Her

Chapter I

(Warning: Contains Spoilers)

Her

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My mind wonders - in, and out, in, and out... All I see, all I feel, is nothing. I'm floating. But at the same time, I'm falling. Falling into something I don't understand. I cannot hear anything, yet the sound of silence reminds me of waves crashing against a course, sandy beach. That one image plays over and over again in my mind, still wondering in, and out, in, and out... Then it all suddenly changes. I feel my fingers twich, I feel my skin crawling and I hear a muffled sound. A sound I feel like I have not heard for way too long. How long has it been? I don't know. I have never asked myself that question... I have never thought of anything other than nothing for as long as I think I can remember. It all stops. All there is, is pain...

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My eyes shoot open as I take a deep, raspy breath of air, my ears ringing. There is only darkness at the first instance - I cannot see anything. But then my vision comes too and I see a number of pale green tubes near me. I'm in one too... There is a mist spewing out of the smashed glass that they are made of, as if they had been closed for a long period of time and then suddenly opened. I squeeze my eyes and shake my head. I do not know where I am, let alone, who I am...

The ringing in my ears stop, so I slowly allow my eye lids to lift again. Nothing looks familiar, nothing at all. I let my eyes wonder around the dark room, eventually coming to studying my own situation. My hand, legs and feet are bound to a cold, grey, metal chair. I realise my neck also has a cuff around it when I try to lean forward and find myself chocking at the sudden pressure against my throat. Again, I squeeze my eyes. Still, nothing is familiar. in my mind.

I have to get out of here...

Undoublty, I was in a predicament. How the hell was I supposed to free myself of these steel bonds holding me to that god damn chair? I don't know, but without really thinking about it I began to try and pull my arms towards myelf. Little did I know how strong I was. In a second or two of pulling with all my might, the steel cuffs burst open and my hands flew to my neck, grasping the cuff encircling it. One large pull and it was off. Next was my legs and feet which came off just as easy, even though I was puffing hard after the pulling. Slowly my hands found their way to my face and I touched it, rubbing my palms over my cheeks and feeling the hollowness of my cheek bones, trying to picture every groove and bumb. It was like I had never felt my own skin before. Strange?

As I rubbed my eyes, I felt a sharp pain across the left side of my forehead. It was bleeding and redraw. I'm not sure how I could have possibly gotten it since I was in a glass tube and strapped to a metal chair. But that was the least of my concerns. My next issue was how to get out of this place.

After studying the room again, I realise that I am alone in it. Not a soul to be seen other than my own - if I had one. Though, there are a few photographs scattered on the ground and, from what I could tell, they pictured a number of people. All of them were training with the same person - a person with a metal arm. There is a slight flash of recognition in my mind but all too soon it is gone. Nevermind.

The only light in the dark room was emmitting from those broken glass tubes - a single light bulb in my tube was directly above my head. The same mist is spewing out of the tube that I sit in, rushing right out of the giant whole to my right. It was large enough for me to fit through so I stand up on shaky legs and step out. My feet hit the cold, hard ground that was slightly wet and slippery. Goose bumbs form on my bare arms and legs which is when I notice that I have nothing on me to cover me up other than a white pair of underpants and a matching crop-top bra. But I see a raggy looking piece of cloth hanging on an ajar door not to far from me.

That will do.

So I steadily start to make my way over to the door. My first few steps are uneven and rocky but a few strides later and I am walking like I never stopped. But I do stop. Turning my head slighty I capture the image of the remaining broken glass tubes. A question builds in my mind:

If I came out of one of those, who are in the rest of them?

Curious and curiouser. I couldn't help myself, I had to see who - or what - was in those other tubes. So I spin on my heel and quickly walk over to the one closest to my position. That one was the only one that had no light in it, it was completely dark. Not game enough to reach inside, I go to the next one. As I get closer, a silhouette takes form. My body pauses for a split second but my mind still keeps going and I follow it the rest of the way. Reaching the tube, I find myself facind another person - a long dead person. He was a large male, strapped to a metal chair in the same way I was. He too had no clothes on. I study his face for any recognition but nothing rings a bell. There is a bullet wound to his forehead and I wonder if something similar happened to me but managed to just skim my head? I don't know. But what I do know is that that man was well dead, though his eyes showed only peace.

I feel the need to pay a respect so I rest my palm on the back of his hand. It is cold and stiff. I bow my head and turn to head towards the door, not feeling the need to examine the last few tubes. I'd wasted enough time already, now I had to get out of that place.

The walk to the door was quick and silent in the sense that my feet made no sound as I went. I didn't try to do that, I just did it. Like it was second nature or something. When I reached the door, I grabbed the cloth and wrapped it around myself, tucking in the loose ends to make sure it would not come undone. Then, I leaned on the door and, using my entire body weight, pushed it open. A sudden gust of freezing cold wind rushed at me, swishing my long brown hair all over the place. Small snowflakes landed on my arms, seeping into my skin when they melted. I was going to get a bit wet and quite a bit cold. I didn't know where I was going to go, all I knew is I had to leave that place behind. So I took my first purposeful step into the white fluffy snow and just kept going. Perhaps I would stumble across something if I didn't die before that.