Strange

Exploration

You woke up the next morning with an open book being lifted from your chest. You looked up to see Stephen saying, "Good morning sweetie." You yawned as he put the book down and handed you a plate, "Eat this, it will help you get better quicker." 

You weren't hungry though. 

You said shyly, "I'm not hungry." 

But he pulled up a chair beside your bed and said, "You need to eat." You shook your head but he said, "Eat half of that pancake and you can be done." You sighed reluctantly and began to eat. 

After you were done, he handed you some more medication and some water, "You need to be drinking a lot of water today." After you took the pills, he said, "You also need to start walking." You looked at him confused but he said, "Come on, let's just try to walk to the library and back." 

You nodded as he helped you sit up. It still hurt but it wasn't unbearable. You slowly put your feet on the ground and began adding weight to them. Then, you finally stood all of the way up and began to walk with Stephen at your side. Once you got to the library, you began to head back to your room. Then he said, "Go to the bathroom and wait for me there, I'm gonna check the wound for any infection." 

You nodded and steadily walked into the bathroom and waited for him until he came in with a bowl full with water, a sponge, and some bandages. He then said, "I'm gonna put you up on the sink." He then ever so carefully picked you up onto the sink and you leaned back on the mirror. He began to slowly undo the previous bandages. You inhaled sharply as the wound hit the air, "Sorry." He then picked up the sponge and dipped it into the water and gently patted it on your wound. It surprisingly didn't hurt. He picked up the second sponge and patted it on the scar on your face. Then, he took the new bandage and wrapped it around your waist. He put it on tight but he said, "I know it's a bit tight, but it will help, I promise." He then picked you back up and put you on the ground again, "You go hop in bed, I'll get you another book to read." 

-----

A few weeks later your wounds were almost completely healed. You were physically feeling better, but emotionally? That was a different story. After Stephen quit giving you the painkillers, the nightmares became more severe than before. The drugs helped put your mind at ease, but now, now you lost that, you couldn't find it anymore. You were trapped in your mind, and Stephen began to notice. He began to notice your loss of sleep, appetite, motivation, and will to live. You were having nightmares every single night, you got about two good hours of sleep every night. It wasn't very healthy. You didn't feel like eating much anymore. You were so much reminded of your past and not being able to eat a lot, that you were becoming your old self. You didn't have any motivation to do anything anymore. It was probably just because of the lack of sleep and appetite but it was also majorly affected by the emotional state you were in right now. This caused your will to live to fade. You didn't understand, when you were captive, you tried to live. You tried to stay alive. Now, you had an even bigger reason to stay alive and you weren't taking it. You felt numb inside. You stayed in your room for most of the day besides when Stephen would have to force you to come and eat at least one meal in a day. He wasn't even worried about your training, he just wanted to see a smile on your face...or at least something. Right now, you were somebody else. 

-----

You were laying down in bed, staring at the ceiling just as you had been doing for the past few weeks. You were recalling the nightmares you had been having, trying to piece them together, but you couldn't. None of it made sense. Some of the things actually happened, but the others didn't. 

Does that mean none of it actually happened...or did it all happen and I'm just seeing the future? 

You sat up with that thought and looked around. One of the nightmares showed you looking around the facility but you had never left your wing of the facility, so what were you really seeing in that dream? Was it real? 

You decided to find out. 

You listened outside the door of your room. You could hear Stephen in one of the other rooms working on some of his spells so you decided you probably had at least twenty minutes to find out what it really was. 

Was it all just a dream? 

Or was it real? 

I need to find out. 

You quickly grabbed your sling ring and opened a portal to the same room you spent your entire life in. You cautiously entered the familiar and eerie room. You heard some voices outside of the room but they weren't too close. You then decided to begin to walk out into the hall and enter the unknown. You wandered around the hallways very cautiously in case anyone walked by. You then heard some voices getting closer to you so you made a beeline to the next door and listened carefully to them. But to your surprise, it was the same man. The same man who abused you your entire life. 

You heard another younger voice of a man with him, it was the same one who showed you how to harness your powers. He was kind to you. "We've been looking for her for weeks, she's probably out of the country by now or told the authorities. We need to get out of here." 

Then you heard him bark, "NO! She is not out of the country and she hasn't told the authorities and even if she did tell anyone, no one would believe her. People would just think she's a schitzo runaway kid, and how the hell do you think she left the country? She doesn't even have a birth certificate! She doesn't exist." 

You began to back away to the back of the dark room but you bumped into a chair behind you and it made a noise. 

This can't be good. 

Was this going to be it? 

He had to have heard that. 

Is this really happening? Was I really just seeing the future and my life was going to continue like this? 

No. I'm not letting that happen again. 

You quickly found a cabinet inside the room and closed yourself inside. Then, you heard the door open and the lights flash on. You heard slow footsteps creeping around the outside of your hiding place but heard them fade away shortly after. When the lights finally shut off, you made no attempt to check if the coast was clear, you needed to find out what else there was before Stephen found that you even left in the first place. 

You opened the door and ran down the hallways looking for any sort of clue to open up your past. Then, you passed a dark room with something purple glowing on the inside. You opened the door and walked in mesmerized by the glowing orb in the middle of the room. It was just floating there with metal arms trying to touch it, but sparks were flying back each time they tried to touch it. You couldn't take your eyes away from it. You felt a connection to it. Just then, you heard something behind you. 

You sharply turned around to see what it was but you were disappointed when you saw who it was.