A dull ache throbbed behind her eyes, a relentless drumbeat against the inside of her skull. Tiger Cat stirred, a low moan escaping her lips.Her wrists, bound tightly, chafed against the rough rope. She tried to shift, to push herself upright, but her muscles felt like lead, heavy and unresponsive. An unfamiliar stickiness coated her skin, a cloying dampness that clung to her bare arms and legs.
"Ugh... what... what is that?" moaned Tiger Cat...
The words were a mere whisper, her throat raw. Her eyes fluttered open, struggling against the oppressive darkness. The outhouse was a claustrophobic box, the galvanized walls streaked with grime, the single, grimy window high above offering no solace, only a sliver of oppressive grey light. The smell intensified, pushing past the pain in her head, past the indignity of her binds. It was everywhere, seeping into her pores, coating her tongue, making her eyes water.
Her breath hitched, a wave of nausea washing over her. She tried to roll onto her side, to escape the source of the stench, but her bound feet prevented any meaningful movement. Each shallow breath brought more of the foul air into her lungs, burning, sickening. Her head spun. The ache in her skull sharpened, becoming a piercing stab.
She fought the rising tide of bile, clamping her jaw shut. The world tilted. She could feel the blood thrumming in her ears, a frantic rhythm trying to drown out the reek. Her vision blurred, the faint outlines of the outhouse walls wavering like reflections on water. The smell wasn't just an odor it was a physical presence, a suffocating blanket pressing down on her, stealing her oxygen. It was too much. Her body, already weakened, couldn't fight it.
A final, desperate gulp of the fetid air, and then her senses reeled. The world spun faster, colors exploding behind her eyelids, then fading to black. Her muscles slackened, the last vestiges of consciousness slipping away like sand through fingers. The stench had won. her breath now shallow, almost imperceptible. The outhouse swallowed her, a dark, reeking maw, her body yielding to the oppressive fumes, plunging her back into the abyss of unconsciousness.
TIGER CAT -Mystery in the valley- 03:http://memberslogin.hipcomix.com/gallery3/index.php/Mitru/Tiger-Cat/MYSTERY-IN-THE-VALLEY#
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