The blackness enveloping Haven's mind began to recede, but as memories resurfaced, and the excruciating pain screamed through her nerve endings, she tried to call the blackness back, to hide behind the ignorance and painlessness it provided. Unfortunately, no amount of pleading could hold back the waking world, the world where evil lived, where evil had cold eyes, and cold steel. Where a single, vile human man had a disturbing, venomous purpose. A world where Angelous Kroger used his beloved, immaculately maintained knife collection to steal the life from her. Slice by slice, cut by cut.
"So, you're coming back to me," he said in a soft, cajoling voice. He smiled down at her. "After only a few dozen cuts, you fainted, putting a temporary end to my work. I want you awake and writhing benea
