Mildred stood over Mabel and brought her foot down hard on the latter's leg.

With a sickening crack of the bones, Mabel screamed in agony, though her fingers remained fiercely locked around the bracelet, refusing to let go.

Up in the air, I was losing my mind. I threw myself at Mildred and tried to shove her away with everything I had, but the oppressive energy of her living warmth repelled my soul over and over again.

Mabel's leg was bent at a grotesque angle, yet she kept her grip tight on the bracelet. She looked where I was floating and locked her eyes on me, as if she could truly see me.

"See, Zach. I'm keeping your bracelet safe."

Tears streamed down my face. In my despair, I forced myself to ignite and burned away half of my remaining soul, but all it managed to do was make that mechanical heart, thousands of miles away, beat once.

But just that one beat was enough.

A second later, one of Mildred's men excitedly shouted, "Ms. Gifford! We've picked up a signal from the mechanical heart, and it's still beating! The source is nearby. It's moving!"

Looking down at the pulsing location signal on the phone screen, Mildred let out a cold laugh.

"I knew he was faking his death," she said. "Let's see where he can escape to this time."

She was about to get into the car when Mabel called out behind her. "Zach! Where are you going?"

Mildred froze in her tracks. She turned to see Mabel staring up at the empty sky, holding out her hands desperately as if she could see a real person.

"Zach! Zach, wait for me!"

Mildred's expression instantly darkened. She walked back and stared Mabel down. "You stupid bitch. Stop these stupid games."

Mabel ignored her. Her face was a mess of tears and snot as she pleaded, "Don't go, Zach. I'm scared. Wait for me."

Mildred raised her foot and stomped down hard on Mabel's other leg. There was another sickening crack.

Driven to madness, I flung myself forward and desperately clawed to hold Mildred back, but my hands passed right through her every time. Nothing I did worked.

For the first time in my life, I truly loathed her.

Mabel screamed in pain and shook violently all over. Still, she sobbed, "Zach! Zach, don't leave!"

Mildred looked down at her with utterly cold, indifferent eyes. "I'll come back and deal with you two after I find him."

With that, she strode away.

As I drifted in the air, my body felt lighter by the second. Forcing that mechanical heart to beat for a single second had drained the last of my strength. My soul was fading, as if pulled into the distance by some unknown force.

I didn't know how long it took for Mildred to arrive at the location the signal pointed to.

In the distance, a group of neighborhood kids was kicking a dirty object back and forth.

Mildred's breath caught in her throat. The red dot on her screen drew closer to the children as she approached them, until it completely stopped blinking.

A light rain began to fall from the sky as she slowly reached down and picked up the object on the ground. The drizzle washed away the filth and mud on the surface to reveal a familiar metallic casing beneath.

An ominous dread crept up within her.

She pressed the heart's activation switch, but this time, it remained completely still.