I woke up in a cold damp room. I could hear faint voices. All the voices had a tense tone in them. What is this place? Where am I? Moreover, Who am I?
I pushed myself up with all these questions buzzing my mind. Suddenly I heard a rough voice exclaim, “He is awake!”
Before I could get any sense of the situation I was pushed against the wall by someone. He was a young man in his mid-thirties. He had a strong grip around my collar.
“Tell me what’s happening. Right now!” he shouted.
His question and desperation quickly escaped my mind as I started wondering why the wall was so smooth. I looked around to see that there were no walls, just mirrors, on each side of the room. My stream of thoughts was broken by a jerk on my neck.
“Tell me right now!” he kept pursuing.
I was about to answer in all my confusion but a weary voice spoke from behind the man, “It’s no use. He is as clueless as us.”
I looked over his shoulder and saw an old man in nearly ragged clothes. He gave a pretty helpless vibe to me. The man let go of my collar. I pushed myself against the mirror to keep standing. I still couldn’t grasp the situation I was in. I looked around. I was in a room with four other people. An old man, a middle aged guy, a woman maybe in her twenties and a girl who couldn’t have been more than ten years old. I had no idea where I was or how I got here. The room was small, too small, only small lights up in the ceiling kept it lit. I looked to my side and looked at the never-ending series of reflections created by the mirrors.
“Wake Up…”
A voice echoed in my head.
“Do you have a name?” It was the same voice which had saved me from my rude awakening. The old man.
“Wake up…” the voice echoed again and this time a shrieking pain in my ears accompanied it. It was like a migraine just so much intense.
“I…I don’t remember”, I said. I covered my ears as the pain was becoming unbearable.
“Calm down. Don’t push yourself. ” The old man replied in his husky voice.
“What is this place?” I asked trying to get a hold over myself.
“Apparently no one here knows. We all woke up with no recollection of how we got here or any other memories. Oh and also a huge headache.” He replied.
I rested myself on the floor and tried to ignore it with diverting my mind to other things.
I looked at the guy who pushed me against the wall. He looked like he was in his mid-thirties. He had short trimmed hair, a fair skin tone, and an overall composed look to him except for his face, which had an expression of confusion and turmoil on it. He was some inches taller than me and had a way better built. His clothing made it clear he was someone who had been working behind desks and spent a lot of time grooming himself. He was staring at the ground and mumbling something to himself.
The little girl was sitting near to him. She had to be somewhere around ten or so. She was playing with a beaded bracelet. She had tiny freckles on her cheek and a pair of spectacles to hide her teary eyes. She was scared. Even I was scared. She looked at me and gave a little smile. I tried to smile back but all these things going on in my head made it a totally fake one. She went back to playing with her bracelet.
On the other wall, I saw the woman leaning against the mirror. She was dressed in complete black, which gave contrast to her pale white skin. She had makeup applied to her face to highlight more the dark circles and symbols of her busy life. Her constant tapping of nails on the floor intensified the rush of tension in my mind. She gave me a scared and painful look. I looked away.
In one of the reflections I saw the old man. His face and clothes clearly showed that he lived a pretty long life to suffer the agony of losing things and people he held dear. But out of all the people here he seemed the one who was the calmest.
On the far side of the room there was a broken mirror, most probably due to someone’s attempt to get out. I thought to myself, “Is this one of those ‘Survive your worst fear’ reality show?” Maybe I was over thinking. Maybe not.
Suddenly the lights began to dim. Everyone seemed calm about it.
“What’s going on?” I exclaimed. The old man replied in the calmest voice possible, “Night”
Everyone was closing their eyes as they were going to sleep. “It’s only for a few hours, make sure you get some rest.” The lady is black said.
The lights went out. The room was pitch black. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but the questions kept rushing in my head. I didn’t know what was going to happen now. I was scared. I kept thinking why I was here and kept trying to remember anything I could from before this place. I heard faint sounds, but I ignored them.
Eventually I fell asleep.
