ENTRY # 04

ARIA

"Commencing status report." A woman's voice said. Machine-like.

"Brain activity – Normal."

"Heart function – Normal."

"Body Analysis – Normal."

"Muscle Reflex – Normal."

"Injecting Anti-Anesthetic. Complete."

"Initiating Program: Dollhouse. Patient Number: 13, Ariadna Azraelle La Silva."

I jolted awake. Cold sweating running down my body. I gasped, in panic, glancing around in confusion. The lights were bright, it blinded me for a while. I attempted to move, but my body refused to obey. I blinked once, twice, and then one more—tried to slow down my racing heartbeat.

I controlled my breathing, mustering up the strength to lift myself up. My throat was dry, I couldn't speak. So, I counted in my head before giving a push and it worked. Though, several body pains followed soon after.

It was at that moment that I found out that I was naked. Mostly. I was dressed in a flimsy hospital gown that barely covered my body. I furrowed my brows in deep concentration and attempted to think what in the world happened while I was knocked out. But I remembered who I was, and what happened.

Though some parts remain blurry and in pieces–like minutes before my death, I still had enough to recognize myself. That also included the incident that happened before here.

But something felt strange. Flowing to my shoulders and attached to my head was silver hair. That's odd. I don't think I've had silver hair before. This thought caught me off guard. Before? What was before? How in the world did I know I never had this hair color?

"How curious," I whispered.

I glanced at my body, my eyes immediately widening in shock, my mouth fell into a silent horror. Wires. Someone had attached wires to my body. They were in my legs and my torso and my arms and my head. Inside the plastic tubes ran a golden liquid. I followed its trail and I was horrified when they went through my skin.

Then I felt it. Awful, horrible, mind-numbing, excruciating, searing boiling pain that ravaged every fiber of my being. I couldn't help it. I started screaming.

The wires were everywhere on my body. The pain continued. I gritted my teeth and ripped one of the wires in my leg. It made everything worse.

But it was like I was hit with a storm of anger and confusion, intensified by extreme pain. I began ripping out every wire on my body, screaming as I did it. The pain subsided after a few seconds, which led me to think what I was doing was right, so I continued, leaving the two wires attached to the sides of my head for last. I gasped out loud when it was finished.

Tears flowed on the side of my face. But I fought it off, wiping each streak irritably.

I blinked through the blurry sight caused by the crying. I saw a whole white room, lighted brightly. It was empty, apart from my bed and a couple of life machines. I tried moving my legs, but I couldn't. Not for a while.

But as I waited, I looked around and saw that the wires I pulled from my skin were coming from the white ceiling above. Aside from the lights, the beeping hospital machines, one door, the wires, and the exam table, the room was white and empty, save for a mirror.

I don't know if it's luck, or possible God whispering, but I somehow instinctively knew it was a one-way window.

After a few tries, I managed to get to my feet. My legs seemed not to remember how to function properly, they trembled in protest. I stumbled over to the mirror/window, and slammed a fist into it. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

If anyone heard me, they gave no indication of it. Because the other side remained silent. I banged my fists again, "Hello?!" my voice raw, "Can somebody help me?!"

...Nothing. I tried again, and again, and again—there was no one there.

This made me wonder how long exactly I had been unconscious on that bed.

The walking I did, back and forth, helped me think and regain my movements without my legs trembling like a newborn fawn.

Waiting was useless. I arrived at this conclusion after what it seemed like hours had passed. I think it was time to take matters into my own hands.

Nodding to myself, I grabbed one of the blood-soaked wires that had recently been attached to my arm. I went towards a wall with a metal box on the side—most likely where you wipe a key-card, and slid the pointy end into the card-swipe mechanism. It took me several attempts and poking around, until I finally heard the door unlocked.

The door let out a click! before sliding to the side, revealing the darkness on the other side. "Hello?" I said, my voice echoing. No one answered me.

As I stepped one foot out into the corridor, I heard a beeping sound behind me and I immediately turned. My arms held out in front of me instinctively as if I was ready to deliver a blow if it was an enemy. But fortunately, it wasn't. It wasn't even any living being.

A part of the wall had opened. Inside, it revealed a pair of white loose-fitting linen clothes, a set of white underwear, and sandals. I approached warily, glancing around, and expected another one of the walls to open up, yet nothing happened.

Keeping an eye on the door I left open, I stripped off the poor excuse for a hospital gown and donned the undergarments first, cursing when I had trouble clasping the back. Then came the clothes, and the sandals last.

When I creeped out of the room, the hallway was clad in darkness. A couple of wary steps and then there were red arrows suddenly appearing on the ground, to the side of the walls, and even on the ceiling—all leading to the far end, where a turned red arrow can be seen. I followed it, turning quite a few corners. Until I reached a path that was separated into twelve paths, each guided by a different colored arrow.

I counted thirteen colors, as far as I could see. There were blue, yellow, green, violet, white, and other colors—even pink. My hallway, following the red ones, was the last out of all of them.

The path where the red arrows led towards the path in front of me. I could've chosen a different arrow—like the blue one which directly pointed to the right side of the red one. But I felt consistent with my decision. I ventured forward without a second thought.

And now it was just me in the corridor, with my only company being the arrows, which seemed like they were installed by a madman.

At the end of the corridor was another door where a lot of arrows pointed at it. This seems to be the last of them. I glanced, hesitant, behind me. For some reason, I felt like someone was watching. But there was no one there but my shadow. Was I being paranoid?

I shivered, feeling a strange invisible hand caressing on my back, tracing my spine. It was definitely a very creepy feeling. But I pushed aside all my doubts and fears and finally pushed open the door.

Blinding white light greeted me. My hands immediately attempted to cover my eyes. I started seeing colors.

There was a thick, musty stench of roses in the air, which made my nose crinkle a bit. When my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I found myself in a very strange place.

And the thing is, this time, I wasn't alone.