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Blake sniffed and turned his face to the wall. ‘Get on with it, then. Whatever you want to do. Kill me, if you must. I’m not afraid of death. Clearly, it will only give me the freedom to hunt you down once again.’ He turned back to face us, a creepy grin splitting his face. It was like a mockery of everything he had done to make himself appear the perfect man. The doting husband. The attractive doctor. All of it boiled down to this one moment where his mask was finally off, and he was ugly.

‘I’m going to enjoy every moment of it. I’m going to make you wish you’d never crossed me. You’ll always be looking over your shoulder, because you’ll never be rid of me.’

Morty snorted. ‘Please. I’m going to enjoy devouring your rotting soul. It might be the most revolting soul I’ll consume, but the power you’ll give me?’ He chuckled. ‘I can’t fucking wait.’

‘Who the fuck are you?’ Blake asked, apparently only now noticing him for the first time.

‘To a pathetic worm like you? Your worst fucking nightmare. You think you’re so big and strong because you played god while you were alive? Well, guess what. When you’re dead, I’m the beast you need to watch out for.

After his speech, I couldn’t hold onto the energy anymore, and it snapped back into place, removing me from Blake’s sight.Chance followed quickly after, and after one last look filled with all the dark promises, Morty released his hold on the living realm, too.

‘Okay, this is kind of fun to watch,’ Rhodes said. ‘I mean, I know I don’t have a real stake in this, but I’m kinda turned on. Can you make him bleed now?’

I shot him an incredulous look, Chance laughed, and Morty ignored him like he wasn’t even in the room.

‘Okay, okay. I’ll shut up and enjoy the show. Continue.’

‘I didn’t realise you were so… dark,’ I commented lamely.

‘There’s a lot you still get to learn about me, baby. I’m full of surprises.’

‘I don’t fucking doubt it,’ Chance muttered, waved for me to get on with whatever it was I wanted to do to the man that had hurt me so irreparably.

I grinned, my fingers twitching with anticipation as I studied the tools hung on the wall. I picked up Blake’s personal favourite, and my grin widened alongside his eyes. He was finally realising what was happening here, that he no longer held any power.

That we’d won, and he’d lost, and now he was about to pay for his sins.

I breathed my first real breath in so long at the first sound of his screams, peace filling me up, smoothing out all the jagged edges his torment had caused. And with the help of the three men who had come to mean so much to me, who had formed this beautiful, fucked up little family, we slowly cut the cord on Blake Dodd’s life.

His spirit rose above his body like an avenging angel. He didn’t wait to lunge at us, but a deep growl pierced the air, and it didn’t come from any of us.

We all turned to face the open door, and the sight we were greeted with was terrifying in ways I never could have imagined.Three beasts the size of horses stalked down the concrete steps, one after the other, lips pulled back in a feral snarl that revealed row after row of jagged, yellowed teeth.

But that wasn’t what scared me the most.

I stumbled back into Chance, who then fell into Morty, dragging Rhodes with us as we scampered to get away from the searing flames. Because these beasts didn’t have fur. No, they were made directly from the pits of hell, the fire so hot I whimpered in pain despite the distance.

But they weren’t looking at us.

Their hungry, red, glowing eyes were latched firmly onto Blake’s spirit, who was now trembling above his body. He tried to pull away, but he was just as stuck as the rest of us were, his spirit still attached to his bones. He couldn’t run even if he’d tried.

The beasts stalked closer, their heat so strong I feared I would combust just from looking upon them, but it was like we weren’t even there.

Then, as one, they lunged at Blake, teeth tearing into his skin and snapping bone. We all heard it when they forcefully tore apart the tether that connected him to his body, and then they were dragging him up the stairs, taking turns ripping off chunks of his flesh. And arm here, and hand there. They shredded him as they ran.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Just when I thought they would disappear, Blake’s agonised screams fading into the distance, they turned around and pinned us with a look that shook me to my fucking core. There was an intelligence there that told me coming across these beasts again would not be in our favour. They were letting us go. They had caught their prey, and they had no need for us.

Finally, fucking finally, they released us from the prison of their hellish eyes, and bounded away on long legs tipped in deadly claws.

‘What. The. Fuck?’

Rhodes. Of course, it was Rhodes who would pluck up enough courage to speak first.

With a sob stuck in my throat, I whipped around to throw my arms around his neck, only to freeze, fear stabbing through me in a way it never had before, not even when Blake had tortured me. Not even when he delivered the final killing blow.

‘What?’ Rhodes asked, his eyes wide with panic. ‘What is it? Kali, baby, you’re freaking me out.’

I couldn’t speak. My throat was too constricted with fear for any noise to escape. Instead, I lifted a shaking finger and pointed at his eyes.

His red, glowing eyes.

Morty, ever the eloquent one, broke the silence this time.

‘Well, I guess that answers that question.’