Hailie woke up on the wooden floor, taking air in like it was the first time from days when she could breathe. Her heartbeat didn't want to come back to its normal rhythm, still remembering what happened just seconds ago. All the pain she felt because of Lucifer, then those red burning eyes of Lust's and his words about loving her unconditionally. And then she just vanished.

She quickly started touching herself, like she wanted to be sure that she's okay. It took her a few seconds before she realized that she was no longer wearing that beautiful black gown with a V-neck, which wasn't very practical after they left the Casino Hell. Now it was gone, and she was again wearing the same clothes that she had on herself in the moment, when she saw Shane dead. Jeans, tight t-shirt and the university jacket that her sister Molly bought her as a present when she found out that Hailie is going to the university.

It was more than surreal, just like their journey In Between never happened. She touched her hair, which were perfectly fine, even though they were not looking good after a long road in the Human's Kingdom. She was all cleaned up, looking exactly like in the moment, when she left Earth.

When was that anyway? In Hell and In Between time floated differently, she knew about that, mostly because she felt no fatigue out there, even if their journey felt like it took days. She didn't think about that at the moment, but it was weird that she was able to function normally. Maybe it was the adrenaline. But how long was she gone? Was it a few hours on Earth? One day? Few days? A week? No longer, for sure.

She instinctively reached out for her phone that was supposed to be in the pocket of her jeans. But it wasn't there, obviously. She didn't have it on herself, when she left Earth. She lost it that day, but now she was more than sure that it wasn't lost, just stolen, probably by Wrath.

"Great" she murmured under her nose, irritated that she didn't know in what moment in time she was or where the other demons were.

They were left with Lucifer, and she was more than scared, thinking what else he will do to them. What will he do to Lust? He was the most disobedient one, he practically attacked the Devil! That surely won't be left without proper punishment. And now she was here all alone, even without Shane. Where was he anyway?

Suddenly Hailie frowned. She was so concerned about checking on herself, that she didn't even realize that it was not her house. Considering that Lucifer brought Shane's soul back and reversed the effects of darkness, it just couldn't be the Bloody Mansion. She was in some kind of wooden room that looked like someone desperately tried to change it into a modern one by decorating it with rich-looking furniture, audio equipment, TV set and all kinds of other top shelf products.

There was a lot of dust. She noticed it right away. It must've meant that nobody was here for a longer time. Or at least, nobody was in this room. She walked up to the window and gazed through it, trying to understand what this place was. Unfortunately, she didn't see more houses, where she could knock and ask for a phone. Just more trees and a huge lake. And it was night. Lovely. Just the kind of view she wanted to see after visiting Hell and In Between. After all the trouble she gets to come back to the scenery taken out of a horror movie.

She slowly touched the window with her forehead, thinking about what to do next. Honestly, she had no idea where she was and going out in the woods wasn't a pleasant option. Neither in night, nor in the daylight, but especially not right now. She took a deep breath. She should at least take a look at the rest of the house. Maybe she will find a phone or something else that might prove itself useful.

On the lower floor, the door suddenly snapped. Hailie shuddered, realizing she was not alone in the house. Someone was walking around the house, making some noise. She slowly turned around, thinking who that can be. She tried to choose whether it was good or not that she was not alone. On one hand, it meant that whoever was in the house could help her. Give her a ride or let her use the phone. On the other hand, she wouldn't be pleased seeing a complete stranger in her house. This person surely will have some questions and he or she can get scared as well. And what was her explanation?

Hey, sorry to bother you, but the Devil sent me back on Earth and it happens that it was your house where I landed.

Then she was struck by another thought.

Why has the Devil sent her right here? He was capable of bringing Shane back to life, but he couldn't send her back to her house? No, something wasn't fitting here.

She swallowed and quietly opened the door, hoping that it wouldn't make any sound. The floor was old and wooden, and it wasn't helping. Really slowly she reached the corridor, moving along the wall. She could hear someone downstairs. It was probably a man, which she deduced from the heavy steps.

The door opened again, and another person walked in. A woman, because of the high heels that must've been the most impractical shoes in the world for a house near the woods.

"I'm here! Now, what do you want from me?"

Hailie opened her eyes wider, realizing she knew that voice way too well. That woman was Amy, what somehow justified high heels in the woods.

