Colors: Life After Death Halloween Short - The Unholy Land Part 4: The Truth

After the door finishes its opening crawl, which feels like an eternity, we walk forward to find a room that looks like a sacrificial altar. A purple open flame sits in the centre of a magic circle painted with a small red flame on the floor, complete with little rune markings. The walls are all pulsating with screaming faces in constant pain and anguish all trying desperately to get out, which only adds to the decor. Plastered on each of the four walls, I see the one thing that I never wanted to see, turning my worst fear into reality. I can see Poppy, Andy, Blanche pinned to the walls by a nail deep into their wrists, covered in dry blood. While these three look normal, the last wall is where Roxy is, who looks a lot more grotesquely mutilated than the others, as there is a big hole going straight through her stomach and chest, but I can see completely through her to the other side.

“Guys? No. NO!” I shout, as I run towards them, truly hopelessly.

I get there just in time to see them all get sucked into the wall, disappearing completely. I couldn’t do anything to help them. Knowing the sad truth, I feel past the point of sorrow, and into the realm of pure anger. I look around the room for Rest, but he doesn’t seem to be here.

“Rest? Where are you? We need to have a little talk with you.” I shout to him, looking around the room.

“You don’t need to call him. He’s right there.” Claryssa says, gulping nervously as she points to the far corner.

Suddenly, in the dark spot, I can see a lot of floating sharp teeth start to form a grin. As if something from my worst nightmares, two huge arms start to pour out of the darkness, as a black mound of tentacles follow afterwards. By the time the abomination comes out, we realise that Rest is just as big and intimidating as I remember him being.

“You!” I shout at him, before blasting him with everything I have, but everything seems to be going through him.

He grabs me by the stomach and looks at me, though I can’t seem to find his eyes, so I can’t be sure. His grip is tight and feels so cold, as I try to struggle free.

“Ahh. We meet again. I must say, expectations of your ability to collect those keys, it was not part of the plan for you to actually succeed, but I suppose that is just part of the Crown’s power. Am I right, Mandy?” Rest asks me, leaning down towards me so I can get a closer look at the endless void that he calls a body.

“Listen. First of all, my name is not Mandy, it’s Lizzie. Secondly-“ I say, wanting to firstly correct him before we move forward.

“You should know better than to lie to me. Lizzie Carlyle turned out to be a mass murderer and died shortly after her final rampage. Everyone saw it when it was all the news stories could talk about.” Rest says, at least confirming that despite being an eldritch being straight from a existential nightmare, he still watches tv.

He throws me back to the floor, hitting the hard ground, and although it hurt a little, I just ignore it, get up and brush myself off.

“Mandy is my sister. She took my identity, and-“ I try to explain to him, before he lets out a mighty squeal that makes my ears hurt.

“You will not interrupt me, child. You see, I speak not without a foundation and a witness. In fact, I can tell you that someone on your team was kind enough to confirm your true identity to me. It’s thanks to her that I could talk to you in the first place.” Rest says, smiling at me.

At this moment, Claryssa starts to sheepishly walk towards the door before it closes on her, keeping her stuck in here with us.

“Claryssa?” I ask her, really hoping that this is just a trick, like she said it would be.

“Trust me, please. It was never my intention to bring you here. If you hadn’t been so quick to come here, you could have ran away before anyone was any the wiser.” Claryssa says, talking in a tone of regret, not even looking at me.

“Hah! In this world, you are never safe from my followers. You tried to conceal her from me, Claryssa, even after it was our deal that brought her here in the first place. However, everything worked out just the same, so I won’t judge you as harshly.” Rest says, using one of his many tentacle arms to stroke her hair, as Claryssa looks visibly uncomfortable.

“I must have made a mistake. I... I gave you the wrong location, and I gave you the wrong sister.” Claryssa says, as many red flags start to wave around in my head.

