My guts leaped into my throat with my freefall. Pure darkness enveloped me. I fell faster. My muscles clenched in preparation for landing, but it didn't come.

Shit.

Over my head, the trapdoor crashed down. No one had been strong enough to close it, so that must've been Paul, welcoming me to his nightmare abode.

Finally, my feet hit solid ground, shooting stabs of pain through my ankles. Then the rest of my body slammed into the ground, too, when I stumbled and fell. ...