enter

Just a door, that's all I see, everything dark, but an idea pops into my head, "Out?" I guess without barely thinking. I want to apologize for something, but I just can't seem to open my mouth any wider. This room, this person. What's happening? my mind reminds me of something that may have happened. A man, speaking with a dark tone, my mother, holding my hand. I had wished that my dreams were to come true.

The room on the other side of the door, dark, but filled with the essence of an angry child. I refuse to leave, but I imagine much worse if I had let the girl go alone. Don't get me wrong, I can't exactly leave someone alone to something that horrid.

I walk towards the crevice, as if it were a cave. I lean forward towards the lady and smile. One arm pointing into the darkness.

"Shall we?"

guarded.

I click my tongue impatiently at his reply. What sort of an answer is that--'just a dreamer'. I purse my lips and meet his eyes, thinking of what approach I should take with such a person, if I could even call him that. Somehow, I sense a wildness within his soul that almost frightens me.

"I'm Kate." I say, a little more calmly. I wonder if I should hold out my hand out of politeness, but decide against it. Something tells me decorum isn't exactly what I need at this particular moment.

I bring a hand up to my neck, tiredly massaging it as I take another helpless glance around the room. There is a depression in the wall, and I walk towards it, desperately praying that it be a door.

It is.

I push, but it does not move. I try sliding it, but that does nothing either. On the right side of it, I see a panel made of silver, with buttons engraved with the numbers one through nine. A peculiar red light blinks above a small piece of glass that fits a finger. Out of sheer intuition, I press my index finger against it.

I jump back as a beeping sound fills the room.

The door slides open, and instead of the light I expected, I see only an endless darkness.

I look back at The Dreamer questioningly. "Do you know where this leads out to?"

a short moment

I hear a voice, looking at the creature that had once been there. "Hold your tongue" the sound comes from the beast. A short silence, like a hunter waiting for their prey. "Who are you?" this creature speaks. I think of a name, nothing from my mind had come up. Two words of memory, "The Dreamer". I think of those words, reminding me of the soft touch that had once grazed upon my skin.

"I am nothing, just a dreamer" I say with a deep sigh escaping from my mouth. Uncomfortable, a lack of belonging, a sense of familiarity, a creature of humanity. I stand up straight, pulling myself up slowly from the fetal position.

"Who are you? Why are you in this room?" Still a stranger in the room, a new face, unsure if she is worthy of my trust.

One more glace at the creature, standing proud. But on her face seemed to be a small, lost frown.

fumbling.

I don't know what the fuck is going on around me. My eyes adjust to the brightness and I turn my gaze to the man before me, my lips curling in an almost disapproving frown.

"Hold your tongue." I snap, as I tear my eyes from him to glance around the room.

There is nothing around that I recognise. No sound from the exterior that my mind deems determinable to establish the location that I am currently situated. Fuck.

I sit straighter and pull myself up to stand. The ceiling is low, surprisingly, and if I didn't know any better, I would have thought that the room was closing in on me.

In a flash of a moment, I falter. My knees tremble as I suddenly realise where I am exactly.

Nowhere.

The arrangement was for her freedom. My sweet sister's life in exchange for mine. I bite my tongue, holding back tears as I realise that the world I once belonged to can no longer exist. I am in a different life entirely.

I steal a glance upon what cloth covers my skin and find the feeling utterly unfamiliar. Pantaloons of the coarsest fabric cover my legs, and on my torso... I almost gasp. I am near naked, clad only in a shirt that does not even cover my arms.

In my desperation, it did not occur to me that I would be left with nothing of myself in this world. In this life--whatever a life this was.

All I can now think of is to escape this room. To see the world beyond and find my place. To find if I have anyone left, though as the thought enters my mind, I already know the answer: there is none. And I am alone.

I breathe deeply in an unsuccessful attempt to calm myself down.

I hear the quavering of my voice as the words directed at the man I am trapped with escape my lips, "Who are you?"