(Samuel's POV)

There were no colors here. The whole universe had gone dark. Maliciousness hung heavy in the air, silent but persistent. It was in the air I breathed, it was crawling on the walls like growing vines, it was gliding on the floor, vibrating beneath my feet.

Had the shadows possessed the whole world? Possessed me without the option of the loop? Each time I'd been possessed, I'd lost the sense of who I'd been. No consciousness had permeated the walls of amnesia built by the invader.

Now was different. Now I knew. I was imprisoned and I was looking for a way out. So, this couldn't be a possession, could it?

My main concern was Diana. What had they done to her?

"Diana!" I shouted again. Desperation was like a poison in my blood, clutter in my chest. I was panicking.

For her.

I walked trying to find my way in the darkness. I touched the wall to feel my way around, the dark force slithered on my skin, sniffing around, laughing. Bile rose up my throat, I pulled my hand back. It was going to be a challenge avoiding it. It was everywhere.

Getting out of the room, the path forked. One was going up which required climbing up, the other was going down so steeply that it would best be described as taking a fall. A fall from the cliff.

Up, it was then.

I placed my hands on the wall, trying to ignore the hollow touch of the evil beneath my skin. Its touch gave me conflicting sensations. Its first tap was frigid cold, but then the place it touched burned as if its initial embrace had been nothing but a deception. It felt like I was being drained of my soul.

My soul belonged to Diana. I would not let that happen.

I focused on placing my foot one step at a time. I lifted myself up. The walls were slippery, I lost my hold a few times, fell until my hands latched onto a crevice and then started up climbing up again from scratch. The blackness didn't make it any easy. Nor did the evil which lurked everywhere. I was too focused on lifting myself up that I didn't hear it at first. The soft murmur.

Where was it coming from?

"Hello," I shouted. No one responded back. "Diana!" I was still holding to the hope that she was here somewhere. If so, nothing would stop me from finding her, I would save her.

Then I glimpsed the glimmer of light at the other side. There was nothing in between but a gaping hole. Though I couldn't see much, I knew it, I felt it. How would I even get to the other side? The light flickered on and off like a candlelight and then went dark again as if a breeze had pushed the flames away. The evil force shook the walls to divert my attention from the light, make me give up. My whole body burned with the sensation of its tremor. Then, I was myself again. Was the evil weakening? How, why?

I had to get to the other side. The light came on again even as I brought my toes to the edge, bent my knees, ready to spring, ready to make the deadly jump. How easy it would be in my vampire form, but in my human form, I didn't know where I would end up. Probably at the bottom of this pit. No more thinking, I reprimanded myself. The light was steady now as if it was a beacon guiding me, expecting me. The moment I let go, I felt the pull of the gravity racing against the adrenaline that pumped my body. I arced my body, stretched my hands, seeking any touch with the wall on the other side. When my fingers came across a solid structure, I dug my nails not heeding the pain, the blood. I was slipping, but I hung on, my feet dangling in the air.

"Samuel..."

I'd heard it. My name came as a whisper. Was it Diana? Was she calling out to me? I tried to find a ledge to place my foot, my hands were shaky. The force with which I threw my two legs around was taking a toll on my strength, on my arms. I was going to fall.

And, then I felt it. The contact my foot made. The slip of my toes inside a crevice. The light shone on me like I was on some stage, urging me on. But, what really pumped me was that the light was changing color. It was turning into the familiar, beautiful violet color I was thirsting for, taking away the blackness, the evil. When I steadied my body, I pulled myself up. Nothing could stop me now. I would follow the light.

I noticed it began to dim, disappearing as it hit the wall. I couldn't let it happen. My movements were hasty, desperate as I pulled myself up and then I exhaled a breath of relief. There was a tunnel which had suddenly emerged before me, branching from the wall. The light was moving alongside it. I pushed my body inside, crawling on my knees, trying to fit my huge size in the narrow passage. I cursed when I hit my head on the low ceiling.

"Diana!" I shouted. "Where are you? Di! I'm coming."

We should have stayed in the Mansion. We should have stayed in the loop. If we had, none of this would have happened. I would have made love to her every night, be possessed every morning. The positives definitely weighed against the negatives. What were a few shadow bites when I had her? I rallied against the stupid decision I'd made. How could I have let this happen? How could I have let her down?

The voice. The whisper again, brushing my ears like the elusive wind. It would take me ages to get to her with this turtle speed crawling. My size wouldn't allow anything else.

And, then the tunnel suddenly ended, just like that. And I saw the threads of her violet pulling me to her, I saw it reach inside me and find my own violet core. I felt the pull from her as the essences wove themselves to one another once more like an intricate pattern.

And, then I was pulled out of that tunnel to find that there was nothing but emptiness where the tunnel ended. I found myself falling, falling. I screamed her name. Would I ever see her again?

I heard her soft call, "Samuel, come back to me!"

I was lying down, I realized quite quickly. I looked around. The yellow and brown leaves hustled in a bed of large rocks as the trees creaked with the wind. It was the woods. That part I remembered very well.

She was leaning towards me. Her beautiful eyes shone with wetness. She was crying. Why?

My other senses kicked in. The taste on my tongue was bliss. Blood. Di's blood. Had she given me her blood?

But, what shocked me the most was that I could see her. My hands went to touch her cheeks, my fingers brushing a mournful tear away. How I had missed seeing her face. I would gaze at it for ages to come and not tire of it.

She had pulled me from the blackness. Somehow, I knew that. She had pulled me back from despair.

I hadn't saved her. She had saved me."Why are you crying, baby?" I said.

"Samuel, you are awake!" she said, throwing herself at me. Her soft hair tickled my face, her fragrance made my whole body vibrate and then there was her blood. The appeal of that was extraordinary. I barely held myself not to have more.

I held her firmly. The most important thing was she was here with me.

And, then I saw the car. The very same car I had taken to escape the Mansion.

And, I lifted up her face.

"Baby," I cooed, touching her eyes. "Tell me, what happened?"

"The last thing I remember is walking together after we ran away from the kitchen and then there was this heavy mist. I fainted, I think. And, then I found myself here. Right beside the car. You were lying on the ground. Just like you were when you were bitten. After the blackness started spreading on your chest. Right after I'd tried smashing it with the rock. Right here where everything had gone crazy. I don't know how."

So, all this time I was climbing up, fighting the evil force, falling, I was in my own body, trying to survive the blackness that spread with the bite of the dark shadow.

"Okay," I urged her.

"I gave you my blood. And, I wasn't sure if it was working. I was so scared...you know. That I'd lose you."

"You can't see, can you?" I asked. My heart was breaking.

She shook her head.

I was no longer feeling as giddy. I knew what had happened. We had switched back. We were back in our reality. I wanted to go back and give her the sight.

I had taken that away from her. What had I done?

"Take mine away!" I cried out silently. "Damn it, give it back to her!"

As always, thanks for reading

Alena