“Wait. You know exactly where Mandy is, so... oh. Now I get it. It all makes sense now. I was just the decoy. You didn’t want him finding Mandy, so you decided to give me to him instead, didn’t you?” I ask her, getting angrier and angrier with each new revelation.

“You can stop with the tricks now, you two. To be fair to poor Claryssa, I did offer her a great reward for this, and eternal damnation if she didn’t. Now who wouldn’t cave to the sound of that?” Rest asks, trying to justify this, like it’s something you could ever justify.

“Alright, Claryssa. What did he offer you for doing this? You owe me an explanation for this, and a truthful one.” I say to her, starting to shout.

“Alright, fine. Here’s the truth. All of it. This world we’re standing in, none of it is real. We are in a landscape which puts you most at a disadvantage, devised by Rest. I have one myself, but I was given special access to yours. Your friends, they were just hallucinations caused by your anxieties and your worst case scenarios. Simply put, we’re in a dream, but we ourselves are the only thing that is real. In exchange for the Crown, Rest offered eternal lucidity in sleep. I could manifest my own dreams and be free from nightmares forever.” Claryssa explains, which after piecing it all together in my mind, it fills me with more glee than anything.

“So you’re saying none of this is real, and the world outside is fine? Wow, that is amazing.” I say, wanting to cry a lot of happy tears right now.

“For now. One day, if all goes to plan, this world will be a reality before long. With the crowns, I can be given body, flesh and blood. Free to walk amongst you in the real world, I would walk undefeated. It’s just too bad you won’t be there to enjoy it. Claryssa, I’m going to give you one last chance to earn my trust and rightful place by my side. Kill her, in reality, I will collect the Crown and we will be one step towards our goal, and servant will finally become master.” Rest says to Claryssa, as he touches her dagger, making it glow with one of those purple flames.

As Claryssa slowly nods her head, sighing to herself, and as she starts to walk towards me with a different look in her eyes, I have to ask myself if this is all one big trick and we’re going to turn around together and take on Rest... and as she grows even closer to me, my hopes of that start to drift further and further away.

“Hey, what is this? You’re really going to kill me? After all this trouble we just went through?” I ask her, slowly backing away, out of one last ditch effort to change her mind.

“I tried to warn you that coming here was a bad idea, but you didn’t listen to me. If you think about it, compared to Rest, this will be an act of mercy.” Claryssa says, marching towards me, as I try my best to avoid her, sweating and on the verge of tears.

“But... but we were friends, weren’t we?” I ask, wondering if those fleeting moments we shared here together truly meant nothing, and I was just grasping at straws that didn’t even exist to begin with.

“I told you before... We. Are. Not. Friends! Don’t take it personally though, I don’t do friends. In this life, you’re either the one with the one doing the killing, or the one doing the dying, and I will never let someone as insignificant as you mess that up for me.” Claryssa shouts to me, stopping in her advance to have this one last talk with me before it all begins.

Finally feeling that point of no return in my brain, everything becomes so much clearer. No more regrets, no more mercy. All I can do is laugh to myself, as Claryssa looks at me with a confused expression across her face.

“You’re choosing to laugh at a time like this?” Claryssa asks me, showing signs of genuine curiosity.

“Don’t mind me. I was just thinking about how foolish I had been. I suppose I was far too naive to think I could change someone so far gone. Either way, if you’re going to kill me, I’m not going to make it easy for you.” I say to her, preparing my guns, trying not to let it sink in too hard that this is how she chose to end this.

She dashes at me, as I prepare my Tarot, and start to shoot explosive shots at her, which cluster into more fire, but she is quickly able to avoid every one of my bullets, before she comes closer and kicks me in the stomach, sending me flying back into the wall. She looks at me like she is holding herself back before she bursts out laughing.

“So that really is the extent of your great power? And here I thought you were just holding back on me and had more tricks up your sleeve. This might be easy after all.” Claryssa says, smiling as she walks towards me.

