Extraits

Chapter One

I woke to find myself staring at darkness so intense that only by blinking could I tell that my eyes were open at all. My left cheek was pressed against something soft yet gritty that smelled suspiciously like dirt. That’s because it is dirt, I thought in increasing confusion.

Granules of soil were in my nose, my mouth and clung to my eyelashes. Worst of all, they scraped harshly against the raw edges of my neck. Wait a minute…the raw edges of my neck? I didn’t like the sound of that very much. As far as I knew, necks weren’t supposed to have edges, raw or otherwise. They were just supposed to be attached to your shoulders. Then it dawned on me; I couldn’t feel anything below my neck at all.

Shocked, bewildered and terrified, I lay helplessly on my side and whimpered pathetically. I didn’t know where I was, how I’d gotten there or how I’d come to be paralysed. Keeping my mind as blank as possible seemed to be the way to cope with being in this state. Thinking would lead to panic then screaming and general hysteria would shortly follow.