Memories came back in fragments, little shards of clarity amidst the pain and confusion. But it felt like each time I reached for one, it sliced me enough to yank my hand back.
The weird coldness I was feeling seemed to be sinking deeper, making shivers rack my system.
I focused on forcing some life into my limbs until I rolled myself onto my side.
The sharp pain in my upper arm was what finally shocked a full memory loose.
Stab her already.
Then complete unconsciousness.
Someone had stabbed me with a needle, injected me with something that was messing with my mind.
My stomach rolled, making me heave. But there was nothing in my stomach to throw up.
Tears pricked my eyes, then flooded and spilled before I could blink them away.
But I wasn’t even sure why I was crying.
Was it the pain? The fear?
Or was it the drugs?
It certainly felt like it was out of my control, making me lean on the latter as I pulled my arms up and buried my face as the sobs racked my body.
I don’t know how long I cried. Time felt weird. Slow and expanding, like I was sucked inside it instead of experiencing it.
All I knew was I didn’t actively stop crying. They dried up. I sobbed myself dry.
I pressed my heels into my eyes, trying to ease the stabbing sensation behind them from the light in the room.
The light.
I lowered my hands, staring up at the windows that had light streaming through them not long before.
Except, it had to have been longer than I realized.
Because the bright yellow sun was now the pinks and purples of sunset.
How long had I been out of it? Hours?
How was that possible?
Hours, gone in a blink.
I had to focus.
I needed to get up, find an exit.
My gaze slid around the steadily darkening room. But the moment had my head spinning and my stomach lurching again.
“Damnit,” I hissed, pushing up until my back met a cold, hard wall.
I fought through the dizziness, the swimming vision, and the lurching stomach, just sucking in big, gasping breaths until I felt like I could think again.
When I could, little things came into focus.
The windows were abundant, but way up high—just under the ceiling.