Quickly, I realise that my trusty Boule De Feu isn’t really cutting it anymore. I think of more elements to shout into the Tarot, I finally come to one that finally works.

“Touche De Pluie.” I shout into the Tarot, as my hands turn from fire to gloves of warm water.

I pull myself from the wall and shoot a sudden bullet from a close distance. Unfortunately, even though it hits the mark dead-on, the bullet just evaporates into more water. It does drench her from top to toe, but she isn’t affected by it in the slightest. She starts to laugh at me, before I walk towards us in her defenceless state, knowing exactly how to end this fight if it works correctly.

“Coup De Tonnerre” I say to the Tarot before my hands turn into high voltage electricity.

After telling myself that she obviously cared for nothing about our time together, I give her one of my hardest punches in the stomach, as she starts to light up like a firework, convulsing under the serious shock I just gave her, until she drops to her knees, smouldering and smoking. I thought that would have finished her off for sure, but to my surprise, she picks herself up from the ground, shaking from top to toe. She looks at me with angry and hateful eyes.

“So, you do have dirty tricks then? Fine then, let’s do this for real.” Claryssa says, before once again running towards me.

As Rest just watches from afar, the two of us trade blows, training my Tarot as I shuffle through the spells I just came up with. I feel bad that it had to be Claryssa I use it on, but it’s not like she is pulling any punches either, as we continue to land random hits on each other, and although the landscape is a fantasy, the hits I receive feel way too real. Even with strikes of literal lightning, she isn’t backing down. While we were full of energy to start with, that energy quickly washes away, as our bodies have more bruises and cuts than we care to admit. After the dust settles, we just look at each other. I slowly walk over to her, as she just stands there, waving her body from side to side, trying not to fall to the ground.

“What are you doing? St- stay away from me.” Claryssa says, throwing her spare daggers at me, hitting my arms and legs with each one. “Please. Just don’t do this. I don’t know if I can keep going like this.”

Once I get to her, it’s just enough time to wrap my arms around her before I can’t walk anymore. I can feel the blood starting to pour from my limbs, but regardless, I have to keep my legs from toppling underneath me.

“I hope your freedom was worth it.” I say to her, before I let my arms go, falling to the ground as my legs give way.

“Ahh finally. I was thinking that would never end. Go on, my girl. Quickly, while she is down.” I hear Rest say from the other side of the room.

Claryssa looks at him, then back at me, staring at me as I lay helplessly on the ground.

“I have a confession to make to you. This really isn’t Mandy. Even if I kill her now, the Crown will never be yours. Not in this world, nor the real world. I... I just wanted to protect the one I owe my life to, and in my panic, I told you she lived in Heaven’s Eye. Lizzie doesn’t deserve to die for that.” Claryssa says, finally standing up to him.

“I know what I know to be true. However, I suppose if this really is Lizzie, then her disappearance would cause an unnecessary uproar amongst the fools in charge. Very well. For you, I offer a day more for me to decide your fate. If you do not see me tomorrow night, know that you are free. However, Claryssa, if you have deliberately lied to me, an eternity of torment awaits you. Fine. You may leave for tonight. But once I get those Crowns, I am sure we will meet again soon enough. Farewell.” Rest says, before he disappears back into the shadows.

Before long, the door at the other end of the room swings open, leading to another big room like this one. Claryssa grabs my arms and drags me across the room to safety, even though I can’t feel either my arms or legs anymore.

“You do realise you just threw yourself under the bus, right?” I ask her, feeling weak and vulnerable as all I can do is lay there.

“We’ve seen this place enough to know that a few more visits won’t be the end of the world. Besides, Mandy would never forgive me if I actually let you die.” Claryssa says to me, dragging me into the next room, which just leads to a huge hole of pure white light, covering half of the empty room.

“So, all that stuff you said before was-“ I ask, wanting to make sure for my own peace of mind.

