Excerpt from “The Butcher Game” by Alaina Urquhart

This really stuck w me. 

“Suddenly, she's thrust into battle again. She smells the swampy earth and feels the cypress branches scratch at her. It's the world of her nightmare. Everything around her constricts and spins. The heat, the sounds, the smells; it's all-consuming and wretched. Pungent waves assault her senses, smelling like rotten wood and death.

She swears she sees a snake slither over her foot but quickly shakes her head and it's gone. A phantom bug falls on her shoulder and she panics. Nothing is there.

But she hears the sounds.

The cicadas scream, louder than ever. The taste of blood fills her mouth, a burst of metal that threatens to make her retch. Her hands clap over her ears instinctively, trying to block out his voice, which she just knows is about to come out of the speakers above her. She's so sure it will come.

Hands clamp down on her shoulders, and reflexively she spins around to punch. Leroux stumbles back, almost losing his balance and narrowly missing her fist connecting with his cheek. Suddenly, she's grounded in place with him. His face is there, comforting her despite her attack.

"Wren, i's John!" he yells, inching back toward her.

She lowers her fists to her sides, suddenly feeling the chaos around her deflate like a clipped balloon. It rushes out, and suddenly all is quiet. The buzz is calming again, the trees tickle, and the sun pokes through the canopy in streams of light. I's not what it was. It's never going to be that again.“