Everything was pitch black. At times like this, night vision goggles would’ve proved a great asset to finding my way through. My bangs just barely shielding my eyes from the blinding darkness, no longer contained the perfect curls I made that morning. Instead, it lost its life, just like I believed I would lose mine.

Tearing my fingers through my hair, I stopped in the middle of the corridor, expecting I would hear footsteps behind me. Yet I was met with the paralyzing silence of which I’d been trying to rid myself.

“Mark?” I whispered into the black abyss. Again, silence greeted me. Retracing my steps, I thought about when I first lost sight of him. We’d been side by side when he disappeared. I first whispered his name, and when I got no reply, I shouted and began running. I cannot lose him like this. I can barely stand a day without talking to him. If I lost him forever, I’d lose myself, too.

My heart pounding, I felt like bursting into uncontrollable sobs on the cold floor of this labyrinth, but I was incapable of crying. I had much more important matters to attend to, like finding Mark. Come on, where are you!? I was scared, and I was alone.

Footsteps echoed in my ears, ringing through the silence. I then realized I had spent way too much time standing around, and I needed to run-- fast. I took off, my combat boots squeaking on the damp floor as I sprinted through the corridor. Something was chasing me, but I didn’t know what. No human could make that loud of footsteps. No human could growl that deeply.

I sprinted faster and faster, spinning on my heels and feeling a cold sweat on my brow. All I wanted to do was call out his name, but that would only threaten the beast. I had to be smarter if I wanted to survive to see the sunrise. The labyrinth seemed to grow larger, with more intricate hallways and dead ends.

My chest began hurting, like someone constantly stabbed a knife straight through my rapidly-beating heart. Could he be dead? Could that creature have gotten Mark? Oh, God. . . How am I going to make it out of here? Please, God, just let us make it out of here alive!

A wall in front of me, I halted and fell onto the ground. A sharp pain ran through my palm, as the jagged ground had sliced it open. I am going to die, I thought. I am never going to see him ever again, and I am going to be torn to shreds down here. Scrambling to the corner of the room, I hugged my knees close to my chest and tried to keep my breathing under control. The entire room began spinning, my whole body became numb, and it was almost as if I could see my sanity slowly drain from every pore of my body. I need to get away, I need to get out of here! When I thought of my body being torn to shreds as a feast for the creature within this hell, my stomach churned. My veins and all my muscles turned to pure ice; I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even shake in terror anymore. Everything was frozen as the walls inched closer to my body. The air took a vacuum to my throat and began sucking all the air out of my lungs. I curled my head into my torso and waited for the creature to grab and eat me alive. There was no more hope-- there couldn’t be.

Something warm grabbed my shoulder with extreme force, and I knew that was it. I was done. No longer would I see Mark’s happy face or the smiles of my best friends. This was my fate, and I was ready to accept it. Yet I still looked up.

Through the darkness, I saw the gleam of glasses, and behind those lenses, deep brown eyes. I knew these eyes all too well; they were full of memories of him and me, like the day we first met in California, our first kiss, the fights we told each other we’d forget, and how he convinced me not to come down here.

Before I knew it, I was wrapped in his embrace. “Athena,” he sighed, exhausted and desperate for a breath. “Thank God.”

“Mark,” I managed to whisper, my voice breaking as I yanked on his black and blue plaid shirt, pulling him closer. “I- I looked for you f-for ages!”

“I know, I know.” He gently kissed the top of my forehead and put his hands on my neck. “You have no idea how worried I was. Please, just don’t do that again, okay?”

“We have to get out of here,” I sobbed, tears streaming down my cheeks. “T-that thing is here and we–”

A smile grew on Mark’s face, which immediately struck me as strange. Why would he be smiling in a time such as this? His hands tightened around my neck, and suddenly-- snap.

* * *
Thrashing around and screaming with my arms bound to my torso, I shot my eyes open and saw a bright white light. I looked down at myself, seeing the white jacket I’d been wearing.  Around the room, I saw soft walls the color of snow and a single window that revealed two men in white coats with clipboards. They stood there, staring at the girl with the white hair and bright blue eyes. I pulled my knees close to my chest, desperately wanting to curl up and sleep away the memories.

I did the only thing I could do: lie down on the floor and wait for my next journey into the labyrinth I call my sanity. “Mark,” I whispered, my voice strained.

“It’s been three years since he disappeared,” one of the men said. “I don’t think she’ll ever let go.”