It was a few good minutes before I finally reached a staircase. I also bumped into a familiar living face; our encounter didn't go too well, though. I was relatively tolerant, so I didn't take offence, but the dark haired man who was showing traces of balding did. I held my arms out to protect myself as I stared at him with wide eyes.

"I won't hurt you; I'm trying to get out of here, myself." I informed him, taking a step back to show my utter lack of hostile intentions. He seemed astounded to hear me speak, but I was more vocal than the others, so I wasn't surprised.

"Who are you?" He asked suspiciously, wanting to get past me and up the stairs as he bounced on his heels. I distractedly noticed that the back of his shirt was shredded and stained with blood-surely the Jackal's handy work. I moved out of the way and ascended the stairs alongside him as I spoke.

"My name is Iris; I was Cyrus' older sister, before he pushed me off a cliff." I elaborated, catching him by the arm as he almost fell backwards from my words.

"Iris? They said you jumped off on your own. I'm Cyrus' nephew."

"Ah, yes, Arnold; he spoke of you, once. You're Bobby and the other girl's father." We rounded a few corners of the halls, running now as we were able to see the circle formation of the Black Zodiac members. Inside the sphere of rotating blades, the two kids were seated and staring fearfully around them. We reached the hall with the arch allowing access to the middle room and I glared demurely at my brother.

"First me, then our nephew? You are one twisted bastard." While we were talking, I had figured it out; Arthur was the thirteenth ghost: The Broken Heart. And Bobby had called the other ghost "Mom," which meant…

"The Withered Lover is his wife! You're not human! You're a cockroach!" I was screaming the words, outraged and livid and every other word that would come close to describing it. As I did, Arthur removed his glasses, eyes wide from what he saw, and charged Cyrus. I let them go at each other as a dizzy spell came over me. However, a smile came to my face as the spells sounding out began to be rewound and fast forwarded before finally stopping. Cyrus, who had Arthur pinned to the ground with the knife he'd had hidden in his cane, looked up in horror as I began to manically shriek with laughter. The ghosts were all free and he had nowhere to go. I rushed forward to take him by the collar and drag his struggling form to the main room. My laughter now simmering down to a content smile, I threw him onto the floor and silently watched as the others circled him. Just before they closed in, I caught his eye and waved mockingly.

"Karma's a real bitch, isn't it, brother?" I asked, a scornful hiss in my voice. He started screaming, as if he suddenly realized what was happening, and I watched as he was thrown into the chopping blades of the Occulus Infernum; the machine that was the reason all of us were there. His body was instantly chopped up into several large pieces and his head flew at me. I caught it without thinking and peered down at the still blinking eyes as droplets of blood trickled out of the hole that his neck once connected to. My hands began to shake; I'd done it. I had caused the death of my brother.

Am I just like him, then? Will my soul not be saved, now? I wondered, feeling a lightness in my chest as movement came easier to me. Slowly, I turned and looked over at Arthur, nodding to him before making my way down a few halls and waiting by an outer wall. Then, as sure as rain, a sonic boom erupted through the house and shattered every wall to fragments. I didn't feel a thing, but the severed head I held now had shards of glass wedged into its eye sockets. I hesitated, a subconscious part of my mind thinking that there might have been an invisible barrier still in place, before leaping onto the ground.

A thrill instantly shot through me as nature, in all its abundance, greeted me back from a world of wires and steel.

I didn't pause for a moment as I started to run, full speed, and outright screaming my liberation, towards the forest. Something tripped me up and I giggled as Stone tackled me.

"You're lucky I like you so much, you little punk." I smiled, kicking it into the tree canopy and darting under a tree to catch it with my free hand. I dropped it before sticking my tongue out and literally darting through the trees. When I passed through a large oak, I bumped into another large mass, smiling up at the Juggernaut.

"Horace!" I exclaimed, reflexively raising my arms for a victory hug and becoming pleasantly surprised when he picked me up and situated my comparatively slight figure against his chest.

Hooray for making new friends! I inwardly cheered, grateful to be able to rest for a bit while Horace did all the walking. I felt a little guilty about getting blood on him-my condition was a little more serious than I had initially thought it to be-but I soon remembered that I was dead and that the blood would fade away with time. Looking around myself, I saw that the others were fanning out in different directions; Dana was clearly leering at me as she limped in the opposite direction. We were headed north-the direction I was planning on going-and very few others were doing the same. It didn't surprise me at all when I spotted Royce, but when I saw the Jackal not far off to the right, I admit to becoming very confused and wary.

Isn't he finished with torturing me? I thought miserably, hiding my face in my unusually large transport's shoulder and feeling the loss of energy from having ran around for such an extended period of time. I closed my eyes, their weight being that of two lead weights, before setting into a state of reverie.

Holy crap, you guys, this is the second to last chapter! My goal was to finish this, before the end of the school year, which is in two weeks. Huzzah! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter.

'Til then,

Jess