He ran through the darkness, searching for an exit, an end, something, but the shadows just kept going, endless. He combed his hands through his hair in frustration. It felt like he was going insane. Maybe he was.

A scream tore through the darkness. The ominous sound echoing off of unseen surfaces.

He knew that sound all too well. No! He bolted into the blackness, following the tortured sound.

Another scream ripped through the dark, more desperate this time, more pained. It seemed like it was coming from everywhere.

"No." He could barely speak, his heart pounding out of his chest. "Please. No."

A third scream met his ears.

He tore his fingers through his hair, clutching his head like he had been physically wounded. "Sophie!" He shouted.

All of her fear, her pain, her worry bore down on him like a flood, drowning him in the emotions.

He struggled forward. He had to reach her. He couldn't let anything happen to her. His heart throbbed with the barrage of emotions, but he forced himself forward.

The pain only grew as he neared the source of the screams. It weighed down on his limbs, making it hard to move. It burned his chest, which was overflowing with the emotions.

Finally, he reached her.

Her blonde hair hung messily around her terrified face. Her brown eyes wide with fear and worry.

"Sophie?" He could barely breathe.

She gasped and looked up at him from where she knelt, cuffed to the darkness. "Keefe?"

He took a step forward.

She stumbled back. "Stay back!" Her breaths were quick and haggard. "You shouldn't have come. She's waiting."

"What?" He stepped forward again.

"That's far enough." His mother's voice echoed out of the darkness.

"No." He breathed. "Let her go! She's not a part of this."

His mom appeared behind Sophie. "I beg to differ." She held a melder in one hand and a knife in the other. "I see her as... leverage."

His knees almost buckled as his eye widened.

His mom smirked. "She's your weakness."

The fear he felt was now all his own. What would his mother do to Sophie? What had she already done? His mind raced. He had to save her, but how.

His mother chuckled. "I can see you floundering. You still think you can save her, but the truth is. You're already too late." She stared straight into his eyes as she thrust her knife into Sophie's back.

She screamed.

"No!!!!" He watched helpless, Sophie's pain shooting through his body.

She met his gaze, her eyes full of fear and pain and worry and... pity. She collapsed.

He crawled forward, cradling her in his lap. "Please, no. Sophie."

She gasped for breath. "I'm sorry." She struggled to speak. "I'm sorry I'm leaving you here... alone." Her head lulled back, her eyes staring blankly into the shadows.

"No." He shook her gently. "Sophie, no. No!" He rested his forehead against hers. "Please, no." Tears leaked down his face, dripping pathetically onto her cheek.