I woke up with a pounding headache and a sore back. I groaned, letting my head tip to the side. The world spun when I opened my eyes, and then settled into an uncomfortable shadowy darkness. My eyes were scratchy.

I tried to move but my something was holding me back. They felt like metal and they curled over my fingers to force my hands into fists. There were more over my legs and arms, metal vices that bound me down onto the table like an animal. I could tell someone else was in the room with me too. There was a swishing of clothing and the whisper of air that brushed my cheeks as they moved.

Belatedly, I realized that the twisting shadows above my head weren't shadows, but black hoods that hid faces. My breathing shot up as I realized that they stood over me like doctors at a surgery, and I was tied down with nothing to defend myself with.

"What's happening?" I asked, and my voice came out raw.

There was no reply. They didn't even give any indication that they had heard me, they just continued whatever they were doing. As if they had one mind, they stepped forward toward me. I tensed.

"Someone tell me what's going on." I ordered, eyes flicking back and forth between the shadows.

Again, they appeared not to have heard me. Unexpectedly, they began to chant. Their voices rose over each other, perfectly in sync. Then their hands rose.

My head reared back, eyes going wide. In each of their hands they had a gleaming silver knife.

"What the hell is this?" I shrieked, struggling against my bonds. The metal held and my wrists began to bleed from the rough edges of the cuffs.

Their chanting rose and rose, and then I felt a pain in my legs. They were cutting me, the tips of their blades sunk into my ankles. I screamed, tears coming to my eyes as their hands slowly parted my skin like it was perfectly natural. I could feel blood trickling down my legs and onto the hard table beneath me. Now others began to the same process. Each of my wrists were slit, and there were two thin blades slashing either side of my neck.

The pain was overwhelming. I screamed until my voice broke and then I screamed silently some more. Tears slid down my face and into my hair, and my eyes burned. My eyes were stuck wide open and I could only stare up into their dark faces, hidden beneath the hoods. I could imagine their eyes on me, red and bloody. I felt nauseous, and I retched. There was so much blood. Blood and pain and blood and pain. It was all so much and I felt myself trembling. The blood surrounded me, caressing my body and laughing. It slipped over me hissing and dripping like a monster that lived in my veins. My brain ceased to function as pain slipped its claws deeper into my body. I seized, jerking, body slippery in my own blood.

Their voices rose to crescendo. I could smell something electric, and something burning. That familiar black slithery power curled around me and around them too. They twisted it, weaving it into a black web around me. Suddenly their hands slammed down.

There was a thunderclap, and then something slammed into me like a truck. I could feel myself arch off the table, muscles straining on their own accord and my mouth was open in a silent scream. This unknown thing coursed through my veins, warm and cold at the same time, tearing me apart and then stitching me back together. It was strong, so strong that I couldn't move with it in me. I felt like I was being stretched as it rushed into me. My body was too small, too insignificant, to weak to control such a force. It was colossal, it felt like liquid made of air, like electricity if it were mixed with the ocean. It burned me and I saw light flash in front of my eyes before my head exploded with pain. I was grateful for the blackness that pulled me under, and I let myself fall unconscious. 

A/N:

Sometimes I scare myself with what my brain comes up with. This is one of those times. 

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~Book Dragonet