ELLA POV
Something was wrong with my mouth.
That was my first coherent thought.
It tasted like s**t. Bitter, metallic, chemical enough that my tongue felt numb at the edges, and when I tried to swallow my throat scraped like I’d been breathing dust for a week.
I opened my eyes.
Bad idea.
Sunlight hit me straight in the face and my skull immediately tried to split in half.
“Fuck.”
My voice sounded wrecked.
I turned away from the light and something yanked hard at my wrist.
For a few seconds, nothing made sense.
Wooden ceiling.
Water stain in one corner.
A ceiling fan that didn’t move.
The smell of old dust, damp timber and something greasy coming from another room.
Then I moved again.
Metal scraped against the wall.
Pain followed.
Sharp, burning, immediate.
That woke me u
