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Lewis isn’t sure if he’s alive. Or if he should be alive. He blinks slowly, trying to clear the mist from his eyes. The sky is the same cloudless blue though the sun is shining brighter than the day prior. He gets up, knows it’s time for him to go. With The Lighthouse towering in the distance, he noticed that the haze is indeed extending further into the marshes.
He tries to walk faster even as he feels the slight pull in his gut. Shifting, re-arranging, altering the very fabric of his being. Provisions have run out the day before and Lewis knows that no matter what he hopes to find out here, he doesn’t have long before this thing inside him takes him too. The same absolute and soul-crushing madness that took Bono and James and just a few hours earlier, Valtteri. He could still hear his screams as Valtteri took out his hunting knife and slit his own throat over and over, rose buds blooming around his feet as the grass drinks his blood.
He discards his rucksack and only takes his hand gun with him. Lewis ignores the way his arms seem to move like liquid and tries to focus on finding the building. During their meeting with Toto, they were informed that there is a military base just south of The Lighthouse. They weren’t able to evacuate the personnel stationed there during the early days and no rescue mission to retrieve them has been successful. He stands in front of it now, bones and vines crunching under his feet as he walks inside.
The rooms are empty and in disarray, illuminated only by the sunlight streaming from the windows. Every wall is covered in human bones and decay of vibrant colors, each pattern swirling to form new shapes every few seconds. Lewis’ grip on his gun loosens as a fresh wave of dizziness hits him. He fumbles blindly at the wall, feeling more bones as he moves to the direction of what he thinks is the garage. Whatever hope he has been holding onto was smothered by what he sees.
The body is cradled by the lowest branch of bleached driftwood that has sprouted in the center of the room. Each branch is turned up to the ceiling as if in prayer. The side of Nico’s head is caved in and Lewis could see dark leaves and daisies snaking around the base of his skull. A circlet of teal green blossoms adorn his golden hair, the serenity on his face one he never saw in life. Even in death he can still take Lewis’ breath away. He clutched at his chest, tears spilling down his face. He wanted to say how sorry he was for pushing him too far. Lewis knows that Nico only accepted the mission because he made him feel that there was nothing for Nico to go back to. He destroyed himself and in turn, he destroyed them too. The guilt and anger that has festered inside him has been let loose, spilling over and feeding whatever it is that’s now in possession of his body.
Lewis drops to the ground, the grass that surrounds them as white as snow. The moss covering Nico’s hand is parted on his ring finger as if to show the platinum band still gleaming in colors of the rainbow. Lewis kisses his fingers one by one, the feeling of the metal on his own finger reuniting with that of Nico is the final anchor that drags him down the abyss inside himself. He can feel the shimmer once more. Lewis closes his eyes and let’s it take him.