Well, here it is! The final chapter of Dark Ascension. My first draft is complete! All that's left now is to go back and fix stuff. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read and comment on this little tale inspired by one of the coolest games around. ====================================

-Chapter 14-

-Dark Ascension-

The door to Jacob's confessional room flew open and Pyramid Head peered inside. He griped Jacob by his collar and threw him out of the room. Jacob tried to struggle, but the ferocious monster growled at him. Jacob looked at the nearby pews and spotted a hospital gurney splattered with dark fluid, which Jacob believed to be old blood. Before he could think about it further, the monster threw him on the gurney and strapped him down tight. He tried to struggle out of the bonds, but the creature had fastened him down very tightly. He could feel the skin on his wrists rubbing raw with the slightest movements. Pyramid Head roughly guided the gurney out of the chapel, not concerning himself that parts of Jacob's body hit walls or corners. Alexander stood at the Chapel exit and saw this display. It was then that he said, "Careful, now. We don't want to cause Jacob any unnecessary stress, now do we?" the monster's movements and actions lessened slightly, but not by a favorable degree. Alexander opened the door to the hallway and followed Pyramid Head as he pushed the gurney. Jacob took one brief look at the hallway and shut his eyes. Instead of seeing the walls in their previous state of ugliness, the walls took on a new form. Instead of dried blood and rust, the walls were now dripping with blood. Dark swirls circled unnaturally across the plaster. Some of the walls looked as if they were made of muscle, erratically pulsing and shaking. Along with the sounds of squeaking wheels and footsteps, terrible sounds filled his ears, such as a low, mechanical humming sound that come from a large industrial fan, gruesome squelching and squishing sounds as well as faint crying.

Keeping his eyes closed, Jacob called out. "What is this? Why do things look like this?!"

Alexander coolly replied, "Keep your eyes open, my son. This is to prepare you for what you will see soon enough. But keep in mind, this is nothing compared to what you will see later. Rest easy, son." Jacob began struggle in the gurney, but the effort was fruitless. He was strapped down too tightly, he could feel the tenderness of the skin along his wrists from his movements. He opened his eyes but had to close them soon after, the sight was too much for him. What could be worse than this? He thought to himself.

After a long while, the gurney finally stopped. Alexander stood at Jacob's side and leaned close to him.

"This is where I leave you for now, Jacob. There are preparations I need to make as does Pyramid Head. He needs to get you ready. I will see you soon, my son.:

As Alexander walked away, Pyramid Head pulled the gurney into the dark red room. He looked over everything and noticed that the small room was filled with the steel cages used to hold Will, Jessica and the unknown number of Hope House victims. Pyramid Head roughly removed the bonds that held Jacob to the gurney and grabbed threw him to the floor. Jacob rubbed his bloody wrists and watched as the monster placed a cage on an elongated table at the opposite end of the room. After doing so, the monster turned back to Jacob, lifted him up to the table y his arm and placed him within the cage. He watched as the creature strapped his arms and legs through the holes in the cage, fastening them tightly. It was at this moment Jacob panicked, realizing what was going to happen to him, that he was going to get stabbed with the pike, and knowing how much Pyramid Head disliked him, it was going to be more than agonizing. As Jacob struggled, he felt one of his hands go free from a loose bond. He tried to lash at the monster, but his hand caught a sharp side of the pyramid helmet, cutting his palm, blood softly pouring from the open wound. At this gesture of resistance, Pyramid Head brought one of his gloved hands hard against the side of Jacob's facing. The blow sent stars flying around in front of Jacob's eyes. The pain shot through his jaw and up to his brain, causing him to yelp. As he tried to recover form the blow, he felt a warm fluid build up in his mouth, which had a faint, metallic taste. Jacob turned his head towards Pyramid Head and spit out the blood forming in his mouth, the red liquid splashing on the already blotchy butcher's apron.

