The Outer Rim | Book One: Far From Home

Chapter 1 Imprisoned

I blink my eyes open, or at least I think I do, the world around me so dark and empty that I couldn't tell if I was awake or not. I try to sit up but find myself weighed down, my limbs heavy and sluggish, like I was wearing a jacket made of lead. Darkness surrounds me on all sides, a void of nothingness completely engulfing everything. What stands out to me most is the complete silence, the only sound I am able to hear being that of my own thoughts and the beating of my heart. Where am I? What is this place?

Trying to see anything in this inky void was fruitless, there is no light, no wind, no sound, and most certainly no people. It reminds me of my cell back at the compound, except even in my cell there was noise. Voices drifting in through walls and under the door, the sound of generators rumbling through the concrete, and even a few laughs every now and then. Here, however, there was nothing. It was like the calm before the storm, the silence so oppressive that it put me on edge and made me feel claustrophobic.

Suddenly my head starts spinning, nausea threatening to make me puke. It passes quickly, but in its place comes a sudden chill, the temperature around me dropping rapidly. The eerie feeling of being watched descends on me like I'm prey being stalked by a predator. Is there something out there, hiding in the dark? Surely not, this... this place, these feelings, it's all just a dream, a figment of my imagination, a nightmare!

I can feel the temperature dropping evermore, piercing through my skin like a knife made of ice. My teeth start to chatter uncontrollably and I want to wrap my arms around myself, to keep the little warmth I have left burning, but I still cannot move!

I try screaming in frustration, and even though I feel my mouth open, nothing comes out. Maybe all of this is real... Maybe... I am dead. Is that it? Am I dead, and this desolate place is my own, personal hell?

My thoughts are interrupted as the air suddenly grows stale and becomes thinner, leaving me to suck in what I can with shaky, ragged gasps.

Before, there had been a constant supply of air, but now it feels like it has all but stopped, slowing to barely more than a trickle. My breathing hastens and grows louder, my mind screaming at me to calm down lest I use up all the oxygen there was. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, beating against me from the inside as if it was trying to escape while stress consumes my mind and sends me spiraling into a panic.

Wha-- What's happening! I can't... I can't breathe! I scream inside my own head, thrashing around and fighting against the invisible bonds that keep me immobile. Pressure starts to build inside my chest, my lungs begging for more air. Quick, ragged gasps escape me, my head starting to feel faint and dizzy. Darkness should be closing in on the edges of my vision, but the place I am in is already so dark that it does not matter.

Pain shoots through my skull, my voice screaming internally as what feels like a thousand pins push their way out of my head! The same happens to my back, thousands upon thousands of little pinpricks covering my skin as something pushes through from beneath.

Tears start to stream down my face as the pain becomes overwhelming, my voice screaming out into the darkness for someone, anyone, to save me.

Stop! Please, make it stop! I sob, my voice contained within my own head. If anything, the pain just increased.

***

It feels like it has been days now, trapped inside this place and unable to get out. There was just enough oxygen in the air to keep me conscious, yet my body craved for more. At least the pain had settled down to something more bearable. My sobbing had long since stopped, my body trying to conserve the energy needed to continue breathing what little air there was.