The darkness lasted disturbingly long. Thick, almost tangible, it wrapped around each of them like a shroud of death. Only their breathing could be heard—short, quick, torn apart by panic.
"Nancy?" Olivia's voice trembled.
"I'm here," she replied immediately, trying to find her bearings in the blackness. "No one move. Whatever happens, we don't split up."
Suddenly, a light flickered from the depths of the basement—faint, but real. It rose slowly, as if the walls themselves had decided to release it. It illuminated Mason—or rather, what was left of him. He stood in the center of a circle carved into the floor. A circle that pulsed with blood.
His eyes were completely black. The voice that came from his throat was rough, fractured, as if dozens of voices were speaking through him at once.
"You can't lock him away. He's already been born."
Nancy took a step back, but her hand clenched tighter around the key figurine. She knew this was their last chance.
"Mason, if you can hear me, know that you're just a vessel now. He's using you to the end. But I can pull you out of this. I want to—because I love you."
Mason—Noah—laughed mockingly:
"And who said Mason wants to leave, you fake a bitch?"
It was the first moment Nancy felt freezing. Not physical. The cold of betrayal.
"He's aware," Jake said in disbelief.
Betty fell to her knees, sobbing.
"All of it... Will's death, Daniel's..."
The shadows began to gather around them. They swirled, rising, forming shapes—at times the faces of the dead, at times those who might still die. Darkness danced, spun, hypnotized.
Nancy stepped forward into the circle. She felt the energy in the figurine vibrate in her hand, as if it recognized the place it was returning to.
"This has to end," she said. "Today. Here."
She raised the key high and spoke the words she had read earlier in the journal. The spell wasn't long, but it carried the weight of all history. The magic it unleashed was raw and primal.
The circle ignited. Mason began to convulse, and a scream erupted from his mouth—so powerful it made the walls tremble. The shadow tried to tear itself away, to escape, but the fire held it. It was trapped within the circle.
Mason looked at Nancy one last time—and for a split second, she was sure it was really him. Just a boy who had lost everything.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "For everything, Nancy."
Her heart shattered into a million pieces. Light exploded. And then... silence. No screaming. No crying. Only the echo of the ancient ritual circle slowly fading beneath a layer of dust and memory.
And there was hope—fragile, but alive.
For now.
*
What happened in the basement left more than just fear and exhaustion in them. It was something deeper—something that settled under their skin, something that gave no peace even in the moment of supposed salvation. When the light faded and the darkness withdrew like a receding tide, no one moved for a long time. They all felt like they'd awakened from a nightmare that had left real scars behind.
They breathed quietly, unevenly, as if afraid that a sudden movement would bring back the evil they had just defeated. Their eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, where only echoes remained. Echoes of suffering, loss, and confusion.
Nancy was the first to lift her head. Her gaze landed on the place where the ritual circle had been moments before. Now there was no trace of it. No blood, no shadows. Only cracked floor—like the earth itself hadn't been able to bear the weight of what had happened. The stones bore scorch marks, as if a fire had raged in just one spot, leaving everything around untouched.
Mason lay in the center, motionless. His chest didn't rise or fall. His face was peaceful, almost boyish, as if after years of struggle, he had returned to his purest state—innocence.
She touched him, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm so sorry." With those words, she burst into tears.
Betty approached slowly, as if each step was on burning coals. She dropped to her knees beside his body, gently touching his hand.
"He's gone," she whispered with difficulty. "But... maybe now he's truly free. He was sick, wasn't he?"
Olivia turned away. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she didn't try to stop them. Jake stood behind Nancy and silently offered his hand. He helped her up. She looked at him with hollow eyes—not from lack of emotion, but from an overflow. As if everything she could say had gotten stuck in her throat.
"Is it really over?" Jake asked softly.
Nancy shook her head.
"For us... it's just the beginning. For him too, if he finds his brother on the other side—the one he missed so much..."
Their words felt like a verdict. No one replied. There was no need. Everyone understood. Something had ended, but much lingered in the shadows.
They gathered in silence. Left the basement slowly, as if afraid something might still stop them. But there was nothing left. No demons, no voices. Only exhaustion and a relief they didn't yet know how to feel.
Outside, the world was different. The fog that had surrounded them for so many days had nearly vanished. The sky had color again, as if someone had brushed off its ashes. Sunlight broke through the clouds timidly, as if it, too, wasn't sure it had the right to return.
The daylight stung their eyes, but no one complained. They walked in silence through a forest that no longer whispered, howled, or breathed with them. It was just a backdrop. A backdrop for those who had survived.
"We need to leave this place," Nancy finally said, breaking the silence. Her voice was quiet but firm. "We need to go back. Tell the world what happened. I don't know how, but we have to leave this place."
"But who would believe it?" Olivia asked bitterly. Her voice was cracked, as if she no longer believed in any answers.
Nancy stopped. She looked in the direction they had come from—at the old hotel, barely visible between the trees.
"They don't have to believe," she said slowly. "It's enough that we remember."
They started walking again. None of them looked back to glimpse the place once more. There was no point. What had happened stayed with them. They needed no further proof. Each of them carried a piece of this story inside. And each of them knew that the world they were returning to would never be the same again.
But they had survived.
And for now, that had to be enough.