XX Final Chapter (Part I)

I immediately open my eyes after I heard the voice and look around. What the hell is happening?

I can't help myself from smiling when I imagine myself opening my eyes inside my room. I miss those plain painted walls and my soft bed. And then I would wake up to my mom baking cookies and the smell of freshly brewed coffee consumed the entire house. I kind of regret not appreciating those little things that I have before we have gone here.

However, that smile does not last long when I realize what is happening.

It is already bright outside as I feel the warmth of the sun surrounds the entirety of the room. However, the golden walls have drained the life out of my entire body when I notice that we are still inside The Passion House. The water sprinkler system turns on but it is not stopping the fire. There are various explosions that we can hear as the fire quickly spreads around the entire hotel. I hold tighter to Harris when the fire appears in front of us like a snake, devouring everything the hotel owns. I also feel Harris' hold on me get tighter when we see 12 human figures eventually emerge from the fire. Unlike earlier, they are now wearing their staff uniforms and all of them are holding their guns which are pointed at us.

"HOW DARE YOU TRASH MY PARADISE?!" I can feel the ground shake as the hauntingly deep voice taunt the entire hotel. I can't say if it is from a man or a woman, but it is a voice so deep that it sounds like it has come from the depths of the earth.

Eventually, I notice a blackness form at the ceiling of the hotel. It grows bigger and bigger like a creeping black hole that devours everything it can come across. It doesn't even mind the fire that is now consuming the entire hotel. The moment it touches the feet of the 12 hotel employees, it consumes them, too.

"Erebus," I whisper.

There's a loud BANG! As I feel a bullet pass through my face. No, it did not hit me. But a tingling sensation starts to burn on my cheek. I bring my shaking hand to touch it and I see blood.

That's what killed Melvin and the gunshot that killed, Stacey- all of it makes sense now.

Erebus might devour every life it comes across but it can never eat its own. And because Harris and I are still alive, they can also never wake up that is why they have no other choice but to kill us now. They have to feed the beast. There should be no survivors.

"If I say, Run! We run, okay?" I hear Harris say beside me. I look up at him as he signals me to look behind me.

Oh right, there is one thing we have not tried and considered trying.

And that is to leave through the door.

Bang! Another gunshot is fired. A threat. A warning. Or maybe, a chance for us to go.

Harris lets go of me as we position ourselves on the ground. However, he's still holding my hand while we see Erebus grow hands from its form like huge long tentacles reaching out to its prey. There is one that emerges, and then another, then another until I can no longer count how many they are. I notice that all of them are quite wobbly like Erebus has no control over them yet.

"On the count of three," I hear Harris tell.

"One..." I put my left foot on my back, positioning myself to run.

"Two..."

"Three!" We both turn our backs from them and headed to the door.

I run along with Harris so fast that I feel like I am giving away my legs. He is holding my hand towards the doors of The passion house. We are going to do one thing that we have not tried before they can catch us. We run so fast with our hands intertwined. I hold him close as gun bullets fly around the room- attempting to stop us in our tracks. I hold him as the Erebus starts to consume everything that is inside the hotel.

"You will never get away from here!" We hear it say.

"No one can dare leave the world I have created even if you're dead!"

"If I say jump, we jump, okay?" I hear Harris shout beside me as we are nearing the door. "On the count of Three! Don't look back."

"Okay!" I answer back.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

I feel Harris let go of my hand as a strong wind pushes me out of the door. It was so strong that I ended up rolling on the staircase down to the dusty road. I feel my body ache as I feel my limbs sore because of the fall. But for the first time since I have been here, I can finally feel the heat of the sun on my skin. I slowly stand up when I realize what's going on. I choke and my eyes hurt because of it, too. My mind and body took some time to process everything. However, I can't stop myself from letting out a sigh of relief.

"Finally," I smile as I feel the tears form on me, "I'm finally outside!"