Part 5: Honey, I’m Home!
I could feel my stomach attempting to cramp when we finally reached the base of the hill. I gave Brandon a nod as he reluctantly guided his car onto the slender, inclined road. Given the look on my friend’s face, it was easy to see that he was as nervous about this as I was. The fact that he had already returned to that building once; an experience he still doesn’t talk about, I could only imagine how he was truly feeling at the time.
”You know you don’t have to do this, man,” I said, attempting to keep the trembling in my voice as hidden as possible.
”I do have to do this,” he said, “this shit has to end, once and for all.”
It wasn’t hard to read the determination on his face and in his voice. Although I had my own very personal motivations for this, even more so with these most recent revelations, I was sure he had more than his own share of reasons. Whether we had any hope of bringing the place down before it had a chance to send us to a bloody end, I highly doubted, but it was far too late to back out now.
As the road led to an opening ahead, the headlights of Brandon’s car illuminated not only those massive doors and shimmering black walls but the individual who stood just outside them. Though I hadn’t seen the man this close, or from this angle before, it wasn’t hard to recognize the long, beige trenchcoat he wore.
Seeing his presence here as verification that he was indeed an emissary of the house itself, I gripped my fingers tightly around the center console, instantly tensing up. Though I was certain the place wouldn’t take long to have a little fun with us upon entering, I had hoped to at least have a moment to prepare before entering, as well as giving Malphas and the old man a chance to catch up.
”Who the hell is that?” Brandon asked softly, seemingly keeping his voice low as if the headlights wouldn’t have alerted the stranger to our arrival.
”I don’t know, man. I’m not sure…”
My words were cut short when the man, for lack of a better term, turned to face us, gently tipping his hat as if to say hello.
”Howdy,” he said, raising his fedora to reveal the brownish, leathery texture of his face, as I slowly climbed out from the passenger side door.
Strangely, as strange as this man appeared, his expression didn’t come off malicious in any way; it was bordering on pleasant, truth be told. Of course, I think Brandon knew as well as I did, that this building could put on a happy face until it got what it desired.
”Who are you?” I asked, far more defensively than intended, “what do you want with us?”
”Don’t want nothin’ with you boys,” he said in an accent quite reminiscent of the old man I hoped would be along soon, “as fer who I am? Well, you can call me,” he gave a small smile and a soft chuckle as he appeared to ponder on the words, “call me Ed.”
”Um, okay, Ed. Why exactly are you here? Why have you been following me? What the hell…”
”Woah now, kid,” he said, waving his elongated fingers before him, “ain’t what yer thinkin’ at all. I didn’t mean to be so cloak and dagger an’ all. I got some personal business with this place, just didn’t know how to track it. Heard through the grapevine that a friend of Lucifer was makin’ his way here. It was a good deal easier to track you and yer demon buddy than the house itself.”
”Lucifer?” Brandon asked, “how do you know about him, or us for that matter?”
”We go way back, his family and mine. I ain’t exactly from ‘round here, but we’ve crossed paths here and there.”
”So, what is your business with this place exactly,” I asked, nodding towards the building as though it required an introduction, “I mean, if you know everything you claim to, surely you know why we’re here too.”
”I do, kid, and I’m on board if I can lend a hand. Thing is, a friend of mine; someone I ain’t seen in a long time, got himself swallowed up by this place too. It seen him before, back when we first met. I tried to warn him to stay away if he ever come across it again, but it has a way of pullin’ folks in, even if they don’t see it comin’. Shoulda kept a closer eye on him, but just took it on faith he’d be alright.”
The unusual guy looked somewhat saddened while he spoke and, though a lot of what he was so casually saying piqued my curiosity more than a little, we didn’t have time for these distractions. Though we weren’t exactly on a strict schedule, so to speak, I knew that dragging our heels would only lead us to more exhaustion before stepping in to face the music.
”Alright, Ed. I’ll take you at your word on this,” I said, feeling understanding of his plight, “I’m Michael, this is Brandon,” my friend waved from the other side of the car, “nice to meet you, sir.”
As he walked closer, extending a hand to me, I took in how tall he really was. I felt short next to the guy, but while he shook my hand, I couldn’t help but notice how unusual his proportions really were. It felt like his fingers could wrap around my hand twice, and judging by the look on Brandon’s face while they shook hands, he was as unsettled by this as I was.
