Layers

It would sound like a cliche I’m sure. Especially if you look at the state of the world around you.

But trying to not think about how it might sound to you, I must honestly tell you I don’t know what I’m doing here.

Here being a facility of some kind. A massive, sprawling maze of hallways leading to a seemingly endless array of rooms. Rooms where all types of things happened. Rooms we were not allowed to talk about.

It was noon, I think, and we just had our lunch in the cafeteria. The vibe usually quieted down after meals and thus I was left trying to measure my days by the times we got fed. And yes, feeding is what you would call it. Kind of like feeding an animal. Half of the time I’m not ever sure what I ate. Might have been greens, might be browns but it was not what I was used to.

What was I used to? That was the question.

I’m not sure what it was or is, but it can’t be this. I had a good life once. A life that made me feel successful and fulfilled. The problem was the recall.

Like I say, probably sounded cliche but there you have it.

A ventilation fan jerked to life disrupting my thoughts. My living space was simple, stark, unimaginative. A single bed (the mattress as hard as a bed of rocks), a toilet and a basin across from it painted a picture of what I saw. Indecorous walls surrounded me and an 8-inch metal door edged into the belly of my reality mocked me with defiance.

Oh, how I hated that door. It seemed to represent something from my previous life, the good one. Something that was infuriating in its cause and never lacking in its belief. Maybe it reminded me of myself. I was still trying to figure it out.

We got fed in a large mess, a lot like you would see in a penitentiary. And we were strictly forbidden to talk. “We” of course referring to my fellow patients, or inmates or whatever the hell they were.

One thing was for certain; this place had an aura of darkness about it. Unnatural and sinister, like a power that forced its way into reality and enforced its will on the people in here.

Forgetting about it was only the beginning.