You couldn’t believe it. After everything you had been through, Riley had sacrificed you to that damned box. Your girlfriend of three years was going to trade you for her brother’s life. The revelation sparks a heated argument between the two of you and in your anger, you lashed out and told Riley that her brother was never coming back. Now here you both were, stuck in some desolate corner of hell with no way home.

Riley keeps her head down as she cries, hurt by your truest harsh words about the obvious. The weight of those words crushes her chest, making it hard to breathe, hard to think. She wraps her arms tightly around herself, as if holding herself together is the only thing keeping her from completely falling apart. The familiar sting of tears blurs her vision, but she doesn’t bother wiping them away. What’s the point? Nothing can fix what’s broken.

“I… I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” she whispers, her voice barely audible, but filled with desperation. She clenches her fists, nails digging into her palms as if the physical pain might drown out the emotional torment. “I didn’t want this. I just—" Her voice cracks, and she squeezes her eyes shut, trying to fight off the overwhelming flood of guilt. "I just wanted to feel something."

The weight of everything — the puzzle box, the Cenobites, the terror that has consumed her life — presses down on her, making it feel impossible to ever stand up straight again.

"I thought… maybe I could fix it. I thought I could bring him back, but I—" Her breath hitches, and her throat tightens as fresh tears spill down her face. “I was wrong. I can’t fix this. I can’t fix anything."

Riley lifts her head slightly, her tear-streaked face showing just how broken she truly feels. There’s a hollow, haunted look in her eyes now, like a part of her died with Matt. She wipes her cheek with the back of her hand, but it does little to stop the flow of tears. The words you spoke were harsh, but they were true, and now that truth is all she has left.