The Dark Figure

00:59:59

She paced the room nervously. At first her palms became clammy, then her neck became wet. Now with only a few minutes left on the timer, her hospital gown was soaked through. For a year the girl had wondered what the last hour would be like, and in less than an hour, she would know.

When she was first introduced to her room she was terrified in a confused way. With only a few minutes left, the girl still felt terrified, but there was also a twinge of excitement. She didn't know what was going to happen when the timer hit 00:00, but whatever it was, she knew she would be relieved. For the last 8760 hours, she had countless moments to list the things that could happen after the last hour -- terrible and good.

The girl didn't remember how she got there. In fact, she didn't remember her life before waking up. She didn't remember how she felt, who she loved, who she hated, or where she came from. The girl had to make up her lost memories in the tiny room.

Of course, she had her theories. The first thought that came to mind was that she simply had been kidnapped. But how could a simple psychopath make her lose her memory? That lead her to the next theory. Maybe she was part of a science experiment? But she soon debunked the thought with the simple fact that there had been no interaction with humans. She hasn't been prodded or examined or touched by human contact for a year. Her last theory was unrealistic, but made the most sense. Was this all in her head?

There was one bed with a thin blanket and hard pillow. Across from the bed was a window. When she first awoke, the girl was relieved to see that there was a window in the jail cell, but when she opened the tan and tattered curtains the feeling of dread swept over her body. The window was bricked up, with only a small string of lights along the perimeter. The feeling of claustrophobia hit her so hard, she had felt as if she had run into the brick wall that lay before her.

Then there was the door. It was a regular sized metal door with a slot at eye level where her food supplies came through once a day. The small slot was the only window that provided any clues to where she was. When the girl looked out through the opening, all she saw was a long hallway with doors on either side that were just like hers. The only change from the monotonous stretch of hallway was a perfect split about ten feet down, dividing the walkway into two sections.

The last object in her room was the TV. It was older, and wider than it was tall.

It had not once turned off in the time she had been there. It had a blue screen that awoke something in her memory, perhaps from childhood. Sometimes an image would pass through mind of a family, a normal family. But the sensation was so weak, that she couldn't get past the feeling to conjure up anything more. On the blue screen was the timer. When she had first awoken, it flashed 8759:23:49 and had continued to count down, one second at a time.

Many times the girl thought about breaking the TV. Fear kept her from doing so. This timer was her only constant company through the year. Beyond the timer, her first and most reliable visitor had been the dark figure. Once a day for a year the girl was visited by this dark figure. The figure had always given her a dead feeling. At first it scared her, like she was watching a horror film, but with each passing day the feeling had changed from horror to just an uneasy feeling. It never spoke to her, but would linger outside the room if she spoke to it.

Its dark eyes glowed yellow surrounded by black. She could never look too long into the eyes that watched her. They scared her, making her feel small, weak and lost. As time went on the girl made a game out of it. She knew that she wanted to get over the fear of looking into this ghostly figure's eyes, but no matter how she tried, she couldn't move past the dreaded feeling from boiling up inside her.