The Cure To A Broken Mind

The Bonus Chapter!

((A/n)): Friendly reminder this isn't the canon ending to the story,, canonically, everyone dies- and the story ends when (y/n) finally gets to live her life out in her oceanic paradise. This bonus simply explores the idea of- well, what if they didn't die? I hope you enjoy!

        The serenity of the beach's gently crashing waves was nearly overwhelming. At some point in what little fraction of a life I could recall, I probably would have told you that I knew what it was like to be calm. In fact, I probably could have argued that the night's I'd spent with the doctor, laying out in the grass and looking up at that endlessly perfect sky, would have been considered calm. But now, having fallen entirely from that almost torturously eventful life, I would tell you I had never known the word until now.

        The gentle waters no longer held me in its reckless maw but lapped gently at my toes, which were submerged just along the sandy shore. It was silent, all but the gulls from above and the soft, kissing breeze that washed over me.

        There was something about it that felt so ominously right- but unfortunately, something in the air told me that I wasn't allowed to stay much longer. I was lost in some sort of tranquil paradise, and soon, the search party would drag me back to a life I didn't want. The soppy sand beneath my feet grew muddy- like quicksand beneath my soles, dissolving and slipping between my toes and riding up my legs-

        I fell right through the clouds of paradise and crashed through the waves of heaven- falling so suddenly into the darkness of hell, all redemption lost.

        I reached to grab the edge of my dreams, but it fell between my fingers and was sucked away from existence- out of sight and out of mind. The inky embrace of what could have been considered death was slowly letting me go, pardoning my pain and trading me back to life- but I was fighting to stay in its comforting dark cloak.

        I struggled now, to avoid the breath that drowned me, but despite my efforts, the abyss that had filled my vision slowly lifted from the haze and the harsh, painful reality struck.

        I wasn't dead.

        Immediately I was hit with a silence so loud it was nearly deafening. It pressed to my ears like muddy water which the world around me dug at with piercing claws- raking the silence into a horrid ringing. It plagued my head with a migraine unlike any other- but it was the first of many horrors.

        I winced, but it only worsened my form. I whined thereafter, unable to bite back my own cries as my numbed body gave way to all forms of pain. Finally, though, my vision struggled the blur.

        The sky around me still seemed like an inky black abyss- but only because the stars had been blotched away with that of smoke. In fact, one could argue I had been thrown so far into the air moments prior I'd landed myself right next to one- the cabin a bright, blazing ember that spilled from the cabin.

        My senses were coming to, one by one, all up until I found myself sitting up slowly- fighting the aching of my form as I watched the blaze. It became apparent to me now that I had the opportunity to get up and walk away and start a brand new life of my own. Though, I didn't know if this was truly what I wanted- I wanted to return to my oceanic paradise, honestly.

        Though, as I stared into the blistering flames, something seemed to cast a shadow between it all. An opaque object- like somehow, a small fraction of the walls that had long since crumbled away was still standing in the midst of it all.

        But then, it moved.

        It grew- doubled, no- tripled in size. It came in my direction at this point- until my hazy vision was able to tell it was the silhouette of a person. A tall, broad figure- large wings sprawled from their back, molting away under the pressure of the heat. An angel. There was an angel in those flames.