In the Claws of the Serpent

The transition from the black void of chemical sedation to the agonizing reality of physical captivity was a slow, brutal process. Elena Valenti fought her way back to consciousness through waves of toxic nausea, her temples throbbing with an excruciating migraine induced by the volatile fluorinated anesthetic sevoflurane. Her tongue felt thick and dry as parchment, tasting of bitter chemical residue and sulfur dust. Yet even before her eyelids could…