I awoke not with a bang, nor a whimper, but a rather long steaming tongue scraping its way up the side of my face. The moist heat roused me, eyes bleary from deep sleep.

I instinctively pushed the tongue away, wiping the grotesque saliva off my flesh. My head was turned, recoiled away from the repellent sensation, yet I could feel a substantial weight sitting atop my chest.

As the fog of slumber...