PROLOGUE

I couldn't breathe.

Only water filled my lungs, the harsh chemicals burned my raw throat and stung my eyes no matter how hard I tried to keep them closed.

I was their creation.

Their very own monster.

I thrashed against his strong hands. I tried to scream, but no one could hear me down here, instead a bitter taste filled my mouth.

My hands grabbed at the edges of the barrel, desperately trying to pull myself out, but he was too strong.

This was not water. It was another one of their creations, and I... I was their experiment.

Their little freak.

Everything sounded distant, almost blurred. My head began to spin, and little black dots blurred the edges of my vision.

My lungs screamed for air, a great rumbling roar that consumed my entire body with the need to breathe. It felt as though my lungs were tearing themselves apart more and more every second that passed without oxygen.

He wouldn't let me die, would he?

I clawed at his hands, digging my nails deep into his skin but he didn't let go. His grip didn is falter on the back of my neck.

I choked and spluttered, but I found no oxygen, only the abyss of chemicals that surrounded me, filling my lungs and every fibre of my being. My eyes burned viciously, what ever this was, it was destroying my vision. If I ever made it out of this would I ever be able to see again?

Was I dying? Or was I already dead?

He had never held me under this long, they had never let him.

I stopped struggling, my hands growing weak and my body slowly going limp in his thick paws.

The empty, silent, nothingness that echoed within me was deafening. This silence was much louder than any noise.

The darkness beckoned me, at least, that was until he let go and I crumpled to the floor, heaving and retching.

I was alive...

For now.