"Relax Daniel," says the shadow man. "You're not going anywhere. No need to exhaust yourself." His voice was chillingly calm.

"Where the fuck am I?"

He remained silent. He stood so still that I was beginning to wonder if I was imagining him.

"Are you deaf or just fucking stupid?!" The monitor I'm hooked up to sounds off. The shrilling sound pierces my eardrums.

"I know you have questions, Daniel." He says as he walks to the monitor and silences it.

"Please just tell me where I am. Why am I being restrained?" He takes a bag of clear fluid and replaces the empty one, restarting the machine.

"Do you remember what happened to you yesterday?"

I feign a cough. I need time to think before I answer him. "I need water."

He remains as still as a statue and sighs faintly. He is hesitant about revealing himself. A nurse walks into the room with a styrofoam cup and straw. She is beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Her blonde hair is in a loose ponytail. She looks down at me with her big blue eyes and smiles. Her smile is so warm and her lips are petal pink.

"Sip this slowly," Her voice is as beautiful as her smile. Despite the circumstances, I become aroused. She brushes the sweat dampened hair off of my forehead.

"Thank you," I say as I hold her gaze. "What is your name?" She opens her mouth to speak but the shadow man cuts her off.

"Go." He nods to the door. He stares at me for a beat then says, "I don't want to put a gag in your mouth, but if you speak to anyone besides me, I won't have a choice.

"Lick my sweaty nut sack." I wanted to get a rise out of him but he continued to stare at me blankly. I am legitimately terrified but I'll be damned if I give this guy the satisfaction of knowing it.

"Do you or do you not remember what happened to you yesterday?" He is growing impatient with me.

"Tell me why I'm strapped to this fucking bed and I'll tell you."

"I don't think you're in a position to make demands, Daniel and my patience with you is wearing thin. We can do this the hard way if you prefer." He turns his back to me. I couldn't tell what he was doing but I hear metal clanking on the table in front of him. When he turns back to me and he's wearing a surgeons mask.

"Have you ever seen one of these, Daniel?" He slowly walks toward me with the instrument, holding it inches above my eyes. I hear my pulse pounding in my ears. "It's a beautiful instrument, isn't it? It's called a trephine," He held the instrument almost reverently. "Normally, they don't have teeth like this one but it's been modified." Even though his face was covered I could tell he was smiling.

He lowered his mask covered face to my ear. "A trephine has a number of uses but I particularly like to use them on the eyes," He was breathing so hard I could feel it through his mask. "You see, it's the exact size of your cornea." He held it directly over my left eye.