Built From Ash - Sequel to Burned Out

Chapter 15: The End

Skeppy awoke in his room, his bones aching. He felt a persistent ache throughout his entire body. He looked down and lifted his shirt to look at his side. Across his skin ran a sickly looking yellow bruise, like an injury that had been healing for a week or two.

“Are you okay?” asked Sapnap, who was still sitting next to him.

“Yeah,” Skeppy rasped, his voice rough.

“I wasn’t sure if I should wake you up when the cut showed up on your forehead, but you didn’t seem to be in any pain.”

Skeppy picked up his phone and looked at his reflection on the screen. On his head was a cut that looked to have been received days before. He recalled the blood pouring down his face as he fought the demon.“I guess the wounds I got in the dream affect me in real life too, just not as badly.”

“So… did you do it?” Sapnap sounded nervous.

Skeppy gave him a bright smile. “Yeah, I did.” Sapnap jumped out of the chair.

“Ha!” he exclaimed. “I knew it! Take that, demon!” He leaned down, scooping Skeppy up in a fierce hug.

“Ow,” said Skeppy. Sapnap let him go quickly and gave him a sheepish smile.

“Sorry,” he said. A grin—a real, true smile lit up his face. “You did it!”

“I did it!” They laughed, almost in disbelief. Skeppy ran a hand through his hair, elated. He had done it. It had been hard, so, so hard, but he had done it. He had taken control and fought the demon, and against all odds he had won.

His stomach grumbled loudly. “Apparently fighting demons makes you hungry,” he said. “Wanna get pizza?”

“Uh, obviously,” said Sapnap. He helped Skeppy up and they left for some celebration pizza.

The restaurant they ate at was small and quiet, only a few patrons were scattered through the dining room. It was a cozy place, with classic red booths and windows looking out onto the street lined with storefronts. Skeppy slurped his soda through a straw and Sapnap leaned back, eyeing the last piece of pizza on the platter.

“You gonna eat that?” he asked. “Cause if you weren’t, hypothetically, I think I’d eat it.”

“Hypothetically, I don’t think I’ll eat it.”

Sapnap shoved the pizza into his mouth. When he was finished, he spoke again. “Hypothetically, it tasted very good.”

“Hypothetically.”

“Yeah.” They laughed, probably delirious at this point. Skeppy leaned back in his seat, content.

“You know,” he began, “If they were here, they’d be so proud of us.”

“I know,” said Sapnap. He smiled. “I know.”

“You know, I’m so proud of us.”

Sapnap’s smile widened. “Me too.” They stood up and went to the counter to pay for their food. As they left, birds chirped brightly in the distance. “Thank you, Skeppy. I’m so grateful to have had you through all of this. You’ve been such a good friend to me. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you enough.”

“You don’t have to. You were there for me too, something I can’t repay.”

“I guess we’re both in each other’s debt, huh?”

“It sure seems that way.”

Sapnap held out a hand and Skeppy took it, shaking it firmly. “Let’s agree to call it even,” said Sapnap. “You saved my life. Thank you.” He remembered the terror he’d felt when Bad was slowly approaching him with a knife held aloft in his hand, and the relief and shock he’d felt when Bad collapsed and Skeppy appeared behind him, book in hand.

“And you saved mine,” echoed Skeppy. He wasn’t sure if he would have been able to make it through the grief and pain alone. It had nearly consumed him before Sapnap showed up to drag him back to the real world. And going to therapy? It had worked wonders on Skeppy’s anxiety and grief. He believed that Sapnap really had saved his life by showing up on his doorstep that day. Or, more accurately, in Skeppy’s bedroom with a lump on his face from where Skeppy had punched him.

They released their hands and strolled down the street together, falling into familiar, friendly banter as the sun illuminated their backs, setting on one chapter of their lives and rising on another.

Skeppy, Anna, and Sapnap sat on Skeppy’s couch, playing video games together. Sapnap and Anna were currently fighting each other, and Skeppy was sitting back and watching Sapnap get destroyed. He laughed as Anna beat Sapnap, an outraged cry coming from the latter of the two.

“Rematch!” Sapnap demanded.

“We’ve already played four rounds!” exclaimed Anna. “Maybe you just have to accept that I’m better than you.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder in mock haughtiness.

“Never!” Sapnap declared dramatically. They started a new round.

It had been three months since Skeppy defeated the demon, and they hadn’t been bothered since. He hadn’t had a nightmare in months and slept soundly every night.

He still kept in touch with Bad, but Bad had come to terms with his own imprisonment and encouraged Skeppy to move on with his life. He still felt guilty for leaving Bad in that place, but even though he didn’t visit Bad in person anymore, they spoke to each other through letters.

Skeppy had made leaps and bounds in the past months, nearly coming to terms with his friends’ deaths and taking steps towards moving on. He had continued working with Dr. Hartman, who was impressed with Skeppy’s progress and had changed their appointments to every other week in light of Skeppy’s improving circumstances regarding his anxiety and grief.

His relationship with Anna had grown into something comfortable that he wasn’t quite willing to break yet. For now, they were just friends, and his desire to have any relationship with her outweighed his hopes for anything more. He was happy just being friends.

Skeppy was still streaming, his job as amazing as it had always been, and he had no plans to stop anytime soon.

It was undeniable; his life was improving.

As he watched his friends playing video games, he smiled to himself. At this point in his life, he could say he had hope for the future. And though he wasn’t entirely happy yet, he was working on getting there, and had no doubt that he would get there eventually.

Skeppy was finally ready to embrace the future and whatever came with it. Through everything, he had learned to keep his friends close to him, and to not be afraid to ask for help.

So though he wasn’t happy, Skeppy was content. And that was enough for him at this moment.

That was enough.

The End