When you came in the air went out

Panic stations

I was drenched as soon as I was out of the aircon of the car. I remember thinking that it was so hot that the tarmac seemed to radiate any heat that wasn't already beating down on the top of my head. Not only that, the sun was reflecting off of the big sign on the lawn beside the imposing Fellowship of the Sun church, blinding me. It felt like it was assaulting me from all angles. Maybe it really was bad to lie in a church, I thought when our squinting party of Sookie and I recognised a sunny yellow-suited, blonde haired, white teethed right-out-of-a-beauty pageant lady turn and greet us. Sarah Newlin

Her smile and outfit and general demeanour seemed so sanguine it was just as assaulting as the sun. Or maybe I just needed to be less cynical, grumpy and get out in the daylight a bit more. I felt a pinch and I turned to Sookie, I imagined she was reproaching me for my thoughts, but she wasn't there.

And it was cold and dark. I wanted to move my wrist to see what the pain was but it wouldn't move.

No wait - I remember following the vanilla-pudding Sarah into the church, the beautiful church to be fair to whoever the FOTS had paid to design it. The light was less harsh, and streaming through the floor to ceiling windows behind the altar. The light wood that was exposed in the pews, pillars and rafters added to the effect, and continued through the corridors we went through. Past the offices, down the stairs. The wood was smooth but sharp. It hurt.

I tried to move my wrist again, this time hearing rattling, making myself jump, maybe even waking myself up a bit more. Where was I? How had it gotten so dark and so cold? I was shaking and a throbbing pain became sharper in my head and shoulder. It was like a numbness was wearing off and I felt cuts and bruises bloom down my side. I tried to remember but all I saw was the wood cladding on the walls getting darker as we were lead deeper into a labyrinth of hallways. The wood was smooth and sharp as I fell. No, there was someone holding my ankle which meant I was pulled down stairs. My fingernails hurt and I remembered or imagined clinging to the door frame, not wanting to go down any further into the darkness. I didn't know what was real or imagined but that had little impact on the echo of panic that really was taking hold of me, crawling its way down my back.

I was screaming and so was Sookie. He liked it when Sookie screamed. He said he liked blondes more.

With my eyes wide open, more open than they had ever felt before I could see nothing in front of me and could only hear my laboured breathing that I couldn't slow down. I could feel a scream well up inside me. Why couldn't I move? I needed to go but I couldn't remember why it was so important to get out of this room. I wanted to put my arms in front of me to feel something, try to make sense of where I was, make sense of anything, but they were restrained above my head. That's what had been making the noise; it felt like my wrists were cuffed in manacles. I pulled on them harder, making more noise. I just needed to get free and get out of this room.

Then everything stopped. A simple touch to my chin to bring it up and looking at someone in front of me. The smallest glint on a liquid eye was all it took.

"Be calm" and I was. Even though I was chained up in a pitch black room with a vampire.