**Chapter 4: Descent into Darkness**

As the hours ticked by, I remained lost in my memories, unable to shake off the feeling of terror that had taken hold of me. Hange's mother, a woman with a kind face and gentle hands, worked tirelessly to calm me down. She tried to soothe me with soft words and gentle touch, but I was beyond consolation. The pain of my past was too much to bear, and I could feel myself slipping further and further into the abyss. Hanji held me close, his voice a constant whisper in my ear, but even his presence couldn't pierce the darkness that had consumed me. Hange, too, was beside himself with worry, his eyes red from crying, his face etched with concern. His mother's arrival had brought a sense of calm to the room, but it was clear that she was struggling to reach me. As the night wore on, I began to experience vivid flashbacks, reliving the traumatic events of my past in vivid detail. I saw myself as a child, running from an unknown threat, my heart pounding in my chest. I saw the faces of people I loved, their eyes filled with fear and sadness. I heard the sound of screams, of shattering glass, of crumbling walls. Each flashback was like a punch to the gut, leaving me breathless and disoriented. Hange's mother tried to ground me, to bring me back to the present, but it was like trying to hold back a tide of memories that threatened to consume me. In the midst of the chaos, I felt a strange sense of detachment, as if I was observing myself from outside my body. I saw Hange, his face contorted in anguish, his eyes pleading for me to come back to him. I saw Hanji, his grip on me tightening as he tried to hold me together. And I saw myself, a fragile, broken thing, lost in a sea of pain. As the flashbacks intensified, I began to lose all sense of time and space. I was no longer in the room with Hange and Hanji; I was back in the past, reliving the trauma that had shaped me. I was a child again, scared and alone, with no one to turn to. The only thing that kept me anchored to reality was Mr. Whiskers, who had somehow managed to slip into the room unnoticed. He curled up beside me, his soft purrs a gentle reminder that I was not alone. As I clung to him, I felt a tiny spark of hope, a sense that maybe, just maybe, I could find my way back to the surface. But for now, I was trapped in the darkness, reliving the memories of my past. And I could only whisper, "Mama... scared..." over and over again, a desperate cry for help that seemed to echo through eternity.