It was taller than God, and much more grotesque than anyone expected, though God himself was unfazed.

The being limped as it slowly marched towards God and Adira, almost stumbling as it pushed past trees. It's thin, deformed limbs swayed from to side as it lidless eyes and lipless mouth widened in unison. God protectively shielded Adira, making sure she didn't see how foul the creature was.

He knew the cult was involved with it. They had tried to play God and upgrade mortals into something like him. The outcome was a crazed, deformed, monstrous human- if you could even call it that.

Behind God, Adira was having problems controlling her breathing as her chest became became heavy with fear and anxiety. She unintentionally squeezed the end of his jacket, burying her face in the fabric as she heard the new creature's breath become louder.

"Adira."

She blinked a couple times, wondering if she was hearing things until the familiar voice called out to her again, this time behind her. She stiffened and slowly turned, swallowing uneasily when her eyes rested on a rather strange looking man. He was partially standing behind a tree far off, but no matter the distance Adira knew who she was looking at.

"K-Kevin?!" She whispered harshly, almost letting go of God until Kevin wasn't where he used to be. She looked around frantically, jumping when she noticed he had gotten closer. He was now standing to the right of her, seemingly completely oblivious to the chaos unfolding next to them.

"We were wrong to come here," Kevin spoke in a raspy voice, and it was then that Adira noticed dried blood on the sides of his mouth. He looked so pale, so sick, so...dead.

"Get out of here, Kevin!" Adira wasn't keeping quiet anymore, and she felt God grab a rough hold of her arm.

"What are you doing." He snapped, keeping his voice down as the thing in front of him began to hunch down, noticing the human that had been hiding.

Adira didn't understand why God couldn't see Kevin, but she stopped when her eyes landed on the deformed abomination that was now glaring directly at her. Her jaw fell open in disgust and horror, causing a hand to fly to her mouth as she tried to suppress a shriek. It wasn't due to the fact that the monster was so hideous, but rather because she recognized it. She had seen it in her dreams not long ago, when Kevin had taken her into him and Conrad's camping area.

Adira carefully turned to Kevin, who was still where she had last seen him. He was slowly unbuttoning his shirt now, a sad hopeless look on his face as he exposed what was left of his stomach. Nothing but a mangled mess of spine, blood, and guts.

"After Mitch, they found us, Adira. They locked us both inside a place. He went mad and ate me. He escaped them...and hid in a cave until-."

Adira felt her whole body become petrified, and she was completely out of touch with reality until she was pushed on the floor.

God had managed to save her from getting grabbed by their attacker, and now held a firm grip on the thin but strong arms of the creature Adira realized was Conrad.

She immediately got up, tears streaming down her face at the outcome of the three men.

Once united, they were now completely torn apart. Kevin had been eaten by his friend, Conrad transformed into a monstrosity, and Mitch's soul was sacrificed for God.

It was too late for any of them now, and in her heart she felt time had run up for her as well.

Adira looked at her hands, down at the necklace that once belonged to her lover. She had forgotten she grabbed a hold of it. With shaky fingers, she opened up the locket and painfully read the message inside.

'Always in my heart'.

Her picture was to the right, slightly worn out from how much her boyfriend used to rub it.

"You're always in my heart, Mitch," She whispered, raising her eyes at the scene of the two creatures fighting. With all the courage she could muster, Adira yelled at Conrad and hurled a large rock at his face.

God whirled at the girl in disbelief, but didn't have time to curse at her before Conrad took a giant leap in her direction. She was now running, making sure he was following her every now and then so he wouldn't stray away. God seemed to be catching up as well, huffing and puffing angrily though Adira ignored it. She had a plan to save them all, everyone- including Conrad.

It didn't take long for her to find the lake she almost killed herself in, though she had accidentally come up on the wrong side. Down below her was a steep cliff, covered with sharp rocks and trees with branches that would hurt if she fell on them.

Despite it all, she squeezed her eyes shut and stepped forward.

