There was a muted noise from somewhere far away, it's faint whirring stiring me from where I slept.
This was not my bedroom.
Solid concrete walls and a barred door surrounded me on all sides. I was laying on the hard floor and my spine hurt. I forced myself up, squinting at the bright light and the pounding headache it brought. Everything was familiar; the walls, the lighting. I just couldn't clear the fog from my mind.
I glanced around the room again. Not a single crack split the gray between the walls. When I looked back to the iron bars, they were open. Cautiosly, I went to get up. I put a hand down on the floor to lift myself up and felt a warm, thick liquid beneath my hand.
The floor was covered in blood, and so was my hand. A pool had spread from the middle of the room to the walls; I was stained with it. A sharp pang in my stomach made me look down, to find my shirt nearly black with blood. I pressed my bloodied hand to my stomach to try and stop it, but it just kept coming.
Scurrying to the bars I was already gasping for air, the shock of my situation sinking in. I hadn't escaped, and I was bleeding out. I gritted my teeth to keep from crying out but it didn't stop the tears from welling in my eyes.
"Help." I gasped out. "Someone, please."
More blood than I thought possible was pooling up, and soon the puddle had turned into much more. I heaved over and felt my heart pound in my head. My nerves were on fire and every breath was a sharp needle in my chest.
An instant later, the blood was gone. The floors instantly back to their stale gray, and the pain in my stomach receeding. I checked my hands, but no blood coated them. Griping the bars behind me, I hauled myself up and out of the cell.
I stumbled out into the hall and stopped. Rows of cells lined the walls, exactly like mine. But they were empty, and their doors were closed, locked I assume.
Staggering further into the bleak block, the only sound I hear is my own footsteps echoing against the solid walls. Fear settled itself into my chest at the silence. The whirring sound was slowly getting louder as I made my way down.
At the end of the row the hallway split to the left and I turned the corner, my heart beating like I'd just run a marathon. With one hand braced against the wall to steady me, I shuffled down the corridor. The lights flickered and my eyes darted between them and the end of the hall.
Without windows I couldn't tell what time I was, and that small fact made blood rush to my head. The walk seemed to take forever, like the floor was stretching itself out. The whirring was getting closer.
A small wave of nausea rolled through me and I leaned against the wall and waited for it to pass. The stone was cool under my burning head, even though the rest of my body felt like it was frozen.
When the rolling stopped I made my way slowly to the doorway into the next room. The whirring was very loud now. And what I saw in the space made my heart drop.
Mason.
His frame seemed too small, slumped against the wall like that. A pale color replaced the tan of his skin, giving him a sickly glow. Dried blood crusted at the corner of his mouth and Mason's left eye was purple.
"Horrid isn't it?" A voice whispered. I spun around the the other side of the room, where a boy my age leaned against the wall, utterly comfortable despite the ghastly figure a few feet away. His white hair almost met his storm eyes. Thin lips grinned at me.
"W-who are you?" My throat was raw and every word scratched, as my voice shook.
"Who I am is not important." He replied and lifted himself off the wall. He crossed his arms, "It's who you are."
"Who I am?"
The boy only smiled and walked over to Mason. He looked down on him and a frown replaced the cat-like smile. "Life is such a delicate thing. One mistake and," he snapped his fingers, "it's gone."
"Who are you?" I asked again.
He looked up at me. "Why Calsy, I thought you knew." And suddenly his face contorted into a thousand new shapes. A man with dark hair, a woman with green eyes, a small boy no older than ten. Features started to fall into place. A small nose and soft subtle lips, waves of brown hair replaced the white as it flowed down his back.
I was looking in a mirror.
"I'm you Calsy." My own voice said to me.
"That-that's not possible." I stammered.
"But isn't it?" Mirror me put her hands behind her back and stalked towards me. "Not all monsters have sharp teeth and claws. Some have the most beautiful faces."
It was all I could do to not stop breathing as she circled me, a predator seeking prey.
"Monsters come in all forms. Some are born, some are made." She stopped, facing me once again. "Unfortunately most don't realize the scariest thing, is the one they wish for most."
"What?"
"Love, Calsy. Love." She sauntered back over to Mason, and crouched next to him. I had to stop myself from rushing to him when she grabbed his face and turned it her direction. A small noise slipped out of his mouth and hit me straight in the chest.
"This is what love did Calsy. What your love did." She turned her head to look at me, still holding Mason's face.
I shook my head. "No."
She smiled, her teeth a blinding white, as she let go of Mason's face. Rising from her crouch, she made her way back to me, her strides even.
"Yes." A million different voices came out of her mouth, it was no longer just mine. "You created a monster, Calsy. And there's no stopping it."
"No." I growled. "No." I retreated back a step, but the thing in front of me followed.
My breathing became rapid, my heart beating too fast. The world was swimming before my eyes and even the wall against my back couldn't support me. It couldn't protect me as she wrapped her hands around my face a smiled. Couldn't help me as she whispered,
"Monster."