Esoteric

Chapter 2: Learning

Mary continued to rush down the tile floor, careful not to trip on the sterile ground. She had realized she was wearing socks, which only made her journey a bit more slippery. Oddly enough, Mary had observed that the building looked abandoned, but it was immaculate for an empty building. The lights were in great condition, the floors were spotless, and the walls were a perfectly painted white, showing no signs of anyone even touching them.

As Mary continued her surprisingly easy journey through the hall and toward the exit, she was delighted at the fact that she hadn't encountered any trouble. Still, she occasionally looked behind her and above her, as if expecting someone to be there to meet her gaze.

"I'm just being paranoid. I haven't even heard or seen anything that indicates of any signs of other people here." Mary slowed a bit to catch her thoughts and her breath, but still kept her sight on the door that she was nearing. 

As she got closer, she noticed it was different from the other doors. It was a white concrete door, with a metal handle. Right above it was the familiar exit sign she had seen from earlier. Feeling an adrenaline rush, she jogged to the door and tried to handle. The handle clicked from the movement and it echoed throughout the halls. As Mary had seen previously, the door only budged a bit before the echoes of her attempts to get it open had stopped. Still persistent to get it open, Mary pounded on the door.

"Is anyone there? Could you let me out? I'm stuck in this facility-" Mary stopped mid sentence. Why was she referring to this cold, empty building as a facility? Taken a back, Mary stepped back from the door while still keeping her eyes on it.

Still trying to sort her thoughts, all the thoughts she had since she got here and counting, Mary stumbled back to the door and sit down against it. She sat in the silence before she put her ear next to the door. Mary noticed a low, humming sound coming from outside, that reminded her of the sound of an AC kicking on during the hot days in summer.

"Is something holding the door shut?" Mary tried to think of possibilties of who or what could be outside of the door. Her thinking quickly halted when she realized she could try to knock the door down and find out who was behind it herself.

Standing up quickly, she looked around for anything that could help her. All she could was another blank, white hallway ahead of her. Mary thought about the possibility that their might be something like a fire extinguisher that she could use to help knock down the door, but yet again there was nothing.

Determined and with a mixture of fear and anger running through her, Mary rushed to the door and tried to force it open. Using all of the strength and will power she could find, Mary attempted to open the door. The door only moved slightly from her weight, and eventually she gave up and backed away from the door. The echoes of her trying to force it open stretched throughout the hallways. Backing away from the door in defeat, Mary let out a sight and pushed her hair back from her face.

After catching her breath, Mary accepted the fact that the door would not budge and she would have to continue on. This time she walked with less composure and slouched her shoulders as she walked through the halls. She continued walking for a few minutes before she came across a single door to the left of her. It was wooden, and caught Mary's attention. She approached it and pulled on the handle. Without much force, it opened.

Mary gasped at the door slowly swinging open from her attempt. The door knob felt heavy and cold in her hands and she let go of it. Being cautious, she entered the room and noticed it was dark. Leaving the door open a crack and using the light from the hall, she found a switch and turned on the light in the room. Once again, there was no one in the room. 

It appeared to be a bathroom, decked out with the same white tiles and white walls as the hall. There was a toilet in the corner, a sink and a mirror on the opposite side, and a small brown table. Mary went to the toilet and after finishing, approached the sink and washed her hands. She looked up in the mirror and her reflection nearly scared her. Mary stared at a girl with long black hair, pale skin, and dark brown eyes. Taken a back by the girl in the mirror, she quickly realized it was herself and reached out to touch the mirror, her reflection doing the same.

Mary stared at her outfit in the mirror. She was wearing a silky, plain white shirt and long white pants of the same color. She stayed at the mirror for a moment, analyzing herself and her clothes. Once again she reached out to her reflection, waved, and then smiled. Her reflection did the same. 

"I guess I fit right in here. Even my outfit doesn't differ from the walls," Mary said outloud. She watched her reflection mirror the movements she had made to speak. After a few more moments of inspecting the sink and the mirror, Mary moved on the the table sitting next to the door. 

Opening up the single drawer and searching through its contents, there was only a blank piece of paper and a pencil. Mary gasped, and took them out enthusiastically, joyful with the fact that she would no longer have to use her mind as the only tool to escape.

"I could make a map of everything I found, I could try to keep track of time and interesting things I find with this." The thoughts of every possibility she could do with a single piece of paper and a pen raced through her mind.

Mary skipped out of the bathroom with her new items, closing the door behind her, and sat on the cold floor. She began to draw out the path of the exit door to the bathroom. As she finished the final details, her head slumped back against the wall and she felt herself drifiting into the oblivion of sleep.