"Hello? Is anyone there?" William called out, his voice trembling. Only his own echo answered.
"Michael? Henry? Anyone..." he tried again, hope clinging to the edges of his fear.
"FUCK! WHY CAN'T I EVER WIN?!" he shouted, frustration spilling over.
Then faint crying reached his ears. He followed it and saw a little girl with black hair and pale skin, sobbing quietly. Memories of what he had done to her crashed over him, and William's knees threatened to buckle.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice breaking, as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
The girl didn't respond, her cries unrelenting.
"This isn't the end. It can't be. There has to be a way out, right?" he pressed.
The girl wiped her tears and finally looked up at him. "You... It's you... It's you! Get away from me!" She pushed him away and ran off.
William reached out, but pulled his hand back. He brought it to his face and clenched it. He just stood there for a moment.
"William!"
He spun around at a voice he hadn't heard in a long time. "Jennifer!"
He rushed over and embraced her. "I'm so sorry. Whatever he did, I'm so sorry. I should have done more. I should have been stronger. For them, for you." He began to cry.
"William." She placed her hands on his cheeks. "It's okay. I may not understand everything, but I know this wasn't you. Whatever you went through, I know you did your best."
"I... He didn't do everything. I've hurt people, Jen. He... I... I killed one of them. He... He used my anger toward him against me, and..." He trailed off.
"Will, whatever he did, however he manipulated you, that wasn't you."
"But it was, Jen! It was my anger. My fault."
There was silence for a moment.
"That may be true, William. But none of that matters right now. All that matters is that you're in my arms again... After so long."
"Why are you still here? Isn't this some sort of limbo? Why haven't you moved on?" William asked.
Jennifer lowered her head. "I can't. For some reason, I just can't. I've followed souls to this pond. It seems to be some kind of instinct for them. But whenever I try to dive in after them, I can't."
William gave no reply, only a look of sorrow.
"But I can go back to Earth. I figured out how from someone in this place. You just focus really hard on where you want to go, and you'll end up there. But I've never been able to do it for more than a couple of seconds."
William perked up at that. "That's it. That's how I get back."
"William, I think it will be the same case for you. I know what happened. I know he's still down there, which means you're probably just like me. You'll only be able to stay there for a moment at best, too."
"I have to try, Jen."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
He began to focus. After a while, he opened his eyes to find himself in his house.