' i think you deserve a happy ending. '
it’s the last thing he expects to hear. their final moments are never pleasant, least of all when they know they’ll be thrust right back into one of these seemingly endless trials, fighting to escape a bloody, painful sacrifice at the spider - like tendrils of an unnamed and brutal entity. light is fading fast as blood pours from his abdomen, wrought open by a hungry, whirring blade ; pale fingers tremble in futile attempts to press his innards back into the gaping incision, slick with blood that spills forth with each ever - slowing beat of his heart. his consciousness is fading, and with it, his sight, the omnipresent fog encroaching on the edges of his vision.
he’s spent so long idealizing his own death that the thought no longer fazes him, even brings a sick sense of relief —– but the entity has other plans, and with each sacrifice comes the moment when his eyes open and his lungs once more gasp for breath, limbs coated in a thin veneer of sweet as he awakens by the campfire.
does anyone even miss him? does anyone even know he’s gone? even Natalie, sweet Natalie, would inevitably forget her older brother and move on with her life, fill the resulting hole with someone more deserving of her attention.
and when the entity finally realizes that the hope it feeds on, little by little, had left his heart long ago, he wonders if the others trapped in this nightmarish realm would remember him, or simply move on as well.
he’s silent as he allows himself a few final breaths, his slim frame gradually slouching against the dusty wooden paneling and eventually growing still, glossy blue eyes left to eternally stare out into the dark mist.
i don’t believe in happy endings.
and i certainly don’t deserve one.
