Chapter 1
I tried to open my eyes open but they were greeted by a blinding light that glued my eyelids to my face. I attempted to lift my head, but I felt a jolt of pain coursed through my body starting from my head to the tips of my toes.
It took me a while for my eyes to adjust to the blaring white wall around me, and for my ears to adjust to the low flat sound coming from a camera-like object hanging from the ceiling. The circular lens moved in a pattern:
IN
OUT
IN
OUT
IN
PAUSE
IN *again*
OUT
OUT
REPEAT
It continued like this as I watched it from the corner of my eye. I refused to move because my body was in too much pain. Even as I was still, the pain never stopped. it went from striking to dull. But it was a continuous, unrelenting dull ache.
Ignoring the pain, I forced myself into a sitting position and looked around the large room. There was nothing except for a white chair facing me and a door on my right. I pushed myself up from the bed, but I was pulled back down. My wrists were tied to two straps on both sides of the white bed. I worried about why I had not felt them before and realized that my arms were numb and my fingernails were bandaged up. There was obvious blood seeping through the fabric of the gauze but that was the only place I didn’t feel aching pain. Only pressure.
As I struggled to untie myself—minding my wounds—, a high-pitched sound came from the object on the roof followed by the voice of a woman. “It’s futile, you can’t escape. Just sit tight, the President will be in with you soon”.
I sat annoyed for a moment and made a disapproving face at what I was sure was a camera before going back to untie my hands.
The white door to my right swiftly swung forward revealing a tall man. He was wearing a plain brown suit. The tall man walked briskly towards me and introduced himself as Oak. He explained that he was the President of the organization that was currently housing me.
After his brief introduction, he looked at my hand on my wrist. I was so focused on the man that I had forgotten to hide to fact that I was attempting an escape.
“I am sure Qalupalik told you that struggling was futile.” He spoke with a mocking smile on his face as he looked into my brown eyes. I could almost hear him say ‘pathetic’.
“Who?” I spoke quicker than I could catch my mouth. I instinctively pulled my hands up to cover my mouth but my hands were restrained so I just sat with my mouth open staring at him.
The smile on his face slowly dissolved then reappeared but it was different than it had been the first time
“We usually call her Lupal because Qalupalik was too much to remember.” After reluctantly answering my question, he turned his back to me and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket. It had the abbreviation ‘E.X.M.O’ written on it. He used it to wipe his eyes before turning back to me. There were obvious signs of tears on his eyelids. He saw that I noticed his tears and smiled at me once again
“Do you remember anything?” he asked after quietly sniffling.
I had not thought about it until his question and a puzzled look covered my face as I tried to remember anything. Even my own name escaped me. He noticed my confusion because his smile broadened and he made a gesture like sign language with his hands at the camera then left the room.
I began to panic because I couldn’t remember anything about myself. I hurriedly pulled the straps from my wrists and to my surprise they slid off.
“Oh dear. Mr Oak!” Qalu...Lupal called from the speaker after Mr Oak after I slipped out of the restraints. I ran to the door and pulled on the handle but it didn’t budge. I realized at once that Oak never touched the handle of the door. it simply opened for him. In my state of panic, I began to feel dizzy and didn’t notice the gas filling the room until I was near passed out. I looked up at the camera once again as I fell back and passed out.
IN
OUT
IN
OUT...