“All to convince Rest that it was all real? Yes and no. I may not do friends, that much is true, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think you’re cool, alright?” Claryssa asks, offering her hand to help me up. “Wait a moment, what’s your number?”

I tell her my number as she helps me up and carries me over her shoulder, walking towards the light. I ask her why she wanted to know, and she just replies with “If we can remember this, you’ll know in time.” and throws me into the light without a second thought. I can’t tell if I’m floating or falling to the ground, but suddenly... boom!

All I can see is darkness as I feel myself hit the bottom. I feel myself engulfed in some kind of familiar material, as the light seems to far away all of a sudden. My arms and legs feel as if they have life again, but I am struggling to breathe down here. It takes me an embarrassing amount of time before I realise I’m just fighting with the blanket of my bed. I pull the blanket from my head, and let the reality of it all sink in... I’m home. This is my bed, my room, and everything looks so normal again. Even Lyle is back... which makes me wonder where he had been for those awful 2 dream years. I am really glad to see him too.

“Woah. Are you alright, kiddo? That was some good wrestling moves you were pulling on your pillow there.” Lyle says, walking towards me with his tiny bird body.

I pick him up from the ground and hug him tightly, surprising even Lyle himself.

“Hey, now this is more like it. Had a good dream last night or something?” Lyle asks, as I try not to answer the question, not wanting to get into the whole discussion about what I just went through.

Putting Lyle down and jumping out of bed, not even caring about getting changed out of my pyjamas, I run down the stairs to check on the others. As I had hoped, the other 5 are all there, as the smell of bacon and eggs fill the air. The others are all across the room, spread out and doing their own things. One by one, they all notice me at the top of the stairs. Roxy and Nuko are there too, and I can’t tell you just how grateful I am that they are here again. All I can do is stop and stare in disbelief.

“Morning Liz. I was going to wake you, but you looked so peaceful, so I gave you a little more time.” Blanche says, looking up at me before looking back towards the tv.

“Is everything okay? You look like you just saw a ghost or something.” Roxy says, looking at me with a worried expression on her face.

I don’t know what I’m feeling right now, but I can’t stop myself from crying my heart out and I can’t stop my legs from running over to them all and giving them all the biggest hugs I can. Each of them look surprised about it.

“Hey, that’s... new. What happened? It’s only been less than a day since we last saw each other.” Roxy says, looking confused, but happy as well.

I suddenly remember that the Halloween party was supposed to be tonight, and it’s morning again. Oh no, did I sleep right through it?

“That’s right. I didn’t miss the party, did I?” I ask them, hoping that I wasn’t asleep for that long.

“Party? What party? And why wasn’t I invited?” Nuko asks, looking around us all.

“The Halloween party, remember? Everyone was just bringing their costumes across and-“ I say, trying to remember what happened before everything fell to chaos.

“Lizzie, hunny. It’s the 3rd of May. We’re only just beginning to see signs of Summer.” Poppy says, looking across at me as she sits at the table, enjoying her cereal.

I honestly don’t know how to process this piece of information. It’s strange. The dream felt so real, that I genuinely remember everything from those past 2 months... at least... I think I do. Now that I think about it all, I’m really not sure at all. My brain feels like it’s about to explode right now.

“Do you want me to talk about this more over breakfast? It’s almost ready.” Andy asks, standing just across from the kitchen.

“Yes please. I know this might sound crazy, but there are a lot of things I have to talk to you about. First, I’m going to put some clothes on. I’m just so glad to see you all again, you have no idea.” I say, before running back upstairs, kicking Lyle out of the room and quickly getting changed into my normal clothes.

Even though not that long has really passed since I was last in my normal clothes, to me, it feels like an eternity. Just as I finish making the bed and opening the curtains, my phone starts to vibrate on the table. I look at the caller ID and see just a random phone number. Regardless, I pick up the phone.