Still, I couldn’t help but think that if this man was a threat of some kind, he would see no reason to continue his charade, so I allowed my guard to drop, or at least rest a bit. Of course, I wasn’t about to let my guard down around him either. Whether what he said was the truth, or if he was indeed just another manifestation of the house, already working its magic on us, I thought it best to play along for the time being.
Still feeling less than motivated to get moving, as well as hopeful that Malphas and the old man may still arrive any minute, I reached for my cigarettes, offering Brandon one before I lit my own, at which point the big guy pulled out a fresh cigar.
”Should we wait for the others?” Brandon asked, leaning up against his car.
”Yeah.”
The three of us stood there for a while, just gazing up at the beast before us; the moonlight reflecting upon the glossy black walls accentuating that old familiar pulsing.
It was like pebbles being tossed into a jet-black river, causing the light meeting its surface to spiral and flicker ever so slightly. It was almost hypnotic to look upon, but I would not allow my eyes to fixate for long at a time. I wasn’t about to give it the opportunity to weave its spell on me before I even ventured inside.
It occurred to me, as I traced my eyes across the seemingly endless length of the place, that this was the first time I gazed upon its true form if it was indeed that. The first time I entered, and subsequently exited quite sometime later, it wore the guise of the old factory. When I approached it from my pleasant little hotel at the beach, I was already deep within its guts as it toyed with me.
Even that facsimile if its exterior it showed me so long ago did not fully compare to its actual enormity. From where we stood, only a few car lengths away, I could neither make out its top nor where the walls on either side reached their end. I could only imagine how many poor souls it had ingested over the centuries to grow so bloated and beastly.
As my cigarette burned down to its filter, a loud creaking noise pulled my attention back from Dreamland. The massive double doors ahead had only opened a few inches at most, but it was enough to pick up the almost ancient scent of the interior as the light breached through the shallow opening.
”It knows we’re here,” the tall man said.
”Of course it does,” I replied, “it’s been waiting for us.”
I looked back to the path we had traversed to reach this maddening place, somehow less than surprised to see no trace of the road we had traveled to get here. While I had hoped to see Malphas and the old man casually sauntering behind us, I had a feeling the building wouldn’t make things that easy for us.
”Yep,” I said, nudging Brandon.
”Shit.”
”Pretty much.”
The big guy let out a chuckle, shaking his head at the sight of our entryway being gone.
I had considered suggesting that we take a quick drive back the way we came in search of the others, but I think I somehow knew we would have to face this alone. Perhaps the attacking trees were nothing more than a distraction designed for this very purpose; a simple diversion to force us to proceed without our more talented companions.
I couldn’t help but allow laughter to escape my mouth, joining in with the man in the trenchcoat, to which Brandon gave me a startled and confused look.
”It was always gonna go this way, man,” I said, still exhaustedly laughing.
”Yeah,” he said, beginning to chuckle as well, “spose you’re right.”
”You sure I can’t talk you into staying here?” I asked, allowing my hollow laughter to dissipate.
”You even have to ask?”
”Worth a shot,” I replied with a shrug.
”One more for the road,” he said, nodding to the pocket that held my cigarettes.
I just reached for the pack, held it out to him, and snatched one out for myself. There was no telling if there would be a chance for another before this place had its way with us. Besides, Ed still had a healthy portion of his cigar left, and it felt rude not to join him. Yes, I was stalling, but can you blame me?
”After this is done, I say we get fucked up,” I suggested, having no doubt there would likely be no ‘after’.
”Hell yeah. First round’s on you!”
Once that second smoke reached its end, I took one more glance at the direction we had come from. Whether the consciousness behind this place had sent out more emissaries to hold off the arrival of our big guns, or if they could still be splintering trees to reach us, I couldn’t say. Either way, I knew there was no sense in dragging my heels any longer.
I paced closer to the cracked open entrance, allowing the light beaming from within to caress me. I stared up at those doors, fully taking in the sheer magnitude of what we were facing, but I would not back down. While my mind almost violently flashed back to every single thing we endured the first time we found ourselves here, I refused to let it intimidate me.
’I’m here on my terms this time’, I thought, attempting to convince my inner fears to relax, ‘no Orchids, no mercenaries, just you and me, bucko. Let’s dance, you and I.’
”Just remember,” the big guy said, “it’ll try to play with you; have a lil fun before it decides what it wants to do with you. If it tells you to go right, you go left, you hear me?”
