Prologue
White light shined from all angles, blinding the boy that sat in the old, torn-up, rusty chair. It reminded the boy of the chairs he had seen at the dentist.
How long had it been since he sat in one of those clean chairs? How long has it been since he got his teeth looked at?
The boy remembered how every time he went to the dentist he would get a lollipop.
He wondered if he would get a lollipop after this.
He didn’t know what this was except for it being some kind of test. He had many tests, though he didn’t do much during them. He just sat and waited to be told he was done. He was hardly ever told how it went.
The boy continued to be blinded by white light and was surrounded by white walls, white floors, and white ceilings.
Why would someone want this much white in a room?
Being nine years old the boy didn’t understand why most people did things. He just did what he was told and that kept him out of trouble most of the time.
The boy used to have a name. When he didn’t have to sit in white rooms. When he didn’t know the white coats, at least that was what he called them. The white coats were the people who did strange things to the boy during the tests, he always knew they were there to do a test because they were wearing white. The boy never saw anyone not wearing a white coat. Now that the boy thought about it the white coats never introduced themselves. They actually did the opposite. They told him his name, except that it wasn’t. If he ever tried to correct them they would get mad. They were scary when they were mad. So the boy just went along with it, but the name he had before soon faded away. All he knew was that he used to have a different name. His name now is One. The boy always thought that was a weird name.
Why would someone name anyone One?
Did the boy come first in something?
Was the boy the best at something?
The boy always thought it was because the white coats weren’t very good a stuff like that. They mostly did complicated stuff. Nothing the boy could describe or explain.
The white coats were strange people. They only talked about weird numbers and tests as well as a few other things. Sometimes they would yell words in anger. The boy didn’t know their meaning or point. Though the white coat with spiky brown hair and a strong build would always yell how he would shove his work up someone called the boss’s something when his computer made a beeping sound. The lady white coat with short red hair and small height would yell about being stuck in some place and that everyone else should join her. Sometimes they would yell in excitement. Whenever that happened the boy would get a treat the next time he ate. He hoped that whenever the white coats yelled it was about something good.
The white coats said they had good news today and it would be the boy’s final test. He hoped it was easy because he had no idea what it was about. That was why he was sitting in the dentist chair.
Not a second later, the wall facing split down the middle with a clean cut. The two sides slid in opposite directions creating a whole the lead to a pitch black room.
Maybe the white coats had rooms of different color and that was why this room was all white?
Two white coats appeared in the hole in the wall. The one on the left had dark skin and a shiny, bald head. Black round glasses covered his eyes like two empty holes into his head. His face was serious and held no other emotion. The man on the left had a light tan and blonde hair that was flattened on the to the left with the sides shaven down until it looked liked fuzz. He wore the same glasses and had the same look as the man on the right. In sync, the two men turned to the sides and walked to the corners of the wall and then turn back to the front.
Where they once stood now stood a small, skinny woman. He skin was very light but didn’t look anything close to pale. Her golden blonde hair was pinned into a messy bun. Glasses rested on top of her nose, but they were clear unlike the two men’s. Like everyone else she wore a white coat.
When the boy’s and the woman’s eyes met, the woman smiled. Not a warm and sweet smile. A wicked one. A smile someone would have if they were about to do something awful and they would be rewarded for doing so.
The boy frowned. He wanted to get away. He did not like the test. There would be no treat.
The woman walked up to the right side of the chair as the boy tried to get up. She put a firm hand on his chest and pushed him down with a force that surprised him. He knew that he was only nine and that meant he wasn’t the strongest person but the strength from this woman would have been something he would expect from either man that stood in the corners.
“Don’t fidget now. Don’t want to cause any trouble. Don’t want to mess anything up. Don’t you One. Don’t, don’t, don’t.” The woman said in a high pitched voice that was both soothing and tense.
The women pulled a long needle filled with a green liquid from a pocket inside of her coat. The boy knew what she was about to do and he wanted no part in it. He fought her grip on him and tried to move off of the chair.
“Don’t! Don’t struggle! Don’t move please! Don’t get me in trouble! Don’t get me killed! Don’t want to do this! Don’t have a choice! Don’t!” The women yelled in a panicked voice that alarmed the boy.
Then the boy realized. Something awful must have happened to this woman. Her smile wasn’t about her being happy to do this, nothing close to it, she was happy to get it over with and be done. The way she kept repeating the word ‘don’t’. The way she talked. How she said, “don’t get me killed.”
The boy felt bad for her. She must have had it way worst than him. Whatever that meant. All he knew is that she didn’t want to be here doing this just like him and something bad must have scared her into doing it. All he could do was follow her orders.
Who was he kidding? Getting past the two men that stood in the corners, finding his way out of whatever this place was, and then what? He didn’t know anything outside of this place. Only the knowledge of there being a world outside and faint memories to support it. This woman probably had a life she remembered and loved. The boy had nothing.
He laid still and nodded his head to the woman who looked shock at the compliance. She got the needle ready to inject.
“Before you do this can you tell me your name? I haven’t been told anyone’s, only mine and it wasn’t a good one. Please tell me.” He begged.
The woman looked stunned.
“D-d-don’t kn-kn-know.” She stuttered as she pushed down on the needle, injecting the green fluid.
Instantly, the whole room began to spin as a burning feeling shot up his body, toes to head, then back down like ice, head to toes.
Hot, cold. Hot, cold. Hot, cold.
Another shot of fire spreading from the tip of his toes, rolling it’s way up his leg and burning his insides. It crept up his thigh, to his waist and completely paralyzed him in pain. He couldn’t move, but he could feel it all. The fire went up his stomach then to his chest turning everything around. When it reached his lungs he couldn’t breathe. When it reached his heart it couldn’t beat. It soon went to his neck, strangling him, then ending in his brain overloading him.
Then everything went cold like knives of ices slicing through every nerve. It slid back down his throat like trying to swallow ice, then to the chest and stomach where it squeezed everything making it all turn into one ball of frozen insides. Once it passed he could breathe, but that was because it was at his legs, turning them into living ice and finally reaching his feet where the whole nightmare would start again.
The worst part is that no one could see what was happening. They wouldn’t know what was happening to help except for the painfully clear fact that it hurt. Not like they would help anyway. They’re the ones who did this anyway. The ones who made that purple fluid to be put inside of him to do whatever it was doing.
It was painful. It was rapid. It was bad.
The boy screamed in pain and the woman stepped back in horror. The two men in the corners stayed perfectly still.
Finally the hot and cold faded back to normal but the spinning room spun faster and faster and faster turning his vision into a nauseating blur. His mind felt like it was falling apart but also taking everything in.
After what felt like forever, everything slowed. It went back to normal but took a lot out of him. He was going to pass out. He was drenched in sweat.
As his vision clouded with black spots he saw a fuzzy figure. He realized that it was the woman. Her face was thankful and sorry.
“D-d-d-don’t tell anyone I told you that my name is Louise Carter. D-don’t want trouble.” She said.
The boy made a small smile before the darkness engulfed him.
Wondering if he would ever wake up.
