Caged

Prelude

Trailer in the multimedia section by the amazing DG_and_Reid thank you so much!

I can't sleep. That is one thing I know. But then, who can sleep when they are in hospital with a needle in their arm?

I lean from my bed to check down the hallway where I see the faint blue glow, its pale fingers reaching into my door. I only just noticed it after the nurse flipped off my light on her way out. Curiosity sparks in my stomach, bubbling up until I find my self pulling out the drip and peeking my head out the door and staring down the hall way.

I tread lightly on my toes, not wanting to make a sound. I don't want to be caught out since I am not sure if patients are allowed to wander unaccompanied or not. I round the corner at the end of the corridor and the blue light becomes even more vivid. A shaft of it is cascading from a door on the left just ahead of me. It's not too harsh, as it leaks out gently, in a rich electrifying colour that actually makes me quite excited. I feel like a twelve year old girl again.

I suck in my breath when I arrive at the door, I try muster up the confidence to peer into the room, but what if someone is in there? What if they see me? I look down at my bare feet and thin hospital gown. it's white with baby blue + signs down the front in no particular order. I wrap my arms around me as I realize how little I am wearing, and suddenly feel as if I am cold - which I'm not.

Instead, I decide to try and not care what people think of me. Wasn't that my whole life's philosophy? I thought so. The time has come that I need to just do things that make me happy. In a sudden burst of self-assurance, I step forward and stand directly in the middle of the doorway.

The blue light washes over me as I stare at the source, and my goodness is it beautiful.

The fish tank in front of me stands silently but proud. I'm looking into a large lounge room. It's tastefully decorated, I have to look back into the hospital corridor to make sure I am looking into the same building. It is a larger room, square in shape. In the left far corner are some coffee tables with magazines strewn across and two older art deco couches adorned with red trimming. On the other side of the room there are four large leather chairs, sat in a group. One of them facing away from the clump, its back is to me but facing the fish tank. To the right of the door there is a small but functional kitchenette, a thick smell of coffee wafting across me. I scrunch up my nose, since it smells stale, exactly how you expect hospital coffee to smell.

The most impressive part of the room however, is the fish tank. It is a tall cylinder reaching from the ground to the roof. It has an electric blue light down the center, casting a wavering aura on the wall. The pattern dances around the room, as the water swishes around from the light bubbles as they rise from the bottom of the glass tube. I step closer to the tank, the rippled pattern falling across my fair skin. I stare in wonder at the small tropical fish that move lazily around the tank, twitching slightly when a bubble pushes up from beneath them.

The water is filled with hundreds of small fish, African Cichlids, Angelfish, Barbs, Bettas, Bichir, Catfish, Minnows, Guppies, Rainbow fish and Bitterling. They all swirl around in circles, following the direction of the glass tank absentmindedly. I envy the fish slightly. Their simple little lives. All they know is this tank, this safe, glass tube in which keeps them entrapped, although they don't seem to mind.

How simple would it be to exist as a fish rather than as a human.

I stare at the plastic coral sitting in the bottom of the tank, not really focusing on anything. The movement of the fish dances in the corner of my eye. For the first time in a long time, my mind is blank.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

Almost jumping out of my own skin, I turn and see a guy sitting in the chair that was facing the tank. A sense of urgency replaces the tranquility that surrounded me seconds before. I back up against the tank and just stare straight ahead at him. The blue florescent light illuminates his pale skin, his chocolate brown hair is stuck to his forehead. He's leaning back nonchalantly in his chair, studying me. I feel like I am under a microscope.

"I... I... I am sorry. I didn't know you were here." I manage to stutter out, wrapping my arms around me. A sudden chill washes through the once warm room. I kind of begin to stumble towards the door but he reaches out and grabs my arm.

"Wait- " His touch has sends thousands of vaults of electricity through me.

"Don't touch me." Yanking my arm away from him, I stumble back and hit into a coffee table. The corner digs into the back of my knee and my legs buckle beneath me, sending me toppling over the table and onto the floor, landing on my back.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry." The brunette appears above me. He continues going on and on about something but I can't hear him over the ringing in my ears and the pounding in my head. He leans down and extends his hand out to me, like they do in movies. Staring at his hand, I get up on my own blatantly ignoring his gesture. I turn to walk away, I need to lie down.

"Wait, are you okay?" He calls behind me. I stop walking mid step. I turn around to face him, ready to yell at him, insult him. But I am taken aback by how a stranger can look so concerned for me. My defence mechanism begins to falter and I reply with a shaky "yes"

He gestures to a seat and I gingerly sit down. He kneels in front of me, uncomfortably close. Or is this a normal distance? I wouldn't know.

"I'm Finn." He looks at me like it is supposed to mean something. I just stare at him, I have been doing a lot of staring lately. I seriously don't understand what is going on right now. I can feel how awkward this all is.

He sigh's and stands up to leave.

"Evelyn" I'm surprised by how croaky my voice comes out. He stops and turns to look at me. "My name is Evelyn. Well, Evie for short." He smiles at me, and it seems genuine. He sits down in the chair in front of me and leans forward, studying me again.

"I'm Finn."

"You said that."

"Yeah... So, Evie, tell me about yourself."

That's when I remember everything. The hot sun beating down on me as the smell of blood fills my nostrils. I can taste my salty tears as I hold my fathers lifeless body in my arms. My screams filling the quiet neighbourhood as the figure all in black disappears down the pavement.

A/N

Just a prelude for now. Tell me what you think!