“Hello? Is anyone here? Where am I?” My voice sounded loud in the darkness. I felt claustrophic, smothered by the unknown. Anything could be hiding out there. I was blind. Maybe I was alone. I didn’t know which was worse.

Panic set in twisting space around me and I gasped for air to relieve the sudden pressure that gripped my chest. Bile surged into my mouth and I spat it out. Nauseated, I clawed blindly with both arms trying to find anything stable to hold on to, anything that would give me a sense of direction. My elbow banged against a brick wall that was much too close. Desperate and blind, I ignored the throbbing pain, placed both hands on the rough face of the wall and tried to follow it to a light switch or a door.

Curious markings in the stone made me stop and go over them with my fingertips very slowly. I realized the markings were a message once I traced a ‘P’ and an ‘L’. When there were no more letters, I started to cry. There was a reason to be afraid.

The message simply read PLEASE HELP ME.