Fritz’s sunglasses lay unused nearby.

His skin had turned pale, but he held on to his sister with considerable strength. He whispered something through his mutilated windpipe. Garbled as it was, only Ingrid had any hope of understanding: “Break the lock.”

For a moment, his eyes darted around the room, searching for Cici and Erik, but they were nowhere to be found. His mouth twitched slightly, but he eventually began to smile again.

His eyes closed, and he breathed his final ragged breath.

---

"Uncle Fritz..." Agnes hanged her head low, watching her uncle pass before her eyes. She picked up his sick shades and placed them somewhere where they were unlikely to be damaged. Though she wanted to give him the moment he likely deserves, she turned over to her aunt instead, who thankfully seemed to be doing a lot better.

"Aunt Ingrid.. Are you alright?"

FINAL CHAPTER ~ END

Angelo had gone looking outside while Jolina was accusing Edna in the parlor. He suspected Lynde could be behind Meta’s death, but he also knew Lynde wouldn’t be the kind of person to run and hide after that kind of thing.

“Oh my god… Lynde!” Angelo shouted, pulling the man’s frozen form from the snow. He looked dead, though he could still see faint visible breath in the cold air.

He ran inside with Lynde on his back, Agnes and Edna reacting immediately as they saw him inside.

[Scene Music]

“Lynde… Lynde!”

The family took him from Angelo. It was clear he could be severely afflicted, but in this moment they were just happy he was alive. Edna and Agnes embraced him, a barely conscious Lynde smiling. And around Edna and Agnes… Gideon was there, embracing his family. It was his specter form, but it was clear to everyone in the room he was there.

…

…

Verrier had immediately diagnosed Lynde with hypothermia, and set him to a warm bath. Lynde had just finished and was gathered with everyone left in the dining room in his bathrobe. Verrier was still attentively attending to him and his wound, perhaps a little too much. The doctor was determined that nobody else would die on his watch.

After small discussion and testimony from Lynde, it became clear to everyone that the culprit was probably Meta after all. A bullet hole through the bed and floor of the master bedroom cemented this further.

Regardless, the storm was light enough overall now and the police had finally been able to be contacted. They would be rescued soon either way, which was a sigh of relief for everybody remaining.

At the side of the room, the ghost of Gideon was still there. His appearance was hardly unusual at this point, though it seemed this was the closest thing to the ‘real’ Gideon.

[Scene Music]

[This is the end. If you have questions you can ask Gideon, but overall keep in mind these are your last few posts]

Finally... finally, the horror was over. Verrier didn't want to say anything, though. He was far too much an outsider, and he wasn't even sure who he was anymore without Albrecht. He would have to take time in the coming days to reflect on himself and his sins, to come to terms with everything and decide what he could do to both atone and reinvent himself. It was a terrifying, overwhelming prospect, but for now at least he wanted to just enjoy the present peace.

Detektive Erhardt stood up from the corner chair he had been asleep in, startling a few people around, who had figured he was dead. What a sound sleeper he is.

"Well, I'm glad all that's over with!" he said, somehow unaffected by the weight of the events on the island. "I suppose the department will have an awful lot of paperwork for me... I never trusted that creepy old lawyer anyway. Oh, and I still need to work out that hit-and-run! Huh, I guess Mr. Brandauer didn't do it after all, what a shame. I guess I should go pack up my gear before the boat arrives!" he says, before walking to the door, towards the pile of half-assembled survival gear still in the snow. What an odd fellow.

The detektive turns back before he leaves, rummaging through his case one more time. He slides a smaller case across the floor to Verrier.

"Dr. Verrier, keep the Medical Examiner's kit. You've certainly earned it! If you're in need of employment, the department needs another ME, and you've proved yourself capable enough for my endorsement!"

And with that, Christof disappeared into the snow.

Ingrid was nothing short of devastated, physically from her mysterious illness and mentally from the everything else. She sat in somber silence for a long while, thinking about all the family she lost in a single night.

