Tomorrow's Gone (#Wattys2015)

Chapter 6: Awakening

In my dream, I was slowly floating upward with pale white light surrounding me, inundating me. I was slowly being swallowed by it, little by little, until I became part of the blinding light.

            I became everything and nothing, slowly dissolving into the infinity. I existed, yet I didn't exist. I was human, yet I was inhuman.

            The light was pleasantly warm, wrapping around me and protecting me from the detrimental outside world.

            Soon—too soon— the light became searingly hot. If I could have cried out in pain, I would have. But I was unable to. It's like I was no longer the owner of my body, and all that remained of me was my mind.

            I felt as though I were standing at the edge of a dark, foreboding precipice. One wrong move and I would fall, balanced precariously at the edge of said abyss.

            "Bring her over. I want to see her clearly," a male voice boomed, resounding as if it came from within a tunnel.

            "Yes, sir," a voice replied tersely.

            "Hm... she is very strange, indeed. I like strange," the man's voice dropped an octave, making my skin crawl.

            After a moment, I blacked out into a peaceful oblivion.

           

            I came to. Gradually, my senses returned. I was able to feel the soft cushioning that I lay on. I was able to smell the antiseptic smell that bombarded my nostrils, as well as hear the soft purring of a powerful engine.

            I slowly blinked my eyes open, taking in my surroundings.

            I was in a small cubicle.

Everything was plain and white, blindingly so. The bed I lay on was like those in a hospital, white and unwelcoming. I lay on the top of a bunk bed, covered in white sheets. The walls were a shiny white with no windows. There was a glass door to our left. I could see a narrow, lighted hallway past the door with metal floors and metal walls. It was empty, to which I was grateful.

It was so futuristic and confusing...

Where the hell was I?

I sat up, instantly getting a pounding head rush. The bed creaked under me as I shifted, pushing the sheets off me. I gasped when I realized I was wearing a white cotton gown and nothing more. No shoes, zilch.

My hair cascaded around me, smelling faintly of antiseptic and something more... an almost fruity scent that I was unable to recognize.

Shuddering, I was revolted. Someone had changed me, seen me in my birthday suit, for lack of better words, without my consent.

I stayed still and listened. I could hear light, feather-like breaths coming from beneath me over the thrum of the engine.

Carefully, I maneuvered myself off the bed, landing agilely on the balls of my feet with a soft thud.

I warily peeked under the top bunk and was relieved and shocked to find my sister on the bottom bunk, looking pale with the white reflected on her already-white skin.

Quietly, I shook her awake. Groaning and mumbling incoherencies, my sister opened her wide hazel eyes. Blinking rapidly, she sat up and looked around, her eyes bulging.

"What the—?" she began, but I cut her off, slapping my hand over her mouth.

After I was sure she wasn't about to speak and give us away, I slowly removed my hand. I moved in closer and whispered, "I think Phoenix took us captive."