Excerpt from The Island of Stolen Dreams, my adult action/adventure novel:

"Stabbing pains shot through the bottoms of Kate’s feet, awakening her instantly.  In terror she tried to scream, but no sound came.  Scrambling upright amid her heavy shackles, she tried to make sense of her surroundings. The cold dampness of the prison floor only served as an agonizing reminder that the last 24 hours had not been merely a dream, but a living nightmare.  Kate strained to see in the suffocating darkness, but there wasn’t even an insignificant glimmer of light.  All she could hear was the metallic sound of the irons that bound her ankles as she shifted her position.  She waited in silence, finally crying out as something sharp and pointed stabbed at her bare toes once more.   Again and again, she was pierced by some unknown source until her feet felt wet and sticky with blood.  Kicking out reflexively in panic, she made contact with something alive and slick with fur; a rat!  She heard the screech of anger as it scampered away, but it wasn’t long before it returned with more of its blood-thirsty companions."