Kalle's vision was dim, and he could barely make out anything around him. He felt as if he was being oppressed by an invisible and heavy pressure, as if every bone in his body was groaning in pain. The darkness seemed endless, devouring his consciousness and mind. Sometimes, a strong sense of fear would well up, and at other times, it made him feel numb.
He could hear Darlene's cries, which came from afar, intermittently, like an echo from the bottom of the abyss. The voice was extremely faint, but he couldn't ignore it. Every time he tried to reach out and grasp her voice, he was pulled back by the darkness, as if he had fallen into an endless nightmare and couldn't extricate himself.
"Darlene..." Kalle murmured in a low voice, and the painful voice came out of his throat, tinged with a bit of despair and struggle.
Suddenly, his eyes were dazzled by a bright light. A blinding ray of light, like the morning light at dawn, pierced through the surrounding darkness. The light was so intense that it seemed as if it would burn him up. However, Kalle's heart felt as if it had been stabbed by an icy blade. A scream of pain welled up in his throat, but he couldn't make a sound.
He saw that in the light, Darlene's figure gradually became clear. She stood quietly in the distance, her eyes empty and resolute, as if countless emotions had been devoured by the darkness, making her indifferent and distant.
"Kalle..." Her voice came, but it was so far away, as if separated by a bottomless chasm.
"Darlene..." Kalle reached out his hand again, trying to get closer to her, but no matter how hard he tried, the distance seemed impossible to shorten.
"Why?" His voice was hoarse, and his eyes were filled with confusion and helplessness. The pain continuously eroded his heart, and he was almost on the verge of collapse.
A trace of pain flashed in Darlene's eyes. Her lips moved slightly, but she didn't say anything. Her figure got farther and farther away until it disappeared beyond the light, leaving Kalle alone, plunged into endless darkness.
"Darlene! Don't leave me!" Kalle shouted in pain, almost using all his strength to pursue the gradually fading light. However, no matter how much he ran, he couldn't get close to that light. It was as if an invisible barrier isolated him from her at both ends.
Suddenly, he felt a tearing pain, a severe pain from the depths of his heart that he couldn't bear. The will that had originally supported him seemed to collapse in an instant. He fell to the ground, his hands clutching his chest, as if he wanted to tear his chest apart, trying to dispel the despair welling up from the bottom of his heart.
"Why..." Kalle's voice almost vanished into the darkness, "Why us..."
He couldn't understand and couldn't accept what was in front of him. The vows and promises of the past had all come to nothing at this moment. Those days spent with Darlene, which had once been so real and warm, now seemed like an unreachable mirage.
"You have to be strong." Lin Ya's voice suddenly sounded in Kalle's ears again. She was the one he had once loved deeply. Her smile emerged in his mind, but it was immediately swallowed up by the endless darkness.
"Lin Ya..." An endless pain welled up in Kalle's eyes, and everything in front of him became blurred. The memories of the past surged like a tide, and he struggled in these memories, unable to free himself.
At this moment, in the darkness, he couldn't tell what was real and what was an illusion. His heart seemed to be torn into countless pieces, and each piece was filled with pain and confusion. He had once longed to be strong and to protect everything he loved, but now, he found that he had nothing, and even his own heart was lost.
"Am I... really unable to go on anymore?" Kalle murmured to himself, his eyes filled with desperate tears.
Just then, he suddenly heard a faint breath in his ear, as if it were a weak voice coming from afar.
"Kalle..." The voice seemed to carry a deep call, with a profound emotion, as if reminding him of something.
"Darlene..." Kalle's eyes suddenly widened, and his heart jumped violently, as if he had sensed something.
The voice became clearer and clearer, gradually piercing through the darkness around him. Gradually, Kalle found that he no longer felt the suffocating oppression. Instead, he seemed to be pulled back from the abyss. His heart beat more and more violently, but not because of fear, but because a long-lost hope was revived in his heart.
Kalle suddenly opened his eyes. What he saw was no longer Darlene's cold back, but her eyes filled with determination and pain, looking directly at him.
"Kalle..." Darlene spoke again, with deep emotions shining in her eyes, the familiar tenderness and tenacity that he had long missed.
"No... don't..." Kalle shouted in a low voice. What surged in his heart was not only hope but also an overwhelming pain that he couldn't suppress. He couldn't understand why he had fallen into such deep despair, yet Darlene was still by his side, still calling out to him.
"We've been through so much together... You shouldn't give up on yourself." Darlene's voice was gentle yet firm, "You once promised me that you would never give up."
Kalle's tears welled up suddenly, and his heart was filled with pain and conflict. His heart almost shattered at this moment, and all his emotions intertwined, tearing his soul apart.
"I love you, Darlene... I don't want to lose you again." Kalle's voice was hoarse, as if it was a cry from the bottom of his heart.
Darlene's eyes became even softer. She reached out her hand and gently stroked Kalle's face, her eyes full of pity and tenderness. "Kalle, no matter what happens, I will always be by your side."
At this moment, Kalle felt as if he had found the fulcrum of his life again. Although the pain and loss in his heart still surged like a tide, he understood that only by overcoming these pains could he truly step towards the light.
He tightly held Darlene's hand, his eyes determined: "We'll get out of this darkness together and find our own future together."
At this moment, Kalle finally understood that no matter how fate toyed with him, no matter how terrifying the darkness was, he was no longer alone. His heart was closely connected to Darlene's. Even though the road ahead was still full of uncertainties and challenges, he would move forward with this firm belief.
Darkness is not endless, and the light will surely be waiting for them on the other side.