Forwards and Backwards

Chapter 1 - Halia - A Bloody Mess

"Who... Am I?"

That was my first thought as I opened my eyes to find myself in a damp, dark, cold room with nothing put a hard cot and a Holter heart monitor beeping loudly.

I sat up and gripped the side of the cot tightly, the blood that had been aimlessly flowing around my body rushing to my head. My pupils dilated, grasping for some sort of light as my groggy head felt as if it was going to burst at any minute.

I looked around the small room I was in. Everything appeared grainy as if I was looking through a wet, shattered lense. I stopped as I saw a lamp standing up near my cot, it's cord falling loosely to the cement ground.

Reaching over and picking up the cord, I fumbled around, feeling for any sort of button or switch to turn on the light. I suddenly found a small, plastic button and pushed it.

"Ah!" I gasped, the abnormally bright light blinding my eyes and making my head burn. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes while my left hand covered them, letting myself get used to the white light, before putting my hand down to rest. It took an odd amount of strength just to shield my eyes, so I figured I was weak from dehydration.

I continued to look around the empty room, noticing that there was a metal door across from my cot to the right. I carefully twisted my body to the side and put my bare feet on the cold ground. I looked down and realized I was wearing a hospital gown, but this certainly didn't seem like a hospital room.

Or did it? I couldn't remember what a hospital room looked like.

I quickly grabbed the pole of the heart monitor, pushing myself up from the cot. I decided to put the pulse-ox back tightly around my index finger to stop the annoying beeping of the monitor.

Relieved, I walked slowly towards the door, and once I arrived to stand in front of it, I tried to pull the door handle and open it. It was locked. I stood as high as I could and looked out through the door's window, but all I could see was blurry white. The glass must've been warped, I decided, and looked extremely thick so nobody could break in. Or out.

"Hey!" I screamed as loudly as my lungs would let me as I banged on the door, "Someone help!" Nothing.

I pursed my lips and held onto the heart monitor once more, regaining the ability to stabilize myself properly. Nobody was coming to save me. Could anyone, even if they wanted to? I couldn't remember anyone significant or important to me, such as a family member or friend; nobody who would unlock the door. Obviously the people who put me in this room wouldn't let me out, so I was stuck here, wherever here was. Whoever I am, or rather... Was.

Because I am nothing anymore, that much I could figure out. I was someone with an empty shell, without memories or purpose. I was newborn baby; only here to scream out into the world helplessly.

I suddenly gasped. I looked down at the pulse-ox around my finger, which had randomly stung with a burning sensation. Furrowing my brow, I noticed that I was bleeding, and the pulse-ox wasn't measuring anything. It was... Draining my blood? There was a cord coming out of the small piece of fabric, which was wrapped tightly around my finger, and it was supposed to connect to the heart monitor to measure my blood pressure and pulse. However, it seemed to be sucking blood out of what seemed to be a popped vein in my hand.

I winced as I struggled to get it off, realizing that there was a tiny needle stuck into my finger, which was what was actually pulling blood. Why? I asked furiously. Was this to kill me, to drain me like a cranberry? To see my reaction? To watch me struggle in some twisted game? Why!?

I yelled out, desperately trying and failing to get the pulse-ox off. The needle seemed to be stuck, growing evermore twisted in my flesh as I pulled at it. My head started to pulse, my knees growing weak. Damn it... I thought. If I weren't so dehydrated... I wouldn't be growing this weak so quickly...