”We know, man,” Brandon said, glancing at the tall man before looking back at the entrance, “we ain’t virgins anymore. This mother fucker popped our cherry a long time ago.”
”Shall we?” I said, echoing Grant’s words from our last visit, flicking the butt of my cigarette against the side of the door.
With Brandon’s and Ed’s nod, I controlled my fingers’ attempts to shudder violently as I reached for the small knob protruding from the gargantuan door.
”Honey,” I said, pulling the door further open, “I’m home.”
As I stepped inside, what felt like a rush of adrenaline combined with the memories flooding my mind, causing my head to spin. Ed caught me before the sensation sent me falling to the floor, but after shaking my dizzy head back to the room before me, I wasn’t prepared for the familiar individual, already awaiting our return.
”Welcome home, boys,” the redhead standing in the center of the wide lobby said, “and who is this?”
”You took someone I care about,” Ed said, walking closer to the lady of the house, “take me to him.”
”I’m afraid any guests we are currently housing are already in their rooms. No visitors are permitted.”
”That’s not good enough!” he sneered, tilting his head as he looked down upon the woman who seemed little more than a child to him at the time.
”Tell you what,” she said, looking back up at him with a smile, “I’m certain we have room for you as well. If you go willingly to your own living quarters, you are welcome to attempt to escape, at your own discretion, of course. Should you succeed in doing so, you may be free to seek out your friend from there, should the custodians not prevent you from doing so. What do you say?”
With his single nod, she pointed to a doorway that was erected behind him; one tall enough for him to easily fit through.
”I’ll catch up with you boys later,” he said, before walking through without hesitation.
As the door blinked back out of existence as though it was never there at all, we once more found ourselves alone with the woman I had once seen as a little sister. She didn’t appear distorted or as otherworldly as she had in our last meeting, but I still saw the monster behind the flesh. Brandon was visibly shaking as he looked upon the woman in the slinky black dress he had once seen a future with. I couldn’t blame him, considering their messy break-up and all.
”I shouldn’t have come back,” Brandon was muttering over and over.
Ash cut her eyes from me to him and back again.
”Shall I show you to your rooms now?” she asked with a warm smile.
”Where’s Grant?” I asked though I was certain she wasn’t about to reveal such a thing.
”What remains of your friend is in his room, dear Michael. Only one guest per room, I’m afraid.”
While his ex spoke so casually about whatever fate awaited us, Brandon had begun to back away, still shaking his head and muttering under his breath. We had only just entered when Ash so pleasantly greeted us, with the entrance still open to our backs. As I turned to see my friend slowly making for the exit, I truly hoped he would succeed in escaping before things got worse.
Ashley allowed a soft and light-hearted grin to reach across her face as the open door with the night air still breathing through, sealed itself shut before Brandon had a chance.
”NO!” he screamed out, pounding his fists against the shimmering wall.
”This is where you belong, baby,” Ashley said in a disturbingly compassionate voice, “with me.”
Before I had a chance to react, Brandon charged at her, still yelling out in a shriek that almost made my ears ring.
”Brandon, DON’T!”
I ran towards him in an attempt to intervene, but the rage drove him so much more quickly than I could force one foot in front of the other. The story Malphas had told me about my parents still bouncing around in the back of my mind made what happened next no surprise.
As he moved to tackle his would-be fiance to the floor, she swiftly moved to one side, revealing the door-shaped hole where she previously stood. He didn’t have a hope of avoiding it. Within those brief moments of my still attempting to reach him, the opening sealed itself shut, locking my friend away from me once more.
”Bring him back!” I demanded, having fallen to my knees.
She just glared down at me with that arrogant look in her darkening eyes.
”BRING HIM BACK!” I shouted again.
She paced over to me so softly it was as though she glided across the floor. Crouching down to look me in the eye, she gave me that crooked smile, lifting my chin with her forefinger.
”One per room, Mikey, honey.”
As I took a hopeless swing at her, she caught my fist in her hand. Honestly, I wouldn’t have expected any less, but it was the only action I could think of at the time.
When she raised back to her feet, pulling me from the floor by the hand she still held, she cocked her head to the side as we stared each other down. Her smile grew wider and more maniacal, even after she dropped my hand from her grasp. I knew what was coming.
”Bye-bye, now,” she said, gently pushing me back.
As I tumbled through the gateway that had seemingly erected behind my back, just as I had witnessed twice already, I closed my eyes in anticipation of whatever would be next for me. Admittedly, I never expected this to be easy, but perhaps from wherever my room was located, I could still make my way back to Brandon and Grant; whatever remained of him, anyway. If nothing else, she had admitted that much.
