Garret slumped forward. The pain at the base of his skull tore through his head like a wildfire. Attempting to fight through the overwhelming agony, he shifted around to see who had struck him. It was much too dark, he worried. What had happened to the sunlight?

Frantically, Garret began casting his hands about for some semblance of his surroundings. The damp and trodden earth felt like iron under his fingers. His hand passed over tufts of grass, wet and stringy. Moments later, he felt a slight tremble to the ground. Someone was walking toward him.

“Wha…what do you want?”, Garret yelled. There was silence but for a moment, then another pain unlike the first. His abdomen screamed in terror at what felt like acid devouring his organs. Bile rose quickly causing Garret to choke and gag, but nothing would come. Ice filled his veins as he heard footsteps slowly walking away. A laugh like a sigh reached his ears as if it were a cry from the bottom of a chasm and, far above, a bird caroled a sanguine tune.