Darkness.



Not exactly what I'd hope to see immediately after I... after I...



Well shit, I don't remember what I did last night. Or was it afternoon? Maybe I was crossing the street when I got hit by a rogue ice cream truck and now I'm seeing what people do when they're in a coma? Or maybe I got really drunk and I don't remember where I fell asleep? Or what if I was kidnapped in my sleep and now I'm being transported to some alien spacecraft or something.



A chill runs down my spine as I think of all the horrible possibilities and jump to my feet.



Still completely black. In every direction.



Slowly, and carefully, I put my shoe around where I was, my heart racing as I hoped beyond hope that the ground was solid, and I wasn't just lying on the edge of a skyscraper or something else insane.



The ground was solid, or at least it seemed to be. It sounded like the rubber of my sneaker was rubbing against a wooden floor.



Realization hits me as I pat myself down. Wasn't just a fluke it seems, I still had my clothes, though my pockets seemed to be empty.



"So I'm in something wooden, and it's dark." I say aloud.



There is no reverberation to my voice. That's good and bad, while whatever I'm in is big enough for a person to stand and move around in comfortably, if very cautiously, it was not big enough to cause an echo of any kind.



That marks out being in some kind of building with no lights, but it's really only making me more anxious as to where I actually am.



Bending back down to one knee, I rub my fingers on the floor. Assuming it is wood, it's definitely been polished and did not feel like it'd bring any splinters if I rubbed it too harshly.



"Hmm..." I thought aloud again.



Still no echo.



Despite this, I'm pretty sure it's safe to stand again. Or, at least I hope it is. My own assurance didn't do much to help my wobbly legs.



Thud.



My already wobbly legs turn to jello at the sound. It was strange, to be sure. The pitch blackness of.... wherever I was certainly SEEMED to enhance my senses as I stopped and wracked my brain trying to figure out what the sound was.



It was incredibly faint, had the room not been silent I'd likely have not heard it at all.



But what was it?



That was the million dollar question, now wasn't it?



It sounded like a door being slammed, but given how faint and muffled it was when it reached me, it couldn't have been. Only something like, like a huge steel garage door crashing down could have been loud enough to reach me the way it was.



I stopped pacing, only now realizing I had been, to listen for any followup sounds.



There definitely was something. It started sounding like footsteps, though still sounded far too muffled. It steadily increased in volume, but there wasn't any shaking in the wooden flooring to make me think it was someone coming for me.



Regardless, instincts took over as I hopped to my feet again and balled my hands into fists so tight my fingers hurt. If someone was coming for me, I'd definitely not go down without a fight.



The steady thumping grew louder and louder until it seemed like it couldn't have possibly come from a person. But it had to be right? The only thing I could come up with were absurdly designed tanks that walked on legs. Those would be as heavy as this thumping sounded.



I think at least.



But spider tanks only existed in fantasy, and aren't viable in the real world.



Right?



Plus, the floor was still completely still. I can't imagine that the surrounding area had cement or stone floors, leaving only my room to be made of wood? Or could it? If the room I was in was meant specifically for holding people I could definitely see them not wanting me to know they were approaching.



The ground under me finally shook, filling me with both relief and terror. The last thump still felt like it was very far away.



"It couldn't have been footsteps." I whispered softly, more trying to convince myself of it than believing it.



The ground shakes violently now, throwing me to the ground, though my adrenaline has me back up onto my knees in an instant, ready to defend myself as light finally began to pour in.



Only, it wasn't coming from the sides, as if a door had been opened. No, it was coming from above.



Slowly too.



Turning my head up as I struggled to keep my balance, I find nothing but a light so incredibly bright that it feels as though my retinas were being scorched.



Shaking my head, I turn back down and rub my eyes. Nothing like being temporarily blinded after spending all that time in complete darkness.



Blinking slowly, I can see the room I'm in is fairly rectangular, and decently sized. I'd have stopped to brag about my instincts more had my burning curiosity not forced my eyes upward in wonder.



And now, I can say with the utmost confidence, at least internally.



All hell has broken loose.



"THERESA?!" I can't help but yell in surprise, wonder, and fear all at once.



Theresa, a girl who I shared some classes with was stretching high into the sky before me. She had never seemed to like me much, a fact that was not lost on me, given the size of her emotionless face.



"WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY AM I SO SMALL? WHY AM I HERE? DID YOU DO THIS? ARE YOU HERE TO HELP ME?" I shout up, the questions feeling like they all came out at once.



Her expression doesn't change.



That's probably not a good sign.



Before I can start yelling some more though, she takes a huge finger and presses it into my face. I'm assuming she meant to keep me from speaking by doing this, but the movement caught me off guard and, fearing the worst, I fell back.



Relief came quickly though, as she pulled her finger back slightly and I stood, dusting myself and looking up again.



"Well?" She asked, rather loudly.



Rubbing my ear slightly to shake the ringing off, I looked up in curiousity. Having genuinely no clue what she was trying to say, I cupped my hands to my mouth and shouted in response.



"WELL WHAT?"



Theresa sighed.



That wasn't good.



"Well do you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior?" She asked.



Once again, mentally, all hell broke loose.



Like the Hoover Dam had just exploded, an impossible torrent of memories flooded into my mind with such ferocity that I felt I'd go mad trying to process it all.



There was one common theme though.



Pain.



Lots of it.



Physical pain, and even some mental anguish as I remembered seeing a huge Theresa kill my girlfriend. I remembered having my bones broken, being deprived of air, and almost felt as if I myself had perished at Theresa's hands.



But I was in no pain now. Maybe some of those were just horrible nightmares.



I don't know, but I do remember this question being asked of me before. Theresa had always been a bit of a religious nut, carrying a Bible with her at all times, and I figured that was among the reasons she hadn't liked me.



She was somehow behind this. I'm sure of it.



"Well?"



My heart nearly leapt out of my chest hearing her address me again.



"NO!" I screamed back, as it was the only word I could repeat in my head as the memories continued to fill my very being.



Theresa sighed, and closed her eyes.



I had seen this before, but this time seemed a little more annoyed than usual.



She spread her fingers, each thick as a tree trunk and placed them in front of and behind my head roughly.



"W-WAIT! I MEAN YES! YES! I DO!" I shouted back frantically, hoping she'd accept.



I felt myself being lifted up. In a panic, I tried to pry her fingers off of my head, but my strength was pitiable compared to even two of her fingers.



She held me in front of her face. Her icy blue eyes staring back at me, as some of her long blonde hair fell over her face. Were she not so crazy and were I not in a precarious situation, I'd say she was almost cute.



Almost.



The cold blue eyes had just a glint of madness to them. She hid it well, in her speech patterns, and lack of other emotion, but I could sense a deep fury within her at me for what I had said.



"If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. First John, chapter one, verse six." She said, bringing my mind back to more pressing matters.



"I-I SWEAR! I'M NOT LYING!" I screamed back, a chill running down my spine.



Theresa sighed.



"These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that she innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. Proverbs, chapter six, verses sixteen through nineteen. You are many of these things, and continue to insist on lying. I must do what I must do." Theresa whispered to me with her eyes closed.



That definitely didn't sound pleasant, I thought and redoubled my efforts to escape.



And then Theresa opened her mouth. A vast cavern, looking moist and dangerous. She extended her pink tongue and I felt it touch my shoe.



"NO! PLEASE!" I shouted as she lowered me into the moist cave, the humidity along with her saliva making it difficult to breathe, much less attempt to escape.



Difficult, but not impossible.



Digging my hands into the squishy tongue I push myself forward powerfully, attempting to force my way out from between her lips. Before I had even made it halfway up her tongue though, I lost my grip and fell down onto it. The fingers exited the mouth and the lips closed, sealing me in darkness.



True defeat is an emotion not many people get to know, but it's the only way I can think of to describe my mindset when I was plunged into darkness. Theresa's hot breath made breathing for myself difficult, and the sticky saliva was omnipresent.



I merely lay on her tongue, slowly sliding back into her mouth, defeated.



And, without warning, the tongue below me undulated and I was tossed to the side of her mouth, where I landed on something hard. Her teeth, I'm assuming.



Instantly, my mind sent me a signal, one of escaping. I was in a dangerous place, the most dangerous place of this already dangerous place. My brain received the signal, but before my muscles could begin moving, Theresa's teeth came down with devastating force.