I'm back~ But finals nearly killed me ;~;

I put my blood sweat and tears into this chapter, mostly tears though because I delete this by accident and retyped it three times because I couldn't decide who was the main character for this chapter... But enough of my complaints, two more chapters before I'm finished with this fic unless I feel the need to make another chapter afterwards, so buckle up and get ready for the ending, 'cause it might come sooner than expected ;)

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, or Happy Holidays. Hope you got what you wanted this year!

And I don't own Ib or that nice little pic I used for the cover. They belong to their respective owners.

The first thing she noticed was the deep, crippling darkness that engulfed her whole being. The pain came next, sharp and stabbing all over her small frame. The tears that ran down her face seemed to only worsen her state, causing her to shiver and shake against the pain. Then the screaming pierced her ears and made her question if it her own. Her throat felt like fire and she simply couldn't tell if she was screaming or not. She heard something call her, it was beckoning her, telling her to go deeper, further into the thick darkness before her. It told her not to be afraid and it wasn't until then that she realized she was afraid. The fear gripped her and it was so strong, holding her there, yelling and telling her not to follow the voice into the great dark before her. And she tried to listen, she tried so desperately to listen to it, but something caused her to step forward into the inky shadow in front of her. The glee in the voice calling her made her want to turn tail and run, but she couldn't, all she could do is walk forward into the tangible darkness. The voice in her head, the voice of her fear and better judgement, sounded so disappointed in her, and she wanted to apologize, tell it that she couldn't control her legs anymore, that something was controlling them for her and drove her forward into the blackness.

After what felt like an eternity of walking, she hit something hard, yet at the same time it was soft, moving slightly at the touch. Finally, the darkness began to recede, leaving her in a dim place that made her eyes struggle to adjust, and when they did, she wanted nothing more than for the memory of it all to go away.

Garry laid there before her, similar to how he looked when they first met, but this time he wasn't breathing and the red stains on his coat nearly made her sob. As she stood there staring, she began to hear a ticking coming from the dark. It sounded familiar but she simply couldn't place it. Sparing the body a final glance, she carefully stepped around it before walk back into the nothingness.

The ticking was uneven and sporadic, going silent for what felt like full minutes before sounding again. When she thought the sound was next to her, she realized that the ticks were clicks and they came in pairs. Moving to her right, the sound seemed to move with her, always about a meter to her right and slightly above her. Then just as she was about to give up on her chase, she remembered and the thought filled her with a cold fear.

The clicking sounded like Garry's lighter, but he was dead, or at the least unconscious a good kilometer behind her. …So who had the lighter?

The lighter sparked and lit up the area, but no one was there, at least she didn't notice before the light went out and was replaced by a roaring fire that crept oh so close and licked at her face. The fear that blanked her roared up like the flames before her. Without thinking, she turned and ran, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. A thought occurred to her as she sprinted from the flames, what if she couldn't outrun the flames, what if they overtook her? Tears streamed down her face as she ran from the thoughts that haunted her, from the flames that warmed her back.

As she ran out of the dark, she realized she was surrounded by the flames. Sobbing, she sank to the ground as the fight left her and fear took over. Covering her eyes and feeling her hands slip on her face from the tears, she heard something. Laughter. Hysterical, ominous laughter that made her blood freeze. She knew that voice.

"I thought you were my friend. I thought we could be together forever. But you killed me… you killed me and left… with him. I thought you were my friend, but if I can't have you…. Well," she snickered "Well I guess no one can." And with that the flames consumed her.

Bwahahahahahahahaha~