Months have passed. Wheatley and his family moved to a quaint town near the ocean. One day, he was taking a nice walk on the shore on the beach. He loved the sight and sound of the shore because it helped him relax. His life was relatively normal compared to what happened at the university in the city.
He heard rumors that slowly each student in the Biology class left said class and the university altogether. Half of them were sent to psychiatric hospitals, four of them committed suicide, and the rest remained silent and transferred to different colleges. Eventually, there were no students in the class anymore. It wasn't long until the same thing happened in other classes, with varying results, since the news of the dead student's return and the dean's attempt at damage control was futile. Before the move, he heard that Norma was found the night after he ran away, but she was alone. And insane.
As for Wheatley, he was very thankful for the move. Even though he hoped to make a clean slate, he could never forget the events when Once-ler came. He vowed to keep Once-ler's murder and the disposal of his heart a secret. He also could never forget his mysterious return from the dead. It caused madness in the students. The healed scar on the side of his stomach will always remind him of the last time he saw him, no matter how much he wanted to forget. Now, all he could do was hope that either nature or another man rid of Once-ler once and for all. He didn't want any more blood on his hands. Besides, he never wanted to be near him again.
Suddenly, he spotted a black spot near the shore. At first, he thought nothing of it until he got a closer look. It was torn open and one of the strings was broken. Not only that but there were stains of blood around it. This froze his blood on the spot.
"No," he said wide-eyed. "It's not-" He looked up and saw a cave. He was afraid to find out, but he had to know. He ran to the opening of the cave and slowly took a peek. He made a terrifying discovery. It looked like a tall thin tree branch washed ashore, rooted in the ground, and swaying in the water. Only it didn't look like a branch. The ends of it looked like small hands. The front of it looked like a forming chest. The top of it looked like a head. It had what appeared to be growing short black hair banged on one side, a button nose, and pupilless eyes with fine eyelashes and a mole under the left one.
It couldn't be. It can't be. Why does it look like...? Has he come back again?