When Katrina regained consciousness, she was laying in a rather odd position on what felt like sand. Katrina groaned and moved her hand to rub the back of her head. She immediately became aware that the odd bed she was lying on was made of millions of sharp needle like thorns. If she moved at all, she would have hundreds of new thorny friends in her skin. Katrina froze and then very carefully tried to move back into a more comfortable position. Katrina laid that way for what seemed like hours. Katrina replayed the interaction with the neon man in her head, trying to look for a clue as to who he was. Katrina was also making a conscious effort to not panic. Katrina consciously slowed her breathing and counted when the wave of anxiety threaten to swamp her ability to think. Katrina resorted to using cold, hard logic to push the intense emotions away and help her focus on where she was and how to escape. Katrina had not made any progress when a small potbellied woman trundled into the room.
"Oh," the woman said, sounding disappointed. "You're awake already."
Katrina took a very careful breath and whispered, "Yes."
"Well you can stop lying there for starters," the woman said. "I may be a brownie but you are not even a guest of the house so you can forget about me waiting on you hand and foot."
Katrina took another careful breath, "Needles?" she asked.
"Oh do you like them?" the woman's face brighten momentarily. "It's a design I made myself. Each thorn was specially picked and colored. And the bed is amazingly comfortable, as long as you don't move."
"Yes," Katrina said carefully. "I discovered that."
The woman stood, arms folded across her chest, as if waiting. "Well?" she said finally. "I don't have all day."
Katrina's eyes opened wide, the only physical reaction to the panic that was bubbling just below the surface she allowed herself. "You expect me to climb out?" she asked.
"Well of course," the woman said. "I don't have all day and the Master is eager to see you. Takes a chunk of time out of my day just standing here babysitting you when I could be attending to my other duties."
"Is there some trick to climbing out without getting stabbed?" Katrina asked.
"No."
Katrina took a shallow breath, preparing herself. She carefully raised the arm that she had moved before, immediately feeling the tiny torn's digging into her skin, and stretched out toward what she assumed was the frame of the bed.
"I wouldn't touch that for too long," the woman said as she watched Katrina's progress. "It's hot."
As Katrina's hand got closer, she could feel the heat radiating off the long solid beam. There was not going to be a way to get out that didn't hurt. Katrina instead decided to try to stand and jump out, at least that would put the majority of the spikes in one place instead of having the torture spread evenly throughout her body. Katrina gingerly balanced on her hands and feet and then stood. Taking a deep breath she jumped and landed on the red hot frame. Katrina screamed, lost her balance, and tumbled to the floor, hitting her head. Katrina could taste blood and reaching up felt a new bump and wetness which she assumed was blood. Katrina groaned.
The woman sighed. "No time for resting," she said. "If you didn't try to avoid the pain, it would have been over a lot sooner. The woman grasped Katrina's arm and Katrina gasped as she felt some of the hitchhiker thorns digging deeper into her flesh. The woman yanked Katrina to her feet. Katrina wobbled uncertainly, her vision going dark as her blood pressure tried to decide between her head and her feet. The woman tsked and shoved Katrina out the doorway.
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