Chapter Sixteen
Cold Facts
I awoke in the dark. I tested my eyes, blinking to make sure that my lids actually opened. There was not a speck of light. My head pounded with hurt, my limbs ached with a dull pain. I closed my eyes again thinking I should sleep, but my mind was wide-awake, numbed by a relentless procession of images clouding all reasoned thought. I have no idea how long I was in this bewildering stupor, or if I drifted back to sleep.
Time passed, though I was unaware how much. Eventually, on opening my eyes again, I looked beyond the bed and saw a small lamp on a table ten feet away, its brown glass shade glowing softly. My eyes adjusted, and gazing up, I stared into the eyes of a man I’d never seen—or at least I thought I’d never seen him. There was something oddly famili
