Page 27 of Heartless Enemy

Holding the torch before me, I crawled forward on tense limbs while repeating the same sentence over and over in my head.

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

My heart slammed so hard against my ribs that I was pretty sure that Eve could hear it from where she was crawling behind me.

The tunnel stretched on.

And on.

And on.

My mind was fraying with every excruciating second.

Memories of thick wooden walls, darkness, and world-ending panic pounded against my skull. The madness inside me surged up in response. It called to me, tempting me with that calm and peaceful nothingness where I would feel nothing at all.

I fought against it. Grinding my teeth, I suppressed the urge to slip into that state where I could just let the insanity take over.

We were almost there now. We had been crawling for what to me felt like hours, so we had to almost be out on the other side now. I could do this. I just had to hold on a little longer.

Torchlight reflected against a small sign that had been secured to the dirt wall.

I glanced at it.

And my heart stopped.

Marker 1/5, the sign read.

One out of five.

One fifth.

We had only made it one fifth of the distance through the tunnel.

Panic shot through my chest.

I would never get out. There was no end to this. I would be stuck here forever.

The world around me tilted.

Even with my eyes open, I could see those thick wooden walls around me clear as day. Could feel the pain pulsing through my bones as I banged my fists on them. Could hear my screams of fear and the pleas for mercy.

The madness surged up inside me. And this time, there was no stopping it.

My mind was slipping. Fast. Retreating into that safe corner inside and letting the monster lose to neutralize the threat for me.

“Eve,” I pressed out with great effort. “Get out. You need to get out. Now.”

“Levi,” her voice came from behind me, sounding very worried. “What’s going on?”

“GET OUT!” I screamed as I whipped around to face her, the words tearing from me with enough force to make me taste blood.

She jerked back at the sudden movement. Or the loud noise. Or at the insanity that she must be seeing in my eyes right now. Or all of the above.

But she didn’t turn and run like I had told her to.

Instead, she shot a blast of wind square into my chest.

The force of it was enough to send me toppling backwards and slamming back first into the ground. My elbow hit the packed dirt, and I lost the grip on the torch in my hand. It rolled sideways before stopping against the wall.