Lost in Transmission - Little Nightmares AU

Prison Walls | 6

The ground is hard and cold. Everything is so quiet. It's dark everywhere I look, no matter how much I squint.

I almost don't realize where I am.

Then I remember that I was caught.

Caught.

Before, the Hunter caught me. The Cracked-Head kids caught me. The Thin Man caught me.

I didn't want to be caught ever again. I thought I would be safe. I thought I could get away. I went by myself, and I got caught.

I think I'm in a cage.

I start to shiver. It's not from the cold. Caught. You got caught. The feeling of helplessness makes my heart start to beat out of control. All the times I've been caught, something has wanted to or tried to kill me.

What will try to kill me now? Something always does. Always.

I don't want to die.

I keep thinking about those words. Over and over again. It's stupid. Saying words isn't gonna help. Getting out of here is the only thing that'll make me safe.

As quietly as I can, I sit up, trying to ignore the urge to scream, I DON'T WANT TO DIE! Moving makes a little bit of noise. I hold my breath and listen for even the littlest sound. It's very, very quiet, but I think I hear the soft sounds of other things breathing.

It could be either monsters or kids. I don't trust either.

If it is kids, are they in a cage like I am? Are they trapped, too? And if it's monsters, did they put me in here? All I saw before were hands. They grabbed me, and then I felt like I couldn't breathe, and now I'm here.

I should have been more careful. That other kid was with me. I could've been quiet and let him go first up the ladder, because then he would be caught and he would be in this cage instead of me. I shouldn't have said anything! If I'd just shut up, I could be safe right now.

Better luck next time, right?

The air around me suddenly feels very cold and I don't know why. I'm just thinking. I never stop thinking about...about everything. About how I can stay safe or how I might die. My brain is always thinking about something.

So why do my thoughts keep sounding wrong?

It's not that important. It's just me. Just me, I think. It's all just me. There. That sounded normal. And I don't need to think about thinking, because that's stupid. I need to think about escaping.

I reach for my lighter, hoping it's still in my pocket. It is. I run my fingers over the smooth, cool metal, about to open it and light up wherever I am. The darkness isn't bad - I'm not really afraid of it, and I don't mind it as long as I know where I am is safe - but I have to see how I can escape.

Or...wait. I pause. If I light up where I am, I might be able to see how to get out. But that means any monsters around here would see it and see me.

I don't know what's better. Either choice could kill me. A monster could be in the darkness right now, waiting for light before it attacks. I would open the lighter, and it would come for me, and rip the cage apart or rip me out of the cage, and it would kill me. Or it might be coming for me anyway, and if I don't escape right now, I might die. I would stay quiet and leave the lighter alone and then a monster would wait a while and then drag me away.