Chapter 102
Ruby was stuck in a nightmare, the same scenes repeating.
She had a headache, worse than she’d ever experienced.
She was digging, soil in her eyes and mouth, her hands scrabbling.
It had been bright for a while, but now it was dark – one small mercy.
The brightness had hurt her head, even through closed eyes.
Her mouth was full of soil. She spat, but as soon as she opened her mouth again there was more soil.
Not a dream, she realised.
Ruby tried to bring her hands to her mouth, to scrape away the soil. But her hands were stuck, held down by a weight. She squinted, opening her eyes the barest crack, the piercing pain in her head unbearable.
It was dark. Ruby couldn’t move. Soil everywhere.
She heard a distant noise. Familiar. A spade, slicing through loose soil, then a thud. She felt the thud, as if at a distance.
She was being buried.
She tried to get up, but the weight of the soil on top of her was too much.
‘Let me out!’ she screamed, through a mouthful of soil.
The noise from above stopped. She pictured the woman. She’d hear Ruby screaming. She’d realise her mistake.
Thud.
Another load of soil. Another tremor. Then the sound of spade in soil again.
Ruby screamed. It didn’t slow the thuds of soil, but she had no choice. She screamed without hope of being heard, because not to scream was to give in, and Ruby wasn’t ready for that. Not yet.