There is no one listening. There is no more time.
Perhaps there is someone listening. Some higher power who could help me, but chooses not to.
Or maybe the Obeahman is stronger than any higher power could ever be. Or maybe not. Maybe it's just me and him and Cas, on the verge of the fight that could end everything or nothing.
All these maybes don't matter, not really. Because I know I'm here and there's nothing I can do to get out.
You could tell me it's all in my head. At this point, you either believe my every word or you think I'm insane. That there are no ghosts. Just me, a girl with a mind so twisted from murdering her family that she created Thunder Bay because that made more sense than carrying on in the real world.
But if you could stand where I'm standing now, you'd know how wrong you are.
Whatever is and isn't, I know one thing:
This is my only chance to finish this. Either I win or I die.
I turn to look at the Obeahman.
And the fight begins.
It's much more brutal than before. Before, he was only playing, like a cat with a mouse. Now, he's everywhere and nowhere, killing me without even touching me, and all I have to keep myself alive is a knife. A knife and Cas.
Cas is my best shot at winning this. He's been alone up here for years and years, killing anyone who dared enter his home. He's had practice.
The Obeahman and Cas are eye to eye, matching each other blow for blow. I am forgotten. But Cas, not even as Cas in the Attic, can win this alone.
But he is not alone.
However ineffectual I am, there's still me.
I see my chance and take it.
He has the Obeahman backed up into a corner, but he can't hold him forever. I must act now. I dive forwards and ram the athame into the side of the thing that should not exist. He howls like a wounded animal and throws Cas off, sending him crashing into a wall. He is still for just a moment, trying to heal the dent I've made.
Just a moment. But it's a moment too long.
In the time it takes to close the hole, I have stabbed him through the heart.
We stare at each other for a moment, the murderer and me, shock in his eyes. I don't think either of us can quite believe I've done it.
Then the Obeahman roars and knocks me away, and I'm sent spinning to the ground, my knife still lodged in his chest, and I think this is it, I'm done for, it's over. A black hole is opening beneath him, but he's fighting it, pulling away. Unless someone pulls him in, he will be free of it in a few seconds. And there's no one to pull him in. This is the day I die. I tried. I just wasn't good enough. I close my eyes and accept my fate.
But death never comes. I open my eyes and look up. The Obeahman has been forced back into the hole; he's being sucked feet first into the blackness.
And he's not the only one.
"Cas! No!" I scream, but it's no good. I can't rescue him without either letting the Obeahman out of being dragged down myself.
"Get out of here!" He yells back. "Get everyone out if this house! Now!"
"I'm not leaving you!" I shout. The Obeahman struggles against him, but Cas's grip is like iron. He's going down. They both are.
Within seconds, Cas is only visible from the knees up. Then the waist. Then the chest. There is nothing I can do. It's too late. I'm going to lose him forever.
Without saying goodbye?
"Cas!" I cry out again. I have to say this now, because if I don't, I will never have another chance. "I love you." It comes out as a whisper, barely audible, but I know he hears me. Through the tears blurring my vision, I see him smile. Only his head and shoulders are above the ground now. The Obeahman is completely gone. Cas opens his mouth to speak, but I'm not finished. "I love you," I repeat, louder this time. "I love you, and wherever you go, I'll find you. I swear, I'll find you!"
"Anna," he says softly, "I l-"
And he's gone. Swallowed up by the ground. Like he was never here at all.
He never got to finish his sentence. But I know what his last words were going to be. 'I love you'. I'm sure of it. Cas Lowood loved me, and now he's gone. Not dead. Really, really, gone to somewhere I don't think I can follow, even in death.
"I'll find you," I whisper. "I meant it. Wherever you are, however long it takes, I. Will. Find. You. Can you hear me, Cas? You'd better wait for me, because I am going to find you."
But he can't hear me. He's gone. Never to be seen again.
I sink to my knees on the hard wooden floor and begin to cry.