Patient 9

Chapter 1

Her eyes slowly flickered open, adjusting to the harsh white light surrounding her. Sitting upright she looked at her surroundings, the room had no windows and the walls were painted a light, creamy colour with tile covering the floor. The clean, white sheets brushed against her legs as she clambered out of the bed. There was a light hiss and a door she was previously unaware of opened, looking around cautiously she stepped through it, the hiss returned as it closed behind her. Inside the new room was a small metal bench with clothing and a blue bag laid on top of it. Quickly she changed from her striped hospital gown into the clothes, a black tank top, a black sweatshirt, dark jeans and black sneakers. Strangely everything fit her quite well. Placing the extra clothing and a dark green raincoat into the bag she slung it over her shoulders and looked around the room, another door had opened. Walking towards it, her shoes squeaked slightly on the hard tile.

Once she had entered the next room, it was a long hallway and each side was completely covered in mirrors. At the very end were two glass doors leading to what looked like a forest. As she took a few steps forward she felt a sharp pain against her hand. Jumping back in alarm, her hand tingled as she rubbed it. Listening carefully she could hear the slight hum of electricity. Stepping farther away from the shield she took the chance to look at the mirror beside her and gazed at her reflection for a moment. She had wavy black hair down to her shoulders, glassy blue eyes and her pale skin was splashed with freckles. Her reflection seemed like a stranger, that couldn't be what she looked like, surely she would have remembered if it was. Right?

As she pondered this a loud robotic voice sounded from above, "Patient number nine is active. You will have one minute to exit through the doors at the end of this hallway if you fail to accomplish this you will be terminated. Your time will begin in 5, 4..."
"Wait what?" she stammered as panic flooded her mind.

The voice continued counting down, with seemingly no idea, or perhaps it simply didn't care about her protests.

Her mind was whirling as the voice reached one and a loud beep sounded.

Pausing slightly as she wondered what would happen if she didn't make it, but she quickly decided she'd rather not find out. Quickly she began sprinting for the doors bracing for an electric shock as she passed where the shield was just a few moments ago but the electric hum had been silenced. As she ran thoughts bounded throughout her head, where were the doors going to lead? Was anybody else out there? They did say that she was patient nine so where were the others? Were there others, or was that just a name they had given her? What was she doing here anyways? Why couldn't she remember what her name was, or anything for that matter? Her heart pounded, there was no indication of how much time she still had, the voice remained silent. Her black hair whipped against her face and all she could hear was her feet slapping against the ground and the bag bouncing against her back. The doors grew closer and closer, her mind began to grow empty of other thoughts and soon focused only on her survival which seemed to be connected with her escape through those doors. It was unclear how much time was left, though the doors were nearly within her reach. Putting on a burst of speed she grasped for the exit, she was nearly there! Suddenly her hands slammed into the cold glass doors, swinging them open with a satisfying thud. Skidding to a halt once she had left. Panting she looked at the forest surrounding her, trees towering above her as leaves whispered in the slight breeze. Glancing backwards she saw a large metal building, shining in the sunlight. It seemed strange, she'd imagined it'd be smaller, since the largest room she'd been in was the hallway.

Suddenly the same voice sounded again, "Congratulations Patient nine, you've passed your first test. However there are still many more tests to be faced in the wild. Unfortunately we will not be assisting you in your journey. Though we do wish you the best of luck. Goodbye Patient 12, we hope you've enjoyed your stay!"

"Great, thanks," she muttered before stepping out into the forest. Though it wasn't the best send off, it felt oddly good to leave the building. With the sound of leaves crunching beneath her feet and foggy unclear memories swirling throughout her mind she began her trek into the forest.