As the broken plea faded into silence, Anthony's perception shifted. His focus pulled, and then it locked onto another nightmare.
This time, a woman appeared before him, trapped in a dark, swampy plain where the air reeked of rot. Her body was bound within a cocoon of grotesque, flesh-like vines, stitched together with sinew. She couldn't move, but she felt everything.
Her stomach began to swell unnaturally, bloating to the point of grotesque distortion. Then, with a wet tearing sound, it split open, not from bursting, but from within. Hundreds of maggots spilled out, fat and pale, writhing in a sickening tide. Thousands followed, crawling down her trembling skin.
They gnawed open fresh holes in her flesh, only to burrow back inside, tunneling through her organs. They feasted piece by piece, leaving just enough tissue untouched to keep her alive. The agony burned, eternal and unyielding.
