I slowly opened my eyes.

My eyelids felt unbearably heavy, as if gravity itself had settled into them. Every inch of my body seemed weighed down, like I had been wrapped in molten lead. Beneath my skin, a feverish, maddening heat crept and coiled, burning in a way I couldn’t understand. It didn’t feel external; it felt like I was being set on fire from the inside.

“Terrence…” I tried to call his name, but what came out was barely more than a whisper, too weak to even reach the ...