https://youtu.be/F7cPgonpbwo

Drip, drip, drip...

I open my eyes to total darkness. My head hurts something awful. My body is sore and stiff, like it hasn't moved in ages. That can't be right. I have only just been talking to everyone...

There are cotton balls in my mouth. I feel feverish. Something wet drips onto my face and slides down my cheek. The smell is sweet and coppery, tinny almost. I recognize it. Blood. I smell blood. Why do I smell blood?

My eyes do not want to adjust to the darkness, but I know I am on the floor, the cold tile beneath me hard and uncomfortable. I hear scuffling all around me. My hearing is sharper, clearer than I can remember it ever being. The blood drips from above me.

Someone groans. I turn my head to look up, but snarling from the left stops me. I stay still, afraid to move. Something is not right, but I don't know what is going on. There is no light in the room. Where am I? I don't remember.

My muscles seize up, stiffen, and then relax. It feels like something inside me is slowly tightening them to the point of snapping, then releasing the tension right before that happens. It hurts. Am I sick? Maybe I've been in an accident?

My eyes blur and I blink at the horrific pain that sears them and then...then I can see. In the dark. Not shadows or shapes, but vivid details of everything around me. The room is still cloaked in a deep blackness, but not to me, I see as well as I do in the daylight, better even. The colors are different, though, sharper. They jump out at me in startling clarity and I close my eyes, frightened of the change. Why can I see so well? It's pitch black, but I see every detail.

My long, ice blonde hair blurs my vision as a soft breath from above causes it to flutter. I force my hand to push the heavy mane of hair out of my face and look around. My mind shies away from what I see. It can't be real. It can't.

Slurp, slurp, slurp...

Something is above me. I hear it call my name.

I look up, afraid, but afraid not to.

"Ssssyyydddd....."

My brother's eyes meet mine and I scream.