When I opened my eyes again, I was falling quickly to whatever my room was to be. From what I could tell before my back flattened against a soft surface, I hadn’t traveled a great distance. When my eyelids would blink back open for the second time since falling into my room, I would once more find myself on familiar ground.
Part 6: Give the Man a Hand
The plush mattress was just as comfortable as I remembered. Being about the only relaxing part of my previous visit to this place, I can’t say it held a fond place in my memory, but it did still remain. Yes, every other brutal aspect of the Orchid Grant Festival inspired me to awaken in a cold sweat from time to time, even during that two-year sabbatical from the horrors of my life, but I had a feeling they would pale in comparison to the scars this vacation would leave me with.
Wasting no time investigating my surroundings this time, I headed straight for the window after awakening. While the scenery beyond the glass was just as enticing as it had been before, I was certain the drop from the second floor would go as smoothly this time around. Unfortunately, not only was my room now located on a considerably higher floor, but the window refused to slide open.
While the pleasant hotel by the beach had appeared only four floors in height before, even if I could get through the window, a drop from what I would estimate to be the twelfth or thirteenth floor would surely leave me bloody and dead upon the sand. Just for giggles and shits, I tried to break through the glass with the tabletop lamp beside my bed, but it reacted as though I launched it against a slab of concrete, as opposed to a double-paned, glass window.
Letting out a shaky breath, I approached what had once been an impressively painted door, to find an actual knob protruding from this one. I was honestly quite shocked when it freely opened, not so much as letting out a squeak from its hinges.
”This is new,” I said aloud to the empty hallway.
As I looked from one side to the other, it appeared as though it went on forever, not indifferent to the endless floors above me in the lobby. I got the awful feeling I would be walking these hallways from now until the foreseeable future as I reached into my pocket, fishing out some loose change.
I can’t lie, I almost absentmindedly tossed a shiny quarter up to narrow down my left or right debate, before I remembered how much of a bad idea that would be in this place.
”Almost got me there,” I said with a chuckle to my surroundings, “letting my guard down again; not a good idea.”
Ultimately, deciding that either direction likely made little difference, I just veered to the right. I didn’t take note of which room was mine out of the seemingly never-ending stream of doors on either side of me, but I had no plans of returning any time soon. For one, I expected to meet my bloody end just about any minute now, and two, I had a strange feeling that all roads would lead back to that damned room, even if I did find myself dead on the black and red, checkerboard carpet.
While the entrances to other rooms I passed had no numbers assigned to them, I could pick up the faintest sounds coming from within a few. It wasn’t anything jarring or in any way alarming, just perhaps muttering or scraping here and there. Having no desire or compulsion to investigate any of these noises, I just continued on the same course in search of any escape from the hallway.
Maybe twenty minutes later, after the scenery remained so unchanging that there was no way to know how far I had traveled, I came upon something completely unexpected. The elevator was not unlike the one that Grant, Brandon, and myself had used to make our way back to the large, cathedral room that almost left us dead.
I slid the ironwork gate open, gently placing one foot on the floor of the spacious elevator, halfway expecting it to drop as soon as pressure was applied; something it did not do. Still bracing myself, I walked inside, slid the gate closed and investigated the series of buttons. To my continued surprise, it would appear I was on the twenty-third floor, but I chose not to question the view from my room, just pressed the button labeled ‘lobby’ and hoped for the best.
As I began my descent at a far slower pace than the time I found myself rapidly soaring upwards, I wrapped my fingers around the rail, expecting the worst to hit any second now. Again, there were no surprises, only a fairly lengthy, but uneventful ride to the lower levels. Still, I knew this place liked to toy with its guests, and I was not about to give it the satisfaction of thinking I was safe.
When the elevator came to a stop to the tune of a loud bell, jingling my arrival, I peeked my head around the corner to investigate my new surroundings. After seeing nothing more than a fairly generic-looking hotel lobby, I slid the gate on this floor open, stepping out and strolling casually, but reluctantly towards what I hoped to be an exit.
”Leaving us so soon, Mr. Bourdon?” a familiar voice spoke from the front desk of the lobby as I made for the exit.
Though I recognized the voice from that very first word it spoke, it did not make turning to see the smiling face of Jensen Orchid any less shocking.
”You,” I said, unable to convince my mind to send anything more fitting to my mouth.
