Chapter One
Mari sighed as her pen met the paper again and again in nervous tapping, leaving black smudges of ink on the grainy, white sheets. Finally, huffing to herself in annoyance- despite her lack of breath to spare- she forced herself to put pen to paper, and write out her last words to her husband.
"Gil,
Since I know you can't really read my handwriting, please have either Aja or Xenzik read this out loud to you.
It's no surprise that I'm not going to live much longer. In fact, I know for certain that this is my last night. Before I go, I want to tell you how perfect you are. You and Gretchen. Gil, I love you so much. All I want is for you to be happy- with, or without me in your life.
But I know from experience; that isn't how life works. As I stated before, I will die the night I send this. After that, the three unnaturals will die. Gretchen, Hazel, and Markov; all children born from two worlds. Two dimensions that were never meant to collide like this.
I love these three just as much as I love you, Gil, so I'm going to tell you something. Something I should never tell anyone.
Anything lost in the House of the Demon is never truly lost.
Those three will supposedly die tomorrow, and you will destroy the House before you receive this letter. But someday, you will look out through the window that you sealed before Gretchen was born- simply out of curiosity. That House- the one whose ashes you danced on- will be there.
You won't believe this until the day it happens, and I can understand that. But it will happen. That House was built on cursed grounds. Everything about it is evil. Gil, we may have escaped the prison of that House together, but we will NEVER escape it's curse.
I love you, Gilbert. Please, be careful.
-Mari Beilschmidt"
Smiling softly at the letter, she folded the paper neatly, and sealed it inside and envelope. She finished by signing the outside of the envelope with her name in large, swirling letters, and writing her family's address on the outside. Mari set the envelope on the table next to her hospital bed before flying into one of the worst coughing fits she'd had in a long time.
"Oh, Gil . . ." She sighed to herself as the coughing stopped. "I can't wait to see you again . . ." She laid back on the bed, her frail head sinking into the pillow as her eyes fluttered shut, and a shuddering breath fell from her lungs.
Prussia stared in shock at Aja as she finished reading. Tears were streaming from his eyes, but hers were only puffy. "M . . . Mari sent this, when?"
"A year ago." Aja replied stiffly, her red-dyed hair falling in front of her eyes as she shook. "How are we just now getting it?"
The albino shook his head. "I'm not sure, but . . . What she wrote was . . . true."
"Which part?"
"The window . . ." He stared towards the direction of the hillside they'd burned almost a year ago. "I saw it- that House is still there. I don't know how the hell it's possible, but it was there."
Aja shook her head. "Mere man cannot kill the Devil so easily." She handed the atrociously written letter to Prussia. "We'll never be able to truly kill the thing that lives there. Not only is that monster the Devil, but I am convinced that the House is the manifestation of Hell on Earth."
"I think I can agree with you . . ." Prussia replied. "I don't want to go back there, either, but . . . If there . . . If there's a way to save my little girl, I'm going to stop at nothing to bring her home. You'd do the same for Mark- I know you would."
"And I will." The artificial redhead stated, puffing out her chest. "But we're not gonna get much done sitting here talking about it. I say we tell Xenzik, Russia, and Canada. The five of us go- that's simple enough."
Prussia nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, okay, and we need to stock up on weapons."
"No." Aja crossed her arms. "We need a primary and secondary weapon each- that's all- and we bring provisions." She began to count off different necessary items. "Medical supplies like gaus, ibuprofen, sewing needles and thread for stitches, and herbal tea leaves. Water and food might be important, depending on whether or not the safe-room survived. I would say, two water bottles each, and three boxes of energy bars to share among us."
"Uh, that's a lot of energy bars." Prussia laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "But, yeah. That all sounds good."
Aja nodded. "Right. Well, I'm going to go find my husband. See you in front of the hill in five hours."
"Kay. See ya then."
That's right. This is happening. Sequel time.
Love~!
