AUTHOR'S NOTE: Oy. I have to be very honest about this chapter. There were so many things that could've possibly been done, so many ways…I couldn't find the best one. Nothing I conceived could satisfy me. Nothing. No matter what I wrote down, it ended up being crap.
So, I ended up choosing my poison for this one. And what I ended up scribbling, I felt, wouldn't be so bad as the others. I still have the sickness in me about it, but at least it doesn't feel like the plague. And yes, I know it is short. But it is better to have a few choice words than to drone endlessly, pretending to be a professional writer.
After this, the final chapter will be scribed. You have my word that I will give that chapter the quality it deserves.
CHAPTER 25
I emerge.
Sunlight, Destruction, Pain.
Everything is painted red.
Muscles quake.
Pain.
A monster strikes. Monster. Demon. Atrocity.
I feel flames.
Demon. Demon. Must be slain. Demon.
I fight.
I feel flames.
Demon. Demon. Must be slain. Demon.
Blood boils. Pain.
It refuses to die.
Demon. Demon. Must be slain. Demon.
I bleed. Pain.
I cry.
It refuses to die.
Demon. Demon. Must be slain. Demon.
I beat. I ravage.
I cry.
"Why won't you die?!"
Demon! Demon! Must be slain! Demon!
Voices. Surrounding. Closing in.
The friend. The mother.
The ally. The survivors.
Her.
I shout. I cry.
"Stay away!
"Demon! Demon! Must be slain! Demon!"
They are deaf. They come.
They torment me.
I hate them. I fight them back.
They scatter.
The mistake is fatal. The demon pins me.
"Demon! Demon! Must be slain! Demon!"
It is over. I have failed.
The demon prepares to devour.
Its maw glows sickly green.
There is no escape.
I cry.
But then, I see it.
White flame.
I feel it as it envelopes me. It throws me back.
I think the demon is thrown back too.
I land a crippled man. I cannot even move.
Frozen as though encased in ice.
I cry to myself now.
I pray that the demon has died.
I pray that I am tormented no longer.
I pray that the others can do what I could not.
But now I slip away, into darkness.
Whether I stay there, I do not know.
But I'd rather stay in that isolation
Than suffer anymore.
Unless…I am forgiven.