”And you, Mr. Bourdon,” he said in that same old condescending tone, “all alone this time, are we?”
”Grant sent you to hell.”
”Well, part of me, yes. We all remain, dear boy; every one of us who has ever entered this place…you may even run into yourself before long.”
A twisted smile crossed his face as he spoke, still glaring down his nose as though he were my superior, even in a place such as this. Regardless of the fact he was dressed in a far less pricey suit than the one he wore to his damnation, it was quite clear that he still saw himself as one of high stature.
I wanted to reach over that desk, pull him to the floor, and beat the bastard black and blue, but I knew that wouldn’t solve anything. At the end of the day, we were both prisoners in this maddening building, whether he could see that or not.
”You don’t really believe you can escape, do you?”
”Got a lot more to worry about than that, and fuck off, Orchid! I don’t need to listen to your shit anymore.”
”Dear boy, “ he said, seemingly ignoring my words, “you will never leave this building again. Surely even someone as simple-minded as you can see that.”
”Again, go fuck yourself, you snot-nosed prick,” I said, “and what happened to ‘one guest per room’? This is my room, right? What right do you have to be in here?”
”Well, it was assumed that you would require, shall we say supervision? Believe me, dear boy, I am no happier about this than you, but here we are.”
I just waved a dismissive hand to the arrogant asshole, setting my course back on the exit ahead of me.
”See you soon, dear boy,” he sneered as I pushed through the door, “you may check out any time you like, but you may never leave…”
While the ocean breeze that caressed my body as soon as I exited the less than pleasant, seaside hotel experience felt just as glorious as if it was indeed the real deal, I couldn’t deny that Orchid’s words had set a doubtful seed in my mind. Whether or not that had truly been the former head of Orchid industries or just another mind game didn’t much matter to me at the time. I had to find my friends, as well as figure out a way to end this place for good.
Should I escape with my life was not even a factor anymore. When I first stepped foot in that large room filled with my betters so many years ago, I never expected to survive. This time was no different, neither was my drive to save those I cared for the most. I had a job to do. Anything beyond that was window dressing, all things considered.
I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: I should never allow myself to get too comfortable when things appear to be going smoothly. With my departure from the bizarre hotel and subsequently running into my old boss, so to speak, I let myself get distracted; perhaps even a little relaxed. I just strolled away from that hotel like I did the last time, not so much as looking back. I let my guard down, and even lit up a smoke to celebrate. I can be a singularly stupid individual sometimes, I swear to God!
When the first one grabbed me, I didn’t quite register it. I just realized I could not move my leg. As I casually strolled across the sand like I didn’t have a care in the world, glancing all around me in search of threats, I didn’t even think to look down. The fact that the hand was heavily decomposed, with more strips of rotting flesh flaking off by the second, did not in any way affect its grip strength.
I screamed out a mass of obscenities when I looked down to see it firmly wrapped around my ankle. I could see no source of the arm or body that the hand attached to, as it sprouted from the sand like some sort of bizarre and grotesque plant. While I pulled at my leg, trying my damnedest to break free of its grip, another shot from beneath me, seemingly in search of my other leg.
I kicked at the fingers clutching me by the ankle, nailing myself in the process, but I couldn’t convince it to let go. As I reached down to physically yank at my leg, bracing the other against the sand for some measure of stability, while dodging the one that still felt around for me, another undead mitt burst through the ground, snatching up my other foot before I could even hope to avoid it.
Violently pulling both legs now, the hands tightened their grip to the point it felt like they may shatter the bones before I could break free. To add further insult to my burgeoning injuries, they began to shift back and forth, rocking my legs so vigorously, that it made it hard to remain upright. That fight to remain stable ended with my back finally toppling to the sand.
If nothing else, the hands adjusted to compensate for my change in stature, rather than still holding my legs in place where they had once stood. When three more blew through the surface; two grabbing onto my wrists and another, my neck, it seemed they were content to simply hold me in place, at least for the time being.
”Ah, Mr. Bourdon,” Orchid said as he walked up to where I lay, sprawled out on the sand, “you never learn, do you.”
”What the fuck is this, Orchid!?” I squeezed out through the tightly gripping fingers around my throat.
”It is your room, dear boy, as you said yourself. This hotel, this beach, even the ocean beyond it; it’s all for you!”
”So, what, I can’t explore my room?”
