Entropy

VI - Escape

He finally had time to absorb his situation. He looked up, and all he saw was pitch-black darkness. The only sliver of light, faintly illuminating his lonely silhouette, came from the small crevice under the door.

...Why? Why does this keep happening to me? Why does everyone hate me?...I just want to be left alone. Is that too much to ask for? When I tried to make friends, no one wanted to be around me. I-I know my place now...I'll never be like one of them, a normal guy who can talk to anyone easily, hang out with people, be liked, so I accepted it and tried to stay alone. It...It hurts less if I'm alone because I chose to be alone, not because no one wanted to be with me, but they just won't leave me alone!

To Nicholas, "they" didn't refer to Ryan or Stella or her friends. It simply became everyone in his past, all collectively mushed together into one heartless entity.

What did I ever do to them? Nothing. So why?

He tightened his grip on his knees. The darkness of the room seeped in from the corner of his eyes, no matter how tight he shut them. Oddly though, the absolute darkness was comforting. It hid his pain, and he blended right in. He was alone, and no one could stare at him, judge him. It was as if he melded right into the room, finally invisible, a painless space of air.

But in that darkness, time had no place. He couldn't tell if minutes or hours had passed, and it began to drive him crazy. All of a sudden, the darkness began to press inward, trying to crush his existence.

He had to get out.

Abruptly, he stood up, so fast that he tripped. But he had felt something on his foot, so he hadn't tripped on himself. Fumbling blindly, his fingers connected with some sort of...canister or jar. It felt like glass. Curiously, he held it close to the crevice, trying to inspect it with what light he had. Something gleamed inside...

He leaned down closer, trying to make out its outline. The object was small..and curved...and spherical...As he turned it, the light hit the jar at the right angle.

And the eyeball's iris gleamed.

"AAAHH!"

With a jolt, he dropped the jar. It rolled away, into the darkness once more.

What...what was that? What the hell was that?!

With a new sense of urgency, Nicholas got to his feet. After collecting his nerves, he hit himself for realizing that this room had to have a light switch somewhere. He had gotten so swallowed up in his misery, he didn't even think about it.

You idiot! You're so pathetic!

Hurriedly, he ran his hand across the side of the door until his fingers glazed over something that slightly protruded from the wall. He slammed it with force. Instantly, the lights fluttered on-

Unveiling the room of horrors.

Shelves upon shelves, stacked full of glass jars. Bits of flesh and gore-human gore-nicely preserved, in neat little rows, decorated with pristine labels. Muscle tissue, eyeballs, lips, facial tissue, hair, scalps, nails, skin-anything that composed the structure of the human body could be found in one of those jars. The room screamed of orderly chaos.

Nicholas stifled a scream, forcing it to die in his throat.

All those body parts were simply...floating in liquid, as if it was perfectly normal for them to do so. This whole time...he had been locked in a room with parts of dead people. The thought that he'd felt safe here just minutes earlier sent a chill down his spine.

At that moment, he realized that he had to get out, now. No one was going to magically come and save him. He had to save himself.

Okay, focus! What do I need to know first?...