Chapter Twenty-SixThe Darkness. It surrounded him. A hated enemy that had beaten him. A cancer upon every thought in his head.
He wanted to scream out at the empty void — Why? What good did any of it do? Why was I spared the first time? Why bother giving me any power, if you only intended to strip it away? — but he had no voice.
His throat felt scratchy. In fact, his whole body continued to feel numb from the abuse he had suffered. And he could still smell the pines.
Strange.
He braced himself for the cold loneliness. He cleared his mind and thought of Crystal. Maybe she had escaped. Maybe he had sacrificed himself for her. And Maggie.
He thought of Maggie. She had been lost, stuck existing from day to day without any hope for a better life. He had helped her, too. Hadn’t he?
And Pau
