Status: Complete(:

Death is Black and White

She's Back.

Lotty focuses all of her attention on one point in the center of the room, where the hospital bed is knocked crooked out of it's place after our fight. The wailing of the baby is growing louder and I have to blink a couple of times at the bed because I'm not sure if it's real. A patch of light glows dimly on the bed, growing slowly brighter as the crying gets louder. 

And it hits me suddenly, like this twisted epiphany that explains why I'm so willing to fight Lotty this fearlessly to save Abby. The cries I'm hearing are those of my niece. This isn't just another one of Lotty's slaughters for strength- my sister's child is her lifeline, and she's willing to rip apart the baby's soul and pretend it's her own. It's too weak to reject her, too pure and innocent. She could take it and grow up to be what Miranda and my mother and father and extended family and everyone else in the world would believe to be Abby when really it's a demon. My sister would love Lotty as her daughter because she wouldn't know otherwise.

So, I guess it's this reason that I lunge for the glowing ball of screaming light before Lotty can react. The demon's hungry stare shifts to one of rage and she charges at me a second too late. 

I'm surprised to find that I can pick up the light and wrap it in my arms before Lotty slams into me and sends my flying into the wall across the room. I crash to the floor but refuse to let go of the baby, which feels warm and soft as opposed to Lotty's electric feel. I glance down at it and see slight features like arms and legs form from the ball. My heart skips a beat and I huddle over the figure in my arms to keep Lotty from getting it. I don't know what to do besides keep Lotty away from Abby before she dies completely. 

Lotty claws at my side, and it feels like knives twisting into my ribs. I cry out but don't let Lotty near the baby, trying to stand up so I can run or something. I don't know how to save her. 

Lotty snarls and swipes at my arms until I get to my feet and push her back, but the shove doesn't do much. I'm feeling weak, like all I want to do is lay down forever and never get up. Lotty hits me back and I stumble backwards, falling back to the ground. 

She wrenches the baby out of my noodle-arms and I yell out, but every movement I make is sluggish and weak. Lotty belts out her infamous laugh and puts her hand on the now-almost-dead-Abby's chest. I scream, then the door slams open. 

We both turn our attention to the open door, and my jaw drops. 

The White Lady comes flying at Lotty and the baby, knocking her off her feet and sending the bundle of light soaring across the room. Lotty thrashes around while the White Lady claws at her face, ripping apart the monstrosity and leaving her in a pool of blood, maimed and screaming. Then just as quickly she makes a go for the baby and picks her up, looking oddly like a mother. 

"She's not dead yet," she whispers in her raspy voice. "I'm just in time." 

She raises her arm like she's about to strike the glowing baby, but suddenly a cloud of gray dust overtakes her out of nowhere. I gasp and look away, but from my peripherals i can make out details in the dust. Faces. 

It's odd, because when I look at it straight on, it seems like the lady is suffocating on the dust, but from the side she's being attacked by a cloud of angry people. 

They punch and scratch and pull at her clothes, while her screams mingle with Lotty's on the other side of the room. I cover my ears and wait for it to stop; it seems like it never will. 

But just as quickly as they came, the dust-people are gone, and the White Lady collapses into a heap of black bones. The baby's crying is almost deafening and no longer distant, like she's in the room. I can hear her little heart's slight beating growing fainter and fainter with each second. 

I pick up Abby and hold her tight to my chest, not sure what to do next, when Lotty finally stands up. 

She's completely blinded, but it doesn't take her long to find out where we are. She follows the sound of the crying baby with her bloody arms outstretched, limping. 

I back up against the wall and try to quiet the crying but it does nothing, the tiny baby doesn't understand a thing. Lotty's small laugh is pained and angry, but she keeps closing in on us. I scream for her to get away. Then I hear a group of footsteps. Lotty turns around at the new sound.

The dark room brightens noticeably as the group of murdered children file in. They glare at Lotty and start whispering terrible things at her.  

"I didn't think you'd really do it," says her brother, John. "It was just a bet. I never wanted to hurt you, Lotty." 

"John?" Lotty gasps. 

"I wasn't a spoiled brat," says Sylvia. "You may have been poor, but you're the biggest brat I've had the displeasure of meeting." 

Lotty backs up, outnumbered, into one of the kids. They've encircled her, and now they're closing in. I hold the baby tighter and watch in awe as they completely dismember Lotty  with their bare hands. Each limb rips off her body with an earsplitting crack, like a shattering glass or a tree falling, and each time, Abby's light dims. The crying becomes distant and soft as her soul returns to her body. 

The kids spit on the gruesome pile of bones, skin, and blood, watching it disintegrate into ash on the tiled floor. By this time, the ball of light is completely gone, and the internal glow of the children seems brighter. 

The group turns to me as a whole. "Thank you, Lydia," says Sylvia. 

"For what?" I reply. "You're the ones who killed her." 

One of the girls, older than the rest, smiles at Sylvia. 

"We're free," she says. The group seems to all sigh at once, relaxing for the first time in a hundred years. 

John reaches out and takes my hand in his little one. "Let's go find your body. They haven't packed it up for the morgue yet, you still seem to have a pulse." 

I walk with them, surrounded by their soft warmth the whole way. I don't know where they'll go after this, if there's a heaven or hell outside of this strange Murderland. I can noticeably feel the weight off my shoulders from where Lotty rode piggy-back style for the past three and a half months. The kids seem to be the same way. 

Going through the mirror this time is easy, like climbing through a window. I don't say anything before I go, just silently thank every single child with a smile for saving my niece and sister.

Back in the real world, the hospital is busy and I'm greeted by the comforting sounds of talking and machines beeping. My body is in a hospital bed one room over from where I died, and I stand over it for a while taking everything in. 

My mom is holding my pale hand and crying silently. It hurts to watch, so I turn to the side of the room with more chairs, where Josh is sitting with his head in his hands. Sam is sitting next to him, leaning against his shoulders. She's not crying now, but it's clear by her puffy eyes and extremely smudged makeup that she's had her fair share of tears. Her mom is standing over her shoulder, rubbing her back in circles comfortingly. 

I remember the day she told me about her fascination with ghosts. She said she's always wanted to see a ghost, but she never got the chance. I wonder if that's changed after all this. 

I'd imagine my dad is checking up on Miranda, because he's not here. I bite my lip, a terrible habit even after death, and stand over my hardly-breathing body. It's incredibly weird to watch myself sleeping. It doesn't even seem like me. 

Closing my eyes, I place my hand over my chest. 

The strangest feeling goes through me, and I'm pulled back into my body. It's amazing how much I've missed breathing. I sigh and open my eyes. "I'm back," I whisper. 
♠ ♠ ♠
Shit, I can't believe I've finally finished it. There's going to be an epilogue ;)