“You know what I want, Trevor. Give it to me. Give her back!” The Darkness bellowed down the halls and before Kate could think of what he had meant, the man flung himself through the air and knocked Trevor to the ground with one loud smack!

“STOP!” Kate ran over to the man on top of Trevor, beating him senseless, but her strength was nothing compared to his. She let her seductive ribbons flow out of her, but she felt them stop and retract back into her mind, recoiling like a snake.

Trevor wasn’t moving or fighting back, Kate didn’t understand. She felt so useless, standing there, watching the love of her life get beat to death. She had to make a split second decision, and she did the only thing she could think of.

“I’m yours, Grant.”

The Darkness stopped, mid-punch and turned towards her.

“Take me, I’ll be yours. He doesn’t mean anything to me, he lied to me and I see that now. Just take me. Leave him here to clean up his own mess.”

She didn’t understand why he wanted her so badly, or why he felt entitled to

her, all she knew was that he wanted her. So she gave him what he wanted.

“No, Kate. Don’t pretend, don’t give up!” Trevor’s face was bloody and developing bruises that even with quick healing he would take days to recover from. He could barely sit up. Grant kicked him hard, three times in the ribs. Trevor coughed and spat up blood.

It took all Kate had not to throw herself on him and envelope him in a comforting embrace, but she contained herself and continued the act.

“Trevor, you obviously haven’t told me everything. You didn’t tell me you took me from him.” She tried her hardest to look sincere in Grant’s eyes. “You’re a liar.”

Grant smiled at her and glared down at Trevor. “I bet he never loved you, Kate. Not like I love you.”

Kate smiled through her inner disgust and nodded, tears in her eyes. “I know he didn’t.” She looked down into Trevor’s swollen and now tired eyes. “He doesn’t.” Her whisper was so faint that she was sure it wasn’t audible. But the look that was conveyed through Trevor’s gaze said enough. Of course he loved her. He loved her so much that he’d let her pretend to hate him as long as it kept her alive. And she loved him so much that she’d rather spit in his face and call him a liar than watch him die by the hands of a psychopathic creature.

The Darkness took Kate into his arms and hugged her. She fought the urge to vomit. He held her back at arms length and smiled proudly.

“Well, I guess we have a lot of talking to do, love.”

Kate’s sanity had been stretched beyond it’s bounds, and it came snapping back like a rubber band and broke in half at the sound of the name Trevor called her so tenderly. All of her seductive energy was directed into her eyes, and through her eyes released the sweet haze that had been waiting to be set free. Grant’s black eyes fogged over and the familiar dull daze became his person. But Kate didn’t stop.

She didn’t let the haze run it’s course in his body, she didn’t stop infusing it into him. She let it pour, and pour and pour until she saw black patches dotting her vision. She collapsed onto the floor, and as soon as she was down, the dark figure that represented so much distress and loss floated down also. However, instead of collapsing from the sheer exhaustion of exerting great amounts of energy, he collapsed into the deep and inevitably dark sleep of death. Where he belonged.