Jack flew down the dark highway and nearly missed the turn into Lily Corner. He thought they could hear his car door bang shut from a mile away when he rushed out of his car and ran into the Drago's lounge, rain soaking his clothes.

"Sarah!" he yelled over the music, immediately he was through the door. Heads turned to him. People pointed and said his name in surprise.

"Sarah, please, I need to speak with you!" He raced down to the kitchen at the back and came face to face with Gabriel. He looked worn out and tired. Jack wondered what had drained him so much.

"Where's Sarah?" Jack said without pleasantries. "I need to talk to her. Where is she?"

Gabriel was staring at him like he was a madman that had come to rob the place. He was looking at Jack's hair mostly. Demi had chopped it back to its former height and had him cleanly shaven as soon as they were back in the city.

"Sarah's not here," Gabriel finally answered slowly, like the tiredness was in his brain too. "She hasn’t been here for close to three weeks."

Jack's heart skipped a beat, and he grabbed Gabriel's arm so that he gasped, shocked. "What do you mean? Where did she go?" Jack saw he had scared his friend and released his arm.

Gabriel rubbed it and looked at Jack. "I don't know." He shrugged. "I woke up one morning, and she was gone. She only left a note telling me that she had prepared me all this time to be able to manage Drago's. That she would be away for a while. She didn’t say how long. So far it's been three weeks. I honestly thought she went to see you for a day or two, but no one’s seen her" He nodded toward the chattering tables, some of them looking suspiciously… at Jack. "They are worried about her. We all are. She is what they talk about all night."

Jack's mouth ran dry as thought after thought of what may have happened flashed through his head. He saw her in a ditch, drowned in a tub, hung from a ceiling fan, buried by quicksand, missing in the woods...

Missing in the woods...

"Oh my God!" he cried, his eyes growing wide and frightening Gabriel.

"What, sir?" Gabriel said. "What?"

But Jack was already running out the door. "I'll be back!"

Jack stumbled out of Drago's, his mind reeling from the news of Sarah's disappearance. The rain, which had been a steady drizzle, now poured down in sheets, as if mirroring the turmoil in his soul. He leaned against his car, gasping for breath, the weight of his fear and guilt threatening to crush him. Had his actions driven Sarah away? Was she in danger? The possibilities raced through his mind, each more terrifying than the last. He closed his eyes, trying to center himself, to find that connection to Sarah that had kept him sane these past months. When he opened them again, there was a new resolve in his gaze. He wouldn't let the demons win, wouldn't let them take Sarah from him. With renewed determination, he jumped back into his car, ready to search every inch of Lily Corner if that's what it took to find her.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

He started to drive again, on top speed, to the meadows where Sarah and he walked to and from many nights. It had become their love place. It had become his gym. Deep in that rendezvous point was also where her parents had created a haven for their family. It had become a symbolic place for her... And for him also, now, because it was there that they made love, where nothing else mattered in life.

It was to this place she may have gone. And... Who knew what she may have done to herself there.

God, please...

God, please.

Just keep her for me.

Just do this one thing, please.

Just...

Jack saw the animal dashing onto the road too late, amidst the rain and his wild thoughts. He skidded out in panic, his car losing control at that top speed and running into the woods. He didn't know how long the struggle was, but a tree broke his car's onward movement.

Jack felt himself flying out of his chair. He didn't know where he landed, but he also didn't know where he was. He closed his eyes for a moment, but there was no use. It was all dark already.

In the darkness, images flashed about—Sarah's teasing smile the first day they met, the raised voices, more quarrels, the walks, her laughter, the hangout at her family's spot, the fawn they fed with love, Demi and the city, this crazy dash back to Lily Corner to seek the woman of his dreams, the deer coming out of the woods...

No, not a deer. It was smaller than that. A fawn. It was actually brown and with white spots like the one Sarah and he had fed.

In the darkness, both fawns merged into one. Jack wanted to laugh at himself, but no sound could come out. He didn't have control over his body.

Of course, it was the same fawn, dummy.

The fawn he had fed came out to bite his finger and put him in this darkness. He wanted to laugh at himself again, but couldn't. His soul was suddenly heavy. The darkness in it was pulling him down, deep down into more darkness.

As his descent started, Jack saw where he was going before he even got there. Hades was hot, hotter than when he mistakenly touched an iron as a child or when Harrison at college mistakenly poured hot water on his leg. It burned for days, but this was worse. The heat engulfed him and overshadowed him even from the inside.

But worse were the screams that started to pierce his ears with their dirges of agony. It was nothing like he had ever heard before. It made him think of Lily Corner even more lovingly, with its peace and serenity. But all that life of light and calmness was gone. This was eternal damnation... This was death.