The pain was constant now. Nothing she did would make it go away. The light burned in her eyes, her throat was raw from the screaming, and every muscle cried with pain. She managed to roll over to her side, and with a great amount of effort, finally sat up. Her brain screamed at her for this new position, but she had to stay up.

As her eyes focused through the pain, she looked again at their prison. White... white... white... everywhere. But the fog is gone.

And so is he.

She closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. She nodded then, straightened her shoulders and inhaled again, deeper. She leaned her head back, and opened her eyes. The pain in her mind was growing again, but she tried to ignore it. She placed her hands on the ground. It was flat, and cold. And white. She splayed her fingers apart on the ground, and pushed to get up. She had to stand. She must stand. She WILL stand.

Her legs were weak, and they shook with the effort, but she did get to her feet. She took a long deep breath, and stood straight. Her body cried in defiance, but she didnt care. Suddenly a knee gave way, but she caught herself before she fell, and made herself ignore the pain. She squared her shoulders and stood tall. She looked around again, but nothing had changed. She was still alone.

Alone. Alone. Alone. The pounding in her head sounded out the word. Alone. Alone. Alone.

She felt her nose running, and she went to wipe at it with the back of her hand, and found blood. She grinned then.

"Is this the best you can do? Is this all you have? Light tricks, headaches, pain and blood? Well, I am STILL HERE!" She yelled into the emptiness. "I am still here! Leave me here alone. You don't know me! You don't know me! I do not fear being alone! I am still here!" She could feel more blood trickle from her nose, and the incredible pain was getting stronger. She knew she wouldn't be able to stay conscious, but this time they were going to have to fight her.

"Do you hear me? Do you hear me? I am not afraid! You can torture me like this forever, and I will still be here! And when I get out... When I get out..." Her vision was faltering and her body was shaking with the struggle to stay standing, and to fight off the pain. "When... I... Get... ahhhh... out. Out! You... better..." she collapsed on the floor, hands grabbing her head, and as she slipped back into the dark, she whispered one last word. "Run."


He stood there, hands balled into fists, face contorted into a angry snarl. His eyes were wide, and flaming with un-done destruction. And tears ran down his cheeks. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak, or yell or run to her.

This... all of this... this hell she is living in and being rung through to anger him. To make him watch. To make him believe he is useless. And now she thinks she is alone. She is brave, and strong, and smart... And he can't help her. Can't call to her. His breath left his body in angry huffs, his jaw sore from clenching his teeth so hard. He saw now, the blood from her nose. She wiped at it, and it seemed to give her more strength. His hearts beat faster, hearing her challenge their keepers. When he saw her collapse into the pain again, he vowed then that he would help her keep that last promise. We will get them, Shana. I promise you. We will get them, he thought.

At last, she had passed out from the pain, and he was released as well. He ran over to her, took his tie off, and tried to get the bleeding to stop.

"I am here, Shana. You did good. You were very brave. You aren't alone. I promise you, you aren't alone. I am here." He kept repeating those words, hoping they could reach her thoughts. "I am here. You aren't alone."

She she laid there, her head in his lap, and he ran his fingers through her hair again, he felt a difference in her then before. His fingers lingered over her temple and taking a small breath, and bracing for pain, he reached into her mind.

Normally, when he did this, the mind looks like a long hallway, lined with doors. Each door can be opened, or kept closed. Everyone has secrets, and they all keep them hidden. Those are doors that he can't open unless the owner of the secret allows him access. That is what he was expecting this time. Correction... He was expecting to not be able to access her mind, not being in true physical contact with her, and he had thought he would be struck with pain for even making the attempt.

But her mind was open to him. Fully, and completely, and, that did worry him, but he put that thought aside and searched for her. Her mind was not a hallway... It was a library. A vast room with hundreds of shelves and thousands of books. He made his way to one of the shelves, and picked up a book off one of the dustless shelves. The book had no title on it, but when he opened it, instead of words, it was similar to a pop-up book, but everything within moved as if alive.

He watched the scene for a few minutes and then closed it, and reached for another random book. He repeated the process to that book, and a few more, each time, blown away with the scenes he would see. He put the last book back. He began to walk around the shelves, looking for her, but the further he looked, the more pain he felt at the base of his skull. So, I am allowed to look in her mind, but not for her, he thought.

It was time to leave her mind and let her rest, so he left as he had come, slowly and carefully. When he was finally withdrawn, he opened his eyes, and saw her looking at him. She wore a very small, weak smile which he returned.

"Hi," he said quietly. "Sorry about that."

"It's... ok," she said, her words hard to understand. He knew her throat had to be raw from the screaming. His was certainly sore, and she has screamed more then he had.

"Just rest. I am here. I am so sorry about what you have gone through." She looked at him, the pain more then obvious on his face. "You weren't alone. They wouldn't let you see me." She nodded and closed her eyes, swallowing hard.

She looked into his eyes, and in his mind he heard her clearly. "We have to get out before they kill me." She passed out seconds after he heard/felt that, and for a few moments he was unsure he actually did hear her. As this new information processed in his brain, he continued to watch over her, and cursed the next attack they would have.