With Jacob firmly trapped within the cage, Pyramid Head yanked it away from the table and sent it crashing to the floor. If Jacob hadn't had his head arched up from looking around the room, he surely felt that blow would have knocked him out cold, and he wanted to be awake and face what Alexander was preparing for him. The monster dragged him out of the room and down the hall. Within a matter of minutes, Jacob saw and recognized the large double doors which held the carved seal. He also noticed that lining the bloody, pulsing walls were the same wall monsters he and Jessica faced in the lounge. Unlike the last time, these were still.

The double doors opened and revealed the Assembly Hall to Jacob, the state of the room similar to what Jacob saw when he snuck in when Jessica was captured. He heard the same chanting as before coming from the robed figures standing at the far end of the Hall, each one waiting for him. When Pyramid Head got to the stage, he lifted up the cage and set it on the stand one of the figures brought forth. Dangling upside down, he heard Alexander give the same invocation as before. He then stepped in front of Jacob and knelt down.

"This is it, Jacob. After waiting for so long, you have finally been allowed to accept grace."

"By killing me or stealing my soul? That doesn't sound quite right to me."

"Oh, Jacob!" Jacob laughed, the other figures laughed lightly. "We do not kill you nor do we steal your soul. Your life and soul belong only to the one who gave you both of Her own free will."

"How does that pike fit into this, then? Sure looks like a killing device to me."

Alexander gripped the pike handed to him at that moment by another figure. "This thing is not meant to kill, only to help put you in a state of near death. With the power of our chants, the pike kills away your physical body but your mind is kept alive. It is there you will see things far worse than you've seen here. You will continue to see terrible things, things of your own making, things that have been influenced by the true evil of this terrible, terrible world. The only way out is to accept God and accept Her grace. You will stay trapped in your mind until you do so. My suggestion to you is to submit quickly. I've heard that this is a most terrible experience, my son. Although it's necessary, it is terrible, my son."

Jacob stared at Alexander. "I'll beat this. You won't have me so easily, Alexander."

Alexander looked at him sadly. "We'll see, my son." The older man got up and handed the pike to Pyramid Head, who quickly made his way behind Jacob's hanging body. He felt his pulse race as the chanting started up again and grew louder. He couldn't be sure, but he felt as if he could here the familiar siren wailing off in the distance. He made fists with his bound hands and prepared for the blow that would soon come. Suddenly, Jacob felt an incredibly sharp pain at his back and felt the sharp metal tear through his body. He choked as blood filled his mouth, his breathing hard and laborious as the sharp tip pierced through his lungs. The blood fell from his mouth and splashed over his face and dangling hair. With one final and painful thrust, Jacob convulsed as he heard the sickening sound of the steel pike ripping through the front of his rib cage. The chanting filled his ears as his vision began to fade, he could hear the low volume of the sirens as the area around him grew dim. Before everything blacked out, he heard Alexander's voice, "Accept quickly, my son, you're entering a Hell of your own making."

Jacob found himself in the Hope House lobby. Everything appeared normal, the walls and floors were clean, and all objects were in their place. He quickly looked around the room and tried to figure out what would happen. He felt his chest and discovered that no wound was present. I have to beat this, Jacob thought, I can't let Alexander continue with this madness. I've got to be careful. He started to make his way towards the exit when a bell sounded followed by the sounds of chattering. He walked towards the central staircase and waited to see other students come down. He was taken by surprise when he saw that the students were not how they remembered them. Each student, both boy and girl, wore their appropriate uniforms, but their bodies were those of the creatures with the straight jacket-type skin. Their movements were erratic and jerky. He watched as a group of student monsters walked past, their heads shaking violently. Jacob took several steps backwards and bumped into a few Sisters who had taken the form of the Sister creatures, their maws snapping at Jacob for his intrusion.

