Mania (Fever Dreams Collection #1)

1. Maeve

Chapter 1

Maeve

I startle awake with a long, raspy gasp, the air sharp and painful as it fills my lungs.

Darkness.

I can’t see.

My hands fly upwards but hit a hard surface before my arms can fully extend. This time my gasp is as rough as the material under my fingertips. I try to move, but it’s practically impossible, my body encased on all sides.

The fear is sudden and all-consuming.

Still, my mind refuses to accept it, my hands roving over all sides, trying, hoping, pleading to find a clasp or a handle— something to get me out of here.

My alarmed breaths turn into screams.

I’m trapped.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” I repeat, my fingernails digging into the rough wool covering the hard panels.

Screams turn into sobs. Breaths turn into choking wheezes. A pained sob rips its way out of my lungs as if snatched by the bony hand of death itself.

I’ll suffocate in here.

My lungs constrict at the thought. Panic pins me down, but the blinding hysteria that soon follows has me battering against all sides of the narrow box. My bare feet slam up and down into the hard surface, my arms and hands thrashing from side to side. The sounds of my senseless banging are dull, as if something is covering the box from all sides.

My breathing stutters. The air pushed out of my lungs. My mind betrays the sweet comforts of denial. My fate solidifies.

Am I … Am I buried alive?

The hysteria crests. Drowns me. And I renew my efforts, slamming against the hard panels imprisoning me. My tears slide down my temples and into my hair, flowing freely. Unlike me.

It’s so dark.

It’s so dark.

It’s so dark.

I cry. I yell. I wail.

But all the sound does is bounce back against my skin, wasting my precious oxygen and shredding me into pieces as darkness consumes me whole.

My hand snags on something above my head, and I freeze. The hysteria takes a long pause as if holding its breath while my fingers curl around a short rope.

I tug.

A bell …

It’s faint. But I hear it, from somewhere above me.

I laugh, it’s shaky and demented, but my heart pitches up my throat as I latch onto a small piece of hope.

I pull and pull and pull.

The bell rings.

But no one comes.

The panic returns.

I thrash and scream.

Thrash and scream.

Until—

… I startle awake with a long, raspy gasp, the air sharp and painful as it fills my lungs.

Darkness.

But this time I can see.

The stars above me shine unencumbered as the persisting terror strums through my veins, shimmering against the night sky.

My fingers dig into the grass and soil underneath me as I catch my breath, my heart pounding so hard that I’m having difficulty thinking.

It doesn’t take me long to realize I’m in a graveyard.

A bell rings near my head.

My scream is weak as if I’ve strained my vocal cords.

I scramble to my feet and start to run, not once looking back.