Dreader's Escape

Alternate Ending

A/N:

Okay! So this is the final chapter! This chapter makes up for all the angst :) Now, originally, when I first started writing this story, an alternate ending was not planned whatsoever. The story was just going to end at the last chapter, and there was going to be nothing else afterwards. It was just going to be a bad ending, because that is what was planned since I first started this story back in 2017. It was not going to have a happy ending at all, because I'm cruel like that. XD BUT... About a month or two ago, as I was writing one of the chapters, I wrote something which you will find familiar when you begin this chapter, and it suddenly gave me an idea to make this. I just decided why not, you know? The characters suffered a shit ton, and I was feeling generous, so I gave them another chance. But that doesn't mean I'm going to always do that with my stories that have bad endings XD I just really loved these characters and thought they deserved better.

Now... The sad part, I guess, is that this ending is not real. It's just an alternate ending, meaning what happened in the previous ending is exactly how the story concluded. That is the true ending, this isn't. Which means, everything that happened to the characters happened for real. Despite that, this chapter is still something to make up for all the sadness, and I hope you enjoy it even if it's not really how the story ended. :)

Okay, final thing-- The song above is basically the theme song of this story 😤 Every time I listen to it and think of these characters, I cry 😭 The few lyrics at the end of this chapter are from the song, so give it a listen! It just gives me this mountain vibe and the lyrics really fit well with the characters

That is all! Please enjoy the end of Dreader's Escape! Thank you for reading 🥺

. . .

"Cannon ballll!"

I sat up with a large gasp as my pool floaty was pushed back due to the waves of someone jumping in. I had gripped onto the straps by instinct, quickly sitting up straight and looking around in shock. That was when I saw Asher's head pop up out of the water, laughing while he pushed his wet hair out of his face. "Hey babe! Finally woke up that drunk girl in our bedroom and got her to go home, or at least back to the lodge," he spoke, continuing to ramble on about the drunk girl, while I just stared at him completely stunned and visibly confused. It was... Like I was seeing a ghost. "She wasn't even that cute either," he went on, laughing again which had my heart clenching.

No... No, no, no. This was a dream. I was... I'm dead. This is the afterlife for me. Right? He's not there. That's not him! How could it be?

Asher stopped rambling and looked at me, frowning a bit. "Hey, you okay? You're as pale as a ghost; sorry if I woke you. You must have been sleeping," he said to me, swimming a bit closer.

Sleeping? Sleeping...

I didn't even really want to accept that this was all happening; I keep hoping this is all just some bad dream and I'll wake up any minute now. Can't it just be a bad dream? Maybe I'm just passed out in the lounge floaty back at the pool right before Asher jumped in and freaked me out. God, I just... I desperately wish that was the case.

Oh my god... A dream. A bad dream.

"Lonnie? You okay?" Asher asked, sounding extremely worried. I felt tears well up in my eyes as I stared at him, hoping to God all of that really was a bad dream and that Asher was actually alive right in front of me. "Lon--"

I instantly jumped off of the pool floaty and quickly waded over to Asher, throwing my arms around him and giving him a tight hug. Asher tensed up, laughing a little as he wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me back. "Hey, hey... You okay? Did you have a bad dream?" He asked me. I slowly pulled away, tears falling down my face as I stared at him, reaching out and holding his face in my hands. "Y-You're okay! Oh my god... This is real, right? You're real?" I cried, touching him all over just to make sure he really was here right in front of me. Asher chuckled a little and looked at himself. "I mean, I feel real," he joked, looking back up at me, smiling. "And of course I'm okay. What'd you think happened to me?"