Chapter Text
I squinted my weary eyes to adjust to the blanket of darkness around me. Vague recollections of blows traded in the bloody pub brawl hours ago began to grace me. This subsequently reminded me why my muscles were aching and my skin was tender.
I rose with a groan of pain to realize that I was not surrounded by kegs, shelves or other such signs of the back room of The Drunken Sailor. It is embarrassing to say how many nights I spent thrown in here to sober up and tend my wounds. The seedy bar was owned by my brother Joseph. This meant that while I couldn’t get barred from visiting I was treated gruffly whenever I caused trouble. We were close as boys, but as he grew into a gilded businessman I slid into a consistent drunken stupor guided only by strong drink and my temper.
I stood eventually after measuring whether or not my height would meet any material above me. This only led to more confusion as it was clear I was in absolute dark. With the obsolete visibility my other senses were heightened. I could smell faint hints of limestone and musk only attributed to animal droppings, with some other heavy smell lingering in my nose that I could not identify as easily. As I shifted my weight I realized that whatever terrain which was under me was uneven and brittle. I feared that if I put too much pressure on either foot I might fall through. After a bit of testing that I was indeed safe taking a few steps around my original location, I began to tentatively reach out into the blanket of black. I felt nothing.
The confusion settled in my mind and morphed into a great fear. Wherever I was, someone has to have put me here. Suddenly I had the animal urge to get away as fast as I could for fear they might return and carry out the rest of their plans for the drunk that they was kidnapped. I began the slow, purposeful quest of maneuvering toward a direct I hoped was the exit.