Are You Okay? // Colby Brock

A Message Left In Blood

"Jake!" Corey hisses, kneeling down in front of his sleeping friend. "Jake, wake the fuck up, we need your help."

"Stooooooop," Jake whines, rolling over and squeezing his eyes shut. "I know we're in a haunted hotel perfect for pranks but just let me sleep...."

"Jake," Sam starts, desperate. "I swear, this isn't a prank. Please wake up."

With a huff, Jake rolls over and sits up slowly, rubbing his eyes.  "If this is a prank you guys, I swear to God-"

"This isn't a goddamn prank, Jake!" Corey whisper-shouts. "You're telling me you didn't prank us?"

Jake looks confused. "When? And with what?"

"Colby." Sam answers simply. 

"What about Colby?"

"Did you... write something on Colby's back to mess with us?"

Jake scrunches his nose up. "Write something on Colby? No, why?"

Corey and Sam exchange horrified expressions and Corey stands up, backing away whilst covering his mouth in shock. "I don't like this, dude. I don't like this."

"Like what? Guys, what's going on?" Jake asks. 

Sam sighs and gestures to the bed. "Just-come and see this."

Still confused and slightly scared, Jake slowly rises and follows close behind as Sam leads him over to Colby (meanwhile Corey is just having a continuous panic attack in the corner).

"What the-" Jake's eyes widen when he sees the cryptic message drawing blood on Colby's back. He himself seems taken aback and slightly scared as he leans closer to survey Colby's back. "What... happened? How did this..."

"We don't know," Sam answers, concerned. "And dude, look, his lips are blue." 

Jake leans in closer and his eyes widen tenfold as he sees the blue tinge in Colby's lips. "Holy shi-"

"What do we do?" Corey chimes in, rejoining Sam and Jake. "What's going on?"

"We gotta wake Colby up," Sam says. "And I don't know, take him to the hospital or something. I-I don't know!"

Corey turns to Jake, who nods in a firm yet gentle reassurance, yet in response, Corey just backs up, almost like he's just 'nope'ing out of it all. Sam turns to Jake and nods, before carefully approaching Colby, who still looks peacefully asleep.

"Colby..." Sam coos, gently shaking Colby's side, being careful not to jostle his wounds. Colby doesn't respond, and Sam suddenly wonders if he's dead. His heart almost stops as he imagines his best friend, dead, on the bed in front of him.

 "Colby, wake up!" However, his fears are dismissed when Colby shifts, eyelashes fluttering. His immediate response is a whimper that escapes his lips as he arches his back in pain, likely from finally feeling the scratches on his back.

"Colby-are you okay?"

"What... happened..." Colby manages, rolling over. He catches himself onto his side, blinking up at Sam. "Sam... what's going on?" 

"Colby, dude, you're not gonna believe this," Sam begins, kneeling next to the bed. "There's... there's something going on and I swear to you, none of this is a prank."

"What... what's on my back?" Colby almost gargles out, attempting to sit up. "Why does it hurt?"

"Colby, you have some scratches on your back and... they're bleeding a bit but none of us did anything. Corey first noticed them when he woke up and... it says something."