Real or Not Real?

Part 2

Tommy blinked awake. His mind was foggy, almost like he'd been asleep for a long time.

And he felt like he was missing something. Something important that he couldn't quite place his finger on. He squinted at the bright lights on the ceiling. It took his eyes a few seconds, but they eventually adjusted to the light.

He opened his eyes fully, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. The room was white and padded, and there were no doors, and it was completely empty other than the chair he was into.

It looked... frighteningly similar to an asylum.

"Hello?"

Tommy's voice was hoarse, and it hurt to talk, like he hadn't spoken for a very long time—or like he'd been screaming—before he woke up.

Tommy was used to yelling, and screaming, and speaking loudly all the time. It was normal for him. So it felt odd for his throat to feel as sore and weak as it did.

And besides that, he couldn't remember where exactly he'd been before now, or what he'd been doing.

"Hey, is anyone there?"

His voice sounded louder that time, but still weak. Tommy tried to stand, but then looked down at himself and realized he was actually tied to the wooden chair. His wrists and elbows were tied against the arm rests with painfully tight ropes, and another rope had his chest tied to the back of the chair. His legs were completely immobile, and not because they were tied to the chair. They were numb. Completely numb, like he was paralyzed. He couldn't even move his toes.

Tommy was wearing a bland white hospital gown.

Is there something wrong with me?

Tommy jumped, and felt the ropes and restraints tighten until he leaned back in the chair.

"Good morning, Tommy. Nice of you to finally wake up. Only took you about two months to fully regain consciousness."

A sarcastic voice sounded from next to his ear. It sounded familiar, and the sound of it made Tommy instinctively tense up.

He curled into himself, leaning away from the voice until the restraints stopped him, grimacing at the sound of the voice.

But just like everything else that was wandering around in Tommy's mind, he just could not seem to remember why the voice sounded so familiar. He tried to turn his head to see who it was, but his neck was sore from the position it had been in for so long.

"Who's there?"

Tommy sounded angry.

"Untie me! Let me go!" Tommy strained against the ropes, but all it did was hurt his stomach and wrists.

"Manners, Tommy."

Tommy opened his mouth to respond, but his jaw clamped shut painfully. A faint buzzing sound that sounded similar to a distant scream suddenly came from behind him.

His body reacted before his mind did, he seized up, eyes widening in shock.

Then the feeling of utter pain rendered in.

He gave a harsh inhale of breath, then a sharp cry of pain was released from deep in his throat.

He suddenly noticed the faint poking sensation on his neck. A needle.

It hurt. Everything hurt. He felt the pain everywhere, and he couldn't even fight back.

He was being electrocuted from the inside.

Tommy pulled against the ropes that kept him bound to the chair, and shook his head back and forth in an attempt to get the needle out of his neck.

His eyes widened in terror. Never once before had he felt so helpless. Or... maybe he had.