Blurry shapes and far-off voices greeted her as she opened her eyes. The cold, stone floor seeped into her body forcing a shiver that ended with a stab of pain. She lay on her left side feeling the uneven stone and cement poking into the soft, skin. Laying there it seemed to take so long to focus and even at the small grains of stone and cement and dust on the floor in front of her eyes as light filtered in from…somewhere, she couldn't see where. Her attention was focused on small pebble that lay just a few scant centimeters from her eyes. The color was a dilute green with flecks of black in it. Her mind told her that something was familiar about the stone or perhaps the colors of the stone or maybe it was the shape, an oval, almost bean shape. She couldn't quite remember, but something in her told her she should. Her attention moved to slight skittering sound and her eyes found an old dried leaf on the ground, so brown and fragile looking she was surprised that it hadn't turned to dust. A slight wind cooled her warm body, which she just now registered as being hot. The heat over her the skin on her face and hands. She could see her hand now not too far away from the green and black pebble that seemed familiar and the skittering leaf. Her hand was lying there and she couldn't move it but slightly, flexing joints and stretched red skin painfully. Her nails were too long and had dirt and skin under the nails. One nail, the one on her littlest finger had been taken clean off. Dried blood and green pus, as well as dirt were on the nail bed. A scrap over the back of her hand was already half-healed though still stinging in a puddle of dank water. The smell hit her nose at all once. Rank with must and mold invade her head and caused her stomach to involuntarily heave, though nothing but stomach acid came up burning her throat and mouth and dribbling from her mouth onto the dusty stone floor creating small trenches in the layer of dust she hadn't disturbed. During that time the voices faded altogether as if they were never there and she couldn't quite be sure she had heard anything as it was so quiet now with only the scuttling of the leaf as the air gently blew over it. She lay there for so long before she finally thought she might be able to move a little. First her hand watching the finger slide over the cold floor and drive trenches in the dust caking her skin with dark dirt. She watched almost fascinated by the movement. The pads of her fingers pulling back towards the palm of her hand until she was finally able to make a fist. Then her arm moved back slight at the elbow until her arm was bent and shoulder taking some weight onto it. When she felt she could move more she slowly and gingerly took her weight onto her hands and hoisted herself up into a sitting position. She was immediately assaulted by the noxious stomach acid rising once more in her throat and her vision going black with bright lights at the edges.

It was a long time later that she opened her eyes again. This time it was dark in the room with only a little light reaching her. She could see her hand still, but the stone was all in shadow and the leaf was gone. She repeated her movements again with her hand and arm. The need to move was strong in her and again she tried to take her weight on her arm to lift herself up. It was hard still and her vision shot with bright light around the edges, but she stayed conscious this time and while she still had the taste of bile in her mouth and the back of her throat it wasn't as bad. It took several tries before she was able to take her weight and several times she collapse again. Her skin still felt so stretched and it hurt to lie on the floor, but it felt good too as it was cold, but her pinched skin shot pain through her every time. She slept once more when she was too exhausted to try again.

The sun hit her face forcing her eyes to squint open. She thought she saw a face in the light, but it was too brief. Her heart leapt in her chest and for a brief moment she knew him. Then it all faded as soon as she moved. The memory gone and she couldn't recall what he had even looked like. Again it took a few tries, but she was finally able to sit up collapsed almost against the stone wall at her back. Her vision was filled with dots of light, even when she closed her eyes. Her breath came fast and heavy hurting her chest each time she breathed. She hurt all over, but especially her shoulder. She was covered in bruises as well as cuts and scratches. The floor under her had a sticky dark colored mass on it where she had lain. When her vision returned she looked to that spot and saw the pebble on the floor as well. She moved her fingers over the surface of the floor through the sticky substance and felt it coat her fingers. Her left arm still hurt from where she had lain on it for so long. Her fingers moved over the pebble and she had to concentrate to even pick up the tiny thing. She dropped it several times bringing it back to her lap, but finally settled her hand there on the skirt she wore. It was now coated with the sticky substance. She brought her fingers up to her face and almost gagged again. How couldn't she have smelled that? The substance smelled like copper and a foul odor that she couldn't even guess what it was. It made her lightheaded and she wanted to throw up again, but she resolutely forced the gag reflux down, which hurt her almost as much as letting it take its course. She noticed that the side of her shirt and sweater were both soaked through with the sticky, foul smelling substance. Trying to move the clothing was agony, some parts were hard and dry while others were sticky and damp. It was clinging to her skin and couldn't be pulled off without sharp tortuous pain. She almost passed out again trying to draw it back enough to look at it. Once the darkness passed from her vision she left the clothing alone and looked around. She was in a tiny square room long enough for her stretch out with room to spare, four bare, drab walls made of some the same as the floor with cement between the stones. Light sifted in from a tiny, barred window high up on the wall across from her, it was too high even if she could stand to see through. On the wall to her right was a solid, thick oak door without a handle. On her left was a dark fireplace with soot caked at the bottom. She sighed leaning back against the wall closing her eyes.