Chapter Text
“Kiddo!” cried Tor. “It’s good to see you again.”
“We’ve had the wildest time, let me tell you,” laughed Odin.
To say it was bewildering would have been an understatement. Yet when all that was real was fantastical, somehow this seemed almost tame in nature.
“Wait-are you–”
Casey tried to speak. Saga quickly said. “They’re my grandfather and great uncle. I think.”
“Think?” cried Tor. “Who else would I be?”
“A man about fifty years too young,” laughed Saga.
“God, my head hurts,” groaned Estevez. “I feel like we’ve already met. Like I know who they are.”
“Even outside of the spiral, we’re still within the loops. They’re converging now,” Alice spoke. “Combining memories. Events that haven’t happened and yet have. A plan. An attempt. An ascension that has passed but not come to fruition.”
“Why do I feel like I saw you playing rock music on a beach?” grunted Casey.
“Because we did!” Odin cried.
“And you didn’t,” replied Alice.
“I don’t understand how you’ve changed though,” murmured Saga. “You’re not from the past. Are you?”
“We went into the Lake after that monster Scratch tossed you in there,” Tor said with a sneer. “Like the fucker really thought that would be enough to get rid of an Anderson.”
“The Lake? Cauldron Lake? I was never thrown into the Lake though.”
“Not yet but not never,” Odin earnestly replied. He took Saga’s shoulder. Gave it a comforting squeeze. “But we made sure Tom stuck on the right track until he got to where you needed him.”
“At least until this whole thing got fucked,” grunted Tor. “But don’t worry, Saga. Andersons stick together. We’re ready when you are.”
“We haven’t even made up the plan yet. Not really.”
“I think we’re a bit early, bro,” Odin murmured.
“Doesn’t matter.” Tor crossed his arms. “We can wait.”
“I’m still fucking confused,” sighed Casey.
“Tor and Odin opened the passage multiple times. And with the Clicker, they’re the reason you and Saga found Alan by the lake,” Alice stated. “They’ll be the way he escapes again, but not before the ending is written. Communicating won’t be so easy though. Not with how the Dark Place and reality are blending together.”
“We need art.” Saga glanced to her family. “That’s why you’re here.”
“Exactly kiddo.”
“We need a threshold. But all previously established ones have been washed away by the consummation of the Dark Place,” Alice said. “This time, we’ll have to make our own.”
Ilmo wiped the sweat from his brow. He’d stopped wondering why he felt so tired. Why his muscles burned or sweat dripped from him. Though perhaps not the reality he was used to, this place was as real as anything else he’d experienced in his life. He’d started counting the hours. At first. But when time didn’t exist, he’d quickly realized how pointless that was.
“Need a hand?” asked Alan.
“Yeah. Actually. You stand there. On three, we lift.”
Alan wrote the story. Was writing the story. And from the story, Ilmo was creating the float. Something he’d used to do with his brother. His employees. All gone now.
“One, two, three.”
It left a bittersweet feeling in his chest. Couldn’t Alan just write them back in? They could be here. Right now. All working together. Hanging out together. Never having to worry about–
“It’s a dangerous road to go down.”
“Did I say that out loud?”
“No. I just…I understand the look. The story has to make sense. If someone were to come back, it couldn’t just be for the sake of them coming back. We can reverse what the Dark Place is doing right now, keep it from destroying the world, but anything that happened before that moment? If I brought them back, it wouldn’t be in the way you would hope for.”
“I know that,” Ilmo gruffly replied. “Just a thought.”
“I never wanted anyone to die.”
“This you looking for forgiveness from your sins?”
“No, I–”
Ilmo quickly shook his head. “That was harsh.” They finally slotted the piece into place. “You can let go.” They did. “I know now what it does to you. I felt it,” murmured Ilmo. He walked away.
“I’d understand if you did.”
“If I don’t blame you…well, maybe Saga won’t blame me for fucking this all up.”
“I don’t know Saga. Not really. But she’s been my partner in this from the very beginning. Before either of us realized it. She wouldn’t blame you.”
Ilmo wasn’t so sure so he simply said, “It’s a nice thought.”
He moved back. Looked at the float. Alan did the same.
A still scene stared back. The arms would move some once done. There would be sound effects. Some light work. The bulk of it was done though. Musicians in the background. The shapes of three women and a man. Guns pointed outwards. Flashlights facing forward as the darkness encroached.
Alice adjusted the shields. The placement of the lighting.
“We’re going to fight the darkness with a picture?” Casey said for the third time.
“Not a picture. A threshold,” murmured Estevez. “Which by forcing one, we’re committing at least four paranatural crimes-no. Make that five.”
“Saga, I’ll need you to stand there. Little more to the right.”
“I think it would be better if I was just here, actually.”
“It’s too far to the side. There needs to be a focal point–”
“The camera has a timer. Right?” questioned Saga.
“Yes–”
“Then you should be in it too. You’ve been fighting this thing long before any of us were even involved.”
“Depends on how you look at things.”
“Still doesn’t change the fact that you should be here too. You’re more than just the photographer. You’ve been the guiding light since the beginning.”
“A bit wordy,” muttered Estevez, “but considering the Shadow first latched itself to you back in 2010, it makes sense.”
Saga held out her hand. “Are we ready?”
“I think so. Tor, Odin, start playing.”
“We’ve been waiting to hear that all night!”
The drums and guitar started. It was deafening, being so close, but oddly didn’t hurt. Alice pointed to Casey. She fluttered her hand slightly. Had him adjust to the right. She set up the camera. Quickly moved to the empty position between Saga and Casey. She took out her torch. She almost kept it unlit, but at the last moment, she decided it would look better on. The light of the flashlight was bright. The cameras flashed.
Darkness broke through the doors of their sanctuary.