With Karen leading the way, what was left of the group arrived at the van. Bruce immediately went to the driver's seat and tried to start the car, while the rest covered for him.

After that whole fiasco with Sam wanting to point a gun at Matthew, Karen wanted to get his gun, and Sarah's too. But Matthew said no.'' Let them have it. Just don't give it to Daniel and we're good.''

So the ones with guns are Karen, Sarah, Sam, and Matthew. But the real power was with Matthew, as he had the rusty shotgun. The rest was armed with pistols.

Bruce tried to turn on the engine one time. Two times. Three times. All while sweating buckets and looking around for any signs of danger.

Matthew took this opportunity to sit down and rest for a moment or two. His day was crazy, first, he arrived at a town and had to walk a few KM to arrive at the cabin. As soon as he arrived he was attacked by his ex-girlfriend-turned-demon, lost his eye, was thrown at a Basement, was attacked by a Deadite, and many more things. All that in less than 3 hours.

Closing his eye for a second, Matthew soon heard and felt a presence sitting beside him. He didn't have to open his eyes to know it was Karen, as she was the only one that was willing to talk to him from the start.

'' How are you feeling?'' Sure enough, Karen asked.

Matthew looked at his ex-possessed hand. It was back to normal, minus the hole the Kandarian Dagger made, '' For the most part, I'm feeling okay. But it was weird, I felt everything while I was possessed... I wonder if Sheryl is experiencing the same.''

While he had moved on from her, Matthew didn't like the fact there was a possibility of her still being inside there. No one deserves this fate, being unable to control your own body and forced to watch you killing your friends.

Karen sighed hearing that, '' Maybe there is a way to save her, just like we did to you?''

Matthew nodded and then shook his head, '' I don't know even 1% of what is happening, but I think I could revert the possession because it was at the beginning. Sheryl ... is shot in the chest, without an arm, and many more injuries. Even if we managed to send the Deadite away, she would die instantly.''

'' But as you said, we don't know much about it all. Maybe, just maybe, there's a chance for Sheryl.'' Karen didn't say more but it was clear to everyone here that Janet and Catherina are dead dead.

'' ... We will see about that. By the way, we didn't really have time to chat in the middle of all that. I have to say, you're looking amazing.'' Suddenly Matthew started to throw nice comments at Karen. Her appearance was totally in disarray by the constant fights and running around, but he was sincere.

That caught Karen off guard, but she smiled soon after, '' Thank you. As I said in our conversation before, I eventually managed to find a way to grow stronger in the midst of all that happened to us... You're not so bad looking too, considering all.''

Matthew almost laughed out loud. While he could still be considered a bit handsome even after 4 years of not taking care of himself, right now he had a bandaged eye, a fucked hand, no shirt, and a few bruises here and there. It was clear that Karen was being nice.

'' Thanks. You know, when we get out of this forest, do you want to go on a date? An official one.'' Matthew knew the chances of them getting away are slim to none, but he still asked. He had already forgiven Karen for what she did.

He also forgave his friends, and the only one he still can't stand is Daniel, and, maybe Sarah.

Karen was taken aback, but responded anyway, '' If you are okay with it, I would love to.''

VROMMMM

Just then, the van worked and a frantic Bruce yelled out from the driver seat, '' GET IN! WE ARE LEAVING THIS PLACE RIGHT NOW!''

Matthew received help from Karen, and both entered the van, followed by Sarah, Sam, and Daniel, who entered shotgun.

'' Hold on tight! I'll speed up to the max I can until we leave this place!'' When Bruce made a head count and saw everyone was there, he stepped on the gas. Now, even if the Deadite appeared in front of him again, he would not stop.

And even though he was speeding up ahead, the road was not paved and there were a lot of trees around, so it would take some time to reach the town near.

Even though Matthew had taken a small nap two times before, was getting more and more sleepy. It was almost like he was about to faint. So, before he did, he looked at Karen, '' Can I borrow your shoulders?''

While Karen was tense about the whole situation, looking around the windows to see if there was any Deadite around, she still looked at Matthew. When she saw his face, she could see he was struggling to stay awake. '' I can do better.''

Pulling Matthew's head close, she brought it to her thigh. He didn't have much time to say anything because as soon as his head touched the thighs, he passed out.

Karen looked at Matthew with a complicated gaze. 'Arguably, he is the one who went through the most today. Sure, we all saw some nasty things happen today, but Matthew got the worst part. Lost his eye, and his childhood sweetheart is probably dead, had to fight not one but two Deadite in a row... But he is still alive and strong. Different from what he told me he was.'

While Karen and Matthew talked through their cellphones, he always put himself down. But after seeing him after 4 long years, Karen thought he was still the same old Matthew, maybe even better.

