Young Writers Society

My eyes fluttered open, feeling heavy and drugged. Darkness filled my vision, and I felt it slip down my throat as I gasped with cold fear. I let my fingers reach forward, waiting for them to come into contact with an object. Slowly they disappeared into the thick void, but they touched nothing. The black air draped over my body like a metal thundercloud. The ground crunched underfoot as I got to my feet. I smelt a rancid odour exude from an unknown source ahead of me, wretched, and sank to the ground again. A static had shrouded my hair with an unnatural eagerness, strong enough that it also attracted my fingernails as I tried wringing it out. Shivering, I crept away from the stink, praying for mercy from the sudden nightmare I had just plunged into.

I could feel my heart beating gently against the palm of my hand. My skin felt smooth as I ran my hands over it. Then I realized that my skin was bare. I had no clothes on. Inside, my soul groaned with despair. I cloaked myself in my arms and curled up in the dark.Small noises vibrated the ground softly. I raised my head and my sightless eyes looked towards them. A sharp thud splashed stars across my vision as an object hit my temple. Frantically I scrabbled my hands over the ground for it and I felt it for the second time. It was hot, searing pain onto my fingertips. I screamed and dropped it. Another scream ripped from my throat unbidden as I realized I couldn’t hear my own voice. ‘No. Please no...’ I sobbed without sound, lying in the fetal position on the hard black ground. The neutral air formed a blanket that at least covered my nakedness. But inside, my heart struggled with the emotions that were threatening to drown me. I tried so hard to think, but everything eluded me. It seemed that the darkness had even evaded my mind, polluting it. Maybe I was just out my mind. Suddenly a red light appeared, illuminating the air eerily. Strange heat came from it, and warmed my skin. That was when I saw were I was.

I was in a massive steel warehouse, windows barred with tin sheets. Through the red mist that floated in the air I saw dark forms laid out in lines, and to my horror, I saw them merge into rows upon rows. From where I lay, I knew I was just one of at least a hundred other people lying lifelessly around me. The concrete ground smelt of mould, irritating my nose. The drug that had disillusioned me still clung to my head with claggy stickiness, causing my ears to block. My nose still functioned however, and for the second time I gagged on the foul stink. I turned my back towards the end of the warehouse and stared at the source of both light and smell.

A lone operational table surrounded by red fluoro lights was set at the opposite end of the warehouse. Three people dressed in white robes circled apprehensively, watching the rows of bodies with their peripheral vision, but concentrating more on an object on the table. Whispered murmurings and anxious glances told me of an uneasiness resting on them. Momentarily, I sensed a dangerous presence lurking nearby, but before I knew what hit me, my saturated body collapsed under me as it succumbed to the gas that leaked into my lungs. Struggling with my parched throat, I tried in vain to ignore the unexpectant burning. I cried out in pain.

One of the ghost-like figures standing at the table turned to look at me with two cold eyes, and quickly stalked lithely over to me, stepping delicately over the still bodies. As the person neared I saw a flash of femininity in their eyes. Subconsciously I thought of her as a woman. Her hand reached rigidly down for my chin and I felt a coolness seep into my throat. Her grip tightened and I freaked, suddenly envisioning a death from lack of air. I twisted my neck slowly and looked deep into her blue eyes. At first I saw nothing but a mirror, but I stared more intensively, and I saw a broken thought. A thought of hope crushed, of hurts too deep, of hate. I felt her defiance at my intrusion, but already my thoughts had reached her through my eyes. She saw my concern, and she slammed her defenses up again, backed by anger. I tore my eyes from hers, afraid and ashamed. She let go of my neck, and let me slip to the concrete. I felt her hatred as she slipped away back to the table.