Prologue

It's dark. The air is heavy, stagnant. The dampness clings to her skin, as if someone is breathing too close.She doesn't know if she's lying down, sitting, or just stuck between movement and paralysis. Her body feels foreign. Her legs are like lead. Her arms won't obey. Her heart is pounding in her throat. Wrong. Too fast. Too alive.
It's cramped here. The air is thin. It feels like the walls are too close. Or the ceiling is too low. Or maybe it's not walls at all, but skin. Damp, tightening skin.
Her mind grasps at something... a voice?Someone spoke.  Just recently.  Was it a man’s?  A woman’s? She can't remember the words. Just a whisper. Warm. Close. Hide.
A moment — and again, silence.
She doesn’t know how she ended up here. Who she is. Where she is. What comes next. The only thing that remains is the feeling —she shouldn’t be here.