And where's Amy, there's-

"No greeting?" Jayson asked, and Hailie's heartbeat sped up rapidly. "That's not how old friends should act towards each other." She wanted to throw up, hearing his snooty, annoying voice.

"Yeah? Friends shouldn't dump each other and lie," she talked back. "You knew that Declan was cheating on me. Besides, I came here, just as you wanted, even if I hate that house just as much as everything else that belonged to Declan."

Hailie connected the dots. So, she was in Declan's house. Of course, he had a house here, because he was studying in this town. And is there a better house for throwing parties every week than the one in the woods, by the lake, with no neighbors? No. Declan loved this shit. He was probably doing drugs a lot, and smoking, and drinking here. Everything he used to do.

"You used to love it here," Jayson said, which meant that it wasn't bought when Declan started studying.

"It was before."

The cabin by the lake. She heard something once about Declan's cabin by the lake, but she never visited it.

"Want some?"

Hailie slowly came closer, but she was too afraid to peek out from behind the wall.

"I drove here," she said responsibly. "But a few sips should be okay. I won't stand you sober." She took the beer from Jayson. "Why did you call me here?"

"To talk," he said, sitting on a couch. "There's still no sign of Declan. I wonder what happened to him. He had his moments, but it's hard to believe that he would just take off like that. His parents say that he probably went on some vacation and will turn out to be fine very soon. What do you think?"

She stayed emotionless. Amy was dumb, but even she could see that Jayson was a threat with his obsession to solve the mystery behind Declan's disappearance.

"I wouldn't be surprised. Maybe he needed to find another girl to fuck, after he lost me and Debra." She shrugged, pretending to know nothing about him.

"Maybe." Jayson took another sip of the beer. "How's Hailie?"

Hailie, who was hiding upstairs, got suddenly nervous. Jayson had an unhealthy obsession about her. He was dangerous and unstable. Someone should put him in jail or better, in a mental facility.

"Fine, I guess. Better without you."

"Have she told you that?" he asked, like he couldn't believe it. Another proof that something was wrong with his head. "Are you two like newly found old besties?"

Amy rolled her eyes.

"She didn't have to tell me that, it's obvious. You're just like Declan. We're both better without you two. And what do you care about our relations anyway? No, we're not best friends, because when she thinks about me, she can't forget what a douchebag you were and still are."

Yeah, but Amy isn't a saint either, thought Hailie.

She moved closer and finally peeked out. Both of them were sitting on a couch on opposite sides, drinking beer. There were few empty bottles already left on the floor and on the table.

"You know nothing about me and Hailie," Jayson freely dared to say.

Amy raised her eyebrows. "I know she hates you. Seriously, just leave her alone. You've been through enough. Start a new life. It would do you good," she honestly said, because deep down she wanted him to get better. Both Hailie and Jayson were better off without any connections between them. "Now, if you excuse me, I don't see any more reasons why I should stay." She stood up, but Jayson didn't look like he was ready to end.

"I see one good reason."

Amy put her hands on hips. "Quit the mood and spill it out. You can play games with other girls, not with me."

Only now Jayson stood up. He drank the rest of the beer and put the empty bottle on the table. "Truth," he said, staring at Amy, who always tended to look perfectly. Even when it was almost night and she was going to her ex-boyfriend's cabin, where she was meeting with an old friend. "I know you're a lying, manipulating bitch, but maybe once you can say the truth?" He walked to the old chest of drawers.

"You're drunk, Jay," she commented, not being wrong. Even though Hailie couldn't see them clearly, she was sure that Jayson was drunk. It was well heard from the tone of his voice. He wasn't as drunk as usually, but enough to pull some shit. "I'm going."

"No, you're not," he said and something in his voice made Amy stop. Hailie understood that she was scared of him. "I know about Declan."

"Okay, if you know where Declan is, then there's no problem," she tried to play, but he already saw through her.

"Only if you think that being dead is not a problem."

She started stressing, thinking that he indeed might've known the truth. But how? There was no possibility that Hailie told him. Or maybe? Was she such a bitch? Was it her revenge? A good one, if so.

"Declan's dead?" she asked, but her voice got high-pitched.

"But you already know that." He started tapping on the chest of drawers with his fingers. "Don't you?" he was teasing her, testing her out.

