Chapter 6 : Trapped

I'm trapped and I can't get out.

I can't see anything.

I am surrounded by darkness.

As I bump around the room I can't see anything, not even the floor below me. There wasn't even the slightest glint of light. Not even a dim light that could be coming from the night sky. So that observation told me two things: that there are no windows in this room, and that wherever I am doesn't have a light on outside of the room. I walk forward until I bump into a wall. I put a hand on the wall and walked around in a circle to look for the possibility of a door. Doing this not only gave me an idea of how large the room is, which isn't too big, but also the feeling of entrapment. I went around the whole room and there was no sign of a doorknob, not even a doorway. All I could feel was the bumpy wall underneath my fingertips. After getting over the feeling of growing disappointment I decided to spread out and see if there was anything else with me. All I could find were some trinkets that I was unable to identify.

That's when it truly hit me that I am completely alone.

In a place with no way out.

I just could not help but become exasperated with myself. I Sat down on the cool floor and tried to think of a way out. One thing was for sure: this was going to be a tough one. Since there aren't any windows and I am unable to find a door my methods of escaping were diminishing.

I sat there and sat there for what felt like an eternity. Due to sitting for so long in the same position, I decided to stretch out and lie down on the floor. While I was spreading out I felt something unexpected. I jumped surprised at the unknown sensation, not expecting anything to be there. While the floor was a bit cold it felt nothing like whatever that was. It was almost as if I were putting my foot on a block of ice. My mind was racing at the possibilities of whatever that could have been. Since it was on the floor and my foot was able to lay on top of it whatever it is has to be somewhat flat. Maybe this was my way out.

I started to move almost immediately to investigate.

I practically attached myself to the floor as I started to move around, not wanting to miss any detail of what could possibly be there. As I crawled around I used my hands to feel around my vicinity hoping to come in contact with whatever it was I felt before. The floor was hard; almost like concrete, but it had the texture of sandpaper. As I crawled around I could feel the floor leave an indentation on my skin. The feeling was incredibly irritating as I was able to feel the small scrapes forming on me. I was able to smell the faint scent of something metallic in the air, and from the feeling of my knees I could make an inference of where it was coming from. Blood was slowly leaking from my knees becoming a smear on the floor. The pain was getting worse with each growing movement, but I had to continue on.

My search continued for a few minutes before I was able to find it. When I made contact with it I was able to feel the difference between the object to the rest of the flooring. My original impression of the object was pretty accurate as it was freezing to the touch. The biggest difference between the object and the rest of the floor was the texture. The object felt smooth and slippery which gave relief to my hands as they were finally able to get away from the rough and scratch floor.

I traced the object with my hand and found it to be fairly large in the shape of a square. While all of it was the same texture it wasn't exactly flat. The middle of the object curved inwards like a bubble and sank into the floor. While feeling inside of the bubble, which was empty, I accidentally banged my hand on the side of it. When I banged into it I heard the faint sound of an echo. While crawling around I never heard such a sound it made me quite perplexed. I knocked on the inside of the bubble and the sound came again, but this time echoing all around me. I tried knocking on other parts of the floor but all I got was a dull thud.

I'm nowhere near an expert about these sorts of things, but I had a feeling that this was important. All of those years of watching crime shows have had to pay off somehow. The object reminded me of a trap door or some kind of hatch. This could be my way out. I excitedly inspected the thing hoping to find a way to open it. Unfortunately, I had gotten my hopes up as there was nothing I could feel on it. So I was still trapped inside; with my only hope of getting out on the other side. I could only hope someone would find me and let me out eventually.

Instead of sitting there in self-pity, I continued to go about the room hoping to find something to occupy me. After some thought, I decided to try and find a flashlight or something else to give me at least a bit of light. I go back to all of the miscellaneous objects in the room and try to find a flashlight, or maybe even a candle among them. Even if I didn't find what I was looking for there was still the possibility of finding something I hadn't before. You never know what could end up being useful. Many of the inhabitance of the room was quite small and just about all of them could fit into the palm of my hand. Even after in-depth inspection without my sight, I was unable to identify what they were.

