Chapter 1: Prologue
Lucien didn't really feel resentment at his death. He simply felt relieved and curious. There was of course the fear. There was always that. The last thing he remembered was skidding tires, blinding headlights, the sickening crunch of metal—Then Nothingness.
He had thought that that was the end, but it wasn't.
Suddenly he could feel again, he could see again. He could feel, hear, sense and breath. Right after that was a blinding sense of pain. White hot pain that stung the nerves, penetrated to the very soul.
He instinctively tried to open his mouth to scream out loud, to give vent to the deep pain, but he couldn't. In fact he couldn't even move. It was like he was locked inside his body.
Faintly, he could hear sounds in the background. Then suddenly, the pain was cut off and the other sensations reduced drastically. He gasped internally, and finally had the wherewithal to pay attention.
He noticed he was in a dank cell, it seemed to be underground as he could smell the musky smell of the earth. However even that was overridden by the strong metallic scent of blood. Even through his reduced access to his senses, he could still smell it.
And the source – Himself.
His body was strung up like a piece of meat, riddled with wounds and cuts, all of various calibres and depths. Each wound seemed designed to inflict the maximum amount of pain possible, they were the source of the blinding pain that hit him the moment he gained consciousness.
He was then surprised to hear himself speak. What was going on? He didn't remember having the intention to speak.