Awoken

The walls cave heavily into my soul causing my breathing to become impaired. This place is familiar; I can feel it in my bones. The kind of feeling you get for a place you call "home". Yet, not a single sound; no footsteps nor someone exhaling, any sign that they're here. Absolute silence.

By the looks of things, no one has been here for years, and if that's the case then why am I here?

The room that I awoke inside is rather run-down. The metal frame of the bed stands in the far right-hand corner with the foot facing the door. While the old-fashioned make-shift bed stands tall; the mattress seems to be no more. There's a huge hole in the center of the bed where the metal wires had been pushed through making it seem as if somebody had been pulled through the hole, yet the floor had no evidence of the same effect.

The floor is made up of only cement and with age, it has begun breaking apart. There are various cracks in the floor and with each crack of concrete reveals a source of heat that bellows from beneath the surface. In normal circumstances, I would worry about the safety measures with standing on such brittleness.

My eyes begin to wander some more and I notice that the wallpaper is peeling and a single touch seems to make it crumble like the ash from a cigarette. What's odd is all the writings and drawings shown on the wall where the paper has been torn off.

"Hell Awaits", how easing it is to read that out loud... What kind of place is this really?

I look around some more at the scriptures, infatuated in curiosity until one statement seems to catch my eye.

"Welcome Back", I whisper to myself. This is written to the right of the steel door, a few inches from the handle. It's as if this room is playing some kind of mind game with me. I had a feeling like I've been here before and apparently the building is quite aware. This is too disturbing of a coincidence.

I face the steel door in a hesitant state; trying to leave this room but not moving a muscle. There's a window built into the top center of the door that is equipped with a metal plate. The plate slides back and forth causing a small entryway to appear and as I slide the window open I notice that doors like these are used for prisoners of some kind. This means things like food or medicine were passed through this window so no interaction was necessary.

Coming to the realization of what kind of place this really could be, makes my body tremble. There's only one way to find out if this really is a prison. I just hope that I don't come across any more inhumane visuals causing my mind to be horrified.

I begin to open the steel door which makes the most obnoxious sounds that echo throughout the vast hallway. I peak my head around the corner, looking both ways, making sure that I really am alone and no one heard the screeches of a door that hasn't been opened for quite a long time. As I looked down both sides of the hallway I see dozens of doors, like the one I just opened, going along the sides of the walls for miles long.

The hallway is pitch-black, minus the rays of light shining through broken parts of the roof and random windows that are awkwardly placed throughout the hall. I start looking around trying to find anything that can help me get through this building safely. As I'm looking around I realize that I've been so caught up in the room I awoke in; that I forgot to evaluate my being.

A god-awful robe drapes over my lanky body and I can only pray that I wasn't examined without consent. Why am I wearing such a thing and who exactly put me in it? So many questions run through my mind that I fear won't be answered. The sun shines through the missing pieces of the ceiling in the hallway; making a reflection off a window that's built into one of the doors. I'm sort of nervous to see myself, not only in a place like this but also of any markings that I might not be too familiar with.

As I look into the window I notice my long, wavy red hair is matted to my head and needs to be washed badly. Where my hair is trying to curl up, there are endless knots of tangled strands. The bags underneath my hazel eyes make me look like a drugged raccoon and there are bruises that scatter across the skin on my arms. I'm a mess. A sad, sad mess.

I look away from my reflection, almost in tears, I can't handle seeing myself this way. I don't think I would be able to fathom the truth of how I got to be like this. Enough about me, it's not the time or place to loathe in self-pity.

The clouds begin to cover the rays of sunshine that seep through the roof and it makes me feel just that much worse... I have to make my way through this damn place before I have some mental breakdown.

"Have some strength, Avalon," I sigh to myself as I take one last look at my reflection and start making my way down the hallway.

I'm assuming that I'm on one of the top floors.

"Great," I say in an irritable manner. As if I need this escape to be any more complicated and longer. Why couldn't I be right next to the exit door? Just my luck, I guess, not like it seems I have any.

The walls bleed off the paper covering them just as the room I awoke in. The hall is blotted with rips and tears and I can't help but feel like it's imitating my emotions. Pure misery screams into the pupils of my eyes. Each step I take as I stroll across the floor, the pit in my stomach becomes deeper and deeper.

I was told long ago to trust my gut reactions and right now it's yelling at me to turn around and go back to where I know it's safe. My lonesome will be the death of me but I can't let it. I need to gain the courage to get out of here.

"Maybe if I get to the lower levels I can just, well, jump out one of the windows? No, of course, that won't work," I tell myself as the next thing I walk past is a half-ass boarded up window. Looking at the bits of the window that aren't covered up makes me see how thick the glass actually is.

Whoever built this place made it so where no one can get out, that's for sure.

"Stairs..." I read aloud. Oh, thank God!