And Amy was already lost, even if she didn't know that. Maybe if that wasn't true, but Jayson wasn't wrong. Declan was dead and Amy knew that. She was the one to lead him to his death.

"That's some kind of heavy bullshit. I don't know where have you gotten that information from, but-"

"From you," he stated calmly. Hailie knew that he always had this kind of voice before snapping. One moment he seemed all fine, then he was going mad. "I just told him to go inside the house. That's not murder," he quoted Amy, whose eyes got two times bigger.

Hailie felt as if her heart stopped for a moment, because she recognized those words too. Amy said them to Hailie while talking to her in a parking lot by the university. And she met Jayson right after that situation. He might've heard them.

"How-"

"It is murder, Amy." Hailie hated to admit it, but that was something they both agreed on. "You know what's trapped in the Bloody Mansion. Even if you didn't know then you surely suspected that something's off. Now we both know that it's because of the demons, which live there. They killed Declan, but it was because of you. You made him go there."

Amy swallowed hard. It was different when Hailie knew. Now it was both of them, who knew the truth.

But who would believe Jayson anyway? People were seeing the Bloody Mansion as a haunted house for years, besides Jayson didn't have any proof. Nobody saw Declan coming in.

Or out.

That made Amy confident again. He could do nothing about this.

"You're nuts." She didn't admit anything in case he was recording their conversation. "And if Declan's dead, he got what he deserved."

Jayson smiled at her words. He actually never liked her that much. They knew each other since childhood, but it was Declan who was his true friend. Amy? He put up with her only because she was Declan's girlfriend and later Hailie's best friend. Besides that, she was just another annoying and stupid teenager. Nothing like Hailie.

"I suppose that in some kind of way we all deserve it," he said, opening one of the drawers.

"I'm leaving, Jay," Amy said, going backwards, because she was too scared to turn her back on him.

"No, you're not." He reached for something in the drawer, and it made Amy instantly stop.

Hailie was too curious, so she peeked out, noticing that the thing which Jayson pulled out was a gun. She had no idea where he got that. Maybe it was one from Declan's father's collection. However he got into possession of this gun, it made Hailie more terrified than earlier. She tried to back out, but the floor under her foot creaked. Both Amy and Jayson looked at the stairs. Hailie hoped they didn't see her, but it was too late anyway.

"Who's there?" Jayson called, but he didn't stop aiming the gun at Amy. "You brought somebody?" he asked her and then an idea came to his head. "Hailie?" he called out with a smile on his face.

"Hailie, call the police!" Amy yelled and shrugged, when Jayson came closer. She didn't know how the hell Hailie got in here, but she might've helped them both.

"Shut up or I'll blow your mind," he warned her, putting the gun right to her head. To be sure that Amy won't try anything, he took her bag and threw it across the room.

Hailie started breathing heavily, thinking about a possible way out. She'll never make it to the front door and it was too high for her to jump out of the window.

"Please, Jayson. You're drunk. Think about what you're doing," Amy pleaded, trying to stay calm. She knew that Jayson didn't like hysterical girls.

"I know what I'm doing. I knew all along. You think that it's okay to kill Declan? You think that you'll stay unpunished? That you'll get away with this?"

Amy's body started trembling. She really didn't want to die. Especially not because of Declan. He was haunting her even after his death. What a jerk. 

Hailie bit her lip. She couldn't leave Amy alone. Besides, they had more chances by working together. She took a big gasp of air and yelled, "Put the gun down or I'll call the police!"

Jayson frowned, thinking about his next step. He gripped tighter the handle of the weapon, then he made up his mind. "Do it!" he yelled. "And I'll kill Amy."

"No!" Amy cried out and Jayson caught her by the hair.

It's not like Hailie could actually call the police. She just hoped that Jayson would come to his senses. But this time, it was the worst. He had nothing else to lose. His parents were dead, and so was his best friend. He was left with no one who would be able to stop him.

"Come on, show yourself!" he ordered Hailie, but she was not so keen on doing that. "You've got five second and I'll pull the trigger." She wasn't sure if he was really going to kill Amy. "Five!" Was he that mad? It would send him to jail. "Four!" Killing somebody. Jayson had his dark side, but was he able to do so? "Three!" Amy was and Hailie would've never guessed that. "Two!" Should she save Amy, after everything she has done? "One!"

