Some Selfish Hell

It had been so long since we entered that damned place. So long, I can hardly remember my own name. But the name of the woman I held in my arms... her head in my lap, as I sat on the cold ground... I could never forget that name.

Laura. I'm sorry. I failed you.

I looked down at her lifeless body with dulled eyes. My memories suddenly flashed to life.

"Shadow!" Laura screamed as she ran for dear life. "I'm coming, Laura!" Shadow yelled back. He ran towards the sound of her voice. Careening down the halls, he veered around a corner and started to head down the long stretch of hallway that now lay in front of him, only to nearly bump into her as she seemingly stumbled out of nowhere directly in front of him. "Shadow!" She exclaimed. "You're aliv-"

She never got to finish what she was saying. A swishing sound through the air came from somewhere nearby. In less than a heartbeat, Laura's left arm had been severed from her body. It flopped to the ground, limp, before being dragged away into the darkness by some unseen force. Laura screamed in agony and grabbed her arm where it used to be. And then everything went black...

I looked at Laura's left arm. What was left of it. I teared up for a moment before continuing to stare dully ahead into the nothingness in front of me.

Suddenly, she shifted a tiny bit. She was still alive?

She looked up at me and gave me a weak, but warm smile. Tears trickled down her cheeks. Reaching up, she placed her right hand gently on my cheek. I placed my hand over hers. A tear rolled down my chin and splashed to the ground.

"Shadow... I-It's going... to be ok..."

I choked. I couldn't hold it back anymore. I swiftly wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. I embraced her as tightly as possible. I squeezed my eyes shut as tears started freely flowing down my cheeks. Hugging her even tighter, I let out a loud wail.

"No! Don't leave me! I love you!"

She weakly stroked the back of my head with her right hand for a bit before placing it back on my cheek. She looked into my eyes.

"I'm sorry... I-I... I don't have much time left in me..."

Suddenly, she drew back. She looked into my eyes once more before laying her head back in my lap. Then, her eyes dulled and she breathed her last.

And now I had no one. I looked down at her newly dead body, then looked up and stared blankly and dully ahead at the same nothingness I had come to know as everything.

We thought it would be a good idea. To go into the mysterious haunted mansion we had just so happened to have found on the outskirts of the city. Yet, when we went inside, we soon realized our mistake.

First, Jane went. Whatever creature or creatures lurked in here, they had cut her throat open and left her to die. Then Godwin.

We found his charred corpse in the fireplace after he got separated from us.

Noah was stabbed multiple times. He had gaping stab wounds all over his body.

And now Laura.

She was the oldest of the group. She was 20. The rest of us were 16 and 17, save for me. At the time I was 19.

She lost her arm to the terrifying forces of this hellhole. She died of blood loss after what seemed like 2 years. However, only 2 days had passed.

I sat there, in a state of complete emptiness. No emotions. No thoughts. No feelings. I had lost all sense.

I couldn't even see what I was indefinitely looking at.