Somewhere in the far corners of my mind, buried underneath the sound of my dying heartbeat, a door burst open from above.

"Vickie, stop," a voice shouted. A voice that was all wrong.

And then suddenly I was falling. Falling to my death. My feet hit a hard surface, and the impact rolled me to my knees with a splintering crack. Pain. So much pain, but I felt it. Which meant I was alive, for now. I sucked in deep breaths, each one searing my throat and ...