”Stupid boy, we both know you did not set out to simply look around. You cannot escape your room, and measures, as you can see, will be taken, should you attempt such actions.”
I winced as the self-important prick kicked me in the side, taking advantage of the fact I could do nothing to stop him in my current condition. He laughed almost maniacally as he jabbed the tip of his shoe against me over and over again.
”Stop it, you son of a bitch!” I said, wincing with every kick, “when I get loose…damnit, cut that shit out!”
When the ground began to shudder beneath me, with the former head of Orchid industries looking down at me with nothing but contempt behind his gaze as he continued his assault, I could only imagine what my further punishment may be. Once more, the sand shook, causing the man who almost lost his footing, to dart his head from one side to the other. It would seem even he didn’t know what this was.
Everything around me began to tremble, causing even the hotel to look as though the sand was fit to swallow it whole, while Orchid grew a far more startled expression.
”What are you attempting, Bourdon!?” he asked in a somewhat panicked voice, holding his arms out to stabilize himself, finally yielding his attacks to my throbbing side.
”How the hell can I attempt anything, you ignorant prick!?”
”How are you doing this? ANSWER ME!”
Even the waves were now violently crashing against the shore, showering my captor and me with frigid water in the process. The clouds above me darkened, with stabs of lightning breaching from within. Rain now pelted us, along with the constant spray of ocean water and, while Orchid screamed out against the roaring thunder, the hands around my limbs and throat still refused to let go.
With the heavy rainfall beating against my face, it was growing more difficult to breathe. With every inhale, water shot against the inner wall of my throat, causing me to gag and splutter. I writhed and wiggled in an attempt to break free, but it was no use. Even the satisfaction of Orchid looking almost as terrified as he did the day that both of us truly met my closest friend was not enough to make me feel any more hopeless at the time.
It wasn’t until my overseer shifted from afraid to pissed off and afraid, that I began to understand what was happening here.
”YOU!” Orchid sneered, staring straight forward and behind where I lay.
”Me,” a familiar voice said.
”How can you be here? How did you get in? You should have no power here!”
”I don’t,” Malphas said in a very calm voice as he strolled up beside me, “but he does…”
I didn’t even see the old man from the pier until his feet touched down upon the sand. From what I could tell, he had either been floating around, somewhere in the middle of the raging sky or had perhaps only drifted from behind as the man wearing Grant’s face came forward.
”How ‘bout y’all let the boy go, hmm?” the man said as the wind tousled his thick, salt and pepper mustache.
With that, every hand that gripped onto me released, before hastily retreating into the sand. Orchid began to pace backward, holding his hands out before him as if to show he wasn’t a threat. Malphas helped me back to my feet while my old boss and the old man waged a staring battle, as the former continued his retreat.
”Couldn’t resist playin’ more games, could ye…”
”It wasn’t me!” Orchid professed, waving his hands and head from side to side, “it’s the building…this room…I was only tasked with supervising, I swear!”
”Don’t mean you wasn’t part of it…don’t mean you wasn’t enjoyin’ it…”
”I-I wasn’t, I only did what was asked if m-me! You don’t know what it’s capable of when we refuse its demands!”
”Is that right?” the old man said, still glaring at the shivering man being doused by the rain.
When Orchid finally turned his back to us, adjusting his slow retreat into a mad dash back to the hotel, the old man reached his hand out, causing the panicked executive to lift from the ground, before soaring back towards us.
”LET ME GO! PLEASE! I WON’T…”
”I think it’s time we reunite you with your other half,” the old man said in a calm but arrogant tone.
Before Orchid could so much as squeak out another word, one snap of the man’s fingers caused what remained of my former employer to be engulfed in flames. The ear-piercing agonized wail he shrieked out almost caused me to pity the arrogant bastard for a second, but if nothing else, he would finally be freed from this building, once and for all.
While I too hoped to be able to be reunited with whatever remnants of my soul this place still held hostage, I can’t say I envied Orchid on this one. The last I saw him before I even understood that this place could tear pieces of us away, claiming them for its own, he was being dragged to the budding metropolis in the heart of downtown Hell. Somehow, I think he’s in for a rude awakening when he reconnects with the rest of himself; another example of things I will never get used to saying.
When the smoke cleared from the last remaining piece of Jensen Orchid’s soul being burned away, the raging storm fell still, the sky once more brightened, and I was no longer alone in this place. There was still a long way to go; I did not doubt that, but I most certainly felt better about things, now that I had friends by my side.