Sadie fell onto her knees, her body trembling. After a few seconds of shaking, Sadie started to sob, then screamed out loudly. She put her hands over her face and kept crying for a few minutes. She then stood up, using the tree branch grown from the cave wall as support, her eyes red and puffy, her shiny blue eyes now empty.

She bit her trembling lip.

"This all happened because of me... Akari.."

Another tear ran down her cheeks

"It's all my fault!!"

She screamed out, her voice echoing through the empty cave. The floor of the cave was filled with cold, shallow water. She hadn't noticed it yet because she was too scared after what happened to Akari. Her tights and boots were now wet in the shallow water. She finally looked up and spun her head around. There was no way back, just one way forward, which led to a void. Sadie was scared, but there was no other way.

She took one step, one deep breath, one step again, the water softly splashing. She then fully started walking forward. She walked for a few minutes and the surroundings were the same—a dark cave with little rays of light coming from the small holes on the roof. The walls were covered with little tree branches and leaves. The floor was filled with shallow water, mud, and dry leaves. After walking for another few minutes, there was a turn and a bit of light coming from there. Sadie got curious, but she was also scared. She put her hand over her heart, trying to calm herself down. She was taking deep breaths, her chest falling and rising.

Sadie stepped forward and, to her surprise, there was a door... the door to her apartment. Sadie's hand touched the handle before she could think of anything else.

"Maybe this is a way out,"

she thought to herself.

"But this could also be a path leading to danger,"

she thought again, her mind filled with what-ifs.

"Maybe there are dangerous animals behind the door, or some scary people."

After debating with herself for a few moments, she finally opened the door... this actually was her apartment. Sadie's eyes widened as her body started to tremble.

"Sadie, bitch, is that you??"

Sadie's eyes widened even more, if that was possible.

"That's... that's Sage's voice..."

The apartment was still messy and unlivable, but that voice—it made Sadie's heart warm up.

"Bitch, talk to me!"

That sound came again from the other room.

"Y-yes," Sadie said, holding back her tears.

She stood up, walking into the messy apartment. Her heart filled with more happiness as she saw a woman in her 30s lying on the couch, wearing a dirty jumpsuit, a lazy ponytail, and sipping on a wine bottle while watching boxing on TV.

"This is all I ever wanted..."

Sadie said to herself as a tear ran down her eye and she forgot about everything that happened.