From a void he blinks and sees a field of white which, after a moment of consideration, consolidates itself into a ceiling he recognises. He is in a chair. He tries to move his arms but they are bound by something.
The moment of panic recalls him to the present moment. He was sitting in his friend's house eating dinner. There were six of them, including his wife. Then a period of darkness. He vaguely remembers some commotion. Someone had fallen asleep at the table.
He looks around him. The others are all unconscious in their chairs, similarly bound by the wrists. His wife to his right. There is one person missing from their seat. Their host is absent.
He stands above one of his friends, awake and unbound. The host leans over her. Her head is tilted back to face his, looming over. With one hand he parts her eyelids to expose an unseeing eye. With the other he dangles a pin above the pupil.
His breath catches.
The host snaps his head around and stares at him. And smiles.
Paddy Dobson
24th September 2021