Hailie came out from behind the wall, standing at the threshold of the stairs. She slowly put her hands in the air, showing that she had nothing on herself. Jayson realized it was a bluff, although he couldn't understand why she came here without her phone or anything else.

"Let her go, please," she pleaded, trying her best to be nice and obedient. That was the only way to win with Jayson. Pretending. "Think about the consequences. Is Amy really worth it? There's just so much better way to ruin her than killing her," she tried to convince him.

"She knew about Declan?" he asked Amy, pulling her by long, blonde hair.

"Not until it was done," she said the truth, but even if Hailie helped her, she wouldn't give her out.

"And I suppose she actually didn't know about my parents. You have too good a heart to kill all three of them so cold-blooded, don't you?" he asked, but Hailie didn't answer. "I wonder, what's it like to live with demons? How have you managed to stay alive? You've made some kind of pact?"

"I didn't know they were demons at the beginning. I don't know why they didn't kill me. Maybe I was too broken by you, and they just pitied me so much," she talked back, realizing that it sounded way too rude.

Not a good move. He got uneasy.

"I should kill both of you. They're all dead because of you two." She noticed that his hand started trembling for a moment. He was fighting with his thoughts.

"Wouldn't you miss me?" she softly asked, and Amy parted her mouth, full of admiration for Hailie's play. She started thinking that maybe after all they will get out. If Hailie gives Jayson what he wants, or at least make him softer. "I'd be gone. Forever."

"I'd miss you," he admitted. "You're right. I have much bigger plans for you," he said darkly. Amy thought that she wouldn't mind if Hailie gave up just so both of them could live. "Death is the last stage of them."

Hailie tried to stay unmoved by his words. She just came back from a visit in Hell, but meeting with Lucifer now seemed like nothing, compared to Jayson. Her real nightmare. The one that actually could hurt her physically.

"Please, Jayson."

He breathed in, like it was a pleasure. "Yes, say it once again," he moaned. "Please, Jayson, don't kill Amy. Would you do the same for Hailie?" he now asked Amy, who couldn't see the real Jayson up to this moment. She realized that everything that Hailie was saying about him was true.

She was always his victim.

And then she understood that she actually would mind if Hailie gave up to Jayson for both of them. She didn't want that.

"Yes," she loudly said, looking into Hailie's eyes. "Quit it, Jayson. If you kill me or her, you'll go to jail. Believe me, it's not a place where you want to spend the rest of your life." She started looking for some kind of weapon to fight back. There were many bottles on the floor, but it wouldn't be enough.

"So tell me, where do I want to spend the rest of my life?" he asked, as if it was indifferent to him.

Amy took a breath. It wasn't possible to calm him down. He already made up his mind. Now he was just playing with them. He was having fun, teasing them, before doing it anyway. And so, the only way out was the actual fight. Especially that at least one of them should get out. Hailie had bigger chances.

"Maybe in Hell? Because that's where Declan's soul was dragged, along with your parents. To spend the eternity there, paying for all their sins and choices with an unending pain." She felt as he was getting more and more angry. Hailie shook her head, but Amy wasn't done. "They deserved it! Declan deserved to die!"

"So do you!" Jayson yelled, while Hailie took the vase that was standing on the table, and she threw it on the floor to make noise. It got his attention and Amy hit him in the stomach with her elbow. It was enough for him to let her go and push on the floor. She quickly reached for the bottle as something to hit Jayson with.

"Second room on the right, the gun!" she yelled to Hailie, saying where she could find more weapons.

But before she had a chance to run for a pistol, Jayson fired his gun in the balustrade of the stairs. Hailie stopped with her eyes wide open. It was a warning shot, so she wouldn't make another move. His stomach was slightly in pain, but he was standing straight again. He might've seemed calm, but his eyes were giving it all up.

"That's how the story ends," he said with his teeth clenched, and aimed his gun at Amy, who was lying on the floor with a bottle in her hand. He was implacable. Amy already knew what's going to happen. She looked at Hailie as if she was asking her to run and live. "The unlucky bitch gets what she deserves for."

Jayson fired, sending the bullet right into Amy's head.