Salvador became instantly awake, fully aware of his surroundings and the fact
that he was not at home in his own bed. So, where was he? The last thing he
remembered was repelling down inside of a previously unexplored cave.
He
remembered the coldness of the stone walls, the stale air, wind whistling down
through the cave tunnel as he repelled further and further into darkness, and
the feeling of excitement he felt at exploring a new cave.
Had he
fallen?
Had
the rope broken?
Instinctive fear skittered up his spine as he wiggled his fingers and his
toes, praying that he wasn’t dead or dying or worse—paralyzed. His muscles
screamed from the strain as he tried to move, pain racking every inch of his
body but at least he could move.
He
felt empty and drained he wondered at the cause of his weakness.
He
remembered…sharp teeth…claws…growling.
And
pain, lots of pain.
Blood…rivers of it.
Startled by the horrific scenes that flashed through his mind, Salvador
quickly banished those thoughts. He was being ridiculous. There had been no
teeth. There couldn’t have been. He was probably hallucinating.
Maybe
it was the drugs he was sure he was on.
Fatigue settled in pockets of his eyes. He was so tired his nerves throbbed.
He felt achy and exhausted like he had been cave climbing for days, and maybe
he had indeed fallen. It was the only thing he could think of that would
explain why he felt like his muscles were stretched near to breaking over his
bones.
Hell,
even his bones felt achy.
Subconsciously aware of the dull pain at the memories that were trying to
break through his fogged mind, Salvador turned his head and looked around.
This was definitely not his room. His room didn’t look this…white.
Every
inch of the room was a bright, pristine white—white walls, white furniture,
white carpet. A white lampshade sat on a white wooden nightstand next to the
bed. Plump white pillows, a white comforter, and white uncluttered surfaces
gleamed in their whiteness. At the window, thick white curtains carefully
sealed the room in and any color out.
A
niggle of unease shot through Salvador and he couldn't help but think the only
thing missing was white padded walls and a straight jacket. He searched for a
plausible explanation for why he was where he was but nothing came to mind.
His thoughts were scattered, foggy, eluding him.
Salvador swallowed, but his mouth had gone bone-dry, panic starting to
overwhelm him.
He
hurtled back to the earth as reality struck in the form of the bedroom door
opening up. A man he knew he had never met before walked in, shutting the door
behind him.
“Ah,
good, you’re awake.”
Duh.
“We
were worried,” the tall man said as he walked over to the side of the bed,
crossing his sinewy arms over his broad chest. His stance emphasized the force
of his thighs and the thickness of his muscles. “For awhile, it was
touch and go. We didn’t know if you would make it or not.”
We?
Who
is we?
As
casually as he could manage, Salvador asked, “Where am I?”
“You’re safe.”
That
wasn’t exactly what he had asked.
And
that alone set the alarm bells ringing in Salvador’s head. The need to escape
was almost paralyzing. He felt like there was a heavy weight on his chest,
something holding him in place and keeping him from running for his life.
“Did I
fall?” It sure as hell felt like it. Even now, every movement was met with a
sharp twinge of pain. Breathing seemed really overrated.
“Not
exactly.”
Salvador didn’t know what to think when the man grabbed a chair and pulled it
over to the side of the bed, sitting down. The guy folded his hands together
and let them dangle between his legs as he stared at Salvador with a glint of
something in his eyes that sent chills down his back.
“My
name is Thiago.”
“Salvador.”
An odd
quirk curved up one side of the man’s lips. “It’s nice to meet you, Salvador.”
“Uh,
yeah.”
There
was a pensive shimmer in the shadow of Thiago’s nutmeg brown eyes. “I know
you’re scared and confused but I want you to know that you are safe. No one
will hurt you. We’re all here to insure that nothing happens to you.”
Yeah,
that wasn’t reassuring Salvador one damn bit. If anything, it was causing more
unease, especially since he still didn’t know who we was. “Where am I?”
he asked again, hoping to get an answer this time.
“Like
I said, you are safe.”
Salvador chose his words carefully since he wasn’t sure he’d get an honest
answer. “If I didn’t fall, how did I get hurt?”
Something flickered far back in Thiago’s eyes but his face closed, as if
guarding a secret. “Can you tell me what you remember?”
That
question brought on another round of painful memories, memories that Salvador
was positive couldn’t be real. His eyes darted nervously back and forth as he
tried to put into words the nightmare that he saw in his head.
“I was
spelunking and—”
“Excuse me, spelunking?”
Salvador raised his eyes to find Thiago watching him with an intensity that
belied the casual conversation they were having. “I was exploring a cave or
caving—also occasionally known as spelunking. It’s basically exploring wild
cave systems.”
“Okay,
so you were exploring a cave.”
“Right. I was beginning my rope descent into a vertical shaft using an abseil
rack when I must have scraped my head against the wall or something. Anyway,
my hard hat fell off my head and everything went dark.”
Salvador swallowed as more memories assailed him.
“Something snapped above me,” he whispered as he stared off into space,
reliving his nightmare, “a twig maybe. I froze, pressing myself against the
cold, stone wall. I couldn’t see anything in the darkness of the cave. I heard
the scratch of paws on the ground above me, a snuffling noise as if something
was rooting for a scent, for me.”
Salvador frowned as he searched his memories, trying to bring all of the
fragmented pieces back together. “There was this…this growl and…” Salvador
shook his head. There was no way he could explain what he thought he heard. It
couldn’t have been real. “I don’t remember much after that.”
Salvador hoped Thiago would tell him what happened after that, or at least how
he had ended up in pristine white hell. The cautious way that Thiago looked
down at his clasped hands didn’t reassure Salvador that he was going to get
the answers he wanted.
A
shadow of alarm touched Thiago’s face. “What I have to tell you is going to
seem outlandish but I swear I am telling you the truth.”
Right…like
Salvador believed that. His eyes narrowed and his back became ramrod straight.
Despite the coolness in the room, he felt a trickle of sweat run down his
neck. “Just tell me when I can go home and we’ll call it good.”
“I’m
afraid you can’t go home, Salvador.”
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