Chapter Eight: Evermore

                                    

                                          

      Sage lay in her bed, surrounded by the comforting darkness and of the night. But even the soft moonlight filtering through her curtains couldn't dispel the shadows lurking in her mind. She drifted into a restless sleep, unaware of the nightmare that awaited her.
       In her dream, she found herself back in the familiar confines of her childhood home, yet everything felt eerily different. The air was thick with tension, and a sense of impending doom hung heavy in the atmosphere. She glanced around, her heart pounding, but there was no sign of her family. Only silence greeted her, broken only by the faint creaks of the house settling.
       A chill ran down her spine as she realized she was alone with her twin brother, Gage. Panic surged through her veins as she frantically searched for him, calling out his name into the oppressive darkness. But her voice seemed to dissipate into nothingness, swallowed by the ominous stillness of the night.
      Suddenly, a loud crash shattered the silence, echoing through the empty halls like a gunshot. Sage's breath caught in her throat as fear gripped her heart with icy fingers. She raced towards the source of the noise, her mind reeling with dread.
      As she rounded the corner, her worst nightmares materialized before her eyes. The front door hung off its hinges, shards of broken glass littering the floor like glittering confetti. Intruders prowled through the shadows, their faces twisted into malicious sneers as they ransacked the once-safe haven of her home.
      Sage's pulse thundered in her ears as she watched in horror, rooted to the spot with a paralyzing mixture of terror and disbelief. She searched desperately for Gage, her only thought to protect him from the looming threat that encroached upon their sanctuary.
      With a surge of adrenaline, she lunged forward, her instincts kicking into overdrive as she propelled herself towards her brother's side. She found him huddled in a corner, his eyes wide with fear mirroring her own. Without hesitation, she enveloped him in her arms, shielding him from the chaos unfolding around them, blood soaking her t-shirt.
      But even as Sage clung to Gage, she knew deep down that they were hopelessly outnumbered. The intruders closed in on them like vultures circling their prey, their malevolent laughter ringing in her ears like a sinister symphony.
      In a desperate bid for survival, Sage's mind raced with possibilities, each one more futile than the last. She felt the weight of responsibility bearing down on her shoulders, the burden of protecting her brother threatening to crush her beneath its suffocating grasp.
      As the intruders drew closer, Sage's fear reached a fever pitch, her thoughts consumed by a single, primal instinct: survival. With every fiber of her being, she willed herself to be strong, to be brave in the face of unimaginable adversity.
     But just as the darkness threatened to engulf them entirely, a sliver of light pierced through the shadows, illuminating the room with a flickering glow. Sage blinked in disbelief as she watched the intruders falter, their sinister grins faltering as uncertainty flickered in their eyes.
      And then, like a beacon of hope in the abyss, Sage saw a figure emerge from the darkness, his presence commanding and resolute. It was her father, his eyes ablaze with determination as he stood tall against the tide of darkness that threatened to engulf them.
      With a thunderous roar, her father unleashed a primal fury upon their assailants, driving them back with a ferocity born of love and desperation. Sage watched in awe as he fought to protect his family, his bravery inspiring her to stand tall in the face of adversity.