“Death is not the end…” Gary awoke to whispers all around him. He was back in the Dining Room, only it had changed completely, reflecting the trials Gary had faced. This time, however, all the candles were once again lit, shining brightly in their show of glory.
“You will not escape.” Gary turned to see the woman he had first met in the house standing before him, her smile as wicked as it had been originally, and her pride evident as she watched Gary stumble around in confusion.
Gary, ignoring the woman as she taunted him, mocking him with the threat of eternity spent wandering these halls, turned and walked up to the counter.
“You don’t understand…” he said softly, looking up at the candles before him. “You don’t understand… how much I understand…” Gary turned to face the woman. “Hunger…” he said softly, and the first candle flickered out. “Respiration,” he continued, as the second flame extinguished. “Response to stimulus. Growth.” The candles continued to fade out with each point. “Waste. Reproduction…” Gary paused as he recalled the final trial. “Death…” he whispered. Gary’s eyes locked onto the woman’s before him. “Fire…” he explained, “is the closest artificial thing there is to life…” He let his sentence linger, watching the woman’s scowl turn to a flicker of fear. “And yet…” Gary smiled, “there is nothing as adept at taking it.” Gary’s eyes turned wicked as his smile grew wider, and he kicked his foot back, knocking over the altar and several of the candles surrounding it.

The flames leapt high as the man stood in the centre of the room, his eyes as defiant as his stance. Lashing at the walls, destroying everything in its path, the fire grew bigger and bigger, completely destroying the room as its lust for destruction continued. The man smiled to himself as a scream permeated the room; it was not his but he knew the source of it. The flames crept closer and closer to him, surrounding him, but the man stood his ground. The building groaned and creaked under the pressure of its foundations being burned to a crisp as the screaming grew louder and louder. The walls thrashed and writhed under the intense heat, and the roof began crashing down as the structure fell to pieces. The man did not flinch as a flaming beam fell from above, for he knew that he had won. The cycle had been broken.