[The fear in its eyes is almost palpable]

[they seem to be the last to disappear as its head crumbles]

[it sees the sword, and as its torso falls, its eyes grow wide with panic]

I don’t want to die! I don’t want to!

[its voice seems less like its former rasp and more like that of a teenager]

Henry.

Angela.

Simon.

Randall.

I don’t want to die.

[it’s crying]

I don’t want to die.

[almost as if the very universe is denying its request, both of its legs dissolve, and it falls to the floor, pitifully]

henry! why are you sad? i think you helped!

[it makes a motion to pat his back.]

[eyes growing wide, it looks at the dust on the ground]

[the left arm goes as well]

why aren’t you happy?

it’s happening! the trade! i’m healing! I’m free!

[it doesn’t notice its right arm crumble into dust]

[its eyes seem to gain a sort of light]

i’m back! im home!

i feel so much lighter

it’s working! it’s finally working!

the pawn has been promoted!

{of course it will never work. He doesn’t know. He sees what he wants, just like always}

{his time is running out. I’ll put him to rest, soon. I’m getting tired, myself}

is it working? is it working? is the trade working? it must be

it must be

{I have. I have, haven’t I? But it can be so hard to drop the mask. Once you’ve started, you can’t stop. The enjoyment outweighs his pain. You get in too deep.}

[it opens its mouth to say something, anything, but a shudder goes throughout its body]

{oh, me? how nice of you to stop by, Keats.}

{You’re right; I should have let him go. But I guess I just couldn’t deal with permanence. Just like Ghosty.}

{that’s the thing about death. eternal rest. It makes some fear it and others to crave it.}

wₕy wₒₙ’ₜ ₜₕₑy ₗₑₜ gₒ.
dₒₙ’ₜ ₜₕₑy ₖₙₒw ₜₕₐₜ wₕₑₙ ₒₙₑ dₒₒᵣ cₗₒₛₑₛ ₐₙₒₜₕₑᵣ ₒₚₑₙₛ?!?

can’t breathe at all

……

….ₘₐybₑ ᵢ cₒᵤₗd ₜᵣₐdₑ ₛₒₘₑₒₙₑ ₑₗₛₑ fₒᵣ yₒᵤ. yₒᵤ cₒᵤₗd bₑ fᵢₓₑd ₐₛ wₑₗ

ᵉᵛᵉⁿ ⁱᶠ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ ᵃʳᵉ ᵐᵒʳᵉ ᵒᶠ ʸᵒᵘ, ʸᵒᵘ ⁱⁿ ᵖᵃʳᵗⁱᶜᵘˡᵃʳ ᵃʳᵉ ᶠᵃᵘˡᵗʸ. ᵗʰᵉ ᵗʳᵃᵈᵉ ᶜᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵍᵒ ʷ ʳᵒⁿᵍ

ᵢ wₐₙₜ ₜₒ ᵣₑₛₜ!
ₒₙcₑ ₜₕₑ ₜᵣₐdₑ ᵢₛ cₒₘₚₗₑₜₑ ᵢₜ wᵢₗₗ bₑ ₒᵥₑᵣ!

ᵢₜ ₕᵤᵣₜ ₛₒ ₘᵤcₕ bₒₜₕ ₜᵢₘₑₛ
wₕy cₒᵤₗdₙ’ₜ ₜₕₑy bₑ ₕₐₚₚy wᵢₜₕ wₕₐₜ ₜₕₑy ₕₐd?

ᵗʰᵉʸ ᵃˡʷᵃʸˢ ʷᵃⁿᵗ ᵐᵒʳᵉ. ᵘⁿᵍʳᵃᵗᵉᶠᵘˡ. ⁱᵗ ʰᵘʳᵗˢ

ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ʲᵘˢᵗ ᵗʳᵃᵈᵉ ᵐᵉ ᶠᵒʳ ʰⁱᵐ. ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ᵐᵃᵏᵉ ⁱᵗ ᵇᵉᵗᵗᵉʳ. ᵃᵇᵃᵗᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ᵖᵃⁱⁿ

ᵢf ᵢₜ gₒₑₛ ᵣᵢgₕₜ

ₜᵣₐdₑ?

yₒᵤ cₐₙ ₜᵣₐdₑ?

ₚₗₑₐₛₑ ₕₑₗₚ. ₚₗₑₐₛₑ ₕₑₗₚ

ₑₕₑₑₕₑₑₕₑₑ!

ʸᵒᵘ. ᵗʳᵃᵈᵉ ʸᵒᵘʳˢᵉˡᶠ ᶠᵒʳ ᵐʸ ʳᵉʲᵘᵛᵉⁿᵃᵗⁱᵒⁿ

ₜᵣₐdₑ. ᵢ ₙₑₑd ₜₒ ₜᵣₐdₑ

[It smiles. The gunshot wound is still visible on its head, the blood both congealed and crusty]

cₐₙ yₒᵤ? yₒᵤ ₗₒₒₖ wᵢₗₗᵢₙg

[the hammering on the door reaches a nearly steady stream of noise. a crack forms. Then another and another until a dry hand with dirt and blood under long fingernails emerges]

Wₕₒ, ᵢₙdₑₑd

ₜₕᵣₑₐd…?

cₐₙ’ₜ yₒᵤ ₛₑw ₘₑ bₐcₖ ₜₒgₑₜₕₑᵣ

[the noise turns into the banging of fists against wood]