???: “Lizzie? It’s Claryssa. I was able to memorise the number and immediately put them into my phone. I got it right, yes?”

Seeing this message complicates what I thought to be just another happy ending, a chapter in my life I could call closed... and yet, here she is, despite having no other way of knowing my number.

Lizzie: “Yes, you got me. So, that strange dream wasn’t just a random nightmare after all?”

Claryssa: “Afraid so. It all happened. Maybe not in reality, but it happened. Listen, can we meet in like an hour? At the Heaven’s Depths graveyard? There’s just something I need to confirm and talk to you about.”

Lizzie: “Fine. I’ll be there as soon as I’m all finished here. This better not be another trick though.”

Claryssa: “It’s not. You have my word. See you there.”

After I put down the phone, I go downstairs and quickly eat the lovely breakfast that Reeve prepared, and wave goodbye to the others, leaving only Andy, Blanche and I once again in the house. After that, I grab my jacket from my room and walk towards the front door.

“Hey guys, I’m just off out for a little while. Be back soon.” I shout before realising Blanche is just behind me, looking over for the kitchen.

“Okay, no worries. Don’t want to pry... who am I kidding, of course I do. What you doing?” Blanche asks me, walking closer to me.

“Just meeting a frie- someone I once knew.” I say to her, not even sure if I can call Claryssa a friend.

“Ahh. Well, have fun.” Blanche says, walking back towards the kitchen.

“Blanche, wait. I just have one little question. For Halloween, you don’t decorate your house with these weird paper creations, do you?” I ask, curious to know if the dream was more accurate than I originally thought.

“No, we use the normal decorations you can get from the stores. Although, now that you mention that, that does sound quite different and fun.” Blanche says, actually starting to consider it.

“Please don’t. If you do, I’m not coming to your party this year.” I say, already regretting bringing this up with her.

“Oh no. Alright. Wow, never pictured you as quite the scaredy cat.” Blanche says, giggling to herself.

“Whatever you say. Anyway, I’ll be back soon.” I say to her, opening the front door and closing it behind me.

Walking down the streets of Heaven’s Eye, even though nothing really happened, it feels so great to see a sunny day, to feel the summer heat on me, and to actually be able to breathe the fresh air without having to mourn anyone’s loss. It feels so peaceful. Seeing the people passing by, and none of those Remnants anywhere to be seen, and especially not those Risen freaks either, it feels nice. Walking to the elevator down at the entrance, I get inside, feeling happy that everything is finally back to normal as I start to go down.

Getting off the elevator and heading to the back towards Heaven’s Depths, it definitely feels a lot different than it was in the dream. The weather feels nice and warm here and the slight breeze feels a lot more crisp and soothing. Going into the town itself, it looks a lot nicer than it did before. Crowds of people are coming and going from here as all of the businesses are open for business and everyone is keen to take full advantage of the lovely weather today. There seems to be a lot of boats in the ocean, as well as people just having a leisurely swim, without a care in the world. I do envy them, even if I have had the ability to wear swimsuits taken away from me, thanks to my stupid scarred back. Either way, I can’t get sidetracked, I head towards the graveyard, which looks the same as it did in the dream from the first glance.

I open the gate and see that it is a lot brighter and nicer than I imagined. Walking straight forward through the aisle of headstones, I can see Claryssa, waiting for me and looking at the headstone where Rest was sleeping in the dream. She starts to notice my presence, turning slightly towards me but then turns back to the grave. Walking to her, I read the headstone and can finally read it, though the name seems to have been scratched off.

“This is where Rest always rises from. Every night, I try to stop it, but the ceremony continues regardless. If only I knew who was buried here, and what it all means.” Claryssa says, sounding even more serious than normal.

“I see what you mean.” I say, trying not to seem to enthusiastic about it, still remembering and not forgiving her betrayal before.

“Listen. I wanted to bring you here because I wanted to say I’m sorry.” Claryssa says, finally turning towards me, nervously rubbing her hands.

