Mary had been sprinting for what felt like forever. New snow blanketed the earth as chilled breath was exhumed from her throat. Slivers of her hair dabbed the sweat on her forehead. At last she could stop running, but her spinal column had already begun to buckle, sharp spikes of pain wracking her ribs.She’d found her way back.Still puzzling to her was the fact that she remembered the way at all. How had she managed to cut through the woods and paths of this hilly country without being hurt? Without the moonlight or the stars to guide her? Why had her chest not caved in? She had never been a skilled athlete, so to assume it was normal for her body to endure several miles of sprinting made little sense. But she had made it.All the things she had forgotten, but this place was not among them.Anxiety gripped her without warning. The darkness breathed around her. A few blinks and she came to the understanding that this darkness was inside of everything. It was the world around her. The darkness was life.As she walked closer toward the mansion, Mary wondered where Joshua was.