He ran up the staircase, dodging the creatures. With each step he took everything looked as if it was changing before his eyes. The pristine architecture was slowly replaced by the same muscle constructed walls that oozed the dark red fluid. Even the stairs took on that terrible form, his footsteps making squelching noises, thick, dark blood clinging to his shoes. His hands slipped from the railing as it was replaced by the skin of the student creatures, that plastic looking, slimy feeling skin. Jacob made his way up the stairs and into one of the central hallways that held various classrooms. The walls twitched and moved as if alive when Jacob walked passed them. He reached for a door and threw it open, seeing the bizarre sight of a classroom full of student creatures watching the Pyramid Head monster stand in front of the desk. All heads turned in his direction, some vibrating and shaking violently. Jacob walked backwards from the classroom and ran down the hall, trying hard not to slip from the blood covering the ground.

When he turned a corner, Jacob saw one of the Sister creatures feeding off the body of a student creature. It appeared to be having some difficulty, as it snapped at the skin and tried to pull it away, the substance looked too much for the creature to easily rip open. The creature was sitting in an awkward manner. Since it shared the form of a human, the body was bent backwards, the Sister's arms acting as a second set of legs . The terrible maw gripped the tight skin in its mouth and violently thrust upward. There was a gruesome ripping sound as the creature finally managed to rip open the body of the smaller monster. Jacob felt the need to retch as he heard the sharp teeth tear apart the innards of the student creature. Jacob spun on his heels and backtracked towards the central stair, vomiting. When he passed the classroom full of monsters, he kept running towards the end of the hall.

Jacob found another door and opened it, hoping to find some way out of the hall. Instead, he found himself in Pyramid Head's room. At the far end of the hall, he saw the monster busying himself with putting a struggling body into the cage. There was a sickening pounding noise coming from the metal prison. When the door behind Jacob shut loudly, Pyramid Head turned away from his work to look at the intruder. Jacob's eyes widened as much as possible when he saw what was going on. Pyramid was hammering the bonds onto the struggling figure who was an older woman with long hair. The woman's head peered over the side of the metal cage. The young man felt his knees weaken at the sight of his mother.

The woman screamed, "Jacob!! Run away!" Pyramid Head turned back towards Jacob's mother and slammed the back of his fist against her face. She still continued to shout at Jacob during these attacks. Jacob fumbled for the doorknob and quickly exited the room. Running for the door across the hall, he threw it open and saw another Pyramid Head take a steel pike and run in through another figure that was hung in the cage. When Jacob tried to look at the victim, he was again met with shock at the sight of his father, blood pouring down his once warm face. Jacob ran out of the room and towards the staircase, the sight of his mother and father being killed by Pyramid Head getting to be too much for him. He ran up to the third floor and headed to his room in the dorms. He ran passed several student creatures that paid him no mind. While he was running, his left foot can in contact with a patch of fresh blood, causing him to slide. As he skidded along the side, he found himself heading towards a Sister creature, it's jaws snapping open and close, its tongue lashing in the air as if getting ready for its next meal. Jacob shielded his eyes and screamed.

Jacob awoke with a frantic start, his breathing hard and fast, droplets of sweat covering his brow. He found himself in the back of a car seat, the windows next to him splattered with raindrops, a soft whooshing sound coming from the tires rolling on the wet asphalt. He looked in front of him and saw an older man and woman sitting quietly. The woman sitting in the passenger seat turned her head to face him.

"Jacob, honey, are you okay?" his mother asked, her voice high and sweet.

A dream! It was all a dream? "I'm okay, mom. I just had a bad dream. A really bad one."

Jacob's father spoke up, his eyes looking at his through the rear view mirror. "You all right back there, kiddo?"

