The Monsters of the Mind

Part 27

I could hear feet running and hands pounding on the door - Jimmy's crying had returned to normal. But I could also hear a little girl's tears - crying for her mother and father. I could hear Dr. Bose's rage after swallowing the glass shards that had been placed into his meal. I could hear Harvey's final cry as Jimmy took his life.

And I could hear Hugo's cries - fighting for the life that I had taken in order to protect my son.

My vision turned black and I felt myself fall - the last thing I heard being the door to the room opening and Jimmy screaming in fear.

***

Kylie's POV

My hand pressed into Rose's, the skin feeling cold and clammy - but also rough, like it had been burned. I had been unable to look at her as she told her story, the visions too graphic - even for me.

But she never commented, just continued and allowed me to hide my face in shame.

"Now you know the truth," Rose's voice was thick and heavy, filled with smoke, "You know the whole truth about what happened years ago. Why everything turned out the way it did..."

"Does it still hurt?" I felt myself ask, finally looking up at the spirit, "Even after all this time?"

Rose's face was unreadable - her features had become melded together as she talked about the end of her lifetime. The skin on half of her face had completely melted away, leaving nothing but old bone showing with muscle still attached to her cheek and jaw. The other half was mostly scorched skin, deep red with some pieces melted like wax on a candle. Her clothing had also changed - torn with burn marks embedded into the clothing, ash covering her entire frame. Some of her once beautiful curled hair was gone, leaving bald patches from the fire that had consumed her.

Eventually, Rose spoke again, voice still thick with a bit of smoke pouring from her mouth, "It never stops hurting - the guilt of not protecting Jimmy, not telling Harvey the truth until long after, enduring the pain of the abuse on both sides... the fire that eventually killed me in the end. I doubt it will stop hurting, even if I'm forgiven for everything..." 

"And now, I need to make a choice, is that right?" I asked.

Rose looked at me, her lifeless dark eyes brimming with sadness, nodding, "You will find yourself with two options placed before you - one is life, the other is death. But it is not only your fate you will be choosing, it is all of us - Amy Bell's, Dr. Bose's, Harvey's, Jimmy's, mine - your choice will decide our fate."

"Which one do I choose?" I asked.

"That is up to you to decided," Rose stood, her body creaking from the pain and exhaustion, "both choices will lead to a death, but also both choices will lead to a life. Maya refused to make a choice, so she ran. That was her choice."

"So, no matter what I choose, someone will die?" I asked.

"It depends on the choice of who dies," Rose answered, "but, yes, someone will die - that's just the cause of it."

'Absolutely sounds like Phantom of the Opera, at this point!' my mind grumbled, but I pushed it aside.

"Will I be able to tell which one is which?" I asked quietly.

"My son will give you an ultimatum," Rose's voice was soft, sadness filling her, "Choose a life as the next barer of an ancient curse, or suffer the same fate as I did."

I felt my stomach lurch, "Why does he want me?"

"Kylie," Rose knelt before me, her hands clasping mine, "I know you are afraid, I am as well. The only other time he's made this offer to anyone was Maya. He was trying to trap her into thinking there was no other choice but to remain here - to make her think that she was trapped with him forever. 

"That's not the case. Jimmy - not Hugo, mind you - does, indeed, care for you and wouldn't want to hurt you in any way. Hugo - the demon - is running out of time like we are. He has to have a mate by tonight in order to continue the Asmodai line. If he fails to capture a mate, that's the end of his race. Any child, if there are any, will not be born of demon's blood - it's why Jimmy has tried to stay alone for so long. 

"But, when Maya and her friends showed up, Hugo saw it as the perfect opportunity to get his claws on what he wanted. But, Maya ran away - she was able to escape, but unable to help the few of us that still remain. That's why I'm asking you to make a choice - if not to save yourself from a life of suffering like I had endured, but to help us spirits move on from this place."

Tears fell from the spirit's eyes, dropping onto my skin as she sobbed, "P-Please... help us... help us, Kylie. You're our last hope..."

I felt my arms come around the ghost of Rose Hall, pulling her into an embrace.

I'd be lying to say I wasn't scared of what would follow after this. I was scared shitless - to be the wife of a demonic hotel owner or to be a freer of trapped spirits - it was a bit much to take in. Heck, it was overwhelming to the point that I felt tears prickle my eyes.

But I was the same as Jimmy - I could see that now.

Whereas he was the one who created the spirits, I was the one who could help them move past everything - be able to start over in a new life.

"I will try, Mrs. Hall... I will try..."