just let that go?" she cried. Trent looked at her in surprise at her sudden tone.

"You don't understand anything that happened. That kiss was the biggest mistake of our lives-"

"You mean kisses?"  Trent said. Gwen shot him a glare but continued

"It ruined 2 relationships we both cared about so much. His and Courtney's and mine and your's. Well... I guess I kinda was the one who ruined ours. But the moment we did it, we regretted it. We only stayed together that long because we were scared to admit we did it for nothing. Duncan admitted to me that the only reason he kissed me that day was because the feelings he had for Courtney were terrifying him. He had never experienced anything like that before, he felt like he was losing control. So he kissed me. To show Courtney he was still in control. But he said that as soon as he did it he felt like a bomb went off in his heart. Because he knew he had made the biggest mistake of his life. And Trent... That's exactly how I felt when I broke up with you," Gwen slowly reached forward and touched his cheek with her hand gently

"Losing you was a feeling I never want to experience again. I love you, Trent. Not Duncan. I just.. Wish my relationship with Courtney could be as easily repaired as ours was," she said, dropping her hand and looking down at the bed sheets. Trent slowly sat up and pulled her into his arms

"I'm sorry I get so jealous about you and Duncan so easily. I just can't escape the feeling that you and him get along so well. And you have so much more in common that us-"

"Trent, shut up," Gwen said, laughing a little "I love you. He loves Courtney. The way it should be,"

Gwen snuggled into his arms and closed her eyes as the two laid back down in bed. 

The two eventually drifted to sleep. Trent smiling faintly, feeling like a knight in shining armor, and Gwen feeling like the luckiest girl in the world.