"Tell that to the thing that killed me," he says, and he almost laughs but can't quite bring himself to.
"You're a flawed human being who has hurt people repeatedly, sure," you tell him. "But you didn't deserve to die for it. You're an asshole, but you're not a monster."
"Maybe not, but I can't stop thinking about things I said and did," he says. "There's no one to talk to here, nothing to distract me. All I have is my own company, and it sucks. I don't like being alone."
"It's your worst fear, isn't it?" you ask.
"I guess it is," he admits.
"So you've realized that you treated people badly," you say. "What else have you realized while here?"
"I don't know why I did the things I did," he says. "I think it was because I was so afraid of being no one, and you didn't have that same fear. You didn't seem to have any interest in making sure people at school knew you weren't someone to look down on. It made me self-conscious and I felt like you were judging me."
In the distance, lightning strikes and illuminates the fog in a brief eerie glow.
"Goodbye, Petzeiros," Rex says.
"Goodbye?" you ask. "What—"
The crack of thunder is loud, and you nearly knock the glass of water on your nightstand over as you sit up suddenly.
Rain hits your windows as the wind drives in against the house. Lola has come back in and has her ears back as she jumps on your bed and snuggles close for comfort. She's never liked thunder.
The two of you spend the rest of the night trying and failing to sleep.
The Next Day