#also*

Nour was ready to leave even with the joy of this new discovery.

She did not need Harvey, or slasher, or most of the other killers.

Bluudud was an exception, but he would be easy enough to get back. Thus, he returned too. His mother, not yet having been thrown into this hell, was not aware of her son's liveliness. Nour took him in as well for that reason.

C00lk1dd and Bluudud were not friends, not enemies, more like buddies. 007n7 was kinder to the children here than Nour thought. His fatherly tone was more warm.

Losing a kid can do that to you. Especially if you get them back.

Nour wonders what she would have been like as a mother if she never lost her own.

Probably a little more steady.

Happier.

Or maybe it would have been worse.

Oh well.

Not the point.

An empty storage cabin beside Jane’s was now Nour and 007n7’s. It only had two beds, but letting the children sleep comfortably was more important than anything else. So they did. Extra blankets, courtesy of the other survivors, were laid on the floor as makeshift beds.

The spectre was not happy about their peace.

Or the loss of his killers.

Rounds got harder, Harvey became a huge part of the rounds. Over and over again. Nour felt guilty for wanting to leave him there. But.. did she really want to? After all he did, eternal hell seemed like a blessing to most.

This…

Was not the way Nour wished it to be. She didn’t leave his presence because she stopped loving him, she needed to love herself. Loving yourself is hard. 007n7 and c00lk1dd showed her how to do that.

Even now, Bluudud, who was reluctant, seemed to appreciate her. But she wouldn’t be the reason someone fell into eternal hell like this. She wanted to set Harvey free. To let him live a life worthy of redeeming himself.

She came to a realization.

She did not hate.

She did not love him.

She just wanted to be free.

Now, he could be too.

She decided to free him.

This was something Jane and 007n7 didn’t love, but would let her do.

Reluctantly.

“Harvey is… not a good man. Not at all. I know that. That doesn’t change that he’s just as trapped as we are.” Nour speaks gently while combing through her hair. 007n7 wraps an arm around her shoulder.

“Anything you need to feel better, Nour. Anything I can do to help you?” He asks. Nour shakes her head and leans against him.

“No. Not this time. You take care of c00lk1dd this time.” She nods and sits up. The bell chimes as if on command. 007n7 nods and leaves to grab their son.

Ding.

Not Harvey.

Unsurprising.

Nour waits it out. Rounds of slasher, and many assorted killers. Many she doesn’t know or understand. It hurts a bit, knowing that. Soon, of course, she must face him.

He is not easy to avoid. Good thing now, Nour assumes. Agile enough to evade his advances, but not enough to avoid his sidetracking mind.

The c00lgui works perfectly every time so far.

This is no different.

A coded tail whips around Harvey, throwing him in a circle. The wings on his face flutter in shock, showing a mutilated face.

Nour gags and continues. He grips and rips at the coding. Luckily, this doesn’t bother Nour. “NOUR!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO ME-” Harvey yelps. The bell chimes. Not much time left.

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND LET ME FREE YOU-”

rip.

Tail.

gone.

Harvey was not in the rounds again.

No more.

The spectre had enough.

Code began to break. Puddles returning, like the ones before they arrived here. 007n7 gripped his son and Nour, and Nour pulled in Bluudud. The children wailed in fear.

Nour didn’t blame them.

She cried in agony as coding overwhelmed her. The other survivors matched it, without intention. The game was not meant to do that. Things were breaking.

Very wrong and incorrect.

Nour didn’t know what̶̙̚ w̷͈͂as ̴͔͍̆happ̴͔͆̒ening to it.