Cold Awakening

Consciousness returned slowly—like water seeping through a narrow crack.

First, cold.

The concrete floor pressing through the thin mattress beneath her. Damp air that smelled of dust and rusted iron. Dim light from a single bulb hanging from a low ceiling.

Then, pain.

Wrists bound behind her back, skin already reddened from coarse rope. A head that throbbed as though it was being struck from the i