The fog slowly scattered from around the car as we drove. The tires kicked up dirt and dust behind us as he increased speed. My heart raced, hoping we would soon see the highway ahead.

So far, the same dark, eerie forest surrounded us. The Blair Witch vibe encompassed the scenery as we passed tree after tree. As I looked out across the forest of dense pine, bright blue formed in the sky near the horizon. Only a speck of the sunrise shone through the thick leaves, but it was enough to keep hope alive.

Suddenly, ahead was a familiar scene as we approached the second campsite and the supplies Zeke and Felicity had left behind. We slowly passed the landmark and my worry meter drastically increased as the silence in the car grew louder.

"Keep going," Atem instructed. "There's nothing here we need to stop for. Keep driving."

He was right. I didn't want to stop either. Even if it led us to the same spot over and over, we shouldn't give in until it forced us to.

Upon approaching the next campsite, I stared at the icy fire pit, remembering the blazing fire that had once seemed to never end. Now the fire was no more. If it proved to be non-eternal, wouldn't this loop? Our tents and bags lay where we left them, but I didn't care for anything at that camp. Nothing mattered more in the moment than getting home.

As we drove by, Felicity mumbled in disappointment. "Oh, no."

I knew exactly what that meant. She feared we were bound to make loops forever, wasting time on a dirt road that didn't obey the rules of time or physics. She was afraid of being right, that our ordeal was far from over.

It was after we approached the blazing ranger station and its forever burning pile of planks we reduced it to, that my heart and my hopes sank.

The frowns and disappointed gazes as they realized that this hellish nightmare had become our forever place. Still, I refused to do like Felicity and express my disappointment. I stared, sitting in silence, and ignoring the radiating pain that surged through the chambers of my heart.

We crept past the burning building and along the dirt road as if hesitant to see what came next. The highway should have only been a mile or so from the ranger station, but as the car crawled to a stop, I prepared for the worse.

"What's wrong?" I looked at Zeke, but he only stared ahead at what lay on the ground in the middle of the road.

When I blinked to clear my vision, I recognized the fluttering pages attached to my fully restored notebook. The headlights lit it like a precious artifact on display.

"Shit." Felicity's face twisted in disappointment.

I gulped, feeling the notebook's magnetic pull, hearing it call to me to take it back in my arms. It begged me not to forget or leave it in this nightmarish hellscape. That book and its contents were important. Those words written on each of the pages were part of me. And now I faced a decision. Do I accept that part of me and hold on to what it represented? Or do I leave it all to rot?

What was death, if not the acceptance that all things have an end? Like the outline in the notebook, that story of this experience too had an ending. And as the author of my life, I decide when to label the book complete.

"Go." I stared down at the notebook but spoke to Zeke. "Let's go home." I nodded, sure.

He stepped on the gas, and as the tires met the book, its tattered pages littered the road behind us. I turned to witness the pieces scatter and fall back to the earth.

My eyes caught the blazing yellow fire of the intact ranger station in the distance. A loud crack startled me as the roof of the shelter caved in on itself. Confused by watching the structure fall for a second time, I stared, trying to make sense of what I had just seen and what it meant. But before I could contemplate much, the car turned and brought my attention to the road ahead.

Atem cheered and Felicity cried words of relief as we turned onto the paved road of the highway.

"My god!" With wide eyes, I looked at Zeke's surprised and elated smile. "We did it!"

The car ran smoother on the paved road. The wind relaxed me as it blew through my hair, and suddenly happiness allowed me to ignore the exhaustion and pain that lingered. We were going home. We were finally going home.

I stared ahead at the blue sky as the morning sun lit up the horizon. The brightness grew quickly as the minutes went by.

Felicity had allowed her eyes to close occasionally, resting as she saw fit. The strong breeze blew through the broken windows violently, tossing her sticky, bloodied hair around until she just tied it in a loose ponytail.

Atem tinkered with the cameras to keep his mind from his broken leg. "This is strange." he pressed buttons. "Something screwed most of the footage up and even corrupted the audio. Something completely shot the memory cards."

"So?" I sneered at the camera.

"So, who's gonna believe us about the things we saw and experienced?" He continued to fidget with the camera and its parts. "They're gonna think we're crazy. We have no proof that any of those... things exist."

"You're right, we don't." I nodded, completely agreeing. "Who knows if they even did."

Zeke glanced at me through the rearview mirror. A look of concern in his questioning eyes. "Huh?"

"Of course, they exist, Ima," Atem went on. "Look at us."

I nodded. "Yes, they exist... for us." I shook my head. "We fought it. We survived it. And honestly, that's all that matters."

Atem scoffed. "I can't believe you."

I sighed. "No one will believe that a notebook filled with the outline of a horror story, starring us as characters, ever existed. There's no proof. There's nothing but a burnt down ranger station and an empty bottle of Ayahuasca back at camp."

My eyes met Atem's as he let the realization sink in. "Oh, shit."

I thought aloud. "Plus, we know we lived those crazy experiences. It's knowing we broke free from it that really matters."

"What are you talking about?" Felicity mumbled. "Who said we're free? What if we're forced to repeat this hell over and over again?"

"Everything has an end, Felicity," Atem said. "Like death."

"Like a book," I added. "Hell is a series of events you experience until you close it."

She sneered. "Until the next asshole cracks the book open and starts from the beginning."

"At least we know they would eventually make it to the end," I said. "Even if we're forced to go through the pain again and again, each time will be easier and easier to bear."

I turned back to the road ahead, looking at the horizon and what it signified for us. But as we passed the thick trees on the side of the highway, something in the meadow between the dense pine caught my attention.

A dark mass that resembled one of the many hanging bodies swung from a tree in the distance. My heart skipped a beat as I shifted to get a better look. As the trees passed and restricted my view, the swaying lump disappeared. But I knew deep inside, like every dark, haunting, evil... it wasn't gone. It would forever be there, waiting for another opportunity to strike.

What it didn't realize was next time I would be ready for it.

||

For so long, I had struggled with my beliefs. I had a long time to think about why Clay would ask me to make him proud. Although he wouldn't be here in physical form to know the effects of my efforts.

His words were too real for me. Taken too literal. And a lot of stock put into them when most of it was filler and all he meant to say was goodbye.

Of course, he didn't want me to follow in his footsteps. Of course, I had the temptation, but in the end, I knew he was right when he said the world needs me. So did Atem, Zeke, and Felicity. They needed me, and I needed them more than they'd ever know.

-Diary Entry by Ima Jean Paige

||

Continue on to the Epilogue!