Part XL.

I'm still confused as to why Miranda's here and what exactly the test was all about. Is it even over? What really happened?

"Why are you here?" I ask, "where is even 'here'? Tell me what's going on!".

"What's the point of explaining to someone whose about to be a cold ugly corpse?" She responds smirking.

"What?" I tremble in fear and move away from her. She plans to kill me during the test and make it look like I lost?.

"Don't act so surprised human," she chuckles, "you didn't think I came here to play cards with you, did you?"

"At least explain to me what just happened before I die," I ask in desperation to know if Dylan is truly alive and if all Sean said was a lie, "please."

"Fine," she says after a few seconds, "everything you saw were your thoughts and fears. They were supposed to crush you but you seemed to be overcoming with your little suicide stunt so I stepped in."

"What?" I ask with anger bubbling inside of me. They were my fears? Now that I think about it, they actually were my thoughts and fears. I feared Dylan would come back alive and seek his revenge, I feared Sean would betray me in the end and has been deceiving me, I feared Dylan hates me, I feared he'd forget all about me, I feared for a lot of things and I feel so weak and pathetic right now!.

Having this evil wench see all my fears and misfortune. Is she even supposed to be here? I don't think so.

"You shouldn't be here." I grit out through my anger.

"But I am." She keeps smirking making my skin crawl in anger.

"You're just a sad and pathetic person Miranda." I say, my anger fueling my courage. I can't believe I used to cower away from her in fear. "You're going all out for a man. A man who sees you as nothing but a pest and has not the slightest bit of love for you."

"Love?" She asks equally angry, "do you even know what that is? Didn't you murder your own husband in cold blood?".

"Don't even dare," i glare at her with every bit of fury in me, "don't even dare pull that card out. You don't have the tiniest idea what happened so you have no right whatsoever to speak about it!".

"Or what?!" She yells in my face, "you'd kill me like you did him?" Losing it at that instant, I strike her hard across the face creating a cut on her lip.

"I said you should you shouldn't dare." I say lowly with boiling anger and adrenaline coursing through my body. Screaming, she comes at me and tackles me to the ground, sitting on me and holding my neck to the ground with the knife close to my face.

"You're going to regret ever laying your filthy human hands on me." She says and presses the knife to my cheek, cutting through the flesh creating a deep red vertical line. I scream out in pain until she stops close to my chin and blood starts to leak from the open flesh.

"Not so beautiful anymore now, are you?" She asks obviously happy with her assault.

"You think you can have him?" She screams like a psychopath over my cries, "you think you can have him love you and get away with it? I've loved him all my life and you want to take him from me you evil being!". She raises the knife in anger to stab me but I'm quick to catch her hand, the knife dangerously close to my eyes. I start to think of ways to get her off me. She has a lot of weight and I can't possibly push her off neither can I fight her off.

"You're beautiful Miranda," I say and she looks at me confused, her force on the knife reducing a bit, "you're every man's desire and I'm sure a lot of men are falling head over heels for you. All you need do is open your heart to them and you'll-".

She cuts me off by laughing, thankfully falling off me onto the ground and I take the opportunity to stand up. We're still surrounded by people but I doubt they're really there. Nothing here is real, except for Miranda.

"I should open up my heart?" She says sounding exhausted from the laughter and gets up, "my heart is open honey, it's open for Sean and him alone."

She walks towards me and I retreat backwards, thinking of ways to get out of here and not be killed by her. She charges towards me and we both fall to the ground with her on top of me. Repeatedly, she starts hitting my head against the ground and it hurts like crazy. My eyes become dizzy and my neck sore.

"Now it's time for you to die and leave Sean alone!" She raises the knife high in the air and I wanna stop it like I did before but the strength has been beaten out of me so I close my eyes and brace myself for the impact. Like burning metal, I feel the knife go through my upper arm, deep into the flesh and I scream in utter anguish and enormous pain.

"You like it?" She asks smiling widely like a crazed person and I shake my head in pain and fear as she raises the knife up again. Against my writhing and cries, she stabs my other arm and I scream even louder than before, the pain becoming unbearable.

Images of Jake torturing me flashes through my mind, memories of Dylan stabbing me plays too along with every form of pain and torment I've been through. In few seconds, a recap of my experience in the cabin floods my memory and it feels like that's the last memory I'd be having as she raises the knife in both hands, obviously aiming for my heart this time. Is this what it means to have your life flash before your eyes just before death? Is this how I finally end up dying? By the hands of a stranger?

Screaming in pleasure, she brings her hand down with force to stab me and I shut my eyes tight, ready to go. I hope I meet Dylan. Goodbye Sean.

"Miranda!" A voice booms in the air and she stops with the knife few inches from my chest, "STOP THIS MADNESS NOW!!!" The voice is so loud and I can recognise it even in my weak state. Shock takes over her face instantly and she stands up, hurried approaching footsteps stops right beside me and I see Sean's face through my blurry vision.

"Are you okay?" He asks looking at my body before finally looking into my eyes, a faint smile appearing on my lips when I notice his eyes are normal. The beautiful black colour it has always been. I'm safe. I can rest now. Sighing, I close my eyes and allow my body pass out.