Rachel Andric and Final Death

Chapter 26: A Bad Combination

Ewan rubbed the crown of his head, grimacing. Guy's shoulder was in his back and it was rather painful. "Get off of me," he grunted, shoving the man away. "What do you think you're doing, landing on top of me?"

"I went through after you," Guy answered in his usual patient, yet somehow arrogant voice. "It's logical that I'd land after you, thus, falling on top of you."

"Yeah?" Ewan snapped, standing and stretching with a grimace. "I wish I'd squished you instead."

"I don't," Guy said. "Where are we?"

"Final Death, I assume," Ewan replied.

"It's composed of bedrooms?" Guy questioned.

Ewan nodded, his memories of the place slowly returning. "Have you ever stayed at an inn before?" he asked. Guy nodded. "Then picture this. An inn stuffed to the gills with people, bored out of their minds, with absolutely nothing to do. That's Final Death. It's like Purgatory. Nothing happens, ever. It's a punishment in itself, just as the Editor designed it to be."

"And she forced Rachel to be here?" Guy growled. "That monster."

"More than just Rachel," Ewan reminded him. "Anyone in The Story who underwent Final Death. It's a cruel place."

"Indeed," Guy agreed. He calmed down somewhat. "Shall we start looking for Rachel and the others, then?"

Ewan nodded. He went to the door, but Guy stopped him. "Wait. I should go first," he said.

"You?" Ewan retorted, turning to him angrily. "Why should you go first? What, do you think you're more manly than me or something?"

"Nothing of the sort," Guy said calmly. "I have a sword, you do not. It makes more sense for the armed one to go first."

"Does it?" Ewan snapped. "Or does it make more sense for the smarter person to go first?"

Guy smiled a little. "That would still mean I would go first," he said.

Ewan gritted his teeth. He'd left himself wide open for that one. "I—" He tried to find a response but couldn't think of one good enough. Instead, he said, "You really don't deserve my sister."

"Don't I?" Guy responded. "She seems to think differently."

Ewan rolled his eyes. "You're her first romance. She's not exactly a good judge of character. She lived by herself for five years."

"I'm sure she'd love to hear you say that," Guy commented, grinning.

Ewan decided to ignore that. "Let's just go, alright? We'll settle this later."

Guy nodded and tried to turn the knob of the door. He turned to Ewan with an unreadable expression on his face. "Andric?" he said.

"What do you want?" Ewan said.

"Perhaps it wasn't our best idea to argue in potentially hostile territory. We're locked in," Guy explained.

"Oh, wonderful," Ewan retorted. He slammed his shoulder into the door and only succeeded in jarring his bones. "OW!"

"I did tell you it was locked," Guy said lightly. "Why did you decide to become a human battering ram?"

"It's better than waiting for the Editor to come find us!" Ewan snarled. "Or are you satisfied with sitting here, patiently waiting for death?"