Lights

Chapter 14.

Taking a long gasp of air, she roused drowsily from the deep slumber, inhaling as much oxygen as she could possibly fill her lungs with. Gaining consciousness, she became aware of a dull tingling burn that executed throughout every single part of her body, the experience a hundred times worse than what would be expected with a typical hangover. If felt like she wasn’t in control of her body. She could feel the pain but there was nothing she could do to stop it.

She attempted to force her eyes open, yet when she tried to steady herself into a sitting position, she cringed at the numbing pain, unable to move. She lay there, motionless in the dark abyss. Floating in nothing. A wave of uselessness overcame her, but her head felt as heavy as an anchor, gravity dragging it back down to fall on what felt like soft pillows beneath her.

She clenched my fists in frustration; grabbing a material that felt like thin, thread bare sheets. Her heart fluttered uneasily, there was, something undoubtedly wrong here. Forcing her eyes open, a small amount of light entered the room, but her surrounding was very unfamiliar. But, for some strange reason, she felt like she had been here before. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. Trying again the volume was low. "Is anyone there?" She called out, her voice horse and barely audible, she couldn’t even hear herself. Suddenly, her body was hers again and she was able to move. Her muscles ached from the strain of movement, but it was bearable.

She made sure my eyes were open, fearing that she had gone blind. She couldn't see her hands as the swung by her sides, feeling as if they were floating. Lifting herself off what she now knew was a bed; she set her bare feet of the cold, wet floor. “Hello?” She called, her voice now clear and strong, but nothing was given in return. Nothing. "Hello?" She called out again, still nothing but the room remained immersed in darkness.

"Wake up." A voice screamed in pain. The direction of the voice was unknown. The voice sound weak, pained. The command caused her to freeze, the voice sounded all too familiar.  But it was different, it wasn’t the forest this time, it was a room. Square and dark, there was two hallways, both had flickering lights at the end of them.

It was happening again. It was haunting her. There was no escape. She remembered the command and what she had to do, but the dilemma was, there was nowhere to run and escape. She knew how this worked. She could continue to move on from the room, she knew no matter what hallway she chose, it would always lead her back to one main place - the room. She couldn't shake it. No matter what route she took, all ends tied up to the small room. How was that even possible? How could the same thing be happening, but in a different place, it didn’t make sense to her.

Outside she could hear the autumn wind howling somehow, she didn’t know where it was coming from, but it almost sounds like a child’s laughter to her panicked mind. A low chuckle broke thought her thought process, directly in front of her; she could feel it’s warm breath against her skin. She resisted the urge to scream; she knew there would be nothing for anyone to hear in the overwhelming blackness. "Where am I?" She whispered, mostly to herself. The air was heavy, crushing her delicate lungs. It felt as if she was drowning, like the air was water. But she doesn’t know why.  The warm breath was still there.

She turned, the scenery changing before her, like someone flipped a switch. What was once a dark, unlighted room was now something that resembled an abandoned hospital room. The chemical like smell was overwhelming. Looking around the white washed room, the two narrow hallways were still there except the flickering lights were gone; the blinding lights were the only things that could be seen at the end. "Hello?" She called again, the sound of her voice echoed through the never-ending halls.

"Can you hear me? Please wake up." The unknown voice screamed again, causing a silent scream to depart from her cracked lips as she sprinted frantically down the left hallway, it seemed to never end. She ran faster, trying to notice any difference. Nothing.