Chapter 79:

A Final Scream

A familiar warmth touched my mind. Stephen. His energy enveloped me, my whole body, creating a bubble of protection around us both. As the red crashed all around, we were mostly protected, our consciousnesses being jerked every which way.

I didn't know if it helped, if I could do anything without my energy, but I thought of our bodies back in the Interverse, picturing us returning to them, repeating it over and over. I could feel that Stephen picked up on it and then he added his own images and inserted his power behind them.

That did it. We stopped being batted around and suddenly we were flying back in a straight line, of our own volition. The red tried desperately to pull us but Stephen put everything he had into it and we emerged from the red with a wet welch, my mind flying back into my body where I fell completely over. The ghost flew by overhead, ejected from Stephen's mind.

Once the third party minds had made their exit, Stephen collapsed onto the ground. How I wish I could join him in unconsciousness but I still had to clutch this for us.

Dowser dropped down to one knee and scooped me and Stephen up. "Are you okay?"

"S-sort of." It felt strange to use my real voice.

Netta had given chase after the ghost, using her mask to bind him in place while he was down.

"Darcy, can you still do this?" She called, holding off on doing the finishing blow.

I'd almost forgotten we had started all this because of me. If I didn't get the main capture then we would have done all this for almost nothing.

I pushed myself out of Dowser's grasp and made my way over to Netta, my body sluggish and weak.

She caught me and held me up.

"It's okay, I'll help you," she said. "You ready?"

I nodded.

We both activated our masks, the chains shooting out and wrapping themselves around the ghost. In my head, the mask screamed, "Time to eat again already?? I love you, Fleshbag!"

The ghost came to, tried to fight back, it's rage still burning but he seemed just as disorientated as I was. But with me in my weakened state he might have been able to wiggle his way out of it if Dowser hadn't joined us, adding his mask into the mix.

The chains from our masks brought him down to the ground. All three of our chains attaching to the floorboards beneath his feet.

"Darcy, the rest is all yours," Netta said with a wink.

Her mask made a biting motion and her chain was severed on her end.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"I really want to do the finishing blow on one of these fucks soon though, okay?" Dowser said but he too bit his chain and then it was just mine still fully attached.

I stared at the ghost who had once been just an old writer, literally dying to be heard. Part of me wanted to help him to find some other solution to this, to save him... But I just couldn't see any other option.

The chains rushed into my mouth, pulling him screaming and raging into the mask. The last thing I saw of him was his eyes, a moment of realization.

And then the screaming was gone, the man who wanted to be heard, silenced forever.

#

[ Soul bound!

Total souls bound: 2/3

+15 Bonus Stats awarded! Partners have forfeited their earnings, giving you a total of +25! Don't spend them all in one place, Fleshbag ;) ]

I don't know how long those words had been in my vision, but they were there to great me when I became conscious again. I had no memory of losing consciousness either. Hopefully that wasn't a bad sign that parts of my mind were lost in that incredible shit storm we just sailed through.

Sailed? More like drowned our way through somehow.

I sat up. Glad to not feel any pain. But I supposed that all my injuries had been mostly psychological. Still, when I was knocked unconscious by something it usually meant I would wake up with an aching head and body. Not so this time. I felt pretty well rejuvenated, like I'd just slept a full eight hours in a nice and comfy bed. A quick surroundings check told me that I had indeed been in one hell of a bed.

The room was minimally furnished, looking like a mix between a hospital room and bedroom. There was a window to my right, sun streaming in. It was a really powerful screen, I almost felt like I was on Earth with the real sun. Wherever I was, it had to be an expensive ass place.

The bed also was the stuff of mad money, fluffy and light, like sleeping on a cloud. It sort of reminded me of a certain couch...

Could it be?

I threw the covers off and got to my feet. Before I'd even made it to the door, Kenzo appeared.

"Good morning, Darcy," he said with a big smile.

Maybe it was from my mind being jumbled during the attack, maybe it was just seeing his friendly face after facing so much bad that could have killed me, but I ran to him and wrapped my arms around his chest.

To my surprise he wasn't taken aback or put off, he immediately hugged me back. When was the last time an older adult hugged me? I couldn't even remember and that sort of shook me a little.

"You're okay," Kenzo whispered, as he continued to hug me. "It's good to see you, too. I've been informed that you did not have everything as neatly handled as you led me to believe."

I looked at him, expecting a stern look, but he was still smiling.

"I'm sorry. I just... didn't want you to stop me."

"Darcy, my dear, I am not so foolish to think I could stop you from anything that you've set your mind to do."

I laughed, tears bubbling up. I'd been doing so well holding it together but that one sentence was like perfectly designed to make me cry. Damn it.

Kenzo knew not to point it out and even offered me a change of subject.

"Your friends have been waiting for you. Would you like to see them?"

I nodded enthusiastically, wiping my tears as I went. "And Stephen, too? Is he okay?"

Kenzo nodded. "He is doing great. Just exhausted, like you. He hasn't woken up yet."

"But you know for sure he is okay? I don't know what all you know of what went down but a fucking ghost went inside his head and if he dies over this I will never forgive myself." A few more tears reared their ugly heads.

Kenzo bent down to look me directly in the eyes. "He's fine. I promise. I knew what to look for, what to check. There was no damage, physical or mental. He just needs rest."

I relaxed and shook my head. "Okay. Thank you, teach. So much."

He patted me on the shoulder. "Don't thank me. Why would I let my two favorite students die?"

"Oh so now Stephen is a favorite, huh?" I said with a fake sour expression.

"Don't you think he deserves it? He risked his life to save a friend that he was allergic to. The Stephen I've known all these years would not have done that."

He turned and walked off, into the hall, leaving me to ponder that thought. Stephen really did do that. Risked his life for Sam. How could he on one hand abandon me for fame and, on the other, do something so dangerous and selfless?

That was the question of the year, for sure. But did I have the guts to ask him directly?