The Insane

The Insane (Ch. 1) FEAR

Darkness. Overwhelming darkness. The kind that shrouded me in a feeling of hopelessness and fear. It was a living entity that fed on my very soul. Where am I? In the distance I could hear the echoes of a scream, bouncing down what I perceived to be long, empty halls. Sweat dripped from the pores of my crinkled forehead, but when I tried to reach up to wipe the moisture with my hand, it wouldn't move. Only then did I realize that I was confined by the ankles and wrists to a cold metal chair.

Overhead, a light quickly flickered. A dull flash that just barely enabled me to catch a glimpse at my bleak surroundings.

A hospital room? I was surrounded on four sides by flat, gray walls. The chair that held me sat in the center, but other than that and a metal cart to my left there was nothing but that flickering light. The only signs that it had to be a medical facility were the scalpel and the syringe on the cart.

How did I get here?

I struggled against my confines, trying to loosen them enough for me to escape, but it seemed that the harder I pulled against them the tighter they became. I was starting to panic now. The chair started to rock and slide due to my aggressive movements. If I could just reach that scalpel, maybe I could cut the bands. I tried to scoot closer to the cart but as I reached my destination, the lights in the room all went out and cast me into complete darkness.

It was dead quiet but for my ragged, uneven breathing, which now sounded like the loudest drum. I looked around the room and waited for my vision to adjust. Something wasn't right. In the corner of the room by the door was the silhouette of something that wasn't there before, something that sent chills down my spine. And although I couldn't make out any details as to what it was, I knew it was staring directly at me.

The nervous sweat was dripping down my forehead and into my eyes, blinding me. I tried to blink them away for fear that whatever dark thing was in the room with me now would make a move as soon as I looked away.

Suddenly, another scream like the one from earlier pierced the silence and echoed through the building. Only this one was louder and felt more desperate. More terrified. The entire atmosphere changed around me and an immense dread settled over me like a suffocating blanket. As the scream seemed to finally reach the room I was in, the door in front of me slammed open with a deafening crash. The lights turned back on. I was frozen from fear. My confines were gone. The dark silhouette was gone. All was quiet but for a steady drip from a leaking pipe.

I shook the fear from me the best I could and slowly got to my feet. I was dizzy from shock but had my bearings enough to grab the scalpel from the cart next to me. What the hell was going on? After a few more minutes, I carefully exited the room, making sure that the long corridor was empty. 

The corridor stretched out into two directions.

1. To the left of me was a dead end, with a small dresser against the wall and some doors to what I assumed were more rooms like the one I just left. On the dresser were some scattered papers. 

2. To the right were more of those same doors and an exit sign at the end that lightly blinked over a larger door.

The drip from the broken pipe continued monotonously.

What Happens Next?

***Thank you for reading the intro to this interactive story! To decide what happens next leave a comment on your choice and in one week find where it goes from here. The story can only go in one direction, So choose wisely. Do not think that the main character of this experience is unable to die a most gruesome death...