Her heart flew to her throat as the sensation of falling rose in her stomach, only to be replaced with pain as she bounced of everything she was scared to come in contact with on the way down.

Adira couldn't help but let out a shout as she kept rolling, until she ultimately came to a stop.

She didn't think of how hard it would be to get up and move towards the waters, but with her adrenaline flowing she managed to lift her head, then her arms, and finally her legs.

Conrad was only a few inches from her, his curved fingers reaching out towards the woman as he clawed his way down the hill. If it wasn't for God, he would have yanked Adira by then.

"What are you doing?!" God viciously spat at the human as she struggled to carry her sore body towards the waters. He was having a difficult time holding Conrad back, and only found a way to control the thing by sinking his teeth into its neck.

It let out a garbled hiss and whine, tugging and pulling until its skin eventually began to tear off.

Adira panted heavily, her legs shaking as she submerged them into the icy cold lake. Once she was waist deep, she turned towards the struggling beasts, and looked directly into God's eyes. He momentarily got distracted by the look on her face- her sad, exhausted expression mixed with suffering and determination.

She gave a nod, and he realized what she wanted him to do.

He initially refused, squeezing the thrashing monster and biting down even deeper.

"Let him go," Adira yelled amidst the struggle, stepping back further into the lake until her head was the only thing visible above the waters. "You have to let him go!"

God didn't respond or do anything. He felt his grip loosening, and he didn't understand why.

There was a voice in him, something telling him he had to do it, to let her go. It was unfair, though. He wanted to keep her, for her to be happy. Why did Mitch love her so much? Was it really Mitch's feelings inside him, causing him to feel that way or had he developed emotions of his own?

God felt something foreign trickle down his cheek. Another one fell down his other cheek, and he couldn't understand what was happening.

The creature he was holding suddenly elbowed him from underneath his chin, momentarily catching him off guard. It was enough to make him lose his grip for a second, however, and enough to make Conrad slip free.

Everything after happened in slow motion.

Adira watched as Conrad lunged at her, disregarding the fact that she was intentionally sinking herself into the depths with some rocks she had picked up.

It was only when he jumped into the lake did he realize where he was.

Adira remembered Conrad couldn't swim, and in fact almost drowned a couple years ago was it not for Mitch. He had a tremendous fear of water since then. If any humanity was left in the poor beast, then surely Adira's plan would work.

Underneath the calm, silent waves, she opened her eyes and watched as Conrad paused, then began to struggle. He attempted to lift himself up for air. She quickly wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding him tight as they both descended into the darkness.

For a moment, as their eyes connected, Adira could finally see him.

He was terrified and guilty. He didn't know what or who he was anymore, or why he felt the need to brutally murder every human he saw. Despite how horrifying he was, Adira rested her head against his and squeezed her eyes, trying to think of all the fun times the men used to have.

"I know you're scared, Conrad. Remember your friends who love you...please stop all this..." Adira hoped he could hear her voice, and despite him attempting to escape, it was like he knew.

Conrad's urges to break free subsided until he was no longer trying to push away from Adira. Instead, the both of them sank until they hit rock bottom.

The woman could feel herself losing her grip as she saw the last airs of bubbles trickle from her mouth.

She was afraid, and though she wished she would survive the ordeal, her fate was inevitable. The only thing that kept her calm was knowing everyone else would be okay. At least, Conrad wouldn't be mass slaughtering everyone. As for God? Well, she only hoped...

Before she could finish her thoughts, Adira went limp.

xxx

I just wanted to say I lost my beautiful baby boy Chungus today. He was my world, my son, my baby, my best friend, my therapy animal, my sanity. We went through thick and thin together.

From here on out he's going to be in every book I write somewhere, even this one. Just you guys wait and see. He was a darling. I love him.

No one will understand the unending pain I'm going through. Sorry if my chapters lack life but I will try to keep them in good shape. We are almost to the end, after all.

He's going to be cremated. Here he is a week ago. I'm so devastated.