While looking through everything my mind had started to wander. This whole situation is weird there is no explanation as to what is going on. First of all, where on earth am I? I'm pretty sure I would remember coming to such a place or would have at least planned better. There is no way I would have allowed myself to be put into a room without any kind of light. Will I ever be able to get out of here? What if no one comes to this place will I be stuck up here forever? There isn't any food or water in here and at this rate, I could end up dead within a few days. I tried to reassure myself that everything was going to be okay, but it was becoming harder to keep up the facade.

" How did I get here," I asked myself somberly.

I tried to think back but all I could remember was little things like the sound of seagulls and the smell of the ocean. Everything else was just a big blank. I had started to freak out, it was almost as if my memory was missing. There is no reason for this to be happening to me, I mean I'm nobody. I have a mediocre lifestyle and I haven't made enemies with anyone that I am aware of. This all has to be one huge mistake.

After a few minutes, my mind snapped back into reality and I went back to inspect the objects. I had gotten so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't realized that the room was beginning to change. The coldness of the floor had faded away and was gaining heat by the second. I reached out for something and to my surprise, it was scalding hot. I let out a startled yelp and couldn't help but wince at the pain. What happened after left me in a panic. As soon as I yelped another scream greeted me. The unexpected response left me practically catatonic. A variety of thoughts were going through my head. How long has this person been here? Does this mean that I wasn't alone after all? I wasn't able to ponder on those thoughts for long as the person in question was continuing to scream. The screams were becoming louder and louder making them sound like a banshee.

I got up and went in the direction of the scream hoping to help the other person and calm them down. About halfway to them, I hit my face on something that was dangling from the ceiling.

I yanked on it and to my relief, a light came on.

Hanging from the ceiling was a single bulb light that started to illuminate the room.

I looked in the direction of the screams and found a young woman tied to a radiator in a corner of the room. She was wearing a nightgown that was covered in dirt. There is no doubt in my mind that at one point it had been a startling white. She had dirty blond hair that was knotted in every way possible that went to her midback. She had her eyes shut and tears were running down her face.

I rushed over to her and asked "Are you okay?"

Which now thinking in retrospect is a pretty stupid question. I should have probably gone with a simple what's your name, but I of course had to go with the stupid question. She opened her eyes in response, but never stopped screaming. The whites of her eyes had gone gray and her iris' were a startling crimson. I inspected her further and noticed her hands. The radiator had gotten so hot that it started to burn her. Her hands were bright red and starting to blister. I just knew I had to get her untied from there. I ran around the room looking for something to cut her bindings off as the room continued to heat up. It wasn't long until the smell of burning flesh and smoke was in the air. Her screams were becoming unbearable shaking me to my core. I ran back to her and tried my best to pull her from her bindings. As I did my best to get her undone and away from the radiator I couldn't help but find myself being drawn into it.

I came in contact with it and it felt like I was on fire. The feeling was intense and growing in each passing moment. We kept trying to get away but it was almost as we were stuck to it. The radiator was starting to spark and the smoke overhead was becoming thicker by the second. It was getting harder to breathe as the smoke began to enter our lungs. In the long run, we both caught on fire.

We started to let out our screams in harmony having them become the song of our impending deaths. Our screams started to shake the room as it became engulfed in flames. After a while the girl suddenly got quiet. I tried to look at her through the flames and the sight that greeted me was her lifeless body feeding the fire. I continued to try to fight and get myself away all while the room started to come down around me.

The floor was becoming weaker and started to buckle from the heat of the flames. The floor became hotter and started to burn me as well. It wasn't long after that the fight had started to leave me. I found myself falling to the floor just as it was opening up.

I never found myself hitting the floor but floating through the darkness.

When I looked around I found myself in my bedroom.

It had been a dream.

A horrible nightmare.