Darkness.
Nothingness.
Everything was black, nothing to be seen or moving. All that was left was thought. The thought didn't know what was happening, it just continued thinking. Did any of this exist? It was just darkness. It only knew it by itself existed. Only it's own existence was confirmed.
But what was happening around it? It could just keep thinking and thinking. What was it even? Who was it? It could only think of such basic questions, but it couldn't remember anything specific. No memories, no scents, no feelings or touch. It just felt like it was floating in nothingness and in oblivion.
"Another one?" it could hear noises.
No, voices. It were the voices of humans. Referring to something. They were referring to something. But it soon noticed it was the thing they were referring to. So it wasn't just a thought. It was a person. A living person with memories.
"Ah, only two more and we're done."
It heard the last voice, but then it's eyes opened easily. At first only white brightness was to be seen, then just massive blurs, but then shapes and faces started to form. A man was staring down.
"Glad to see you up, miss." he said, smiling down at it.
But then it noticed. She noticed. A girl. She was a girl. It was a short fragment of a memory, but still a memory nonetheless. Like she'd remember more. She didn't feel as lost as she did a couple of minutes ago, like she didn't know who or what she was. She was slowly realizing she indeed was a person, not just something that existed.
She looked around herself, noticing a room full of people sitting. She was just in the middle of the room, being stared at. She felt odd, almost anxious like. The more she felt, the more she was sure in herself. The more alive she felt. It felt almost like she was regaining some sort of consciousness after a long period of sleep.
All of the people were dressed plainly. Their hair gray, even their eyes. They looked deathly pale with matching clothes. The shirts were pale gray and long, even if she felt oddly hot in here. She couldn't bare looking at their long attire, since she felt like she was going to choke from the heat. But none of them even gave the slightest hints of being hot, all of them had the same monotonous facial expression, looking like they had permanent poker faces.
"Come with me, I need to take care of you." The man who she previously saw told her.
The more she became aware, the more she noticed how much different he looked from everyone in that room. It made her feel less like she did something wrong. He didn't look gray at all. His hair was dark red, but still unnatural looking. His eyes were matching, but they looked oddly neon. She felt like this was unusual, but she didn't quite know why. His warmer tones made her feel better around all the cold grays. He looked like he was in his thirties, but she felt like her perception was a bit screwed from her long sleep.
He offered her a hand, which she gladly took. He motioned her to walk after him, which was towards a big gray door. Even the entire room was gray. It made her feel uncomfortable. As soon as he opened the door, he turned around and said a goodbye.
As soon as she wanted to ask what was happening and where she was, he asked something before she could even react.
"Do you remember your name?" He questioned, but it looked like he asked everyone that question already.
She started thinking. She couldn't remember anything. The earliest memory she had was the things she was just aware of currently. She couldn't even remember her own thoughts and beliefs.
"I... Don't." She said, getting scared of her own voice.
So this is how she sounded? She felt like she had a very high pitched voice compared to the deep one of the man next to her. Was it really? This was frustrating. She felt more like herself, but not to the point that she felt safe in her own skin. She felt vulnerable and weak, like everyone could affect her perception of truth.
"That's okay. You'll remember soon enough." He told her with a smile.
"Could you tell me my name?" She questioned, a confused facial expression on her face.
"Ah, that wouldn't be how it should be." He simply answered.
She frowned. She didn't quite like that answer.
"Why not?" She continued, coming closer to the man.
She got a bit surprised when she noticed just how tall he was.
"It's just the way things are here. Been like that for years, it never will stop being like that." He answered, his eyes rolling like it was the most obvious thing he had to explain.
She thought for a bit. How should she get to his good side? Maybe by getting to know him? The more she thought, the better she got to understand things. She was learning.
"What's your name?" She questioned.
For some reason, he grinned at that, looking like he was amused by the question a whole lot. She got annoyed by it, disliking how arrogant he seemed. Somehow, he struck her like a person of power who got his ego boosted too much.
"Interesting. I think you're the least confused one I've gotten so far." He made a mental note.
She wanted to speak up, not liking how he ignored her question, but he got it before her.
"My name is Adrien. Adrien Marais." He went out to give her his hand as if to shake it.
She went to mimic the motion, not knowing what it meant exactly. But it just seemed like the thing to do. As soon as she did, he moved his hand away.
"Ah, yeah, you don't have a name yet so this won't be appropriate." Adrien laughed.
In this weird situation, she'd appreciate someone more sensible and someone who wouldn't tease her. But this guy just keeps being more and more asshole-ish.
"When will I know it?" She questioned, looking more and more annoyed and impatient the more time she spent with him.
"Soon enough. You're in Hell, we have a certain order with things here." Adrien said nonchalantly.
Hell. Hell is bad. She remembered. Hell is where bad people go. Somehow she remembered, even if her head hurt.
"Hell?" She could only muster out through the headache.
"You're in Hell, dear. You're dead." Somehow, his tone of voice was serious at that part.
Her mind couldn't comprehend what happened. Dead? Hell? She couldn't remember anything specific. Her head hurt and she was getting dizzy. The last thing she remembered was seeing everything being black again, not knowing if any of this was real or just something she made up during her stupid empty blackened existence.
