SLAP!
Consciousness crashed back into Hikaru's body when a sharp blow struck her cheek. The force dragged her violently out of darkness, jolting her awake so abruptly that she nearly leapt in fear.
The first thing she noticed was the smell of metal and gasoline, thick in the air, mixed with the damp scent of an enclosed space. Hikari squinted her closed eyes as her head throbbed with a dull, relentless ache, as if something inside her skull kept striking from within.
"Ugh…"
When Hikaru finally opened her eyes, dim light greeted her. An old fluorescent lamp hung from the ceiling, flickering weakly, casting restless shadows across concrete walls. Her hands were bound behind a metal chair, her wrists burning from the plastic ties that had been pulled too tight.
She was not alone there.
