105

DANIEL

Noises—

Flashes of light—

The dull throbbing sounds that echoed in my ear. I thought I could hear someone talking, or it might have been something scratching in my ear, tunneling deep…

Snatches of conversation drifted in and out of my mind, and I scrunched my eyes, trying to block out all the information that I was receiving. It was all too much, and my mind felt like it was splitting in two… tearing apart…

“No,” I groaned, but it came out as a mumble lost in a fast-flowing stream—I felt my words being sucked out of me as something dragged me deeper underwater.

Nothing made sense right now. There was a searing light above me.

“Daniel,” I heard a muffled voice say.

I groaned again, wishing that everything would stop.

“DANIEL!” The voice screamed.

My eyes snapped open. Then, feebly, they began to close again. My body felt weird and I could not say for sure where I was. I looked around, but still could not make sense of my surroundings. I thought about walking so I could determin