My answer was absolute.

I had decided that I was not

going down without a fight. I had fought for years, I had
been fighting the whole night, and I sure as hell wasn’t
giving up in the last hours. Final attempts count more
when it comes to a race, because everyone starts with
the same speed.

“Then, go!”

I hadn’t expected him to practically shout in my

ear, before pushing me towards an entrance of a big
tent which had suddenly appeared there out of thin
air.

I couldn’t get a good look at the entrance due to the

abrupt push Hysteria had given me, but the quick
glance I had been able to steal revealed something like a
clown’s wide open mouth instead of a proper door in
front of me. It’s wild hair were painted with a dirty
green, two white bulbs resting in place of where its eyes
should’ve been while its jaw was hitting the floor in
literal sense, providing the opening to the door lined by
its several pointed teeth.

‘I’m so screwed.’
It was the only thing going around in my head, but I
had no other way to go. A cardboard killer clown
seemed like a better option than a real one chasing me
with a knife.

Soon as I skidded inside, passing the blurry colorful

entrance, I was immediately met with a pitch black
screen. There was darkness awaiting me in there, a sea
of endless darkness, trying to drown me from every
direction. I couldn’t even see my hand even if I waved it
in front of my eyes.

‘Where the hell has he dumped me this time?’

Cursing him repeatedly inside my head, I continued

sauntering inside the seamless path, there were no
walls, doors, objects, nothing hindering my way, but I
continued to move my hands in front of me, trying to
avoid any expected collision.

‘What’s this?’

My hand had made contact with something smooth, its

texture resembling that of a silk’s. Grabbing the material
between my index finger and thumb, I started rubbing it
gently to get a better idea about it. When I couldn’t
form the picture inside my head, I tugged it towards
me, but nothing happened. It seemed to have been
stuck.

‘What is he trying to pull now?’

The thought of Hysteria being included in the last

level had annoyed me more than terrify me. The fear I
had felt towards him was washing away with the
darkness of the night, being completely replaced with
another feeling that I couldn’t put my finger on.

‘Not now, the man had ruined my life.’

Maybe that was my way of dumping the blame on

someone else. All my life I had despised Hysteria for
putting me through this undeserved trial but if he had
been telling the truth then that meant he had been
protecting me all along. The lines between truth and lies
had reduced to a mere blurred border and I was afraid
the moment both these sides merged, the last string
holding me at the brink of my sanity would break,
letting me fall down a bottomless pit of hysteria.

Gritting my teeth, I let go of the soft material, trying to

side step my way out but something hard was blocking
my way. My hand had landed on a firm surface covered
by a smooth material, different than that of the
previous one. Trailing my fingers down, I could feel
some ridges beneath until my eyes widened with
realization; the thing I had been holding onto was an
ascot and now I was trailing my hands down someone’s
sturdy chest, my fingers lingering on their abs.

“Hysteria?”

The name had automatically left my lips as I retreated

my hand immediately as if it were caught on fire, but
before I could move my body away from him as well, a
large strong wrapped around the curve of my waist,
pulling me into the same chest I had been rubbing my
palm on for the last minute,

“Got a good feel, darling?”

A dim red light had suddenly illuminated the room,

much like that we see in a photograph developing room,
revealing Hysteria’s colorfully painted visage to me. At
any other times, I would have been scared out of my
wits yet surprisingly, I felt comfortable, as if it was the
place I originally belonged to.

“Say yes, darling”

His deep velvety voice accompanied by his red nose

caressing the crook of my neck brought my attention
back to him.

‘Get a hold of yourself, Gia.’

“No,”

I had intended it to come out with more firmness, but

the refutation sounded much weaker out loud.

“Kiss me, darling.”

He had started peppering a path up my neck by now,

“No…”

“Darling, please.”

The urgency in his tone had almost made me let out a

groan. He was driving me crazy. I could already see my
defenses tumbling down before my own eyes, and if it
continued for long, I wouldn’t be able to resist anymore.

Just as I was opening my mouth to reply, a loud bang

resounded from behind me, sounding like the
clanging of a metal door,

“Found you.”

Even without looking back, I could tell it was the

killer clown I had seen at the foot of the alleyway.

‘Is the demon imitating my worst fear? Why is it even

talking to me? Do demons talk like that?’

“Run, Gia!”

For the second time in the span of last hour, Hysteria

pushed me towards an arbitrary direction and instead
of colliding with the wall in front of me, I ended up
crossing a hidden door only to see a girl standing at the
other side of the door. She was bent forward to avoid a
fall, giving a subtle peak of her cleavage, peeping from
underneath a dirtied, blood laced tank top. Her long
raven tresses were all over the place, numerous tendrils