Marisol springs back to consciousness with a start. Her chest heaves as panic immediately surges through her in waves. The darkness surrounding her does nothing to ease the now erratic beat of her heart.
Where is this place, and what was happening?
She tries to move but finds that she is stuck in place. Her body feels less like a part of her and more like a dead weight, tying her down. Struggling against unseen restraints, she finally manages to force her head up, and it finally clicks with the muffled sounds of her struggles that she’d been bound and gagged.
Getting the feeling back in most of her body parts, Marisol realizes her jaw, feet, and hands hurt. She wonders how long she’d been left here, wherever this was. Where was she? How did she get here? What happened after the annual ball?
She struggles fruitlessly to set herself free. She seems to be in some kind of compartment, narrow and suffocating and terror overtaking her senses. Could it be that they were attacked? With newfound determination fueled by the surge of fear and anxiety, Marisol resumes struggling against her tightly knotted restraints, the bindings digging into her skin painfully and enough to cut into her wrists. Each labored breath sends waves of terror through her as the confines of her prison seem to grow even smaller and all the more suffocating.
Suddenly, an ominous growl cuts through the air, echoing through the darkness. The menacing sound has her freezing in place in fear, breath-catching.
Another growl comes after the first one, and from somewhere deep within the darkness, the growls only continue to emanate. With bated breath, Marisol seeks the source of the terrifying sounds only to regret it almost immediately as it manifests right in front of her eyes. It is here again. The same ominous distorted beast that plagued her nightmares. The creature seems to defy every possible law of reality and existence.
Suddenly, lights flicker on from all around the room, and as her eyes adjust to the new change, Marisol lets out a piercing scream at the sight of what stands before her.