When Simon woke up, his hospital room was dark and smelled bad. The air hung heavy, smelling of decay.
He stared through the dimness, his eyes open wide, struggling to see something, anything, in the oppressive darkness surrounding him.
“Hello?”
Simon’s voice trembled, his words swallowed by the silence.
The room absorbed his voice, leaving behind an echo that he found unsettling.
Fear clawed at his chest, constricting his breath, as he reached out with trembling fingers for a light switch that wasn’t there.
He attempted to recall why he was there and how he had arrived there.
He believed he saw creatures dancing and mocking him as he tried to banish them. They swirled and twirled, whispering secrets of forgotten horrors that caused him to shiver in fear.
Was he tripping on drugs “they” had given him? Who were “they”? Why was he here?
Simon’s heart pounded in his ears, a rhythm that echoed the growing dread in his soul.
“Is anyone there?” he called out, his…