Esoteric

Chapter 1: Discovery

Suddenly she was there. Out of no where there was brightness, coming from an unblinking light  directly on the ceiling. The walls were a blinding shade of white, and the floor was a spotless tile creation that felt as cold as it looked. On the wall, there was big bold writing in what looked to be black paint, that read "HI MARY."

Attempting to stand up, Mary realized that she already was up. In shock, she stood and stared at a seemingly endless hall in front of her. Mary realized she was breathing quickly and thousands of thoughts and possibilities were rushing through her mind, like a rough rip tide in the ocean. She fell down and hit the back of her head on something hard. Quickly turning around, expecting someone...or something...to be there, she realized it was only a towering metal door.

"What is this? "Who is Mary?" "Am I Mary?" Why can't I remember what I look like? Am I alone here? Am I trapped? Where is my family? Who am I?" Getting caught in the stream of rushing thoughts, Mary once again hit the back of her head on the door in frustration.

Trying to shake the pain off, Mary got to her feet and inspected the double door. It was gray, and had two small windows placed vertically. The design of the door reminded her of the type of door you would see in a hospital. So far it seemed to be the only thing that wasn't a paper shade of white.

Mary pushed on the door and tried to pull it, but it only moved a bit. Looking through the windows of the door, Mary realized there was a shade placed on both windows on the outside. She continued to push her body up against it in hopes of getting it open, but it once again only slightly jolted from her attempts.

"Dang it!" Mary yelled. Quickly she placed her hands over her mouth and realized she had just spoken. Her voice startled her a bit, but at the same time it comforted her. Suddenly the idea to scream or to demand that someone reveal themselves popped into Mary's head. She got a strange, unexplainable feeling to not say anything too loud.

Realizing she was out of options, Mary knew that her last resort was to explore the building and see if she could find any type of escape. She turned away from the door and noticed a potted plant sitting on the right corner next to the door. The leaves were a vibrant shade of green, and Mary smiled at the fact that it brought a sense of familiarity. Turning her attention from the plant, she realized there was a long stretch of hallway ahead of her. Every few feet on the ceiling, there were square shaped lights that had a yellowish tint.

Mary continued padding along the hallway, keeping her mind alert and every so often looking behind her to make sure no one was there. Every so often, she would come across doors that looked familiar to the first one she had seen earlier, except they were not double doors and only had one window. From what she could see, they also had some type of shade that was blocking any sort of outside light from coming in. Mary attempted to knock on those too, but to her disappointment no one responded.

As Mary continued her lonely adventure through the halls, she noticed something that made her body fill with excitement. On the ceiling, in a gap between two of the lights, there was a sign and an arrow pointing forward. The bold letters reading "EXIT" made Mary throw her fists in the air and start jumping up and down. Once she came back to reality, she excitedly skipped on the slippery tile floors and towards whatever the exit was.