“Sorry? Sorry for which part? Trying to push my sister under the bus? Or for pushing me instead and pretending I’m her?” I ask, crossing my arms at her.

“I shouldn’t have done what I did. I panicked. I may have told people about how bad Mandy was at being a boss, and had no idea that I would be stalked for it. I was keen on venting about her sometimes, but I never wanted to put her in danger. I just said she was at Heaven’s Eye, and that’s where you were. I just went with it and hoped he would never notice. I didn’t realise until much too late that he was after the Crown. I tried to let us escape from Rest without meeting him and hoping I could keep you both out of the know, but I failed both of you.” Claryssa says, sounding upset, as she hangs her head.

“Why didn’t you tell me what your plan was? And that it was all not real? You could have saved me a whole lot of pain that way.” I ask her, embarrassed about all of that crying she saw me do.

“It was your dream. If you die in there, that’s it. You’re really gone. Telling you it was a dream would only convince you of a safety net that wasn’t there. It’s just as dangerous there, as it would be if you were actually there.” Claryssa says, as it starts to make a tiny bit more sense, and knowing that it was a dream may have lowered the stakes.

“Alright. Just one last thing, now that you can actually answer me truthfully. Who really is Rest?” I ask, knowing full well that they have met before, and that she knows more than she is letting on.

“I don’t know his true identity. All I know is that he’s a dream surfer, and a powerful one at that. He can assume the form he needs to make the biggest impact on a person’s mind, and makes his victim suffer through their worst fears and worries in life. While I still have to see him, I can rest easy knowing that at least you are safe from him for now. I will use this time to know more about him, and try to find a way to beat him.” Claryssa says, as I suddenly remember that she did choose to sacrifice her own freedom for my own... now, I feel a little bad myself.

“Oh. That’s right, you did give yourself to him, didn’t you? Even if it means you might be haunted for the rest of time.” I say to her, feeling awkward about bringing it up.

“No worries. He can’t kill me now that I know how his dreams work. Even if it takes years, I will find a way to beat him. This is a promise.” Claryssa says, finally smiling at me.

“Thank you. I will be there to help too, in any way I can.” I say to her, wanting to take him down before he can get any of those Crowns.

“I’m sure I’ll need you eventually. I must say, you surprised me when you pulled out those other moves.” Claryssa says, laughing a little.

“Oh yeah. To be honest, I did literally pull them out of nowhere. I just panicked, said the name of cool spell-like words and used whatever came to me.” I say, realising that now I have the power of a lot more spells than I had before, hoping that they work in reality too.

“Well, you’d better keep at it... I don’t want my friend going soft on me now.” Claryssa says, as I see the struggle in her mind saying it.

I can’t help but smile so brightly at her, as she puts her hand out to me. I take it in mine and shake it, cementing a new bridge I thought burned to ashes before it was truly built. After we let go of each other, Claryssa pets me on the head, and starts to walk away. I try to find the right words to say, and even though the others might be mad at me for it, I decided to go for it.

“Claryssa, wait.” I say to her, as she turns back around to me. “Why don’t you join us? I mean, there’s always room on the team for you.”

“That’s sweet, but I’m afraid I can’t. You have your fight, and I have my own. Though I am certain our paths will cross again, and when they do, we’ll see just how much we’ve grown. Until then, see you.” Claryssa says, walking away from me, opening her wings back up and flying away into the sunrise.

As I walk back home, I think to myself about everything that has happened. I definitely have changed since I came here. The lone wolf has become so dependant on her friends, that a world without them would be a sad and empty one. But you know what, I don’t care. For once in my life, I’m at a place I can say I’m happy and proud to be in, and not have to lie about it. Though we may not always agree, sometimes we may even strongly disagree. But in the end, it’s like starting a strange new family, and with that, in time, I hope I can be the new Lizzie, the Lizzie I always wanted to be.