Falling Below the Surface

The Box

My eyes flutter open, only to find myself greeted by darkness. am I...dreaming? I puzzle, the darkness seeming to close in around me. Everything is so small... I strain my eyes, searching for any significant feature of my dark prison, only to find my eyes not good enough for the task. I stretch my body out, deciding I would find the limits of my confinement with my body if my sight was useless. As I stretched, My knees were quickly restricted, and my elbows hit the sides of what seemed to be a small black box, made of some sort of metal.

"It's so dark..." I whisper to myself, confused, with the beginnings of fear seeping it's way into my mind.

Where am I..? I ask myself, my breaths becoming heavy, panicked. what do I do..? This is too real... It can't be a dream...where am I?! I panicked, my body spasming with fear, causing the box to shift on whatever surface it was on.

My bare feet felt the cold metal surrounding me, my heart pounding in panic, and my legs seeming to be wrapped in some sort of blanket-like material. My shorts caught on torn skin, sending a small zap of pain through my leg, surprising me.

When did I get cut? I asked myself, my brain causing the panic to grow even more, my arms and legs aching, my stomach churning with terror.

I was snapped from my thoughts when I heard a deep male voice scream from somewhere outside my confinement. wha-who was that?? I ask myself, my heart lurching in surprise.

"GET OUT!! " the sharp, low voice cut through the air like a knife, not allowing room for anything else to fill the near-noiseless room.

"Oh, Axel~ don't be like that, I know you're hiding something~ I can hear her thoughts~" Another voice teased, his words coming out as a low grumble.

I froze, holding back a scream in terror, my thoughts racing between the position I was in, and the two men who were holding me captive.

"I can hear you panicking, little mouse~" Suddenly, the voice was closer. too close. so close that it felt like he was in my head.

"Leave the box alone, you bastard," The other voice called, calmer, but still intense and angry.

"Oh, fine, fine. I'll leave you and your pet be. for now~" I heard the voice grow faint, a door shut, then silence.

I sat in that same silence for what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, my breath shaking with each inhale, and my hands beginning to shake with fear.

What's going to happen to me..? I ask myself, eyes searching for any semblance of light, and my hands reaching for anything that could allow me to open the claustrophobic box.

I was scared out of my thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching my small metal prison. My breath caught in my throat as I took whatever was wrapped around my legs and hid myself in it, the heavy fabric my only protection against whoever was outside, shuffling about.

I heard what sounded like keys rattling, and a click from the end where my feet were facing, and light shot through the crack as the end of the box slowly opened, blinding me, and causing me to wrap myself deeper into the heavy blanket-like fabric.

I felt my feet, wrapped in the fabric, being pulled at and dragged out of the box, causing me to yelp in surprise, curling up into a ball as my body was slowly dropped onto what felt like a carpeted floor.

"Get up" the voice was less sharp now, but no less terrifying, the venom in their words only causing me to curl deeper into the large blanket I was tangled in.

"Come on, get up. If I wanted to hurt you, you would already be dead," The voice was growing impatient, and their foot was starting to tap on the ground.