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Chapter 35 - The Forest

  Ellis felt the mattress of her bed, mumbling in her slumber, but suddenly stopped and opened up her eyes. She sat up and looked around, confused out of her wits. In front of her eyes, was a frostbitten forest. The ground was covered in a hill of white brambles and the trees were all bare. Ellis slowly stood up and looked around, suddenly noticing that she was dressed in her suit. Throwing her fedora onto the ground, she rubbed her eyes, not believing the spectacle, and then suddenly slapped herself. The forest still remained intact. She slowly walked through it, the brambles crackling and snapping beneath her shoes. Suddenly, she spotted a skull on the ground, staring back at her, displaying a permanent grin. Then a realisation hit her. It wasn't brambles that she was standing on – it was a hill of bones. Walking further on, a mountain came into her view. A mountain of skeletons. She staggered back, hitting a tree and ran her hands through her hair, trying to get over the guilt of allowing all of her henchmen to die. She panted, her eyes watering up. After a small moment, she managed to control her breathing and sniffled, calming her broken nerves. Blinking her tears away, she moved forward. That was when she spotted a skeleton in a suit, slumped against a tree. She walked up to it. The white striped suit was torn and eaten away by moths. A fedora laid by the skeleton, torn and battered. Ellis collapsed to her knees and screamed in anguish, realising that it was Frank. She bent over and banged her fist on the broken hill of bones, cursing repeatedly. She placed her palms down and sobbed, quivering like jelly. After a moment, she got up, still on her knees and looked up into the grey sky, controlling her sobs. She staggered back up onto her own two feet once more and walked further. That was when she saw the cliff. Walking up to it, she stood at the very edge and looked down at the bottomless abyss. Putting a foot out, she stepped off into the void. Her hair whipped through the wind tunnel as she plummeted downwards. Suddenly, she gasped, bolting upright in her bed. She ripped away the duvet and sat at the edge of the bed, staring into the dark abyss. The only light in the room came from the air vent in the wall, shining onto her bed. Ellis opened up a small bedside cupboard and grabbed a short tumbler along with a bottle of whisky. She poured herself a portion and stood up, taking a gulp. She proceeded to pace up and down her room, not one shred of emotion present on her face, her mind broken beyond repair. Suddenly, her face contorted into rage. She twisted round and threw the glass, letting it shatter against the wall.

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