"Yeah, dad. I think I'm just fine," Jacob said with a small smile. He was happy to be out of that terrible dream. He must have eaten something that most certainly didn't agree with him. He looked out the driver's side window and watched as the car zoomed quietly along the dark highway. The yellow streetlights created shadows all over the interior of the car as they passed one after the other. Jacob leaned his head on the headrest of the back seat. He was happy to be free of the nightmare, yet something seemed strange. He looked at himself through the review mirror and found that he was the same age as he was in the nightmare. But, Jacob thought, my parents are dead. How can—

"LOOK OUT!" Jacob's mother screamed to her husband at the top of her lungs. Jacob looked out the window and saw a pair of bright headlights coming right for them.

"Dad!" Jacob screamed, figuring everything out. "Get out of the way! The car will kill both of you!"

Jacob's father struggled at the wheel. For some reason, the steering wheel was stuck in its place and couldn't be moved. Jacob took one last look at his parents and laid his body down onto the back seat of the car. The loud screeching of brakes gave way to the terrible sound of the oncoming car smashing into the front of his parent's car.

"You awake, son?"

Jacob's eyes slowly fluttered open, a blurry figure slowly coming into view.

"Take it easy son, you've had a rough time."

When his vision restored, Jacob saw a doctor was leaning over him. He was taking down notes on his clipboard as he examined him.

"Where are my parents?"

"Son, you need to relax. There's been an accident."

Jacob remembered this from before, but never got a straight answer out of these doctors. In anger, he lifted a nearby water glass and threw it in the direction of the doctor who had barely gotten out of the way. "Now see here, son!" the doctor shouted as Jacob got out of his bed. He limped his way out of the room, pushing the doctors and nurses away from him before yelling at them to say which room his parents were in. When the doctor gave in, Jacob headed towards the room and tried to ready himself for the obvious shock. While he drew closer to the room, he heard a cold voice.

"...victims both were dead on impact. First victim is male, age 50. Victim's rib cage was smashed by the steering wheel, bone shards stabbing his heart and piercing both lungs. Never seen anything this bad before. Both legs crushed, with several layers of skin torn away. Second victim, female age 40. Severe damage to skull, half of which was caved in and torn the brain in half. Face horribly mutilated. Leg damage similar to that of male victim. My guess? The car that came at them was going a ridiculously fast speed, collided headfirst with the victim's car, causing the entire front of the car to fold into the laps of the driver and passenger, which would explain damage to lower body. Explanation for other injuries? It's possible that the impact caused the steering wheel to smash against victim one's chest and victim two's head slammed against the dashboard due to the force of the impact."

The doctor speaking into a recording device stopped when he turned and saw Jacob standing at the open door. He quickly covered the area with a plastic screen and approached the young man.

"You shouldn't be here lad."

"Those are...were my parents," Jacob said, tears forming in his eyes. Of all the things to see repeated in one's life, why did it have to be something as terrible as this?

"Son, I'm very sorry. You should head back to your room and—"

"What happened. I need to know right now."

The doctor sighed and grimaced, his arms crossed over his chest. "It was a drunk driver. He was driving his car too fast down the wet road, lost control and slammed his car into your parents' vehicle."

Jacob stared into the area which held his parent's mutilated bodies. One man did this. One person did something so stupid and killed my parents. They didn't deserve this. They did nothing wrong. Why were they taken? It isn't fair. One man, in a moment of weakness, got behind a wheel drunk and killed them.

"Now you see things the way we do, my son." Alexander's voice came from behind Jacob. He turned around and saw the older man walking up behind him. "See how evil this world is? Look at the damage done." Alexander walked over to the covered area that was now bathed in a single spotlight.

Tears fell from Jacob's eyes as he was forced to relive the death of his parents. The world around him suddenly turned ugly, the walls oozing dark fluid, that same muscle finish reappearing. He tried to pull himself together, trying to bring himself to realize the reason behind all of this. They are forcing you to bend, but you can't! Don't give in to this! Look what happened to Jessica, she is lost to you. You'll end up exactly like her if you don't snap out of this!

Alexander spoke to Jacob, resting his arms behind his back. "Jacob, you've seen first hand how terrible the real world is and what it is capable of taking away from you. We've all lost something from the weakness of man in this world. The only thing for you to do now is to accept God, take firm hold of Her grace, accept Her and join us in our cause."

