I stare at the wall for a moment once Lucinda has stepped through. A million thoughts race through my head for a moment, contributing to the smile on my face. Lucinda is here. I'll never have to worry about her fading away from my sight ever again. And she still loves me—I don't know how, but she loves me.

That's when she falls. Her upper body hits the ground next to me with a thud. I rush over to her, alarmed. "Lucinda?" Her eyes are barely visible through her lightly shut eyelids, but what I can see of them is white. My breath catches in my throat as I realize she's just fainted.

"Lucinda!" In an attempt to wake her, I shake her shoulders. She doesn't respond. My next thought of action is to drag her back to my side of the cell entirely. But she doesn't move an inch. She's stuck. I feel like passing out myself when I realize it: the wall has solidified.

I spend five seconds crying out, screaming, pulling at her arms with all my might. It doesn't do any more good. I inch closer to the wall, hoping to gain more momentum by pushing my weight against the structure.

But momentum isn't quite what I get. Instead, I'm sent hurling through the wall to the other side. For a second, I'm beside myself—I wasn't able to do this just a few minutes ago! The configuration must have changed. As my shock wears off, my mind becomes aware of a steady screaming. I look across the cell, spotting a girl covering and clutching her face with pale hands. Then I notice what she's screaming at. There, in the near-centre of the room, Dr. Grantley is holding a gun to my doppelganger's chest.

I don't stop to think. A scream of my own erupts from cavern deep inside of me, drowning out anything and everything else. All at once, my body hurls forward. I miss Dr. Grantley's figure by mere centimetres, making contact with the prisoner instead.

But by that time, I've lost too much force to knock him out of danger's way. I feel a strange surge of electricity course through my arm, then through my entire body. It's a melting sensation, as though I'm melting away from my very existence—or into it. But I don't have any more time to think about it. I hear a gunshot ring out, its horrific sound swallowing up even my own scream.

Then darkness itself swallows me.