Hide & Seek 2: The Return of Mr. Harmon

Chapter 23: Helena's Sacrificed

As I hold the ring in front of me, Mr. Harmon stares at it. He's standing right in front of me, looking into my eyes hard. My hand is shaking so badly that I think I'm going to drop the ring. Jasper slowly sneaks behind me and I turn around.

"Get back, Jasper," I warn him then look back at Mr. Harmon. He's closer to me now and we're face to face. Jasper is looking at Mr. Harmon, making sure he doesn't do anything. However, Jasper is too slow. Mr. Harmon reaches into my stomach then whispers the worst two words someone has ever whispered to me. 

"You're dead," he says.

I clutch the ring in my hand then fall to the ground. My breathing slows down and each breath I take gets harder and harder and harder. I can see Jasper and he's yelling my name but my vision of him slowly fades away until I'm engulfed with darkness.

***

I've failed. I lost the game. I lost my life to the book. I've lost my family. I've lost my brother. I don't know what I am. I don't feel anything. I don't see anything. Everything is dark. The only thing I can fathom is my thoughts. Then I see it. A small light shines from the inside of my palm.

The light slowly forms into the ring and when I look in front of me, I see Helena. She smiles at me and I almost cry because I thought I would never see anyone again, let alone Helena. 

"Good thing our kiss didn't wear off." she says. 

I wipe the tears falling on my cheek and smile at her. "I guess not." My words come out a little too fast.

"And I hope the other kisses work too," she says, confusing me.

"What?" I ask.

She takes the ring from my hand then, while her other pushes me back. "I won't do it without your permission, Emily."

I'm confused. "Do what?"

"Send us down. Forever," Helena says.

I shake my head. "No. No there has to be another way. If you die, and the book dies, what happens to my parents? I can't do that to them."

Suddenly, Jerod, Caleb, and my parents appear in front of me. They look normal and not scary but their expressions reveal that they're afraid. My parents give me a weak smile. My heart is about to burst from emotion because I haven't seen them except in different, scarier forms. 

"Baby, let us go," my mother says. Her voice is airy and light. "We'll always be with you."

Caleb tugs my arms. "You two have to hurry and destroy this book. No more deaths," Caleb says then his body and my parent's body unexpectedly fades away.

"No more deaths."

Helena smiles. "If we go, Emily... I'll take care of them to the best of my ability." She turns and runs quickly in the opposite direction. 

If?

I try to chase her but the further she gets, the more light I lose. She stops in one spot then looks at me. "Goodbye, Emily," she says. She falls back against the floor. Her hand with the ring plunges through her chest. When her hand reaches her heart, I can see her squeezing it over and over again until it bursts open, spilling blood on and around her body. It's the most unwholesome thing I have ever seen in my life and I don't think I'll ever forget it.

I back away because I begin to hear loud wailing again. Like from the statues. I run in the opposite direction but trip when the darkness is no longer under my feet. I fall onto the grass. Next to me is one of my pocket knives. When I look up, I can see Mr. Harmon walking toward Jasper. I quickly run toward them with my knife out in one hand. I'm not running quietly either. I scream as I approach him. When I do, I slide the blade across his filthy throat. Blood spurts onto Jasper but Mr. Harmon is not dead. He keeps trying to attack Jasper. I let the blade cut his eye sockets, making one black eye fall onto the ground. I pull Mr. Harmon onto the ground but he isn't dying. He's still reaching for Jasper.

Suddenly, I realize why he isn't dead. I forgot the magic words.

"You're dead!" I scream into his ear. His body doesn't waste a second before falling limply to the ground. 

I sit there for a second and Doreen and Jasper stare at me. I look around me and everyone else is gone, even Mrs. Harmon. I slam my fist onto the ground, angry that I had lost my brother again. I'm about to go into a sobbing frenzy when I see bright lights above me.

The lights continue to lower down. When they reach the ground, the lights start to form into figures. A smile slowly crosses my face and I can't believe my eyes. It's Jerod and China, and next to them are... Caleb and my parents. But how? 

"How?" I choke.

Jerod smiles. "Well, it involved kissing Helena so we couldn't be sacrificed. "

Then I'm thinking, oh, that's what she meant by the other kisses. 

"I guess she didn't kiss Rosemary, huh?" Jasper says.

We look at him strangely. Why would he want Helena to kiss her? 

"What?" Caleb asks him.

Jasper shrugs. "Nothing. Nothing." He turns to me. "I'm just glad everyone's back. And that you're alive, Emily." 

I smile at him then run into my parents' arms. Their touch feeld so unreal. So unreal that I can't stop crying. I'm actually afraid because I'm not someone you call lucky. I'm far from it. But in this moment, I'm the luckiest person in the world.

"Jasper!" someone says from above. There is one more bright light that hovers to the ground. Its figure turns into a very familiar person. Violet. "I'm not saved but my ghost is, however, I can't stay. So here's a gift for you." 

Violet's ghostly body shifts into Coraline's body. Jasper lights up with joy and hugs her. He looks into the air for a second. "Thank you, Helena." 

So there we are, having a big family reunion in Mr. Harmon's park when I notice something on the ground next to where Mr. Harmon died. I gasp quickly, alarming my parents. I run over to it, praying that it's not what I think it is. But it is... the damn book.