Prologue: The awakening

It started with darkness. The thing floated through the nothingness without feeling. It was like it had just started, but at the same time, it always belonged to the nothingness. A single light tentatively came to life, flickering quickly against the marble walls, trying to settle. The light hit the thing and it was enough to make the thing twitch awake. First came the sound of slow air intakes, the chest began to contract ritmically as the thing breathed for the first time, and an unpleasant stench of dead meat ravaged its nostrils. The legs and arms stirred around, commanded by an instinct to perceive themselves. Then the darkness vanished as the thing's eyes snapped open.

The thing's eyes didn't recoil when the faint light invested them. It blinked a few times, then the thing's head began to rock around, trying to make a sense of its whereabouts. A close room greeted the thing with silence, white walls of decrepit marble, stained by occasional cracks in its otherwise perfect surface. The thing's eyes settled on the closed door in front of it. The door was almost confused with the wall, being so similar in texture, it elicited the thing to approach it. The thing noticed something beneath it. It took it a moment to realize it was sitting on a chair. The wooden slats groaned, creaking sounds grating against its ears. It hopped off to go inspect the door. The thing was small, it had to tiptoe a little to reach the handle. When its hands closed on it and pulled down, the handle did not budge. The thing retracted its hand.

The room was empty, save for the chair the thing had awoken on, and a rack at the side of the door, holding a piece of clothing. Darting its eyes around, the thing noticed a mirror, resting on the right side of the room, faintly glittering against the light. Thanks to it, the thing had its first insight into its nature. The figure of a body greeted the thing when it approached the mirror. The thing was a girl, its petite body looked like that of a child, but the pale white skin betrayed the looking of a corpse. The thing touched its skin, hard as leather, the image in the mirror obediently repeated its movements. The thing's hair was short and bright, its peach like, unkept bangs conflicted with the paleness of its body. The thing found itself staring at its eyes, captivated by their beauty, they were the color of crystal water.

The thing felt apprehension at seeing its body devoid of cover. It turned to the rack and approached it, pushing down the cloth with one hand. It was a trench coat, too big and long for it to wear properly. The oversized garment empeded its movements and caused a slight feeling of frustration.

The thing walked around without aim, observing its surroundings without interest. The room was still and empty, so much that the walls threatened to close in on the thing. It was boring. The thing wanted something to happen but the room offered it no such solace. Approaching the mirror again, the thing scrutinized its reflection intently. Tentatively, it manouvered its body around, experimenting poses, looking for amusement. The mirror merely obeyed without words and the thing quickly lost interest. It hopped back on the chair, rocking around, its gaze fixated on the door, waiting for it to open.