"... At least, you two are okay..." she thought out loud, giving Edna and Agnes a weary look.

Angelo took a step back from the others, slinking away quietly and unnoticed like he did pretty much the entire time. He wasn't sure where he'd go next, seeing as his and Lynde's mission was usurped by a bunch of murders.

Without another purpose in the world, maybe Angelo should just stay where he belonged. Either way, what was happening now didn't involve him anymore. Surely the others would never see this man again.

"And... And you are too, right?" Agnes asked softly. "Please..."

"Oh! Uh, I'll consider it, thank you," Verrier replied, quite taken aback. He wasn't sure how he felt about being handed an opportunity after having other people dictate most of his life so far. He wanted to keep his options open this time, though he supposed there was no harm in leaving this offer as one of those options to consider.

"I suppose you do all deserve an explanation." Gideon sighed, his form only as present as smoke from a candle wick. "Though I do not know everything. I can't tell you Meta's motives for certainty--only what I think."

He closed his eyes, as if not wanting to make this confession in particular. "Truthfully Meta has always been the Ghost Writer of my stories. They were published under my name to make them more popular, and so people would always think I wrote them I had Meta pen more than my drafts. She signed my contracts, wrote family cards, the works.

"Our collaboration is what made us successful. We loved each other--not like family, or even a couple, it was something different." He looked out towards his family, Agnes in particular. "Meta told my daughter who 'Gideon' really was some time in 1984. At that point, Agnes could accept that Meta was as much Gideon as I was. It was with my death that their collaboration began, and they wrote many stories together."

Agnes smiled softly... which shortly turned into a frown. "I do not know why they would've done all of this..." She mutters quietly.

"Knowing that Father had passed on, yet his spirit truly still lived... It made me happy. But after this I don't think there can be any more of his stories. That thought makes me very sad."

"Nobody can replace them. Father died years ago, but his name is truly dead after today..." Agnes began to cry quietly. Meta was just as much of a parent to her as Gideon and Edna. She wrapped her arms around herself and kept her voice soft. "I just wish I knew why... I just wish I knew why all of this had to happen..."

She made no comment on further writing her own stories, almost as if she knew that trying to replace "Gideon" would be a fruitless effort. Or maybe that was just her low confidence.

"When I died... when I really died, Meta was responsible for keeping the illusion to my family that I was still alive." Gideon explained. "Your meetings with her were nothing more than a part of this, Aggy. You would tell Mother that 'Gideon' visited you, and she would think that that was the truth.

"Meta is a manipulator, and she does so using her words. She manipulated Juna into killing Mia today." He looked over at Edna, "And over the past 4 years, she tortured you with phone calls from me, and letters. She made you think you were being haunted, and that you weren't even sane. I think after seeing the tomb, she was committed to one-upping me. To creating a truly spectacular mystery--no, a tragedy. It didn't matter who it hurt. I'm sure she would rather have had you kill everyone yourself, Edna. But ultimately she had to settle for making everyone think you did it. But really, I am only speculating. I knew Meta had demons, but her actions today surprised even me."

"Agnes, believe in yourself", Edna told Agnes encouragingly. "You managed to come up with so many mysteries on your own... given enough time, I'm sure you could become someone noteworthy." Her eyes glistened with faith in her daughter as she spoke.

A lot had transpired in the past several minutes. Edna had reunited with both Lynde and Ingrid properly, hugging them and thanking them sincerely for everything - especially Lynde since he kinda saved her life. It was really heartfelt and beautiful I swear. She'd also recovered from being accused of literally everything, but hadn't gone back to being her usual self either. She'd become much more... vulnerable? But not what you'd have expected from her. She'd been radiating some amount of warmth for the first time since most of the people in the house had known her. It was... comforting in a way to see that she had finally been able to let go of her worries and fears and started acting natural again.