Passing a hand through his hair, Karen wished him nothing but sweet dreams, ' I hope when you wake up we are in a safe place.'

----

IN MATTHEW DREAMS

When Matthe came to, he was on a beach. He was confused because he clearly remembered he just put his head down to sleep, ' Is this a dream?'

'' Yes, this is a dream.'' A voice came from somewhere around him. Matthew looked around to see where the voice was coming from, but there was no one around.

'' Up here.'' Sure enough, when Matthew looked up, he saw another version of himself up there. It was dressed weirdly, like a person who lived in the medieval time.

'' ... What are you?'' Matthew asked this ... copy of him.

'' Me? In some sense, I'm you but not quite the same... You can call me your subconscious.'' This medieval-looking Matthew flew down from the sky and landed close to Matthew, '' Can we sit? We have something to talk about.''

With no other options, as this was a dream, and he was curious about all this, Matthew sat down on the spot. He looked ahead at the sea and the scenario around him, and was lost for a few seconds because of how beautiful it was.

'' Amazing, isn't it?'' The medieval Matthew said after some time.

Matthew could only nod, ''Indeed... But I doubt we came here to talk about the scenario. What is happening?''

For his 'subconscious' to want to talk to him, things must be serious.

The medieval-looking Matthew sighed,'' Well, where do I begin?'' He seems to think really hard about it. '' For starters, we really did turn into a Deadite, even though for a short time.''

'' How did I manage to turn back after stabbing myself with the Kandarian Dagger? Wasn't I supposed to die too?'' This was something Matthew was curious about.

'' Well, you can thank me ... or yourself for that. While we did transform, it wasn't complete, so the Kandarian Dagger only killed the demon inside us.'' The medieval-looking Matthew looked a bit worn out, '' There are a lot of things we don't know about the Necronomicon or the Deadite, but Professor Dangerous did say there was a way to overcome the possession.''

Matthew recalled the tape, '' ... The power of love? What the hell, that thing was real?'' He had thought it was something to keep the hope high, but his subconscious is saying it was true.

'' Yes and no. You see, while the possession could happen to anyone, some people had a stronger will than others. So strong that they could overcome the possession. In our case, we were strong enough to have the ability to use the Kandarian dagger on us, saving ourselves.''

'' So that what happened ....'' Matthew finally undertand what happened. '' Then Sheryl...?''

The medieval-looking Matthew shook his head, '' She is not there anymore. I can guarantee you that.''

'' I see.'' Matthew looked to the ground, '' ... You said we don't know anything about the Necronomicon. Maybe there's a way to revert the possession there?''

'' It could exist, but it would not work on Sheryl. It is as you suspect, her body is beyond any type of healing, so as soon as the Deadite leaves her body, she would die anyway.''

There was a bit of silence after that. While Matthew had moved on from Sheryl, it was still a shock to know your friend, one of your friends since you were babies and the supposed love of your life was gone.

'' But I also know the future looks kind of good to us. Remember, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.'' The medieval Matthew suddenly looked up, ''Our time is up.''

'' Don't hesitate anymore. The Deadite are no longer your friends.'' The medieval Matthew suddenly cupped Matthew's face, '' You got this! Now, wake up.''

' What the -' Matthew watched in surprise as his other face contorted into Karen's face and she looked scared.

'' MATTHEW, WAKE UP!'' It finally dawned on him that he was woken up by Karen.

Getting into action immediately, Matthew got up and asked in a hurry, '' What happened?''

Karen said nothing but pointed at the front of the van. Matthew followed the direction where she was pointing and he could see right in front of the van three 'people'.

'' Fuck!'' Matthew cursed as soon as he realized the situation. The three people in front of him are no one other than Sheryl, Janet, and Catherine. The only problem is that they're all Deadite.

Bruce was frozen with fear. He only manages to utter, '' What are we going to do?''

Matthew could only sigh at that, '' There's is no other way. We gotta face them.''

Daniel snapped, '' Are you crazy!? They are DEMONS! We can't face them!''

Matthew checked his shotgun, '' I already fought with one of them 2 times. While they are incredibly tough, me and Karen 'killed' one, and I fought to a draw with the other. We can do this. Besides, as I said, we got no more options.''

Karen took a deep breath and prepared herself mentally, '' There are 3 of them. Do you think we have a chance of winning?''

Matthew looked at her and smiled, '' I have no idea. But we have to try.''

The 3 Deadite are blocking the only road that leads to civilization. Even if they got out and tried to run, they could catch up easily.

Seeing that even Karen accepted that there was no other option, Sam and Bruce looked at each other and nodded. They too prepared themselves mentally.

Only Sarah and Daniel still tried to think, in vain, of another type of plan.

After making sure everything was in order, Matthew opened the door that leads outside, '' Ready or not, here we come.''