[Someone's breathing hard in the feed, as if they just got the fright of their life. They're taking slow, regular breaths to calm down. In the background something bubbles softly, making noises. The hiss of steam is regular.]

... gosh. Wow. I led a pretty interesting life.

What now?

[A ruffling of pages as Al's breathing continues to calm down.] ( Read more... )

[The boy in the bed comes awake with a start, crying out and thrashing as if something's grabbing at him, pulling him down, ripping him apart. His eyes shoot open, and his hands are still clutching at things in the dark, thrashing to brush his skin off, shuddering as if spiders are scrambling over his flesh, under his clothes ( Read more... )