Still, something seemed off. She hadn't acknowledged Gideon's ghost in the room yet. Even as he was explaining everything, she didn't pay attention to what he was saying, looking away thoughtfully. Was she able to even see him or..?

As they finished though, she giggled a little. "Giddy... This is the real you, isn't it?"

She turned towards him. Once could tell her eyes were watering, but the smile on her face was unwavering. "That day, two years ago..."



"...I heard you, Gideon. I heard every single word you said. And I remembered. I held those words in my heart for these past two years, waiting for the day you would come back." The tears were practically pouring onto the ground, yet Edna's smile had grown only stronger as she spoke. "And now... here you are. In front of me. The day I've been waiting for so long... it's finally here."

"You... finally kept your promise, Giddy." Edna swallowed. "It's just like you told me back then. That we would be together for all eternity. That our love would be... forever..."

She choked back a sob. Unable to handle the emotions in her heart, she ran full speed towards Gideon's ghost, embracing him. Even though he was but a spirit, Gideon could somehow feel the impact of his wife as she ran into him, and could even feel her tears cover his suit.

It was a strangely cathartic scene, perhaps a deserved one after how much the two had to endure after everything. They seemed truly happy to be together, even if only for this fleeting moment.

---

Gideon was caught off-guard. He tried as much as he was able to reciprocate the hug, but she would not be able to physically feel his touch. This did not seem to matter to either of them.

He found himself lost in this brief, impermanent moment. He would soon have to leave again, so he'd cherish it as long as he could. It did not matter to him any longer that there were details to the mystery he hadn't shared yet. Perhaps it would be fine if he left some questions unanswered. If that meant he could be here, even just a little longer...

Jolina stands off in the corner of the parlor. She remains silent during all the goings-on with her head hung low. She frankly looks defeated, a good number of people were dead, she had probably lost her job, but worst of all she had been wrong. She has resigned herself to whatever was to happen when they would be rescued.

Lynde is quiet for a decent period of time, the loss of Juna and killing Meta, someone he had always respected deeply seemed to have taken a toll.

"So, I'd just like to say..." He paused and took a deep breath before he let it all out in a rush " I am sorry for the fact that my tomb puzzle helped set the scene for all this. I hope you all know me well enough to know it was all only ever to give Gideon his dying wish from me. I may have gone too far by some standards, but i never wanted anyone to be hurt."

With that he stood up and said "well, i am going to begin to put away my workshop. It's rather delicate and i have some hope that if i am careful now, when i am arrested and my belongings are searched, they wont be too badly damaged. "

Lynde gave Edna and Agnes each a hug and a kiss on the cheek, a weary smile for Jolina, an arm clasp for Angelo, and tired nods for everyone else. Just as he began to head to the guesthouse, he paused once more and asked aloud " Do you think it's too risky to contact a lawyer recommended by Meta for my defense?" After a moment he simply shrugged and chuckled before fishing his walkman out of his pocket, turning on his Madonna cassette and heading to his workshop.

[Scene Music]

"Hey, I can see police boats!" Christof shouted out. "Rescue's here!"

Edna had still been clutching Gideon, but it seemed that the sound of this announcement caused him to slowly fade away like a soft flurry of snow. Everybody had went outside towards the Detektiv's voice, but Edna couldn't help but stay in the room. She looked around, hoping to catch one last glimpse of her husband.

Agnes put her hand out for her mother, gripping softly. "Don't worry, Mother. He's still here."

....


Everybody could see the faint red and blue flashing lights in the distance, heading towards Geistfabel. But there was also a yacht far ahead of the boats, already very close to the island. The passenger on board had received the news of the incident at the same time as the police, and he had been able to mobilize his own yacht quickly.

He waved his hands at the survivors, trying his best to communicate that whatever nightmare had occurred was over. To that end, he ripped off his own golden mask and waved it around like a flag. His eyes pleaded that everything would be alright.

END