PAPAL PLUNDER – EXTRACT
ONE
MY FACE LIGHTS UP IN pain as a big hand slaps me across the face. The thwack! echoes off the walls. It stings. It takes a few seconds for my eyesight to come back, alternating between a black fuzziness and a spray of yellow and white dots swimming in space.
My mind slowly adjusts as I try to drag it back from the fog. Someone, a man, says something. I don’t understand the language.
Where am I?
I’m sitting down. On a metal chair—it feels flimsy, like a fold-up.
There’s a spotlight trained on me. A lamp of some sort. My pupils still strain to see. Eyeballs pain bright red from the light. I squint and try to turn away.
Mouth feels wooly. Taste of metal, blood. Tongue tests teeth. All intact. A molar feels loose. Something crusty on my face as well. More bloo