I rush to the sign and turn the corner finding myself hopeful again. I take the initial steps down the stairs ecstatic to be making some lead way. As things begin turning up for me, this place knows just how to take it all away. The building seems to have the ability to smell each ounce of hope that I gain, and in return sets that hope up in burning flames.

Someone is following me, afar, but I can sense it now that I'm on a lower floor. Whatever or whoever it is, is not trying to be sneaky. It's as if it doesn't feel the need to hide but it doesn't want to move too fast or get too close like a lion, licking his lips, while watching its prey. Am I being hunted or just simply observed? Either or strikes fear to my very core.

My body trembles with thoughts of all the possibilities that can happen. Do I run? Do I hide? The doubt causes a distraction that certainly isn't needed. I need to focus on the task at hand -- getting the fuck out of here! My life seems to be in danger more now than ever and my survival instincts have to start kicking in.

Hiding has never been a smart option and only keeps you in the place you want out of, so I begin running. I run towards the black abyss at the end of the hallway expecting to see a set of stairs like the floor above.

"Running won't get you anywhere," echoes down the hall behind me; accompanied with a diabolical laugh, "but straight to me" the echo continued.

"Who are you?" I mutter with terror. "What do you want from me?" I continue to beg for some sort of an answer.

Nothing is said in return while I'm frantically searching for the source. I continue running. What else am I going to do? Wait around and ask whoever that was more questions? No. I'm going to put my all into escaping this damn place.

I find the second stairwell and sprint down it; skipping steps in the process. This floor appears to be different than the other two. The one thing throwing me off is the fact that there aren't any doors. Which this can only mean that nobody was imprisoned on this floor, but then why have it? As I gain a bit of distance from the stairs I came down, I see there are rooms on this floor. Two steel doors are wide open across from each other at the end of the hall. Did someone leave them open when this place was cleared out or were those purposely opened by whoever was trying to scare me moments ago?

Nearing the two open doors, I feel my heart drop. The unknown is terrifying me and there's no other way around. I have to get down to the end of the hall. I have to pass these oddly opened doors.

I stop about five feet from the rooms, standing dead center of the hallway. While I begin to slowly make my way to the entry of the rooms and passed the doors, my heart is beating right out of my chest, I feel the need to close my eyes and just run. The curiosity in me gains the courage to look around the open doors and the rooms are so dark I can hardly make out what's inside them.

"See, Avalon, psyching yourself out for no reason," I tell myself in relief.

As I begin to calm down, my eyes then start adjusting to the rooms' darkness. I'm able to see what's all inside the room to my right and it's pretty much the same as the room I awoke in. The bed frame is tipped over but lays on the left instead of the right and this one has a metal desk. I assume the prisoners in the lower levels of this building were treated with better care. Maybe the higher floors are the people with higher risk to humanity?

Once I was done checking out the room to my right; I turn to my left just to make sure everything is okay. In the process of looking into the room to my left, I find it to be unsettling. There's a mysterious feeling to this room that I don't understand. Nothing remains in the room, not even a sign that this room was used for anything at all. From the looks of things, it's all clear and I need to keep moving forward. The second I go to turn away from the room something or someone appears. I quickly glance back to where I caught the figure in the corner of my eye and nobody was there. Nothing remains just as before but I swear I saw someone standing in the corner all the way in the back of the dark room. With no evidence, I must be losing my mind. The walls seem to be narrowing around me and I'm trying not to freak out. My breathing is getting thin from the lack of airflow around me and I start getting dizzy. I have to keep moving forward. I have to get out of here! I stumble forward, passed the rooms, and nearing the end of the hallway. I'm stumbling more and more, running into walls and trying to use them to my advantage. The walls can keep me from completely falling over, but then I catch the corner of the wall that curves around to another set of stairs. I go to take my next step but the stairs seem to be moving in all sorts of directions causing me to fall flat on my face and tumble down each and every step.

I land on my stomach at the end of the stairs; leading myself into yet another hallway. I gain the strength to push myself up and off the floor but once to my feet, I start losing balance quickly. I didn't think getting up would take that much out of me but it wasn't that at all. I glance at my hands and they are covered in blood. The whole hallway floor is covered in blood.

I run.

I try running as fast as I possibly can to the end of the hallway. The closer I get to the bottom floor the more crazy shit that happens, and this is just about insane so I must be close. I'm sprinting to the next stairwell not focusing on the puddles of blood that I'm splashing all over me. I'm completely covered and it's worse than a crime scene. I just hope there's help when I get out of here; help that believes me.

I make it to the end of the hallway without toppling over into the bloody mess. I turn down the stairs and find myself in the 'Lobby'. Finally. I can't believe what I see. A great big 'EXIT' sign appears above double doors a few hundred feet away.

I race through the old lobby floor, pushing my weight through the doors, and escaping into the daylight. The doors close curdling screams of me escaping behind them. I'm free. I'm free, at last.