Eva floated in the blackness. The world drifted away from her. Her friends, her village, her entire world receded until it was just a pinhole of light in a sea of darkness. She heard his desperate voice. He pleaded with her to stay but his voice grew faint. It gave her some comfort that at least the last sound she would hear would be his voice, that in her final moments he’d begged her to remain.

Then pain shot through her and she fell out of the blackness towards that speck of light.

She heard Viktor shouting. He was no longer speaking to her but to Igor.

“There was a reaction!” said Viktor.

Another jolt of pain coursed through Eva. It pulled her closer. The shouts between the two men became clear and loud, as if they stood on the other side of a door.

“Give her more!” Igor shouted.

Viktor retorted, “Give her too much at one time and we will kill her! I know what I’m doing!”

Sight returned to Eva. She saw the dim outlines of the room and the high ceiling.

Another burst of pain tore through her. She felt it in her chest and it ran up and down her spine.

White light flooded her eyes.

Eva bolted upright.

River water streamed from her throat and poured out of her mouth. She coughed and choked until it was gone. Then she took a long, loud gasp of air.

“Eva!”

Viktor was at her side. She hadn’t dared hope to see him again, his dark eyes, his alabaster skin, his coal black hair.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly. She felt the tight muscles beneath his shirt and waistcoat. She clung to him as the warmth of his body spread slowly through her taking away the deathly chill. She could hear his heart thump wildly beneath his chest.

“I’ll get you a blanket.”

Eva hugged herself. She was soaked to the skin and shivered.

She breathed. Her throat and lungs ached.

Where am I?

She’d never been in this room before.

It was large with a high ceiling. Against one wall was a great machine that whirled and hummed. Igor stood next to it and worked a series of levers. Two thick cables lead from the machine to the table next to Viktor. Sparks flew from the copper ends.

What happened?

She felt her chest just above her heart. Viktor pulled her hand away.

He said, “Don’t touch that. You’re burned. Not badly. I’ll take care of it.”

He left Eva to fetch a jar from a cabinet. Eva saw her reflection in the cabinet’s glass doors. She looked like a drowned animal.

I drowned.

I was dead.

***

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