Jacob let a long, drawn out sigh, facing the older man with cold, hard eyes. "You're going to have to do better than that, Alexander."

The Father gave him a hard look. "Fine, my son," he said before snapping his fingers. The dirty hospital room disappeared, revealing the Assembly Hall. The room was full of a dark red light, the wooden seats along the walls filled with student creatures. Jacob stood towards the two large wooden doors, facing the raised stage at the opposite end which was occupied by the same robed figures standing in a semi circle around two hospital gurneys. Jacob couldn't see what was on the beds because his view was blocked by Alexander and two robed figures behind him.

"Jacob Swanson," Alexander's voice boomed. "We've tried to make you see the truth nicely, but we have been incapable of turning you."

"Bet you're real disappointed," Jacob said with a smirk.

"It appears that we will have to try a harsher method. You will be turned, Jacob. You will accept God!" At that point, a growling sound came from behind Alexander. He saw two bodies appear on the hospital gurneys, their deformed shapes writhing and struggling to get up. After a long period of time, both creatures got off the gurneys and stood, with difficulty on their horribly disfigured legs. Whatever skin was left clinging to charred bone was rotted, their upper bodies showing terrible damage. The monster on the left of Alexander had its chest completely caved in, the stomach area looked like the skin had been torn away, exposing a sickening black area. The head of the monsters was bloodied and misshapen. The monster on Alexander's right side was a bit similar from the other monster in terms of its legs, but the head of the creature looked as if one half was smashed in, creating an ugly gap on the head. The monster's long, dark hair clung to the bloody and grimy skin. He recognized these injuries from moments before in the doctor's room. These monsters were his parents. Jacob stood watching these horrible depictions of his dead parents, his knees feeling weak, his stomach wanting to badly empty itself. Jacob tried to show courage, but one look at the horrible monsters forced his vision to turn away.

Alexander spoke again, his voice rising over the hideous growling of the monsters behind him. "Once more, Jacob. Accept Her! Accept Her grace! I will not ask again!" The figures standing behind Alexander spoke up. "Accept, Jacob. It's the only way for you now." After they said the phrase in unison, the removed their hoods. Standing in front of Alexander side by side was Will and Jessica. Jacob wanted to shout out for their help but knew they could do nothing. They were part of the Order now, the cult had taken their souls and minds away for their own selfish purposes. Jacob called out to all in the room, "I will not turn! I renounce any type of grace!" He saw Alexander shake his head. Will and Jessica took positions within the semi circle of robed figures. The older Father walked away from the center of the stage, speaking with the creatures. He looked at them and pointed to Jacob then took a place next to Jessica. The two monsters rushed for Jacob.

Jacob had no idea what to do. He stood in the hall, waiting as the two monstrous remnants of his parents charged for him. He felt like crying, to fall on his knees and cry for his losses. Before he could do anything, the monsters extended their long, ugly and deformed arms and took tight hold of each of Jacob's limbs and began to pull. Jacob screamed as he watched the monster tug at his arms and legs. He could feel his limbs being stretched from his body, feeling the pain as his muscles stretched as tight as they could. He tried shouting out for his mother, father and Jessica, but nothing happened. He gritted his teeth as the pain in his limbs grew. Within moments the monster that resembled his mother had successfully pulled out Jacob's right arm from the socket. The shock of seeing his arm free from his body caused him to let out a primal, blood curling scream. Over his screams, he could hear the tearing of flesh and muscle coming from his left leg, watching as the monster of his father pulled out his leg. Jacob screamed louder and louder, the pain filling every part of his brain. He watched as the monsters hungrily desired to pull away all of his limbs before tearing the rest of him apart. His vision grew red and blurry, stars circled around him, the increasing amount of blood loss from his wounds made him feel weak. Just the sight of his torture was too much for his mind to comprehend. His screaming turned louder as he felt his other arm rip free. He felt his body convulse and weaken as the monsters continued their horrific attack. Jacob stared up at the dark ceiling, his vision growing dark. Suddenly, Jacob saw a small bright light high up into the air. The pure white light grew and shone down brightly onto his face. The light grew so bright, that Jacob was forced to close his eyes.

