The Pain

I woke up with a start. Cold sweat had drenched my entire body and seeped into the bed sheet. Potentially the mattress as well.

I was shivering so fiercely that someone could have thought I was on vibrate mode. My entire being was cold to the bone. The goosebumps aligning down my skin was proof of the very fact.

The dream that kept on repeating itself made shivers go down my spine as the pain still felt too real to me.

I tried getting up to hug my legs to myself, but something stopped me. A shock went through my body right as I tried to move.

W-what's going on? Why can't I move!

I tried again, but the same electric shock ran through my body, leaving me gasping for air. Trying to catch my breath, I realized one thing.

I'm paralyzed.

I laid in bed, thinking about the cause of this paralysis. I've never been paralyzed before. Or I don't think I have.

I tried to think harder, going into the depths of my messed up memory. I tried to remember past the memory of the first day here.

I thought so hard, my head started pounding, leaving me dizzy. What's happening?

I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the headache to go away. If not go away, at least lessen a bit. But all my effort was in vain.

My head started to feel as though a hammer was constantly hitting against it. The pain felt too intense to handle.

I tried to grab onto my head to stop the pounding. However, it only worsened as the shock went through my body a third time.

From the shock, something triggered in my body and I started to gasp for air. I can't breathe!

I struggled for breath as more shocks entered my body one after the other. The dizzying pain left me nauseous as my air supply depleted.

The last thing I heard before losing consciousness was a chuckle from someone inside the room.

Is this funny, I thought as I lost consciousness.

~~~

I awoke again, fully expecting my head to be pounding as it did before. Instead of the pounding headache I experienced before losing consciousness, everything around me felt peaceful.

And quiet.

Where is Daniel, I thought as I laid in bed, not daring to move from my spot. I didn't want to risk the shock going through my body again. He's usually here to give me my breakfast.

Although my body didn't feel as though it was paralyzed, something was wrong. My body felt like it was being weighed down by something.

My arms, which were laying at my side, felt as though they weighed a tonne each, and that was saying a lot considering I only ate soup for weeks.

Feeling as though it was safe, I tried to lift my right arm, Right as I did, a piercing scream escaped my lips, followed by the echo.

My right arm felt as though needles were piercing through it. Stabbing at the arm, one at a time, as though it was savoring my pain.

I've heard about the expression 'One's pain is another's pleasure', but this was taking it too far.

My arm felt as though it could fall off at any time. I tried lifting my left arm, and the same pain shot through my arm.

This time, the scream came a little suppressed out of my lips. There was something extremely wrong with my body. But it seemed as though my left arm was in a better state than my right.

My right arm, when moved, sent cascades of needle-like stabbings through my arm. The sensation was even worse in my hand.

My right hand felt as though it was on fire. It wasn't a low fire which was harmless to the touch. No, it was a scorching fire that seemed like it was burning through my flesh and bones.

At that, a thought occurred to me.

Wasn't my right hand the ones that was shot through with the arrows of darkness? It was...I was holding the roseling in my right hand!

I stopped breathing at that thought. What if that wasn't a dream? My breath came out ragged.

No. No! This...this can't be happening. The dream can't be real. It just can't!

Tears streamed down my cheeks, flowing down in a harsh waterfall. My sobs were unheard as I tried to suppress them with all my might.

Only the occasional whimper could be heard as I kept my voice down. Even then, the whimpers echoed through the room, magnifying tens times the volume that they were originally at.

I didn't know why I was suppressing my sobs. I just had a feeling that if I was heard, I would be in danger. Something bad would happen if my sobs were heard.

I laid there for a long time, letting myself calm down. I dared not move from my position on the bed.

I was scared. The pain that I had experienced left me numb and scared for what would happen in the future.

Surely this is just the beginning, I thought as I broke out in a cold sweat once again. But I don't want to go through this pain again. It's too much...I'm...I'm scared!

My mind was blank after all my thoughts poured out at once. All of my uncertainty of this place, the dreams and nightmares. They all poured out at once. And one thing became certain, I'm scared.

If only I could escape this place. Because of this place, I have to be on edge. I have to endure. I have to be in pain.

As I was lost in thought, I failed to hear footsteps passing the door. Two pairs of footsteps, to be precise. One following the other.

Only after hearing one word from one of the two people's mouths did I snap out of my thoughts and start to shake uncontrollably.

"Experiment." That was all I needed to hear before thinking about the worst outcome that could be occurring.

I wasn't ready for this turn of events.