24 hours passed like the trickle of sand through a clogged hourglass.

Deep within, I could feel my soul decaying by the second.

I reached on my left side, feeling the emptiness of the sheets that once were filled. My heart ached more.

It was 10 am. The day was Monday. It wasn't a holdiay, either.

I refused to go into work today. I would not go. I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes and look at the ceiling, let alone get out of the bed and ready myself for public appearance.

What had they done with her?

I would be damned if I would let her be taken from me like this. I was going to march down there, I was going to get her back and take the bastards down. How, I wasn't sure, but I knew the consequences if I didn't. Who knows what Eliza would be put through... assuming she wasn't being experimented on already.

All of this right after we had discussed Maxis, the experimentation, and why we were still here. It didn't add up... did someone find out?

I backtracked in my mind, scanning the darkest depths of my lost memory to see if anyone could possibly have known about the affair. Nothing came to mind.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, as if the day could get worse. It was likely Maxis or one of his nasty goons, sent to take me away.

Another ding, and I was not yet up.

"Break the door down and take me," I said to myself.

Whoever it was began to bang on the door.

I growled very angrily and marched down the stairs. I slammed the door against the wall as I opened it, leaving a remarkably sized dent in the wood on the other side.

Who is was surprised me.

"Groph? What are you doing?" I asked.

"Let me in, Edward. I have matters to discuss with you." His expression seemed frantic.

"No. Go away, I do not have the-"

"Edward, let me in! It's... personal." His voice strained slightly.

My eyebrows raised.

"Come in." I curiously agreed, knowing not what the matter could be.

"Edward..." His voice came as a whisper, an echo that barely reverberated off of my eardrums.

"They have her."

My eyes widened and my ears must have deceived me.

"W-What?" I stuttered, my voice barely audible.

"They have her. Your servant, I saw them bring her in this morning. They know, they know everything."

My eyes went blank as my emotion deceived me and my heart began to pound faster than my mind could think.

"Edward!" Suddenly, Groph's hands shook me back to him, his firm grip laid upon my shoulders. "Maxis knows. Whatever you did... she's in danger."

"Why, why are you telling me this?!"  I exclaimed, in a fit of rage and confusion.

"Because I know it isn't right. I overheard them, I know you care about that girl... and now, so does he."

I snatched my coat from the wall and threw it over my shoulders.

"Where, where is she!?" I lunged to him, flinging open the door and allowing the cold and frosty air to hit me from the outside.

"I don't know, but she's in the facilities, maybe the Experimentation Room-" I had already begun to sprint down the sidewalk in fury and peril. "Edward! You cannot just storm in! They'll capture you! They may not kill you, but my god they'll-"

"I'm sorry, Groph! I will be killed before I let them take her from me!" I screamed and took off full speed, my coat flying behind me.

I should have stopped them yesterday at the door, I could have saved her.

Just one more day and we could have been free. I was going to plan it all out. I was going to save her, to save us... and now, it had all been cast forward into Oblivion.

My breaths became engulfed in icy cool air, as my feet carried me toward my ultimate destination.

It's all your fault, Edward.

She's gone now because of your ignorance, because of your blindness, because of your selfishness.

And just like that, without Eliza there, the voices hauntingly came back.

I ignored them and continued further as snow began to coat the ground, making my travel slick.

Three blocks.

Two blocks.

The facility came into sight and my heart heaved from the physical exertion I had performed. To my surprise, the facility seemed vacant and the door was not being guarded by anyone this morning, not an employee in sight.

This was a dream, surely. A nightmare conjured from the depths of my internal fears. Eliza should be here beside me. She should be kissing my lips.

For if that were that case, I would not be here, bursting through the door of the building.

"Sophia!" I called out loudly, my voice echoing off the tall walls.

She too, was gone. Her desk seemed to be frozen in time, the pen of her quill dipped in ink and lay across the paper, as if she had been jerked away from it suddenly. I rushed to the wooden table and glanced down at the paper.

"Experimenta-"

That was all she wrote, but it was enough to confirm my fears.

My heart sank to the floor, and I pushed through the steely doors, and began to sprint down the long corridor.

Suddenly, Niklas' words began to invade my memory, and my pace slowed.

Group 935, especially this facility, had an army behind them. I could not allow my fury to catapult me into open fire. Groph was right- If I stormed in now, neither Eliza nor I had a chance of making it out alive.

My footsteps stopped and I regained my breath, glancing around the area. Over the few years that I had worked in this facility, I had learned that there seemed to be no weaknesses. I couldn't blast through the doors either, short of a Ray Gun. But... what if there was a way to cause peril from the inside?

The corridor was scarcely lit by a few straggling lights on the tall ceiling. I scanned the crevices and every inch of the walls and floor until my eyes landed on an object, or rather, a series of objects running along the ceiling in a straight line.

"Sprinklers..." I whispered to myself, almost mustering a malicious smirk.

That would have everyone out of the building- and allow for our escape! Yes!

It was our only chance.

I had to create an explosion- something that would trigger the alarm, and then hide long enough for the building to clear.

My meticulously programmed mind did not allow for calculations this time- there were no seconds to waste. But what could I use for the explosion? I ran toward my lab, thankful that there happened to be no guards standing outside. I fumbled around. Everything seemed to be raided, as if I'd been the suspect of a mass-murder investigation. 

"Something..." I muttered to myself. "There has to be... something..." My eyes widened as I recollected my thoughts.

The Ray Gun.

"Where is that thing?!" I asked rhetorically, standing in the middle of my laboratory. My eyes finally caught sight of a conveniently placed locker at the far end of the dark room. My feet carried me toward it, my mind praying to see the weapon behind the cold locked metal. The combination, which should have been private for only my use, was entered by my trembling fingers.

4-8-1-3-8-6. Enter.

The lock clicked open and a breath of relief escaped my lips. I flung open the door of the locker, and my eyes widened in happiness, for there stood the Ray Gun in its full glory. I scooped up the prototype and held it closely to my body. It was time to end all this.

With the gun in hand, I crouched, heading back out to the central hallway. My hazel orbs scanned the area hastily for any explosive item to set off the alarm. That's when my eyes landed on a small sign above the door across from my lab.

Boiler Room.

I sighed, and shook my head reluctantly. Part of me, as I turned that doorknob, wished that the thing was locked. But to my surprise, the door slid open, revealing a long stairwell into an even darker, more warmly lighted facility that housed the power and water tanks. I flew down the stairs in haste, sweat beginning to perspire on my brow. 

You're going to die here. Everything in this room is explosive!  My conscience screamed. 

I looked at the gun and shook my head. 

"Please help me, God..." I said and I shut my eyes and pointed the nozzle of the Ray Gun toward an awkwardly placed dial on the wall that seemed to be monitoring water pressure in the pipes. Without the time to hesitate, I prayed and squeezed the trigger tightly. 

And before I could respond, I was on the ground in complete darkness.