The ending is a simulation in Sister Paxton’s head:
“Sister Paxton is dying on the ground, praying, Sister Barnes has been lifeless since Mr. Reed reduce her throat, and the ultimate scene is only a simulation of Sister Paxton’s head. Like what the three of them mentioned in regards to the prophet’s revelation, the mind simply sees what it desires to see earlier than dying.
Within the case of Sister Paxton, she imagines some form of divine justice: Her pal is miraculously nonetheless alive, simply in time to kill the monster (Reed). Paxton manages to cease the interior bleeding of her reduce and manages to get out of the basement, discover a method out of the home, and eventually sees a butterfly posing on her hand. As in a technique to see the sunshine, then, on the final second, disappears, breaking the phantasm.”
