“No. No. NO… I FUCKING HATE YOU, AVA. I HATE YOU.”

Books flew across the library as Josh’s last shred of sanity snapped. The cobwebs hung like fragile curtains, shredded to wisps as the books tore through them. Shelves collapsed from their resting place. The harmony that once reigned in the library was mauled to bits.

“I want to fucking die. You ruined my life, you miserable bastard.”

“I wish I had fucking killed you. You are a goddamn monster.”

“I should have seen the signs. It was my fault for not breaking up with her when she got angry about petty things.”

Josh crumbled into tears as he contemplated that he had dated a serial killer. The darkness closed in on him like a heavy blanket, suffocating and all-encompassing, pulling him further into the void. His skin felt as though it were burning alive, yet his body shivered uncontrollably, his breath visible in the frigid air that seemed to surround him.

His fists slammed against the floor until they throbbed, but the pain was not enough to drown out the storm inside. Blood oozed from the split skin on his knuckles, a crimson reminder of his helplessness. His mind begged for quiet, but the thoughts kept roaring, a relentless torrent of agony and rage. Memories of Ava’s smile, her touch, her lies flashed in jagged fragments, each one cutting deeper than the last.

The room around him spun, bookshelves and shadows warping into monstrous shapes that seemed to mock his torment. He clutched at his head, his nails digging into his scalp as if he could tear her out of his thoughts. “Get out,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “Get out of my head.”

For a split second, he remembered who he was before all of this—the boy who laughed, who dreamed. But that boy was long gone now, replaced by the shell of someone who could not escape the nightmare he had created for himself.

“My little monkey.”

Josh’s head snapped up, his breath hitching as a voice, soft and familiar, floated through the air. There they stood—his parents, their faces alight with pride, just as he remembered. Miranda extended her arms, her smile warm and inviting, while Quentin looked on with quiet approval, the embodiment of love and safety.

Tears blurred Josh’s vision as he stumbled toward them, his chest filling with a bittersweet ecstasy he had not felt in years. “Mom… Dad…” His voice cracked, raw with longing.

But just as he reached Miranda’s outstretched hands, movement flickered behind her.

Ava.

She emerged like a shadow, her eyes gleaming, a knife glinting in her grip.

“NOOOOOOOO!” Josh screamed, his voice tearing through the silence. He lunged forward, desperate to shield his mother, but his fingers barely brushed hers before the image shattered like fragile glass.

He was alone again, the weight of emptiness crushing him. His sobs echoed through the library, a hollow reminder of everything he had lost.

His world twisted into monsters, relentless and cruel, breaking him piece by piece.

He could not live with this pain anymore. He knew it would haunt him forever, for eternity. He wanted to end it all. No more mourning. No more pain. No more.

His hand hesitated before sliding into his pocket, retrieving a pocket knife. The same one Ava used to murder his parents.

“Your little monkey is coming to you mom and dad,” Josh muttered as he swallowed bittersweet tears flowing down his cheek.

He pressed the blade to his palm, feeling the cold steel bite into his skin. Blood trickled down, warm and steady, pooling on the dusty floor beneath him. The library grew deathly silent, the storm inside him finally beginning to wane.

Josh closed his eyes, his breathing slowing as he waited for the angel of death to take him home.