Sleeping was easier said than done. All night long, the wind chased through the valley and made the trees tremble. It was icy, although winter was not even close.

Beneath you, the muddy ground felt like stone. It wasn't the first time you had to spend the night on uncomfortable ground, but this time it felt special.

There was sometimes the smell of blood that stuck in your nose. This was also nothing unusual, you had already experienced a lot in hospitals and the smell of blood was nothing out of the ordinary.

But here, in this place, locked in this cage, it smelled different. It smelled like a promise. The promise to die.

Again and again you tried holding your breath until the air burned in your lungs, but it didn't help and the stench remained.

Then there was this unpleasant feeling of sand on your skin and the thought that in the same cage, barely five steps away from you, there was a corpse.

You didn't believe in ghosts or zombies, but somehow the thought of the dead body made you uneasy.

The jacket you had taken from him felt dirty. It felt like liquids were dripping out of the fabric, wetting your body and seeping into you like poison.

Maybe it was just imagination, but still it helped make the night worse.

Sometimes, in the distance, hidden among the shadows of the trees, you thought you could make out silhouettes.

Most of the time they were strange figures, with long legs and arms that were enough to tear a person in half. When you blinked, it looked like they were moving.

Then strange things would appear in the darkness and goosebumps would crawl down your spine.

"Damn it, I should stop watching horror movies...", you muttered, pulling the hood of the jacket one over your eyes so you wouldn't have to see anymore.

A heavy sigh left your lips. You pulled your legs in, head down, and tried to make yourself as small as possible so the wind couldn't creep into all the cracks. You were freezing and still you could feel sweat running down your back.

Your heart was pounding and the voice in the back of your head was screaming and begging you not to fall asleep.

Yet your eyes were so heavy. Your body felt so numb, so weak. When you blinked one more time, your eyes became so heavy that they wouldn't open.

A shaky breath left your lips. You thought you could hear footsteps. But as the darkness engulfed you, everything felt empty, fake. As if you were trapped in a dream that never wanted to let you go. You were afraid of what lurked in that darkness.

Your heart began to beat wildly and the expression on your face became tense. But your body forced you to your knees.

Briefly you twitched, a silent scream leaving your lips. Then everything went silent and your mind sank into the feeling of weightlessness and cold.

There was this voice.

This strange, deep voice calling for you.

No, it wasn't calling for you. It was commanding something. The words sounded muffled, as if they came from far, far away, from the darkness.

You frowned in confusion, but your eyes did not open. With effort, you managed to move your fingers. It hurt, they were stiff and felt like stone. Your whole body felt like ice, as if winter had crept into you to freeze everything from the inside.

Again the voice called. This time it was louder, but the words still made no sense.

Your mind felt tough, you understood some things, were able to think and hear the inner voice. But the strange voice was like a language you couldn't speak.

You inhaled with difficulty. The air felt warm, but it tasted like ashes and dust. You had to cough, everything scratched in your lungs. The air was dry, as if you were breathing sand.

Suddenly the cold in your body disappeared. Instead, there was another feeling.

Sweat. You were sweating.

Again there was the voice. This time you could understand it. One word. There was a single word that reached your ears. This one word that made you tremble.

"Burn.", said the voice.

A shiver crept down your spine.

"W-what...?", a cough made your chest tremble.

It was so strong that a sharp pain began to build up in your lungs. The air you inhaled sparked a fire inside you, causing the pain to creep further up your throat before you began to writhe in torture.

With tears in your eyes you managed to bend your legs, there was solid ground under your feet. With the last of your strength, you managed to turn onto the side.

Suddenly, a sharp sensation ran through your stiff arms, the bones twitched and you could move again.

Your eyes opened abruptly.

There was smoke. Smoke and ash clouded your vision. The smell of burning wood rose to your nose.

Again you had to cough. Hastily your eyes jumped through the cage, looking for a way out.

"Shit!", you muttered, half blinded by the black cloud. "Don't stay on the ground... it's more dangerous on the ground!"

You jumped to your feet, relieved that this fact from the emergency room had come back to you. Heavy gases and smoke settled on the floor as heat rose upward. A time or two you had had patients with smoke inhalation. In most cases, their lungs were damaged for life.

"H-hello?!", with one hand in front of your mouth, you stumbled forward, only to run into a wall of metal.

The bars were so warm that your touch hurt and a loud hiss echoed in your ears as your skin abruptly turned red and blistered.

"Argh! Shit!", you stumbled back a step.

Tears welled up in your eyes, but you refused to cry. You had to get out of this cage somehow.

But how?

"Burn.", there was that voice again.

You knew the voice.

"Jacob?", for a second you stood frozen.

"Burn.", again he said that word as if it were a prayer.

It came from behind you. He had to be standing there.

Hastily you whirled around, your vision obscured by black smoke and ash. Your heart was beating like crazy.

"Burn.", this time he sounded weaker, as if the desire had left him, as if he hesitated.

"Jacob.", you frowned. "You ass!"

Holding your breath, you jumped into the cloud, heading straight for his voice.

You didn't want to die here.

Not like this.