Sebastion awoke with a start. Confusion enveloped him; where was he? What was going on? He tried to move but found he couldn't; his joints were stiff, and he felt heavy. Very heavy.
"This doesn't feel right."
His own voice echoed around his head, reverberating in the dead silence he found himself in. Cautiously opening his eyes, Sebastion saw nothing in front of him; the pitch-black of the shadows surrounding him was so dense that his eyes couldn't adjust, not to mention the chill that hit them as he lifted his eyelids. He took in a deep breath. The room smelled almost like the oxygen that was administered to patients in need. He blinked a few times once more and tried to move; the air around him felt … Liquid.
"What the Hell."
Sebastion moved again, and as he did, the familiar pressure of water engulfed him all at once. It was pressing in on him like the four walls of a small closet.
"This isn't normal."
Panic slowly settling in, he let out a faint whine and closed his eyes. He realised he was floating in the frigid water, his wrists and ankles bound with cuffs to what he imagined to be was chains. Sebastion tugged weakly at his bindings, his breathing getting faster and harder as his heart beat wildly in his chest. He could hear nothing, see nothing, and most of all feel nothing; the water had managed to numb his skin, removing all sensation. The silence caused by his detention was deafening. It left this mind blank; he tried to imagine the sun, a tree, a dog, but found that he could do none of those things. The commercial smell and taste of the oxygen was sickening, and as the seconds went by, he started to think he was about to lose his mind.
Panic was mounting slowly higher, sending his heart and mind into a frenzy. Alarms were ringing in his mind, telling him to get out of there as soon as possible. But how? He could barely move, and the oxygen he was getting was scarcely keeping him conscious. What was going on?
"Come now, calm down; you have barely any oxygen left. Do you want to suffocate?"
The voice filled his mind, his heart almost stopping. Sebastion went completely still, tension and fear mounting in him; he didn't recognize it, and if he'd heard it before something was telling him that this was someone he didn't want to meet.
"That's better. I'm glad you're finally awake; two days is an oddly long time to stay unconscious … "
Sebastion made no noise and no moves, not that he could even if he tried. Two days? He had been stuck in water for two days? The voice had bitter glee twisted into its velvety tones, almost as if – no. He is enjoying it. That thought sent a chill through Sebastion that had nothing to do with the freezing water surrounding him. Trying desperately to stay focused and not panic, the medic racked his brains. Where had he heard that voice before?