Luca's eyelids felt like lead. As he slowly pulled them open, the sound of water dripping from the ceiling echoed in his ears like heavy hammer blows. In the dim light, the first thing he saw was Lane's face. Tears were streaming from the corners of Lane's eyes, wetting his cheeks. Luca asked in a trembling voice, "Why... why are you crying, Lane? Did you have a bad dream?" Luca instinctively placed his hand on his chest, where a soul-chilling coldness still lingered.
Lane didn't answer; he just lunged forward and embraced Luca, sobbing. Luca also reached out his arms and embraced Lane tightly. Lane's small hands gripped Luca's shirt, as if terrified that Luca might vanish again. "I thought you would never wake up," Lane whispered, burying his face in Luca's shoulder. "Seeing you lying there lifeless made it hard to breathe. I felt like I was left all alone in this darkness." Luca took a deep breath and patted Lane's back, though his own mind was still trapped in a labyrinth of questions.
"We must leave at once," Luca said, steadying himself and helping Lane up. "If the guards find us here, they won't leave us alive." They began to walk slowly through the narrow, stony corridor. In this underworld, there was no sign of daylight—only a never-ending, eternal night. Lane wiped his wet eyes and looked at Luca curiously. "But Luca, how did you get down here?"
Flickering images of the struggle flashed before Luca's eyes. "That vampire guard brought me here. I somehow managed to free my hand and ran toward the dark corridor. But as soon as I took a few steps, suddenly there was a very loud sound of an explosion from behind. It was so pitch black that I couldn't even see my own hand. I tried to turn and look, but saw nothing except that terrifying sound. After that... everything went numb."
They descended further into the depths of the prison. Suddenly, a sound of something heavy dragging came from around a corner. A terrifying shadow appeared—it was a vampire guard, dragging his body helplessly across the floor. The sight was soul-chilling. His lower half had been completely blown apart in a violent explosion, bits of flesh hanging, yet he was still gasping for his final breaths.
The writhing guard extended his trembling fingers and grabbed Lane's leg tightly. A scream escaped Lane's throat, and he was overcome with terror. In a panic, he kicked the blood-stained body away with a violent jolt. Lane's entire body began to shake, and he immediately ran toward Luca. Luca embraced Lane, because Luca did not want Lane to see such a horrific sight, but he had no idea what was unfolding behind his own back.
Inside Luca's arms, Lane's sobbing stopped instantly. His eyes, which had just been full of innocence, suddenly changed. His pupils began to dilate, and his eyes turned pitch black—as if an infinite darkness had consumed them. Lane stared at the struggling guard with a predatory gaze. In that instant, the guard's screams turned into silence. His body began to crumble like old earth, and within moments, the entire guard turned into a pile of ash. When Luca turned around due to the sudden silence, there was nothing there but dust. Luca grabbed Lane's hand in fear and began running with him toward the dungeon.