18.98: An ONC 2023 Thriller

Chapter 19 Part 2

Shadows and fires, oddly contorted beasts, paths that led to doorways that led to more paths. An infinite maze with no exit.

Liv's skin burned where monsters scratched at her. She tried to ignore them, but they would not go away. Ghosts with their elongated jaws and disproportionate limbs circled them, berating Liv, telling her she wasn't welcome, but also that she was sent here to suffer under their watch. Liv did her best to ignore them all, kept her grip on Graham, and walked on.

"I'm sorry for this." The moment of his destruction was at hand, and it Liv had orchestrated it. Wait, hold off, turn back. Forget, forget, forget.

"Sorry for what?" he asked.

"Um, the hell that I brought you to? Let's start there."

"What are you talking about Liv?" He broke free from her grasp to circle around the ghosts that had been circling around them.

What are you talking about Liv? They taunted.

"It's so beautiful here," he said, his face like a worshiping angel, adored and adoring. "Everything is vibrant, and the spirits... they're so friendly. Does it feel like a silk sheet brushed against your skin when they touch you?"

Incredulous, Liv made a noise between a snort and a gasp. "It fucking does not. Are you serious?"

"You said everything here is alive. Does that mean... unicorns are real?" He pointed to what Liv could only describe as a cross between a demon and a warthog.

"Oh my God, Graham." She took him by the shoulders and shook him. "It's an illusion. You're seeing what they want you to see. They're tricking you."

"Or maybe... you're the one being tricked, Liv. It's a nightmare to you, but it's a dream to me."

Your worst dream, Liv, one of the ghosts said, it's nose two holes in a half rotted, skeletal face. A maggot wriggled out of its left nostril and snaked its way to the ground as it spoke to her.

"Fantastic," she grabbed Graham's arm, holding on tighter this time. "If this is a dream, and everything is cotton candy and unicorns, then where's your sister?"

"I'm here," Helina called from the distance. She seemed far away and then, with no time passing, too close. Startled, Liv wedged herself between Graham and a ghost with a hacksaw where its leg should be, and of all things, a blender fused to its head.

She had never intended on seeing Helina again, never wanted to after they parted ways back in Madison. And she had especially not expected to find her in this hell realm after leading her into its gaping yawn weeks prior.

No.

Not just find her, but find her... doing well.

Helina's curly hair flowed over her shoulders like she'd just come from the salon. Her skin was clear with a healthy rose to her cheeks. She'd been in the ghost realm for weeks and yet had the look of someone well nourished, well rested, and at peace.

The rage within that had eased since Liv had taken her revenge awoke.

Helina thriving in the ghost realm had not been part of her plan.

"Tell me this is another one of your tricks," she said to the ghost with the maggoty nose holes.

The ghost laughed and danced away without responding. Fucking traitors, the whole lot of them.

So lost in her thoughts Liv hadn't realized that Graham had once again pulled away from her, this time to hug his sister. "This was easier than I expected," he said.