Page 84 of Amnesia

Thoughts and images were forced upon me; they came in flashes like a movie screen suddenly flickering to life. The quality was grainy and dull like an old horror movie on an old-school projector.

The smell of must assaulted my nose, so strong, so potent my eyes watered. I wondered if I would ever get used to the unnatural scent. I wondered if perhaps I would start to stink of it, too.

My cheek lay against cold, uneven dirt so dry it scraped against my skin. I was thirsty, so thirsty. I didn’t dare move, though, for right now I was invisible. Right now, I was forgotten in this corner of dirt and filth.

The sound of chains rattling turned my stomach. I couldn’t stop the trembles violently assaulting my body, though I begged and pleaded for them to quit. He would know I was awake. He would come for me.

A door opened and a sliver of bright light stretched across the ground. Unable to stop myself, I moved toward it, my dirty, bloody fingers reaching for the light as if it were heaven come to hell.

When the light was gone, my hand dropped out of the air onto the dirt floor, and tears drenched my face. Heavy footfalls made me cringe. Forgetting to play asleep, I scurried backward, pressing against the cold, rough wall. Its uneven edges cut into my flesh, but I barely noticed. Small pricks of pain like that were nothing.

“S-aaaa-deee,” a terrible voice sang.

I started to cry.

He was coming for me.

Even though my fist was dirty and bloody, I shoved it into my mouth, trying to stifle my sobs. Maybe if I was very quiet, he would go away.

“Sssss-aadeee,” he sang again.

The tell-tale click of a flashlight broke through the darkness. The beam of light wasn’t at all like the one I saw just moments before. This wasn’t the rays of heaven.

This was the fires of hell.

I watched the round spotlight it created on the floor, waiting as it swerved around, searching, playing games… as if it didn’t know where I sat plastered as far away as possible.

Too soon, the beam found me. I blinked and squinted against the harsh, blinding light, throwing up my forearm to try and block the worst of it.

“There ya are,” said the voice.

My knees knocked together.

The light swung away, and something reached through the dark to snatch me by the arm and squeeze. I cried, though I didn’t want to. The hand was like a vise, my bones groaning, wanting so badly to break.

My body was dragged across the rough floor. My skin ripped and gashed as I went. I didn’t fight, not anymore. It only made it worse.

A large, heavy figure pushed me down, straddling my bare waist. The sound the flashlight made against the floor as it was tossed aside echoed inside my chest. I turned my head, watching it roll away, the light facing the opposite wall.

Rough, calloused hands seized me. I knew what was coming next.

“This is your fault,” he told me as he began. “This is all your fault, Sadie.”

I gasped loudly; the force of it hurt my ribs, and instantly my body folded in on itself. Awareness was slow to return despite the violence of the awakening. My teeth chattered, the sharp clapping sound loud to my ears. I was freezing, trembling so much I could barely control my movements.

Loud banging broke through whatever haze I was in. I blinked. My vision was blurry, something that scared me at first, but then I realized where I was. I was in the shower, lying on the floor, huddled in a fetal position. Water sliced over me in icy spikes, causing pain with every contact.

How long had I been lying here? Oh my God, did I faint?

“Amnesia!” a woman’s muffled yell filtered into the room. More loud banging. “Amnesia, I’m going to break the door down!”

“Maggie,” I called out, but my voice was pathetic. I sounded like a mewling newborn kitten. I pushed up onto my hand, elevating my shoulders off the shower floor. “Maggie!” I yelled out, stronger this time.

It took all my strength, and my arm gave out on me. I collapsed against the wet, cold tile.

“Amnesia, are you okay? I’ve been calling for you. I’m very worried.”

“I’m fine. I just slipped,” I yelled, blinking and looking up at the ceiling. The water was icy, but I barely felt it.

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