[there is a quiet scrabbling at the front door]

[it rips out the knife and begins to stab it into the ground repeatedly. After it finishes its tantrum, it turns on its heel towards the direction of the Reunion Inn]

wₕy dₒₑₛₙ’ₜ ᵢₜ ₕᵤᵣₜ yₒᵤ

wₕy dₒₑₛ ᵢₜ ₕᵤᵣₜ ₘₑ

[not waiting for answer, it slowly walks towards its new destination]

Ş̶̡̠̼̪̣͚̼̖͓͇̓̔̽̄͐͆͋̅̆̅̓̓̚͜͝͠H̷̝͔̮͕̪͌Ú̵̡͈͚͖̠̬̭̙̂́̂͠T̷͙͍̰̞̹͚̳̲̞̮͇͉̏̅̈́̐̇́ͅ ̸̛͉͚̍͆̓̆̋́̂Ų̴̨̡̹̦͙̻͍̮̫̳͉̆́̉̔̂̕Ṗ̷̧̨̗͕̼̫͎͍̗̑͊̊̈́̌͋͐̑

[it picks up the knife and hurls it at the cat]

Ȉ̸̧̡̛̲̭̤̳̩͈̯̤͈̪͖̮̪͔̦̟̣̦̞͕̰͕̘̖̲̠̺͆̉̉͗̓̇͒̓̏͌̆̌͜ ̸̝̘͔̭̞͔͕̅͂͐͂̇̊̿͌̒̑͐̅͊̿̓̈́ͅD̵̢̠̙̞̠̮̜̺̯̱̼̬̘̖͔̺̘̜̟̙̥͖̻̗͈̭́̉̀̔̎͌̒̋̉͌̏̏̈̉͛̑̌̽͒̀́͋͝ͅͅO̸̭̱̣̭̲̼̮͚̞̞͓̫̝͐̚ͅŅ̷̨̮̭̥̼̖͔̖͍͕̲͇̺̥̬̼̯̳͕̘͈̩̟̯̯͕̣̾̈́̈̃́̀̾͋̌̿̋͘͠ͅ’̵̺̘͊͒͊̐̈͗̀̐̈́͑̓̋̔̚̚͝͝͝T̵̨̠͔̙̝̤̻̯̹̮͕̠͚̘̦̦̯̠̤͍͍̠̠̩̥̝̼̄͒͗́̀̏̏̈́̈́́̆̄̅̀̈́̔̃͋͐̔̔̚̕̚͜͝͝ͅ ̸̞̱̠̦͍̞̯͇͈̥̳̲̟̲̞̱̺͖́̒̾̈́̒̈̐͗̀͐̈̅̄̏̅̉̃̊̓́͊͑̇͐̊̕̚͜͜Ň̷̫͔̑͒̍̓̒̉͋̽E̸̡̧̬͙͍̙̤͙̞͙̻̳̬̠̺̝̟̭̭͍̹͊E̵͔̮̳̩͕̲͕̜̝̼͙̪̜͈̟̤͖͎̗̻̘̬͙̱̖͆͛͂͒̇̎̽̑́͆̂̄̎̋̊̑͛̿̕͜͠͝ͅD̵̨̧̨̼͙͇͍̻̱͙̙̠͋́̊͊͊́̋͌̍͆̔̉̍̾͑̍̉̽͠ ̵̨̢̡̡̨̛̱̪̙̻̘͖͕͖͕̀͌̏́̑̋́̄̒͌̏̋͋̅̉̃̍̈́̅̔̅͑̅̌͗͊̏͜͝ͅY̸̤̩̺͍͌Ỏ̵̢̢̨̨̧̭̖̗̜͖̮͙͔̗̳͎̿̉͂̊̐͠͝ͅƯ̵̢̡̨̛̤͈̬͖͕͕̬͎̲͉̱͈̯͎̩͇̫̹̬̦̺̌̾̈́̒̿̆͝
̷͍̖̄̀̆̊̾͊̓̏̐͊̾͋̓́̎̇̕̕͘͠͠
̷̹̫̃̃̊̐̈́̿͊̒̚I̸̡̗̟͎̯̪͚̩͚̥̙͎̯̩͇̟͙͉̤̺̮͇̪̓̈́̑͑̊̈́͐̀̈́̈́̒͝’̷̢̧̧͖̝̥̻̻̼̮͙̯̱͙̮̣̙̠̙͙͓̩̩̖͈̺̟̝̤̏͗́̓͆̓̈́̈̊͛̏̏͌̍̕͝͝M̴̢͚̮̰͙̤̱̫͓̙̩̟̥̝̫̤̪̪͚̥͈̌̐̄̓͋̏̐͗͌̄̾͜͝ͅ ̸̧̡̛̼̬̳̗͓̰͖̝̭͚͈̘̘̥͛̀͒̐̓̓͋̈́̄̐̀̈́̈̑̃̚͜͜F̴̧̛̥̜̫͇̻̞̖͈͖͇͓͆́̈͌̑́̎̅͛̅̕͝͠I̷̡̧̢̢̖̰̟̹̰̜̱̺͎̟̞̮̳̥͍̠̯̙̼̪̯͚̯̻͊͘ͅN̸̡̡̮͖͈͙͉̫̈́̂̈͐̈͌Ẹ̸̽͛̋̆̊̎̃̓͒̒͝͝