Addison stood inside the room where Libby had once been seen staring down at her through the window. The view outside was beautiful, the forest offering a serene feeling of calm, a perfect mask for the chaos saturating the walls of Belle Manor. The door slammed shut, and Addison spun around, canvassing the room, looking for him.
To the naked eye, it appeared no one was there.
She knew better.
Lawrence’s presence spread through the air like an infectious disease, suffocating everything it touched. He pitied himself. He felt victimized, ejected from the lavish life he was meant to live. Trapped in the house since his death, his only recourse had been to vex Cecilia, haunting her until she’d gone mad.
“Lawrence Belle, show yourself,” Addison said. “I command you to appear.”
Menacing laughter permeated throughout the room.
The window rattled so hard Addison thought it would shatter. She raised a hand in front of her and released the hold he had, not just on the window, but on the manor itself.
A dark heaviness entered the room, and from it, Lawrence manifested.
“You shouldn’t have come,” he growled. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“You’re a murderer, and I’m here to make it right. Today it ends. You’ll no longer haunt Cecilia or torment Libby. You murdered your child, and I suspect you killed Josephine, too.”
“Josephine was too involved for her own good. She wanted to separate Cecilia from me.”
“So, you killed her.”
“I did what had to be done. I never meant for Sara to die.”
“I believe you. But it doesn’t matter. If I would have known you back then, the man you were before the man you became, I would have told you to lead a life that made you happy instead of a facade. The issue isn’t whether you loved a man or a woman. You led yourself to a dark place, a place you chose when you decided murder was a better solution than honesty. You deserved what Cecilia and Flora did to you.”
He rushed toward Addison, his hands grappling for her neck, shocked when he failed to touch her skin. He turned his hands upward and stared at his palms, confused.
“You no longer have power, Lawrence. I have stripped it from you, and now it’s time for you to go.”
The portal split open, and Harold walked through, his charred body burning from the inside out. Lawrence backed away, shouting, “No! You can’t take me! I won’t go!”
Harold wrapped his hands around Lawrence’s neck, engulfing him in flames until Lawrence burst apart.
The portal closed once more, and Addison stood there a moment, staring at the wall, hoping it would be a long time before the portal needed to be opened again, but knowing somehow it wouldn’t.
“You can come in now, Libby,” Addison said. “It’s over.”
Libby rounded the corner and stepped inside, facing Addison. “Thank you. Thank you for saving me.”
“The one who you need to thank is Sara. Because of her, I’m here. Lawrence and Harold have been dealt with, and I will make sure your family gets the closure they’ve waited so long to receive. Now, let’s free you from this place.”
Addison swirled her hand in a circle. A bright beam of light filled the room. When it settled, Scarlett was standing in its center. She ran to Libby, and they embraced.
“I always knew you’d find me,” Libby said.
Scarlett stepped back, glancing at Addison. She nodded but said nothing, and she didn’t need to—the expression on her face said it all. Scarlett held a hand out toward Libby. She took it. Together they entered the afterlife, and Addison smiled, satisfied her work here was done.