THE LAST DREAMER

The air in the room was thick with the smell of burning wood and decaying stone, and the ground beneath Ethan's feet felt unstable, as if the very foundation of the mansion was slowly crumbling beneath them. His breath came in ragged gasps, every inhale a reminder of how close they were to the edge of despair. Maya clung to him, her fingers icy against his skin, but he could feel the same cold fear coursing through her veins, mirroring his own.

They had come so far. But now, standing in front of the black stone, the reality of their situation felt heavier than ever.

The pedestal seemed to pulse with a life of its own, the stone glowing faintly as it called to them. Ethan could feel its energy pulling him in, whispering promises of power, of answers, of an end to the torment they had been enduring. But he knew better. This stone was the source of the nightmare. And if they didn't destroy it now, it would consume them all.

The distant sounds of battle—Henry fighting off Jake, his voice filled with desperation and fury—echoed from the darkness beyond the pedestal. But Ethan knew they couldn't afford to wait. They couldn't afford to listen to the chaos any longer. This was their moment.

"Ethan, what do we do?" Maya's voice was barely a whisper, her eyes locked on the stone with a mix of awe and fear. She knew, just as he did, that the decision they made here would shape the end of their story.

Ethan didn't answer right away. Instead, his gaze moved to the shadows around them, as if expecting the mansion itself to rise up and strike them down for even thinking about defying it. But all that greeted him was silence—deep, suffocating silence. And the faint, rhythmic hum of the stone.

"We have to destroy it," Ethan said finally, his voice barely above a whisper. His hands were shaking, but he forced himself to step forward, ignoring the gnawing fear that threatened to paralyze him. The stone's energy pressed against him like an invisible force, urging him to turn back.

Maya hesitated for a moment before following him. She reached out, her fingers brushing the surface of the pedestal, and instantly, a jolt of energy shot through her, making her stumble back. Her eyes widened in shock, and she looked at Ethan with a mixture of fear and uncertainty.

"Ethan... I don't know if I can do this," she said, her voice trembling. "What if it's too late? What if we're just making things worse?"

Ethan reached for her hand, his grip firm, grounding her in the moment. "We don't have a choice," he said, his words laced with a determination that surprised even him. "We've already lost too much. If we don't end this now, if we don't stop it, we're going to lose everything."

She didn't speak for a long moment, her eyes searching his as if looking for some sign that everything would be okay. But all Ethan could offer was the truth: they were in too deep, and there was no turning back.

Maya nodded, though her expression was still clouded with doubt. "Okay. Let's end it."

Together, they both stepped toward the stone. Ethan's heart thundered in his chest, each beat vibrating through the air, matching the pulsing rhythm of the cursed relic. The closer they got, the more intense the sensation became—like the stone was alive, its presence suffocating, overwhelming.

With a deep breath, Ethan reached out and touched the surface of the stone. Instantly, a sharp pain shot through his body, like fire coursing through his veins. He gasped, stumbling back, but Maya caught him before he could fall. 

"Ethan!" she cried, her voice full of panic.

He gritted his teeth against the searing pain. "It's… it's trying to keep us from doing this."

The stone pulsed again, and Ethan saw a vision flash before his eyes. It was brief—only a few seconds—but it was enough. He saw the figure of a man, tall and shadowed, standing before the stone. His face was obscured, but the sense of power and malice emanating from him was unmistakable. The vision faded quickly, leaving Ethan breathless and shaken.

"What… was that?" Maya whispered, her voice trembling.

"Whoever—whatever—created this, they've been feeding off of us this entire time," Ethan said through gritted teeth, still reeling from the vision. "But we have to keep going. We can't stop now."

Maya looked down at the stone, and for a fleeting moment, Ethan saw something he hadn't expected—hope. A glimmer of faith that maybe, just maybe, they could still end this nightmare.

She nodded, a silent understanding passing between them. They had been through so much together—loss, fear, darkness. But this, this was the final step. They either destroyed the stone, or they died trying.

Ethan reached out again, this time more carefully, more deliberately. The moment his fingers brushed the stone, a wave of energy surged through him, flooding his senses. For a moment, he felt like he was falling, spiraling into the abyss. The mansion around him seemed to twist, the walls bending and shifting in impossible ways. The air was thick with the presence of something ancient, something that had been waiting for this moment.

And then, just as suddenly as it had started, the pain stopped.

The stone crackled, its surface fissuring as if it were breaking apart from within. Ethan staggered back, his breath coming in gasps, his mind reeling. 

The rift above them screeched, the sound deafening, as if the mansion itself were protesting what was happening. The walls groaned, and for a brief moment, Ethan thought they were about to collapse under the weight of the curse that had held them all captive for so long.

And then—silence.

The rift went still. The mansion ceased its groaning. The stone... shattered.

A shockwave rippled through the room, knocking Ethan and Maya off their feet, throwing them to the ground. The world around them seemed to spin and warp, and for a moment, Ethan thought they had failed. But when his vision cleared, the stone was gone—reduced to dust, vanishing into the air like smoke.

The curse was broken. 

But the cost… the cost was still to come.

Maya's voice was hoarse as she crawled toward him, her hands trembling. "Ethan... we did it. But... where's Henry?"

Ethan froze, his heart sinking as the realization hit him. Henry—who had sacrificed everything to give them a chance. He had stood between them and the horrors that had come alive in this mansion. But now, in the silence that followed the destruction of the stone, Ethan knew something was terribly wrong.

There was no sound. No battle cries. No echoes of struggle.

And then, a faint noise, barely perceptible, came from the shadows.

The sound of footsteps.