TEST ME

Hide and Seek

"Survive as long as you can."

These words drill through my skull, into my brain, reverberating behind my eyes. They seem to come from within my mind, rather than something my ears register, as though my body has in-built speakers with the volume at ear-drum bursting levels. Fortunately, they also have the affect of bringing my brain into functioning. This is my initial finding: I am at the centre of a small, floodlit circle, which only reveals the dull, grey rock I'm sat on, panning out into darkness that I could touch if I extended my arm into the black.

Why am I lit up? I don't recognise this as anything from my screen learning - is this what severe concussion feels like? Am I permanently damaged? No. I'm either dreaming, or this is real, in which case, I do need to stay alive.

Shakey-kneed, I wobble to my feet, almost comically windmilling my arms to stay upright. Once stable, I slowly hobble forward, leaving my spotlight without a star. As I move further from the circumference, the darkness becomes deeper and I am quickly swallowed up, into its stomach. The small space at which I arrived has now become a thin, white beam, almost like a crack of light under a door. At this point I stop - although I don't want to be seen, I do want to see. What do I do now? Sitting down seems stupid, and for some reason, so does staying put. So, I decide to walk parallel to the edge of the circle, remaining in the darkness.

I'm only a few paces into this process when a bright flash blinds me, staying lit long enough for me to see either number One or Three - I've so far not been able to distinguish between them - and three other Patients that I can't quite make out, all within the space of a good sized basketball court. Our platform meets at sharp edges, where the rough grey stone is replaced with luminescent whiteness, which engulfs our plateau on all sides. The edges also look jagged and unstable, and in the few moments of brightness I'm sure I see a book-sized chunk piece split and then break off, falling silently into the glow.

Then the dark replaces the light, and I pair the picture on the back of my eyelids with the beam ahead of me, sussing that it must be right at the centre.

Loud ripping sounds now surround me, not dissimilar to breaking spines. I'm sure these are also chunks of rock - like the one I just saw- breaking off, and this also comes with the realisation that the area of the platform must be getting smaller, forcing us Patients together. Choosing them over falling, I begin to hobble in the direction of the now-present light beam. Although I don't progress particularly fast, they breaking sounds aren't getting any louder, so I'm sure I'm keeping up with the falling rock. Nevertheless, my heart still races at the thought of falling behind.

I use the light beam as a guide - while I wanted to get away from it earlier, right now it is the point furthest from danger, provided I am alone. This solitary thought remains in my mind as I stumble toward it. But, no, a figure fills the lit space now, a boy with bleached blonde hair and a lip piercing. His eyes are wide and startled, and he has a bleeding gash just above his eyebrow. Did he fall too? 

A huge hand reaches into the light, equipped with a sharp rock. My mouth opens in warning to the blonde boy, but before a sound leaves my throat, the rock is raised and smashed against the back of his head. The boy collapses immediately, as if his puppeteer released his string. I'm still running from the collapsing landscape behind me, although the scene in front isn't exactly inviting. The last I see of the boy is his blood-stained blonde hair as he is dragged away from the light.

A flash of light startles me, and in the split second the area is illuminate I notice several things: the body of the blonde boy slip off the edge, and the muscular boy from Room 1 running away from him, bloodied rock in hand. Further across, two girls clutch each other as they run toward the beam, the landscape disintegrating at their ankles. 

The darkness swallows us again.

The effect of the adrenaline that had been keeping me going begins to reduce, reminding me of the throbbing pain in the back of my head and the nauseous lurching of my stomach. As a result, the two girls reach the beam of light before I do. As they take up the space, the lit area grows a little, allowing room for me to stumble in next to them. Both of the girls are on the more athletic side, although this is where their similarities stop. While one girl barely reaches over 5 foot, has pale features and a skinny figure, the other towers over her, sporting a close-cropped afro, a nose piercing, and a wrestler's body. I don't remember their names, but I do recall that they are from Rooms 10 and 18.

"Are you okay?" The pale girl asks.

"How'd you get cut?"

"Back at the Facility." I respond with shaky breaths. "1 got the other boy... watch out for him!"

"No, look, we are safe: we're sealed in here." This comes from the bigger girl, and I look behind her to see that she is right: the beam of light has formed some kind of tube, made of some thick transparent material. I can find no reflection, and cannot even hear 1 as he smashes his fists against the tube in desperation. I can read his lips though: "Let me in!" he roars, as the ground beneath him breaks off, and he is dragged to the depths below.