Mateo drowsily lifted his head, his sleep-filled eyes flitting awake. He felt as if he had been asleep for days.
How long had he been asleep for?…
His eyes blinked, still adjusting to the velvet darkness consuming his vision. He squirmed in discomfort at the damp wooden floor beneath him. As he attempted to stretch his stiff shoulders, a jolt of terror coursed through his being. He couldn’t move his arms yet his legs were free.
He wriggled his lithe but toned body in a hapless attempt to free himself, but several lengths of soft cloth had him securely tied to a thick, wooden pillar.
Mateo struggled in vain to free himself. It had only been the previous evening that he had been fighting against the storm, his boat unable to handle the vicious current that jettisoned him out to sea. He had a foggy, hazy memory of making it shore before
losing consciousness. He felt so hungry, so tired and so very desperate.
He slumped his shoulders in defeat, only to gently cock his head at the clicking of footsteps down a flight of stairs. His entire body tensed in anticipation.