It was a pleasant September morning as the sun shone brilliantly through the large white clouds. Birds chirped their sweet songs in the large trees surrounding Hope House, getting ready to carry on with their own tasks. One of the birds flew from a tree branch and took flight around the large three storied building. It zoomed passed Sisters and chirped a short song to them, watching as the women smiled at the sweet little creature. The bird began its flight around the orphanage, occasionally stopping to rest its tiny wings. When it was through with its break, the bird flew back up into the air and continued with its simple flight. When it swooped around the far side of the building, the tiny bird spotted an open window. Letting its curiosity getting the better of him, the bird swooped down and landed on the open windowsill. It hoped through the window opening and peered inside the room, watching as a tall figure put on a black shirt. He stared intently at this giant being, having seen them before around the tree it perched in. He looked at the figure as it turned around and waved at him. The bird didn't know what to make of this gesture so it chirped several times before flying away.

Jacob stuck his head out and followed the path of the bird as long as he could. When the bird was gone from his view, he looked up at the sky, watching the clouds glide past the sun, creating large, dark shadows. He breathed in the cool, clean air and sighed. What a beautiful, beautiful day, he said to himself. He blissfully looked at his wall clock and nearly panicked. It was only five minutes before the Opening Prayer! He hurriedly threw on the rest of his school uniform and rushed out of the room. He made his way to the central staircase and ran down the stairs. He passed several Sisters and apologized for his rudeness, that he couldn't stand to be late for the Prayer. Fortunately, all the Sisters he ran into just smiled and sent him on his way. When he reached the double doors of the Assembly Hall, he took a moment to breath and fix himself. He then rushed into the hall and went to the closest seat he could find. The Hall was noisy, other Hope House students just sat and conversed among themselves. Jacob turned to his right and said hello to the girl next to him.

"Peace be with you on this lovely morning, sister Jessica."

"Peace be with you, brother Jacob."

They talked quietly before the loud bell rang, signaling the commencement of the Opening Prayer. He stopped talking as he watch Father Alexander casually walked down the hall, making his way to the far end of the hallway. He waved, smiled and shook hands with students he passed by. Jacob held nothing but admiration for the wisdom the man carried with him. Alexander took his place at the podium and scanned the eager looking students.

"Good morning, my sons and daughters."

"Good morning, Father," the students said in unison.

"Let us give thanks to God for this lovely day."

Jacob clasped his hands together and bowed his head in fervent prayer.

"Now before we begin today's announcements, I understand one of our students would like to share a prayer to all of us. Jacob Swanson? Will you come up please?"

Jacob practically threw himself out of his seat. He had been excited for this day, practice his prayer over and over for the past week. He looked upon the eager collective of students, smiling and waving at familiar faces. Jacob stood before Alexander and went to his knees. Alexander smiled and spoke, "Arise, my son. Thank you for your generous gift of prayer."

Jacob swelled at these words, feeling happy and full of pride. Immediately he chided himself for this sin of pride and promised himself to do some form of penance. He took the position occupied by Alexander, placing his notes on the podium. He gave a slight nod to the Fathers and Sisters behind him before addressing the crowd of students. Jacob then recited his prayer, his voice filling every inch of the Hall. Each recited word filled Jacob's heart with pride, his love for his God and Her unlimited grace growing more and more above all earthly things. His heart swelled, his pale gray eyes sparkled in the light of the room. He would sneak peeks at Alexander and found the man smiling happily and encouragingly at him. Jacob had never been so happy in his life. He owed everything he had in his life to Father Alexander.

The End