Introduction

I open my eyes to a ceiling. There’s no feeling in my legs. I can’t my arms, I can’t feel anything. I don’t even know where I am. I can’t remember my name or anything. Is this where I live? Why can’t I remember anything? Did something awful happen to me? All of this is causing me to panic. I need help. I inhale deep breaths to calm me down. I need to be able to think clearly.

Fighting through the numbness and shock, I get up out of the bed I woke up on. I glance down at myself and notice I’m fully dressed. I’m wearing blue jeans and a plain tank. I take a couple of steps, stumbling around. I need to pull my thoughts together, so I can figure out where I am. I take a full glance of the room. There’s an old white dresser in front of me with a mirror attached to it. I look at the reflection. That can’t be me. I don’t even know who that is.

“Is that really me?” I whisper to myself.

I reach out to touch the ice cold mirror. The hand on the other side reaches back out at me. I look at the hand and then back at the mirror. I study the hair and face. My hair is damp. I touch my face, it’s smooth. I stare deep into the eyes of what appears to be me. None of this makes any sense. How did I even get here? After a long second, I grab a glass bottle off of the dresser.

 “What’s wrong with me?” I whisper while I look at the bottle. “Why is everything so blank?”

I shake my head. I don’t feel like I’m in my own flesh. I slowly walk back to the bed thinking I should lie down, it’s just a dream. It has to be a dream. I don’t know what to do if it isn’t a dream. I lay there staring at the lavender walls thinking this just doesn’t make sense. My eyes dart to the window. An escape is my immediate thought. I prop myself up to get out of the bed, once again. I walk towards the window, I can see my reflection. I still don’t think this is me. I feel very inhuman. I put my hand on the window trying to look for a handle. It’s cold, it burns.  I drop my hand immediately and just stare at the glass. I become angry and turn around to grab the bottle that I had put onto the bed next to where I was laying. My eyes tear up as I throw it at the mirror.

“Why doesn’t anything make sense?” I scream as the glass shatters.

Through the shattered glass I see the door open. I turn around. It’s a tall, pale guy. He’s wearing a tucked in dress shirt and tie.

“Where am I?” I ask.

“That doesn’t matter right now.” He replies, sounding irritated. “It’s time to go.”

“How’d I get here?”

He walks towards me. “You don’t need to know that, Natalie.”

I step back, scared, and confused. “So that’s my name, Natalie�"?” It’s beginning to get very hard to breathe.

“Yes, it is.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “Now, it’s time to go.”

I throw his hand off my shoulder. “No! Don’t touch me! I don’t even know who you are! You refuse to tell me where I am!” I scream. The room begins to spin and I become very nauseated. I lean onto the wall for support as I try to catch my breath.

“I’m here to make sure you are stabilized and ready to go. Right now, it doesn’t look like you’re going to let me do that.” He says sternly. “Natalie, I don’t want to hurt you. Don’t make me do that.”

“Hurt me? Oh my God�"”

“Now, let’s go!” He yells.

I push past him and run out the door.

He’s quick to follow. I run down the stairs and take a right. There’s a kitchen. I pause for a second to find a door. That was a mistake. He firmly grabs my arm and pulls me closer to him. I fight until his grip is loosened. I take the metal towel holder and swing it towards the top of his head. I watch him go down. Part of me wants to check to see if he has a pulse, but I know if he does, I’m dead. I let the towel holder drop out of my hand.

I turn around and see a door. On a hook over to the right of it, there are a set of keys. One of the keys looks like a car key. I grab them and unlock the door. When I run out of the door I don’t see a car. I hear something move from behind me. I look to see what it is. He’s beginning to wake up. I slam the door shut and run around the house.

There’s a small black car parked in the drive way. I look down at the key and scan it for an unlock button. I quickly find it and unlock the car. I turn to look behind me. I see he’s catching up. I run as fast as I can to the black vehicle and open the door. When I get in, I immediately lock all of the doors. He starts banging on the window, as I’m trying to catch my breath.

“Natalie, get out of the car now!” He screams.

I start the engine. I’m not sure if I even know how to drive. I hold my breath as I back out of the driveway. Well, at least my memory isn’t completely destroyed. I’ve obviously driven before and my body remembers it.

I’m trying to figure out where I am and where I’m going. As of right now, the only thing I know is that from afar, this road looks really long. It looks like it leads into a forest. I glance at the rear-view mirror. There’s a woman sitting in the back seat wearing a lab coat.

“Hello Natalie,” she smiles.

My heart pounds as I look back at the road. All I see is a tree and the headed straight towards it. I slam the brakes even though I know it’s too late. The car smashes into a tree and then everything goes dark.