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T he world explodes, or at least it feels like it does, as I’m thrown through the air like a rag doll. A loud boom echoes through the woods like when lightning hits the earth, and my ears ring. My back slams into a tree, and the air leaves my lungs in a whoosh as I fall to the ground.

I know I need to get up, need to check on the others, and make sure we’re all okay, but my body isn’t responding like it should. I feel weaker, slower, numb.

I’ve taken harder hits than that before, so why does everything hurt?

Forcing my eyes open is a task all on its own, but I manage eventually.

I’m met with chaos as the guys run around, but despite their urgency, I can’t seem to find my own.

“He’s not breathing.”

“He doesn’t have a pulse.”

My head spins as their words slowly pass through the fog of my mind. I can’t distinguish one voice from the other, can’t bring myself to look around and see the destruction I know is there.

For some reason, I can’t make myself look away from the sky. It’s as if I’m trapped staring into the void because somehow that’s what it is now.

There’s no moon, not one star, just endless, nothing… Endless darkness.

The numbness in my chest is slowly wearing off, and in its place, a throbbing pain is growing. I know it won’t be long before it’s all consuming.

I push myself up on my knees before I make my way on wobbling legs to stand and finally face the reality that just might break me before this pain in my chest can cripple me.

Lyle’s human, no longer the beast Draven forced him to be. He lies unmoving on the ground.

Not ten feet from him, Ryker is also on the ground.

He gave his life to save Lyle, and while he might not be a chimera anymore, he’s also not breathing.

I feel as though I’m watching from the outside.

These men are my friends, and as my brothers scramble to try to save them, all I can do is stand here and watch.

I don’t even feel upset, I can’t think past this pain.

The ache in my chest grows more painful, harder to ignore, as my knees threaten to give out.

What is wrong with me?

What could be worse than this?

Realization hits me harder than the explosion did, as I look around the now cleared area. There is dirt and downed trees everywhere, but the one thing I’m looking for isn’t here.

I spin around, my eyes raking over everything, every possible place, and still I come up empty.

No, that's wrong. This isn’t happening.

The pain in my chest intensifies further, and I know what it is now. Even if I want to be wrong, I know I’m not.

My voice is hardly more than a whisper, all that I’m capable of with this pain, but it’s enough. Every one of them turns toward me as I ask the question I already know they don’t have an answer to.

“Where’s Serena?”