Dark Moon - Michael Langdon

Part 20 - Decensum (pt 2)

When I open my eyes, I am staring at a yellow ceiling. I can't quite place where it's from, but I know that I've been here before. As I roll over, I realize that I'm lying on the landing on the main staircase in Hawthorne's. I'm not sure why this is my personal hell; I didn't have any particularly bad experiences here outside of meeting Devan.

But then my gaze falls upon the floor at the bottom of the staircase. Dinah Steven's body is lying there, her throat slit as her lifeless eyes stare at nothing.

I shake my head; this is weird as hell. I try to return to my body on Earth, but something blocks me from doing so. What the hell is going on? I try to reason out what could be happening. Am I supposed to see something while I'm here? Perhaps I have to finish the series of events taking place here before I can return.

I slowly descend the staircase, and my heart drops as I see a headless body on the ground a few feet away from Dinah. I'd recognize that body and that outfit anywhere; it's Madison.

My eyes wide in shock, I crouch beside Madison's body. "Madison," I mutter as I rest a hand on her back.
Her body is still warm, meaning this happened recently. But then it hits me; her soul is gone. The only people who can destroy souls are Satan and Michael...

I tense up. One of them is here, and he's clearly killing some witches. I cautiously scan the rest of the room. Nothing is out of place besides the massive blood stain on the wall and some remnants from what I'm guessing is an explosion. My gaze lands on a head on the ground near the blood-stained wall, and I immediately recognize it as belonging to the woman from my previous vision, the one with a gun for an arm that shot Queenie and Zoe.

My heart drops. That vision was showing me the events that occurred in Mallory's timeline. Which means that this is probably a recreation of how Michael massacred the witches in the apocalypse.

I back away from the scene in front of me, mentally running through where I should go. If I'm here because I'm supposed to see something, where could that thing possibly be?

I close my eyes and try to sense something, anything. My eyes shoot open as I feel a powerful energy, one entirely different from any of the witches, or even me and Michael. No... that can't be right. It's impossible for her to be here.

I open my eyes and race up the stairs, taking a sharp left before rushing down the hallway. I stop once I reach the two bodies lying in the hallway. I feel a pang in my chest upon recognizing one as Coco, her neck bent at a fatal angle. She's dressed in strange Victorian clothing, but I don't have a chance to question it. My gaze falls upon the body next to Coco's the heart ripped out of this body's chest.

"No fucking way," I mutter as I stare at Marie Laveau's lifeless face. How the hell did the witches bring her back to life? But then I realize that Michael ripped her heart out. The amount of power needed to overpower Marie like that would be unimaginable.

I gulp nervously, hoping that I get out of here before confronting this ultra-powerful Michael. I'm guessing that seeing Marie was what I was sent here for, so I try to return to my body. However, I'm still unable to. What the hell is going on?

With a sigh, I cautiously step over Marie and Coco's bodies, making my way further down the hallway. I take another turn to the left, then continue walking down the empty hallway. There's no blood, no wreckage from fighting, anything. They must not have gone down this hallway.

I take another left, and I soon realize that I've made a circle and am back at the top of the stairs. I walk past the stairs and look out over the balcony onto the first floor, searching for any sign of whatever I'm here for.

I furrow a brow as I look down at the bottom of the stairs where Madison and Dinah Stevens' bodies are. Madison's body now has its back on the ground. I could've sworn Madison's stomach was on the ground when I was down there earlier, as I remember resting a hand on her back.