Zoe finished reading the note, and the key appeared from inside the ritual circle. The guests looked to one another, laughing in relief. Thomas took the final key.

We did it. We survived.

We actually made it out of this alive.

We finally get to go home, but no one will ever believe what happened here.

The guests opened the library doors, to see that the zombies were still there. Panicking, Thomas and Zoe ran through the horde, but Joel wasn't to lucky. Lizzie grabbed his arm as he tried to escape and bit him. The other zombies forced him to the ground and ripped him to pieces, all while he screamed in agony.

"Go! Please! Escape! Save yourselves!" he shouted to Thomas and Zoe. While the zombies were preoccupied, Thomas and Zoe ran towards the door. Nothing followed them. They could still hear Joel screaming, although his screams seemed to be getting weaker.

"What just happened, I thought we were safe!" Zoe cried.

"They killed Joel!" Thomas said, in shock. They stood near the main door for a while, processing what just happened, and listening to Joel's anguished please for mercy and a quick death. Eventually, he went quiet, as did the zombies.

Thomas and Zoe walked back to see that the zombies were mostly gone. Only a few remained, but they were all dead again. And Joel lay in the middle of them, almost unrecognisable now. Blood covered his corpse and the other zombies around them.

"How come some of the zombies are still here?" Zoe asked.

"Because the society never picked up their bodies. The spirit just made copies of some of them. I don't think they're be able to hurt us, even if they wanted to," Thomas said.

"Just ghosts I suppose," Zoe said, "poor Joel. He was so close to freedom."

"And what an awful way to go," Thomas added. They stood silently for a moment, silently paying their respects to Joel, and to everyone else who died.

"We should go, the sun is about to come up," Zoe said. The two of them made their way to the main door. Thomas unlocked the final lock, which vanished along with the key. The note changed one more time,

Goodbye, my friends. All the best, Joey Graceffa.

"It was Joey who saved us," Thomas said.

"He's been freed. I wondered why his zombie wasn't here, he was still helping us. He's not possessing my anymore either," Zoe said.

"How do you know that?" Thomas asked.

"I was always aware of his presence. It's not there anymore," she explained. They heard the door unlock. They pushed the doors open and left the castle.