Chapter One Hundred-Fourty Nine

Karina was thrashing in her sleep, her face contorted with fear. In her dream, she was in a dark, endless hallway. Shadows flickered on the walls, and the air was thick with an eerie silence. She could hear Sophie's faint cries echoing down the corridor.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Sophie's voice was desperate, filled with terror.

Karina ran toward the sound, her heart pounding in her chest. "Sophie! Where are you?" she cried out, her voice trembling.

She reached a door at the end of the hallway and flung it open. Inside, she saw Sophie being dragged away by faceless figures. Sophie's eyes were wide with fear, her tiny hands reaching out for her mother.

"Mommy, help me!" Sophie screamed.

Karina lunged forward, but the distance between them seemed to stretch infinitely. "No! Sophie! Let her go!" she yelled, her voice breaking with anguish.

The figures turned, their featureless faces hauntingly expressionless. They continued to pull Sophie away, her cries growing fainter. Karina fell to her knees,